3 Customizing and Creating Response Files

This chapter introduces you to Oracle Universal Installer's availability of response files for silent and suppressed installations. This chapter also describes how to modify or create a response file so you can customize and standardize the installation of Oracle products in your organization.

This chapter is organized into the following sections:

• About Response Files

• Modifying a Response File

• Response File Format

• Installing with a Response File

About Response Files

This section answers the following questions:

• What Is a Silent Installation?

• What Is a Response File?

• Why Perform a Silent Installation?

What Is a Silent Installation?

A silent installation runs in the console and does not use the GUI. The interactive dialogs you normally see are not displayed in a silent installation.

Instead of prompting you to select a series of installation options, Oracle Universal Installer installs the software using a predefined set of options stored in a response file or passed on the command line. You can view the progress of a silent installation in the console.

What Is a Response File?

A response file is a specification file containing information you normally fetch through the Oracle Universal Installer user interface during an interactive installation session. Each answer is stored as a value for a variable identified in the response file.

For example, values for Oracle home or installation type can be set automatically within the response file.

The response file template for the installation of your product can be found on your stage (CD-ROM) under the <root of CD>/response directory, with pre-populated values. For example:

<Products.xml_Location>/Response/<product>.<installtype>.rsp

Note: Check the installation guide for the product that you are installing to get the correct list of required files.

Why Perform a Silent Installation?

Silent installations can be useful if you have to install an Oracle product multiple times on multiple computers. If the options you select while installing on each computer are always the same, you save the time of reviewing each installation screen and selecting the various installation options.

Silent installations can also ensure that multiple users in your organization use the same installation options when they install your Oracle products. This makes supporting those users easier because you already know what components and options have been installed on each computer.

Before you perform a silent installation, you should review the settings in the response file template provided with your Oracle product.

Note: If you attempt to perform a silent installation on a UNIX computer where no Oracle products have been installed, Oracle Universal Installer uses the default inventory location, then prompts you to run the oraInstRoot.sh script with root privileges upon successful installation. The script is saved in the _*Central Inventory - oraInventory *_ directory. This script sets up the Central Inventory on a clean host. You can override the default location by setting it in INVENTORY_LOCATION. Note that this location is ignored if a Central Inventory already exists and is pointed to by /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc (or /etc/oraInst.loc for Linux, AIX, and Sequent). See "Oracle Universal Installer Inventory" for more information on the Central Inventory.

The remainder of this chapter describes the various parameters and settings you can modify within an Oracle Universal Installer response file.

Modifying a Response File

If your product installation includes a response file template, you can find it on your stage (CD-ROM) under the <root of CD>/response directory.

If your product installation does not include a response file template, you can create a response file based on the installation options you select.

To modify the response file:

1. Make a copy of the product's response file and open it in a text editor.

2. Review any information provided in the response file or in the product installation guide.

   Many software products use settings in the response file to customize the installation of their particular product. See the response file template for suggestions or guidelines on how to set up the file for your installation.

3. Get familiar with the organization and content of the response file using the information in the section "Response File Format".

4. Modify the response file to meet the needs of your organization and save the modified version.

5. See the section "Installing with a Response File" for information on starting Oracle Universal Installer using your modified response file.

Saving a Response File after Installation

You can use Oracle Universal Installer in interactive mode to record a response file, which you can edit and then use to complete silent mode or response file mode installations. This method is useful for custom or software-only installations. For more information, see "Recording a Response File" in the Oracle® Database Installation Guide 11g for Linux.

Response File Format

The following sections describe the organization and content of an Oracle Universal Installer response file.

• Variable Values

• Comments

• Headers

• Response File Parameters

Note: Oracle recommends using an absolute path for the file name. However, if the file name is a relative path, it should be relative to the directory where the oraparam.ini file is present.

Variable Values

This section contains information on how variables are populated with values.

Variable Lookup Order

All variable values within a response file are in the name-value format. If two components have a variable with the same name, the expression should be written as follows to preserve each variable's uniqueness:

<component>:<variable>=<value>

Component Nomenclature and Version Ambiguity

If two components have the same internal name, but different versions, resolve the ambiguity by specifying the expression as follows:

<component>:<version>:<variable>=<value>

Order of Variables

Oracle Universal Installer looks for command line variables in the following order:

<component>:<version>:<variable>=<value>
<component>:<variable>=<value>
<variable>=<value> 

Similarly, if command line variables are not found, Oracle Universal Installer looks for variables in the response file in the same order as shown above.

Note: Oracle Universal Installer treats incorrect context, format, or type values within a response file as if no value were specified.

