instances, inst
Commands that act on one instance take its ID either as a positional argument or with --id. If you omit it, the CLI opens an interactive picker, so always pass it in scripts.
Subcommands
- list — List instances
- get — Get instance details
- create — Create a new instance
- update — Update an existing instance
- delete — Delete an instance
- start — Start an instance
- stop — Stop an instance
- reboot — Reboot an instance
- snapshot — Create a snapshot from an instance
- ssh — Open an SSH session to an instance
- sshkey — Get an instance’s SSH key
- consoleoutput — Get instance console output
- consolesession — Get a VNC console session URL
list
List compute instances, optionally filtered by organization, project, network, or region.Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Organization ID | |
| Project ID | |
| Network ID | |
| Region ID | |
Emit the full JSON payload (mutually exclusive with -q) | |
jq filter for value extraction (see Query output with -q) |
Example
get
Get details for a specific instance.Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Instance ID | |
| Organization ID | |
Emit the full JSON payload (mutually exclusive with -q) | |
jq filter for value extraction (see Query output with -q) |
create
Create a new compute instance. Accepts input from a JSON file or stdin; with neither, the CLI prompts for the instance details. Optionally supply a cloud-init configuration or bind an SSH certificate authority.Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Path to a JSON file | |
| Read JSON from standard input | |
| Path to a cloud-init YAML file | |
| SSH certificate authority ID to bind (pass empty string to clear) | |
| Preview actions and payload without persisting | |
| Automatically confirm creation | |
Emit the full JSON payload (mutually exclusive with -q) | |
jq filter for value extraction (see Query output with -q) |
Examples
update
Update an existing instance. Accepts input from a JSON file or stdin; with neither, the CLI prompts for the fields to change. You can update the description and other mutable fields, but the instance name is immutable — it cannot be changed after creation.Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Instance ID | |
| Organization ID | |
| Path to a JSON file | |
| Read JSON from standard input | |
| SSH certificate authority ID to bind (pass empty string to clear) | |
| Preview actions and payload without persisting | |
| Automatically confirm update | |
Emit the full JSON payload (mutually exclusive with -q) | |
jq filter for value extraction (see Query output with -q) |
Examples
delete
Delete an existing instance.Flags
start
Start a stopped instance.Flags
stop
Stop a running instance.Flags
reboot
Reboot an instance. Use--hard for a hard reboot.
Flags
snapshot
Create an image snapshot from an instance. Accepts input from a JSON file or stdin; with neither, the CLI prompts for the snapshot name and description.Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Instance ID | |
| Organization ID | |
| Path to a JSON file | |
| Read JSON from standard input | |
| Preview actions and payload without persisting | |
| Automatically confirm snapshot | |
Emit the full JSON payload (mutually exclusive with -q) | |
jq filter for value extraction (see Query output with -q) |
Examples
ssh
Open an interactive SSH session to an instance using the system SSH client.Flags
Examples
sshkey
Get the SSH key for an instance.Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Instance ID | |
| Organization ID | |
Emit the full JSON payload (mutually exclusive with -q) | |
jq filter for value extraction (see Query output with -q) |
consoleoutput
Retrieve the serial console output of an instance.Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| Instance ID | |
| Organization ID | |
| Output length in bytes (0 uses API default) | |
Emit the full JSON payload (mutually exclusive with -q) | |
jq filter for value extraction (see Query output with -q) |
consolesession
Get a VNC console session URL for an instance.Flags
Related
Instances (Console)
Create and manage instances via the Console UI.
Custom Images
Upload and use custom OS images for instances.