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    Cloud Phone:Create and manage instances

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    Cloud Phone:Create and manage instances

    Last Updated:Feb 05, 2026

    This topic describes how to create Cloud Phone instances and perform common management tasks, such as installing applications, assigning instances to users, and managing instance states.

    Create an instance

    Prerequisites

    Before you begin, ensure that you have:

    Procedure

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, click Create Instance.

    4. In the Create Instance dialog box, configure the following parameters, then click Create Now.

      Parameter

      Description

      Example

      Method

      Select one of the following options:

      • Use Existing Instance Group

      • Create New Instance Group

        If you select this option, click Create Now to go to the instance group creation page.

      Use Existing Instance Group

      Instance Group

      This parameter is available only when you select Use Existing Instance Group. Select an existing instance group.

      DemoGroup

      Instance Quantity

      This parameter is available only when you select Use Existing Instance Group. Enter the number of instances to create.

      1

    5. Complete one of the following actions based on your selection:

      • If you selected Create New Instance Group, you are redirected to the instance group creation page. Complete the group creation. For more information, see Create an instance group.

      • If you selected Use Existing Instance Group, you are redirected to the scale-up page. Complete the scale-up operation. For more information, see Scale up an instance group.

      You can view the latest instance status on the Instance page.

    Manage instance views

    The Instance page supports both list view and card view. You can switch between views based on your preferences.

    • List view

      List view is the default view. To customize column visibility and order:

      1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

      2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

      3. In the upper-right corner of the Instance page, click the icon.

      4. In the Custom dialog box, drag and drop columns to adjust their visibility and order. Drag columns to the right panel to hide them.

        db_custom_view

        Note

        The visibility settings apply to both the console page and exported instance information files.

      5. Click Confirm.

    • Card view

      Click Card View in the upper-right corner of the Instance page to switch from list view to card view. In card view, you can preview real-time screens of instances in the Available state.

      In card view, click Portrait/Landscape Mode in the upper-right corner to toggle the card display style between portrait and landscape.

    Find instances

    When you have many instances, use the following methods to find target instances.

    Method 2: Use column filters

    In list view, some column headers support filtering. Click the icon next to a column header and select a value.

    Method 3: Use tag filters

    Background

    As the number of instances grows, you can use tags in addition to instance names to identify and categorize instances. Bind tags to instances with similar management requirements, then filter by tags for bulk operations. Each instance supports up to 20 tags. For example:

    Dimension

    Tag key

    Tag value

    Organization

    department

    Department name, such as MD or FD

    Business

    project

    Project name, such as projectA or projectB

    Role

    position

    Position name, such as designer or programmer

    Tag usage notes:

    • Tags consist of key-value pairs. Each instance can have only one value per tag key. For example, if you bind department:MD and later bind department:FD, the department:MD tag is automatically unbound.

    • If a tag is unbound from all resources, it is automatically deleted.

    Bind tags to instances

    You can bind tags when creating an instance group, or bind tags after the group is created. The following steps describe how to bind tags after instance group creation.

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, perform one of the following actions:

      • Single instance: Find the target instance and click Edit in the Tag column.

      • Multiple instances: Select multiple instances, then choose More > Add Tag at the bottom of the page.

    4. In the Edit tag dialog box, select or enter a new tag key and value, then click Confirm.

    Filter instances by tags

    After binding tags, filter instances by tags to quickly find instances that meet your criteria.

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, click Tag filtering next to the search box.

    4. In the panel that appears, select or enter the tag key and value for filtering, then click Confirm.

      Note

      You can specify only the tag key without a value. In this case, all instances bound to that tag key are returned.

    Install applications on instances

    Install applications that you created in the console to specified instances.

    Prerequisites

    Before you begin, ensure that you have:

    Procedure

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, perform one of the following actions:

      • Single instance: Find the target instance and choose Install Application in the Actions column.

      • Multiple instances: Select multiple instances, then choose More > Install Application at the bottom of the page.

        Note

        For bulk operations, you can select up to 1,000 instances at a time.

    4. In the Install Application panel, select one or more applications from the application list, click OK, then click OK again in the confirmation dialog box.

      Note

      If an instance already has the same application installed, the new version overwrites the existing version.

      You can view task progress on the Task Center page.

    Next steps

    • To uninstall applications, click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, select Uninstall Application, choose the applications to uninstall, then click OK.

    • To control application states, click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, and select Start Application, Restart Application, or Stop Application.

