Launching a private cloud on open source software might seem like a daunting task, but fortunately, the OpenStack community is working hard to provide resources and tutorials to make it easier for people of all skill levels. In addition to the official documentation, and books like the one we profiled from O'Reilly, there are several other great howtos out there to help you get through whatever your next step might be.

The rate at which tutorial posts are published is almost overwhelming, not that this is a bad thing! Here are some of the best tutorials we came across in the past month, along with a short summary of each.

A group of guides to better navigate the basics of OpenStack. Each guide covers the essential parts of how to install and use the core OpenStack components.

Cinder Nova Neutron Glance Keystone



To access your individual instances from the outside world , you need to assign them a public IP address. Keeping track of a few IPs is easy enough, but as your cloud grows, it can be hard to stick to your original plan for floating IP allocation. This guide offers some help on growing your floating IP pool on an established cloud installation.

, you need to assign them a public IP address. Keeping track of a few IPs is easy enough, but as your cloud grows, it can be hard to stick to your original plan for floating IP allocation. This guide offers some help on growing your floating IP pool on an established cloud installation. Security and server hardening on OpenStack is split across two parts in this guide. Rather that focusing on hardening your images, this tutorial takes a different approach which might be easier to manage. Part one looks at using cloud-init and user data to harden an instance. Part two uses Heat templates to conduct the hardening.

is split across two parts in this guide. Rather that focusing on hardening your images, this tutorial takes a different approach which might be easier to manage. Part one looks at using cloud-init and user data to harden an instance. Part two uses Heat templates to conduct the hardening. Learn how to install multi-nodes in OpenStack with this guide. So you've managed to get OpenStack up and running on a single test node. Congratulations! The next step is harnessing the power of the datacenter by making your installation span multiple physical machines. This tutorial, along with its 30 minute video, will help with that next step.

OpenStack Heat. Steve ran through some of the new features available in the Icehouse release and showed how they work. This 38 minute video looks at both new options for templating, non-template based feature additions, and includes a Q&A at the end. We've embedded the video below, as there is no written guide to go along with this one. Finally, if you missed the live event on Tuesday, Steve Gordon hosted an excellent Google Hangout on. Steve ran through some of the new features available in the Icehouse release and showed how they work. This 38 minute video looks at both new options for templating, non-template based feature additions, and includes a Q&A at the end. We've embedded the video below, as there is no written guide to go along with this one.

That's it for this month. 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!