Oracle 9i under RedHat Linux 8.x and 9.x - Simple Installa
tion HOWTO
Evgueni Tzvetanov
v1.1, 23 June 2003
This document describes an example of an Oracle 9i Standard Edition
database installation under RedHat Linux 8.x and 9.x.
______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Overview
1.2 Copyright
1.3 Disclaimer
1.4 Credits
2. Getting started
2.1 Downloading Oracle 9i database
2.2 Creating the CDs
2.2.1 Creating the CD images
2.2.2 Burning the CDs
3. Pre-installation
3.1 System Requirements
3.1.1 Hardware requirements
3.1.2 Software requirements
3.1.3 De-facto installation environment
3.2 Environment variables and profiles
3.3 JRE
3.4 Setup tasks to perform as root user
3.4.1 Kernel Tune-up
3.4.1.1 Read and set the semaphore parameters
3.4.1.2 Read and set the shared memory parameters
3.4.1.3 File handles
3.4.1.4 Sockets
3.4.1.5 Process Limit
3.4.2 Groups and accounts
3.4.3 Mount points and permissions
3.4.4 Permissions for file creation
3.5 Setup tasks to perform as
4. Installation
4.1 Mounting the CDs (before or during the installation)
4.2 Running the installer
4.3 Installation screens and steps
4.3.1 Welcome Screen
4.3.2 UNIX Group Name Screen
4.3.3 File Locations Screen
4.3.4 Available Products Screen
4.3.5 Installation Types Screen
4.3.6 Database Configuration Screen
4.3.7 Database Identification Screen
4.3.8 Database File Location Screen
4.3.9 Database Character Set Screen
4.3.10 Summary Screen
4.3.11 Install Screen
4.3.12 Configuration Tools Screen
4.3.13 Troubleshooting
4.3.13.1 Net Configuration Assistant
4.3.13.2 Database Configuration Assistant
4.3.13.3 Troubleshooting updates
5. Post-installation
5.1 Editing the oratab file
5.2 Script for automatic startup on boot
5.3 Testing your installation with SQL*Plus
6. Clients
7. Final Words
______________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
I assume that the reader is familiar with Linux file systems, commands
and tools, utilities, shells and shell scripts.
1.1. Overview
This document intends to show a simplified installation sequence for
Oracle 9i database on RedHat Linux 8.x and 9.x. It is meant only as an
example and if one intends to follow it, he/she should have in mind
their own version of Linux, Oracle distribution and specific
parameters of their own PC system.
This document also limits the installation information to Linux only,
and is not intended to be used for other UNIX brands. To install
Oracle 9i in other operating environments, use the Oracle Installation
Guide.
I am not a DBA, nor I intend to show high skills in Oracle
Administration, so please, do not ask me DBA questions. I will leave
this task to the experienced DBAs :)
1.2. Copyright
This document is Copyright 2003 by Evgueni Tzvetanov (Speedy).
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
For the full text of the license, please visit the GNU Free
Documentation License <http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html>.
1.3. Disclaimer
Use the information in this document at your own risk. I disavow any
potential liability for the contents of this document. Use of the
concepts, examples, and/or other content of this document is entirely
at your own risk.
All copyrights are owned by their owners, unless specifically noted
otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as
affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as
endorsements.
You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before
major installation and backups at regular intervals.
1.4. Credits
This document was created, using knowledge, gained from different
sources -- books and web sites.
· Oracle 9i Installation Guide
· Oracle 9i Database Administrator's Guide
· DBA's guide to databases on Linux
· Oracle 8i: A beginner's guide
· Oracle web site (http://www.oracle.com)
I want to express my sincere thanks to their authors!
I also want to thank the people who gave me hints and led this update
to wider range of solutions.
· Steve Schladel, a colleague and DBA in UMDNJ, who gave me a hint
about a variable which solved the blocking of the installation
process under RedHat 9.x.
· Rene Bauer, who sent a detailed explanation on the problems
encountered with JRE version differences, related to gcc 2.9.x vs.
gcc 3.2 distributions, and Legato Single Server Version
instalation.
