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Getting Started with OpenStack Horizon: An Overview

Horizon DashboardTutorials

OpenStack Horizon provides a web-based dashboard for managing your cloud infrastructure. This guide walks you through the main interface components, navigation patterns, and essential features to help you get started efficiently.

What is OpenStack Horizon?

Horizon is the official web-based dashboard for OpenStack. It provides a graphical interface for managing compute instances (virtual machines), storage volumes, networks, and other cloud resources. Instead of using command-line tools, Horizon lets you perform most common operations through an intuitive web interface.

Key capabilities include:

  • Launching and managing instances
  • Creating and attaching storage volumes
  • Configuring network topology
  • Managing security rules
  • Monitoring resource usage
  • Controlling user access and quotas

Horizon translates your actions into OpenStack API calls, making cloud management accessible without requiring deep command-line expertise.

Accessing the Horizon Dashboard

Login Requirements:

  • Dashboard URL (provided by your cloud administrator)
  • Username and password
  • Domain name (for multi-domain deployments)
  • Optional: Multi-factor authentication if enabled

First-Time Login:

  1. Navigate to your Horizon dashboard URL
  2. Select your authentication domain (if prompted)
  3. Enter your username and password
  4. Accept any security certificates (if using self-signed certificates in development)
  5. Complete multi-factor authentication if required

After successful login, you'll see the main dashboard interface with navigation on the left and your current project's overview in the center.

Understanding the Dashboard Layout

Top Navigation Bar

The top bar contains global controls and information:

Left Side:

  • Logo/Home: Returns to the main dashboard overview
  • Project Selector: Switch between projects you have access to
  • Region Selector: Change regions (if your deployment spans multiple geographic areas)

Right Side:

  • User Menu: Account settings, change password, sign out
  • Settings: Theme preferences, language selection, timezone configuration
  • Help: Links to documentation and support resources
  • Notifications: System alerts, job status, error messages

Left Sidebar Navigation

The sidebar organizes features into logical categories:

Project Section (most commonly used):

  • Compute: Instances, images, key pairs, server groups
  • Volumes: Block storage management, backups, snapshots
  • Network: Network topology, routers, security groups, floating IPs
  • Orchestration: Heat stacks for infrastructure as code
  • Object Store: Swift object storage (if enabled)

Admin Section (requires administrative privileges):

  • System: Hypervisor overview, resource usage across all projects
  • Compute: Flavor management, instance management across projects
  • Volumes: Volume types, storage backends
  • Network: Network management across all projects

Identity Section:

  • Projects: Project creation and management
  • Users: User account management
  • Groups: User group organization

Not all sections appear for every user. Your available options depend on your role and permissions.

Main Dashboard Interface Components

Overview Panel

The Overview panel provides at-a-glance resource utilization:

Compute Resources:

  • Instances (running/total allowed)
  • VCPUs (used/quota)
  • RAM (used/quota)

Storage Resources:

  • Volumes (count and total size)
  • Volume snapshots
  • Object storage usage (if applicable)

Network Resources:

  • Networks and subnets
  • Routers
  • Floating IPs (used/available)
  • Security groups

This panel helps you quickly assess how much of your quota you're consuming and what resources remain available.

Essential Features for New Users

Launch an Instance

The Instance Launch workflow guides you through creating a virtual machine:

  1. Navigate to Project > Compute > Instances
  2. Click Launch Instance
  3. Complete the wizard tabs:
  • Details: Instance name, description, availability zone
  • Source: Boot source (image, volume, snapshot)
  • Flavor: Resource allocation (vCPUs, RAM, disk)
  • Networks: Network attachments
  • Security Groups: Firewall rules
  • Key Pair: SSH key for access (Linux instances)

Each tab shows required and optional fields. You must complete all required fields before launching.

