Oracle 12.2.0.1 Silent Installation

Andy Kerber (@dbakerber), Senior Consultant

A basic skill of any Oracle DBA is to install the Oracle database software, both silently and using the installer through X-Windows. In this article, we will discuss installing the Oracle database home using the silent installation method, and also cloning the Oracle database home. The operating system in this example is RHEL 7.

Installing Oracle (Silent Install)

Please note that unless you routinely use the silent install, cloning, and database creation methods, it is likely that it will take you several tries to get all the settings for your environment correct. I recommend that you practice this procedure in a test environment a few times until you are confident in your ability to get the response files correct, and accomplish your intended task without errors.

First, a very quick overview of the pre-installation tasks.

  1. Install the following packages:

binutils
compat-libcap1
compat-libstdc++-33
compat-libstdc++-33.i686
glibc
glibc.i686
glibc-devel
glibc-devel.i686
ksh
libaio
libaio.i686
libaio-devel
libaio-devel.i686
libX11
libX11.i686
libXau
libXau.i686
libXi
libXi.i686
libXtst
libXtst.i686
libgcc
libgcc.i686
libstdc++
libstdc++.i686
libstdc++-devel
libstdc++-devel.i686
libxcb
libxcb.i686
make
nfs-utils
net-tools
smartmontools
sysstat
unixODBC
unixODBC-devel
gcc
gcc-c++
libXext
libXext.i686
zlib-devel
zlib-devel.i686

  1. Add the operating system groups:

groupadd -g 54321 oinstall
groupadd -g 54322 dba
groupadd -g 54323 oper

  1. Create the Oracle user:

useradd –u 54321 –g oinstall –G dba,oracle,oper

  1. Set the password for the Oracle user:

passwd oracle

  1. Create the top level directory for the Oracle user, change the ownership, and set privileges:

mkdir –p /u01
chown oracle:dba /u01
chmod 775 /u01

  1. Now, as Oracle, download the Oracle software from OTN or Oracle Software Delivery.
  2. Unzip the downloaded file:

unzip linuxx64_12201_database.zip

  1. Configure Tuned as described in House of Brick’s blog post (Tuned is installed by default on RHEL7).

At this point, we are ready to begin the initial software installation. As the downloaded file was unzipped, a directory called database was created under your current directory.

  1. Cd to the ./database/response directory.
  2. Copy the db_install.rsp file to the ./database directory. In my case, it will be copied from /home/oracle/database/response directory to /home/oracle/database
  3. Modify the following lines (only) to read as follows (or customize for your environment) in the file /home/oracle/database/db_install.rsp:
oracle.install.option=INSTALL_DB_SWONLY
 UNIX_GROUP_NAME=oinstall
 INVENTORY_LOCATION=/u01/app/oraInventory
 ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_1
 ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
 oracle.install.db.InstallEdition=EE
 oracle.install.db.OSDBA_GROUP=dba
 oracle.install.db.OSOPER_GROUP=dba
 oracle.install.db.OSBACKUPDBA_GROUP=dba
 oracle.install.db.OSDGDBA_GROUP=dba
 oracle.install.db.OSKMDBA_GROUP=dba
 oracle.install.db.OSRACDBA_GROUP=dba
 oracle.install.db.OSRACDBA_GROUP=dba
 SECURITY_UPDATES_VIA_MYORACLESUPPORT=false
 DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES=true

 

  1. After making the changes to the db_install.rsp file, you are ready to run the Oracle installation. The command to run the Oracle home in silent mode (running from the database directory) is:
./runInstaller -silent -responseFile
/home/oracle/database/db_install.rsp

 

Note that a common mistake is to put a ‘=’ after –responseFile. Do not do this, it will cause an error.

The output of a successful installation will look like this:

[oracle@rhel7 database]$ ./runInstaller -silent -responseFile /home/oracle/database/db_install.rsp
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...
Checking Temp space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 66020 MB   Passed
Checking swap space: must be greater than 150 MB.   Actual 16379 MB   Passed
Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from /tmp/OraInstall2017-11-02_03-04-27PM. Please wait ...[oracle@rhel7 database]$ You can find the log of this install session at:
/u01/app/oraInventory/logs/installActions2017-11-02_03-04-27PM.log
The installation of Oracle Database 12c was successful.
Please check '/u01/app/oraInventory/logs/silentInstall2017-11-02_03-04-27PM.log' for more details.

 

As a root user, execute the following script(s):

 1. /u01/app/oraInventory/orainstRoot.sh
 2. /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_1/root.sh
 Successfully Setup Software.

 

  1. Now run the ‘root’ scripts as the root user:
Password:
Last login: Thu Nov 2 15:04:11 CDT 2017 on pts/0
[root@rhel7 ~]# cd /u01/app/oraInv*
[root@rhel7 oraInventory]# ls
ContentsXML logs oraInst.loc orainstRoot.sh oui
[root@rhel7 oraInventory]# ./orainstRoot.sh
Changing permissions of /u01/app/oraInventory.
Adding read,write permissions for group.
Removing read,write,execute permissions for world.