Some of the experiences listed in the examples were gained with a lot
of tests and experiments. Please feel free to experiment; that's the
main key to finding a desired solution. Even you crush a system or
two, it helps you in your creativity and you learn from your mistakes.
Feel free to send any comments or suggestions to evgueni@email.com
2. Getting started
2.1. Downloading Oracle 9i database
Obtaining a copy of the Oracle 9i database is easy. Just go to the
Oracle web site <http://www.oracle.com>, click on Download and follow
the path based on the distribution. There are few pages you must read
before you get to the download links. These pages contain copyright
and agreement information, which I suggest you read carefully. All the
other information is just statistics. If you are not a member, you
have to register on the Oracle web site to be granted access to any
distribution, which can be downloaded for free.
The server distributions are in 3 files, named something like:
· lnx_920_disk1.cpio.gz
· lnx_920_disk2.cpio.gz
· lnx_920_disk3.cpio.gz
Other versions might have different names, but the installation could
be considered similar.
According to Oracle's installation instructions there are 2 sources,
that can be used - CDs and Hard Disk Installation. I used the first
one. Downloading the distribution files and creating the CDs (see next
item) is a time consuming operation, so arm yourself with patience.
This will also require a lot of hard disk space. The 3 distribution
files are around 1.5 GB. You will need as much as 3 times this space
if you intend to keep the archives, the directories and CD images on
your hard disk until you are sure that the CDs are created correctly.
Assuming that you are in the directory where the distributions are
downloaded, execute the following with all 3 distribution files from a
shell:
gunzip lnx_920_disk1.cpio.gz
cpio -idmv < lnx_920_disk1.cpio
These commands will create 3 directories, called Disk1, Disk2 and
Disk3.
2.2. Creating the CDs
Writing information to CD in Linux is covered completely in CD-
Writing-HOWTO, so the following will be only specific steps for the
Oracle distributions.
2.2.1. Creating the CD images
The first step is to create the CD images for the 3 CDs of the Oracle
distribution. Just execute the following sequence for all 3
directories, changing the filenames and directory names for each
command:
mkisofs -r -o ora9id1.iso Disk1/
This will create 3 ISO CD images, which will be used further in the
installation process. The command may generate a lot of warnings for
name substitutions. Don't worry. The images will contain the correct
directory tree information. To check if this is true, mount the images
to a directory by using the loopback device (your kernel should
support loopback devices to perform this test) as described in CD-
Writing-HOWTO:
mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0 cd_image mount_dir
where cd_image is your resulting CD image from the mkisofs command.
After mounting, you can change directory and check the mounted
directory tree to ensure it looks okay. If everything is fine, you can
move to the next step.
2.2.2. Burning the CDs
Burning the CD images on CDs can be done with any command line or GUI
program that uses ISO CD images to create CDs. See CD-Writing-HOWTO
for details. Make sure however, that after burning the CDs they
contain exactly the same directory trees as directories Disk1, Disk2
and Disk3. This can be done by mounting the new CDs and using whatever
means you find convenient to walk through the directory tree. The
images can be written on any CD writer or computer, using any software
that will support CD writing from ISO images.
The mkisofs command may generate empty directories in the root
directory of the CD image itself. These are not a problem for the
installation contents. Just disregard them.
3. Pre-installation
There are few steps to be performed before the installation process.
They are divided into the following categories:
3.1. System Requirements
3.1.1. Hardware requirements
Oracle 9i is a tough bit, you better have a good machine. Here is
what the Installation Guide says (summary):
Parameter Required Sufficient (tested)
---------------------------------------------------
CPU PII or K6 K6/2 *(1)
RAM 512 MB 256 MB
HDD space 3.5 GB 2.5 GB *(2)
Swap space 1GB or RAMx2 512 MB or more
(1) Dual CPUs are recommended for large databases. Usually a high
performance CPU couple (Xeon or Athlon MP) or even quad system is
considered a good choice.
(2) Using SCSI HDD with RAID or separate HDD for each database, if
multiple database instances will be installed, is recommended.
3.1.2. Software requirements
Oracle requires a minimal version of the kernel and JRE software:
Parameter Required Sufficient (tested)
---------------------------------------------------
Kernel Version 2.4.7 later is fine
JRE 1.1.8v3 1.1.8v3
Since (and including) version 8i, the installation processes are GUI-
based and built with Java, so a main requirement is X server and a
Window Manager. At least the JRE version 1.1.8v3 should be installed.
