Create a VM using a RHEL BYOS image

You can create a virtual machine (VM) instance on Compute Engine by using images from your Red Hat Cloud Access subscription.

With this option, you pay Red Hat for license subscriptions and pay Trusted Cloud by S3NS only for infrastructure costs you incur. When you use OS images from your Red Hat Cloud Access subscription on Trusted Cloud by S3NS, you must request support directly from Red Hat. To request support, log into your Red Hat Customer Portal and open a support ticket.

When you create a VM that uses a RHEL OS image, you can access the Red Hat Knowledgebase by using a single-sign-on (SSO) option available through the Trusted Cloud console.

Before you begin

  • If you haven't already, set up authentication. Authentication verifies your identity for access to Trusted Cloud by S3NS services and APIs. To run code or samples from a local development environment, you can authenticate to Compute Engine by selecting one of the following options:

    Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:

    Console

    When you use the Trusted Cloud console to access Trusted Cloud by S3NS services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.

    gcloud

    1. Install the Google Cloud CLI, and then sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity. After signing in, initialize the Google Cloud CLI by running the following command: 

      gcloud init
    2. Set a default region and zone.

Required roles

To get the permissions that you need to create VMs, ask your administrator to grant you the Compute Instance Admin (v1) (roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1) IAM role on the project. For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

This predefined role contains the permissions required to create VMs. To see the exact permissions that are required, expand the Required permissions section:

Required permissions

The following permissions are required to create VMs:

  • compute.instances.create on the project
  • To use a custom image to create the VM: compute.images.useReadOnly on the image
  • To use a snapshot to create the VM: compute.snapshots.useReadOnly on the snapshot
  • To use an instance template to create the VM: compute.instanceTemplates.useReadOnly on the instance template
  • To assign a legacy network to the VM: compute.networks.use on the project
  • To specify a static IP address for the VM: compute.addresses.use on the project
  • To assign an external IP address to the VM when using a legacy network: compute.networks.useExternalIp on the project
  • To specify a subnet for your VM: compute.subnetworks.use on the project or on the chosen subnet
  • To assign an external IP address to the VM when using a VPC network: compute.subnetworks.useExternalIp on the project or on the chosen subnet
  • To set VM instance metadata for the VM: compute.instances.setMetadata on the project
  • To set tags for the VM: compute.instances.setTags on the VM
  • To set labels for the VM: compute.instances.setLabels on the VM
  • To set a service account for the VM to use: compute.instances.setServiceAccount on the VM
  • To create a new disk for the VM: compute.disks.create on the project
  • To attach an existing disk in read-only or read-write mode: compute.disks.use on the disk
  • To attach an existing disk in read-only mode: compute.disks.useReadOnly on the disk

You might also be able to get these permissions with custom roles or other predefined roles.

Create a VM with a RHEL BYOS image

In summary, to use Red Hat Cloud Access subscription on Trusted Cloud by S3NS, you need to complete the following steps:

  1. Give Trusted Cloud by S3NS access to the images in your Red Hat Cloud Access subscription.
  2. Use Trusted Cloud console or Google Cloud CLI to create the VM.

Give your Google Group access to your RHEL subscription

To provide your Google Group with access to RHEL BYOS images, complete the following steps:

  1. Select an existing or create a Google Group.
  2. Add all users and service accounts that you want to use these BYOS images, to the Google Group. See Add people to your group.
  3. Log into the Red Hat Customer Portal and complete the following steps:
    1. On the navigation menu, select Cloud Access.
    2. Click Enable a new provider.
    3. In the Select a Red Hat Certified Cloud and Service Provider menu, select Google Compute Engine.
    4. Enter your Google Compute Engine ID. This is the email address for the Google Group that you created in step one.
    5. Select the products that you want to enable.
    6. Click Enable.

It might take 3-4 hours for your Trusted Cloud by S3NS account to be linked to the Red Hat Customer Portal.

Understanding RHEL BYOS projects

rhel-byos-cloud is a public Trusted Cloud by S3NS project that contains a list of all available RHEL BYOS images. You can reference this project to find the correct image name or family that you will then use to create your own VM instance in your project. The images are managed by Trusted Cloud by S3NS, but they can only be used if you have properly enabled your RHEL BYOS subscription.

Create the VM

After you give your Google Group access to your RHEL subscription, your RHEL BYOS images are available in the public Trusted Cloud by S3NS rhel-byos-cloud project on Compute Engine, but you will create your own VM in your own project.

Console

The Trusted Cloud console simplifies this process by automatically presenting the available RHEL BYOS images from the rhel-byos-cloud project.

  1. In the Trusted Cloud console, go to the Create an instance page.

    Go to Create an instance

  2. Specify a Name for your VM. For more information, see Resource naming convention.

  3. Optional: Change the Zone for this VM. If you select Any, Google automatically chooses a zone for you based on machine type and availability.

  4. Select a Machine configuration for your VM.

  5. In the Boot disk section, click Change.

  6. In the Public images tab, complete the following steps:

    1. In the Operating system drop-down, select one of the following:
      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP
    2. In the Version Type drop-down, select the image that you want to use.
    3. In the License type section, select Bring your own subscription or license (BYOS/BYOL).
    4. Specify boot disk type.
    5. Specify boot disk size.
    6. Optional: For advanced configuration options, click Show advanced configuration.
    7. To confirm your boot disk options, click Select.

  7. Make additional VM customizations, as needed.

  8. To create and start the VM, click Create.

gcloud

Creating a VM with the Google Cloud CLI is a two-step process to make sure you use the correct image from the rhel-byos-cloud project.

  1. To find the RHEL BYOS image you want to use. Run the following command to list the available images in the rhel-byos-cloud project:

    gcloud compute images list \
 --project=rhel-byos-cloud \
 --filter="name ~ rhel-byos"

    From the command output, note the name of the image you want to use. For example, the name might be rhel-9-byos or rhel-9-2-sap-byos.

  2. Create the VM with a BYOS image in your own project by referencing the image you found in the previous step by running the gcloud compute instances create command with your PROJECT_ID and IMAGE_NAME.

     gcloud compute instances create VM_NAME \
 --project=PROJECT_ID \
 --image=IMAGE_NAME

    Replace the following:

    • VM_NAME: name of the new VM
    • PROJECT_ID: your project ID where you want to create the VM
    • IMAGE_NAME: the specific image name that you want to use

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