Provisioning a Virtual Machine (VM) on the European Weather Cloud (EWC) can be done through several interfaces, depending on your workflow, level of automation, and tenancy requirements. This page provides a high‑level overview of the available methods and points you to the detailed documentation for each option.

The goal is to help you choose the most suitable approach for your environment - whether you prefer a graphical interface, an API‑driven workflow, or an automated deployment pipeline.

1. Provision a VM using the EWC Cloud Management UI

The EWC Cloud Management UI is the primary graphical interface for managing resources in the European Weather Cloud.

Through the UI you can:

• Launch and manage virtual machines

• Select images and flavors

• Attach networks and security groups

• Manage volumes and snapshots

• View quotas and resource usage

This is the recommended starting point for users who prefer an interactive, visual workflow.

👉 See the full guide: EWC Cloud Management UI

2. Provision a VM using the EWC Cloud Management API

For users who need automation, integration with external systems, or reproducible infrastructure workflows, the EWC Cloud Management API provides programmatic access to the same capabilities exposed in the UI.

Using the API, you can:

• Automate VM creation and deletion

• Integrate provisioning into CI/CD pipelines

• Build custom tools or scripts

• Manage resources at scale

• Combine API calls with EWCCLI or Terraform

This method is ideal for advanced users, DevOps teams, and automated workflows.

👉 See the full guide: EWC OpenStack API access

3. Provision a Prepared Machine using the EWC Community Hub

The EWC Community Hub offers a catalog of ready‑to‑use items that can deploy preconfigured machines, workflows, and automation bundles. This is the easiest way to start from a curated, reproducible setup without manually configuring all components.

Through the Hub dashboard you can:

• Search for prepared machine templates

• Select items tailored to specific workflows or applications

• Review inputs and configuration options

• Deploy the machine directly or export the workflow for EWCCLI

This approach is ideal when you want a consistent, validated environment or when you prefer to reuse community‑maintained automation.

👉 Explore the catalog: Community Hub | The European Weather Cloud

👉 See the full guide: EWC Community Hub - European Weather Cloud Knowledge Base - ECMWF Confluence Wiki

4. Legacy System: Morpheus (will be decommissioned by the end of 2026)

The Morpheus platform was previously used in the EWC to orchestrate VM deployments and workflows. It provided a catalog of items, automation tasks, and a self‑service interface.

Morpheus is now considered a legacy system and is being phased out in favor of:

• The EWC Cloud Management UI for interactive provisioning

• The EWC Cloud Management API for automation

• The EWC Community Hub for reusable workflows and prepared machines through and EWCCLI

Existing Morpheus items will continue to function during the transition period, but new development should target the Cloud Management UI, API, or Community Hub.

👉 See the legacy guide: Morpheus Legacy: Provision a VM