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by Virendra Galotra
Oracle runs on some 100 platforms. Each platform has its own specifics for installation and can be found in the Oracle8 platform-specific installation and user guide. The chapter discusses Sun Solaris as one of the example platforms to illustrate the generic UNIX installation process. Other popular UNIX platforms follow a similar installation procedure with minor changes. Be sure to go through the Oracle documentation for any specifics. The most important part of the process is to carefully go through the README.DOC file, which comes bundled with the software on most of the platforms.
Oracle has made numerous changes to provide an easy-to-use installation process. With Oracle8, it is fairly straightforward to install the server, the client, or any of the supported options. Oracle8 has distributed, replication, and parallel query options integrated in the kernel. They are no longer optional. They do not show up in the server manager banner.
Installing the server involves making sure the local system satisfies the hardware, software, memory, and disk requirements for the products you want to install. Also, you need to ensure that the UNIX environment is set for the chosen products to be installed. You can make use of the Installer to install the software. After the software is installed, you need to configure the Oracle8 system by creating the database objects, establishing the user environment, and so forth for the installed Oracle products.
Please make sure that your system satisfies the hardware and software requirements as outlined in Table 6.1 and Table 6.2 before you attempt to install the Oracle8 server.
Hardware Requirements
| Hardware Component | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Memory | A minimum of 32MB RAM is required, but it is recommended you have 64MB. In the case of special options such as ConText, the preferred minimum is 128MB. |
| Swap | As a rule of thumb, approximately three times the recommended RAM is required. |
| Disk Space | If you choose to install the entire Oracle8 server, a minimum of 600MB is required. Requirements will be less if you choose to install a subset. |
| CD-ROM Device | A CD-ROM device supported by Solaris is required. |
Note:
600MB of disk space does not include the size of your database.
Software Requirements
As part of the Oracle8 installation, you must make sure to determine which operating system (OS) patches are installed and which OS packages are installed. You can use the following commands:
showrev -p ( for OS patches ) pkginfo -i [package_name] ; pkginfo -i would list all installed packages.
Table 6.2 lists the OS software requirements for the Oracle8 installation.
OS Software Requirements
| OS Software | Requirement |
|---|---|
| OS | Solaris 2.5.1 or 2.6. |
| OS Patch | Contact Sun Microsystems for the latest Kernel Patch. |
| OS Packages | SUNWarc, SUNWbtool, SUNWlibm,SUNWlibms, SUNWsprot, SUNWtool, SUNWhea,SUNWmfrun. |
| Window Manager | Any Sun-supported window manager. |
For any product-specific installation requirements, refer to the Sun Solaris installation guide.
The network software must be installed and running prior to installation of the Oracle Net8 products, which is the de facto standard for the Oracle8 server. The adapters require the underlying software and OS libraries for the supported network.
The database and the new installation should comply with the OFA standard by providing a minimum of four mount points: one for the source software and three for the database files. You must enter a value for ORACLE_BASE. If you decide to create a non-OFA structure, the Installer enables you to specify the same value for ORACLE_HOME.
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