There are two ways to try out OpenStack with minimal footprint. The first option is an all-in-one installation called DevStack, https://docs.openstack.org/developer/devstack/#all-in-one-single-vm. It consists of cloning the DevStack Git repository a series of tools and scripts to enable a OpenStack in an all-in-one environment.
DevStack will run as root and substantially make changes to your system. Therefore, it is best to run it on a server or a virtual machine that you can dedicate to this purpose.
The second option is to use a cloud-based sandbox called TryStack, http://trystack.org/. The account is free but the process is somewhat manual at this time. Also, the project is made possible by the generosity of companies ...
