We’re pleased to announce the availability of the Oracle Linux 8 based Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image for the x86_64 platform. The Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image is a ready-to-run image that provides a comprehensive out-of-the-box development platform in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The image enables developers to rapidly preinstall, automatically configure, and deploy a comprehensive development environment in OCI that includes the latest tools, choice of popular languages, OCI software development kits (SDKs), database connectors, and more.
All-in-one development environment
With a few clicks, developers can deploy a development environment in OCI with all the tools they need to transition applications and to build new ones on the Oracle Linux 8 platform. The Oracle Linux 8 based (x86_64) release of the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image includes the following comprehensive set of preinstalled development software and tools:
Latest Oracle Linux 8 (x86_64) OCI platform image
Languages and Oracle database connectors
Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) 8, 11, 16
Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition 21
Python 3.6
PHP 7.4
Node.js 14
Ruby 2.7
GCC 8 (default) and GCC 10 (with gcc-toolset-10)
Go 1.15
MySQL 8.0 Community Edition
cx_Oracle Linux 8
node-oracledb
Oracle Instant Client 21.1
Oracle SQLcl 20.3
OCI command line client tools
Ansible and OCI Ansible Collection
OCI Command Line Interface (CLI)
OCI Software Development Kits: Java, Python, TypeScript and JavaScript, .NET (x86_64), Go, and Ruby
Terraform and OCI Terraform provider
OCI Utilities
Other
Extra packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) through Yum
GUI desktop with access through VNC Server
Container tools module that provides Podman, Buildah, and Skopeo
Rclone
.NET Core
Visual Studio Code
In the following use cases, developers can take advantage of the out-of-the-box tools provided with Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image:
Upgrading or developing applications to run on Oracle Linux 8 in the cloud
Easily accessing a VNC client or SSH to connect to a desktop environment
Using OCI CLI and SDKs
Creating an Autonomous Transaction Processing Database and connecting to it using Python, Java, PHP, and Node.js
Using Terraform scripts and templates to configure and build the cloud application infrastructure
Running container applications across compatible Oracle Linux systems
Quick and easy deployment in OCI
Developers can get immediate access to an Oracle Linux 8 developer environment simply by launching the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image from the OCI Console—no downloads, no manual installations, and no delays on the path to productive development.
To create the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image, log in to the OCI Console. Under the left navigation menu, select Compute, then Instances and Create Compute Instance to configure the instance.
Under Image and shape, click Change Image, select the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image for the OS version 8, accept the terms of use, and click Select Image. Ensure that you’ve selected an x86_64 compatible shape when configuring the virtual machine (VM) or bare metal instance type.
When you’ve completed all your instance configuration details, click Create.
When the instance is deployed and running, you can connect to your instance using SSH, and a comprehensive set of development software and tools is readily available at your fingertips. It's that simple. You can find more details about the image in the Getting Started guide.
Free premium support for Oracle Linux, Java, and GraalVM
The Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image includes, for free, licensing and support for several premium developer tools that otherwise require an extra support subscription outside of OCI.
Oracle Linux Premier Support is included with an OCI subscription at no extra cost. So, you can enjoy the highest-level support for your Oracle Linux instances in OCI, including around-the-clock expert telephone and online support and access to enhancements and updates, without having to worry about operating system licensing and support costs. In addition, Oracle Linux includes for free, configuration tools like OCI utilities (oci-utils) that integrate with Oracle Cloud services and help simplify instance configuration of resources, such as Block Storage and virtual network interfaces.
Oracle Linux images in OCI include Oracle Ksplice technology that applies zero-downtime security updates for the kernel and key user space libraries, such as glibc and openssl, without requiring a reboot or stopping applications. Ksplice is exclusively available with an Oracle Linux Premier Support subscription, which is included at no extra charge for instances running in OCI.
Support for Oracle Java, Oracle’s widely adopted and proven Java Development Kit, is also included with OCI subscriptions at no extra cost. This feature includes the ability to log bugs, to get regular stability, performance, and security updates, and more.
In addition, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition (EE), now part of an Oracle Java SE subscription, is included for free and supported with an OCI subscription. GraalVM EE, built on Java SE, is a high-performance multilingual runtime with new compiler optimizations that we consider the best solution for building microservices, with high efficiency, better isolation, and greater agility for enterprise applications in cloud and hybrid environments.
Getting started
You can quickly start on your Oracle Linux 8 projects by signing up for an OCI account, and launching the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image on Oracle Cloud Free Tier resources. Cloud Free Tier includes Always Free cloud services that you can use for an unlimited time and extra free trial cloud credits for 30 days.
With developing applications on the x86_64 platform, you might also want to explore Oracle Linux 8 development on the Arm (aarch64) platform by deploying the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image for Arm (aarch64) on the recently announced Ampere A1 Compute shapes in OCI.
For more information about the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image and other resources, visit the following links:
Getting Started: Oracle Linux Cloud Developer Image (documentation)
Oracle Linux (web page)
Oracle Linux (documentation)
Oracle Linux for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (data sheet)