Creating an Instance

Navigate to the compute instances page and start the Create Instance workflow.

1. Open the navigation menu and select Compute. Under Compute, select Instances.
2. Select Create instance.
3. Enter the Name and select the compartment from Create in compartment.

   You can add or change the name later. The name doesn't need to be unique, because an Oracle Cloud Identifier (OCID) uniquely identifies the instance.

4. In the Placement section:
   • Select the Availability domain.
   • (Optional) Select a capacity type, turn on cluster placement group, or specify a fault domain, select Show advanced options. For more information, see Define instance details.
5. In the Image and shape section:
   • Under Image, select an Oracle Linux image for the instance. By default, an Oracle Linux image is used to boot the instance. To select a different Oracle Linux image or a boot volume, select Change image. For more information, see Selecting an image, Oracle-provided images, and Marketplace images.
   • Under Shape, select a shape for the instance. By default, the shape is an AMD virtual machine. To select a different shape or change the configuration of the default shape, select Change shape. For more information, see Selecting a shape.
   • (Optional) Select Show advanced options to configure the following for the instance:
     • Management - instance metadata service, initialization script, tagging, and security attributes
     • Availability - live migration options
     • Oracle Cloud Agent - plugins to run on the instance By default, Custom Logs Monitoring, Compute Instance Run Command, Compute Instance Monitoring, and Cloud Guard Workload Protection are selected.

     For more information, see configuring advanced options and live migration.

6. Click Next.

Enable either shielded instances or confidential computing but not both.

1. (Optional) Enable Shielded instance.
2. (Optional) Enable Confidential computing.
3. Click Next.

Configure a virtual network interface card (VNIC) using a virtual cloud network (VCN). You have the option of creating a new VCN or using an existing one; however, to have the full range of options, we recommend that you create a VCN before creating an instance.

If you're unsure of your networking needs, review:

• Networking Scenarios
• Configure Primary VNIC
• Configure Primary IP Address
• Configure Advanced Network Settings

To configure a VNIC and optionally add SSH keys, complete the following steps:

1. Enter a VNIC name.
2. For the Primary network select one of the following options:
   • Select existing virtual cloud network

     Use this option if you already have a VCN. Select the VCN compartment and the VCN name from the lists.

   • Create new virtual cloud network

     Use this option if you don't have an existing VCN or don't want to use an existing one. Enter a name for the new VCN and select a compartment for it.

3. For the Subnet select one of the following options:
   • Select existing subnet

     Use this option if you already have a subnet. Select the subnet compartment and subnet name from the lists.

   • Create new public subnet

     Use this option if you created a new VCN in the previous step or if you want a new subnet for an existing VCN. Enter a name for the new subnet, select a compartment for it, and enter a CIDR block.

4. In the Primary VNIC IP addresses section:
   • If you created a new public subnet in the previous step, the private and public IPv4 addresses are automatically assigned.
   • If you're using an existing subnet:
     • For Private IPv4 address, select Automatically assign or Manually assign. For the manually assign option, enter an IP address.
     • For Public IPv4 address, leave the default option which assigns a public IP address. Or, clear the default option if you don't need a public IP address. If you're unsure, you can always assign one later, if needed.
     • For IPv6 addresses, you must enable IPv6 addressing on the VCN and subnet before you can assign IPv6 addresses to the instance.
   • (Optional) Expand Advanced Options and configure any of the following:
     • Use network security groups to control traffic: Select this option to add the instance's primary VNIC to one or more network security groups (NSGs).
     • DNS record: Select whether to assign the VNIC a private DNS record. See DNS in Your Virtual Cloud Network.
     • Launch options: Select the networking launch type.
5. In the Add SSH Keys section, select one of the following options:
   • Generate a key pair for me - select Download private key and Download public key to save the key pair locally.
   • Upload public key file (.pub) - select or drop the public key in the SSH public key field.
   • Paste public key - copy an existing public key and paste it in the SSH public key field.
   • No SSH keys - If you don't provide SSH keys, you can't connect to the instance using SSH.

   For more information, see Add SSH Keys or Managing Key Pairs on Linux Instances.

6. Click Next.

Configure boot and block volumes.

1. (Optional) In the Boot Volume section, configure the size and encryption options for the instance's boot volume:
   • Enable Specify a custom boot volume size and keep the default values which provides balanced performance or change them for your performance needs.
   • By default, Use in-transit encryption is enabled. Disable if you don't want to encrypt data.
   • Enable Encrypt this volume with a key that you manage to use an existing key.
   For more information, see Configure Boot Volume.
2. (Optional) In the Block Volume section, select Attach block volume to open the panel.
   1. For Volume, select a volume from a compartment, create a volume, or enter a volume OCID.
   2. Decide on the Attachment type. By default, the recommended attachment type is ISCSI. Optionally, select a device path for the block volume.
   3. Select an Access type option of Read/write, Read/write, shareable, or Read only, shareable.
   4. Select Attach.

   For more information, see Attach Block Volumes.

3. Select Next.

Review the instance configuration and do one of the following:

• If you're satisfied with the configuration, select Create. The instance's detail page is created and its status displays Provisioning. To track the progress of the operation and troubleshoot errors that occur during instance creation, use the associated work request.
• To return to any section and make changes, select Previous.
• To stop the create instance workflow, select Cancel.
• To create a stack that you can use to install, configure, and manage the compute instance through the "infrastructure-as-code" model, select Save as stack. For more information, see Creating a Stack from a Resource Creation Page.