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Create a New Instance — Full Tutorial

This tutorial walks you through every step of the FPT Cloud Customer Portal Instance creation wizard, explaining the purpose of each field and how to make the right choice. Estimated time: 20–30 minutes (including reading and hands-on practice).

Objectives​

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

  • Create a new Instance using the 7-section wizard on the Customer Portal.
  • Choose a VPC and Subnet that fit your workload.
  • Choose an appropriate Image and Flavor for your actual needs.
  • Configure the Network correctly, including Subnet, Private IP, and Security Group.
  • Understand the purpose of optional sections such as Instance Group, Tags, and User Data.

Before You Begin​

  • Your FPT Cloud account has been activated and you can log in to the Customer Portal.
  • At least one VPC with a configured Subnet already exists.
  • Sufficient vCPU, RAM, and Storage quota is available for the planned Instance.
  • If you want to use an SSH key for authentication, the key has already been registered under Key Pairs in your account.
  • You have identified the intended use of the Instance (web server, database, testing…) in order to choose an appropriate Flavor and Image.

Step 1 — Open the Instance List Page​

Log in to the FPT Cloud Customer Portal. From the overview screen, select the VPC where you want to deploy the Instance, then navigate to Compute → Instance.

The Instance list page displays all existing Instances in that VPC. Click Create Instance in the top-right corner to open the wizard.

Instance list screen with the Create Instance button

The Instance creation wizard consists of 7 sections presented in order from top to bottom. Fill in each section in sequence and confirm at the final step.

Step 2 — Section Configuration​

This section defines the core components of the Instance: resource type, operating system, hardware configuration, and identifier name.

Configuration section in the Instance creation wizard

Instance type​

TypeWhen to use
generalTypical workloads: web servers, applications, databases
gpuGraphics processing, AI/ML, rendering

Image​

An Image is the operating system image used to initialize the disk for the Instance.

Image TypeDescription
OSStandard OS images provided by FPT Cloud (Ubuntu, CentOS, Windows Server…)
CustomCustom images that you or your organization have uploaded previously
ISOISO files for manual OS installation
SnapshotA disk state snapshot taken from an existing Instance
NAT InstanceA dedicated image for configuring an Instance as a NAT gateway

For most new use cases, select the OS tab and find the appropriate operating system.

Flavor​

A Flavor determines the number of vCPUs and the amount of RAM for the Instance.

  • Available templates: a list of pre-defined Flavors with common vCPU/RAM ratios. Suitable for the majority of use cases.

Instance Name and OS Hostname​

  • Instance Name: the display name on the Portal, used to identify the Instance in the list. Must be unique within the VPC.
  • OS Hostname: the hostname inside the Instance's operating system (for example: displayed in the terminal when you SSH in). It is common practice to set this to the same value as the Instance Name for easier management.

Step 3 — Section Storage Disk​

This section configures the system disk (boot disk) of the Instance.

Storage Disk section in the Instance creation wizard

Storage policy​

The storage policy determines the performance tier and storage policy:

  • Premium-SSD: the default; high-performance storage suitable for most workloads.
  • Other policies (if available on your VPC) will appear in the list with detailed descriptions.

Capacity​

Enter the disk capacity in GB. The minimum capacity is determined by the Image selected in Step 2 — the portal will display the required minimum value.

Choose a capacity large enough to hold the operating system, applications, and anticipated data over the Instance's initial lifecycle. Storage Disk can be expanded after creation, but reducing capacity is not supported.

Step 4 — Section Network​

This section connects the Instance to the VPC's network infrastructure.

Network section in the Instance creation wizard

Subnet​

Select the Subnet that the Instance's NIC will be attached to. The Subnet determines the private IP range and internal routing rules for the Instance.

Private IP​

  • Leave blank: the system automatically assigns a Private IP from the Subnet's available range. This is the appropriate choice for most cases.
  • Enter manually: only do this when you need the Instance to have a fixed IP address and you have confirmed that address is not already in use within the Subnet.

