Oracle® Database

1 Reviewing Information About This Guide

This guide describes how to complete a default installation of Oracle Database Client on a system that does not have any Oracle software installed on it. It describes how to install one of the following installation types:

• Administrator: Enables applications to connect to an Oracle Database instance on the local system or on a remote system. It also provides tools that enable you to administer Oracle Database.

• Runtime: Enables applications to connect to an Oracle Database instance on the local system or on a remote system.

• Instant Client: Enables you to install only the shared libraries required by Oracle Call Interface (OCI), Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI), Pro*C, or Java database connectivity (JDBC) OCI applications. This installation type requires much less disk space as compared to the other Oracle Database Client installation types.

This guide does not describe how to install the Custom installation type.

Where to Get Additional Installation Information

For more detailed information about installing Oracle Database Client, refer to Oracle Database Client Installation Guide for Linux.

All these guides are available on the product disc. To access them, use a Web browser to open the welcome.htm file located in the top-level directory of the media. Platform-specific documentation is available in PDF and HTML formats in the Documentation section..

2 Logging In to the System as root

Before you install the Oracle software, you must complete several tasks as the root user. To log in as the root user, complete one of the following procedures:

• Following are the steps for installing the software from an X Window System workstation or X terminal:

  1. Start a local terminal session, for example, an X terminal (xterm).

  2. If you are not installing the software on the local system, then enter the following command to enable the remote host to display X applications on the local X server:

     $ xhost fully_qualified_remote_host_name
     

     For example:

     $ xhost somehost.us.example.com
     

  3. If you are not installing the software on the local system, then use the ssh, rlogin, or telnet command to connect to the system where you want to install the software:

     $ telnet fully_qualified_remote_host_name
     

  4. If you are not logged in as the root user, then enter the following command to switch user to root:

     $ sudo sh
     password:
     #
     

• Following are the steps for installing the software from a PC or other system with X server software:

  Note:

  If necessary, refer to your X server documentation for more information about completing this procedure. Depending on the X server software that you are using, you may have to complete the tasks in a different order.

  1. Start the X server software.

  2. Configure the security settings of the X server software to permit remote hosts to display X applications on the local system.

  3. Connect to the remote system where you want to install the software and start a terminal session on that system, for example, an X terminal (xterm).

  4. If you are not logged in as the root user on the remote system, then enter the following command to switch user to root:

     $ sudo sh
     password:
     #
     

3 Checking the Hardware Requirements

The system must meet the following minimum hardware requirements:

• Memory Requirements

• System Architecture

• Disk Space Requirements

# grep SwapTotal /proc/meminfo

# free

# uname -m

4 Checking the Software Requirements

Depending on the products that you intend to install, verify that the following software are installed on the system.

• Operating System Requirements

• Kernel Requirements

• Package Requirements

• Compiler Requirements

• Additional Software Requirements

# uname -r

2.6.9-34.0.1.0.11.ELsmp

# rpm -q package_name

5 Creating Required Operating System Groups and Users

The following local operating system groups and users are required if you are installing Oracle Database:

• The Oracle Inventory group (typically, oinstall)

• The Oracle software owner (typically, oracle)

To determine whether these groups and users exist, and if necessary, to create them, follow these steps:

1. To determine whether the oinstall group exists, enter the following command:

   # more /etc/oraInst.loc
   

   If the output of this command shows the oinstall group name, then the group exists.

   If the oraInst.loc file exists, then the output from this command is similar to the following:

   inventory_loc=/u01/app/oraInventory
   inst_group=oinstall
   

   The inst_group parameter shows the name of the Oracle Inventory group, oinstall.

2. If necessary, enter the following commands to create the oinstall group:

   # /usr/sbin/groupadd oinstall
   

3. To determine whether the oracle user exists and belongs to the correct groups, enter the following command:

   # id oracle
   

   If the oracle user exists, then this command displays information about the groups to which the user belongs. The output should be similar to the following, indicating that oinstall is the primary group and dba is a secondary group:

   uid=440(oracle) gid=200(oinstall) groups=201(dba),202(oper)
   

4. If necessary, complete one of the following actions:

   • If the oracle user exists, but its primary group is not oinstall or it is not a member of the dba group, then enter the following command:

     # /usr/sbin/usermod -g oinstall -G dba oracle
     

   • If the oracle user does not exist, enter the following command to create it:

     # /usr/sbin/useradd -g oinstall -G dba oracle
     

     This command creates the oracle user and specifies oinstall as the primary group and dba as the secondary group.

