Red Hat on OCI FAQ
Partnership
What differentiates OCI from other cloud providers?
OCI offers unique virtual machine shapes that are defined by the customer, rather than the cloud provider.
Customers can select the following:
- The processor such as Intel, AMD, or Arm
- The number of CPU cores (from 1 to 80, depending on the processor) in single-core increments
- The amount of memory (from 1 to 1,024 GB total, depending on the processor) in 1 GB increments per core
This is in contrast to other cloud providers that offer a wide variety of fixed sizes that may be over- or under-sized for a customer’s needs.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Compute bare metal shapes offer unimpeded high performance equivalent to or better than on-premises capabilities. The customer is in complete control of the hardware as the control plane runs on a separate, off-box unit, and does not impact the bare metal instance.
OCI pursues a distributed cloud strategy that encourages and supports collaboration between OCI and other cloud providers for the benefit of the customer. An example is Oracle Interconnect for Azure and Oracle Database@Azure, which allow customers to leverage services in both clouds.
Licensing and Billing
Can customers bring their own subscription through Red Hat’s BYOS program?
Yes. Customers should use the Red Hat Cloud Access Program to leverage their Red Hat Enterprise Linux licenses.
Can customers move an on‑premises Red Hat Enterprise Linux license to OCI?
Yes. Customers can use the Red Hat Cloud Access Program to move licenses between on-premises and cloud vendors. For further questions, customers should engage their Red Hat sales team for assistance.
Can customers license Red Hat products via an on-demand subscription through OCI?
No. Licensing is currently through Red Hat. Availability of on-demand licensing through OCI is being considered.
Is Red Hat Enterprise Linux available in Oracle Cloud Marketplace?
No. Licensing is currently through Red Hat. Availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux via Oracle Cloud Marketplace is being considered.
Can customers move Red Hat Enterprise Linux licenses from other clouds to OCI?
Yes. Customers can use the Red Hat Cloud Access Program to move licenses between on-premises and cloud vendors. For further questions, customers should engage their Red Hat sales team for assistance.
Can customers be billed for Red Hat product licenses via OCI?
No. Red Hat currently provides licensing and payment for Red Hat products.
Can customers pay for Red Hat product licenses with Oracle Universal Credits?
No. Red Hat currently provides licensing and payment for Red Hat products.
Does Oracle Support Rewards work with Red Hat product licensing?
No. Oracle Support Rewards only considers services purchased directly from Oracle. Oracle Support Rewards will be applied to the underlying infrastructure (for example, compute or storage) leveraged by OCI Compute when running Red Hat products but not to the Red Hat license. See Oracle Support Rewards for more details..
Do license prices include tax?
Licensing is through Red Hat. Red Hat’s licensing contract determines the treatment of tax.
Can customers switch between Red Hat’s BYOS program and ondemand licensing?
No. Licensing is currently provided through Red Hat. On-demand licensing via OCI is currently not available.
Versions
What versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux are certified with OCI Compute?
RHEL 7, 8, and 9 are supported. Note that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 has reached end of maintenance and isn’t available.
View the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog for virtual machine and bare metal shapes that are certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Which versions of Red Hat OpenShift are validated on OCI?
Red Hat OpenShift version 4.14 and 4.15 are validated with OCI Compute flexible virtual machines, which also must be certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. View the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog for virtual machine shapes that are certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
What editions of Red Hat OpenShift are validated?
Red Hat and Oracle have validated the following editions of Red Hat OpenShift:
- Red Hat OpenShift Kubernetes Engine
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform
- Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus
Support
Whom do customers contact for support with Red Hat products running on OCI Compute?
Support for Red Hat products is provided by both Red Hat and Oracle, and customers may initially contact either company. Oracle Support is included with consuming certified compute resources on OCI. As needed, Red Hat Support and Oracle Support will collaborate on behalf of the customer and may transfer the customer to the appropriate vendor (Red Hat or Oracle), which will work directly with the customer.
Must customers purchase support for Red Hat products?
Customers must have a valid subscription for Red Hat products, which will include support.
Can customers purchase support for Red Hat products from Red Hat?
Yes. Support for Red Hat products is provided by Red Hat. Oracle Support provides support for the OCI Compute infrastructure.
Can customers purchase support for Red Hat products from Oracle?
No. Support for Red Hat products is provided by Red Hat. Oracle Support provides support automatically through the OCI Compute infrastructure license.
Deployment
How do customers deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on OCI?
Consult the blog. While the blog is focused on bare metal, the exact same process applies to virtual machines.
What shapes in OCI are certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
View the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog for virtual machine and bare metal shapes that are certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Is Red Hat Enterprise Linux be supported in OCI Dedicated Region?
Yes. Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on OCI Compute is supported in OCI Dedicated Region for the certified configurations.
How do customers deploy Red Hat OpenShift running on OCI?
Consult the documentation.
What shapes in OCI are validated with Red Hat OpenShift?
Red Hat OpenShift is validated with OCI Compute flexible virtual machines, which also must be certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. View the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog for virtual machine shapes that are certified with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Operations
How do customers update OCI Compute running Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
Customers use the same process with any standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution to update the operating systems.
How will customers know that updates are available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
Customers can subscribe to notifications through their Red Hat accounts for Red Hat Enterprise Linux updates.
Is Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on OCI Compute configured to download updates from Oracle or Red Hat?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is configured to pull updates from Red Hat official repositories, which are maintained by Red Hat.
How do customers update Red Hat OpenShift running on OCI Compute?
Customers use the same process with any Red Hat OpenShift deployment. Please consult Red Hat documentation.
Partners
Can partners (system integrators, service providers, ISVs, etc.) purchase Red Hat products for use on OCI?
Yes. Partners can purchase subscriptions in the same manner as they do today through the Red Hat Cloud Access Program.
Can partners provide services on top of Red Hat products running on OCI Compute?
Yes. Partners can use Red Hat Enterprise Linux today just as they do in other environments.
Can partners use Red Hat product licenses purchased by end users/customers?
Customers should consult their Red Hat sales team for acceptable use of their Red Hat product licenses.