Security Group​

A Security Group controls inbound and outbound network traffic for the Instance through pre-defined rules. Select one or more Security Groups from the list already created in the VPC.

If no suitable Security Group exists yet, you need to create one before continuing with the wizard. Security Groups can be added or changed after the Instance is running.

Floating IP​

You can assign a Floating IP to give the Instance a public IP address accessible from outside. See the Floating IP documentation for more details on this configuration.

Step 5 — Section Authentication​

This section determines how you log in to the operating system inside the Instance after it is provisioned.

Authentication section in the Instance creation wizard

SSH key​

Select an SSH key from the list of keys registered in your account. Once the Instance is running, use the corresponding private key to log in via SSH without a password.

SSH key is recommended for production environments because:

  • There is no password to be brute-forced.
  • It is easy to manage access for multiple users (add/remove keys in the authorized_keys file).

Password​

The system generates a random password for the default account of the Image (for example: ubuntu on Ubuntu, root on CentOS). The password is displayed once on the screen after the Instance is created successfully.

Important: If you choose the Password method, copy and save the password immediately when the system displays it. After closing the notification, you cannot view this password again from the Portal.

Password is suitable for testing environments or when you need quick access without an SSH key set up.

Step 6 — Section Instance Group (Optional)​

The Instance Group section allows you to assign the Instance to an existing VMGroup.

VMGroup applies an anti-affinity policy: the system will attempt to place Instances in the same group on different physical servers. This reduces the risk of losing all related Instances when a physical server fails.

If you have no resource distribution requirements, you can skip this section.

Instance Group section in the Instance creation wizard

Step 7 — Manage Tags and User Data Sections (Optional)​

The Manage tags section and User data section provide two optional configuration features for the Instance.

Manage tags and User data sections in the Instance creation wizard

Manage tags​

Tags are key-value labels used to classify and search for resources on the Portal (for example: environment=production, team=backend).

In the Manage tags section, you select Tags from a pre-defined list to assign to the Instance. You can also tick a checkbox to apply the same set of Tags to the accompanying Storage Disk and Floating IP created alongside the Instance — useful when you want consistent labels across all related resources.

Tags are applied after the Instance provisioning process completes.

User Data​

User Data is a cloud-init script that runs automatically when the Instance boots for the first time. Use this feature to automate initial configuration tasks instead of having to log in manually after the Instance is running.

Common use cases:

  • Install packages (apt/yum install).
  • Create users, configure additional SSH keys.
  • Clone a repository and start an application.
  • Write configuration files to the system.
#cloud-config
packages:
  - nginx
  - git
runcmd:
  - systemctl enable nginx
  - systemctl start nginx

Note: User Data only runs once at the Instance's first boot. If you need to run it again, you must intervene manually inside the operating system.

Step 8 — Create the Instance​

Once all sections are filled in, do a final review before confirming:

  • The Instance name and hostname are correct.
  • The Flavor (vCPU/RAM) and Storage capacity match your requirements.
  • The Subnet and Security Group are correctly selected.
  • The authentication method has been configured.

Click the Create instance button at the bottom of the page. The system accepts the request and responds immediately — the Instance appears in the list with the status CREATING.

The provisioning process runs asynchronously on the infrastructure side. When the infrastructure confirms completion, the status automatically changes to Running. The typical time is 3–5 minutes, depending on the Image and Flavor configuration.

Verification​

After the status changes to Running, click the Instance name to open the detail page. Here you can confirm:

  • Private IP has been assigned (displayed in the Network tab or the overview section).
  • Status is Running.
  • Flavor and Image match what was selected in the wizard.

Instance detail page with Running status

If the Instance is still in the CREATING state after more than 10 minutes, check the vCPU/RAM quota of the VPC and contact support if needed.

Your Instance is now ready. Continue with Access Instance via Console to connect directly from your browser, or read Manage Instance Power State to understand how to safely Reboot, Power Off, and Power On an Instance.