Cloud Compute

Cloud Compute gives you a virtual machine with its own disk, operating system, public IP address and console. You choose the image it starts from, get full root access and install what you like. The dashboard calls each one an instance.

Use it when you want to run the whole machine yourself. If you would rather we install and run the software for you, or build and run your code, use App Deployment instead.

In the dashboard, go to Cloud Compute. The list shows every instance on your account, and each instance is one card. The header has Order instance, which opens the order page, where you can also add floating IPs and a DDoS Shield profile to the order. While a search or filter is on, a line under the heading says how many instances match, such as "3 of 12".

The hostname on a card opens the instance. The Overview tab opens first. Its header shows the status, image, plan, location and addresses, how long the instance has been up, and the power buttons. Copy address copies the IPv4 address, and Copy IPv6 address copies the IPv6 address. The tabs below the header hold everything else, and each has a page here.

Four tiles sit above the list. Instances, Running and Needs attention are also filters: select one to show those instances, and select it again to turn the filter off. Provisioned is a fact, and selecting it does nothing. On a phone, a tile shows only its figure.

• Instances counts every instance, with the number of locations in its footer, such as "4 locations". Selecting it clears every filter, the tags and the search.
• Running counts the instances that are running. Its footer reads "All running", or says what is not, such as "2 stopped, 1 suspended, 1 not ready". "not ready" covers an instance that is being set up, being moved, paused or in a failed setup.
• Needs attention counts the instances with a problem. It turns red while the count is above zero, and its footer reads "Suspended or failed", or "Nothing to fix" at zero.
• Provisioned adds up the size of every instance on the account. Its figure is the vCPU, such as "48 vCPU", and its footer holds the memory and the disk, such as "96 GB memory, 960 GB disk". It counts the instances you have, whether or not they run, and shows no price.

An instance needs attention when it is suspended or its setup failed. Needs attention counts exactly what the count beside Cloud Compute in the sidebar counts: the instances whose service is suspended or failed. The tile, the Show menu, the strip and the sidebar always give the same number.

A problem puts a red line on the card. A suspended or failed instance has no power buttons.

When an instance needs attention, a strip under the tiles says "1 instance needs attention" or "3 instances need attention". It lists up to three instances, or one on a phone, each with its hostname, the reason and the button. Show all and the number filters the list to all of them. The strip is hidden while any filter, tag or search is on.

Some lines on a card are calm notes. They are not counted in Needs attention, and a card that has only notes has no red line. A note can add a button to the card.

The toolbar narrows and orders the list:

• The search box, "Search by name, address, system or location", finds an instance by its hostname, its IPv4 or IPv6 address, its image, its location or its plan name.
• The Show menu holds All instances, Running, Stopped, Suspended and Needs attention, each with a count. Stopped holds the instances that are stopped and not suspended. An instance that is being set up, moved or in a failed setup is under All instances only, and a failed setup is also under Needs attention.
• The Sort by menu holds Newest first (the default), Name A to Z, Problems first and Largest first. Problems first puts instances with a problem first, then those with a note, then the rest. Largest first orders by memory, then vCPU, then disk. In the table, selecting a column heading sorts by it, and the menu then names that column.
• Under the toolbar, a row of tags shows the twelve you use most, each with a count, or four on a phone. Select a tag to show only the instances that carry it, and select it again to remove it. More tags holds the rest. A tag on a card does the same. Rename and tag an instance explains how to add tags.
• Clear filters appears while Show, a tag or the search is on, and turns all of them off, the tags included.
• Cards and Table switch how the list looks, and Refresh reads the list again. Your choice of cards or table stays in your browser. A phone always shows cards and has neither control.

The search, Show, the tags, the sort and the page stay in the address, so a reload or a shared link brings them back. The address words are q, status (running, stopped, suspended or attention), tags (tag names separated by commas), sort (name, attention or -memory, and none for Newest first) and page. A status word the page does not know shows every instance.

The list shows 24 instances a page. When there are more, page buttons appear below it. A search or filter that matches nothing says "No matches", with Reset filters. When Refresh fails and the list is on screen, a warning reads Could not refresh your instances, with Try again. When the first load fails, the page says Could not load your instances.

A card shows the hostname, a status badge, and the plan under the name, such as "RX-4 · Billed by use" or "RX-4 · $5.99/mo". The badge reads Running, Stopped, Paused, Suspended, Setup failed, Setting up, Moving, Waiting for payment or Unknown. Under them, a red line says each problem, and a calm line says each note. Facts follow:

A running instance also shows two bars under its note: CPU, as a percentage, and Memory, such as "2.6 GB of 4 GB" (never more than the instance's total). The list reads these from each running instance's live state after the page has drawn, for the instances on the page you are looking at. The bars, the uptime and the rescue note therefore appear a moment after the cards. A stopped, paused or suspended instance has no bars, and an instance whose reading fails keeps its card without them. The table asks for no live reading and shows no bars. Nothing in the tiles, Show, the sort or the strip depends on them.