Changing groupname of /u01/app/oraInventory to oinstall.
The execution of the script is complete.
[root@rhel7 oraInventory]#
[root@rhel7 oraInventory]# cd /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_1
[root@rhel7 dbhome_1]# ./root.sh
Check /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_1/install/root_rhel7.localdomain_2017-11-02_15-12-34-541423307.log for the output of root script
[root@rhel7 dbhome_1]#

 

Cloning the Oracle Home

At this point, your new Oracle Home has been successfully created. Next, we will cover the steps for cloning the Oracle home. To start, create a zip file of the current home.

  1. cd /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.01
  2. zip –r dbhome_1.zip dbhome_1
  3. In our case, we are just going to create a new database home next to the current one, so we are going to put the zipped filed into dbhome_2. This takes a little trick:
mkdir dbhome_2
unzip dbhome_1.zip –d dbhome_2
cd dbhome_2
cd dbhome_1
mv * ..

 

Now the directory /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_2 is a copy of /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_1.

  1. Next, the following three items are not vital, but help prevent typos:
export ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_2
export ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
export ORAINST_LOC=/u01/app/oraInventory

 

  1. Change to the cloning directory of the new home:
cd /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_2/clone/bin

 

  1. Run the clone command using the parameters we defined earlier:
./clone.pl ORACLE_BASE=$ORACLE_BASE ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_HOME INVENTORY_LOCATION=$ORAINST_LOC

 

  1. The output should look like this if successful:
[oracle@rhel7 bin]$ ./clone.pl ORACLE_BASE=$ORACLE_BASE ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_HOME INVENTORY_LOCATION=$ORAINST_LOC
 Starting Oracle Universal Installer...
Checking Temp space: must be greater than 500 MB.  Actual 47004 MB   Passed
 Checking swap space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 16379 MB   Passed
 Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from /tmp/OraInstall2017-11-02_04-41-17PM. Please wait ...You can find the log of this install session at:
 /u01/app/oraInventory/logs/cloneActions2017-11-02_04-41-17PM.log
 ..................................................   5% Done.
 ..................................................   10% Done.
 ..................................................   15% Done.
 ..................................................   20% Done.
 ..................................................   25% Done.
 ..................................................   30% Done.
 ..................................................   35% Done.
 ..................................................   40% Done.
 ..................................................   45% Done.
 ..................................................   50% Done.
 ..................................................   55% Done.
 ..................................................   60% Done.
 ..................................................   65% Done.
 ..................................................   70% Done.
 ..................................................   75% Done.
 ..................................................   80% Done.
 ..................................................   85% Done.
 ..........
Copy files in progress.

Copy files successful.

Link binaries in progress.

Link binaries successful.

Setup files in progress.

Setup files successful.

Setup Inventory in progress.

Setup Inventory successful.

Finish Setup successful.
 The cloning of OraHome1 was successful.
 Please check '/u01/app/oraInventory/logs/cloneActions2017-11-02_04-41-17PM.log' for more details.

Setup Oracle Base in progress.

Setup Oracle Base successful.
 ..................................................   95% Done.

 

As a root user, execute the following script(s):

1. /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_2/root.sh

..................................................   100% Done.

 

  1. Run the root script as directed.
[oracle@rhel7 bin]$ su -
Password:
Last login: Thu Nov 2 15:12:05 CDT 2017 on pts/1
[root@rhel7 ~]# /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_2/root.sh
Check /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_2/install/root_rhel7.localdomain_2017-11-02_16-45-28-955255610.log for the output of root script

 

You have now installed Oracle using the silent install method, and have also cloned the Oracle home.

Creating a Silent Database

The next step is the silent database creation. This is a fairly straightforward process, and very similar to the Oracle home installation process. First, find the file dbca.rsp and copy it to a new location. The dbca.rsp file will be in the same directory as the db_install.rsp file.

  1. Make the following changes to dbca.rsp. Note that ‘silent’ is the database name and sid:
gdbName=silent
sid=silent
databaseConfigType=SI
createAsContainerDatabase=false
templateName=General_Purpose.dbc
sysPassword=oracle12c
systemPassword=oracle12c
emConfiguration=NONE
datafileDestination=/u01/oradata
recoveryAreaDestination=/u01/recovery_area
storageType=FS
characterSet=AL32UTF8
sampleSchema=TRUE

 

  1. Set your environment:
export ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbhome_1

export PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$PATH.

 

  1. Create the database:
[oracle@rhel7 ~]$ dbca -silent -createDatabase -responseFile dbca.rsp
Copying database files
1% complete
2% complete
18% complete
33% complete
Creating and starting Oracle instance
35% complete
40% complete
44% complete
49% complete
53% complete
54% complete
55% complete
58% complete
Completing Database Creation
59% complete
60% complete
61% complete
64% complete
65% complete
69% complete
Executing Post Configuration Actions
100% complete
Look at the log file "/u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/silent/silent.log" for further details.

 

In this article we described creating a database home, cloning a database home, and creating a new database using the silent option. While the interactive method using X-Windows is generally easier and more forgiving, installing Oracle using the silent method, and creating a database with the silent method are very import skills for a DBA to have in his or her toolkit.

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