Create and manage an ECS instance by using CLI commands - Elastic Compute Service

You can use Alibaba Cloud CLI commands to create and manage Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances in the Cloud Shell console.

Log on to the Cloud Shell console

Log on to the ECS console.
Note If you have not created an Alibaba Cloud account, create one first. For more information, see Sign up with Alibaba Cloud.
In the upper-right corner, click the Cloud Shell icon to go to the Cloud Shell console.

Make preparations

Before you create an ECS instance, you must create a virtual private cloud (VPC) and a security group.

Create a VPC.
Create a VPC in the China (Hangzhou) region and specify 192.168.0.0/16 as the CIDR block of the VPC.
API operation Parameter Example
CreateVpc RegionId The ID of the region. Example: cn-hangzhou.
CidrBlock The CIDR block of the VPC. Example: 192.168.0.0/16
Run the following command to create a VPC:
```
aliyun vpc CreateVpc \
--RegionId cn-hangzhou \
--CidrBlock 192.168.0.0/16
```
The following command output is returned:
```
{
        "RequestId": "EC94C73B-8103-4B86-B353-E65C7C9E****",
        "ResourceGroupId": "rg-acfmzw2jz2z****",
        "RouteTableId": "vtb-bp1jxpr9ji5wcn4yv****",
        "VRouterId": "vrt-bp1dyxemup2q4ouga****",
        "VpcId": "vpc-bp1d9v4763ym2hlzt****"
}
```

API operation	Parameter	Example
CreateVpc	RegionId	The ID of the region. Example: `cn-hangzhou`.
CidrBlock	The CIDR block of the VPC. Example: `192.168.0.0/16`

Create a vSwitch.

Create a vSwitch in the VPC and specify 192.168.0.0/24 as the CIDR block of the vSwitch.


API operation	Parameter	Example
CreateVSwitch	ZoneId	The ID of the zone. Example: `cn-hangzhou-i`.
	VpcId	The ID of the VPC. Set the value to the VpcId value returned by the CreateVpc operation. Example: `vpc-bp1d9v4763ym2hlzt****`.
	CidrBlock	The CIDR block of the vSwitch. Example: `192.168.0.0/24`.

Run the following command to create a vSwitch:

aliyun vpc CreateVSwitch \
--CidrBlock 192.168.0.0/24 \
--VpcId vpc-bp1d9v4763ym2hlzt**** \
--ZoneId=cn-hangzhou-i

The following command output is returned:

{
        "RequestId": "AF1787C4-0D81-44F0-A324-D5C54EA0****",
        "VSwitchId": "vsw-bp11hf5r945gewysp****"
}

Create a security group.


API operation	Parameter	Example
CreateSecurityGroup	RegionId	The ID of the region. Example: `cn-hangzhou`.
CreateSecurityGroup	VpcId	The ID of the VPC. Set the value to the VpcId value returned by the CreateVpc operation. Example: `vpc-bp1d9v4763ym2hlzt****`.

Run the following command to create a security group:

aliyun ecs CreateSecurityGroup \
--RegionId cn-hangzhou \
--VpcId vpc-bp1d9v4763ym2hlzt****

The following command output is returned:

{
        "RequestId": "B1C25C34-9B84-49E3-9E50-FB7D7970****",
        "SecurityGroupId": "sg-bp18z2q1jg4gq95t****"
}

Add an inbound rule to the security group.


