Get Started with Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench

Storage Encryption Options

You can use Oracle-managed encryption keys, or you can choose your own customer-managed key (CMK) from OCI Vault when your organization requires direct control over key lifecycle and rotation.

Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench encrypts data at rest by default. When you configure your first AI Data Platform Workbench instance, you can choose to keep the default Oracle-managed encryption keys, or you can choose your own CMK from OCI Vault when your organization requires direct control over key lifecycle and rotation. Use Oracle-managed keys when you want the simplest setup and don't need to manage key material yourself. Use customer-managed keys when your security policy requires you to control the vault, key rotation process, access boundaries, or audit trail for the encryption key.

Customer-Managed Key Prerequisites (Preview)

Before you select a customer-managed key, make sure the following prerequisites are in place:

You have permission to view OCI Vaults and keys in the target compartment. For more information configuring vaults and keys in OCI, see Configuring IAM Policies.
You have an OCI Vault available in the same region as your AI Data Platform Workbench deployment.
You have a master encryption key in that vault.
The key is enabled and available for use.
You must choose an AES symmetric master key with a 256-bit length.

Default Behavior – Oracle Managed Keys

If you don't select a customer-managed key, Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench uses Oracle-managed keys automatically. This is the default option and requires no additional vault configuration. Choose this option when:

You want the fastest provisioning path.
Your team doesn't need to manage or rotate the encryption key directly.
Your security policy allows Oracle-managed encryption for service data at rest.

Considerations Before Choosing Customer-Managed Keys

Customer-managed keys provide more control, but they also add operational responsibility.

If the vault or key becomes unavailable, encryption-dependent operations can fail.
If the key is disabled, deleted, or scheduled for deletion, access to protected data can be impacted.
Key rotation, compartment design, and IAM policies become part of your operational runbook.
Provisioning or update flows can take longer than the default Oracle-managed path.

Troubleshooting

If you don't see the customer-managed key option when setting up your AI Data Platform Workbench instance, check the following:

Confirm that the feature is enabled in your tenancy.
Confirm that you have permission to read vaults and keys.
Confirm that the vault and key are in the same region as the workbench.

Limitations

You cannot change your encryption keys after creating a workbench instance. In order to change encryption strategy, you must create a new workbench instance and move the code to that.

Create Your First AI Data Platform Workbench

Before you create your first Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench, you need to ensure you have the correct IAM permissions.

LiveLabs Sprint

Before creating or using an AI Data Platform Workbench, check the following:

You have the appropriate permissions for the compartment where you want to create the AI Data Platform Workbench. For more information, see Managing Compartments.
If you already have tag-defaults set for your compartment you may face issues while creating an AI Data Platform Workbench instance in that scope. For more information, see Known Issues.

In the Home section of OCI, click Analytics & AI.
Click AI Data Platform Workbenches.
Click Create AI Data Platform Workbench. Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench performs a check to validate that all required IAM policies are in place.
Provide a name and description for your AI Data Platform Workbench instance.
Provide a name and description for your first AI Data Platform Workbench workspace.
Select whether encryption keys are Oracle-managed (default setting) or customer-managed.
- Oracle-managed key is the default option and requires no additional vault configuration.
- Customer-managed key is the option to select if your organization requires direct control over key lifecycle and rotation. You need to provide the Vault OCID and Key OCID for your encryption key. Click Validate to confirm the provided OCIDs are valid.
Select one of the following from Add Policies:
- Standard (Recommended): Applies access settings broadly at the tenancy level.
- Advanced: Allows you to configure fine-grained access at the compartment level.
Review the missing policies, if any, and apply them as necessary.
Expand Optional Policies. Review and add any additional policies your instance requires. For more information, see IAM Policies for Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench.
Click Advanced Options to provide metadata tags for your AI Data Platform Workbench. Click Add tag to add multiple.
Click Create AI Data Platform Workbench.

Access an Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench

You can access any Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench that you or a role you belong to have been provided permissions for.

You require at least USE permissions from the AI Data Platform Workbench IAM policies to access an AI Data Platform Workbench. For more information, see IAM Policies for Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench.

In the Home section of OCI, click Analytics & AI.
Click AI Data Platform Workbench then click AI Data Platform Workbenches.
Click the AI Data Platform Workbench you want to access.

Access Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench from a URL

You can access your Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench instance directly from a URL.

The URL for your Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench uses the following format, where tenant_name is the name of the OCI account you use to log in and domain_name is the domain you select:

https://<hash>.datalake.oci.oraclecloud.com/#?&tenant=<<tenant_name>>&domain=<<domain_name>>

You can also get a direct link to your instance by right-clicking your AI Data Platform Workbench instance name on the home page and clicking Copy Link.

You can share your AI Data Platform Workbench instance URL with other users. Those users need to have appropriate permissions to access the instance. For more information, see About Permissions.

Understanding the Workspace and UI Flow

Once you've created or accessed your AI Data Platform Workbench, the user interface helps you navigate and manage all key components seamlessly inside the workbench.

Left Navigation Overview

When inside an AI Data Platform Workbench, the left sidebar contains:

Home - Brings you back to the dashboard
Master Catalog - View all registered data assets across workspaces
Workspace - Direct access to workspace details
Select Workspace - Dropdown to switch between different workspaces
- Inside a workspace, you’ll see:
  - Workflow - Design and schedule data workflows
  - Compute - Manage Spark compute environments
Data Sharing - Share data with other services supporting Delta Share protocol
Auto populate catalog - Automatically ingest metadata from connected sources
Notifications - Search and filter system messages you receive
Roles - Configure access control (RBAC)
Audit logs - Search and filter the history of objects in your AI Data Platform Workbench

Next Steps After Setup

Once you have created your Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench, you can prepare it for regular use.

When you have your Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench created and have accessed it for the first time, these are the next steps to ensure its ready for use:

Review IAM Policies and Roles - Ensure correct access is set up for users and groups via the Roles tab. For more information, see Roles.
Set Up Compute - Configure Spark compute in the Compute tab to run your workflows efficiently. For more information, see Compute.
Ingest and Organize Data - Start by creating a Catalog to organize your data sources. For more information, see Data Management.
Explore Notebooks - Use notebooks for ad hoc exploration, transformations, or machine learning tasks. For more information, see Notebooks.

Edit an AI Data Platform Workbench

You can edit the details of an Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench you own.

In the Home section of OCI, click Analytics & AI.
Click AI Data Platform Workbench then click AI Data Platform Workbenches.
Click Actions next to your AI Data Platform Workbench and click Edit.
Modify the details and click Save.

Delete an AI Data Platform Workbench

You can delete unused or redundant AI Data Platform Workbenches you own.

In the Home section of OCI, click Analytics & AI.
Click AI Data Platform Workbench then click AI Data Platform Workbenches.
Click Actions next to your AI Data Platform Workbench and click Delete.
Select whether to delete:
- All managed data in the Master Catalog
- All files and folders in all Workspaces
Enter Delete where prompted. Click Delete.

Session Management

Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench enforces session management controls to ensure a secure and reliable user experience.

The session lifetime for AI Data Platform Workbench is 8 hours. User sessions automatically expire after this session lifetime. This behavior aligns with the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) security standards and reduces the risk of unauthorized access by ensuring that session tokens are not valid indefinitely.

After 8 hours, users must reauthenticate to continue working in the Workbench.

These controls are designed to balance usability with strong security and governance practices across the platform.

2 Get Started with Oracle AI Data Platform Workbench