Creating a VM from a Windows public image

If you don't have the Yandex Cloud command line interface yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

1. View the description of the CLI's create VM command:

   $ yc compute instance create --help
   

2. Select one of the public images on Windows.

   To get a list of available images, run the following command:

   yc compute image list --folder-id standard-images
   

   Command execution result:

   +----------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+--------+
   |          ID          |                NAME                 |          FAMILY          |     PRODUCT IDS      | STATUS |
   +----------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+--------+
   ...
   | fdvk34al8k5nltb58shr | centos-7-1549279494                 | centos-7                 | dqni65lfhvv2den5gtv9 | READY  |
   | fdv7ooobjfl3ts9gqp0q | windows-2016-gvlk-1548913814        | windows-2016-gvlk        | dqnnc72gj2ist3ktjj1p | READY  |
   | fdv4f5kv5cvf3ohu4flt | ubuntu-1604-lts-1549457823          | ubuntu-1604-lts          | dqnnb6dc7640c5i968ro | READY  |
   ...
   +----------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+--------+
   

3. Create a YAML file (for example, metadata.yaml) and specify the following:

   #ps1
   net user administrator '<password>'
   

4. Create a VM in the default folder:

   $ yc compute instance create \
       --name second-instance \
       --metadata-from-file user-data=metadata.yaml \
       --zone ru-central1-a \
       --public-ip \
       --create-boot-disk image-folder-id=standard-images,image-family=windows-2016-gvlk
   

   This command creates a VM instance with the following characteristics:

   • Named second-instance.
   • With the Windows Server 2016 OS.
   • In the ru-central1-a availability zone.
   • With the administrator user.
   • With a public IP address.

   To create a VM without a public IP, remove the --public-ip flag.

   Specify:

   • The VM name in the --name flag.

     The name must be unique within the folder. It may contain lowercase Latin letters, numbers, and hyphens. The first character must be a letter. The last character can't be a hyphen. The maximum length of the name is 63 characters.

     Note

     The VM name is used to generate an internal FQDN only once: when creating a VM. If the internal FQDN is important to you, choose an appropriate name for the VM at the creation stage.

   • The administrator password in the metadata.yaml file. A password is required for accessing the VM via RDP.

     Do not use passwords that are easy to guess. Passwords must meet the Windows security policy.

     In Windows Server images from Yandex Cloud, the Administrator user's password expiration is disabled by default.

Create a VM using the method Create for the resource Instance:

1. Get an IAM token for authenticating in the examples:

   • Instructions for users with a Yandex account.
   • Instructions for a service account.

2. Get the ID of the folder.

3. Get information about the image to create your virtual machine from (image ID and minimum disk size):

   • If you know the image family, get information about the latest image in this family:

     $ export IAM_TOKEN=CggaATEVAgA...
     $ export FAMILY=windows-2016-gvlk
     $ curl -H "Authorization: Bearer ${IAM_TOKEN}" \
       "https://compute.api.cloud.yandex.net/compute/v1/images:latestByFamily?folderId=standard-images&family=${FAMILY}"
     
     {
      "productIds": [
       "f2eu62v659or2tqv28l0"
      ],
      "os": {
       "type": "WINDOWS"
      },
      "id": "fd85s1nlcavgdpc16hj3",
      "folderId": "standard-images",
      "createdAt": "2019-04-30T10:53:56Z",
      "name": "windows-2016-gvlk-1556619485",
      "description": "Windows Server 2016 Datacenter is a operating system for virtualized private cloud environments. This version is activated with GVLK. Website and documentation: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/windows-server",
      "family": "windows-2016-gvlk",
      "storageSize": "26344423424",
      "minDiskSize": "26843545600",
      "status": "READY"
     }
     

   • You can get information about the image from the list of public images.

4. Get the subnet ID and availability zone ID. Specify the ID of the folder where the subnet was created in your request:

   $ export IAM_TOKEN=CggaATEVAgA...
   $ export FOLDER_ID=b1gvmob95yysaplct532
   $ curl -H "Authorization: Bearer ${IAM_TOKEN}" \
     "https://vpc.api.cloud.yandex.net/vpc/v1/subnets?folderId=${FOLDER_ID}"
   {
    "subnets": [
     {
      "v4CidrBlocks": [
       "10.130.0.0/24"
      ],
      "id": "b0c6n43ftldh30l0vfg2",
      "folderId": "b1gvmob95yysaplct532",
      "createdAt": "2018-09-23T12:15:00Z",
      "name": "default-ru-central1-c",
      "description": "Auto-created default subnet for zone ru-central1-c",
      "networkId": "enpe3m3fagludao8aslg",
      "zoneId": "ru-central1-c"
     },
     ...
    ]
   }
   

5. Create a file where the body contains your request for VM creation (for example, body.json). Specify the following parameters:

   • folderId: ID of the folder.

