The art of learning OpenStack

Trying to learn more about what OpenStack, the open source cloud infrastructure project, might have to offer? Need some help figuring something out, or inspiration for a new approach to try? We're here to help. We have gathered some of the best how-tos, guides, tutorials, and tips published over the past month into this handy collection.

Check out the list, get ready to learn, and if you need more help, the official documentation for OpenStack is a great resource to turn to as well.

• When it comes to enterprise virtualization, reliability matters. But how can you plan for reliability? The first step is understanding reliability concepts and how VM reliability can be analyzed as it applied to OpenStack. In this first in a four part series on reliability analysis of OpenStack VMs using Python, fabric and R, learn the basics of reliability engineering.
• When two users request the creation of a new virtual machine at the same time, what happens? How does the system decide which resources get allocated to whom? Well, within OpenStack, it's a little bit complicated. Learn more in this guide to understanding reservations, concurrency, and locking in OpenStack Nova.
• Not all images were created for OpenStack. Sometimes, users come in with cloud images created for another system and want to know how to most easily deploy them on your system. Have some images from Bitnami? CERN has look at getting those images up and running in OpenStack.
• Interested in exploring Docker? Still using libvirt for traditional virtualization? What do you do when you want to use the two concurrently? Lars Kellogg-Stedman takes a look at running nova-libvirt and nova-docker on the same host.
• It seems like every month we come across a new resource for getting started with Heat, OpenStack's orchestration service. This month, we bring you a simple tutorial on implementing a simple auto scaling environment with Heat.
• One of the things that makes OpenStack most useful is that in addition to managing it with command line tools and a web interfact, it has a robust set of APIs which developers can use to write applications which provision resources within OpenStack as they are needed. To learn more about the OpenStack APIs, Linux.com has a great getting started guide which explains them simply, even if you don't have a lot of background with using web APIs to create applications.
• The final piece in this month's collection isn't technical, but it's important (and timely) for everyone in the OpenStack community to read. With the deadline for OpenStack Summit proposals fast approaching on Monday, you'll want to check out this guide to crafting a successful OpenStack Summit proposal, to maximize your chances of getting a talk accepted.

That rounds out the best tutorials we've come across in the past month. You also might want to check out our past OpenStack tutorials collection for more great guides and hints. And if we missed your favorite new guide or resource, let us know in the comments!