This installation was done with version 1.1.8v3 of JRE. I can not
guarantee that other versions can do the job. Test it at your own
risk.
These requirements are valid if you decide to install the Enterprise
Server. For the Standard Edition the sufficient values are fine. Even
in some cases these parameters could be lower.
3.1.3. De-facto installation environment
Here is the installation environment I used for this example:
CPU K6 III /400
RAM 512 MB
HDD space 2.3 GB
Swap space 512 MB
CD ROM 24x
Kernel version 2.4.18-24.8.0
JRE 1.1.8v3
It seems that this environment is enough for testing with small
database sizes, but as recommended before, if you need to use a large
or very large database, choose better hardware.
3.2. Environment variables and profiles
The installation requires a few environment variables to be set before
it starts. These variables can be set into one's profile directly by
putting the lines in the .bash_profile of every account, which will be
used to access the database, or in a more generic approach -- in the
file /etc/profile (as this installation). Here is a simple list and
example values for the variables (current example):
______________________________________________________________________
ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1.0
ORACLE_SID=ORTD
PATH=$PATH:$ORACLE_HOME/bin
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$ORACLE_HOME/lib:$ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
export PATH ORACLE_BASE ORACLE_HOME ORACLE_SID LD_LIBRARY_PATH
______________________________________________________________________
Everything so far is valid for both RedHat 8.x and 9.x, but it seems
that Oracle has thought of another variable, which must be set in
RedHat 9. It must be included with the previous ones and exported
accordingly. It is necessary to set it if you don't want to be stuck
into an infinite loop during installation:
______________________________________________________________________
LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1
______________________________________________________________________
Thanks to Steve Schladel, a colleague and a DBA, the installation
continued smoothly without a problem.
The ORACLE_SID variable I set by using the abbreviation of ORacle Test
Database. It is up to you what you will set as SID. This will be your
default database name and part of the global database name.
For more information on the meanings of the variables, please refer to
the Oracle Administrator's Manual or Reference.
3.3. JRE
The JRE (Java Runtime Environment) can be downloaded from Blackdown
website <http://www.blackdown.org>. Pick 1.1.8v3 if you don't know
what to download and unpack the tarball in the /usr/local directory.
This will create a directory, named after the version of the JRE. Make
the following link in /usr/local/:
ln -s jre118_v3 jre
for the JRE 1.1.8v3 distribution. If a newer version is used, change
the command correspondingly. Now add to the PATH variable the bin
directory of your JRE:
PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/jre/bin
export $PATH
or mix the lines here with those in the profile as you find efficient.
3.4. Setup tasks to perform as root user
Before starting the installation, the Linux environment and directory
structure should be prepared. There are few steps and they are listed
below with a description of each step. Remember, these steps are the
minimum required steps for installation of the Standard Edition. If
one intends to install Enterprise and additional services, I suggest a
thorough study of the Oracle 9i Installation Guide.
Log in as root and follow the list.
3.4.1. Kernel Tune-up
If the following section is not quite clear, please refer to IPC
programmers reference for Linux.
>From version 2.2.1 on, the kernel has dynamically set parameters
through the /proc file system and does not need to be re-compiled.
For this purpose the /proc file system can be used with great
flexibility. Here are the steps needed to update the kernel and set
up scripts to run on boot, so that the parameters are set every time
the system is booted.
Change current directory to /proc/sys/kernel.
Listed below, are the minimum required sets to be updated (if
necessary).
3.4.1.1. Read and set the semaphore parameters
The values of the semaphore parameters SEMMSL, SEMMNS, SEMOPM, SEMMNI
can be read with the following command:
cat sem
The output should be similar to:
250 32000 32 128
which is the list of values of the parameters in the above list order.