The footer of a card holds these controls:

• A button for each problem and note that has one, two at most, such as Open Billing, Contact support, Open Network or Leave rescue mode.
• Start for a stopped instance. It starts at once and does not ask. A running or paused instance has Open console, which opens the Console tab, and Restart. A suspended, failed, setting up or moving instance has no power buttons. Start, stop and restart an instance describes each action.
• The ... menu, named "More actions for" and the hostname. For a running or paused instance it starts with a Power group that holds Stop and Kill…. Then come the instance's tabs: Overview, Console, Access, Snapshots, Backups, Rescue, Network, Graphs, Billing and Settings. Copy address and Copy IPv6 address come last and copy an address.

Restart, Stop and Kill… ask first. The dialog is titled "Restart" or "Stop" or "Kill" with the hostname, and its button reads Restart instance, Stop instance or Kill instance. Kill… cuts the power at once, and anything the instance has not written to its disk is lost. A message such as Starting., Rebooting., Shutting down. or Powering off. confirms the action. Until the list reads a new state, the badge reads Starting…, Restarting… or Stopping…, and the instance's power buttons send nothing more. A restart ends in the state it began in, so the badge goes back after the list has read twice.

Table shows one row for each instance:

The last column is the ... menu. In the table it also holds Start, or Open console and Restart, before the Power group and the tabs. Select a row to open the instance. Select the heading of Name, Status, Address, Size, Location, System or Created to sort by it.

While you have no instance, the page says No instances yet and describes a Cloud Compute instance as a virtual machine with its own disk, public address and console. One card, Order instance, opens the order page. The header keeps the Order instance button too.

The public Cloud Compute page describes the product, with its prices from the catalogue. The order page shows the plans, images and locations you can actually order.

Get started:

• Create an instance
• Operating system images: what each image gives you and who you sign in as
• Connect to an instance over SSH

Run the instance:

• Read an instance's Overview: its status, how to connect and what it costs this month
• Start, stop and restart an instance
• Use an instance's console, the Console tab
• Manage an instance's password and SSH keys, the Access tab
• Rebuild an instance onto a fresh image
• Repair an instance in rescue mode, the Rescue tab

Protect your data:

• Take and roll back instance snapshots, the Snapshots tab
• Back up and restore an instance, the Backups tab

Network and usage:

• Manage an instance's addresses and names, the Network tab
• How instance traffic is counted
• Read an instance's graphs, the Graphs tab

Plan and settings:

• How Cloud Compute is billed: what an instance pays for, with a worked example
• Change an instance's plan or cancel it, the Billing tab
• Rename and tag an instance, the Settings tab

Reference:

• Cloud Compute limits
• Troubleshoot instances

An instance you order on your own account is billed by what it uses: its memory while it runs, its disk while it exists, the CPU it uses and its data out, with some use included each month. The size you choose sets the vCPU, memory, disk and monthly traffic allowance, and does not set a price. An instance needs Server access, and a prepaid account needs the first deposit (How Cloud Compute is billed). An instance you ordered before usage billing keeps its plan price until you move it.

One public IPv4 address comes with each instance at no charge while it stays attached as the instance's primary address. An instance in a location with IPv6 also gets an IPv6 /64 at no charge, which stays with it and ends with it. More addresses and subnets are Floating IPs, billed as services of their own. Billing covers invoices, credit and payment.

• The size you order sets each instance's vCPU, memory, disk and monthly traffic allowance. It stays with the instance: for another size, move to a new instance, as Get a different size describes.
• An instance holds up to 8 snapshots and up to 16 backups.
• Power actions, backups, restores and rebuilds are rate limited per instance. Cloud Compute limits lists every limit.

GET /api/v1/client/vps lists the instances on your account, newest first. Add ?tag= with one of your tags to list only the instances that carry it.

curl https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/client/vps \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN"

Each item carries the instance's uuid, hostname, status, power_state and ip_address, its ipv6_address and ipv6_prefix (both null until it has IPv6), its size (cpu_cores, memory_mb, disk_gb, traffic_tb), template_name for its image, location_name, and tags. It also carries the service behind it: service_id, service_status, billing_cycle, next_due_date and product_name. Use the uuid in every other instance request.

status is one of creating, running, stopped, suspended, error or migrating. power_state is running, stopped, paused or unknown.

The dashboard list draws from this one call. It reads power_state for Running and Stopped, and a status or service_status of suspended for Suspended. It reads service_status for a failed setup, a payment that is pending and an instance that is set to end. The bars and the rescue note come from GET /api/v1/client/vps/{uuid}/status, which the page calls after it has drawn (Start, stop and restart an instance).

GET /api/v1/client/vps/{uuid} returns one instance with the same fields, plus rescue_mode and rescue_iso, the image's os_family, os_version and username, and migration. migration is null unless we are moving the instance to another host, and most changes answer 409 while a move runs.

curl https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/client/vps/$INSTANCE_UUID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN"

An instance that is not on your account, or that has been cancelled and removed, answers 404 with Cloud Compute instance not found.