Response File Entries Order

There are no restrictions on where you place entries in the response file. You can insert entries in any order desired. You can also subsequently move existing entries to any other position within the file. Be aware, however, that although the order of the entries is unimportant, naming conventions require that the variable names must be unique regardless of where they appear in the file.

Setting the Recommendation Value

Values for variables are specified as:

<variable> = <recommendation> : <value>

The values that are given as <value_required> must be specified for a silent installation to be successful.

For values that are given as <value_unspecified>, you can optionally specify a value, where <value> can be one of the following types listed in Table 3-1.

Table 3-1 Variable Types and Representations

Type	Representation
Number	10
Boolean	TRUE or FALSE (case insensitive)
String	"Value"
String List	{"value1", "value2"}

The <recommendation> parameter can be specified as Forced or Default.

• If you specify Forced, no dialog appears during installation. The value is automatically used. You cannot change the value.

• If you specify Default, the dialog appears during installation with the value as the default. You can choose another value if desired.

• If nothing is specified for <recommendation>, Forced is used as the default.

Comments

Comments begin with a "#" (hash or pound) symbol. They contain information about the type of the variable, state whether the variable appears in dialog, and describe the function of the variable. A variable and a value are associated with a comment.

For example:

#TopLevelComponent;StringList;Used in Dialog
TopLevelComponent={"Demo", "1.0"}

Headers

The header is a comment that describes the different formats and comment conventions used in a response file.

For example:

#Parameter : UNIX_GROUP_NAME
#Type : String
#Description : UNIX group to be set for the inventory directory.
#Valid only on UNIX platforms.
#Example : UNIX_GROUP_NAME = "install"
UNIX_GROUP_NAME=<Value Unspecified>

Response File Parameters

The following list describes parameters for Oracle Universal Installer. All products installed using Oracle Universal Installer have these parameters in addition to product-specific variables.

Note: The parameters provided below are OUI-specific and not necessarily the parameters applicable for your platform and version. Always check your specific installation guide for the list of valid response file parameters.

ACCEPT_LICENSE_AGREEMENT

Set this Boolean variable to TRUE if you agree with the license agreement. This parameter requires you to set this variable to TRUE to indicate your acceptance of the license agreement normally accepted in the GUI. This variable is used only in silent installations. Installation cannot continue until this variable is set to TRUE.

CLUSTER_NODES

This parameter lists the nodes on the cluster on which the Oracle home is installed or would be installed. For new installations, this would be the node list on which the installation needs to be done (including the local node). For patching or upgrades, this is the node list on which the Oracle home is already installed.

"CLUSTER_NODES={alpha-1, alpha-2}"

DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES

If the direct connection is unavailable, set this parameter to false if you do not want to configure Oracle Configuration Manager, or do not want to provide any proxy details for the connection. The default is False.

If you do not set MYORACLESUPPORT_USERNAME to any value and you set this parameter to true, the Oracle Configuration Manager is not configured.

For information on the Oracle Configuration Manager, see the Oracle® Configuration Manager Installation and Administration Guide.

DEINSTALL_LIST

Use this parameter to enter a list of components to be removed during a silent deinstall session. For each component, specify the internal component name and version.

DEINSTALL_LIST={"sample1","1.0.0.0.0"}

DEPENDENCY_LIST

The DEPENDENCY_LIST is the list of dependents on which the component depends. These dependent components represent the list of components that appear as "selected" during installation. Following is a list of some of this parameter's characteristics:

FROM_LOCATION

The location of the source of the products to be installed. The default generated value for this parameter is a path relative to the location of the runInstaller file oraparam.ini. Relative paths are necessary for shared response files used by multiple users over a network. Since users may be mapping to different drives, absolute paths will not work for shared response files.

Notes: This parameter serves the same purpose as SOURCE in oraparam.ini. Use this parameter only if you need to override the default products.xml location. You must enter a value for FROM_LOCATION for a complete silent installation. You may want to use the command line to set this parameter. If the location is a relative path, remember that the path should be relative to the location of the oraparam.ini file. Make sure that /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc (or /etc/oraInst.loc for Linux, AIX, and Sequent) exists. The response file for UNIX has a public variable, setunixinstallgroup, that only becomes effective when it is the first Oracle Universal Installer installation and the oraInst.loc file is not already present in the location mentioned above.

FROM_LOCATION_CD_LABEL

This parameter is used in multiple-CD installations. It includes the label of the compact disk where the file products.jar exists. You can find the label in the disk.label file in the same directory as products.jar.