Now set the values with the following command:
echo 100 32000 100 100 > sem
3.4.1.2. Read and set the shared memory parameters
Shared memory parameters SHMMAX, SHMMIN, SHMMNI, SHMSEG can be read by
using the following command:
cat shm_param
where shm_param is one of shmmax, shmmin, shmmni, shmall, etc. Now use
the following commands to set values for the necessary parameters:
echo 2147483648 > shmmax
echo 4096 > shmmni
echo 2097152 > shmall
The above set of commands can be combined in a shell script and can be
run on boot in the run level, to decide which Oracle database will be
used, but keep in mind these parameters should be set before the
database instance is started up. Please refer to the Linux
Administrator's guide for more information on run-levels and startup
init scripts.
3.4.1.3. File handles
Set the file handles using the following commands:
echo 65536 > /proc/sys/fs/file-max
ulimit -n 65536
3.4.1.4. Sockets
Set the sockets using the following command:
echo 1024 65000 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_local_port_range
3.4.1.5. Process Limit
Set the process limit using the following command:
ulimit -u 16384
3.4.2. Groups and accounts
As with all Oracle databases, 9i requires an account for the owner,
traditionally named oracle. The requirements for the groups are a bit
unusual; there must be a group for OSDBA, which by default is named
dba. Oracle requires also second group (usually called oinstall) to
assign authority to install software. Another group for operators
should also be present (but is optional), used to grant operator
access to certain groups of users. So here is the sequence of commands
to create the groups:
groupadd dba
groupadd oinstall
groupadd oper
After the groups are created, we can add an account for the Oracle
owner:
useradd -c DBA -g oinstall -G dba oracle
which will create the oracle account, with primary group oinstall and
secondary - dba.
In addition, users who will use this database instance can be added to
the dba group in the /etc/group file.
3.4.3. Mount points and permissions
Oracle 9i installation requires a minimum of two mount points -- one
for the software and one for the database files. If OFA (Optimal
Flexible architecture) is used, then the minimum mount points are four
-- one for the software and three (or more) for the database files.
Oracle documentation recommends each mount point to be on a separate
physical disk, but for a minimal use as in this case, the mount point
could be directories. The names of the mount points are traditionally
/u01, /u02, /u03, etc. They can be created as subdirectories anywhere
on the system and linked with root directory links. In my case I
created the directories (only 2 of them - /u01 and /u02) under the
root directory.
Here is a short list of commands to create and prepare the mount point
(as root):
mkdir /u01 /u02
chown oracle.dba /u01 /u02
chmod 755 /u01 /u02
The last two commands set the ownership of the installation
directories to the user authorized to install Oracle 9i, but after the
installation by administrator's choice the topmost directories can be
switched back to root ownership.
3.4.4. Permissions for file creation
In most cases the umask should be set to 0022. When installing Oracle
databases it is recommended that the umask is checked and set to 0022
if not set properly. This will ensure that all the files during the
installation are created with proper attributes. Use the following
commands:
umask
to test the mask, and:
umask 0022
to set the mask. This command can also be set on the profile in case
it isn't the default value of 0022.
3.5. Setup tasks to perform as oracle user
Before starting the installation log in as user oracle in an X
terminal and make sure that the DISPLAY and PATH variables contain the
proper values. The DISPLAY variable should specify the name, server
number and the screen number of the system, and where the Oracle
Universal Installer will be run. This step is only necessary if you
are using remote X server. In case of local installation, if you can
run X Window Manager you will be able to run the installer without a
problem. If there is a problem running the installer because of the
DISPLAY variable, execute:
xhost +localhost
export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
This should do the trick.
In addition as oracle user execute:
env
and check for all the previously mentioned environment variables. If
there is a suspicion that one or more are not set properly, they
should be corrected and the environment reloaded.
4. Installation
4.1. Mounting the CDs (before or during the installation)
Usually RedHat Linux has automount, which mounts the CD after the CD-
ROM door is closed, but in case this has to be done manually, here it
is briefly.
Invoke a terminal window and become superuser. Leave the terminal open
during the course of the installation. It will become handy in time.
Place the first CD in your CD-ROM device. Check if you have a
directory to mount the CDs in. Usually it should be /mnt/cdrom, but if
this is not your favorite, just name it as you wish. Now execute the
following command (assuming that the mount directory is /mnt/cdrom):
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
This will mount your CD onto the /mnt/cdrom directory. This will be
your source installation directory.
