Setup an Ubuntu VM (ARM) on Oracle Cloud (Always-free)
Here is a tutorial to get a basic Ubuntu VM running on Oracle Cloud for free.
0. Create your Oracle Cloud account
First off you’ll need to sign-up for an Oracle Cloud account, it requires a payment method verification but it is free. As I’m writing this, the “Always-free” tier allows up to 4 OCPU and 24 GB RAM (if running 24/7) on ARM (Ampere) processors, which you can basically split into 4 virtual machines with a single core and 6 GB of RAM for each (VM.Standard.A1.Flex)
The sign-up process itself was a bit of a struggle for me, but I’m sure you’ll manage to pass it too.
Note 1: Choose your Home Region carrefully as this is a definitive choice and you can’t register a second account for yourself. In busy regions like [France-Paris] it is almost impossible to create a VM while your account is in Always-free tier because Oracle saves the ressources (cf. next note).
Note 2: When created, your account is “stuck” in the Free Tier meaning you cannot overpass the free limit until you manually change your account to “Pay-as-you-go” tier (it stays free if you stay within the limits of the free tier). Changing to Pay-as-you-go means Oracle will no longer deny your VM creations, even the ones eligible to Always-free (like the A1 flex).
1. Configure your VCN
1.1) Create your Virtual Cloud Network
After creating your account, you want to configure your VCN (Virtual Cloud Network), Subnet and Gateway. Go to Networking > Virtual Cloud Network to create your VCN, you can leave everything on default but you need an IPv4 address block as shown on the screenshot below.
⤷ You can use the same block I used : 10.0.0.0/16
1.2) Create your Subnet
Once your VCN is created, click on it and browse to the Subnet tab to create a subnet, again you can leave everything on default but you need an IPv4 address block (one that is within your VCN’s block). (cf. screenshot below)
⤷ You can use the same block I used : 10.0.0.0/24
1.3) Create your Gateway (+routing rule)
Last step is to create a Gateway and a routing rule. Browse to the Gateways tab of your VCN to create an Internet Gateway (again : default settings).
After creating your Internet Gateway you must create a rule in your routing table to send your traffic through that gateway.
That can be done in the Routing tab of your VCN. There you will find the default routing tab, after clicking on it, browse to the Route Rules tab (should be empty) and click Add Route Rule to add the that rule :
2. Create your Virtual Machine (VM)
To spawn the VM, go to Compute > Instances then +Create an instance
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After naming you instance you want to change the image to the latest standard Ubuntu (in my case “Canonical Ubuntu 24.04”).
Then in order to keep it free, change the shape to Ampere - A1 Flex. The default A1 Flex specs should be 1 OCPU and 6 GB RAM but you can change that when selecting the shape. (cf. screenshot below)
— As i’m writing this, Oracle Always-free tier allows up to 4 OCPU and 24 GB RAM (if running 24/7), so you can adjust the VM specs to your needs —
Then skip to the Networking section and make sure your VCN and subnet are correctly set and that the public IPv4 is enabled.
Also in this section you will need to select the SSH key(s) for the main user authentication (default username: ubuntu).
If you don’t have an SSH keypair yet, follow my guide : SSH Basics — Keys and first connection
As for the storage, you want to enable ☑ Specify custom boot volume.
— As i’m writing this, Oracle Always-free tier allows up to 200 GB of storage (if running 24/7) so you can adjust the disk size to your needs —
You can then validate to create your VM.
3. Remote connect (SSH)
After a few minutes your system should be booted up, you now want to remote connect it through an SSH connection (username: ubuntu)
ssh ubuntu@your.remote.host.ipIf you need help, follow my guide : SSH Basics — Keys and first connection
If your connection succeeds (cf. screenshot below) you should then proceed to setup your system.
For that you can follow my guide : Ubuntu/Debian Basic setup
Also recommend to read this guide : How to secure SSH on Ubuntu/Debian
Note: If your SSH port doesn’t answer, you probably missed the internet gateway configuration of your VCN (refer to section 1. Configure your VCN), if that’s not the problem, you can refer to the troubleshooting section of my guide : SSH Basics — Keys and first connection
