You can connect to a running Linux instance by using a Secure Shell (SSH) connection.
Important
Alternatively, for advanced control of the boot process or OS troubleshooting, you can use the serial console to connect to an instance. For details, see
Current versions of Windows, MacOS, and Linux include an OpenSSH client by default. (Windows has included the OpenSSH client since Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019.) When you create an instance, OCI
Compute generates OpenSSH keys for you. You download the keys and use them to connect to your instance.
Important
SSH keys required: To connect to your instance with SSH, you must have SSH keys.
If you lost your SSH keys, terminate the instance and create a new instance using the SSH keys provided or SSH keys you generated. See Managing Key Pairs on Linux Instances.
You must have the following information to connect to a Linux instance:
Public IP address for an instance: Use the public IP address assigned when you created the instance. If you didn't note the address, get the address from the Instance Details page:
Open the navigation menu and select Compute. Under Compute, select Instances.
Select your instance.
Look at the Instance access section. If a public IP address is assigned, the address will be labeled: Public access IP address.
Username: The username used to connect to the Linux instance. Default users names are assigned based on the Linux distribution used.
For Oracle Linux or Redhat Enterprise Linux compatible platform images the username is opc.
For Ubuntu platform images to create the instance, the username is ubuntu.
SSH private key: The full path to the private key file from the SSH key pair used to create the instance. For more information about key pairs, see Managing Key Pairs on Linux Instances.
Connecting to a Linux Instance from a Windows System Using OpenSSH 🔗
Using the OCI generated key pair or your own generated key pair used to create the instance, connect to the Linux instance.
Set the Permissions for the Private Key File
Set the file permissions for the private key file so that only the current user has read-only access. Do the following:
Locate the SSH key files you created by or created for your instance.
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the private key file, right-click the file.
Select Properties.
On the Security tab, select Advanced.
On the Permissions tab, for Permission entries, under Principal, ensure that your user account is listed.
Select Disable Inheritance, and then select Convert inherited permissions into explicit permissions on this object.
For Permission entries, select each permission entry that isn't your user account and select Remove.
Ensure that the access permission for your user account is Full control.
Save your changes.
Connect to the Instance with PowerShell
Next, connect to the instance with PowerShell.
Open Windows PowerShell and run the following command:
<private_key_file> is the full path and name of the .key file that contains the private key associated with the instance you want to access.
<username> is the default username for the instance. For Oracle Linux and Redhat Enterprise Linux compatible images, the default username is opc. For Ubuntu images, the default username is ubuntu.
<public-ip-address> is the instance's IP address that you retrieved from the Console.
If you're connecting to this instance for the first time, you need to accept the fingerprint of the key. To accept the fingerprint, type yes and press Enter.
You are connected to the default shell for the instance.
When you have finished your session, type exit at the shell prompt to end the session.
If you are using an older version of the Windows operating system, you can use PuTTY to create keys and connect to a Linux instance. For details on connecting to a Linux instance with PuTTY, see Connecting to a Linux Instance from a Windows System Using PuTTY.
<private_key_file> is the full path and name of the file that contains the private key associated with the instance you want to access.
<username> is the default username for the instance. For Oracle Linux and Redhat Enterprise Linux compatible images, the default username is opc. For Ubuntu images, the default username is ubuntu.
<public-ip-address> is the instance's IP address that you retrieved from the Console.
If you're connecting to this instance for the first time, you need to accept the fingerprint of the key. To accept the fingerprint, type yes and press Enter.
You are connected to the default shell for the instance.
When you have finished your session, type exit at the shell prompt to end the session.
Connecting from macOS Ventura using OpenSSH 9.0: If you connect to an instance from a client running macOS Ventura (version 13) or a client running OpenSSH 9.0, you might encounter a connection issue. For more information and a workaround, see the known issue SSH connection issues with macOS Ventura using OpenSSH 9.0.