Create a virtual machine in a Cloud Pool

Use the create wizard to launch a new VM from your pool's remaining capacity.

What you need

• An active Cloud Pool with free CPU, memory, and storage
• A technical-role user on the organization
• For most Linux images: at least one SSH public key under Developer → SSH Keys
• Optional: public IP blocks, private networks (SDN), tags, and firewalls prepared ahead of time

If you are launching pfSense or OPNsense, the wizard itself changes — see Firewall appliance templates (pfSense and OPNsense) and Create a firewall VM in a Cloud Pool. This article covers a typical Linux or Windows guest.

Open the wizard

1. Go to Compute → Cloud pools and open a pool.
2. On the Virtual machines tab, click New VM.
3. Work top to bottom through the form, then click Create machine.

Creation is queued. You land on the new VM's page; its status stays creating until provisioning finishes.

Fields you will set

Name and region

A short Name (for example web-01) is the display name in the portal. Region is the pool's site and is not editable here.

Operating system

Pick an OS family, then a version / image. Recommended images are marked. Some Linux images require an SSH key before you can submit.

Firewall appliance families (pfSense, OPNsense) hide SSH keys, skip cloud-init, and prefill two NICs. Those options are explained in Firewall appliance templates (pfSense and OPNsense).

Machine size

Choose vCPU, memory (GB), and root storage (GB) from the capacity still free in the pool. Steppers snap to convenient increments; you can also type exact values within remaining capacity.

You can add extra data disks (SCSI) if you need more space. Extra disks count against the same pool storage quota as the root disk.

The wizard blocks submit if your total storage request exceeds remaining pool capacity.

Login credentials

• Linux: optional username and password (applied via cloud-init). Leave the password blank to rely on SSH keys only.
• Windows: set the password for the built-in Administrator account (Windows images do not use SSH keys).
• Firewall appliances: vendor-default account only — see Firewall appliance templates (pfSense and OPNsense).

SSH keys

Shown only for cloud-init images. Select one or more organization keys to inject at first boot. Add keys under Developer → SSH Keys if the list is empty.

Backups (optional)

Attach an existing backup policy now, or skip and attach one later from the pool Backups tab. See Backup policies for Cloud Pools.

Network interfaces

Each NIC picks a source:

Type	Meaning
Public IP Block	A specific address from a public IP block on this pool (Networks tab)
SDN	A private network you created on the pool Networks tab. Optionally type an address, or leave blank to auto-assign. A VM with only SDN interfaces has no public IP.
VLAN Network	A VLAN at this pool's site. Shown when your organization has one. You manage IP addressing on that network.

Click Attach interface to add more NICs.

External firewall (not shown for appliance templates) means a customer firewall on this network will filter traffic — the wizard will not attach a hypervisor firewall. See Put a VM behind an external firewall.

Firewalls (optional)

On a Public IP Block NIC you can attach one or more organization firewalls so rules apply as soon as the VM is ready. That picker is hidden for appliance templates and when External firewall is checked.

You can also attach firewalls later from the VM's Firewall tab. Shared rule sets are created on the pool Firewalls tab — that list says to open a VM's Firewall tab to attach.

Tags (optional)

Tags help organize VMs (for example environment or application). You can create tags from the picker or manage them under Developer → Tags.

After you click Create

1. You land on the new VM's detail page.
2. Status shows a transitional creating state while the platform builds the machine.
3. When status becomes running (or stopped, depending on the image), use Dashboard for connection details, Web Console for first login, and the other tabs for firewall, backups, snapshots, and settings.

Tips

• Size conservatively at first — you can resize later (see Resize a Cloud Pool virtual machine) if the pool still has free capacity.
• Prefer SSH keys over passwords for Linux.
• Create private networks on the pool Networks tab before the wizard if you need an SDN NIC at launch.
• Watch pool quota meters so a large VM does not block later creates.

Still stuck?

Open a support ticket from Support → Tickets if creation stays on "creating" for a long time, fails, or never appears.