CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVES

1.01 Plan for an Oracle Database Software Installation

1.02 Install the Oracle Database Software
Two-Minute Drill
Q&A Self-Test
The Oracle Database software is installed with the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI). This is an
Oracle product in its own right that is used to manage the installation and maintenance of many
other products. The installation of Oracle software has, as far as possible, been standardized for
all products on all platforms—but there are platform and product variations. Before installing
anything, it is essential that you read the product’s release notes for the platform concerned. This
chapter goes through the process of planning the installation and then installing the Oracle
Database 12c software, with examples from Linux and Windows.
CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVE 1.01
Plan for an Oracle Database Software Installation
The install process requires a number of prerequisites; principal among them are the availability
of the software and a suitable machine. Once these are in place, the actual installation is
straightforward, and (depending on hardware) should take around 15 minutes. Ideally, students
will have their own installation on their own PC so that they may practice as much as desired.
That is the environment described here.
Supported Platforms
Historically, the Oracle Database was supported on an extraordinarily wide range of platforms,
which was one reason for the product’s preeminence in the RDBMS market. In recent years, the
number of platforms considered commercially viable has reduced, and Oracle Corporation has
reduced support accordingly. Linux is always the first platform for release. The platforms most
commonly available to students are Linux and Microsoft Windows, so these are the platforms
most commonly referenced in the exams and in this guide.
Obtain the Oracle Database Software
Oracle Corporation has made the software available for public download without the need to buy
a license. However, this public license is very restricted. One may download and install the
product on one’s own machine only for the purposes of application development and self-tuition.
This is made clear in the license agreement. There are also legal restrictions on downloading in
(or subsequently transferring to) certain countries. Furthermore, only the base release is publicly
available. To obtain patches of any kind, it is necessary to have a support agreement. The base
release is adequate for training purposes, though not necessarily for production use.
The two commonly used sources for software download are the Oracle Technology Network
(OTN) and the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud. To reach the OTN download site, go to
www.oracle.com, navigate through the Downloads tab to Oracle Database, and select the latest
available release. To use the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud, go to http://edelivery.oracle.com
and select the Oracle Database product pack. In either site, it is necessary to log on to an Oracle
account (or create a new Oracle account) and then accept the license agreement. The software is
in the form of ZIP files, and four are needed: two files for the Oracle Database software, and two
for the Grid Infrastructure software. Unzip them (one directory for the Oracle Database software,
a second directory for the Grid Infrastructure) and you are ready to go.
User Accounts
On any version of Unix or Linux, it is not possible to install the software as the root user. It is
necessary to create accounts that will own the software. Best practice is to create one account
that will own the database software and a second account that will own the Grid Infrastructure
software: This permits separation of the duties between the database administration domain and
the system administration domain. For the purposes of education, one account can be used for
both functions. Traditionally, this account is named oracle and given the primary group of
oinstall. A secondary group will be dba. These groups should be created before installing and
should be assigned to the oracle account.
On Windows, it is not uncommon to install Oracle software under an account with Administrator
privileges. Although this is certainly bad from a security perspective and should never be done
on a production system, it will not cause a problem on a training system. The installer will create
a group named ORA_DBA and assign it to the account from which the installer is run.
Disk Space and Directories
The installation requires around 5GB for the database Oracle Home. An Oracle Home is the
location of an Oracle product installation—a set of files in a directory structure. Note that
variations in size due to the platform, the type of file system, and the options selected may be
substantial. The directory may be on a local file system or a clustered file system, but it must be
a “cooked” file system—that is, not an ASM disk group or a raw device.
The recommended directory structure is known as Optimal Flexible Architecture, or OFA. OFA
is intended to ease the process of organizing multiple software installations. The general idea is
that each product should be installed into its own Oracle Home, beneath an Oracle Base. The
Oracle Base is a directory that will contain one or more Oracle Homes as well as various other
directories for administration purposes and also the actual database(s). The directory containing
the OUI inventory exists outside the Oracle Base, which makes sense because it should be
independent of any other product.
The recommended naming convention of Oracle Base is based on three variables:
/pm/s/u
And for each Oracle Home, add a literal and more variables:
/pm/s/u/product/v/type_[n]
The files that make up each database are in the Oracle Base, plus two variables:
/pm/s/u/q/d
Here are the variables and suggested values:
Here are some examples:
An Oracle Base of D:\app\oracle is an indication that all Oracle-related files exist on drive D:
in a directory called \app, and that the installs were done by Windows user oracle.
An Oracle Home of /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 suggests that the Oracle Base is
/u01/app/oracle and that this directory contains the first installation of the 12c release 1 database
software on this machine.
The path D:\app\oracle\oradata\orcl would be the directory beneath Oracle Base containing
the files of a database named orcl.
The path /u01/app/oraInventory is the location of the OUI inventory files, next to the Oracle
Base.
It is not essential to conform to the OFA directory structure, but OFA does make a DBA’s life
easier. Many DBAs, and some products, assume that OFA is in place, which means deviating
from OFA will cause confusion.
The Prerequisite Checks
The installation release notes for each platform list the prerequisites. These will usually be
hardware requirements (disk space and RAM), operating system versions, availability of certain
utilities, security settings, kernel resource limits, and patch levels. Generally speaking, at this
level Windows installations are simpler than Linux. This is because Windows is a tightly
controlled environment, and the OUI can make many assumptions. Similarly, if the Linux
distribution is Oracle Enterprise Linux, it is likely that a standard installation will fulfill all the
prerequisites. A Red Hat, SUSE, or CentOS distribution may not conform by default and may
therefore need some work before Oracle can be installed.
There are prerequisites for running OUI, and more prerequisites for particular products. The OUI
prerequisites are coded in the file oraparam.ini and are very basic. Search for this file in the
unzipped software. The following is from release 12.1.0.1.0 for 64-bit Linux:

