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Installing Oracle9i Release 2 on Red Hat Linux 7.3 - 8.0

by Jeff Hunter, Sr. Database Administrator

Contents

1. Overview
2. Swap Space Considerations
3. Install the Java Development Kit (JDK)
4. Create Oracle Account and Directories
5. Downloading / Unpacking the Oracle9i Installation Files
6. Run the Oracle Installer
7. Errors during the Relink Phase of the Install
8. Configuration Files / Scripts

Overview

This article is a comprehensive guide for installing Oracle9i Release 2 on the Red Hat Linux 8.0 operating environment. Keep in mind the following assumptions throughout this article:

• When installing Red Hat 8.0, I install ALL components. (Everything). This makes it easier than trying to troubleshoot missing software components.

• The ORACLE_SID of the database to be created is O920DB.

Install the Java Development Kit (JDK)

In order to use Oracle's HTTP [Apache] Server, you will need to download the appropiate SDK from Sun.

As per the JDK documentation, install JDK under /usr/local.
Then create a symbolic link to the JDK under /usr/local/java.

• Sun's SDK 1.4.1

  Download from: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.1/download.html

  Download the "Linux self-extracting file / SDK" option. (I still don't trust or use RPMs).

  Install as root:
  

    # cp j2sdk-1_4_1_01-linux-i586.bin /usr/local
    # cd /usr/local
    # chmod 755 j2sdk-1_4_1_01-linux-i586.bin
    # ./j2sdk-1_4_1_01-linux-i586.bin
    # ln -s /usr/local/j2sdk1.4.1_01 /usr/local/java
    # rm j2sdk-1_4_1_01-linux-i586.bin

Create Oracle User Account:

# groupadd -g 115 dba
# useradd -u 173 -c "Oracle Software Owner" -d /u01/app/oracle -g "dba" -m -s /bin/bash oracle
# passwd oracle

Create Oracle Directories:

# mkdir /u01
# mkdir /u01/app
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/adhoc
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/adump
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/arch
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/backups
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/bdump
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/cdump
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/create
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/dba
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/exp
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/logbook
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/pfile
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/release
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/report
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/tuning
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/admin/O920DB/udump
# mkdir /u01/app/oracle/product
# chown -R oracle:dba /u01/app/oracle

# mkdir /u03
# mkdir /u03/app
# mkdir /u03/app/oradata
# mkdir /u03/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u03/app/oradata

# mkdir /u04
# mkdir /u04/app
# mkdir /u04/app/oradata
# mkdir /u04/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u04/app/oradata

# mkdir /u05
# mkdir /u05/app
# mkdir /u05/app/oradata
# mkdir /u05/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u05/app/oradata

# mkdir /u06
# mkdir /u06/app
# mkdir /u06/app/oradata
# mkdir /u06/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u06/app/oradata

# mkdir /u07
# mkdir /u07/app
# mkdir /u07/app/oradata
# mkdir /u07/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u07/app/oradata

# mkdir /u08
# mkdir /u08/app
# mkdir /u08/app/oradata
# mkdir /u08/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u08/app/oradata

# mkdir /u09
# mkdir /u09/app
# mkdir /u09/app/oradata
# mkdir /u09/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u09/app/oradata

# mkdir /u10
# mkdir /u10/app
# mkdir /u10/app/oradata
# mkdir /u10/app/oradata/O920DB
# chown -R oracle:dba /u10/app/oradata

# mkdir /opt/bin
# chown oracle:dba /opt/bin

Oracle Environment Variable Settings:

An example ".bash_profile" is provided in the Configuration Files / Scripts section below.

Ensure to set the environment variable: LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5

NOTE: Failing to set the LD_ASSUME_KERNEL parameter will cause the Oracle Universal Installer to hang!

• Login as the newly created "oracle" user account. (su - oracle). Most of the actions throughout the rest of this document should be done as the "oracle" user account unless otherwise noted.

