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Oracle® Database Client Quick Installation Guide
11g Release 2 (11.2) for Linux x86

Part Number E10858-02
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Oracle® Database

Client Quick Installation Guide

11g Release 2 (11.2) for Linux x86

E10858-02

August 2009

This guide describes how to quickly install Oracle Database 11g on Linux x86 systems. It includes information about the following:

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:

See Also:

Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide for more information about Instant Client

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.

This guide is available on the product disc. To access it, use a Web browser to open the welcome.htm file located in the top-level directory of the installation media, and then select the Documentation tab.

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:

Note:

Unless you intend to complete a silent-mode installation, you must install the software from an X Window System workstation, an X terminal, or a PC or other system with X server software installed.

3 Checking the Hardware Requirements

The system must meet the following minimum hardware requirements:

3.1 Memory Requirements

The following are the memory requirements for installing Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2):

  • At least 256 MB of physical RAM.

    To determine the physical RAM size, enter the following command:

    # grep MemTotal /proc/meminfo
    

    If the size of the physical RAM is less than the required size, then you must install more memory before continuing.

  • The following table describes the relationship between installed RAM and the configured swap space requirement:

    Note:

    On Linux, the HugePages feature allocates non-swappable memory for large page tables using memory-mapped files. If you enable HugePages, then you should deduct the memory allocated to HugePages from the available RAM before calculating swap space.
    Available RAM Swap Space Required
    Between 0 MB and 256 MB 3 times the size of RAM
    Between 256 MB and 512 MB 2 times the size of RAM
    Between 512 MB and 2 GB 1.5 times the size of RAM
    Between 2 GB and 16 GB Equal to the size of RAM
    More than 16 GB 16 GB

  • To determine whether the system architecture can run the software, enter the following command:

    # grep "model name" /proc/cpuinfo
    

    Note:

    This command displays the processor type. Verify that the processor architecture matches the Oracle software release that you want to install. If you do not see the expected output, then you cannot install the software on this system.

To determine the size of the configured swap space, enter the following command:

# grep SwapTotal /proc/meminfo

If necessary, refer to the operating system documentation for information about how to configure additional swap space.

To determine the available RAM and swap space, enter the following command:

# free

Note:

Oracle recommends that you take multiple values for the available RAM and swap space before finalizing a value. This is because the available RAM and swap space keep changing depending on the user interactions with the computer.

3.2 Disk Space Requirements

The following are the disk space requirements for installing Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2):

  • The minimum disk space requirement for a client install in the /tmp directory is 400 MB.

    To determine the amount of disk space available in the /tmp directory, enter the following command:

    # df -k /tmp
    

    If there is less than 400 MB of free disk space available in the /tmp directory, then complete one of the following steps:

    • Delete unnecessary files from the /tmp directory to meet the disk space requirement.

    • Set the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables when setting the oracle user's environment.

      See Also:

      "Configuring the oracle User's Environment for more information about setting TMP and TMPDIR
    • Extend the file system that contains the /tmp directory. If necessary, contact the system administrator for information about extending file systems.

  • Between 146 MB and 1.38 GB of disk space for the Oracle software, depending on the installation type:

    Installation typr Requirement for Software Files
    Instant Client 146 MB
    Administrator 1.38 GB
    Runtime 1.1 GB

    To determine the amount of free disk space on the system, enter the following command:

    # df -k
    

4 Checking the Software Requirements

Depending on the products that you need to install, verify that the following softwares are installed on the system:

4.1 Operating System Requirements

The following or later versions of the operating system are required for Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2):

  • Asianux 2 Update 7

  • Asianux 3

  • Oracle Enterprise Linux 4 Update 7

  • Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 Update 2

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 7

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 2

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2), the Security Enhanced Linux (SE Linux) feature is supported for Oracle Enterprise Linux 4, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, Oracle Enterprise Linux 5, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Note:

Only the distributions and versions listed in the earlier list are supported. Do not install the software on other versions of Linux.

Oracle Universal Installer performs checks to verify that the system meets the listed requirements. To ensure that these checks pass, verify the requirements before you start Oracle Universal Installer.

To determine the distribution and version of Linux installed, enter the following command:

# cat /proc/version

Note:

For Asianux Server, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, system requirements are identical by kernel version. Specifically:

Asianux 2, Oracle Enterprise Linux 4, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 requirements are the same.

Asianux Server 3, Oracle Enterprise Linux 5, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 requirements are the same.

