Parallels Management Console uses one wizard both to create a Container and to initially configure it. You can launch this wizard by selecting the Parallels Containers item in the left pane and choosing the Create Container option on the Action menu:
Figure 5: Management Console - Creating New Container
The main Container parameters, including the templates and resource management parameters, can be retrieved on the basis of the Container configuration sample indicated in the very first option (detailed information on Container configuration samples is provided in the Managing Container Resources Configurations section (p. 164)).
After you have decided on the Container configuration sample, you are supposed to define the number of Containers you wish to create in the Number of Containers to create field. By default, you are offered to create one Container. Besides, you can:
Container-related operation on the Hardware Node. In the case of creating several Containers at once, you should use the $VEID placeholder which is automatically replaced with the ID of the Container being created. For example, if you are creating Containers in the range from 101 to 103 and enter MyCT$VEID into the Container Name(s) field, your Containers will have the following names: MyCT101, MyCT102, MyCT103.
provide the description of the Container(s) in the Description field. You can enter any Container-related information you consider reasonable.
Under the Container ID group, you can select the variant the Container ID assignment:
Select the Assign Container ID automatically radio button to automatically assign the first unoccupied ID to the Container. For example, if you already have Containers with IDs from 101 through 105 and 107, the Container will be assigned the ID of 106.
Select the Assign Container IDs starting from radio button to manually specify the ID to be assigned to the Container. If you are creating several Containers at once, the specified ID will denote the starting ID for the first created Container. For example, if you are making 2 Containers and indicate 110 in the field provided, the first Container will be assigned the ID of 110 and the second one - the ID of 111 (provided you do not already have Containers with such IDs).
The Hostname group of options on the first page of the wizard shown above might help you make use of your DNS server. If your DNS server has records for the IP addresses that will be assigned to the newly-created Containers, select the Assign hostname automatically radio button.
The hostnames will be assigned on the basis of DNS records found. Selecting the Hostname radio button allows you to manually set a hostname for the Container. As in the case of assigning names to your Containers, you should use the $VEID placeholder if you are creating several Containers at once. This placeholder is then automatically replaced with the ID of the Container being created.
By default, the root account is disabled in a newly-created Container. To enable this account, you may enter the root password on the first page of the wizard. If you leave the Password and Confirm password fields blank, the root account will remain disabled.
Clicking the Next button displays the window where you can specify the settings for Container virtual network adapters:
Figure 6: Management Console - Configuring Container Network Adapters This window allows you to:
Assign one or more IP addresses to the venet0 virtual network adapter which is the default adapter created for every Container on the Hardware Node. To this effect, select the adapter name, click the Properties button, and, in the displayed window, enter the needed IP addresses.
Create additional virtual network adapters for the Container by clicking the Add Interface button and entering the necessary information in the displayed window. As distinct from the default adapter operating in the host-routed mode, all additional network adapters are set to work in the bridged mode. For detailed information on what host-routed and bridged modes are and how to manage virtual network adapters operating in these modes, turn to the Managing Parallels Virtuozzo Containers Network chapter (p. 203).
In the next step, you should choose the OS template to be used as the basis for the Container creation:
Figure 7: Management Console - Choosing OS Template
All OS templates that are installed on the Hardware Node and can be used for the Container creation are listed in the table on the Specify OS Template screen. To choose an OS template, click its name in the Name column. Detailed information on OS templates is provided in the Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.6 Template Management Guide.
You can click on the Finish button on this step of the wizard and create the Container with the configuration parameters specified in the configuration sample you chose on the first step of the wizard. If you do not rely on any configuration sample, click the Next button instead of Finish.
In this case you will have to go through a number of steps of the wizard and set all the parameters of the new Container separately. However, you can click Finish on every of the following steps of the wizard to start creating the Container. All the pages of the wizard are self-explanatory, so there is no need in dwelling upon them here in detail. You have the possibility to:
Choose the OS template as the Container base and the application templates to be added to the Containers. Detailed information on OS and application templates is provided in the Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.6 Templates Management Guide.
Change the default Container private area and root paths or leave them intact.
Specify one or more search domains and DNS servers and decide on the default gateway to be used by the venet0 default network adapter.
Configure Quality of Service parameters. The Quality of Service parameters are explained in the Managing Resources chapter (p. 116); consult it to gather more understanding of this topic.
Enable the offline management for the Container for it to be directly managed by its root from any browser at the Container IP address. For information on the offline management feature, see the Configuring Offline Management Parameters section.
Configure network shaping parameters. For detailed information on network shaping, see the Managing Network Accounting and Bandwidth section (p. 141).
Define what iptables modules are to be used inside the Container. Detailed information on iptables is provided in the Loading iptables Modules section (p. 308).
Specify whether the Container is to be started on the Hardware Node boot.
Save all the defined parameters as a configuration sample file to be used in future for creating new Containers on its basis. The information on Container samples is provided in the Managing Container Resources Configuration section (p. 164). Consult it to gather more understanding of these topics.
Creating a new Container may take some time. You can see the progress in the Actions pane.
After you have created, for example, Containers 101, 102, and 103, you can see them in the right pane of the Management Console window:
Figure 8: Management Console - Checking Newly-Created Container
the configuration options for this Container, as well as to set the root password using the Advanced tab.