Get a free Linux environment with Oracle Cloud#

We will record the steps to create a free instance on Oracle Cloud Free Tier and connect to SSH from Windows.

overview#

This is a record of how to secure a Linux server that can be used free on the cloud and minimize the effort that occurs each time you build an environment. I’m leaving this article as a memorandum because it’s easier to forget the steps when it comes to tasks you don’t do often.

the purpose#

  • Get Ubuntu 24.04 environment for free

  • Verify that you can connect via SSH from Windows

premise#

  • Have an Oracle Cloud account (Free Tier)

Create new instance#

Basic information#

  • Name : oracle-private

  • Image: Canonical Ubuntu 24.04 Minimal

  • Shape: VM.Standard.A1.Flex (OCPU = 1, Memory = 1 GB)

  • Make sure it says Always Free–eligible

Networking & SSH#

  1. Add SSH keys and select Generate SSH key pair

  2. Save ssh-key-{date}.key (private key) and ssh-key-{date}.key.pub (public key) locally

  3. Move ssh-key-{date}.key to .ssh folder and change permissions

Note

Remember to save the key file as you cannot download it later.

Verify your public IP#

After the instance creation is complete, record the Public IP displayed on the Instance Details screen (hereinafter expressed as {ip}).

SSH connection from Windows#

ssh -i .\ssh-key-{日付}.key ubuntu@{ip}

If you get a permission error#

Permission 0644 for 'C:\\Users\\me\\.ssh\\sh-key-{日付}.key' are too open.

This can be resolved by changing the private key attribute to 600.

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/sh-key-{日付}.key

Connection confirmation#

If uname -a is returned after logging in, the connection is successful.

summary#

  • Build a personal Linux server in 10 minutes with Oracle Cloud Always Free

  • Be careful about SSH key permission settings

  • Now you can access the same development environment from anywhere. I plan to dig deeper into Tmux settings in the future 🚀

Reference link#

Article information

Post date:

2025-04-01

author:

Mr. Takagi