API operation	Parameter	Example
AuthorizeSecurityGroup	RegionId	The region ID of the security group. Example: `cn-hangzhou`.
	SecurityGroupId	The ID of the security group. Set the value to the SecurityGroupId value returned by the CreateSecurityGroup operation. Example: `sg-bp18z2q1jg4gq95t****`.
	IpProtocol	The protocol. Example: `tcp`.
	SourceCidrIp	The source CIDR block. Example: `0.0.0.0/0`.
	PortRange	The port range. Examples: Linux instances: `22/22` Windows instances: `3389/3389`

Run the following command to add an inbound rule to the specified security group:

aliyun ecs AuthorizeSecurityGroup  \
--RegionId cn-hangzhou \
--SecurityGroupId sg-bp18z2q1jg4gq95t**** \
--IpProtocol tcp \
--SourceCidrIp 0.0.0.0/0 \
--PortRange 22/22

The following command output is returned:

{
        "RequestId": "FA8B1E61-C9C9-4D91-9628-64B8E2F4****"
}

Create an ECS instance

Create a subscription ECS instance.


API operation	Parameter	Example
RunInstances	RegionId	The ID of the region. Example: `cn-hangzhou`.
	ImageId	The ID of the image. We recommend that you select the `aliyun_2_1903_x64_20G_alibase_20200324.vhd` Alibaba Cloud Linux image.
	InstanceType	The instance type. For individual applications, we recommend that you select the `ecs.s6-c1m2.small` instance type that has 1 vCPU and 2 GiB of memory. For applications of small and medium-sized enterprises, we recommend that you select the `ecs.c5.large` instance type that has 2 vCPUs and 4 GiB of memory.
	SecurityGroupId	The ID of the security group. Set the value to the SecurityGroupId value returned by the CreateSecurityGroup operation. Example: `sg-bp18z2q1jg4gq95t****`.
	VSwitchId	The ID of the vSwitch. Set the value to the VSwitchId value returned by the CreateVSwitch operation. Example: `vsw-bp11hf5r945gewysp****`.
	InstanceName	The name of the instance. Example: `ecs_cli_demo`.
	InstanceChargeType	The billing method of the instance. To create a subscription instance, set the value to `PrePaid`. Note Make sure that your account balance is sufficient.
	PeriodUnit	The unit of the subscription duration. Example: `Month`.
	Period	The subscription duration. Example: `1`.
	InternetMaxBandwidthOut	The maximum outbound public bandwidth. Unit: Mbit/s. Example: `1`.
	Password	The logon password of the instance: `<Your password>`. Note You must specify a complex password to ensure instance security.

Run the following command to create a subscription instance:

aliyun ecs RunInstances \
--RegionId cn-hangzhou \
--ImageId aliyun_2_1903_x64_20G_alibase_20200324.vhd \
--InstanceType ecs.s6-c1m2.small \
--SecurityGroupId sg-bp18z2q1jg4gq95t**** \
--VSwitchId vsw-bp11hf5r945gewys**** \
--InstanceName ecs_cli_demo \
--InstanceChargeType PrePaid \
--PeriodUnit Month \
--Period 1 \
--InternetMaxBandwidthOut 1 \
--Password <yourPassword>

The following command output is returned:

{
        "InstanceIdSets": {
                "InstanceIdSet": [
                        "i-bp1ducce5hs1jm98****"
                ]
        },
        "RequestId": "7F0166F9-9466-4AE1-8799-E68D6514****",
        "TradePrice": ****
}

Connect to the instance

This section describes how to connect to a Linux instance by using Cloud Shell. For information about how to connect to a Windows instance, see Connect to a Windows instance by using a username and password.

Query the public IP address of the instance.


API operation	Parameter	Example
DescribeInstances	RegionId	The region ID of the instance. Example: `cn-hangzhou`.
DescribeInstances	InstanceIds	The ID of the instance. Set the value to the instance ID returned by the RunInstances operation. Example: `'["i-bp1ducce5hs1jm98****"]'`.

Run the following command to query the public IP address of the instance:

aliyun ecs DescribeInstances \
--RegionId cn-hangzhou \
--InstanceIds '["i-bp1ducce5hs1jm98****"]'

Find the following public IP address in the command output:

Use an SSH key pair to log on to the instance.

Release an instance

You can manually release a subscription instance after it expires. If you do not renew an expired instance, the instance is automatically released.