INCLUDE

This parameter specifies the list of response files to be included in this response file. If you want to include other response files in your main response file, you must use this parameter. Note that the values in the main response file have priority over the included response files.

INCLUDE={"file1.rsp","file2.rsp",............."filen.rsp"}

You should specify the absolute path in the INCLUDE statement for each response file to be included. If you wish to specify a relative path, note that the location is relative to the current working directory (the location of the oraparam.ini file).

INSTALL_TYPE

You can set the installation type variable to determine the installation type of the currently selected top level component.

The installation type variable is only generated for the top level components and only when there is more than one installation type available.

Note: You must enter a value for INSTALL_TYPE.

LOCAL_NODE

This parameter specifies the current node on which the installation occurs.

LOCAL_NODE={}

LOCATION_FOR_DISK2

This parameter is for the complete path to other disks.

LOCATION_FOR_DISK2="F:\teststage\cd\Disk2" 

If there are more than two disks, more variables will be added as LOCATION_FOR_DISK3, and so on.

The CD location for a silent installation is located by two mechanisms:

1. Oracle Universal Installer looks for the Location_For_Disk{DiskNumber} variable in the response file and uses that location.

2. If the variable does not have a value or does not have the required files, it looks for the components under ../../Disk{DiskNumber}/stage (from products.jar).

   Therefore, you can either specify the location to look for it in the response file or you can copy them into the disk. For example:

   <Product_Shiphome_Location>/stage
   

NEXT_SESSION

Set this boolean variable to TRUE if the installer needs to go to the File Locations page for another installation or to another response file if you are performing a silent installation.

NEXT_SESSION = TRUE

NEXT_SESSION_ON_FAIL

Set this boolean variable to TRUE to enable users to invoke another installation session even if the current installation session fails. This variable is used only if the NEXT_SESSION variable is set to TRUE.

NEXT_SESSION_ON_FAIL = TRUE

NEXT_SESSION_RESPONSE

Use this string variable to enter the complete path of the next session's response file if you want to automatically begin another silent installation when the current installation is complete. If you specify only a file name, the Installer looks for the response file in the <TEMP>/orainstall directory. This variable is only used if NEXT_SESSION is set to TRUE; otherwise, Oracle Universal Installer ignores the value of this variable.

NEXT_SESSION_RESPONSE="/private/usr2/nextinstall.rsp"

MYORACLESUPPORT_PASSWORD

This parameter indicates the My Oracle Support password used in Oracle Configuration Manager (OCM) configuration. This parameter is used for validation only if the direct connection is available, or if there is a valid proxy connection (in case no direct connection is available). The default is Empty.

For information on OCM, see the Oracle® Configuration Manager Installation and Administration Guide.

MYORACLESUPPORT_USERNAME

This parameter indicates the My Oracle Support username/email address used in Oracle Configuration Manager (OCM) configuration. This parameter validates the My Oracle Support user name only if the direct connection is available, or if there is a valid proxy connection (in case no direct connection is available).

To avoid configuring OCM, you do not need to pass any values for MYORACLESUPPORT_USERNAME or any other session variables except for DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES, which should be set to true. OCM will then be installed, but not configured.

Configuration Use Cases

• If only MYORACLESUPPORT_USERNAME is provided,

  • OUI does not validate the user name against My Oracle Support, but configures it in anonymous email registration mode.

  • there is not a direct connection, and DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES=true, OUI does not validate the user name against My Oracle Support, but configures it in disconnected mode.

  • there is not a direct connection, and PROXY_* values are provided, OUI does not validate the user name against My Oracle Support, but configures it in anonymous email registration mode.

  • SECURITY_UPDATES_VIA_MYORACLESUPPORT=true, and MYORACLESUPPORT_PASSWORD is provided, OUI validates it against My Oracle Support and configures it in My Oracle Support user registration mode.

  • SECURITY_UPDATES_VIA_MYORACLESUPPORT=true, and MYORACLESUPPORT_PASSWORD is provided, but there is not a direct connection and DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES=true, OUI configures in disconnected mode.

  • SECURITY_UPDATES_VIA_MYORACLESUPPORT=true, MYORACLESUPPORT_PASSWORD is provided, but there is not a direct connection and PROXY_* values are provided, OUI configures in My Oracle Support user registration mode.

• If MYORACLESUPPORT_USERNAME is empty and DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES = true, OUI does not configure OCM.

For information on OCM, see the Oracle® Configuration Manager Installation and Administration Guide.