5. Enter the following command to set the password of the oracle user:

   # passwd oracle
   

6 Creating Required Directories

To create the Oracle base directory:

1. Enter the following command to display information about all mounted file systems:

   # df -h
   

   This command displays information about all the file systems mounted on the system, including:

   • The physical device name

   • The total amount, used amount, and available amount of disk space

   • The mount point directory for that file system

2. From the display, identify either one or two file systems that meet the disk space requirements mentioned earlier in this section.

3. Note the name of the mount point directory for each file system that you identified.

4. Enter commands similar to the following to create the recommended subdirectories in the mount point directory that you identified and set the appropriate owner, group, and permissions on them:

   # mkdir -p /mount_point/app/
   # chown -R oracle:oinstall /mount_point/app/
   # chmod -R 775 /mount_point/app/
   

   For example:

   # mkdir -p /u01/app/
   # chown -R oracle:oinstall /u01/app/
   # chmod -R 775 /u01/app/
   

7 Configuring the oracle User's Environment

You run Oracle Universal Installer from the oracle account. However, before you start Oracle Universal Installer, you must configure the environment of the oracle user. To configure the environment, you must:

• Set the default file mode creation mask (umask) to 022 in the shell startup file.

• Set the DISPLAY environment variable.

To set the oracle user's environment:

1. Start a new terminal session, for example, an X terminal (xterm).

2. Enter the following command to ensure that X Window applications can display on this system:

   $ xhost fully_qualified_remote_host_name
   

   For example:

   $ xhost somehost.us.example.com
   

3. If you are not logged in to the system where you want to install the software, then log in to that system as the oracle user.

4. If you are not logged in as the oracle user, then switch user to oracle:

   $ su - oracle
   

5. To determine the default shell for the oracle user, enter the following command:

   $ echo $SHELL
   

6. To run the shell startup script, enter one of the following commands:

   • Bash shell:

     $ . ./.bash_profile
     

   • Bourne or Korn shell:

     $ . ./.profile
     

   • C shell:

     % source ./.login
     

7. If you are not installing the software on the local computer, then run the following command on the remote computer to set the DISPLAY variable:

   • Bourne, Bash or Korn shell:

     $ export DISPLAY=local_host:0.0      
     

   • C shell:

     % setenv DISPLAY local_host:0.0
     

   In this example, local_host is the host name or IP address of the local computer to use to display Oracle Universal Installer.

   Run the following command on the remote computer to check if the shell and the DISPLAY environmental variable are set correctly:

   echo $SHELL
   echo $DISPLAY
   

   Now to enable X applications, run the following commands on the local computer:

   $ xhost + fully_qualified_remote_host_name
   

   To verify that X applications display is set properly, run a X11 based program that comes with the operating system such as xclock:

   $ xclock
   

   In this example, you can find xclock at /usr/X11R6/bin/xclocks. If the DISPLAY variable is set properly, then you can see xclock on your computer screen.

   See Also:

   PC-X Server or operating system vendor documents for further assistance

8. If you determined that the /tmp directory has less than 1 GB of free disk space, then identify a file system with at least 1 GB of free space and set the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables to specify a temporary directory on this file system:

   1. To determine the free disk space on each mounted file system use the following command:

      # df -h /tmp
      

   2. If necessary, enter commands similar to the following to create a temporary directory on the file system that you identified, and set the appropriate permissions on the directory:

      $ sudo mkdir /mount_point/tmp
      $ sudo chmod a+wr /mount_point/tmp
      # exit
      

   3. Enter commands similar to the following to set the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables:

      • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

        $ TMP=/mount_point/tmp
        $ TMPDIR=/mount_point/tmp
        $ export TMP TMPDIR
        

      • C shell:

        % setenv TMP /mount_point/tmp
        % setenv TMPDIR /mount_point/tmp
        

9. Enter commands similar to the following to set the ORACLE_BASE and ORACLE_SID environment variables:

   • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

     $ ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
     $ ORACLE_SID=sales
     $ export ORACLE_BASE ORACLE_SID
     

   • C shell:

     % setenv ORACLE_BASE /u01/app/oracle
     % setenv ORACLE_SID sales
     

   In this example, /u01/app/oracle is the Oracle base directory that you created or identified earlier and sales is the name of the database (typically no more than five characters).

