Set Up a vCPU Server

A user with full root or administrator access rights can create a vCPU Server. A vCPU Server, once provisioned, retains all its settings, such as resources, drive allocation, password, etc., even after a restart at the operating system level. A vCPU Server is deleted from your Virtual Data Center (VDC) only when you delete it from the DCD. For more information, see vCPU Servers.

Create a vCPU Server

vCPU Servers offer flexible configurations for RAM and CPUs. You can create a vCPU Server via the DCD or the API.

Prerequisite: Make sure you have the appropriate privileges. Only contract administrators, owners, and users with the Create Data Center privilege can set up a VDC. Other user types have read-only access and cannot provision changes.

To create a new vCPU Server via the DCD, follow these steps:

1. Drag the vCPU Server element from the Palette onto the Workspace.

The created vCPU Server is automatically highlighted in turquoise. The Inspector pane allows you to configure the properties of this individual vCPU instance.

2. In the Inspector pane on the right, configure your vCPU Server in the Settings tab.

Name: Choose a name unique to this VDC.
Availability Zone: The zone where you wish to physically host the vCPU. Choosing A - Auto selects a zone automatically. This setting can be changed after provisioning.
Preset: Select an appropriate configuration from the drop-down list. The values S, M, L, XL, and XXL contain predefined vCPU-to-RAM ratios. You can always override the values to suit your needs and the Preset automatically changes to Custom when you edit the predefined ratio indicating that you are no longer using the predefined ratio.
vCPUs: Specify the number of vCPUs. You may change these after provisioning. The capabilities are limited to your customer contract limits. For more information about the contract resource limits in DCD, see Resource Overview.
RAM: Specify RAM size; you may choose any size between 0.25 GB to 240 GB in steps of 0.25 GB. This setting can be increased after provisioning.
SSH Keys: Select the premade SSH Key. You must first have a key stored in the SSH Key Manager. For more information about how to create and add SSH Keys, see OpenSSH Instructions.
Ad-hoc Key: Copy and paste the public part of your SSH key into this field.

To create a new vCPU Server via the API, specify the following properties:

Specify a name for your vCPU Server.
Set type: VCPU.
Set the availabilityZone to AUTO.
Specify cores and ram in MiB. You can also update the cores and ram using a PATCH request at any time. For more information, see Partially modify servers.

Note: Do not specify the following properties: templateUuid and cpuFamily.

For example, assume that a VDC exists with the following UUID: aaa-2bbb-3ccc-4ddd-5eee. Entities like volumes or NICs are not included in the following example, but their usage is identical to servers of type ENTERPRISE. For more information, see CLOUD API (6.0).

Select the respective block to view a sample request and a sample response:

Example: Request

curl  --request POST -H 'Authorization:Bearer $Token' \
--url "https://api.ionos.com/cloudapi/v6/datacenters/1aaa-2bbb-3ccc-4ddd-5eee/servers"  \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" 
--data-binary '
{
    "properties": {
        "name": "My vCPU",
        "type": "VCPU",
        "availabilityZone": "AUTO",
        "cores": 1,
        "ram": 2048
    }
}
'

Example: Response

{
  "id" : "b01c-b5f6-4f77-9991-f539",
  "type" : "server",
  "href" : "https://api.ionos.com/cloudapi/v6/datacenters/1aaa-2bbb-3ccc-4ddd-5eee/servers/b01c-b5f6-4f77-9991-f539",
  "metadata" : {
    "etag" : "2f2ca522ce",
    "createdDate" : "2023-08-08T09:35:11Z",
    "createdBy" : "john.doe@example.com",
    "createdByUserId" : "1234-1234-1234-1234-1234",
    "lastModifiedDate" : "2023-08-08T09:35:11Z",
    "lastModifiedBy" : "john.doe@example.com",
    "lastModifiedByUserId" : "1234-1234-1234-1234-1234",
    "state" : "BUSY"
  },
  "properties" : {
    "name" : "My vCPU",
    "cores" : 1,
    "ram" : 2048,
    "availabilityZone" : "AUTO",
    "vmState" : null,
    "bootCdrom" : null,
    "bootVolume" : null,
    "cpuFamily" : "INTEL_SKYLAKE",
    "type" : "VCPU"
  }
}

Add a bootable drive

Drag a storage element (HDD or SSD) from the Palette onto a vCPU server in the Workspace to connect them together. The highlighted vCPU will expand with a storage section.
Click the Unnamed HDD Storage to highlight the storage section. Now you can see new options in the Inspector pane on the right.

Note: Storage type cannot be changed after provisioning.

Configure Storage

Enter a name that is unique within your VDC.
Select a zone in which you want the storage device to be maintained. When you select A (Auto), our system assigns the optimal Zone. The Availability Zone cannot be changed after provisioning.
Specify the required storage capacity. You can increase the size after provisioning, even while the vCPU Server is running, as long as its operating system supports it. It is not possible to reduce the storage size after provisioning.

You can select one of IONOS images or snapshots, or use your own. Only images and snapshots that you have access to are available for selection. Since provisioning does not require you to specify an image, you can also create empty storage volumes.

