NOVA-COMPUTE(1)

📦
version 34.0.0 · 12 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💅 nova-compute(1) — the nova manual, but make it cute

okay bestie, welcome to the nova section of your manual, and the star of this page is nova-compute. pull up a chair, grab a boba, we're doing daemons today. 🧋✨

✨ NAME ✨

nova-compute — the Server for the OpenStack Compute compute service. yes that's the name, yes it's a lot of "compute", no we're not changing it. 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

nova-compute [<options>...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so nova-compute is a server daemon that serves the Nova Compute service, and honestly? it's giving main character energy in the whole cloud. 👑

here's the situation: it's responsible for building a disk image, launching an instance via the underlying virtualization driver, responding to calls to check the instance's state, attaching persistent storage, and terminating the instance. that's the whole glow-up-to-goodbye pipeline, and she does all of it. iconic behavior, no cap. ✨

💖 OPTIONS 💖

general options (the whole squad)

  • --config-dir DIR — Path to a config directory to pull *.conf files from. This file set is sorted, so as to provide a predictable parse order if individual options are over-ridden. The set is parsed after the file(s) specified via previous --config-file, arguments hence over-ridden options in the directory take precedence. This option must be set from the command-line. (yes, fr fr, command-line only.)
  • --config-file PATH — Path to a config file to use. Multiple config files can be specified, with values in later files taking precedence. Defaults to None. This option must be set from the command-line.
  • --debug, -d — Set the logging level to DEBUG instead of the default INFO level. she's nosy and we love that for her. 🐛
  • --log-config-append PATH, --log-config PATH, --log_config PATH — The name of a logging configuration file. This file is appended to any existing logging configuration files. For details about logging configuration files, see the Python logging module documentation. Note that when logging configuration files are used then all logging configuration is set in the configuration file and other logging configuration options are ignored (for example, log-date-format).
  • --log-date-format DATE_FORMAT — Defines the format string for %(asctime)s in log records. Default: None . This option is ignored if log_config_append is set.
  • --log-dir LOG_DIR, --logdir LOG_DIR — (Optional) The base directory used for relative log_file paths. This option is ignored if log_config_append is set.
  • --log-file PATH, --logfile PATH — (Optional) Name of log file to send logging output to. If no default is set, logging will go to stderr as defined by use_stderr. This option is ignored if log_config_append is set.
  • --nodebug — The inverse of --debug. it's the "never mind, un-nosy" button. 🙈
  • --nouse-journal — The inverse of --use-journal.
  • --nouse-json — The inverse of --use-json.
  • --nouse-syslog — The inverse of --use-syslog.
  • --nowatch-log-file — The inverse of --watch-log-file.
  • --syslog-log-facility SYSLOG_LOG_FACILITY — Syslog facility to receive log lines. This option is ignored if log_config_append is set.
  • --use-journal — Enable journald for logging. If running in a systemd environment you may wish to enable journal support. Doing so will use the journal native protocol which includes structured metadata in addition to log messages.This option is ignored if log_config_append is set. (yes, that sentence is missing a space, we're keeping it, it's part of the lore. 💀)
  • --use-json — Use JSON formatting for logging. This option is ignored if log_config_append is set.
  • --use-syslog — Use syslog for logging. Existing syslog format is DEPRECATED and will be changed later to honor RFC5424. This option is ignored if log_config_append is set.
  • --version — Show program's version number and exit. the classic "who even am i" flag. ⭐
  • --watch-log-file — Uses logging handler designed to watch file system. When log file is moved or removed this handler will open a new log file with specified path instantaneously. It makes sense only if log_file option is specified and Linux platform is used. This option is ignored if log_config_append is set.
gentle reminder bestie: every one of those logging options just quietly gives up and does nothing if log_config_append is set. don't fight it, that's just the rules. 🫶

🎀 FILES 🎀

these are the spots on the filesystem she cares about:

  • /etc/nova/nova.conf
  • /etc/nova/policy.yaml
  • /etc/nova/policy.d/
  • /etc/nova/rootwrap.conf
  • /etc/nova/rootwrap.d/
  • /etc/nova/compute_id
  • /var/lib/nova/compute_id

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the rest of the friend group:

💀 BUGS 💀

  • Nova bugs are managed at Launchpad https://bugs.launchpad.net/nova — yes, if something's cursed, that's where you go to tell on her. be nice about it though.

👑 Author 👑

openstack@lists.openstack.org

2010-present, OpenStack Foundation

okay and one last thing before you go, the cute little sign-off at the bottom of this page says version 34.0.0 and it's dated Oct 01, 2026, and the manual it lives in is called nova. that's the whole page, bestie. go launch something. slay. 💅✨🦋🌸

📦 where this page comes from