Manage Storage Volumes

Block storage volumes provide persistent disk space:

Create a Volume:

  1. Go to Project > Volumes > Volumes
  2. Click Create Volume
  3. Specify name, size, and optional parameters
  4. Click Create Volume

Attach to Instance:

  1. Click the dropdown menu next to your volume
  2. Select Manage Attachments
  3. Choose the target instance
  4. Click Attach Volume

The volume appears as a block device inside your instance, ready for formatting and mounting.

Configure Network Security

Security groups control network traffic to your instances:

Create Security Group:

  1. Navigate to Project > Network > Security Groups
  2. Click Create Security Group
  3. Name the group and add a description
  4. Click Create Security Group

Add Rules:

  1. Click Manage Rules next to your security group
  2. Click Add Rule
  3. Select rule type (SSH, HTTP, HTTPS, Custom)
  4. Specify direction (Ingress/Egress)
  5. Define source (CIDR, security group, or any)
  6. Click Add

Common rule examples:

  • SSH: Port 22, TCP, your IP address
  • HTTP: Port 80, TCP, 0.0.0.0/0 (any)
  • HTTPS: Port 443, TCP, 0.0.0.0/0 (any)

Apply security groups when launching instances or modify them afterward through the instance details page.

Work with Floating IPs

Floating IPs provide external connectivity to instances in private networks:

Allocate Floating IP:

  1. Go to Project > Network > Floating IPs
  2. Click Allocate IP to Project
  3. Select the external network pool
  4. Click Allocate IP

Associate with Instance:

  1. Click Associate next to the floating IP
  2. Select the target instance and its port
  3. Click Associate

The instance becomes accessible from the internet using the floating IP address.

Navigation Tips and Shortcuts

Quick Access Patterns

Search and Filter: Most resource lists include search boxes and filter dropdowns. Use these to find specific items quickly in large deployments.

Bulk Actions: Select multiple items using checkboxes, then apply actions to all selected items simultaneously. This works for instances, volumes, and other resources.

Action Menus: Each resource row has a dropdown menu (often represented by a down arrow or three dots) containing available actions. This menu changes based on resource state.

Project Switching

If you belong to multiple projects:

  1. Click the project selector in the top bar
  2. Choose the target project
  3. The dashboard reloads with that project's resources

This lets you manage separate environments (development, staging, production) without multiple logins.

Understanding Resource States

Resources display status indicators:

  • Green/Active: Operating normally
  • Yellow/Building: Resource creation in progress
  • Orange/Warning: Attention needed
  • Red/Error: Operation failed
  • Gray/Shutoff: Powered down but preserved

Hover over status indicators for detailed information about the current state.

Common Tasks and Where to Find Them

Instance Management

Task: Create instance snapshot Location: Project > Compute > Instances > Instance dropdown menu > Create Snapshot

Task: Resize instance Location: Project > Compute > Instances > Instance dropdown menu > Resize Instance

Task: Console access Location: Project > Compute > Instances > Click instance name > Console tab

Volume Management

Task: Create volume from snapshot Location: Project > Volumes > Snapshots > Snapshot dropdown menu > Create Volume

Task: Extend volume Location: Project > Volumes > Volumes > Volume dropdown menu > Extend Volume

Task: Transfer volume between projects Location: Project > Volumes > Volumes > Volume dropdown menu > Create Transfer

Network Management

Task: View network topology Location: Project > Network > Network Topology

Task: Create private network Location: Project > Network > Networks > Create Network

Task: Configure router Location: Project > Network > Routers > Router name > Interfaces tab

User Settings and Preferences

Customize Your Dashboard

Access settings through the user menu (top right):

Change Password: User Menu > Settings > Change Password

Select Language: Settings > Language > Choose from available options

Set Timezone: Settings > Timezone > Select your location

Configure Theme: Some Horizon deployments offer theme customization for better visibility or accessibility.

Manage API Access

Download OpenStack RC File:

  1. Click your username (top right)
  2. Select OpenStack RC File
  3. Choose format (v3 for modern deployments)
  4. Save the file

This file contains environment variables for command-line tool authentication. Source it in your terminal before using OpenStack CLI commands.