The OUI will refuse to run if these conditions are not met. Then there are prerequisites for that
product actually being installed. These are coded into the cvu_prereq.xml file and are checked by
the OUI as part of the installation. It is possible to ignore failures to meet the prerequisites and
proceed with installation, but if you do so there is no guarantee the installation will actually
function correctly.

Often the problem with prereq failures is not that the products won’t work, it is deciding
whether they matter. For example, on Linux, some of the kernel settings and packages are not
really needed for an entry-level installation. However, a problem may occur with support. If
you ever raise an SR (an SR is a Service Request, which is passed to Oracle Support Services
through My Oracle Support) and your system does not conform to the prereqs, the support
analysts might refuse to help you. Therefore, if you have to break one of the rules to get an
installation through, be sure to fix it as soon as possible afterward.
CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVE 1.02
Install the Oracle Database Software
The OUI gives several options for installation. The suggested installation, discussed next, will be
suitable for any studies up to the Oracle Certified Professional level. The Oracle Certified Master
curriculum includes RAC, the installation of which is not covered here. One option is whether to
chain the installation of the software with the creation of a database. This option is not going to
be discussed here, however, because creating a database is dealt with as a separate topic.
The OUI Inventory
OUI creates an inventory, which is a set of XML files that record exactly what Oracle products
have been installed on the machine, with details of where the Oracle Homes are and what
patches (if any) have been applied to each Home. In order to prevent this inventory from being
corrupted, a locking mechanism prevents running the OUI (or the Opatch patching routine)
concurrently in two or more sessions. Whenever OUI or Opatch is run, the first thing it does is
locate the inventory and check whether it is already locked. The location of the inventory and the
operating system group that owns it are stored in a pointer file. The pointer file has a platform-
specific name and location. On Linux, it is /etc/oracle/oraInst.loc, as in this example, which
shows that the inventory is located in the /u01/app/oraInventory directory:

On Solaris or AIX, the pointer file resides in the /var/opt/oracle directory. On Windows, the
inventory location is defined in a registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/ORACLE/inst_loc
The OUI is written in Java, using JDK1.5, which is included in the product. This means that OUI
is the same on all platforms, with the exception of certain trivial variations in the Java user
interface, such as whether windows have square or rounded corners. The OUI can be installed as
a self-contained product in its own Oracle Home, but this is not usually necessary because it is
shipped with every other Oracle product and can be launched from the product installation CD
(or DVD); it will install itself into the Oracle Home along with the product. There are different
versions of the OUI, and if a product comes with a version earlier than the one already installed
on the machine, it’s usually a good idea (and may indeed be necessary) to install the product
using the already-installed version, from the existing Oracle Home. When the OUI prompts for
the location of the products.xml file, specify the DVD or directory with the product you want to
install.

