oracle-cloud-free-tier-guide

oracle-cloud-free-tier-guide.md

how to leverage oracle's temping offers

free tier limits

The limits of the free tier say that you can create up to 4 instances.

• x2 x86 instances (2core/1g)
• x2 ampere instances (with 4core/24g spread between them)
• 200GB total boot volume space across all intances (minimum of 50G per instance)

create your account

The first step is to create your oracle cloud account here: https://signup.cloud.oracle.com/

You will need a valid credit card for signup, "We do not accept virtual cards or prepaid cards. We accept credit cards and debit cards only."

login

Log into your new account you created above.

create a vm instance

On the home screen, there should be a hamberger button in the top left. Click it, and the resource pane opens. Select "Compute" and then "Instances".

Click on the "Create instance" button on the next page.

name & region

Enter a name for your instance. Then give the form a second to autofill, and a region should be selected with the "Always Free-eligible" badge to the right.

shape

Click "edit" next to "Image and Shape", and then "Change shape".

x86

To create an instance with an x86 based processor, just leave everything default and click "Select shape".

arm

To create an instance with an arm processor, select "Ampere" and then check the box next to "VM.Standard.A1.Flex".

Then you are given a CPU and Memory slider. You have 4 cores and 24G to use between your (max of) 2 instances. You can give one instance all 4 cores and 24G or make two instances with a variable size.

image

Click on "Change image" next.

This choice is personal preference. Choose the Image Name, OS, and Build based on what you need.

Then click "Select image" at the bottom.

networking

I usually don't change any defaults here, but you can at your discretion.

ssh keys

Next, under the ssh section, select "paste public keys" and paste in your public key (normally found in ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub in most *nix like systems). You can also upload that file, or generate a key-pair from within the options.

boot volume

Most of the time this section can be left as default.

You have 200G of disk space in the free tier, and if you use up 4 VMs then the minimum disk size of 50G (the default) is fine. If you plan to make fewer instances than 4, you can adjust the size as needed.

deploy

You will be dropped to a loading screen, and after a few it will turn green and display a public ip that you can now ssh with the username ubuntu and the private key of the public one you specified above.

ssh [email protected]

Is the free offer unlimited time or it is just a trial?

unlimited

How many much did they charge for verification process? I don't have that much money in my debit card rn

How many much did they charge for verification process? I don't have that much money in my debit card rn

i have never gotten a charge from oracle. $0

How many much did they charge for verification process? I don't have that much money in my debit card rn

1 $ chargeback

@Axeltherabbit you have "credit" for 24GB ram and 4 cores. however you split them up is up to you, as long as you stay within that boundary you should be fine.

As for speeds, I am not certain. I know they list those speeds, but I am about to get the same rated speed on both my ARM vms at the same time: Download: 1083.96 Mbit/s Upload: 1416.27 Mbit/s

can u run a vpn instance with port forwarding under free tier?

@Axeltherabbit you have "credit" for 24GB ram and 4 cores. however you split them up is up to you, as long as you stay within that boundary you should be fine.
As for speeds, I am not certain. I know they list those speeds, but I am about to get the same rated speed on both my ARM vms at the same time: Download: 1083.96 Mbit/s Upload: 1416.27 Mbit/s

can u run a vpn instance with port forwarding under free tier?

yeah, i ran pterodactyl panel on oracle and it ran great, had open 8 server each with separate designated ports.

Great guide, this still works today, for those saying Oracle closes free tier accounts, this is true, but all you have to do to avoid this is convert your account to "pay-as-you-go", the free tier is still available and those accounts aren't being closed.

I personally use mine to direct Jellyfin traffic through it since CloudFlare doesn't let you do that through their tunneling.

Just FYI the setup show a price for the boot volume, but actually nothing is asked when creating the instance

Some issue I've came across is that I can NOT get to get even one ARM compute instance in my region. They're always unavailable.
That's a shame cause 4 cores and 24 gigs of ram looks more than perfect for a free ARM VPS.

same here, I have chosen Germany datacenter and the 3 AD are unavailable. Once the region set, it can't be changed.
What other good VPS do you guys switch to?