What is OpenNebula?
OpenNebula is a cloud infrastructure management platform. It combines computing, network, and storage resources of a physical data center into a single pool. The platform automates the creation, management, and scaling of virtual machines and virtual data centers. Key features: flexibility, support for various hypervisors, openness and lack of vendor-locking.
To learn more
Main tasks and principles of operation
Openness and freedom of choice without vendor-locking
OpenNebula is an open platform for cloud infrastructure management. Its main task is to combine computing, network, and storage resources into a single pool and automate the creation, management, and scaling of virtual machines and virtual data centers. The platform supports the flexibility of building different types of clouds and multiple hypervisors simultaneously.
Key features
OpenNebula has flexibility, supports various hypervisors (KVM, VMware vCenter, LXC), provides scalability and no vendor-locking thanks to the Apache 2.0 open-source license.
  • Flexibility
    The ability to create private, public, and hybrid clouds, and support multiple hypervisors simultaneously.
  • Support for various hypervisors
    Compatible with KVM, VMware vCenter and LXC.
  • Scalability
    Automation of creation and management of virtual machines and data centers, the ability to scale them.
  • Openness and lack of vendor-locking
    The project is fully open-source under the Apache 2.0 license, which avoids being tied to a single vendor.
Cloud Infrastructure Management with OpenNebula
OpenNebula is a private and hybrid cloud management platform based on open-source technologies.
It provides centralized management of virtual resources, automation via the web interface and API, horizontal scaling without downtime, and high availability of critical services.
Cloud federation allows you to combine multiple sites and data centers into a single managed infrastructure.
The result: a flexible, scalable, and vendor-independent cloud for enterprise and distributed environments.
Interfaces for management
OpenNebula offers several management interfaces, including the Sunstone Web UI, CLI, and API. The platform integrates with Ansible and other DevOps tools, which simplifies the management process.
  • Sunstone Web UI
    Graphical user interface for managing cloud infrastructure via a web browser.
  • CLI
    A command-line interface for managing OpenNebula, which allows you to automate routine tasks.
  • API
    A software interface for integration with other systems and automation of cloud management processes.
  • Integration with Ansible
    The ability to integrate with DevOps tools such as Ansible to simplify the configuration and management of cloud infrastructure.
Cloud infrastructure Management

OpenNebula is designed to manage distributed, hybrid, and edge infrastructures.


The platform provides horizontal scaling by simply adding compute nodes, storage, and networks without downtime and complex migrations. Resources are scaled independently, allowing flexible adaptation to the increasing load.


High availability is achieved through the HA architecture of management components, automatic recovery of virtual machines, and integration with fault-tolerant storage systems. This minimizes downtime and increases the resilience of critical services.


Cloud federation allows you to combine several data centers and regional sites into a single logical cloud with centralized management and uniform policies, while maintaining the autonomy of each site.


The result: a single, scalable and sustainable cloud without vendor dependency — ready for distributed corporate and government IT environments.

Hybrid Clouds and Edge
OpenNebula provides tools for automatic deployment on public providers and in remote areas, making it an ideal solution for hybrid clouds and Edge.
  • Hybrid Cloud Management
    OpenNebula allows you to effectively manage hybrid clouds by combining the resources of different environments to optimize your work.
  • Automatic deployment on public providers
    OpenNebula tools enable automatic deployment of resources on public cloud providers to increase efficiency.
  • Working with remote areas
    OpenNebula provides tools for managing and monitoring remote areas, ensuring reliable infrastructure operation.
Cloud Infrastructure Management Services
We offer cloud infrastructure management solutions, ensuring the flexibility and efficiency of your computing resources.
Configuring and managing OpenNebula
Development and configuration of the OpenNebula platform for cloud infrastructure management, including integration with various hypervisors and scalability of virtual machines and data centers.
Replacing VMware with OpenNebula
Switching to OpenNebula: a cloud infrastructure management solution
Why are companies switching from VMware:

  • An increase in the cost of licenses and maintenance, leading to an increase in the total cost of ownership and operating expenses;
  • Dependence on one vendor (vendor lock-in);
  • The need for hybrid and edge scenarios;
Transition to open and flexible technologies.

Why is OpenNebula virtualization based on KVM:

  • Orep-source kernel (Apache 2.0) without license restrictions;
  • The possibility of enterprise support;
  • Built-in migration tools with VMware OpenNebula cost reduction.

OpenNebula offers cost reduction, technological independence, and a full—fledged alternative to VMware for enterprise infrastructure.
Cloud infrastructure Management

There was a (VMware)vCenter

  • ESXi hosts
  • vSAN / VMFS
  • NSX (optional)
  • Proprietary API

Became (OpenNebula) Front-end (Sunstone + API)

  • KVM hosts
  • Ceph / NFS / LVM
  • VLAN / VXLAN / SDN
  • Open API (REST / CLI)
The result: simplified architecture, open interfaces, and no vendor dependency.
Infrastructure preparation services for OpenNebula

Audit of the VMware environment At the preparation stage, it is necessary to collect the following information:

  • list of virtual machines (CPU, RAM, disk subsystem);
  • operating systems used;
  • network configurations;
  • service dependencies (AD, DNS, load balancers, backups);
  • using snapshot and template.

Preparing the infrastructure for OpenNebula Minimum requirements:

  • 1-3 Front-end nodes for fault tolerance (HA);
  • Linux-based KVM hosts;
  • shared data storage (Ceph or NFS);
  • network segmentation (VLAN/VXLAN).

Recommended operating systems:

  • AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux;
  • Ubuntu LTS.
OpenNebula Services

Installing OpenNebula

For a quick introduction to the platform and conducting a pilot project (POC), OpenNebula can be deployed in a minimal configuration using an automatic installation script. This approach allows you to deploy a working environment in a short time and evaluate the functionality of the platform.
For industrial use, we recommend a production architecture that includes a dedicated Front-end management server, a fault-tolerant cluster using Pacemaker, a separate database, and integration with corporate authentication services, including LDAP and Active Directory. This architecture provides scalability, high availability, and compliance with corporate requirements.

VMware → OpenNebula Migration Tools

OpenNebula provides built-in and officially supported tools for migration from VMware, which allows you to make the transition without significant downtime and risks for business systems.

The recommended method is to use OpenNebula VMware Importer, which provides direct import of virtual machines from the VMware vCenter environment. During migration, disks are automatically converted from VMDK format to QCOW2, virtual machine configurations and metadata are transferred, and parameters are optimized for the KVM environment.

The tool supports both online and offline migration, as well as mass migration of virtual machines, which makes it a convenient solution for phasing out or completely replacing VMware in the corporate infrastructure.