   • name: Name to be assigned to the VM when it's created.

   • zoneId: Availability zone that corresponds to the selected subnet.

   • platformId: The platform.

   • resourceSpec: Resources available to the VM. The values must match the selected platform.

   • metadata: In the metadata user-data property, you need to pass the script with the administrator password, for example:

     "metadata": {
       "user-data": "#ps1\nnet user Administrator Passw0rd"
     },
     

     Do not use passwords that are easy to guess. Passwords must meet the Windows security policy.

     In Windows Server images from Yandex Cloud, the Administrator user's password expiration is disabled by default.

   • bootDiskSpec: Boot disk settings. Specify the ID of the selected image and disk size. The disk size must not be below the minimum value specified in the image details.

   • networkInterfaceSpecs: Network settings.

     • subnetId: ID of the selected subnet.

     • primaryV4AddressSpec: IP address to be assigned to the VM. To add a public IP address to your virtual machine, specify:

       "primaryV4AddressSpec": {
           "oneToOneNatSpec": {
             "ipVersion": "IPV4"
           }
         }
       

   Read more about the request body format in the API reference API method.

   Example body.json file:

   {
     "folderId": "b1gvmob95yysaplct532",
     "name": "instance-demo-no-pwauth",
     "zoneId": "ru-central1-c",
     "platformId": "standard-v3",
     "resourcesSpec": {
       "memory": "4294967296",
       "cores": "2",
     },
     "metadata": {
       "user-data": "#ps1\nnet user Administrator Passw0rd"
     },
     "bootDiskSpec": {
       "diskSpec": {
         "size": "26843545600",
         "imageId": "fd85s1nlcavgdpc16hj3"
       }
     },
     "networkInterfaceSpecs": [
       {
         "subnetId": "b0c6n43ftldh30l0vfg2",
         "primaryV4AddressSpec": {
           "oneToOneNatSpec": {
             "ipVersion": "IPV4"
           }
         }
       }
     ]
   }
   

6. Create a virtual machine:

   $ export IAM_TOKEN=CggaATEVAgA...
   $ curl -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${IAM_TOKEN}" \
     -d '@body.json' \
     https://compute.api.cloud.yandex.net/compute/v1/instances
   

If you don't have Terraform yet, install it and configure the Yandex Cloud provider.

1. In the configuration file, describe the parameters of resources that you want to create:

   Note

   If you already have suitable resources, such as a cloud network and subnet, you don't need to describe them again. Use their names and IDs in the appropriate parameters.

   • yandex_compute_instance: Description of the VM:
     • name: VM name.
     • platform_id: The platform.
     • resources: The number of vCPU cores and the amount of RAM available to the VM. The values must match the selected platform.
     • boot_disk: Boot disk settings. Specify the ID of the selected image. You can get the image ID from the list of public images.
     • network_interface: Network settings. Specify the ID of the selected subnet. To automatically assign a public IP address to the VM, set nat = true.
     • metadata: In the metadata in the user-data parameter, pass the script with the administrator password.
   • yandex_vpc_network: Description of the cloud network.
   • yandex_vpc_subnet: Description of the subnet that the VM will be connected to.

   Example configuration file structure:

   resource "yandex_compute_instance" "vm-1" {
   
     name        = "windows-vm"
     platform_id = "standard-v3"
   
     resources {
       cores  = <number of vCPU cores>
       memory = <RAM in GB>
     }
   
     boot_disk {
       initialize_params {
         image_id = "<image ID>"
       }
     }
   
     network_interface {
       subnet_id = "${yandex_vpc_subnet.subnet-1.id}"
       nat       = true
     }
   
     metadata = {
       user-data = "#ps1\nnet user Administrator <administrator password>"
     }
   }
   
   resource "yandex_vpc_network" "network-1" {
     name = "network1"
   }
   
   resource "yandex_vpc_subnet" "subnet-1" {
     name       = "subnet1"
     zone       = "<availability zone>"
     network_id = "${yandex_vpc_network.<network name>.id}"
   }
   

   For more information about the resources you can create using Terraform, see the provider documentation.

2. Make sure that the configuration files are correct.

   1. In the command line, go to the directory where you created the configuration file.

   2. Run the check using the command:

      $ terraform plan
      

   If the configuration is described correctly, the terminal displays a list of created resources and their parameters. If there are errors in the configuration, Terraform points them out.

3. Deploy the cloud resources.

   1. If the configuration doesn't contain any errors, run the command:

      $ terraform apply
      

   2. Confirm that you want to create the resources.

   Afterwards, all the necessary resources are created in the specified folder. You can check resource availability and their settings in management console.