Creating and managing an Instance with CLI (v2)

Reviewed on September 25, 2025

Scaleway Instances provide you with resources to develop, test code and deploy your applications in no time. Instances are designed for modern workflows. They are with you from prototyping to large-scale deployment. You can create and manage your Instances from the console, via the API or the Scaleway Command Line Interface.

Scaleway Command Line Interface (CLI) overview

The Scaleway Command Line Interface (CLI) allows you to pilot your Scaleway infrastructure directly from your terminal, providing a faster way to administer and monitor your resources. Scaleway CLI is easy to set up and use, and an essential tool for operating efficiently in your cloud environment. The CLI provides many functionalities, including the ability to create and manage Instances.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

A Scaleway account logged into the console
Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
Created an SSH key
A valid API key
Downloaded and installed the Scaleway CLI v2

Configuring the CLI

Open a terminal and type the following command to configure the Scaleway CLI on your machine:

scw init

If you have already configured the CLI, you will see a message similar to the following:

Current config is located at /path/to/config.yaml
access_key: <YOUR ACCESS KEY>
secret_key: <YOUR SECRET KEY>
default_organization_id: <YOUR ORGANIZATION ID>
default_project_id: <YOUR PROJECT ID>
default_region: <YOUR DEFAULT REGION, eg fr-par>
default_zone: <YOUR DEFAULT ZONE, eg fr-par-1>

Do you want to override the current config? (Y/n):

Unless you want to change your configuration, type n and go directly to the Creating an Instance step of this tutorial.

If you have not yet configured the CLI, you will be guided through the configuration process via a series of questions:
```
Enter a valid secret-key or an email
```

Enter either the email address for your account (you will then be asked for your password), or your API secret key:

To improve this tool we rely on diagnostic and usage data.
Sending such data is optional and can be disabled at any time by running "scw config set send-telemetry=false".
Do you want to send usage statistics and diagnostics? (Y/n):

Type y or n and hit enter.

To fully enjoy Scaleway CLI we recommend you install autocomplete support in your shell.
Do you want to install autocomplete? (Y/n):

Type y or n and hit enter.

To enable autocomplete, scw needs to update your shell configuration.
What type of shell are you using (default: zsh):

Enter your shell type and hit enter.

To enable autocomplete we need to append to /Users/yourusername/.zshrc the following lines:
# Scaleway CLI autocomplete initialization.
eval "$(scw autocomplete script shell=zsh)"
Do you want to proceed with these changes? (Y/n):

Type y or n and hit enter. This should complete the configuration process:

Initialization completed with success.

Creating an Instance

Type the following command in your terminal to obtain a local-image UUID:

scw marketplace image get label=ubuntu_noble

Details of the image as well as its ID are displayed:

Image:
ID           607b12c2-685d-45f7-905f-57bc23863834
Label        ubuntu_noble
Name         Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat
UpdatedAt    1 week ago
CreatedAt    1 year ago
Description  Ubuntu is the ideal distribution for scale-out computing, Ubuntu Server helps you make the most of your infrastructure.

Run the following command to create an Instance:

scw instance server create zone=fr-par-1 image=ubuntu_noble type=DEV1-S

Note

Replace fr-par-1 with the Availability Zone you want to create your Instance in. If you want your Availability Zone to be France, Paris 1, for example, use fr-par-1. Refer to our documentation for more information about Availability Zones.

An output similar to the following should display:

ID                            12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Name                          cli-srv-romantic-einstein
Organization                  12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Project                       12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
AllowedActions.0              poweron
AllowedActions.1              backup
CommercialType                DEV1-S
CreationDate                  1 second ago
DynamicIPRequired             true
RoutedIPEnabled               true
EnableIPv6                    false
Hostname                      cli-srv-romantic-einstein
Image.ID                      12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Image.Name                    Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat
Image.Arch                    x86_64
Image.CreationDate            1 week ago
Image.ModificationDate        1 week ago
Image.ExtraVolumes            0
Image.FromServer              -
Image.Organization            12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Image.Public                  true
Image.RootVolume              12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Image.State                   available
Image.Project                 12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Image.Zone                    fr-par-1
Protected                     false
PublicIP.ID                   12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
PublicIP.Address              51.158.x.y
PublicIP.Gateway              62.210.0.1
PublicIP.Netmask              32
PublicIP.Family               inet
PublicIP.Dynamic              false
PublicIP.ProvisioningMode     dhcp
PublicIP.IpamID               12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
PublicIP.State                attached
PublicIPs.0.ID                12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
PublicIPs.0.Address           51.158.x.y
PublicIPs.0.Gateway           62.210.0.1
PublicIPs.0.Netmask           32
PublicIPs.0.Family            inet
PublicIPs.0.Dynamic           false
PublicIPs.0.ProvisioningMode  dhcp
PublicIPs.0.IpamID            12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
PublicIPs.0.State             attached
MacAddress                    de:00:00:ca:58:55
ModificationDate              1 second ago
State                         archived
BootType                      local
Volumes.0.ID                  12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Volumes.0.VolumeType          sbs_volume
Volumes.0.State               available
Volumes.0.Boot                false
Volumes.0.Zone                fr-par-1
SecurityGroup.ID              12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
SecurityGroup.Name            Base group
StateDetail                   -
Arch                          x86_64
Zone                          fr-par-1
EndOfService                  false

Creating an Instance local volume

Run the following command to create an Instance volume with a size of 50 GB:

scw instance volume create size=50GB name=my-volume

You will see an output like the following:

ID                12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Name              my-volume
ExportURI         -
Size              50 GB
VolumeType        l_ssd
CreationDate      now
ModificationDate  now
Organization      12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Project           12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
State             available
Zone              fr-par-1

Write down the ID of your Instance, as you will need it in the next steps.