• Download Oracle9i from Oracle's OTN Site.
  (If you do not currently have an account with Oracle OTN, you will need to create one. This is a FREE account!)

  http://otn.oracle.com/software/products/oracle9i/htdocs/linuxsoft.html

• Download the following files to a temporary directory:
  • lnx_920_disk1.cpio.gz (553,607,967 bytes)
  • lnx_920_disk2.cpio.gz (588,817,480 bytes)
  • lnx_920_disk3.cpio.gz (442,135,815 bytes)

• Directions to extract the files.
  1. Run "gunzip <filename>" on all the files.

     Eg. gunzip lnx_920_disk1.cpio.gz

  2. Extract the cpio archives with the command: "cpio -idmv < <filename>"

     Eg. cpio -idmv < lnx_920_disk1.cpio

     Important Note: Some browsers will uncompress the files but leave the extension the same (gz) when downloading. If the above steps do not work for you, try skipping step 1 and go directly to step 2 without changing the filename.

     Eg. "cpio -idmv < lnx_920_disk1.cpio.gz"

• You should now have three directories called "Disk1, Disk2 and Disk3" containing the Oracle9i Installation files:

  /Disk1
  /Disk2
  /Disk3
  

Run the Oracle Installer

As the "oracle" user account:

• Set your DISPLAY variable to a valid X Windows display.

  % DISPLAY=<Any X-Windows Host>:0.0
  % export DISPLAY
  

  NOTE: If you forgot to set the DISPLAY environment variable and you get the following error:

  Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server
  Xlib: Client is not authorized to connect to Server
  

  you will then need to execute the following command to get "runInstaller" working again:
  % rm -rf /tmp/OraInstall

  If you don't do this, the Installer will hang without giving any error messages. Also make sure that "runInstaller" has stopped running in the background. If not, kill it.

• Change directory to the Oracle installation files you downloaded and extracted. Then run: runInstaller.

  % cd <your temp directory>/Disk1
  % ./runInstaller
  

• During the installation, DO NOT choose to "Create A Database". This how I answered the questions:
  • Inventory Location: /u01/app/oracle/oraInventory
    
  • UNIX Group Name: dba
  • You will be prompted to run /tmp/orainstRoot.sh as the "root" user account. After performing this action, continue the install by hitting the "Continue" button in the installer.
  • Destination:
    • Name: OraHome920
    • Path: /u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0
  • Available Products: Oracle9i Database 9.2.0.1.0
  • Installation Types: Enterprise Edition (2.04GB)
  • Database Configuration: Software Only

• Errors during the "Link" phase

  About 84% into the Link phase of the install, you will get an error when invoking the target of "install" in makefile: /u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0/ctx/lib/ins_ctx.mk. Leave this error message up and refer to the next section, Errors during the Relink Phase of the Install , on how to resolve and continue from this error. You will come back to this error dialog box after modify the $ORACLE_HOME/ctx/lib/env_ctx.mk file.

• Continuing with the "Link" phase

  The "Link" phase will now successfully continue to 100% complete. When the "Link" phase is complete, you will be prompted to run the $ORACLE_HOME/root.sh script as the "root" user account. Go ahead and perform this action. When prompted for the "local bin directory", I generally choose to put the files in /opt/bin keeping with by old conventions of Solaris. You may choose to use the default of /usr/local/bin if you would like. Just make sure that whatever directory you choose that it is in the PATH environment variable of the "oracle" user account.

• Completing the Installation

  After running the root.sh script in the above step, you have successfully installed the Oracle9i database software. At the "End of Installation" screen, simply hit the "Exit" button. A few seconds after hitting the "Exit" button will bring up "Oracle Enterprise Manager" (OEM). I generally exit from the OEM application as I keep a central repository for all nodes and databases.

  From here, it is time to create the O920DB Oracle database. In the Configuration Files / Scripts section of this document, I put together an example initO920DB.ora instance parameter file along with a set of CREATE DATABASE... scripts in an archive named create_database920.tar.

  Good Luck!