Document ID: 44787.1
Subject: Installing Oracle 7.3 on Solaris - Quick Reference
Last Modified: 05 Mar 97
Author: JFARRING
Applies To
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This article is applicable to a new installation of Oracle Release 7.3 on
a Sun Solaris machine which does not have any releases of Oracle already
installed.
Accounts Used
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Some actions need to be performed from the root account, whilst others are
performed from the Oracle account, referred to here as oracle.
Part 1 - Preliminary Operating System Setup
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All these steps are performed as root.
1. Check if there is a dba group in the /etc/group file. If there isn't,
log in as root and create one using the groupadd command or the admintool
utility. Choose an unused group id (GID) in the range 2-32767. It is best
to use the group name "dba" unless there is a particular reason not to.
2. Choose a name for the account which will be used for Oracle
installation and other administrative tasks. "oracle" is often a
good choice. Check if there is already an oracle user in the /etc/passwd
file. If there isn't, log in as root and create one using the useradd
command or the admintool utility. Choose an unused user id (UID) in the
range 2-32767.
3. Decide on an instance name. It is best to choose one of four letters
or fewer, although this is not essential.
4. By default, the 7.3 Installer produces an Oracle Flexible Architecture
(OFA) compliant configuration. If you do not want this, choose the
Add/Upgrade Software option when running the installer. This will allow
you to use the non-OFA configuration, where the Oracle software resides
under $ORACLE_HOME.
5. If you have chosen an OFA installation, decide on a location for the
installation, known as the product mount point (not to be confused with
the CD-ROM mount point). Check there is ample free space under the
product mount point chosen. For a minimal RDBMS install, you will need at
least 400Mb free. If installing other products, you should check the
Install and Configuration Guide to determine their space requirements.
6. Check if there is a local bin directory, e.g. /opt/lbin, and create
it if it doesn't exist.
7. Edit the oracle user's .cshrc to set the following environment variables:
setenv ORACLE_HOME /usr/OBASE/app/oracle/product/7321 (for example)
setenv ORACLE_TERM sun5 (for example)
setenv ORACLE_SID V7321 (for example)
setenv PATH $ORACLE_HOME/bin:/opt/lbin:${PATH}
setenv TNS_ADMIN /usr/TNS_ADMIN (for example)
umask 022
If using sh or ksh, the equivalent to this is as follows, in .profile:
ORACLE_HOME=/usr/OBASE/app/oracle/product/7321 ; export ORACLE_HOME
ORACLE_TERM=sun5 ; export ORACLE_TERM
ORACLE_SID=V7321 ; export ORACLE_SID
PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/bin:/opt/lbin:$PATH ; export PATH
TNS_ADMIN=/usr/TNS_ADMIN
umask 022
Note 1: With 7.3.2.1, the OFA-compliant default for ORACLE_HOME is:
<mount_point>/app/oracle/product/<release>
This is not the same as the optional variable ORACLE_BASE,
the default for which is:
<mount_point>/app/oracle
Note 2: With 7.3.2.3, the OFA directory structure can be modified by the
user. To take advantage of this when installing 7.3.2.1 (the base
7.3 release), install the installer from the 7.3.2.3 patch release,
then install 7.3.2.1 using this installer.
Note 3: LD_LIBRARY_PATH will also need to be set if using Motif-based
products, to specify the location of the Motif and X libraries.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH should be set to /cdrom/cdrom0/lib if vold is
running, or to <cdrom-mount-point>/lib if it is not running.
Note 4: If creating a database with a character set other than
US7ASCII, you must set the environment variable ORA_NLS32 to:
$ORACLE_HOME/ocommon/nls/admin/data
before starting the installation.
Note 5: ORACLE_TERM should be set as follows:
- sun if running shelltool and cmdtool on a type 4 keyboard
- xsun if running xterm with -sf option on a type 4 keyboard
- sun5 if running shelltool and cmdtool on a type 5 keyboard
- xsun5 if running xterm with -sf option on a type 5 keyboard
- vt220 or vt100 on non-Sun keyboards
8. Execute .cshrc or .profile to pick up the changes, by entering:
source .cshrc (if using csh)
or
. .profile (if using sh or ksh)
Alternatively, just log out and log back in to pick up the changes.
