CLI, IAM & Core Services

CLI & Authentication

ibmcloud login                        # interactive login
ibmcloud login --sso                  # federated enterprise SSO
ibmcloud login --apikey @keyfile       # non-interactive — CI/CD pipelines

ibmcloud target -g my-resource-group -r us-south   # set resource group + region
ibmcloud resource groups                            # list resource groups

# API keys — credentials for programmatic (non-interactive) access
ibmcloud iam api-key-create my-ci-key --file key.json

# Service ID — a non-human identity for an app/pipeline, scoped permissions
ibmcloud iam service-id-create my-app-id
ibmcloud iam service-policy-create my-app-id --roles Writer --service-name cloud-object-storage

Container Registry & Kubernetes

ibmcloud cr login                                      # authenticate Docker to the registry
docker build -t us.icr.io/my-namespace/my-app:1.0 .
docker push us.icr.io/my-namespace/my-app:1.0
ibmcloud cr images                                     # list images, includes vuln scan status

# IKS — managed Kubernetes
ibmcloud ks cluster create classic --name my-cluster --zone dal10 --flavor b3c.4x16
ibmcloud ks cluster config --cluster my-cluster       # fetch kubeconfig, then use kubectl normally

Object Storage & Cloudant

Object Storage buckets choose a resiliency tier: Cross-Region (highest durability, multi-region replication, higher write latency), Regional (multiple data centers within one region), or Single-Site (lowest latency, one data center). Cloudant is IBM's managed NoSQL document database built on Apache CouchDB, inheriting its HTTP/JSON API and replication model — a natural fit for offline-first or sync-heavy apps.