Creating and attaching a block volume to an Instance

Run the following command to create a block volume:

scw block volume create name=my-volume from-empty.size=10G perf-iops=5000

Your block volume has been created:

ID              12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Name            my-volume
Type            sbs_volume
Size            10 GB
ProjectID       12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
CreatedAt       now
UpdatedAt       now
Status          creating
Zone            fr-par-1
Specs.PerfIops  5000
Specs.Class     sbs

Write down your block volume's ID. You will need it in the next steps.

Type the following command in your terminal to attach your block volume to your Instance. Make sure you replace <SERVER_ID> with your server ID and <VOLUME_ID> with your volume ID.

scw instance server attach-volume server-id=<SERVER_ID> volume-id=<VOLUME_ID>

You will see an output similar to the following:

Server.ID                            12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Name                          scw-keen-fermi
Server.Organization                  12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Project                       12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.CommercialType                DEV1-S
Server.CreationDate                  40 seconds ago
Server.DynamicIPRequired             false
Server.RoutedIPEnabled               true
Server.EnableIPv6                    false
Server.Hostname                      scw-keen-fermi
Server.Image.ID                      12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Image.Name                    Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat
Server.Image.Arch                    x86_64
Server.Image.CreationDate            1 week ago
Server.Image.ModificationDate        1 week ago
Server.Image.ExtraVolumes            0
Server.Image.FromServer              -
Server.Image.Organization            12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Image.Public                  true
Server.Image.RootVolume              12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Image.State                   available
Server.Image.Project                 12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Image.Zone                    fr-par-1
Server.Protected                     false
Server.PublicIP.ID                   12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.PublicIP.Address              51.158.x.y
Server.PublicIP.Gateway              62.210.0.1
Server.PublicIP.Netmask              32
Server.PublicIP.Family               inet
Server.PublicIP.Dynamic              false
Server.PublicIP.ProvisioningMode     dhcp
Server.PublicIP.IpamID               12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.PublicIP.State                attached
Server.PublicIPs.0.ID                12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.PublicIPs.0.Address           51.158.x.y
Server.PublicIPs.0.Gateway           62.210.0.1
Server.PublicIPs.0.Netmask           32
Server.PublicIPs.0.Family            inet
Server.PublicIPs.0.Dynamic           false
Server.PublicIPs.0.ProvisioningMode  dhcp
Server.PublicIPs.0.IpamID            12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.PublicIPs.0.State             attached
Server.PublicIPs.1.ID                12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.PublicIPs.1.Address           2001:bc8::1
Server.PublicIPs.1.Gateway           fe80::dc00:ff:feca:57bc
Server.PublicIPs.1.Netmask           64
Server.PublicIPs.1.Family            inet6
Server.PublicIPs.1.Dynamic           false
Server.PublicIPs.1.ProvisioningMode  slaac
Server.PublicIPs.1.IpamID            12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.PublicIPs.1.State             attached
Server.MacAddress                    de:00:00:ca:57:bb
Server.ModificationDate              35 seconds ago
Server.State                         running
Server.Location                      fr-par-1
Server.BootType                      local
Server.Volumes.0.ID                  12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Volumes.0.VolumeType          sbs_volume
Server.Volumes.0.State               available
Server.Volumes.0.Boot                false
Server.Volumes.0.Zone                fr-par-1
Server.Volumes.1.ID                  12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.Volumes.1.VolumeType          sbs_volume
Server.Volumes.1.State               attaching
Server.Volumes.1.Boot                false
Server.Volumes.1.Zone                fr-par-1
Server.SecurityGroup.ID              12345678-1234-1234-4321-123456789123
Server.SecurityGroup.Name            Base group
Server.StateDetail                   booting kernel
Server.Arch                          x86_64
Server.Zone                          fr-par-1
Server.EndOfService                  false

Powering off an Instance

Type the following command in your terminal and replace <SERVER_ID> with the ID of your server.

scw instance server stop <SERVER_ID>

You will see the following output:

✅ Poweroff successfully started for the server.

Your Instance has been powered off.

Deleting an Instance

Important

This action will delete all your volumes and data located on your Instance. To avoid losing data, it is recommended to perform regular snapshots.

Ensure your Instance is powered off and then run the following command, replacing <SERVER_ID> with the ID of your server.

scw instance server delete <SERVER_ID>

You will see an output similar to the following example:

successfully deleted volume  (- sbs_volume)
successfully deleted volume  (- sbs_volume)
✅ Success.

Still need help?

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