Hybridfox: Elasticfox for Eucalyptus

Elasticfox allows users to manage their Amazon EC2 accounts through a Firefox add-on.  Launching new instances, mounting Elastic Block Storage volumes, and mapping Elastic IP addresses are some of the main utilities provided by Elasticfox.  However, the latest version of Elasticfox, version 1.7, adds Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) functionality, which breaks its compatibility with Eucalyptus.  A new piece of software called Hybridfox aims to deliver solid compatibility between Amazon's public cloud and Eucalyptus' private cloud capabilities.

One tool, two cloud accounts.  That's the idea behind Hybridfox.  Even though Eucalyptus 1.6.1 claims to work with Elasticfox 1.7 out of box, Hybridfox will be more focused on supporting every feature of Eucalyptus without breaking EC2 compatibility.  Hybridfox is defined as a modified or extended Elasticfox.  The tool strives to provide seamless switching between an Amazon account and a Eucalyptus.  Basically, Hybridfox is focused on providing all of the Elasticfox functionality in the Eucalyptus environment.  Hybridfox uses Elasticfox 1.6, which worked pretty well with Eucalyptus, however, it's not available for direct download any more.  You'll have to build Elasticfox 1.6 from Subversion if you really want it.  Here's what Hybridfox can do:

• Manage Images
• Raise and Stop Instances
• Manage Instances
• Manage Elastic IPs
• Manage Security Groups
• Manage Keypairs
• Manage Elastic Block Storage

Elasticfox Interface


To give Hybridfox a test-drive, download the xpi file and follow this process:

1. Define a Region:  Click on Regions in the Popup dialog, specify a name, and give EC2_URL as the Endpoint URL.

2. Define Credentials:  Click on Credentials in the Popup dialog, specify a name, and give EC2_ACCESS_KEY and EC2_SECRET_KEY as the AWS Access Key and AWS Secret Access Key respectively.

3. Define Key Pairs: Click on the KeyPairs tab, followed by 'create a new keypair' in the Popup dialog.  It says, "Please provide a key pair name."   Enter a name and it prompts you for a location to save the ID file.

4. Define Security Groups:  Click on Security Groups in the Popup dialog and specify the Group name, then enter the description and click on create button.

5. Image:  Click on Image and then right-click on ami-id to Launch instance(s).

6. Launch a new instance:  Right click on launch instance(s).  A Popup dialog says you must select or enter AKI ID, AMI ID, Minimum and Maxiumum number of instances, and Security Group to be launched respectively.

7. Manage Instances:  Click on Instances and you can view the newly launched instance details.

8. ElasticIPs:  Click on ElasticIPs to find Associate IP addresses with Instances IDs

9. Volume and Snapshot:  Click on Volume and Snapshot to create a volume for the instance.

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You can find the Hybridfox source code on the project page.  You can also comment or contribute by going to Hybridfox's project home.