How to install OpenStackClient for Linux on cloud environment

The OpenStack CLI client allows you to manage OpenStack environments from the command line. You can use it to perform tasks such as:

  • creating, starting, shutting down, shelving, deleting, and rebooting virtual machines,

  • assigning a floating IP address to a virtual machine,

  • listing available resources, including volumes, virtual machines, and floating IP addresses,

  • automating OpenStack operations with scripts.

This article covers two methods of installing OpenStackClient on Ubuntu.

The first method uses the Ubuntu package manager. It is more convenient and is sufficient for most use cases.

The second method uses pip inside a Python virtual environment. It is intended for more advanced use cases, such as:

  • keeping multiple versions of OpenStackClient ready to use on the same computer,

  • using a newer or different version than the one available from Ubuntu packages,

  • installing OpenStackClient on a Linux distribution where the Ubuntu package method is not available.

Prerequisites

No. 1 Hosting account

You need a cloud environment hosting account with access to the Horizon interface: https://my.cloud.eumetsat.int.

No. 2 Linux installed on your computer

You need Linux installed on your local computer or on a virtual machine.

This article was written for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and Python 3. Instructions for other Linux distributions may be different.

If you choose a virtual machine hosted on cloud environment cloud, the following articles can help:

What we are going to do

  • Install OpenStackClient using apt or pip

  • Verify that the installation was successful

  • Learn where to go next to authenticate and use OpenStack CLI commands

Step 1: Install OpenStackClient

Method 1: Using the Ubuntu package manager

Update Ubuntu packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Reboot if required.

Once the packages are updated, install the openstack command from the python3-openstackclient package:

sudo apt install python3-openstackclient

Method 2: Using pip and a Python virtual environment

Use this method if you want to install OpenStackClient in an isolated Python environment.

Create and activate a virtual environment

Open the terminal on the system where you want to install OpenStackClient.

Update system packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Install Python development files:

sudo apt install python3-dev

Install the package used to create Python virtual environments. If Python is not installed yet, the following command should pull it as a dependency:

sudo apt install python3-venv

Create a new virtual environment called openstack_cli:

python3 -m venv openstack_cli

Activate the environment:

source openstack_cli/bin/activate

Important

In the future, each time you start the terminal and want to use this OpenStackClient installation, you need to enter the same virtual environment again.

After activation, the prompt should show (openstack_cli) as a prefix:

../../_images/activate_environment1.png

Install OpenStackClient

Before installing OpenStackClient, upgrade pip:

pip install --upgrade pip
../../_images/install_new_pip1.png

Install the python-openstackclient package:

pip install python-openstackclient

This installs the openstack command, which allows you to interact with OpenStack services from the command line.

You can use multiple virtual environments if you need to keep different versions of OpenStackClient available on the same machine.

Step 2: Verify that installation was successful

You can verify the installation by using the built-in –help option. If you can view the openstack help screen, the installation was successful.

Important

If you installed OpenStackClient inside a virtual environment, make sure that your current terminal session has activated that environment before running the openstack command.

Execute:

openstack --help

You should see information about using the OpenStack CLI command. The beginning of the output should look like this:

../../_images/openstack_cli_install_linux_help1.png

If the command shows its output in a pager, use the arrow keys, or vim keys such as j and k, to scroll through the text. Press q to exit.

If you can read the help screen, OpenStackClient is installed correctly.

What to do next

Authenticate before using OpenStack commands

Before you can use OpenStack CLI to manage resources in your cloud environment environment, you need to authenticate.

How to activate OpenStack CLI access to cloud environment cloud

After successful authentication, you will be able to run commands such as:

openstack flavor list

This command lists flavors available in your project. The output may look like this:

../../_images/openstackcli_flavor_list1.png

Install additional OpenStack clients

The package installed in this article provides the basic OpenStack commands.

If you want to use additional OpenStack services from CLI, such as load balancers, DNS as a service, orchestration, or object storage, you may need additional client packages.

Depending on the method you used to install OpenStackClient, use one of the tabs below.

In the official Ubuntu apt repository, additional OpenStack client package names usually follow this syntax:

python3-<project>client

In this syntax, <project> is the OpenStack project name, such as octavia or designate.

The following command installs several commonly used clients:

sudo apt install python3-manilaclient python3-octaviaclient python3-designateclient python3-barbicanclient python3-heatclient python3-magnumclient python3-novaclient python3-swiftclient python3-glanceclient python3-cinderclient

Describing each additional client is beyond the scope of this article.

Installation on Windows

You can also install OpenStackClient on Windows by using Git Bash, Cygwin, or Windows Subsystem for Linux.