Always use the latest version of the OUI you have available. There can be issues with updating
the OUI inventory if you try to revert to earlier versions after using a later version. Also note
that some products (such as the WebLogic server) still do not use OUI and are installed
independently. You can download the latest OUI from the Oracle Technology Network.
The OUI Dialog: Interactive Install
To launch the OUI, run the runInstaller.sh shell script (Linux) or the setup.exe program
(Windows) from the root of the directory in which the software was unzipped. For an interactive
install, a graphical terminal must be available. For Windows, this is no problem. For Linux, it
means an X terminal of some kind. If you are logged on to the console through one of the
standard Linux X Window managers (such as Gnome), OUI will run straight away. If you are
connecting remotely, you will have to use a connection method that allows display of graphics,
such as a VNC desktop or an X Window server. There is nothing special about this: Any Linux
tutorial or any experienced Linux user can explain it. However, this topic is beyond the scope of
an Oracle tutorial.
The use of the OUI dialog is detailed in the exercise at the end of this chapter. In summary, here
is the information requested by the 12 steps of the installer on Linux (Windows is slightly
different):

Step Description

1: Configure Security Updates Login credentials for My Oracle Support (optional).

2: Download Software Updates Enable automatic downloads of CPUs or PSUs (optional).

3: Select Installation Option Choose whether to chain the install to creating or upgrading a
database.

4: Grid Installation Options Create an installation for single instance, RAC, or RAC One
Node.

5: Select Product Languages By default, only English is selected.

6: Select Database Edition Choose Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition, or Standard

Edition 1.

7: Specify Installation Location Specify the Oracle Base and Oracle Home directories.

8: Privileged Operating System Nominate the groups that will manage the Oracle Home.
Groups

9: Perform Prerequisite Checks Validate the environment.

10: Summary Summary of the dialog.

11: Install Product Progress monitor.

12: Finish Successful completion.

Step 9 may fail on some tests. This is unlikely on Windows, but on Linux (if you’re not using an
Oracle-validated version of Linux, such as OEL5.8) you may face a number of issues. Typically,
these involve kernel parameter settings and the availability of certain RPMs. Every issue will be
flagged as “warning” or “critical.” Clicking the Fix and Check Again button will generate a
script and prompt you to run it as root, which will fix many “fixable” issues (such as kernel
limits). However, it cannot fix all of them. Therefore, any unfixable issues (such as missing
critical RPMs) should be addressed before proceeding. If it is not possible to fix the issues,
clicking the Ignore All check box will allow you to proceed, but with no guarantee that the
installation will succeed.
Step 11, on Linux, includes a prompt to run the script root.sh as the root user. This script
accomplishes certain tasks that require root privileges, such as creating files in /etc and changing
ownership and access modes on certain files in the Oracle Home.
Silent Install and Response Files
Running the OUI interactively is fine for a one-off install. However, if you are installing on
multiple machines or perhaps designing a repeatable and automated procedure, it is necessary to
use another technique: driving OUI with a response file. A response file is read by OUI and
contains answers to all the questions posed by the interactive dialog. When using a response file,
you’ll usually want to disable all graphical output. This allows you to carry out installations on
systems where no graphical terminal device is available, such as blade servers with no console
attached.
Creating a response file from scratch is beyond the capability of most DBAs. However, a
template response file is provided: the file db_install.rsp in the /response/directory beneath the
root of the installation software. It is well documented, with descriptions of every value required.
But even veteran DBAs will try to avoid writing a response file by hand. And there is no need to
because you can generate one with an interactive run of OUI. Launch OUI and go through the
dialog. On the final screen you’ll see a check box next to the question “Generate response file?”
At this point you nominate a location for an automatically generated response file based on the
preceding dialog and then cancel the install.
To run a silent install later (perhaps on a different machine), edit the generated file to match the
environment and then launch OUI with the following syntax (for Windows):

You can pass many other command-line switches to the installer. Here’s how to display them all
in Linux:

A particularly useful switch is -ignoreSysPrereqs, which allow a silent or interactive install to

