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An instance is a virtual machine running on Nscale GPU or CPU infrastructure. It lives inside a VPC, is protected by a security group, and runs a base image (pre-provisioned, custom, or snapshot). Instances are the primary way to run workloads that need direct machine access.
Prerequisites: Before creating an instance you need a VPC network and at least one security group in that VPC. Optionally prepare a custom image or snapshot if you don’t want a pre-provisioned image.

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Summary

This page walks you through creating a compute instance in the Nscale Console UI—selecting where it lives (project + region), attaching networking and security controls, and choosing what it runs (CPU/GPU + image). Use this guide if you:
  • Manage infrastructure for workloads that need direct VM access
  • Need to spin up CPU or GPU compute in an existing project
  • Want a repeatable, UI-driven process for provisioning instances

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Availability

This service is currently only available in the reserved cloud service environment.
If you create or delete more than 30 instances at the same time, the instance provision/deletion time will increase. Instance creation or deletion is limited to 50 at a time.

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Requirements

Before you start, you need:
  • A project to place the instance into (instances are allocated to projects). If you’re not sure which project to choose, see Projects for more detail.
  • A deployment region selected (you choose this during creation, and it appears in the instance details and status)
  • A project network (VPC) created
  • At least one security group created and associated with that network
Naming rules: Instance names must be unique and contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens.

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Instance lifecycle

Instances move through the following states:
StateDescription
ProvisioningThe instance is being created and resources are being allocated
RunningThe instance is active and ready for use
StoppedThe instance is shut down but can be restarted
ErrorSomething went wrong during provisioning or operation
Actions you can take:
  • Stop a running instance to pause it.
  • Start a stopped instance to resume it
  • Create a snapshot to save a point-in-time copy of the instance’s disk
  • Delete an instance to permanently remove it
Deleting an instance is permanent. All data on the instance’s local disk is lost. If you need to preserve the disk contents, create a snapshot before deleting.

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Step-by-step

  1. In the Console left navigation, go to Compute → Instances page
  • You should now see the Instances list view
  1. Click the New Instance button
  • You will now see the instance creation form / wizard where you will fill in basic details
Instance
  1. Fill in the basic details:
  • Name: must be unique and contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens
  • Project: select the project where the instance will be created
  1. Configure networking:
  • Select or create a new VPC (network) to attach the instance to
  • Select or create a new security group to control inbound/outbound traffic
  • Confirm you’ve selected the intended VPC and security group before continuing
New Instance Flow 1 1
  1. Configure compute + image:
  • Choose the node type: CPU nodes are suited for general workloads, while GPU nodes provide accelerated compute for AI/ML training and inference
  • Choose the image source: pre-provisioned image, custom image, or snapshot
  • You should see the selected node type and image reflected in the configuration summary
Image and node type compatibility: Images declare a virtualization type — bare-metal, virtualized, or any. Bare-metal images require bare-metal node types and virtualized images require VM node types, while images marked any are generic and work with either. The image architecture (for example, x86-64 or ARM64) must also match the node type, and the image must fit within the chosen flavor’s disk. The platform validates all of this and rejects incompatible combinations.
You can optionally provide a cloud-config YAML block to run commands or configure packages at boot time. This uses the cloud-init standard. For example:
#cloud-config
packages:
  - docker.io
runcmd:
  - systemctl start docker
If you don’t need boot-time configuration, leave this empty.
New Instance Flow 2
  1. Review the configuration summary and click Create instance
  • You should be forwarded to the instance details page while provisioning is in progress
  • From the details page, you can monitor status and download the SSH key to access the instance via terminal
Instances Details View

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Quotas

Instance creation consumes quota for servers, GPUs, and floating IPs. If your instance uses a public IP, one floating IP is reserved from your project’s quota. Check your current quota usage in Dashboard → Resource Usage.

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Common issues / troubleshooting

  • Symptom: Instance creation is very slow. Likely cause: You are creating or deleting more than 30 instances at the same time. Fix: Wait for the current batch to complete before starting another. Instance creation/deletion is limited to 50 at a time.
  • Symptom: You can’t connect to your instance via SSH. Likely cause: Your security group doesn’t have an inbound rule allowing SSH (TCP port 22). Fix: Go to Network → Security Groups, select your security group, and add an inbound rule for TCP port 22 from your IP or 0.0.0.0/0.
  • Symptom: Instance creation fails with an image/flavor compatibility error. Likely cause: The image’s virtualization type or architecture doesn’t match the node type, or the image is too large for the flavor’s disk. Fix: Choose an image whose virtualization type matches your node type (or an any image) with a matching architecture, and a flavor with enough disk for the image. The console prevents incompatible selections, so this error typically appears only when creating instances via Terraform, the CLI, or the API.
  • Symptom: Instance creation fails with a quota error for floating IPs. Likely cause: Your project’s floating IP quota is exhausted and the instance requests a public IP. Fix: Delete unused instances with public IPs or request a quota increase.

CLI: Instances

Manage instances from the command line.

CLI: Security Groups

Manage security groups from the command line.