Create Database Cloud Service (DBCS) using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Classic

Most of the applications do require a Relational Database to store and retrieve data.  With the introduction of Cloud based database by various Cloud vendors enable organisations to pay a subscription fee to own a database which would be fully managed by the Cloud provider.

All the major software vendors such as Oracle, Amazon, Google and Microsoft do have options to subscribe to a Database Cloud Service.

This blog post shows how quickly and easily an Oracle Database can be provisioned in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Classic (OCI Classic) environment.  Please note that OCI Classic was previously known as Oracle Public Cloud (OPC).

Step 1 - Sign into Oracle Cloud Account

Click Sign In from the top the page at https://cloud.oracle.com

Select the Cloud Account (e.g., Traditional Account) and choose the correct Data Center from the dropdown list.  This information would be available from your Cloud Administrator as it is stated in the welcome email sent by Oracle Cloud.

Click My Services which should take you to the Cloud Dashboard similar to the one shown below.

Step 2 - View Oracle Database Cloud Service Console

Click the Database link in the dashboard to view the subscription details for the Database Cloud Service.

Click Open Service Console to view the existing service details of the Database Cloud Service. The below screen shows that there are 3 DBCS services in the current account.

Step 3 - Create New DBCS Service Wizard

Click Create Service to initiate the wizard to create a new DBCS Service.  Enter the relevant details on the first screen.  Sample details are shown below.  Name for the service, the DB release version and edition types are provided in this screen.

Second screen of the wizard is used to specify the details of the DBCS such as DB Name, PDB Name, Storage and Compute options, Public key for the Compute SSH access, Backup options and advanced options such as Listener Port, Timezone etc.  Screen with sample details are shown below. Private key of the Public key has to be stored securely as it is required to SSH into the DBCS compute instance.  Public/Private key pair can be generated using this screen.  Refer to official docs for further information.

Last screen shows the entire summary showing all the specified options.  Check the details and confirm it to Create a new service.

Step 4 - Create New DBCS Service

After clicking create, the newly specified DBCS service is shown on the Service Console with a status of "Creating Service .." as shown in the below picture.

It will take some time to create the DBCS service and once it is created, the creation date is shown on the Service Console as shown in the below picture,

Step 5 - View Details of the DBCS Service

Clicking the Service Name would display the details of the DBCS service.  This screen shows all the important details of the DBCS service including DB Version, Edition, Connect String, Public IP Address, Status etc.  A sample screen is shown below. 

On the left hand side, under Administration section, any available patches would be displayed.  The Cloud Administrator can be installed with a single click.

The hamburger at the top has more options to select as shown in the below picture.  These options can be used to Start, Stop, Restart the DB Service.  The DBCS service can also be scaled up or down.

The above screen shots show how easy it is to setup a new Database Cloud Service in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Classic environment.

Further details can be found from official documentation at the below link.
https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/paas/database-dbaas-cloud/index.html

Please note that the screenshots are accurate as per the writing of this blog which is based on 17.4.3 version.