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Public Cloud instances are on-demand virtual machines running on OVHcloud shared physical infrastructure. You choose the operating system and instance size, deploy your workloads, and pay only for what you use — billed by the hour or at a discounted monthly rate.

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Instance types

OVHcloud organises instances into families, each optimised for a specific workload profile.
TypeResourcesTypical use cases
General PurposeBalanced CPU and RAMWeb applications, dev servers, business workloads
CPU OptimizedHigh processor frequencyCI/CD pipelines, parallel processing, microservices
Memory OptimizedHigh RAM-to-CPU ratioDatabases, big data, in-memory calculations
Storage OptimizedNVMe local storageHigh-IOPS databases, big data applications
GPUHardware-accelerated parallel computeAI, deep learning, 3D rendering
DiscoveryShared resourcesTesting, proof-of-concept, light development
Metal InstancesDedicated physical resourcesMaximum isolation, consistent bare-metal performance
You can upgrade an instance to a larger model after creation. Downsizing is not supported for standard instances. Use a Flex instance if you need the flexibility to resize in both directions.

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Creating your first instance

1

Add an SSH key

Generate a key pair on your local machine:
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -a 100
In the OVHcloud Control Panel, navigate to your Public Cloud project, open Settings > SSH Keys, and click Add an SSH key. Paste the contents of your public key file (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub).
2

Open the instance creation wizard

On the Public Cloud project home page, click Create an instance.
3

Name and locate your instance

Enter a name for the instance. Select the region closest to your users. For production workloads requiring high availability, choose a 3-AZ region.
4

Select an instance model

Open the Instance Model drop-down and choose the family that fits your workload. Select the specific flavor (size) that matches your CPU, RAM, and storage requirements.
5

Choose an image

Select an operating system from the Distribution Type menu, then pick a specific version. Available images depend on the model and region you chose.Available image categories include:
  • Linux distributions: Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CentOS, Fedora
  • Windows Server (licensed)
  • Pre-configured applications: Docker, cPanel, Plesk, NVIDIA GPU Cloud
  • Custom images you have imported in QCOW2 or RAW format
6

Attach your SSH key

Select the SSH key you added in step 1, or paste a public key string directly. SSH key authentication is required for all Linux instances.
7

Configure networking

Choose between Public Mode (direct Internet access via IPv4/IPv6) and Private Mode (accessible only through a Gateway or Load Balancer with a Floating IP). You can also connect your instance to a private network (vRack) and assign a Floating IP.
8

Select billing period

Choose Hourly for flexible usage or Monthly for a lower rate on long-running instances. Hourly instances bill as long as they exist, regardless of whether they are running.
9

Launch the instance

Review your configuration summary on the right, then click Launch my instance. Your instance is ready within a few minutes.
10

Connect via SSH

Once the instance status shows Enabled, connect using the preconfigured user and your private key:
ssh [email protected]
The default username reflects the image installed (e.g. ubuntu, debian, rocky).

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SSH key management

SSH keys are the primary authentication method for Public Cloud instances. A key pair consists of a public key (placed on the instance) and a private key (kept on your local machine). 
# Generate an Ed25519 key pair (recommended)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -a 100

# View the public key to copy into the Control Panel
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

# Connect to an instance using a named key file
ssh -i ~/.ssh/my-instance-key [email protected]
You can store multiple keys in the Control Panel and select the appropriate key at instance creation time. To add keys for additional users on a running instance, append their public keys to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the instance.

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Volumes and object storage

Attach additional block storage volumes to expand instance storage without rebuilding the instance:
  1. In the Control Panel, go to Storage > Block Storage and create a volume.
  2. On the instance page, click Attach a volume and select the volume.
  3. Mount the volume from inside the instance:
# List attached disks
lsblk

# Format the new volume (first use only)
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb

# Mount it
sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt/data
For unstructured data, use Object Storage (S3-compatible) to store files independently of any instance.

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Billing and lifecycle

Instances are billed per hour as long as they exist. Stopping an instance does not stop billing — you must delete it to stop charges. Billing is per minute, displayed as an hourly rate.
Monthly billing offers lower rates for long-running instances. You can switch from hourly to monthly at any time, but you cannot switch back from monthly to hourly.
Commit to consistent usage for 1 to 36 months to receive automatic discounts on all compatible instances. Savings Plans apply across instance types and sizes.
  • Enabled — running and billable
  • Off (stopped) — compute released but still billable
  • Suspended (shelved) — compute released, reduced storage billing
  • Deleted — billing stops completely

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Image lifecycle

OVHcloud maintains a catalog of OS images and updates it regularly. Images follow the upstream OS vendor lifecycle. Check the image lifecycle page for end-of-life announcements. You can also upload custom images in QCOW2 or RAW format via the Control Panel or the OpenStack CLI: 
openstack image create \
  --container-format bare \
  --disk-format qcow2 \
  --file my-custom-image.qcow2 \
  "My Custom Image"

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Networking

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Floating IPs

A Floating IP is a persistent public IP address you can attach to and detach from instances independently. Use Floating IPs when you need a stable public endpoint that survives instance replacement.

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Security groups

Security groups act as stateful firewalls for your instances. The default security group allows all outgoing traffic and no incoming traffic except from within the group. To allow SSH access, create a security group rule:
  1. In the Horizon interface, navigate to Network > Security Groups.
  2. Create a new security group (do not modify the default group).
  3. Add a rule: Direction = Ingress, Port = 22, CIDR = your IP or 0.0.0.0/0.

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Private networks (vRack)

Connect instances to an isolated private network to keep backend traffic off the public Internet. A vRack is created automatically with your Public Cloud project. 
# List existing networks
openstack network list

# Create a private network
openstack network create my-private-net
openstack subnet create \
  --network my-private-net \
  --subnet-range 10.0.0.0/24 \
  my-subnet

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Snapshots and backups

MethodDescription
Manual snapshotPoint-in-time disk image, created on demand
Automated backupScheduled snapshots, 7 or 14-day retention
Remote backupAutomatic copy of the backup to a different region
To create a manual backup: 
openstack server image create --name my-instance-snapshot my-instance
Deleting an instance does not automatically delete its snapshots, volumes, or backups. Remove them separately to stop being billed for them.

Block storage

Attach and manage additional volumes for your instances.

vRack private networking

Connect instances to isolated private networks using vRack.

Managed databases

Use fully managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, and more alongside your instances.

Containers & Kubernetes

Orchestrate containerized workloads with Managed Kubernetes.

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