9. Ensure there is at least 20Mb free temporary space in /tmp, otherwise
specify an alternative temporary directory with the following commands :
setenv TMPDIR /usr/bigtemp (some directory with adequate free space)
chmod 777 $TMPDIR
10. Check swap space is adequate - use the command swap -l to list, and
swap -a to add further swap file(s) if necessary.
You should have at least 2-3 times as much swap space as there is physical
memory, and 3-4 times as much if using any other large applications such
as Oracle Financials.
This step should be carried out in conjunction with your UNIX system
administrator.
11. Check kernel parameter settings are adequate. The most important ones for
Oracle are:
Parameter Suggested Value Description
--------- --------------- -----------
SHMMAX 8388608 The maximum size (in bytes) of a
single shared memory segment.
SEMMNS 200 The number of semaphores in the system.
The current settings of these parameters can be checked using the commands:
% sysdef | grep -i SHMMAX
% sysdef | grep -i SEMMNS
They can be changed by logging in as root and editing the file /etc/system.
After editing as necessary, the relevant lines should look as follows:
set shmsys:shminfo_shmmax=8388608
set semsys:seminfo_semmns=200
Rebooting the machine will cause the new values to be picked up.
Note that these figures are only guidelines, and may need increasing for
many installations.
12. Check network is operational with ftp or telnet.
13. Edit /etc/services to add the following line (with a <TAB> as separator):
tnslsnr 1521/tcp
Any port number not already in used may be chosen. 1521 is the convention.
Editing /etc/services is not an essential requirement, but can be helpful
in diagnosing SQL*Net problems.
PART 2 - ORACLE INSTALLATION
----------------------------
1. Prepare for use of CD-ROM
The vold process will try to mount the CD-ROM automatically. It should be
started if it is not running. If it will not start, the CD-ROM can be
mounted manually as follows.
As root:
# mkdir /cdrom
# chmod 777 /cdrom
# mount <options> <device_name> <mount_point>
For example:
# mount -r -F hsfs /vol/dev/dsk/c0t6d0/oracle#1 /cdrom/oracle#1
# exit
2. Run the Installer
As oracle:
% cd <mount_point>/oracle/orainst
For example:
% cd /cdrom/oracle#1/orainst
% ./orainst /m
This will run the Motif-based Installer. For the character-based Installer,
omit the /m flag.
Choose INSTALL NEW PRODUCT if doing a fresh installation. Follow on-screen
instructions and install products required.
PART 3 - POST-INSTALLATION TASKS
--------------------------------
1. If the server is not already running, start it up with the following
commands.
As oracle:
% svrmgrl
SVRMGR> connect internal
SVRMGR> startup
2. Run post-installation script.
As root:
Change directory to the location corresponding to $ORACLE_HOME and execute
the following command.
# sh root.sh
This should only take a few seconds. Note that compared with
previous Oracle releases, root.sh on 7.3 also runs the WebServer
root installation tasks and starts the Web Listener.
3. To finish the WebServer installation process, connect to the URL
specified and authenticate yourself as user 'admin', with the password
you chose earlier in the installation. This step only applies if you want
to use the WebServer.
4. Create user accounts for DBAs and ordinary users. UIDs should be in the
range 3-32767, and GIDs in the range 2-32767. Include local bin directory
in their $PATH setting.
5. Ensure all users who will need to CONNECT INTERNAL for dba work have dba
as their primary group.
6. In .login for Oracle user accounts and oracle account, add the lines:
setenv ORAENV_ASK NO
source /usr/lbin/coraenv
unsetenv ORAENV_ASK
If using sh or ksh, instead add the lines:
ORAENV_ASK = NO
. /usr/lbin/oraenv
For all Oracle users, ensure that $ORACLE_BASE, $ORACLE_HOME, $ORACLE_TERM,
$ORACLE_SID and $PATH are set correctly; you can use the oracle user's
.login as a template.
7. Create TNSNAMES.ORA, LISTENER.ORA and SQLNET.ORA in the $TNS_ADMIN
directory. Examples may be found in <Note:13984.1>. Network files may be
created using an editor such as vi, or by using Network Manager on a
Windows PC.
8. Start the listener and try to connect to the server using SQL*Net.
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