During the installation, Oracle Universal Installer will ask for a CD
change, so if the CD can't be unmounted automatically, go to your root
terminal and do the following:
cd /mnt
eject
This will unmount the CD and open your CD-ROM. Now place the next CD
and close the CD-ROM. Use the mount command again if the CD is not
mounted automatically and switch to your installation screen to
continue with the process.
4.2. Running the installer
After mounting the first disk, invoke a new terminal window and change
directory to /mnt/cdrom. This is your installation mount point. From
here run:
./runInstaller &
Additionally the file index.html from the same directory can be opened
in a browser and from there you can read and follow Oracle
documentation during the installation procedure.
4.3. Installation screens and steps
Oracle Universal Installer 2.2 has a simple and intuitive interface.
You may choose to skip this section of the Installation item and
follow your instincts, which might be a very good decision. The
screens are self-explanatory and very nicely ordered in a good,
logical queue.
In case you want to verify where you are in the installation, just
compare your process with the following descriptions of screens and
steps.
4.3.1. Welcome Screen
>From the welcome screen you may select to install or uninstall
products. If this is the first installation, click Next to continue.
A new dialog window (Inventory Location) appears. It prompts you for
an inventory directory for the installation(s) now and in the future.
Click OK if you agree, otherwise enter the desired inventory
directory.
4.3.2. UNIX Group Name Screen
This screen asks for your Oracle Installation Group, which by default
is ointsall. If you wish to change this name or use another (special)
group for further installation, now is the time to tweak the groups.
Otherwise enter ointsall and click Next. A dialog appears, showing
that you have to use your root terminal (remember when we opened it
before). Go to the root terminal and follow the instructions on the
screen, which are simply to execute the script in /tmp/ called
orainstRoot.sh
If successfully run, you should see on the screen:
Creating Oracle Inventory pointer file (/etc/oraInst.loc)
Changing groupname of /u01/app/oracle/oraInventory to oinstall.
Now switch back to the dialog and click Continue.
4.3.3. File Locations Screen
This screen shows the source and destination file locations for the
installation process. If your environment variables are okay you
should not change anything, but if you wish to do so, do it carefully
and know what you are doing! You can simply click Next.
What follows is a long reading of the disk and a progress bar on the
top right of this screen. Just be patient.
4.3.4. Available Products Screen
This screen shows the available products in this installation set.
Since we are installing only the database, the first option (which is
the default) is the one that is interesting to us. It actually
includes some of the products listed in the next sections. Click
Next.
4.3.5. Installation Types Screen
Since our example shows Standard Edition Installation, click Standard
Edition. You may select Enterprise, but the path from this point on
might be different and you might need to select other options. Anyway,
it is the choice of the person who is installing.
Click Next. Another pause (not long) and then you will go to the next
step.
4.3.6. Database Configuration Screen
This screen allows the operator to select what purpose the database
will serve, so that the installation will be able to adjust parameters
accordingly. I've chosen General Purpose and clicked Next. There is
another wait period (short also).
4.3.7. Database Identification Screen
Here the operator is prompted to enter a global database name. The
text on this screen is quite explanatory. For our example I entered:
ORTD.zeus
since my database server's hostname is zeus. Use your hostname in its
place and click Next.
4.3.8. Database File Location Screen
This screen prompts you to enter the location where the physical
database files will be situated. It also recommends you put the data
files on a separate disk (directory). That's why I entered:
/u02/oradata
instead of the default value. Click Next when done.
4.3.9. Database Character Set Screen
This screen allows you to choose different character sets for your
database. I have left it as it is: Use the Default Character Set.
Click Next.
4.3.10. Summary Screen
If you see this screen, your preparation for the installation process
with the OUI is done. Now you may browse the contents of the
installation tree and see what you have chosen. This might make you go
back and fix stuff, if you don't agree with the list. Otherwise click
Install, and the installation process will start.
4.3.11. Install Screen
This is a very long-lasting, boring screen, which requires CD changing
from time to time. It displays a progress bar and counts the
percentage to display the overall progress by items.
The installation process is very long. First the software components
are installed and then everything is linked.
Just find something to kill some time with and from time to time peek
at the screen to see if the CD needs changing.
