Parent topic: Getting Started with Euca2ools Parent topic: Instance Tasks

Log in to an Instance

For a Linux Instance

When you create an instance, Eucalyptus assigns the instance two IP addresses: a public IP address and a private IP address. The public IP address provides access to the instance from external network sources; the private IP address provides access to the instance from within the Eucalyptus cloud environment. Note that the two IP addresses may be the same depending on the current networking mode set by the administrator. For more information on Eucalyptus networking modes, see the Eucalyptus Administrator’s Guide.

To use an instance you must log into it via ssh using one of the IP addresses assigned to it. You can obtain the instance’s IP addresses using the euca-describe-instances query as shown in the following example.

To log into a VM instance:

Enter the following command to view the IP addresses of your instance:
```
euca-describe-instances
```
Eucalyptus returns output similar to the following:
```
RESERVATION	r-338206B5	alice	default
INSTANCE	i-4DCF092C  emi-EC1410C1  192.168.7.24	  10.17.0.130 ↵ running 	alice-keypair 	0 	m1.small  2010-03-15T21:57:45.134Z
```
Note that the public IP address appears after the image name, with the private address immediately following.
Look for the instance ID in the second field and write it down. Use this ID to manipulate and terminate this instance.
Note: Be sure that the security group for the instance allows SSH access. For more information, see Authorize Security Groups.
Use SSH to log into the instance, using your private key and the external IP address. For example:
```
ssh -i alice-keypair.private root@192.168.7.24 
```

You are now logged in to your Linux instance.

Using SSH to Connect via PuTTY

If you are a Windows user and want to securely connect to instances via PuTTY, you must first have a key pair.

If you don't have a key pair, you can create one through the Management Console or the command line. See Create Key Pairs.
For the key pair to be used with PuTTY, convert your .pem file to a .ppk file by performing the last step in the Creating SSH Credentials for the Master Node: Modify Your PEM File procedure.

For a Windows Instance:

Log into Windows VM instances using a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client. An RDP prompts you for a login name and password. By default, Windows VM instances are configured with a single user (named Administrator) and a random password generated at boot time. So, before you can log into a Windows VM instance via RDP, you must retrieve the random password generated at boot time using the euca-get-password command.

To log into a Windows instance:

Use euca-describe-groups to make sure the port for remote desktop (3389) is authorized in your security group.
The response from this command will look like the following example.
```
GROUP	955340183797	default	default group
PERMISSION	955340183797	default	ALLOWS	tcp	3389	3389	FROM	CIDR	0.0.0.0/0
```
Enter the euca-get-password command followed by the unique id tag of the Windows VM instance and the -k option with the name of private key file that corresponds to your credential keypair. In the following example we retrieve the password for a Windows VM instance with id tag i-5176095D and private key file name mykey.private.
```
euca-get-password i-5176095D -k mykey.private
```
Log into the RDP client using the public (external) IP address associated with the running Windows VM instance. Enter the following command to view the IP addresses of your instance:
```
euca-describe-instances
```
At the Log On to Windows prompt, prepend the user name Administrator to the public IP address of the instance, and enter the password that you retrieved with euca-get-password, as shown:

You are now logged in and ready to use your Windows instance.

Parent topic: Getting Started with Euca2ools Parent topic: Instance Tasks