How to Snag the Elusive Oracle Cloud Always Free ARM64 Ampere A1 Instance

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) ARM64 Ampere A1 Automated Provisioner
Continuously attempts to create an A1.Flex compute instance until capacity is secured.
"""

import time
import sys
import oci

# ==============================================================================
# Configuration Parameters (Replace with your compartment and subnet OCIDs)
# ==============================================================================
COMPARTMENT_ID = "ocid1.compartment.oc1..example_compartment_ocid"
SUBNET_ID      = "ocid1.subnet.oc1..example_subnet_ocid"
IMAGE_ID       = "ocid1.image.oc1..example_oracle_linux_arm64_image_ocid"
SSH_PUBLIC_KEY = "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAI... user@workstation"

INSTANCE_NAME  = "arm10"
OCPUS          = 2       # 2 OCPUs (out of 4 free allowed)
MEMORY_IN_GBS  = 12      # 12 GB RAM (out of 24 GB free allowed)
BOOT_VOLUME_GB = 50      # Boot volume size in GB

def create_instance_client():
    # Load configuration from ~/.oci/config
    config = oci.config.from_file()
    return oci.core.ComputeClient(config), config

def launch_arm_instance():
    compute_client, config = create_instance_client()
    
    # 1. Discover Availability Domain
    identity_client = oci.identity.IdentityClient(config)
    ads = identity_client.list_availability_domains(COMPARTMENT_ID).data
    target_ad = ads[0].name
    print(f"🎯 Target Availability Domain: {target_ad}")

    # 2. Build Instance Launch Details
    launch_details = oci.core.models.LaunchInstanceDetails(
        compartment_id=COMPARTMENT_ID,
        availability_domain=target_ad,
        display_name=INSTANCE_NAME,
        shape="VM.Standard.A1.Flex",
        shape_config=oci.core.models.LaunchInstanceShapeConfigDetails(
            ocpus=OCPUS,
            memory_in_gbs=MEMORY_IN_GBS
        ),
        source_details=oci.core.models.InstanceSourceViaImageDetails(
            image_id=IMAGE_ID,
            boot_volume_size_in_gbs=BOOT_VOLUME_GB
        ),
        create_vnic_details=oci.core.models.CreateVnicDetails(
            subnet_id=SUBNET_ID,
            assign_public_ip=False  # Routed internally via our Gateway node
        ),
        metadata={
            "ssh_authorized_keys": SSH_PUBLIC_KEY
        }
    )

    # 3. Continuous Provisioning Loop
    attempt = 1
    delay_seconds = 30  # Polling interval

    print(f"🚀 Starting automated provisioning for {INSTANCE_NAME} ({OCPUS} OCPU / {MEMORY_IN_GBS}GB RAM)...")

    while True:
        try:
            print(f"[{time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')}] Attempt #{attempt}: Requesting VM.Standard.A1.Flex...")
            response = compute_client.launch_instance(launch_details)
            instance_id = response.data.id
            print(f"\n🎉 SUCCESS! Instance provisioned successfully!")
            print(f"📋 Instance OCID: {instance_id}")
            break

        except oci.exceptions.ServiceError as e:
            if e.status == 500 and "Out of host capacity" in e.message:
                print(f"   ⏳ Capacity full. Retrying in {delay_seconds}s...")
            elif e.status == 429:
                print(f"   ⚠️ Rate limited (HTTP 429). Backing off for 60s...")
                time.sleep(30)
            else:
                print(f"   ❌ Unexpected Error [{e.status}]: {e.message}")
            
            time.sleep(delay_seconds)
            attempt += 1

if __name__ == "__main__":
    launch_arm_instance()