Frequently Asked Questions

I cannot upload VMs to Ravello, how do I fix this issue?

The Ravello Import Tool enables high-speed upload of disk files data to cloud storage. The upload issue may be due to your internet connection quality, speed due to proxy, firewall, or other network throttling tools that usually exist in networks. Upload logs are saved to the store.log file located at /Users/<name>/.ravello/.

Here are a few troubleshooting tips for upload issues:

Access denied error

If you see the following error: [WindowsError: [Error 5] Access is denied: 'c:\SafeBoot.fs'], then this indicates that your hard drive is encrypted or write protected. To fix this issue, find an alternative environment to upload your VMs or allow write permission on your hard drive.

Upload failed error

If the system clock of the machine that is using the upload tool is not set accurately, then you cannot upload VMs and you may see the following error message: An error occurred: Upload failed because local system time is set inaccurately, which makes it impossible to communicate with cloud. Please synchronize your system time. To fix this issue, set the time and date according to the geographical location of the machine.

Connection failed error

If you attempt to open the import tool for the first time, a Connection Failed dialog box is displayed. If you are using the VM Import Tool from the Ravello interface, it runs as a local server handling the upload process in the background. Allow insecure content to use the import tool because the interface uses plain HTTP to communicate with the tool and HTTPS to communicate with the Ravello service.

When you see the Connection Failed error, click Read More on the error dialog and then select Allow Insecure Content. Alternatively, if your browser displays a security shield, click the Shield and then click the Load Anyway button.

Proxy settings

If you are working in an environment where a proxy is needed to access the internet, then configure your proxy settings before you use the Import Tool. Refer Adding Proxy Settings for Image Uploads.

Upload progress is showing 1% from a long time

The VM Import Tool uploads in chunks. The progress bar show 1% until the first chunk is uploaded and then jumps to a higher percentage. Check the log located at /Users/<name>/.ravello/to confirm that upload is in progress.

Why cannot I connect to a VM using SSH?

Typical SSH connection problems may be because of key pair format or Mac address configuration.

Key pair format: If you are trying to connect to a VM with a Windows platform, then you need to use PuTTy to connect and the keys must be in the PPK format. Key pairs generated by Ravello are in the PEM format, but they can be easily converted to PPK using the PuTTyGen tool. For details, see Using SSH Key Pairs from a Windows Machine.
Mac address: Sometimes the VM configuration is set to Automatic Mac, which means that the address is assigned automatically. You can define a fixed Mac address in the VM Editor or Networks tab and try to connect again.

How do I change the IP address of my VM?

In the application design, select the VM. Its properties are displayed in the Details pane.
On the Network tab:
- Select DHCP and enter the reserved IP address in the adjacent field, or
- Select Static and enter the IP address, subnet, gateway, and DNS details.
If the VM is already published, the VM network should be restarted for the changes to take effect.

Can I restrict access to my VM?

Yes, you can define and enable an IP filter that allows traffic from authorized source IP addresses only.

The IP filter can be configured from the Network tab of your application design.

In the Network tab of the your application design or blueprint, click the IP filtering icon. The IP Filter Properties are displayed in the details pane.
To allow network traffic from specific IP addresses only, select Is Active. The pane expands to display the Authorized Sources list.
To allow traffic from an IP address, click the +Add icon.
Enter the IP address and subnet mask in the designated fields. These parameters are mandatory. Repeat for additional IP addresses, as required.
To remove an authorized source, click the corresponding Delete icon.

Note:

To allow all network traffic, click the IP filter icon and select Off in the IP Filter Properties pane.

How will I know which blueprints are shared with me?

You can view any blueprint that are shared with you.

To view the shared blueprints:

Navigate to the Library > Blueprints page.
Click Shared with me. Note that this list remains empty until a blueprint is shared with you.

Can I import and use an existing Key Pair?

Yes, you can import an existing key pair and use the pairs to connect to VMs created from public blueprints.

You can create key pairs as well. See Working With Key Pairs.

Where did all the VMs in the Library page come from?

The first time you open the Library tab, it lists only the predefined set of virtual machine images provided by Ravello. If you have already installed and used the VM Import Utility, this list will also include any images you have uploaded into Ravello.

What VM formats does Ravello support?

Ravello supports ESXi 5.0 or higher, and KVM. If you are using ESXi images, then VMX and VMDK files are required, which can be extracted using the VMware convertor or OVF tool. VMX files are primary configuration files and VMDK files are disk image files.

How do I know how many VMs are running?

You can view the resource usage levels and status at any time by selecting Admin > Usage from the navigation pane. The Usage & Quota page displays the number of running VMs as a part of the maximum number of VMs that you are allowed to run simultaneously.

How do I enable RDP access to a VM?

Create a supplied service to enable access to a VM from outside. A supplied service is actually a meta data object that indicates that the virtual machine is listening on a specific IP:Port.

Once a supplied service is defined as external, the packets are passed through the fenced network to the virtual machine on the service IP:Port. You can either define a single port or a port range.

Select the VM on the canvas to view its properties.
In the Details pane, create a supplied service in the Services tab as follows:
- Click Add.
- Enter the service name.
- Select RDP from the Protocols drop-down list. If you need RDP to be exposed on a single IP, then select the IP address from the Listen on drop-down list; otherwise, leave the default setting All IPs.
- Select the External check box and save.
If your application has already been published, click Update to apply changes to the cloud.

What is the added value of using Ravello API?

Using the Ravello API, Developers can integrate Ravello with the enterprise build server and continuous integration (CI) server. This can result in further automation and reduction in application development or testing time. For example, you can integrate Ravello with your Maven build process so that each time a developer checks in any code, Ravello can spin up an instance (or multiple instances) of the full application in the cloud. A series of regression tests can then be run to make sure that the latest code check-in does not adversely impact on any existing functionality.

See all the APIs that you can use with Ravello: Ravello REST API .

Is it possible to forcefully power-off a VM in Ravello?

Yes, you can follow any of the following ways to shut down a VM running on Ravello using API calls.

Stop API call.

When initiating the stop API call, the system issues ACPI signals to the VM to stop it gracefully. The VM is allowed approximately 20 minutes to shut down gracefully, after which it will be forcefully taken down.
Shutdown API call.

The system issues continuous ACPI signals to the VM to stop it gracefully, without forcing it to shut down. Make sure that the VM has ACPI capabilities when using this call otherwise it might result in an endless STOPPING state.
poweroff API call.

The VM is immediately (and forcefully) powered-off.
Shutdown from within the VM.

You can always shut down a VM from within the VM. When you shut down a VM, Ravello's central management system detects that the VM was shut down and will change the state to STOPPED.

Can I suspend and resume VMs on Ravello?

Unfortunately, you cannot suspend and resume VMs on Ravello.

Computer mouse pointer lags and has restricted movement during console or RDP access

Install VMware tools or open-vm-tools to resolve the issue.

Install the VMware tools either by using the executable file or adding an ISO file as CD and installing the CD on the VM. Find the tools from:http://packages.vmware.com/tools/esx/latest/windows/index.html.

Linux 7 and up distributions are bundled with open-vm-tools (OVT).