bwCloud-OS enables the flexible operation of virtual machines on a cloud platform based on OpenStack. The new generation (Gen3) of bwCloud-OS has been available to users at KIT since mid-June 2026.

General information about the service is available on the bwCloud-OS website. Instructions can be found in the bwCloud-OS User Wiki.

Current Notice: Gen2 Shutdown

The previous generation of the bwCloud-OS infrastructure (Gen2) will only be available until September 15, 2026, after which it will be decommissioned. There will be no automatic migration. Users must either set up their VMs anew in Gen3 or migrate them manually.

Usage

Researchers, students, and all KIT staff and employees are authorized to use bwCloud-OS. This also includes guest lecturers and auditors. Therefore, only GuP accounts belonging to the listed groups of people may be authorized for bwCloud-OS.

The bwCloud-OS Access Entitlement is required to use this service. After initial registration and login, users can be added to others’ projects and collaborate on them.

In order for a user to be allocated a quota for virtual machines, a corresponding bwIDM entitlement is required for that user.

Here, there are both standard quota flavors and the “custom” quota flavor, which can be used to request projects with custom quotas.

Employees and GuP

The organizational units (OEs) authorize their employees and GuP via groups in Group Management (GV), which are used to create the entitlement. Please refer to the section titled "Usage" above for information on which types of guests and partners you are authorized to grant access to bwCloud-OS.

• Corresponding group names:
  • <OE>-bwCloud-OS-Users-<quota-flavor>
  • Example: SCC-bwCloud-OS-Users-medium_1
• The entitlement consists of the quota flavor (here: medium_1), the authorizing OE (here: SCC), and the user’s primary cost center to which charges are allocated.
• If quotas outside the standard (custom) are required, the entitlement must be assigned as “custom.” Group: <OE>-bwCloud-OS-Users-custom. In this case, no quota information is conveyed via the entitlement. This means that the OE must clarify the scope of usage (specifically: the permitted project quota) with the appropriately authorized users. In the future, approval from the budget manager will be required when requesting the specific quota in this scenario; however, this cannot be implemented at this time.
   

Requesting a Project with a Custom Quota

The prerequisite is that the user has been assigned the entitlement with the quota flavor "custom" (by being added to the corresponding group). The user can then request a project with a custom quota via a request form (a link will be provided here once it is created).

Students

By default, students are assigned the “tiny_1” quota flavor upon initial setup. Group memberships have no effect on this. Students who need additional VM resources through an organizational unit (OU) for work related to their studies must be invited to a project with an owner from that OU.

Portal and Registration

Users can perform the administration of their own resources via the bwCloud-OS portal. Login is handled via bwIDM using OpenID Connect.

When logging in to the portal for the first time, you will be redirected to the registration page for the service.

Note on Entitlements and Projects

Users should ensure before registering that they already have a corresponding entitlement with a quota flavor. For entitlements that exist at the time of registration, a project is automatically created in OpenStack. Existing entitlements for bwCloud-OS can be viewed at the following URL: https://fels.scc.kit.edu/r/user/entitlement/h/bwcloud

If entitlements are added later, support (see below) must be contacted to set up the corresponding project.

If entitlements are removed, the associated project is flagged for deletion. When an employee leaves the company, they are immediately deregistered from the bwCloud-OS service, which flags their projects for deletion.

Support

For changes to resources, projects, or quotas, as well as technical questions, users can open a ticket in the bwSupport portal.

The service will remain available free of charge until August 31, 2026. Starting September 1, 2026, we will begin charging for this service. The prices per booking unit (BEH) per day are displayed within KIT.

VM resources used in bwCloud-OS are converted into booking units (BEH) as follows:
1 vCPU equals 1 BEH, 1 GB RAM equals 2 BEH, and 10 GB storage equals 1 BEH (BEH Calculator)
Costs are billed internally within KIT.