10. Enter the following commands to ensure that the ORACLE_HOME and TNS_ADMIN environment variables are not set:

    • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

      $ unset ORACLE_HOME
      $ unset TNS_ADMIN
      

    • C shell:

      % unsetenv ORACLE_HOME
      % unsetenv TNS_ADMIN
      

    Note:

    If the ORACLE_HOME environment variable is set, then Oracle Universal Installer uses the value that it specifies as the default path for the Oracle home directory. However, if you set the ORACLE_BASE environment variable, then Oracle recommends that you unset the ORACLE_HOME environment variable and choose the default path suggested by Oracle Universal Installer.

8 Mounting the Product Disc

On most Linux systems, the product disc mounts automatically when you insert it into the drive. If the disc does not mount automatically, then follow these steps to mount it:

1. Enter a command similar to the following to eject the currently mounted disc, then remove it from the drive:

   • Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

     $ sudo eject /mnt/dvd
     

   • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server:

     # eject /media/dvd
     

   In these examples, /mnt/dvd and /media/dvd are the mount point directories for the disc drive.

2. Insert the DVD into the disc drive.

3. To verify that the disc mounted automatically, enter a command similar to the following:

   • Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

     # ls /mnt/dvd
     

   • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server:

     # ls /media/dvd
     

4. If this command fails to display the contents of the disc, then enter a command similar to the following:

   • Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

     # mount -t iso9660 /dev/dvd /mnt/dvd
     

   • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server:

     # mount -t iso9660 /dev/dvd /media/dvd
     

   In these examples, /mnt/dvd and /media/dvd are the mount point directories for the disc drive.

9 Installing Oracle Database Client

After configuring the oracle user's environment, start Oracle Universal Installer and install Oracle Database as follows:

• To start Oracle Universal Installer, enter the following command:

  $ /mount_point/db/runInstaller
  

  If Oracle Universal Installer does not start, then refer to Oracle Database Client Quick Installation Guide for Linux x86-64 for information about how to troubleshoot X Window display problems.

• The following table describes the recommended action for each Oracle Universal Installer screen. Use the following guidelines to complete the installation:

  • If you need more assistance, or to choose an option that is not a default, then click Help for additional information.

  • If you encounter errors while installing or linking the software, then refer to Oracle Database Installation Guide for information about troubleshooting.

  Note:

  If you have completed the tasks listed previously, then you can complete the installation by choosing the default values on most screens.

  1. If you have an existing Oracle Database Client 11g Release 2 (11.2) installed on your system, the Select Installation Mode screen is displayed. Select New Install to install Oracle Database Client software in to a new location.

     Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), if you want to upgrade an earlier release of Oracle Database Client, then select Upgrade and follow the instructions in "Performing an In-place Oracle Database Client Upgrade"

  2. In the Select Installation Type screen, select the type of installation: Instant Client, Administrator, or Runtime and click Next.

  3. Starting with Oracle Database 11. Release 2 (11.2.0.2), you can use the Software Updates feature to dynamically download and apply latest updatesIn the Download Software Updates screen, select one of the following options and click Next:

     • Use My Oracle Support credentials for download to download and apply the latest software updates.

       Click Proxy Settings to configure a proxy for Oracle Universal Installer to use to connect to the Internet. Provide the proxy server information for your site, along with a user account that has access to the local area network through which the server is connecting. Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.3), you can enter the Proxy Realm information if required. The proxy realm information is case-sensitive.

       Click Test Connection to ensure that your proxy settings are correctly entered, and the installer can download the updates.

     • Use pre-downloaded software updates to apply previously downloaded software updates.

     • Skip Software Updates if you do not want to apply any updates.

  4. The Apply Software Updates screen is displayed if you select to download the software updates or provide the pre-downloaded software downloads location. If you selected Use My Oracle Support credentials for download in the previous screen, then select Download and apply all updates, and click Next. If you selected Use pre-downloaded software updates in the previous screen, then select Apply all updates, and click Next.

  5. The Select Product Languages screen enables you to select the language in which you want to run the product.

     Select the product language from the Available Languages list, transfer it to the Selected Languages list. Click Next.

     This screen is not displayed if you select Instant Client as the type of installation in Step 2.

  6. In the Specify Installation Location screen, enter the following details:

     Oracle Base: This path appears by default. You can change the path based on your requirement. The Oracle Base section is not displayed if you select Instant Client as the type of installation in Step 2.

     In the Software Location section, accept the default value or enter the Oracle home directory path in which you want to install Oracle components. The directory path should not contain spaces. Click Next.

