I first installed OpenStack via DevStack months ago. I honestly forgot how frustrating it can be.

I followed the official docs and an article from DigitalOcean.

I'll summarize the main steps so that we can focus on debugging. Note that you need a fresh Ubuntu install for DevStack to work.

Main steps

1. Install Linux
2. Add Stack User
3. Download DevStack
4. Create a local.conf file
5. Start the install
6. Access OpenStack on a web browser

Usually, these steps should work seamlessly.

However, with subsequent installs, things may not go as expected.

Debugging options

There are some things you could try first:

• Doing a fresh Ubuntu install and then repeating the above mentioned main steps
• Running a most recent stable branch of devstack, not master.
• Running './unstack.sh' and then './clean.sh'
• Cleaning your 'opt/stack' directory
• Running stack.sh again using the stable branch of devstack

Checking your errors

At this point in time, you have tried all the recommended debugging options and are convinced that there is a devstack bug somewhere.

There are a few workarounds depending on the errors you get, as well as a few changes to the local.conf file.

My errors

As you can see, I was getting a 'devstack@etcd.service' error. Stack overflow gave me the first workaround. I added 'disable_service etcd3' to my local.conf file and run 'stack.sh' again.

This cleared the 'devstack@etcd.service' error but introduced a 'keystone did not start' error.

After spending hours and hours down rabbit holes, after a brainstorming session with a friend, we suspected that the IP address could be the problem.

I had set my HOST_IP as my computer's IP address. I was reinstalling DevStack using a different network and there was a possibility that it could be picking the wrong IP address.

Initially, I tried to include my ISP's router IP address, but it didn't help.

Home run

I eventually changed my HOST_IP to 127.0.0.1 and passed it to the SERVICE_HOST.

I also added enabled Horizon in my local.conf 'ENABLED_SERVICES+=,horizon'

I then rerun 'stack.sh' and everything worked!!!!

Final thoughts

Debugging DevStack can be challenging. What are the bugs you've encountered? Feel free to share in the comments.