Oracle AI Database 26ai Now Generally Available for On-Premises Linux x86-64 Platforms

Oracle has announced the general availability (GA) of Oracle AI Database 26ai Enterprise Edition for Linux x86-64 on-premises environments as part of the January 2026 quarterly Release Update (23.26.1). This milestone expands Oracle’s AI-native database platform beyond cloud and engineered systems into customer data centers, offering enterprises a broader choice for modern data and AI workloads. 

Bringing AI-Native Data Management to the Enterprise

Oracle AI Database 26ai represents the next generation of Oracle’s converged database architecture, embedding artificial intelligence deeply into the core of the database engine. With this release now available for on-premises Linux x86-64 systems, organizations that operate critical workloads within their own data centers can leverage AI capabilities without migrating to cloud-managed environments. 

This on-premises GA release ensures that enterprises with strict data sovereignty, security, compliance, or performance requirements can modernize their database platforms while taking full advantage of Oracle’s AI innovations. 

Key Capabilities in Oracle AI Database 26ai

The 26ai release includes a comprehensive set of AI-enabled features and enhancements designed to transform enterprise data management:

  • AI Vector Search – Support for similarity search across vectorized data, enabling intelligent retrieval of related documents, images, and other unstructured data. 

  • Globally Distributed Database with RAFT Replication – Built-in mechanisms for data replication across distributed environments.

  • In-Database SQL Firewall – Enhanced security controls for managing risky queries. 

  • Quantum-Resistant Encryption – Cryptographic protections designed to withstand future computational threats.

  • True Cache – Performance enhancements that optimize data access patterns.

  • JSON Relational Duality – Unified handling of JSON and relational data within the same platform. 

  • Apache Iceberg Lakehouse Support – Integration with modern open table formats for analytical workloads. 

This extensive feature set allows organizations to combine transactional, analytical, and AI-centric workloads within a single, unified database platform. 

What This Means for On-Premises Customers

Traditionally, advanced AI capabilities in Oracle databases were most accessible through cloud-hosted services or engineered systems such as Oracle Exadata. With the on-premises GA of Oracle AI Database 26ai for Linux x86-64, customers can now:

  • Preserve existing infrastructure investments while adopting state-of-the-art AI-native database technology. 

  • Simplify architectures by reducing dependency on external AI platforms or middleware. 

  • Accelerate application development and deployment with built-in AI functions. 

This release underscores Oracle’s commitment to offering flexibility across cloud and on-premises deployment models, ensuring enterprises can align technology choices with business requirements. 

Getting Started with Oracle AI Database 26ai On-Premises

Customers can download Oracle AI Database 26ai Enterprise Edition for Linux x86-64 from Oracle’s software distribution channels and begin planning upgrades or new deployments as part of their 2026 technology roadmap. 

For further details on the release, feature highlights, and tutorials, Oracle provides an array of resources, including product documentation, live labs, and introductory videos. 

Conclusion

The general availability of Oracle AI Database 26ai for on-premises Linux x86-64 systems marks a significant evolution in enterprise database technology. By seamlessly integrating AI capabilities into the database engine and extending them beyond cloud environments, Oracle empowers organizations to innovate faster, extract deeper insights, and maintain control over critical data–all within their own data centers.


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Bringing Your Own Images into Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure allows customers to import external custom images; however, most of these images are originally built for environments that boot from local disks or use paravirtualized storage. While this works well for virtual machines, bare metal provisioning in OCI follows a different boot model and therefore requires additional preparation.

Why External Images Often Fail on Bare Metal

When an external image is imported into OCI and launched on a bare metal shape without modification, one or more of the following issues commonly occur:

  • The instance fails to complete the boot process

  • The operating system cannot locate the root filesystem

  • Network interfaces are not initialized during early boot

These behaviors are not platform defects. They indicate that the image lacks specific prerequisites required for bare metal booting in OCI.

Once these requirements are understood, the remediation is straightforward and enables the use of a single image across both virtual machine and bare metal instances.

Key Areas to Address for Image Compatibility

To ensure that one custom image works reliably across all OCI compute shapes, focus on the following three core areas.

1. Enable iSCSI Boot Support

Bare metal instances in OCI boot from network-attached storage using iSCSI. The operating system image must therefore support iSCSI during the earliest stages of the boot process.

At a minimum, the image should include:

  • Installation of the iSCSI initiator utilities (for example, iscsi-initiator-utils)

  • Required kernel parameters:

    • rd.iscsi.ibft=1

    • rd.iscsi.firmware=1

  • A rebuilt initramfs that incorporates iSCSI and networking support

With these elements in place, the operating system can:

  • Discover the boot volume presented by OCI

  • Initialize networking early enough to access the volume

  • Mount the root filesystem and continue the boot sequence

This configuration does not affect virtual machines, allowing the same disk layout to function on both VM and bare metal shapes.

2. Align Cloud-Init with OCI Requirements

Cloud-init is responsible for essential first-boot activities, including:

  • Applying SSH keys from instance metadata

  • Configuring network interfaces

  • Processing custom initialization scripts

External images frequently include outdated or incompatible cloud-init versions designed for other cloud platforms. For reliable operation in OCI, the image must:

  • Include cloud-init version 20.3 or later, which supports OCI as a data source

  • Remove or replace older cloud-init packages that may conflict

  • Configure Oracle Cloud Infrastructure as the authoritative metadata source

Once properly aligned, both virtual machine and bare metal instances initialize consistently and predictably.

3. Clean the Image Before Capture

Before converting the configured system into a reusable custom image, the operating system should be cleaned to remove residual state. This step prevents subtle and difficult-to-diagnose issues during future provisioning.

Recommended cleanup actions include:

  • Clearing cloud-init state and logs using cloud-init clean --logs

  • Removing old log files and temporary data

The objective is to ensure that every instance launched from the image behaves as a fresh deployment, regardless of the compute shape.

Summary

By enabling iSCSI boot support, ensuring cloud-init compatibility with OCI, and properly cleaning the image before capture, organizations can successfully reuse a single external custom image across both virtual machine and bare metal instances in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. This approach reduces image sprawl, improves consistency, and simplifies operations across hybrid and cloud-native environments.

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