Help:Cloud VPS
This is the landing page for Cloud VPS user documentation. It provides an overview of Cloud VPS features and capabilities, then directs you to where you can learn more or get started using the platform.
What is Cloud VPS?
Cloud VPS (Virtual Private Server) provides cloud computing infrastructure, powered by OpenStack, for projects related to the Wikimedia movement. Cloud VPS makes it easier for developers to test improvements to Wikimedia infrastructure (including MediaWiki), do research and analyze data, and host projects that are not viable on Toolforge.
In more technical terms, Cloud VPS is a virtualization cluster that hosts virtual machines (called "instances") using OpenStack Compute. Unlike physical servers that you ssh to, virtual machines only exist on a larger host machine. When you create a Cloud VPS project, you gain access to CPU, RAM, and disk storage to create virtual machines ("instances"). As a Cloud VPS project member, you are responsible for configuring your instances and managing your project's applications, data, runtime, middleware, and operating systems. Read more details about the infrastructure behind Cloud VPS at Portal:Cloud VPS/Infrastructure.
Main features of Cloud VPS
- Free cloud computing environment, powered by OpenStack
- Collaboratively-owned collections of virtual private servers, storage, firewall, and HTTPS proxy resources to projects
- Access to a variety of data services
- Freedom to install packages not provided by Debian or the Wikimedia Foundation
Constraints of Cloud VPS
To use Cloud VPS, you need:
- A Wikimedia developer account
- Advanced programming knowledge
- Advanced experience with Unix command line
- The ability to administer your own servers
- One or more active project maintainers who:
- Have an active Phabricator account
- Subscribe to the cloud-announce mailing list
- Respond to queries and requests for action on the part of WMCS staff and admins
Cloud VPS projects are subject to the following technical constraints:
- Debian is the only available operating system.
- Virtual machines running on Cloud VPS are not permanent. Admins periodically review them for potential deletion in alignment with the instance lifecycle.
- Your open source project must not be viable in the Toolforge environment, or must be something that can't be accomplished using other WMCS offerings. See "Which service is right for you?".
Terms and conditions
You must review and agree to the following terms and conditions:
- Wikimedia Cloud Services Terms of Use
- Code of Conduct for technical spaces
- Cloud VPS projects must not collect, store, or share private data or personally identifiable information, such as user names, passwords, or IP addresses, except when complying with the conditions listed in the Wikimedia Cloud Services Terms of Use.
Get started
- Before you can use Cloud VPS, you must have a Wikimedia developer account.
- Learn how to request a new Cloud VPS project, or join an existing one at Help:Cloud_VPS_project.
Communication and support
Support and administration of the WMCS resources is provided by the Wikimedia Foundation Cloud Services team and Wikimedia movement volunteers. Please reach out with questions and join the conversation:
- Chat in real time in the IRC channel #wikimedia-cloud connect, the bridged Telegram group, or the bridged Mattermost channel
- Discuss via email after you have subscribed to the cloud@ mailing list
- Subscribe to the cloud-announce@ mailing list (all messages are also mirrored to the cloud@ list)
- Read the News wiki page
Use a subproject of the #Cloud-Services Phabricator project to track confirmed bug reports and feature requests about the Cloud Services infrastructure itself
Read the Cloud Services Blog (for the broader Wikimedia movement, see the Wikimedia Technical Blog)