  7. In the Create Inventory screen, you are prompted by the installer to specify the directory path for central inventory the first time you install Oracle software on your computer. Select the oraInventory Group Name of the operating system group that should own the Oracle Inventory directory (the Oracle Inventory group), and click Next.

     Note:

     By default, the Oracle Inventory directory is not installed under the Oracle Base directory. This is because all Oracle software installations share a common Oracle Inventory, so there is only one Oracle Inventory for all users, whereas there is a separate Oracle Base for each user.

  8. The Perform Prerequisite Checks screen verifies if your computer meets the minimum system requirements to install the desired product. Click Next.

     Note: Oracle recommends that you use caution in checking the Ignore All option. If you check this option, then Oracle Universal Installer may not confirm that your system can install Oracle Database successfully.

  9. Review the information displayed in the Summary screen, and click Finish.

     Note:

     Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2), you can save all the installation steps into a response file by clicking Save Response File. Later, this file can be used for a silent installation.

  10. The Install Product screen states the progress of a client installation. After Oracle Database Client is installed, execute the root.sh script as a root user to complete the installation, and click OK.

  11. In the Finish screen, click Close to exit Oracle Universal Installer.

10 Performing an In-place Oracle Database Client Upgrade

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), you can follow the instructions in this section to perform an in-place upgrade of Oracle Database Client 11g Release 2 (11.2):

1. After configuring the oracle user's environment, start Oracle Universal Installer using the following command:

   $ /mount_point/db/runInstaller
   

   See Also:

   "Running Oracle Universal Installer" section in the Oracle Database Client Installation Guide for Linux

2. The Select Installation Mode screen is displayed only if you have an existing Oracle Database Client 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.1) or later installed on your system. Select Upgrade to upgrade the existing Oracle Database Client software to the latest version.

3. In the Specify Installation Location screen, accept the default Software Location value or enter the Oracle home directory path in which you want to install Oracle components. The directory path should not contain spaces. Click Next.

4. In the Download Software Updates screen, select one of the following options, and click Next:

   • Use My Oracle Support credentials for download

   • Use pre-downloaded software updates

   • Skip software updates

   See Step 3 in "Installing Oracle Database Client" for more information about the options in the Download Software Updates screen.

5. The Apply Software Updates screen is displayed if you select to download the software updates or provide the pre-downloaded software updates location. Select either Download and apply all updates or Apply all updates, as applicable, and click Next.

   See Step 4 in "Installing Oracle Database Client" for more information about the options in the Apply Software Updates screen.

6. The Select Product Languages screen enables you to select the language in which you want to run the product.

   Select the product language from the Available Languages list, transfer it to the Selected Languages list. Click Next.

7. The Perform Prerequisite Checks screen verifies if your computer meets the minimum system requirements to install the desired product. Click Next.

8. Review the information displayed in the Summary screen, and click Install.

9. The Install Product screen displays the progress of the client upgrade.

10. Review the information in the Finish screen and click Close to exit Oracle Universal Installer.

11 What to Do Next?

After you have successfully installed Oracle Database Client, refer to Oracle Database Client Installation Guide for Linux for information about required and optional postinstallation steps.

12 Additional Information

This section contains information about the following:

• Product Licenses

• Purchasing Licenses and Version Updates

• Contacting Oracle Support Services

• Locating Product Documentation

Product Licenses

You are welcome to install and evaluate the products included in this media pack for 30 days under the terms of the Trial License Agreement. However, you must purchase a program license if you want to continue using any product after the 30 day evaluation period. See the following section for information about purchasing program licenses.

Purchasing Licenses and Version Updates

You can purchase program licenses and updated versions of Oracle products from the Oracle Store Web site:

https://shop.oracle.com

Contacting Oracle Support Services

If you have purchased Oracle Product Support, you can call Oracle Support Services for assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For information about purchasing Oracle Product Support or contacting Oracle Support Services, go to the Oracle Support Services Web site:

http://www.oracle.com/support

Locating Product Documentation

Product documentation includes information about configuring, using, or administering Oracle products on any platform. The product documentation for Oracle Database 11g products is available in both HTML and PDF formats in the following locations:

• On the Oracle Database Documentation Library media:

  Use a Web browser to view or open the index.htm file in the top-level directory on the media.

• From the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) Web site:

  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html
  

To view PDF documents, download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Web site, if necessary:

http://www.adobe.com

13 Documentation Accessibility

For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=docacc.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=info or visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=trs if you are hearing impaired.