Connecting to a Windows Instance

You connect to a Windows instance by using a Remote Desktop connection. Most Windows systems include a Remote Desktop client by default.

For troubleshooting suggestions, see Connecting to an Instance. For permissions, see Required IAM Policy for Working with Instances.

Before You Begin

You must have the following information to connect to a Windows instance:

  • Public IP address: The public IP address of the instance. You can get the address from the Instance Details page in the Console. Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under Compute, click Instances. Then, select your instance. Alternatively, you can use the Core Services API ListVnicAttachments and GetVnic operations.
  • Username: The default username for the instance. If you used a Windows platform image to create the instance, the username is opc.
  • Initial password: If you are connecting to the instance for the first time, then you must have the initial password for the instance. You can get the initial password from the Instance Details page in the Console.

Enable RDP access: To use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to access a Windows instance, you need to add a stateful ingress security rule for TCP traffic on destination port 3389 from source 0.0.0.0/0 and any source port. You can implement this security rule in either a network security group that the Windows instance belongs to, or a security list that is used by the instance's subnet.

  • Option 1 - Add a rule to a network security group:

    1. Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under Compute, click Instances.
    2. Click the instance that you're interested in.
    3. Under Instance details, for Virtual cloud network, click the name of the cloud network.
    4. Add the rule to a network security group that the instance belongs to:

      1. Under Resources, click Network Security Groups.
      2. Click the network security group to add the rule to.
      3. Click Add Rules.
      4. Enter the following values for the rule:

        • Stateless: Leave the check box cleared.
        • Direction: Ingress
        • Source Type: CIDR
        • Source CIDR: 0.0.0.0/0
        • IP Protocol: RDP (TCP/3389)
        • Source Port Range: All
        • Destination Port Range: 3389
        • Description: An optional description of the rule.
      5. Click Add.
    5. Return to the Instance details page: Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under Compute, click Instances. Click the instance.
    6. In the Primary VNIC section, for Network security groups, click Edit.
    7. In the Network security group list, select the network security group that you edited. Then click Save changes.
  • Option 2 - Add a rule to a security list used by the instance's subnet:

    1. Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under Compute, click Instances.
    2. Click the instance that you're interested in.
    3. In the Primary VNIC section, for Subnet, click the name of the subnet. The Subnet Details page opens.
    4. To add the rule to a security list that is used by the instance's subnet:

      1. Under Resources, click Security Lists.
      2. Click the security list that you're interested in.
      3. Click Add Ingress Rules.
      4. Enter the following values for the rule:

        • Stateless: Leave the check box cleared.
        • Source Type: CIDR
        • Source CIDR: 0.0.0.0/0
        • IP Protocol: RDP (TCP/3389)
        • Source Port Range: All
        • Destination Port Range: 3389
        • Description: An optional description of the rule.
      5. Click Add Ingress Rules.

Connecting to a Windows Instance from a Remote Desktop Client

Ensure that the instance meets the criteria for connecting to a Windows instance listed in the Before You Begin section before performing the following steps.

  1. Open the Remote Desktop client.
  2. In the Computer field, enter the public IP address of the instance. You can get the instance's public IP address from the Console.
  3. The User name is opc. Depending on the Remote Desktop client you are using, you might have to connect to the instance before you can enter this credential.
  4. Click Connect to start the session.
  5. Accept the certificate if you are prompted to do so.
  6. If you are connecting to the instance for the first time, enter the initial password that was provided to you by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure when you created the instance. You can get the instance's initial password from the Console. You will be prompted to change the password as soon as you log in. Your new password must be at least 12 characters long and must comply with Microsoft's password policy.

    Otherwise, enter the password that you created. If you are using a custom image, you might need to know the password for the instance that the image was created from. For details about Windows custom images, see Creating Windows Custom Images.

  7. Press Enter.
Note

If you fail to connect to the Windows instance, try rebooting the instance as detailed in Stopping, Starting, or Restarting an Instance.

Connecting to a Windows Instance Using PowerShell

You can connect to a Windows instance from within PowerShell and open the authentication window directly with no RDP client configuration required.

Ensure that the instance meets the criteria for connecting to a Windows instance listed in the Before You Begin section before performing the following steps.

  1. Open a PowerShell terminal.
  2. At the command prompt, type Start-Process mstsc /v:<Windows_instance_IP_address>.
  3. Press Enter to display the authentication window.
Note

If you fail to connect to the Windows instance, try rebooting the instance as detailed in Stopping, Starting, or Restarting an Instance.