View and Regenerate API Tokens: User Menu > Settings > User Settings > Application Credentials

Application credentials provide non-expiring authentication for automated tools and scripts.

Monitoring and Resource Usage

Check Resource Quotas

View Current Usage:

  1. Navigate to Project > Compute > Overview
  2. Review the usage statistics panel
  3. Compare used resources against quotas

Understand Quota Limits: Quotas prevent resource exhaustion and ensure fair sharing in multi-tenant environments. If you need increased limits, contact your cloud administrator with business justification.

Instance Monitoring

Basic Metrics: Click an instance name to access its detail page, which shows:

  • CPU utilization graph
  • Memory usage
  • Network traffic (bytes in/out)
  • Disk I/O statistics

Log Access: Access instance console logs to troubleshoot boot issues or review system messages:

  1. Navigate to the instance detail page
  2. Click the Log tab
  3. View recent console output

These logs show what you'd see if connected to a physical server's console.

When to Use the Dashboard vs Command Line

Horizon is Ideal For:

  • Learning OpenStack and exploring available features
  • Quick instance launches and management tasks
  • Visual network topology design
  • Occasional administrative tasks
  • Users unfamiliar with command-line interfaces
  • Demonstrating configurations to team members

Command Line is Better For:

  • Automation and scripting
  • Bulk operations across many resources
  • Advanced configurations not exposed in the UI
  • Integration with CI/CD pipelines
  • Performance-critical operations
  • Complex queries and filtering

Many experienced users combine both approaches, using Horizon for exploration and quick tasks while automating repetitive operations through the CLI or API.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Cannot Launch Instance

Symptom: Launch button grayed out or error message appears

Common Causes:

  • Insufficient quota remaining
  • No available flavors in your project
  • No networks configured
  • Missing required fields in launch form

Resolution: Check the Overview panel for quota utilization. Verify at least one network exists under Project > Network > Networks. Ensure you've selected a valid flavor and boot source.

Cannot Connect to Instance

Symptom: SSH connection times out or refuses

Common Causes:

  • No floating IP assigned
  • Security group blocking port 22
  • Wrong key pair selected at launch
  • Instance not fully booted

Resolution: Verify floating IP association. Check security group rules for SSH access. Confirm you're using the correct private key. Review instance console log for boot errors.

Volume Attachment Fails

Symptom: Error when attaching volume to instance

Common Causes:

  • Instance and volume in different availability zones
  • Instance already at maximum volume attachments
  • Volume already attached elsewhere
  • Instance in incompatible state

Resolution: Check volume and instance availability zones match. Verify volume status shows "Available" not "In-use". Ensure instance is active or stopped (not building or error state).

Next Steps

After familiarizing yourself with Horizon basics:

  1. Practice launching instances with different flavors and boot sources
  2. Experiment with network configurations including private networks and routers
  3. Create volume snapshots to understand backup procedures
  4. Set up security groups following the principle of least privilege
  5. Explore orchestration with Heat templates for repeatable deployments
  6. Learn the OpenStack CLI for automation and advanced operations

The dashboard provides tooltips and help text throughout the interface. Hover over field labels and icons to see additional context about each option.

Getting Help

Within Horizon: Click the Help icon (question mark) in the top navigation bar for links to documentation and support resources.

InMotion Cloud Support: Contact InMotion Cloud support through your client portal for assistance with:

  • Configuration questions specific to your deployment
  • Quota increase requests
  • Access and permission issues
  • Performance or reliability concerns

OpenStack Community Documentation: For additional details on Horizon features, see the official documentation below.

Related Resources

For more information on OpenStack Horizon and dashboard features, see these official resources:

Summary

OpenStack Horizon provides a comprehensive web interface for cloud infrastructure management. Understanding the dashboard layout, navigation patterns, and essential features enables you to efficiently manage compute, storage, and network resources without requiring command-line expertise.

Start with basic operations like launching instances and managing volumes, then expand your knowledge to network configuration and monitoring. The combination of visual management through Horizon and automation through the CLI gives you complete control over your cloud environment.