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CLI quickstart

Three representative ECI CLI workflows, walked step by step.

Prerequisites

1. Launch and connect to your first VM​

Step 1. Launch​

eci compute vm launch \
  --name my-vm \
  --instance-type C-2 \
  --password '<password>'

Defaults applied automatically:

CPU (C-, M-)GPU / NPU (G-, N-)
ImageUbuntu 24.04 StandardUbuntu 24.04 AI/GPU
Disk size20 GiB50 GiB
Password rules
  • At least 10 characters
  • At least 3 character classes (upper, lower, digit, symbol)
  • No 3-or-more sequences like 1234 or abcd

Step 2. Check status​

eci compute vm list                 # full list
eci compute vm get my-vm            # disk / NIC / public IP all in one
Expected duration

Usually takes 1–2 minutes to reach status: started.

Step 3. SSH​

eci compute ssh my-vm

Step 4. Clean up​

eci compute vm delete my-vm --cascade
Avoid lingering charges

Without --cascade, the disk, NIC, and public IP are left behind and continue to be billed.

2. Repeat-launch with a saved spec​

Save a frequently used option set as a vm-spec so you don't retype every time.

Step 1. Save the spec​

eci vm-spec save my-spec \
  --instance-type C-2 \
  --image "Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Standard)" \
  --size-gib 20 \
  --username ubuntu

Step 2. Launch with the spec​

eci compute vm launch --name my-vm-1 --spec my-spec --password '<password>'
eci compute vm launch --name my-vm-2 --spec my-spec --password '<password>'

To override a few fields per launch, pass extra flags:

eci compute vm launch --name my-vm-3 --spec my-spec --size-gib 100 --password '<password>'

Step 3. Clean up​

eci compute vm delete my-vm-1 --cascade
eci compute vm delete my-vm-2 --cascade
eci compute vm delete my-vm-3 --cascade
eci vm-spec delete my-spec

3. Attach an extra disk with automatic snapshots​

Create a separate data volume, attach it to a VM, and set up nightly snapshots.

Step 1. Prepare the VM​

eci compute vm launch --name data-vm --instance-type C-2 --password '<password>' --wait

Step 2. Create and attach block storage​

eci storage block create --name data-vol --size-gib 50 --pricing "Block Storage"
eci storage block attach data-vol --vm data-vm

Step 3. Automatic snapshot scheduler (nightly midnight, keep 7)​

eci storage block scheduler create \
  --name nightly --block data-vol \
  --cron "0 0 * * *" --max-snapshots 7

Step 4. Clean up​

eci storage block scheduler delete nightly
eci storage block detach data-vol
eci storage block delete data-vol
eci compute vm delete data-vm --cascade

Next​