Oracle Linux is one of the most powerful Linux flavors and it offers a full-fledged convenient platform to install every Oracle products. There is a misconception that we need to invest a lot in order to utilize Oracle products, but Oracle provides a way to install their products even on a cloud that you can afford. DigitalOcean, a platform that provides cloud VPS offers you several operating systems that you can install in on their droplet (a code name used by DigitalOcean for their single unit of server). With few clicks, it is possible to setup a working environment easily and one do not need to have much knowledge of programming or servers to setup a basic environment. You can also install Oracle Linux on DigitalOcean droplet.

Image Courtesy: By Oracle Linux (Screen capture by Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine) (Oracle Linux) [GPL (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Oracle provides a way to install Oracle Linux on Digital Ocean in a couple of steps.

  1. Install CentOS on Digital Ocean by using their interface.

  2. Once CentOS gets installed on your droplet, do login as a root to your droplet.

  3. Download a shell script to switch CentOS to Oracle Linux.

    curl -O https://linux.oracle.com/switch/centos2ol.sh

  4. Execute the shell script.

    sh centos2ol.sh

  5. Done!

Isn't it simple? It is free and it always be. You can switch CentOS 5, or 6, or 7. It works for all versions of CentOS. All updates are free too. Also, you can make this script run on Scientific Linux 5, 6 or 7. You will not lose your data on switching CentOS to Oracle Linux and thus, you can make the switch safe like never before. The shell script that you will execute to make this switch will backup all the repository files that you already have so that, in case the script fails, the script auto restores to the working state. What do you think about switching CentOS to Oracle Linux? Which Linux operating system is your choice and why? Share with us in the comments below.