The ‘ibmcloud login’ command is used to log in to the IBM Cloud. It allows users to access their IBM Cloud account, interact with resources, and perform various operations. This article will illustrate different use cases of the ‘ibmcloud login’ command.

Use case 1: Log in by using an interactive prompt

Code:

ibmcloud login

Motivation: This use case is helpful when you want to log in to your IBM Cloud account interactively. It prompts you to enter your username and password in the command line interface.

Output Example:

API endpoint: https://cloud.ibm.com
Email> your_email address
Password> your_password

Authenticating...
OK

Select an account (or press enter to skip): 

Explanation: This command prompts the user to provide their email address and password. After successful authentication, it displays a list of accounts associated with the user. The user can select an account or press enter to skip account selection.

Use case 2: Log in to a specific API endpoint

Code:

ibmcloud login -a api_endpoint

Motivation: By default, the ‘ibmcloud login’ command uses the ‘cloud.ibm.com’ API endpoint. This use case is useful when you want to log in to a different API endpoint.

Output Example:

Authenticating...
OK

Select an account (or press enter to skip):

Explanation: This command allows the user to log in to a specific API endpoint by providing the ‘-a’ flag followed by the desired API endpoint.

Use case 3: Log in by providing username, password, and targeted region

Code:

ibmcloud login -u username -p password -r us-south

Motivation: This use case is beneficial when you want to log in using specific credentials and target a specific region. It allows users to specify their username, password, and the targeted region for authentication.

Output Example:

Authenticating...
OK

Targeted region US South (us-south) (ID: us-south):

Explanation: This command requires the user to provide their username ‘-u’, password ‘-p’, and the targeted region ‘-r’. It authenticates the user with the provided credentials and displays the targeted region information.

Use case 4: Log in with an API key provided as an argument

Code:

ibmcloud login --apikey api_key_string

Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to log in using an API key instead of a username and password. It allows users to authenticate using their unique API key.

Output Example:

Authenticating...
OK

Select an account (or press enter to skip):

Explanation: This command enables users to log in using an API key by providing the ‘–apikey’ flag followed by the API key string.

Use case 5: Log in with an API key provided as a file

Code:

ibmcloud login --apikey @path/to/api_key_file

Motivation: This use case is helpful when you have your API key stored in a file rather than providing it directly as a string. It allows users to specify the file path containing the API key.

Output Example:

Authenticating...
OK

Select an account (or press enter to skip):

Explanation: This command allows users to log in using an API key stored in a file. The ‘–apikey’ flag followed by the file path ‘@path/to/api_key_file’ specifies the location of the API key file.

Use case 6: Log in with a federated ID (single sign-on)

Code:

ibmcloud login --sso

Motivation: This use case is helpful when you want to log in using a federated ID for single sign-on. It allows users to authenticate without providing a username or password.

Output Example:

SSO Login...
OK

Select an account (or press enter to skip):

Explanation: This command facilitates logging in with a federated ID by providing the ‘–sso’ flag. It performs a single sign-on process for authentication.

Conclusion:

The ‘ibmcloud login’ command provides various options to log in to the IBM Cloud. By utilizing the different use cases described in this article, users can choose the most appropriate method based on their requirements. Whether it’s logging in with username and password, API key, or federated ID, the ‘ibmcloud login’ command offers flexibility and convenience for accessing the IBM Cloud platform.