How to rename an instance / server in OpenStack

How to rename a VM, instance or server in OpenStack? After you create an instance in OpenStack, you can modify its name in the running state. True if the service running in the VM was changed and the name needs to be updated to reflect the name.

The instance / VM name in OpenStack can be modified in the CLI or Horizon dashboard.

Change / rename instance in OpenStack CLI

Get the current instance name:

$ openstack server list
+--------------------------------------+-------------------+---------+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| ID                                   | Name              | Status  | Networks                          | Image     | Flavor    |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------+---------+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| d3ae9771-3a95-466d-a1ef-656ee2bb8456 | fed30             | ACTIVE  | private=10.10.1.191               | Fedora-31 | m1.small  |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------+---------+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+

Set a new instance name:

$ openstack server set --name fed31  d3ae9771-3a95-466d-a1ef-656ee2bb8456

Confirm that the new name is set:

$ openstack server list
+--------------------------------------+-------------------+---------+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| ID                                   | Name              | Status  | Networks                          | Image     | Flavor    |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------+---------+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| d3ae9771-3a95-466d-a1ef-656ee2bb8456 | fed31             | ACTIVE  | private=10.10.1.191               | Fedora-31 | m1.small  |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------+---------+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+