IMPORTANT! In my case (I did the installation twice) there was an
Error screen around 79% in the linkage process. The error dialog
showed the following information:
Error in invoking target install of makefile
/u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1.0/ctx/lib/ins_ctx.mk
I clicked Ignore and in both installations it seemed there was no
problem to finish the linkage.
A dialog is popped up when the linkage is finished. It prompts for
some terminal commands that have to be executed before the
installation process completes. Basically, there is a script called
root.sh in the $ORACLE_HOME directory, which should be executed as
root, from your root terminal. The execution itself takes some time
and a lot of HDD activity, so be patient and don't worry.
4.3.12. Configuration Tools Screen
The configuration tools screen tries to execute 3 tasks and reports
failures for all of them. Here is how I solved the problem. In the
$ORACLE_HOME directory there is a link, named JRE, which links to the
Oracle JRE directory. Delete this link and create one to your own JRE
distribution, which was described earlier. Here is the list of
commands:
rm -f JRE
ln -s /usr/local/jre/ JRE
After executing these commands, try selecting one by one the items in
the Tool Name column of the table and clicking Retry. If this does not
work, don't worry. These are optional in the installation session and
you can do them later.
4.3.13. Troubleshooting
If the last (optional) tasks do not execute, I have a special set of
instructions on how to do at least two of them. But first, I want to
stress on having Oracle documentation handy, and that you try to read
between the lines sometimes when you troubleshoot your installation.
If the conditions are right, you should not get any serious errors in
your session, but in case you get one, check all the initial
conditions, file and directory permission,s and disk space.
You can easily delete everything and start from scratch if you just
purge the contents of the Oracle mount point directories (/u01, /u02,
etc.), and delete the file oratab in the /etc directory. There is one
more set of files you may need to delete so that there is no trace of
Oracle on your system. They are in the /usr/local/bin directory and
the names are oraenv, coraenv and dbhome. However you may leave them
there and on your next installation the installer will ask you if you
want to keep them.
Now the optional tasks:
4.3.13.1. Net Configuration Assistant
To run this, go to the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory and from there just
execute:
./netca &
This application will setup one of four tasks. Listener is what you
really want to set. The others are not as important, but try setting
them as well. Before setting the listener, you might have a listener
already running. Check this by executing the following command:
ps afx | grep LISTEN | grep -v grep
If you get a line similar to:
15922 ? S 0:00 /u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1.0/bin/tnslsnr LIS
TENER
you've got a listener running. Stop the listener with the following
command from the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory:
./lsnrctl stop
You might need to also delete the existing listener and create a new
one. This depends on you completely. Just follow the natural flow of
the application. At the final round the new listener will be started
if created a new one of course.
4.3.13.2. Database Configuration Assistant
To run this, go to $ORACLE_HOME/bin and execute:
./dbca &
This application is probably the most important in the set. It helps
you create and configure your database. If a database was not created
during the installation session or a restart of the applications, as
mentioned before, this is the one you would want to run to create your
database.
While you have not used the database yet, you might want to delete and
recreate it. You may do it from here. This document can not include
all the functionality of the application, but since it is a GUI, it is
fairly easy to perform tasks with it.
Personally I prefer to create it from here, so that I have control of
all the parameters needed, especially the directories where the data
files will be created. Choose Typical when prompted for the database
parameters. The next screen, with the tree-like structure allows you
to set the location of your database files. Instead of {ORACLE_BASE},
you can put /u02 for example. This will put the database files to be
used in your /u02/oradata/SID directory. This is just an example. It
is up to you to decide how to spread your database(s) directory tree.
At the end of the database creation you will be prompted for passwords
for the users SYS and SYSTEM. Enter them (with confirmations),
remember them, and exit (this works as OK if you haven't guessed it
already). That should be it. Now execute:
ps afx
and the screen should contain lines similar to the following:
______________________________________________________________________
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
1 ? S 0:04 init
2 ? SW 0:01 [keventd]
..... Lots of other lines we are not interested in...
