Terminating an Instance
You can permanently delete (terminate) instances that you no longer need. Any attached VNICs and volumes are automatically detached when the instance terminates. Eventually, the instance's public and private IP addresses are released and become available for other instances.
By default, the instance's boot volume is preserved when you terminate the instance. You can attach the boot volume to a different instance as a data volume, or use it to launch a new instance. If you no longer need the boot volume, you can permanently delete it at the same time that you terminate the instance.
If your instance has NVMe storage, terminating the instance securely erases the NVMe drives. Any data that was on the NVMe drives becomes unrecoverable. Ensure that you back up any important data before you terminate an instance. For more information, see Protecting Data on NVMe Devices.
Required IAM Policy
To use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you must be granted security access in a policy by an administrator. This access is required whether you're using the Console or the REST API with an SDK, CLI, or other tool. If you get a message that you don’t have permission or are unauthorized, verify with your administrator what type of access you have and which compartment to work in.
For administrators: The policy in Let users launch compute instances includes the ability to terminate an instance (with or without an attached block volume).
Using the Console
- Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under Compute, click Instances.
- Click the instance that you're interested in.
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Click Terminate.
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If you want to delete the boot volume that is associated with the instance, select the Permanently delete the attached boot volume check box.
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Click Terminate instance.
The instance is deleted. The record remains visible in the list of instances with the state Terminated for at least 12 hours, but no further action is needed.
Using the API
For information about using the API and signing requests, see REST APIs and Security Credentials. For information about SDKs, see Software Development Kits and Command Line Interface.
Use the TerminateInstance operation to terminate an instance.