    Assign instances to users

    After you assign instances to users, they can connect to and use Cloud Phone through the Alibaba Cloud Workspace client.

    Prerequisites

    Before you begin, ensure that you have:

    • Convenience accounts created in the Elastic Desktop Service (EDS) Enterprise console. Cloud Phone uses the same convenience account system as EDS. For more information, see Create a convenience account.

    Procedure

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, perform one of the following actions:

      • Single instance: Find the target instance, click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, and select Assign to User.

      • Multiple instances: Select multiple instances and choose More > Assign to User at the bottom of the page.

    4. In the Assign to User panel, select a user from the Available Users area and click OK.

      Note

      If no users are available, click Create Now to create convenience accounts in the EDS Enterprise console.

    Unassign instances from users

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, find the target instance, click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, select Unassign, then click OK in the confirmation dialog box.

    Manage instance states

    Manage Cloud Phone instance states just like you would manage a regular phone, including powering on, powering off, and restarting.

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, perform one of the following actions:

      • Single instance: Find the target instance, click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, select Start, Restart, or Stop, then click OK in the confirmation dialog box.

      • Multiple instances: Select multiple instances and click Start, Restart, or Stop at the bottom of the page.

      Important

      If you select Restart or Stop, you can enable force restart or force stop. When the instance cannot restart or stop normally due to system or network issues, the operation is forcibly performed. This may cause unsaved data to be lost.

      You can view task progress on the Task Center page.

    Run remote commands

    Run commands directly on specified Cloud Phone instances through the remote command panel.

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, perform one of the following actions:

      • Single instance: Find the target instance and click Remote Command in the Actions column.

      • Multiple instances: Select multiple instances and choose More > Remote Command at the bottom of the page.

        Note

        For bulk operations, you can select up to 1,000 instances at a time.

    4. In the Remote Command panel, set the command timeout (default: 60 seconds, range: 10-3,600 seconds), enter the command in the Command Content text box, then click Execute.

      The command output is displayed in the Command Output text box.

    5. (Optional) Repeat the previous step to run additional commands.

    Connect to instances

    Connect to instances in the console to view their runtime environment. For information about how end users connect to Cloud Phone instances, see End user guide.

    Connect via console

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, find the target instance and click Connect in the Actions column.

    4. In the Cloud Phone preview panel, view and operate the instance.

      Note

      Right-click on the Cloud Phone screen to return to the previous interface.

      db_connect

    Connect via SSH

    Cloud Phone supports SSH connections.

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, find the target instance and perform one of the following actions:

      • Click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, and select SSH. The SSH connection page opens in a new browser tab.

      • Click Connect in the Actions column, then click SSH on the right side of the Cloud Phone preview panel.

        The SSH connection page opens within the preview panel. To open it in a separate tab, click Establish SSH Session in New Tab in the upper-right corner of the panel.

    Reset instances

    Reset instances to restore them to their initial state.

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, perform one of the following actions:

      • Single instance: Find the target instance, click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, and select Reset.

      • Multiple instances: Select multiple instances and choose More > Reset at the bottom of the page.

    4. In the confirmation dialog box, click Confirm and Reset.

      Warning

      Resetting an instance erases all personal data, applications, and custom settings. This operation cannot be undone. Back up important data before proceeding.

    Export instance information

    Export instance details to a local file for offline analysis. You can export all instances, filtered results, or selected instances.

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. In the upper-right corner of the Instance page, click the icon.

    4. In the export dialog box, select one of the following options:

      • All: Export information for all instances.

      • Current Filters: Export information for instances that match the current filter criteria.

      • Selected: Export information for manually selected instances.

    Release instances

    Release instances that you no longer need.

    Release pay-as-you-go instances

    1. Log on to the Cloud Phone console.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance.

    3. On the Instance page, find the target instance and copy the instance group ID from the Instance Group Name/ID column.

      Important

      Only instances in pay-as-you-go instance groups can be released. Instances in subscription instance groups cannot be released directly.

    4. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Manage Resource > Instance Group.

    5. On the Instance Group page, search for the instance group ID you copied, then click the instance group ID in the list.

    6. In the instance list at the bottom of the page, find the instance to release, click the ⋮ icon in the Actions column, and select Release.

    7. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

    Release a subscription instance

    Subscription instances cannot be released individually. To release them, you must unsubscribe from the entire instance group to which they belong. For more information, see Unsubscribe.