How to create an IBM Cloud API Key
An IBM Cloud API Key is required to interact with the IBM Cloud API, and is required to be able to use Terraform with IBM Cloud. This blog post will demonstrate how to generate the key.
1) Sign up for IBM Cloud
This is outside the scope of this tutorial, but to progress, you will need to be signed up to IBM Cloud. If your organisaiton does not already use IBM Cloud, you can sign up for the free tier, the details of which can be found here: IBM Cloud Free Tier | IBM. Once signed up, move onto step #2.
2) Navigate to the IBM Cloud Portal
The main landing page for the IBM Cloud is https://cloud.ibm.com. It should appear like this when you open it:
Don't worry if your IBM Cloud Portal doesn't look exactly like this, you may already have some resources present (if your organisation already uses IBM Cloud.
From here, click the dropdown indicated and select the entry marked "Access (IAM)". This will take you to a screen titled "Manage access and users".
3) Navigate to the API Keys screen
From this screen you will see a link titled "Create one now". Click this link to navigate to the API Keys screen (alternatively, click "View All" to navigate to the same). If you already have API Keys defined, click "View All" on the top right of the "My IBM Cloud API Keys" box.
3) Open the "Create API Key" dialog
On this screen, click the blue "Create an IBM Cloud API Key" button to open the "Create API Key" dialog. If you already have API Keys defined, you will find this button on the top right of the table showing your API Keys.
4) Enter the Key Details
Enter the Name and Description of the key into the fields of the dialog box. It helps to give a descriptive name here, so you can see what the key is for when you come back to it. Once entered, click the "Create" button.
5) Save Key
You will now be presented with your new API Key. It will be hidden by default - click the eye on the right hand side to make it visible. You can also copy the key to the clipboard, or download it as a file. Make sure to keep the key somewhere safe, it will only be visible in the dialog for 5 minutes!
Keep an eye out for the next blog post, which will cover using our new API to create an IBM Virtual Power Systems Server, running the latest and greatest version of AIX!