After you create a bootable volume, you can launch an instance from that volume. Optionally, to configure your volume, see the OpenStack Configuration Reference. For a list of images to choose from to create a bootable volume, run this command: $ nova image-list +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ | ID | Name | Status | Server | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ | e0b7734d-2331-42a3-b19e-067adc0da17d | cirros-0.3.1-x86_64-uec | ACTIVE | | | 75bf193b-237b-435e-8712-896c51484de9 | cirros-0.3.1-x86_64-uec-kernel | ACTIVE | | | 19eee81c-f972-44e1-a952-1dceee148c47 | cirros-0.3.1-x86_64-uec-ramdisk | ACTIVE | | +--------------------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+--------+ To create a bootable volume from an image, include the image ID in the command: # cinder create --image-id e0b7734d-2331-42a3-b19e-067adc0da17d --display-name my-boot-vol 8 +---------------------+--------------------------------------+ | Property | Value | +---------------------+--------------------------------------+ | attachments | [] | | availability_zone | nova | | bootable | false | | created_at | 2013-10-16T01:27:48.645390 | | display_description | None | | display_name | my-boot-vol | | id | 3195a5a7-fd0d-4ac3-b919-7ba6cbe11d46 | | image_id | e0b7734d-2331-42a3-b19e-067adc0da17d | | metadata | {} | | size | 8 | | snapshot_id | None | | source_volid | None | | status | creating | | volume_type | None | +---------------------+--------------------------------------+ Before the volume builds, its bootable state is false. To list volumes, run the following command: $ cinder list +--------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+------+-------------+----------+-------------+ | ID | Status | Display Name | Size | Volume Type | Bootable | Attached to | +--------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+------+-------------+----------+-------------+ | 3195a5a7-fd0d-4ac3-b919-7ba6cbe11d46 | available | my-boot-vol | 8 | None | true | | +--------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+------+-------------+----------+-------------+ Note that the bootable state is now true. Copy the value in the ID field for your volume. To launch an instance, include the --block_device_mapping parameter: $ nova boot --flavor FLAVOR --block_device_mapping DEVNAME=ID:TYPE:SIZE:DELETE_ON_TERMINATE NAME The command arguments are: Parameter Description --flavor FLAVOR The flavor ID. --block_device_mapping DEVNAME=ID:type:size:delete-on-terminate DEVNAME. A device name where the volume is attached in the system at /dev/dev_name. This value is typically vda. ID. The ID of the volume to boot from, as shown in the output of nova volume-list. type. Either snap or any other value, including a blank string. snap means that the volume was created from a snapshot. size. The size of the volume, in GBs. It is safe to leave this blank and have the Compute service infer the size. delete-on-terminate. Boolean. Indicates whether the volume is deleted when the instance is deleted. You can specify: True or 1 False or 0 NAME The name for the server. You must specify an image when booting from a volume, even though the specified image is not used. Otherwise, the Attempt to boot from volume - no image supplied error is returned. You can also attach a swap disk on boot with the --swap flag, or you can attach an ephemeral disk on boot with the --ephemeral flag. For example, you might enter the following command to boot from a volume. The volume is not deleted when the instance is terminated: $ nova boot --flavor 2 --image e0b7734d-2331-42a3-b19e-067adc0da17d \ --block_device_mapping vda=3195a5a7-fd0d-4ac3-b919-7ba6cbe11d46:::0 myInstanceFromVolume +-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ | Property | Value | +-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ | OS-EXT-STS:task_state | scheduling | | image | cirros-0.3.1-x86_64-uec | | OS-EXT-STS:vm_state | building | | OS-EXT-SRV-ATTR:instance_name | instance-00000003 | | flavor | m1.small | | id | 8ed8b0f9-70de-4662-a16c-0b51ce7b17b4 | | security_groups | [{u'name': u'default'}] | | user_id | 352b37f5c89144d4ad0534139266d51f | | OS-DCF:diskConfig | MANUAL | | accessIPv4 | | | accessIPv6 | | | progress | 0 | | OS-EXT-STS:power_state | 0 | | OS-EXT-AZ:availability_zone | nova | | config_drive | | | status | BUILD | | updated | 2013-10-16T01:43:26Z | | hostId | | | OS-EXT-SRV-ATTR:host | None | | key_name | None | | OS-EXT-SRV-ATTR:hypervisor_hostname | None | | name | myInstanceFromVolume | | adminPass | BULD33uzYwhq | | tenant_id | f7ac731cc11f40efbc03a9f9e1d1d21f | | created | 2013-10-16T01:43:25Z | | metadata | {} | +-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ Now when you list volumes, the volume is attached to a server: $ nova volume-list +--------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+------+-------------+--------------------------------------+ | ID | Status | Display Name | Size | Volume Type | Attached to | +--------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+------+-------------+--------------------------------------+ | 3195a5a7-fd0d-4ac3-b919-7ba6cbe11d46 | in-use | my-boot-vol | 8 | None | 8ed8b0f9-70de-4662-a16c-0b51ce7b17b4 | +--------------------------------------+-----------+-----------------+------+-------------+--------------------------------------+