Authentication

Set the root or administrator password for your vCPU according to the guidelines. This is recommended for both operating system types.
Select an SSH key stored in the SSH Key Manager.
Copy and paste the public part of your SSH key into this field.
Select the storage volume from which the vCPU is to boot by clicking on BOOT or Make Boot Device.
Provision your changes. The storage device is now provisioned and configured according to your settings.

Alternative mode

When adding a storage element using the Inspector, select the appropriate checkbox in the Add Storage dialog box. If you wish to boot from the network, set this on the vCPU: vCPU in the Workspace > Inspector > Storage.
It is recommended to always use VirtIO to benefit from the full performance of InfiniBand. IDE is intended for troubleshooting if, for instance, the operating system has no VirtIO drivers installed. In this case, Windows usually displays a "blue screen" when booting.
After provisioning, the Live Vertical Scaling properties of the selected image are displayed. You can make changes to these properties later, which will require a reboot. You can set the properties of your uploaded images before you apply them to storage volumes in the Image Manager.
(Optional) Add and configure further storage elements.
(Optional) Make further changes to your data center.
Provision your changes. The storage device is now provisioned and configured according to your settings.

Add a CD-ROM drive

To assign an image and specify a boot device, you need to add and configure a storage element.

Click on CD-ROM to add a CD-ROM drive so that you can use ISO images to install and configure an operating system from scratch.
Set up a network by connecting the vCPU Server to other elements, such as an internet access element or other vCPU Server through their NICs.
Provision your changes.

The vCPU Server is available according to your settings.

Stop, Start, or Reset a vCPU Server

At IONOS, we maintain dedicated resources for each customer. Hence, you do not share your physical CPU with other IONOS clients. For this reason, the vCPU Server switched off at the operating system level, still incurs costs.

You can shut down a vCPU Server completely via the DCD and deallocate all its resources to avoid incurring costs. A vCPU Server deallocated this way remains in your infrastructure while the resources are released and can then be redistributed.

Shutting down a vCPU Server at the operating system level alone does not deallocate the resources or suspend the billing. Regardless of how you shut down the vCPU Server, you can restart it only via the DCD.

A reset forces the vCPU Server to shut down and reboot but may result in data loss.

Stop a vCPU Server

1. Choose a vCPU Server. From the Settings tab in the Inspector pane, select Power > Stop.

2. In the dialog box that appears, confirm your action by selecting the appropriate checkbox and clicking Apply STOP.

3. Provision your changes. Confirm the action by entering your password.

Result: The vCPU Server stops and billing is suspended.

Start a vCPU Server

1. Choose a vCPU Server. From the Settings tab in the Inspector pane, select Power > Start.

2. In the dialog box that appears, confirm your action by selecting the appropriate checkbox and clicking Apply START.

3. Provision your changes. Confirm the action by entering your password.

Result: The chosen vCPU Server is booted. A new public IP address is assigned to it depending on the configuration and billing is resumed.

Reset a vCPU Server

1. Choose a vCPU Server. From the Settings tab in the Inspector pane, select Power > Reset.

2. (Optional) In the dialog box that appears, connect using the Remote Console and shut down the vCPU Server at the operating system level to prevent data loss.

3. Confirm your action by selecting the appropriate checkbox and clicking Apply RESET.

4. Provision your changes. Confirm the action by entering your password.

Result: The vCPU Server shuts down and reboots.

Scale a vCPU Server

1. In the Workspace, select the required vCPU Server and use the Inspector pane on the right.

Note: To modify multiple vCPU Servers, select the data center and change the properties in the Settings tab.

In this tab, you will find an overview of all assets belonging to the selected VDC. You can change vCPUs, RAM, vCPU Server status, and storage size without having to manually update each vCPU Server in the Workspace.

2. Modify storage:

(Optional) Create a snapshot of the system for recovery in the event of problems.

3. In the Workspace, select the required vCPU Server and increase the CPU size.

4. Provision your changes. You must set the new size at the operating system level of your vCPU Server.

Result: The size of the CPU is adjusted in the DCD.

Delete a vCPU Server

When you no longer need a particular vCPU Server, with or without the associated storage devices, in your cloud infrastructure, you can remove it with a single mouse click or via the keyboard.

To ensure that no processes are interrupted, and no data is lost, we recommend you turn off the vCPU Server before you delete it.

Warning: When you delete a vCPU Server, its storage devices, or the entire data center, it is essential to note that the action does not automatically delete their backups. However, deleting a backup unit will delete all associated backups.

When you no longer need the backups of a deleted vCPU Server, delete them manually from the Backup Unit Manager to avoid unnecessary costs.

1. Select the vCPU Server in the Workspace.

2. Right-click and open the context menu of the element. Select Delete Server.

3. You may also select the element icon and press the DEL key.

4. In the dialog box that appears, choose whether you also want to delete storage devices that belong to the vCPU Server.

5. Provision your changes.

Result: The vCPU Server and its storage devices are deleted.

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