proceed even if the prerequisite checks fail.
Windows and Linux Variations
Discussing the details of platform variations is beyond the scope of the OCP syllabus. However,
as it is possible that students may find the differences confusing, so here is a summary of the
principal differences.
User ID on Linux An operating system user who will own the software must be pre-created
and must be a member of operating system groups to be used to own the Oracle Home and for
database administration. It is customary to name the user oracle and the groups oinstall and dba.
Run OUI as this user; you cannot run the OUI as root.
User ID on Windows The OUI must be run as a user with administration privileges, and it
prompts for the user who owns the Oracle home. If the user does not exist, it will be created.
Operating system groups on Linux At least one group must be pre-created, the OSDBA
group. You can call it anything you want, but dba is the customary group name, and the user
running the installer must be a member of this group. A second group, customarily called
oinstall, should be the primary group of the user running OUI.
Operating system groups on Windows The names are hard coded and will be created by
OUI. The nominated user will be made a member of these groups automatically.
Root scripts on Linux At the end of the installation, a shell script must be run as the root
user. This script makes certain changes that require root privileges. Execute it when prompted.
Windows does not require this step because the OUI must itself have been run as a user with
administration rights.
EXERCISE 1-1
Install the Oracle Database Software
In this exercise, you will install an Oracle Home but you won’t create a database at this point.
Prepare your training system by creating appropriate directories and a user; then launch the OUI
and follow the wizard. The steps and prompts are slightly different between the Windows and
Linux dialogs, but overall the process is very similar and self-explanatory, with context-sensitive
assistance available via the Help button. Following is an example of the OUI dialog for
Windows, followed by a dialog for Linux. Of course, you must adjust the process to your own
circumstances. You can use these two examples to assist you in your installation.
The Windows Installation Dialog
This dialog was captured by running the OUI setup.exe on a 64-bit Windows 8.0 machine. You
may need to adjust the suggested responses to your environment.
1. Configure Security Updates Deselect the “I wish to receive security updates” check box.
Leave the other fields blank, click Next, and then click Yes when warned about not providing an
e-mail address.
2. Download Software Updates Select the Skip Software Updates radio button and then
click Next.
3. Select Installation Option Select the Install Database Software Only radio button and then
click Next.
4. System Class Select the Server Class radio button. This has no technical significance, but
does ensure that you will subsequently see all possible options. Click Next.
5. Grid Installation Options Select the Single Instance Database Installation radio button
and then click Next.
6. Select Install Type Select the Advanced Install radio button and then click Next.
7. Select Product Languages Add any languages you need and then click Next.
8. Select Database Edition Select the Enterprise Edition radio button and then click Next.
 9. Specify Oracle Home User Enter the name and password of either an existing user who
will own the installation or a new user to be created by the OUI. A commonly used username is
“oracle” (in all lowercase). Click Next.
10. Specify Installation Location Enter an Oracle Base directory, such as C:\ app\oracle, and
a software location, such as C:\app\oracle\product\12.1.0\ dbhome_1. Click Next.
11. Perform Prerequisite Checks OUI will perform its checks. Fix any issues.
12. Summary A summary of the installation will be displayed. It is possible to make changes
here, or to navigate back through the dialog with the Back button. Click Install to proceed.
The Linux Installation Dialog
This dialogue was captured by running the OUI runInstaller.sh on a 64-bit Linux 5.8 machine.
You may need to adjust the suggested responses to your environment..
1. Configure Security Updates Deselect the “I wish to receive security updates” check box.
Leave the other fields blank, click Next, and then click Yes when warned about not providing an
e-mail address.
2. Download Software Updates Select the Skip Software Updates radio button and then
click Next.
3. Select Installation Option Select the Install Database Software Only radio button and then
click Next.
4. Grid Installation Options Select the Single Instance Database Installation radio button
and then click Next.
5. Select Product Languages Add any languages you need and then click Next.
6. Select Database Edition Select the Enterprise Edition radio button and then click Next.
7. Specify Installation Location Enter an Oracle Base directory on which your Linux user
has full permissions, such as /u01/apporacle, and a software location within it, such as
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1. Click Next.
8. Privileged Operating System Groups Select an operating system group from each drop-
down box. The list will be dependent on the group membership of the user under which you are
running the OUI. Selecting “dba”, if available, is usually a good choice. Click Next.
9. Perform Prerequisite Checks OUI will perform its checks. Fix any issues.
10. Summary A summary of the installation will be displayed. It is possible to make changes
here, or to navigate back through the dialog with the Back button. Click Install to proceed.
11. Install Product The OUI copies the software into the Oracle home, links it, and runs
various configuration scripts.
12. Execute Configuration Scripts A popup window (make sure it is not hiding behind
another window!) will prompt you to run a shell script as root. Run this, accepting defaults for all
the prompted values. Then click OK in the popup window. The installation is now complete;
click Close to exit from the installer.

CERTIFICATION SUMMARY
The OUI is the tool used to install an Oracle Home. A successful installation requires a certain
amount of preparatory work by the system administrator, such as creating an operating system
user account and groups as well as a directory into which the software will be installed. The OUI
runs various prerequisite checks and will even generate a script to fix some shortcomings.
Although it is possible to ignore any failures, this may lead to problems later.
 TWO-MINUTE DRILL
Plan for an Oracle Database Software Installation
Create operating system groups and users.
Create a directory beneath which the Oracle Base will exist.
Download the appropriate version of the installation DVDs.
Install the Oracle Database Software
Launch the OUI: setup.exe (Windows) or runInstaller.sh (Linux).
Follow the OUI dialog.