11665 ? S 0:00 ora_pmon_ORTD
11667 ? S 0:00 ora_dbw0_ORTD
11671 ? S 0:00 ora_lgwr_ORTD
11673 ? S 0:00 ora_ckpt_ORTD
11675 ? S 0:00 ora_smon_ORTD
11677 ? S 0:00 ora_reco_ORTD
11679 ? S 0:00 ora_cjq0_ORTD
11681 ? S 0:02 ora_qmn0_ORTD
11683 ? S 0:00 ora_s000_ORTD
11685 ? S 0:00 ora_d000_ORTD
11812 pts/1 S 0:00 /u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1.0/bin/tnslsnr LISTENER -inherit
______________________________________________________________________
If you see this picture, this is your database instance running. The
last line in the above example is the listener (it might be somewhere
else on your screen).
Congratulations! You've successfully finished your installation!
4.3.13.3. Troubleshooting updates
The following is an update, courtesy of Rene Bauer. You may encounter
problems with the following items:
· JRE version compatibility
· Missing database configuration file
· Legato Single Server Version installation failure
The JRE compatibility problem was not reported only by Rene, but I've
got few more emails about it. The problem exists because RedHat 8 and
9 come with gcc version 3.2.x, but some older versions of JRE are
compiled with gcc 2.9.x. The solution is to download the latest JRE
version. At the time of this update the version is 1.4.1, and since
there is no jre executable, run the following command to create the
proper sym link:
ln -s $JRE_DIR/bin/java $JRE_DIR/bin/jre
where $JRE_BIN is your jre bin directory.
The second update is in regard to a missing configuration file after
database creation. The file init{ORACLE_SID}.ora should be created by
default in your $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/ directory.
Rene's solution is: The installer creates a file called
spfile{ORACLE_SID}.ora, so a sym link can be created to mimic the
missing file. Change your working directory to be $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/
and execute:
ln -s spfile{ORACLE_SID}.ora init{ORACLE_SID}.ora
My solution: There is always a file after the installation with
database creation called init.ora. I simply copied this file to
init{ORACLE_SID}.ora. Change your working directory to be
$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/ and execute:
cp init.ora initORTD.ora
The third problem is in regard to Oracle's installation process,
installing Legato Single Server Version. I did not have this sort of
problem, but here is Rene's version, which I'll try to make as short
as possible: The last root.sh file, executed on Oracle installation's
request had caused an error while attempting to install LSSV.
According to Rene, RedHat 8 and 9 come with ncurses5, but by default
the ncurses4 compatibility package is not installed, so after it is
installed, the LSSV installation problem disappears.
These may be not the last problems to be solved, so I encourage any
comments and additions, which I can add to the Troubleshooting
section. I'd appreciate any feedback, which can improve quality of
this document.
5. Post-installation
The Oracle Installation Guide describes a very long list of procedures
to be done after the installation process. Some of them are necessary,
some of them probably in your instance you will never need, but most
importantly this document will not repeat them.
Please refer to the Installation Guide for this procedures. Here I
will describe steps that are very helpful for the minimal installation
that I used, and seem enough for the basic database operations.
5.1. Editing the oratab file
There is one step in particular that is important, so that you may
start and shutdown the database from the command prompt any time, or
to allow the database to be autostarted during boot. Go to the /etc
directory and edit the file oratab. In the line:
ORTD:/u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1.0:N
set the last value to Y and it should read:
ORTD:/u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1.0:Y
Now save the file and go back to your Oracle home directory.
5.2. Script for automatic startup on boot
It is generally a good idea to automate the database startup at boot
time on your database server. In this case you will need a script,
which can be included in the run-level sets. Here is an example only.
Please, tune it to your own machine and run-levels!
