Choose a Web Dashboard

OpenStack provides two supported web dashboards: Horizon (the original Django-based dashboard) and Skyline (a newer Vue.js + FastAPI dashboard). Both interact with OpenStack APIs — they do not add capabilities, only UI.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Horizon	Skyline
Maturity	Very mature — production since 2012, every OpenStack release	Newer — contributed to OpenStack in Wallaby (2021), production-ready since Zed
Frontend framework	Django + Mako templates (server-side rendering)	Vue.js 3 (single-page application)
Backend framework	Django (Python)	FastAPI (Python, async)
Architecture	Monolithic (all-in-one Django app)	Decoupled (Skyline-apiserver + Skyline-console)
Plugin ecosystem	Large — Nova, Neutron, Cinder, Glance, Heat, Magnum, Octavia, Barbican, Masakari, and more via horizon plugins	Growing — core services (Nova, Neutron, Cinder, Glance) plus expanding plugins
Service coverage	Complete — all OpenStack services with mature plugins	Core services well covered; some advanced services (Barbican, Masakari, Heat complex flows) still maturing
Performance	Heavier — full page loads for most actions	Lighter — SPA with async API calls, faster perceived performance
Customization	Extensive — custom panels, branding, Django settings, SCSS	Moderate — component-level theming, config-driven branding
Mobile responsiveness	Partial (not designed for mobile)	Better (SPA architecture handles responsive design more naturally)
Multi-domain support	Yes	Yes
Multi-region support	Yes (switchable endpoints)	Yes
i18n / localization	Yes (many languages)	Yes (growing)
Accessibility (a11y)	Partial	Partial
Container-friendly	Yes (runs in Docker/K8s)	Yes (designed container-first)
Deployment complexity	Simple (wsgi behind Apache/Nginx)	Simple (Docker or systemd for both components)
Community direction	Actively maintained, stable	Active development, growing community focus

Recommendation by Use Case

Established Production Cloud, Full Service Coverage Needed

Use Horizon. If your cloud runs Heat, Magnum, Octavia, Barbican, or other services beyond the core, Horizon's plugin ecosystem covers them all. It is battle-tested across every OpenStack release.

New Cloud, Core Services Only

Use Skyline. For clouds running Nova, Neutron, Cinder, and Glance, Skyline offers a better user experience — faster, more modern UI — with lower frontend rendering overhead. It is the recommended choice for new deployments where service coverage is not a constraint.

Public or Self-Service Cloud with Many End Users

Consider Skyline. The SPA architecture gives faster navigation and a more app-like feel, which matters for self-service portals used by non-technical users.

Clouds with Custom Branding or White-labeling

Use Horizon. Django's settings.py and the local_settings.py override mechanism provide deep customization of themes, logos, default panels, and custom panels per project/domain.

Both Dashboards in Parallel

Both can coexist. They talk to the same Keystone endpoint and the same APIs. Running both on different URLs is a valid way to evaluate Skyline before committing to migration.

Horizon Deployment

Package Installation

# Ubuntu
apt install openstack-dashboard

# Rocky Linux / RHEL
dnf install openstack-dashboard

Key Configuration File

# /etc/openstack-dashboard/local_settings.py (Ubuntu)
# /etc/openstack-dashboard/local_settings   (RHEL)

OPENSTACK_HOST = "controller"
OPENSTACK_KEYSTONE_URL = "http://%s:5000/v3" % OPENSTACK_HOST
OPENSTACK_KEYSTONE_MULTIDOMAIN_SUPPORT = True
OPENSTACK_API_VERSIONS = {
    "identity": 3,
    "image": 2,
    "volume": 3,
}
OPENSTACK_KEYSTONE_DEFAULT_DOMAIN = "Default"
OPENSTACK_KEYSTONE_DEFAULT_ROLE = "member"
SESSION_ENGINE = "django.contrib.sessions.backends.cache"
CACHES = {
    "default": {
        "BACKEND": "django.core.cache.backends.memcached.PyMemcacheCache",
        "LOCATION": "controller:11211",
    }
}

Start / Restart

systemctl restart apache2   # Ubuntu
systemctl restart httpd     # RHEL

Verify

# Check the wsgi process
ps aux | grep wsgi
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost/dashboard/
# Should return 200 or 302

Skyline Deployment

Skyline consists of two components: skyline-apiserver and skyline-console.

Docker Compose (Recommended for Evaluation)

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  skyline:
    image: quay.io/openstack.kolla/skyline-apiserver:2025.1-ubuntu-jammy
    volumes:
      - ./skyline.yaml:/etc/skyline/skyline.yaml:ro
    ports:
      - "9999:9999"
    restart: unless-stopped

Configuration File

# /etc/skyline/skyline.yaml
default:
  database_url: sqlite:////var/lib/skyline/skyline.db  # or MySQL
  debug: false
  log_dir: /var/log/skyline

openstack:
  keystone_url: http://controller:5000/v3
  default_region: RegionOne
  system_user_name: skyline
  system_user_password: <PASSWORD>
  system_user_domain: Default
  system_project: service
  system_project_domain: Default
  interface_type: public  # or internal

nginx:
  # Skyline-console is served by nginx inside the container

Database Initialization

# Initialize the Skyline database
skyline-db-init

# Or inside the container
docker exec skyline skyline-db-init

Keystone Setup for Skyline

# Create Skyline system user
openstack user create --domain Default --password <PASSWORD> skyline
openstack role add --project service --user skyline admin

# Skyline needs system-scoped reader for some admin views
openstack role add --user skyline --system all reader

Verify

# Health check
curl -s http://localhost:9999/api/openstack/skyline/api/v1/login \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"region": "RegionOne", "username": "admin", "password": "<PASS>", "domain": "Default"}'

Common Operations

# Horizon — collect static files after config change
cd /usr/share/openstack-dashboard
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
python manage.py compress --force
systemctl restart apache2

# Horizon — list installed plugins
pip show openstack-dashboard | grep -i location
ls /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/openstack_dashboard/contrib/

# Skyline — check API server logs
journalctl -u skyline-apiserver --since "10 minutes ago"
# or
docker logs skyline 2>&1 | tail -50