How can I use an OpenStack cloud?

As an OpenStack cloud end user, you can provision your own resources within the limits set by administrators.

The examples in this guide show you how to perform tasks by using the following methods:

You can modify these examples for your specific use cases.

In addition to these ways of interacting with a cloud, you can access the OpenStack APIs directly or indirectly through cURL commands or open SDKs. You can automate access or build tools to manage resources and services by using the native OpenStack APIs or the EC2 compatibility API.

To use the OpenStack APIs, it helps to be familiar with HTTP/1.1, RESTful web services, the OpenStack services, and JSON or XML data serialization formats.

 Conventions

The OpenStack documentation uses several typesetting conventions.

 Notices

Notices take three forms:

	Note
	The information in a note is usually in the form of a handy tip or reminder.

	Important
	The information in an important notice is something you must be aware of before proceeding.

	Warning
	The information in warnings is critical. Warnings provide additional information about risk of data loss or security issues.

 Command prompts

Commands prefixed with the # prompt are to be executed by the root user. These examples can also be executed by using the sudo command, if available.

Commands prefixed with the $ prompt can be executed by any user, including root.