4.2 Kernel Requirements

The following are the Kernel requirements for Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2):

  • For Asianux 2, Oracle Enterprise Linux 4, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4:

    2.6.9 or later

  • For Asianux 3, Oracle Enterprise Linux 5, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5:

    2.6.18 or later

  • For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10:

    2.6.16.21 or later

  • For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11:

    2.6.27.19 or later

To determine whether the required kernel is installed, enter the following command:

# uname -r

The following is a sample output displayed by running this command on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 system:

2.6.9-34.0.1.0.11.ELsmp

In this example, the output shows the kernel version (2.6.9) and errata level (34.0.1.0.11) on the system.

If the kernel version does not meet the requirement specified earlier in this section, then contact the operating system vendor for information about obtaining and installing kernel updates.

4.3 Package Requirements

The following are the list of packages required for Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2):

Note:

  • Oracle recommends that you install your Linux operating system with the default software packages (RPMs), unless you specifically intend to perform a minimal installation, and follow the directions for performing such an installation to ensure that you have all required packages for Oracle software.

  • Oracle recommends that you do not customize RPMs during a default operating system installation. A default installation includes most required packages, and will help you to limit manual checks of package dependencies.

  • You must install the packages (or later versions) listed in the following table. Also, ensure that the list of RPMs and all the prerequisites for these RPMs are installed.

  • The following or later version of packages for Asianux 2, Oracle Enterprise Linux 4, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 should be installed:

    binutils-2.15.92.0.2
    compat-libstdc++-33.2.3
    elfutils-libelf-0.97
    elfutils-libelf-devel-0.97
    gcc-3.4.6
    gcc-c++-3.4.6
    glibc-2.3.4-2.41
    glibc-common-2.3.4
    glibc-devel-2.3.4
    libaio-devel-0.3.105
    libaio-0.3.105
    libgcc-3.4.6
    libstdc++-3.4.6
    libstdc++-devel-3.4.6
    make-3.80
    pdksh-5.2.14
    sysstat-5.0.5
    unixODBC-2.2.11
    unixODBC-devel-2.2.11
    
  • The following or later version of packages for Asianux 3, Oracle Enterprise Linux 5, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 should be installed:

    binutils-2.17.50.0.6
    compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3
    elfutils-libelf-0.125
    elfutils-libelf-devel-0.125
    elfutils-libelf-devel-static-0.125
    gcc-4.1.2
    gcc-c++-4.1.2
    glibc-2.5-24
    glibc-common-2.5
    glibc-devel-2.5
    ksh-20060214
    libaio-0.3.106
    libaio-devel-0.3.106 
    libgcc-4.1.2
    libgomp-4.1.2
    libstdc++-4.1.2 
    libstdc++-devel-4.1.2
    make-3.81
    sysstat-7.0.2
    unixODBC-2.2.11
    unixODBC-devel-2.2.11
    
  • The following or later version of packages for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 should be installed:

    binutils-2.16.91.0.5
    compat-libstdc++-5.0.7
    gcc-4.1.2
    gcc-c++-4.1.2
    glibc-2.5-24
    glibc-devel-2.4
    libaio-0.3.104
    libaio-devel-0.3.104
    libelf-0.8.5
    libgcc-4.1.2
    libstdc++-4.1.2
    libstdc++-devel-4.1.2
    make-3.80
    sysstat-8.0.4
    
  • The following or later version of packages for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 should be installed:

    binutils-2.19
    gcc-4.3
    gcc-c++-4.3
    glibc-2.9
    glibc-devel-2.9
    libstdc++33-3.3.3
    libstdc++43-4.3.3_20081022
    libstdc++43-devel-4.3.3_20081022
    libaio-0.3.104
    libaio-devel-0.3.104
    libgcc43-4.3.3_20081022
    libstdc++-devel-4.3
    make-3.81
    sysstat-8.1.5
    

Note:

If you did not perform a default Linux installation, you intend to use LDAP, and you want to use the scripts odisrvreg, oidca, or schemasync, then install the Korn shell RPM for your Linux distribution.

To determine whether the required packages are installed, enter commands similar to the following:

# rpm -q package_name

If a package is not installed, then install it from the Linux distribution media or download the required package version from the Linux vendor's Web site.

4.4 Compiler Requirements

The following are the compiler requirements for Pro*C/C++ , Oracle Call Interface, Oracle C++ Call Interface, and Oracle XML Developer's Kit (XDK) with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2):

Intel C++ Compiler 10.1 or later and the version of GNU C and C++ compilers listed under "Package Requirements" are supported with these products.

