How To Install MicroStack on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install MicroStack on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, MicroStack is essentially OpenStack on Kubernetes with a native Kubernetes experience. It’s designed to make OpenStack accessible to users with no previous experience by providing a streamlined installation process that takes just minutes. The platform includes all key OpenStack components: Keystone, Nova, Neutron, Glance, and Cinder.

MicroStack has undergone significant architectural changes. The original version was distributed as one large snap package with all OpenStack components running natively on the host. However, the current K8s-native MicroStack edition represents a complete rewrite with a new architecture that has been in development since 2021.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation MicroStack on an Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa).

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install MicroStack on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa

Step 1. Update Your Ubuntu system.

First, make sure that all your system packages are up-to-date by running the following apt commands in the terminal.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2. Installing Slack on Ubuntu 20.04.

Begin by installing MicroStack via a Snap package:

sudo apt install snapd

After that, now install the latest version of MicroStack using the following command below:

sudo snap install microstack --beta --classic

Step 3. Accessing MicroStack on Ubuntu 20.04.

Now that you have MicroStack installed on your Ubuntu desktop, you can start it either from the command line by typing microstack or by clicking on the MicroStack icon (Activities -> MicroStack).

Step 4. Getting Started

• Basic Instance Launch

Once installed, you can launch your first instance:

# Launch a CirrOS-based instance
microstack launch cirros --name test

# Access via SSH (using provided credentials)
ssh -i /home/ubuntu/snap/microstack/common/.ssh/id_microstack cirros@[INSTANCE_IP]

• Web Dashboard Access

MicroStack includes the Horizon dashboard, typically accessible at your machine’s IP address. To access:

1. Get your machine’s IP address: ip a
2. Open browser to https://[YOUR_IP]
3. Use admin credentials from /var/snap/microstack/common/etc/microstack.rc

Congratulations! You have successfully installed MicroStack. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing MicroStack in Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official MicroStack website.