📘 Standard Operating Procedure
How to Register Oracle Cloud & Create an ARM VM
4 OCPUs · 24 GB RAM · 100 GB disk · Zero cost. Oracle's Always Free tier gives you a real ARM server that runs 24/7 — no credit card charges, ever.
Purpose — Walk through every step to create an Oracle Cloud account, choose the right Home Region, and provision an ARM VM that is ready for SSH access.
The Big Picture
The entire process in 30 seconds:
That's the whole thing. Register an account, enable 2FA, create one VM, copy the IP. The rest of this document teaches you how to do each step perfectly.
Step 1: Register Oracle Cloud Account
2
Fill in your details
Name and address must EXACTLY match your credit card. Any mismatch will get your application denied instantly.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Your real country |
| First Name | Exactly as it appears on your credit card |
| Last Name | Exactly as it appears on your credit card |
| Your real email address |
Click "Verify my email" → check your inbox → click the verification link.
3
Set password and account name
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Password | Strong password (uppercase + lowercase + number + special) |
| Cloud Account Name | Any short name, e.g. videopipeline |
4
Choose Home Region — CRITICAL
Choose: Germany Central (Frankfurt). Home Region CANNOT be changed after sign-up. Frankfurt gives you the lowest latency to European APIs and strong ARM availability.
5
Add address, phone, and payment
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Address | Your real address — must match your credit card billing address |
| Phone | Your real phone number (you'll receive an SMS code) |
| Card type | Visa or Mastercard — NO prepaid, NO virtual cards |
| Card number | Your real credit/debit card |
| Name on card | Must match the name you entered above |
Oracle places a temporary hold of ~€1 for verification. It is refunded automatically.
Anti-denial tips: Turn OFF any VPN. Use the same browser throughout the process. Never use a prepaid or virtual card. If denied, try a different browser (Chrome → Safari).
6
Complete sign-up and set up 2FA
- Check the Terms box and click "Start my free trial"
- Wait 2–5 minutes for provisioning — you'll get a welcome email
- On first login, Oracle prompts you to enable Two-Factor Authentication
- Open your authenticator app (Google Authenticator, 1Password, etc.)
- Scan the QR code and enter the 6-digit code
Checkpoint: You're logged into the Oracle Cloud Console and can see the dashboard.
Step 2: Create the ARM VM
1
Navigate to Compute Instances
- Click the ☰ hamburger menu (top-left)
- Click "Compute" → "Instances"
- Click "Create instance" (blue button)
2
Set name and image
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | video-pipeline |
| Compartment | Leave as default (root) |
Under "Image and shape" → click "Change image" → select Ubuntu → choose Canonical Ubuntu 22.04 (aarch64/ARM64) → click "Select image".
3
Select the Ampere shape
Click "Change shape":
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Instance type | Virtual machine |
| Shape series | Ampere |
| Shape | VM.Standard.A1.Flex |
| OCPUs | 4 |
| Memory | 24 GB |
Click "Select shape".
4
Configure networking
- Select "Create new virtual cloud network"
- Select "Create new public subnet"
- Check ✅ "Assign a public IPv4 address" — critical for SSH access
5
Paste your SSH public key
- Under "Add SSH keys" → select "Paste public keys"
- Paste the output of
cat ~/.ssh/oracle-pipeline.pub
Run
cat ~/.ssh/oracle-pipeline.pub | pbcopy on your Mac to copy the key to clipboard first.6
Set boot volume and create
- Under "Boot volume" → check ✅ "Specify a custom boot volume size"
- Set to 100 GB (you can use up to 200 GB free)
- Click "Create" (blue button at bottom)
Status shows "Provisioning" → wait 2–3 minutes → changes to "Running".
7
Copy the public IP address
On the Instance Details page, find "Public IP address" in the "Instance access" section. Copy it — you'll need it for SSH.
8
Verify SSH port is open
- Go to ☰ menu → "Networking" → "Virtual cloud networks"
- Click the VCN that was auto-created
- Click the public subnet → click the Security List
- Under "Ingress Rules", verify this rule exists:
| Source CIDR | Protocol | Destination Port |
|---|---|---|
0.0.0.0/0 | TCP | 22 |
If the rule is missing, click "Add Ingress Rules" and add it with source
0.0.0.0/0, protocol TCP, destination port 22.Checkpoint: Your VM is running. You have the public IP address. SSH port 22 is open.
Common Gotchas
Using a VPN during sign-up
Oracle flags VPN traffic as suspicious. Your application will be denied.
Turn OFF any VPN before starting
Use your normal home internet connection.
Using a prepaid or virtual card
Oracle rejects these outright. Only real credit/debit cards work.
Use a physical Visa/Mastercard
Name and address must match the card billing info exactly.
Switching browsers mid-signup
Oracle's session tracking treats this as suspicious.
Use the same browser throughout
Start in Chrome, finish in Chrome. Don't switch.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Out of Capacity" during VM creation | Change the Availability Domain (AD-2 or AD-3). Retry in a few hours — ARM capacity fluctuates. |
| Sign-up denied | Verify name/address matches card exactly. Disable VPN. Try different browser. |
| Forgot to assign public IP | Terminate the instance and recreate it with "Assign a public IPv4 address" checked. |
| SSH port not open | Add ingress rule: 0.0.0.0/0 → TCP → port 22 in the Security List. |
Golden Rules
1
Home Region is permanent. Choose Germany Central (Frankfurt). You cannot change it later.
2
Match everything to your card. Name, address, and card details must be an exact match or Oracle will deny you.
3
No VPN, same browser, real card. These three rules alone prevent 90% of sign-up failures.
4
Always assign a public IPv4. Without it, you cannot SSH into the VM. You'll have to delete and recreate.
5
"Out of Capacity" is temporary. Try a different Availability Domain (AD-2, AD-3) or wait a few hours and retry.
6
Set up 2FA on first login. Use an authenticator app — Oracle requires it for all console access.