oci-cli: ConfigFileNotFound - no config file at ~/.oci/config

There is no config file. Run oci setup config and answer the prompts (it generates the key pair and writes ~/.oci/config), or set OCI_CLI_CONFIG_FILE to the file's real location. The CLI cannot authenticate with nothing to read.

$ oci iam user list
ConfigFileNotFound: Could not find config file at ~/.oci/config

Fix

1. Generate the config:

   oci setup config

   Answer the prompts (user OCID, tenancy OCID, region, generate a new key pair). Expected: Private key written to: ~/.oci/oci_api_key.pem and Config written to: ~/.oci/config.

2. Upload the generated public key to the console (Identity, Users, your user, API Keys, Add API Key, paste ~/.oci/oci_api_key_public.pem). Expected: the fingerprint shown matches the config's fingerprint.

3. If the file lives elsewhere, point the CLI at it:

   export OCI_CLI_CONFIG_FILE=/path/to/config

4. Verify:

   oci iam user list

   Expected: user details print.

When this applies

• ConfigFileNotFound on new machines, containers, CI runners.
• The ~/.oci/ directory does not exist.

When it does NOT apply

• ProfileNotFound: the file exists, the named profile does not.
• 401 with an existing config: key/fingerprint problem.
• Session-auth expiry: the session token died, not the config.

Compatibility

• oci-cli 3.x.

Why it happens

The CLI's default config path is hardcoded to ~/.oci/config. Anything that changes HOME (sudo, containers, service users, CI) moves the lookup, and a fresh machine simply never had setup run. The error fires before any network call.

Edge cases

• oci setup config overwrites ~/.oci/config if it exists; back it up first on machines with working profiles.
• The config file holds no secrets itself, but oci_api_key.pem next to it does; keep both 0600.
• In CI, prefer instance principals over copying config files and private keys around.