______________________________________________________________________
#!/bin/bash
#
# Run-level Startup script for the Oracle Instance and Listener
#
# chkconfig: 345 91 19
# description: Startup/Shutdown Oracle listener and instance
ORA_HOME="/u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1.0"
ORA_OWNR="oracle"
# if the executables do not exist -- display error
if [ ! -f $ORA_HOME/bin/dbstart -o ! -d $ORA_HOME ]
then
echo "Oracle startup: cannot start"
exit 1
fi
# depending on parameter -- startup, shutdown, restart
# of the instance and listener or usage display
case "$1" in
start)
# Oracle listener and instance startup
echo -n "Starting Oracle: "
su - $ORA_OWNR -c "$ORA_HOME/bin/lsnrctl start"
su - $ORA_OWNR -c $ORA_HOME/bin/dbstart
touch /var/lock/subsys/oracle
echo "OK"
;;
stop)
# Oracle listener and instance shutdown
echo -n "Shutdown Oracle: "
su - $ORA_OWNR -c "$ORA_HOME/bin/lsnrctl stop"
su - $ORA_OWNR -c $ORA_HOME/bin/dbshut
rm -f /var/lock/subsys/oracle
echo "OK"
;;
reload|restart)
$0 stop
$0 start
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $0 start|stop|restart|reload"
exit 1
esac
exit 0
______________________________________________________________________
You can simply copy and paste this file into your system and change it
according to your settings.
Once you copy and edit the file, move it to the /etc/rc.d/init.d
directory and change it's ownership and the attributes to be the same
as the other files in the directory.
To do that and the following operations, you will need to be logged as
root user.
The fifth line of this code reads:
# chkconfig: 345 91 19
It is used by the chkconfig command when setting the scripts in the
run-levels. The value 345 lists the run-levels in which we allow
Oracle to run, so if you want to be able to run an Oracle instances
only in levels 3 and 5, then change this value to 35. The next value
(91) describes the order number in the startup sequence. This means
that if there are 100 startup processes, the Oracle startup will be
the 91st to run. The next number is the shutdown number, meaning that
when the system is shutdown and there are for example 100 processes to
be shutdown, the Oracle process will be 19 in order. These numbers are
used to set the relative position of the Oracle startup and shutdown
processes. They are set here as an example. You can change them, but
keep in mind that Oracle instancse can not be run without some
processes in the system running beforehand.
Now execute the following command:
chkconfig -add oracle
This will add the corresponding links in the run-level directories as
listed in the beginning of the script.
To test the newly created automation, you have to reboot your system,
but remember that before this automation runs, the kernel parameters
should be set. In fact you may include the kernel tune commands in
your start) section of the above script.
5.3. Testing your installation with SQL*Plus
If you have installed a typical database, there should be a user
created called scott. The password is tiger. Just execute the
following:
sqlplus scott/tiger
which should run the SQL*Plus interpreter and log in as user scott.
You should see the screen like the following:
______________________________________________________________________
SQL*Plus: Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production on Fri Feb 21 10:55:45 2003
Copyright (c) 1982, 2002, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Connected to:
Oracle9i Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
JServer Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
SQL>quit
Disconnected from Oracle9i Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
JServer Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
______________________________________________________________________
Before exiting you can do some SQL on your own to just see the tables
in this database schema or whatever you have in mind.
>From this point on it is a matter of your own creativity and purpose.
6. Clients
The Client Software for the Oracle 9i database can be run on any
platform, so you may download the client for the platform you desire
(whichever is available of course). I personally like to have client
software on both DB server and on a MS Windows workstation. This makes
me experience multi-platform database control, or so I think. :)
Download and prepare the CD with the client on the same platform you
will run it from. It is not necessary, but it is recommended you have
a CD with it. Although you may run the installation process from your
HDD where you downloaded the client, I recommend you spend few pennies
on a CD burner. It always becomes handy.
The client is also using the Oracle Universal Installer, so this might
seem pretty easy after all the previous hassle.
When you first run the Enterprise Management Console, it will lead you
to connect to the database. Provide your full database and your SID
names and try to connect as user SYS with SYSDBA privileges. At some
point you have to enter the IP address of the database server and
chose a port the client should connect to. I left the default values
(as with the network setup on the server as well).
If you don't see any error messages, that's it. You have done it.
Enjoy your server and client playgrounds!
7. Final Words
Oracle 9i is a huge complex with very useful, and most of all very
secure applications. This document slightly touches the surface and is
not intended to be a comprehensive guide. I hope that it can help
solving some problems during the initial installation, but it is
important to analyze your own situation and turn to more reliable
sources.
Some of the operations could be executed manually using SQL*Plus.
This could be a more flexible way to tune and set up the installation.
I will leave this in more experience hands.
I haven't mentioned so many things, that are described in details in
Oracle documentation itself. So explore the genuine source in depth!
Good luck!
