Skip to main content

OpenStack Horizon

OpenStack Horizon is the web-based dashboard (cloud management UI) for OpenStack, providing graphical access to OpenStack services for administering and using cloud resources.

  • Web-based graphical dashboard for OpenStack cloud environments (cloud management UI)
  • Interface for managing compute instances, volumes, and snapshots (infrastructure management)
  • Support for managing projects, users, and roles when integrated with OpenStack Identity service (identity and access management)
  • Panels for configuring networking resources such as networks, subnets, and routers via OpenStack Networking (network configuration)
  • Extensible plugin framework for adding panels and dashboards for additional OpenStack services (platform extensibility)

More About OpenStack Horizon

OpenStack Horizon is the official web-based dashboard (cloud management UI) for OpenStack, designed to provide administrators and end users with a browser-based interface to interact with OpenStack services. It addresses the need for a consolidated graphical portal over the OpenStack APIs, reducing reliance on command-line tools for common cloud operations.

Horizon runs as a Django-based web application (web framework integration) that communicates with core OpenStack services through their public APIs. Through this interface, users can manage compute resources via the OpenStack Compute service (compute management), including launching instances, assigning flavors, attaching key pairs, and managing security groups. Storage operations are available through integration with OpenStack Block Storage and Object Storage services (storage management), enabling volume creation and attachment, snapshot management, and object container and object browsing where configured.

The dashboard provides views for configuring networking resources through OpenStack Networking (network management), including creating and managing networks, subnets, routers, floating Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and security group rules where supported by the deployment. Horizon also exposes project and user scoping based on OpenStack Identity service (identity and access management), so users see only the projects and resources authorized by their roles and domains. Administrators can use Horizon for project quotas, user assignments, and basic service configuration exposed through the APIs.

From an architectural perspective, Horizon is built as a modular dashboard composed of pluggable dashboards, panels, and workflows (UI extensibility). Each OpenStack service can contribute its own panels, and operators or vendors can add custom dashboards for additional services or operational tools. Configuration is driven through Python settings and policy files that map to OpenStack policy definitions, allowing Horizon to enforce API-level access rules in the user interface.

In enterprise and institutional environments, Horizon is typically deployed as part of the OpenStack control plane, accessible over HTTPS and often integrated with Single Sign-On (SSO) or external identity providers via the underlying Keystone configuration (enterprise access integration). It provides a consistent entry point for self-service provisioning, day-to-day management of instances and networks, and basic monitoring of resource usage and quotas. For organizations, Horizon serves as the primary graphical console in the OpenStack ecosystem and can be positioned in a directory under categories such as cloud management platforms, infrastructure self-service portals, and OpenStack administration tools.