Getting Started

This document provides steps to get started with your Private Cloud Director setup.

If you haven't yet, make sure to follow the Pre Requisites to get ready for install.

Step 1 - Choose Your Deployment Option

The commercial version of Private Cloud Director offers two deployment options: SaaS or Self Hosted. Or you can use the free community edition of Private Cloud Director for your home lab / test setup.

1. SaaS Hosted

With SaaS Hosted model, we setup and host Private Cloud Director in the cloud for you and you consume it as a SaaS service. This is generally the best option for organizations that prefer the ease of use of SaaS and don't want to manage the technical complexity of hosting themselves.

2. Self Hosted

With Self Hosted model, you can host Private Cloud Director on your on hardware in your data center or a co-location hosted data center. This is generally the best option for organizations with extra compliance and security requirements where SaaS hosting is not a viable option.

Follow Self Hosted Install for steps to install the self hosted management plane.

3. Community Edition

Private Cloud Director also offers a community edition that is completely free to download and use.

Follow Community Edition guide for steps to install Private Cloud Director Community Edition.

Step 2 - Create Blueprint & Onboard Hypervisors

Once you have a Private Cloud Director instance setup, next step is to start onboarding your hypervisors. Follow the steps below to create a Cluster Blueprint and start onboarding hypervisors.

1. Create a virtualized cluster blueprint. Follow Virtualized Cluster Blueprint article for more information on what cluster blueprints are and how to create one.

2. Once the blueprint is created, add hosts to the cluster and assign roles to them based on the blueprint you setup above.

   1. For SaaS hosted management plane - follow Add a Host (SaaS Deployment)

   2. For Self Hosted or Community Edition - follow Add a Host (Self-Hosted & Community Edition Deployment)

3. Your cluster is now created. Now we will look at steps to create a Virtual Machine.

4. Follow Image Library Images to create your first image in your image library.

5. Create at least one Networks And Ports or Physical Network.

Step 3 - Create Virtual Machines

1. Read Virtual Machines for steps to provision your first virtual machine on your cluster.

Step 4 - Create Kubernetes Cluster

1. Read Getting Started with Kubernetes to create your first Kubernetes cluster using Private Cloud Director.