Note:

Intel Compiler v10.1 can be used only with gcc 3.4.5 or gcc 4.0 or gcc 4.1 standard template libraries to build Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI) applications.

Oracle XML Developer's Kit is supported with the same compilers as OCCI.

4.5 Additional Software Requirements

Depending on the components you want to use, you must ensure that the following software are installed:

4.5.1 Oracle ODBC Drivers

You should install ODBC Driver Manager for UNIX. You can download and install the most recent ODBC Driver Manager from the following URL:

http://www.unixodbc.org

4.5.2 Oracle JDBC/OCI Drivers

You can use Sun JDK 1.5.0-06 with the JNDI extension JDK versions with the Oracle Java Database Connectivity and Oracle Call Interface drivers. However, these are not mandatory for the installation.

4.5.3 Browser Requirements

Web browsers must support Java Script, and the HTML 4.0 and CSS 1.0 standards. The following Web browsers are supported for Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control:

  • Netscape Navigator 8.1

  • Netscape Navigator 9.0

  • Mozilla version 1.7

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP2

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 SP1

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0

  • Firefox 2.0

  • Firefox 3.0.7

  • Safari 3.0.4

  • Safari 3.1

  • Safari 3.2

5 Creating Required Operating System Groups and Users

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

To determine whether these groups and users already 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 already 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

Note:

If you do not want to create a separate Oracle data file directory, then you can install the data files in a subdirectory of the Oracle base directory. However, this is not recommended for production databases.

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:

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. Complete one of the following steps:

    • If the terminal session is not connected to the system where you want to install the software, then log in to that system as the oracle user.

    • If the terminal session is connected to the system where you want to install the software, then switch user to oracle:

      $ su - oracle
      
  4. To determine the default shell for the oracle user, enter the following command:

    $ echo $SHELL
    
  5. Open the oracle user's shell startup file in any text editor:

    • Bash shell (bash) on SUSE:

      $ vi .profile
      
    • Bourne shell (sh), Bash shell on Red Hat (bash), or Korn shell (ksh):

      $ vi .bash_profile
      
    • C shell (csh or tcsh):

      % vi .login
      
  6. Enter or edit the following line in the shell startup file, specifying a value of 022 for the default file mode creation mask:

    umask 022
    
  7. If the ORACLE_SID, ORACLE_HOME, or ORACLE_BASE environment variable is set in the file, then remove the corresponding lines from the file.

  8. Save the file and exit from the editor.

  9. To run the shell startup script, enter the following command:

    • Bash shell on Red Hat:

      $ . ./.bash_profile
      
    • Bourne shell, Bash shell on SUSE, or Korn shell:

      $ . ./.profile
      
    • C shell:

      % source ./.login
      
  10. If you are not installing the software on the local system, then enter a command similar to the following to direct X applications to display on the local system:

    • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

      $ DISPLAY=local_host:0.0 ; export DISPLAY
      
    • C shell:

      % setenv DISPLAY local_host:0.0
      

    In this example, local_host is the host name or IP address of the system that you want to use to display Oracle Universal Installer (your workstation or PC).

  11. If you determined that the /tmp directory had insufficient free disk space when checking the hardware requirements, then identify a file system with the required amount of free space and set the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables as follows:

    1. Use the df -k command to identify a suitable file system with sufficient free space.

    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
      
  12. 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
    
  13. To verify that the environment has been set correctly, enter the following commands:

    $ umask
    $ env | more
    

    Verify that the umask command displays a value of 22, 022, or 0022 and the environment variables that you set in this section have the correct values.

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:

    • Asianux, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

      $ sudo eject /mnt/dvd
      
    • SUSE:

      # 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:

    • Asianux, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

      # ls /mnt/dvd
      
    • SUSE:

      # ls /media/dvd
      
  4. If this command fails to display the contents of the disc, then enter a command similar to the following:

    • Asianux, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

      # mount -t iso9660 /dev/dvd /mnt/dvd
      
    • SUSE:

      # 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:

10 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.

11 Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible to all users, including users that are disabled. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/.

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

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Deaf/Hard of Hearing Access to Oracle Support Services

To reach Oracle Support Services, use a telecommunications relay service (TRS) to call Oracle Support at 1.800.223.1711. An Oracle Support Services engineer will handle technical issues and provide customer support according to the Oracle service request process. Information about TRS is available at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/trs.html, and a list of phone numbers is available at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trsphonebk.html.


Oracle Database Client Quick Installation Guide, 11g Release 2 (11.2) for Linux x86

E10858-02

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