Setting Up Monitoring and Alerts in OCI for Your Resources

 

🐚 How to Use Oracle Cloud Shell Like a Pro

Introduction

Oracle Cloud Shell is a browser-based terminal pre-authenticated with your Oracle Cloud account. It comes with a rich set of tools to help you manage and automate your OCI resources—no setup needed.

In this blog, we’ll walk through everything from launching Cloud Shell to using advanced tools like oci-cli, Git, and Terraform—all directly from your browser.

🧰 What Is Oracle Cloud Shell?

• Web-based shell environment

• Persistent 5GB storage in $HOME/cloudshell

• Pre-installed tools:

  • OCI CLI

  • Git

  • Terraform

  • Kubectl

  • Helm

  • Python, Java, Node.js

  • Text editors (nano, vi)

• Auto-authenticated: No need to configure your API keys.

🟢 How to Launch Oracle Cloud Shell

1. Log in to Oracle Cloud Console.

2. Click the Cloud Shell icon (top-right corner, looks like >_).

3. The shell will open in the lower panel—ready to use.

⚙️ Exploring the Environment

Code :

# Check current user

whoami

# List home directory contents

ls -la

# Check available tools

which oci

which terraform

which git

Check OCI CLI Version

oci --version

📁 Persistent Storage in Cloud Shell

You get 5GB persistent storage in $HOME/cloudshell. Use it to store:

• Scripts

• Terraform files

• Git repos

• Configs

cd ~/cloudshell

mkdir my_project

⚠️ Files stored outside ~/cloudshell are NOT persistent across sessions.

☁️ Managing OCI Resources Using OCI CLI

OCI CLI is pre-installed and authenticated. Example commands:

List all Compartments:

oci iam compartment list --all

Create a Compute Instance:

oci compute instance launch \

--availability-domain "Your-AD" \

--compartment-id "ocid1.compartment.oc1..." \

--shape "VM.Standard.E4.Flex" \

--image-id "ocid1.image.oc1..." \

--subnet-id "ocid1.subnet.oc1..." \

--assign-public-ip true

💡 Use oci compute image list to find available images.

🧪 Run Terraform in Cloud Shell

1. Create Terraform files

cd ~/cloudshell

mkdir terraform_vm && cd terraform_vm

vi main.tf

2. Initialize and Apply

terraform init

terraform plan

terraform apply

🔐 Authentication is already handled — no need to set up .oci/config.

🧬 Using Git in Cloud Shell

Git is pre-installed and can be used to clone or push repos.

git config --global user.name "Your Name"

git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

git clone https://github.com/your-repo/project.git

Push changes:

git add .

git commit -m "Initial commit"

git push origin main

🐳 Advanced Tools: kubectl, Helm, Docker

Cloud Shell supports container tools:

Use kubectl with OKE:

oci ce cluster create-kubeconfig \

--cluster-id ocid1.cluster.oc1... \

--file $HOME/.kube/config \

--region us-ashburn-1 \

--token-version 2.0.0

kubectl get nodes

🛑 Limitations of Cloud Shell

• 5GB persistent storage only

• Session timeout after inactivity

• Not ideal for long-running tasks

• No root access

📝 Final Thoughts

Oracle Cloud Shell is a powerful tool that removes the need to install and configure CLI tools on your local machine. Whether you're testing, automating, or managing resources—Cloud Shell lets you do it all with minimal effort.

Use it wisely and pair it with automation via Terraform or OCI CLI scripts to supercharge your productivity in the cloud

📎 Related Resources

https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/API/Concepts/cliconcepts.htm

https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/API/Concepts/cloudshellintro.htm