SELF TEST
Plan for an Oracle Database Software Installation
1. Which statement best describes the relationship between the Oracle Base and the Oracle
Home? (Choose the best answer.)
A. The Oracle Base exists inside the Oracle Home.
B. The Oracle Base can contain Oracle Homes for different products.
C. One Oracle Base is required for each product, but versions of the product can exist in their
own Oracle Homes within their Oracle Base.
D. The Oracle Base is created when you run the orainstRoot.sh script, and contains a pointer to
the Oracle Home.
2. What does Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) describe? (Choose the best answer.)
A. A directory structure
B. Distributed database systems
C. A multitier processing architecture
D. All the above
3. What environment variable must be set on Linux before running the Oracle Universal
Installer for an interactive installation? (Choose the best answer.)
A. ORACLE_HOME
B. ORACLE_BASE
C. ORACLE_SID
D. DISPLAY
Install the Oracle Database Software
4. If the OUI detects that a prerequisite has not been met, what can you do? (Choose the best
answer.)
A. You must cancel the installation, fix the problem, and launch OUI again.
B. A silent install will fail; an interactive install will continue.
C. Instruct the OUI to continue (at your own risk).
D. The options will depend on how far into the installation the OUI is when the problem is
detected.
5. What type of devices can the OUI install an Oracle Home onto? (Choose all correct
answers.)
A. Regular file systems
B. Clustered file systems
C. Raw devices
D. ASM disk groups
 6. Which command-line switch can be used to prevent the OUI from stopping when
prerequisite tests fail? (Choose the best answer.)
A. –silent
B. –record
C. –responsefile
D. –ignoresysprereqs
7. When does an OUI inventory get created? (Choose the best answer.)
A. Every time a new Oracle Home is created
B. Every time a new Oracle Base is created
C. Before the first run of the OUI
D. During the first run of the OUI
LAB QUESTION
Use the OUI to instantiate another Oracle Home. Then launch OUI again and take the option to
deinstall an Oracle Home. This will prompt you to run a shell script (Linux) or batch file
(Windows) to accomplish the deinstallation. Repeat! It is important to become completely
comfortable with all the options of OUI.

SELF TEST ANSWERS

Plan for an Oracle Database Software Installation
1. B. The Oracle Base directory contains all the Oracle Homes, which can be any versions
of any products.
A, C, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because it inverts the relationship. C is incorrect
because there is no requirement for a separate base for each product. D is incorrect because it
misunderstands the purpose of the orainstRoot.sh script, which is to create the oraInst.loc file,
not to create the Oracle Base directory.
2. A. The rather grandly named Optimal Flexible Architecture is nothing more than a
naming convention for directory structures.
B, C, and D are incorrect. These are incorrect because they go way beyond OFA.
3. D. Without a DISPLAY set, the OUI will not be able to open any windows.
A, B, and C are incorrect. These are incorrect because although they can be set before the
OUI is launched, the OUI will prompt for values for them.
Install the Oracle Database Software
4. C. Perhaps not advisable, but you can certainly do this.
A, B, and D are incorrect. A is incorrect because while it might be a good idea, it is not
something you have to do. B is incorrect because the interactive installation will halt. D is
incorrect because all prerequisites are checked at the same time.
5. A and B. The Oracle Home must exist on a file system, but it can be local or clustered.
C and D are incorrect. Raw devices and ASM devices can be used for databases, but not for
an Oracle Home.
6. D. The –ignoresysprereqs switch stops OUI from running the tests.
A, B, and C are incorrect. A is incorrect because this switch will suppress generation of
windows, not running tests. B is incorrect because this is the switch to generate a response file. C
is incorrect because this is the switch to read a response file.
7. D. If the OUI cannot find an inventory, it will create one.
 A, B, and C are incorrect. A and B are incorrect because one inventory can manage any
number of Homes in any Base. C is incorrect because the inventory is created at the end of the
process, not the beginning.
LAB ANSWER
The OUI “Welcome” window features a button labeled Deinstall Products. Clicking this button
will present a list of Oracle Homes. Selecting one will enable a Remove button. Click this
button, and on Windows a pop-up will tell you to run a command such as the following:

On Linux, the result is similar (although the use of forward and backward slashes is more
consistent).