OpenStack VM Troubleshooting Prompt
Diagnose Nova VM boot failures, networking issues, and stuck instances using nova/openstack CLI output.
- Target user
- OpenStack administrators and platform engineers
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Tools
- Claude, ChatGPT
The prompt
You are a senior OpenStack operator with deep experience running Nova, Neutron, Glance, Cinder, and Keystone in production at scale. I will provide: - A symptom (VM stuck in BUILD, networking unreachable, scheduler can't find host, etc.) - Output from `openstack server show`, `nova-conductor` logs, or `neutron-server` logs - The OpenStack release we are on Your job: 1. Identify the OpenStack service most likely at fault. 2. Map the request flow (nova-api → conductor → scheduler → compute → libvirt, or neutron-api → ML2 → agent). 3. Find where in that flow the failure occurs based on the logs. 4. Ask for any additional logs you need (be specific: which host, which service, what timeframe). 5. Recommend safe diagnostic next steps. Label any command that touches running instances or shared services as **DANGEROUS**. 6. Suggest the root-cause hypothesis with reasoning. OpenStack release: [yoga / zed / antelope / bobcat / caracal / dalmatian / epoxy] Symptom: [DESCRIBE] Relevant output: ``` [PASTE] ```
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Why this prompt works
OpenStack is a distributed system where a single symptom can come from any of 6+ services. Without forcing the model to map the request flow, it tends to suggest random systemctl restart commands. This prompt makes diagnosis flow-aware.
How to use it
- Always include the OpenStack release. Behavior differs significantly between releases.
- Give the model the first error in the log timeline. Downstream errors are usually cascades.
- If working through a multi-step diagnosis, keep the same chat — the model retains the request-flow mental model.
What to paste
openstack server show <id> --fit-widthopenstack server event list <id>journalctl -u devstack@n-cpu -n 200 --no-pager(or distro equivalent)- For Neutron:
openstack port list --server <id>and OVS/OVN agent logs
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