OPTIONAL_CONFIG_TOOLS

While all the required configuration tools are launched by the installer, you can control the optional configuration tools you would want to launch by specifying the tool's internal names in the OPTIONAL_CONFIG_TOOLS section.

Note: The OPTIONAL_CONFIG_TOOLS variable is only generated when at least one optional configuration tool is available.

You can call the Net Configuration Assistant or the Database Configuration Assistant at the end of a database installation in silent mode also. For example, to launch the Net Configuration Assistant in silent mode, you can pass the parameter s_responseFileName="netca.rsp".

You can specify both the Auto-launch optional tools and User-launch optional tools in a string list.

#Example : OPTIONAL_CONFIG_TOOLS = {"configtool2 ", "configtool3"}
OPTIONAL_CONFIG_TOOLS=<Value Unspecified>

If no value is specified for this variable, all the tools are run by default. If there is a value specified, only those optional tools are run while the rest of the tools are ignored.

Suppress the configuration tool by mentioning only the tools that you want to run as part of the OPTIONAL_CONFIG_TOOLS variable added for each component. You should use the internal names of the configuration tool. The response file generator generates these internal names also as part of the options provided for the variable.

For example, if oracle.server has Tool1 and Tool2 and you want to run only Tool1 in the response file, you can specify it as follows:

oracle.server:11.2.0.0.0:OPTIONAL_CONFIG_TOOLS={"Tool1"} 

ORACLE_BASE

The location of the Oracle Base where all Oracle software and configuration-related files are stored.

ORACLE_HOME

The location where products are to be installed. You must enter a value for ORACLE_HOME for a complete silent installation.

PROXY_HOST

This proxy connection server is used only if the direct connection is not available and DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES=false.

PROXY_PORT

This proxy connection port is used only if the direct connection is not available and DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES=false.

PROXY_PWD

This proxy connection password is used only if the direct connection is not available and DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES=false.

PROXY_USER

This proxy connection user name is used only if the direct connection is not available and DECLINE_SECURITY_UPDATES=false.

REMOTE_NODES

This parameter lists the remote nodes (apart from the local node) on the cluster on which to install during a silent installation. Oracle Universal Installer installs on all named nodes.

"REMOTE_NODES={alpha-1, alpha-2}"

REMOVE_HOMES

Use this parameter to identify the Oracle homes you want to remove from the inventory during a deinstallation session. For each home, specify the home name using the full path information.

REMOVE_HOMES={"/home/oracle/ora9i","/home/oracle/ora8i"}

RESPONSEFILE_VERSION

This parameter specifies the version number of the response file.

RESPONSEFILE_VERSION = <version_number>

RESTART_SYSTEM

Set this boolean variable to TRUE if you want to restart the system without the user's confirmation. This is the force value for restarting the system.

SECURITY_UPDATES_VIA_MYORACLESUPPORT

This parameter is equivalent to the OUI window checkbox that enables users to receive security updates. ("I wish to receive security updates via My Oracle Support," followed by a My Oracle Support Password field.) This parameter enables you to set the password for My Oracle Support credentials. The default is False. If you set this to true, the user must enter a password.

SELECTED_LANGUAGES

You can set the languages in which the components will be installed. You must use the internal name while specifying the value:

en,   : English
fr,   : French
de,   : German
ja,   : Japanese

For example, to specify Japanese:

SELECTED_LANGUAGES = {"ja"}

For more information on the languages Oracle Universal Installer supports, see "Product Language Selections".

Note: The SELECTED_LANGUAGES variable is only generated when more than one language is available.

TOPLEVEL_COMPONENT

This parameter is the name of the component (products) and the version as a string list. You must enter a value for TOPLEVEL_COMPONENT.

Usually, the components are represented with a pair of strings: the first one representing the internal name, the second representing the version.

For example, RDBMS 11.2. may be represented as {"oracle.rdbms","11.2.0.0.0"}.

UNIX_GROUP_NAME

This parameter is the UNIX group name to be set for the inventory on UNIX platforms.

Note: The UNIX group name is used for first-time installations only.

Installing with a Response File

Many Oracle software products provide tools and procedures for running Oracle Universal Installer from the command line without displaying Oracle Universal Installer screens or responding to questions during the installation.

These are called silent installations. Instead of prompting you to select a series of installation options, Oracle Universal Installer installs the software using a predefined set of options. These options are stored in a response file (.rsp).

Consider the following information about response files:

• If your product installation includes a response file, you can find it on your stage (CD-ROM) under the <root of CD>/response directory.

• You can modify the response file for your Oracle product to customize an installation for your organization. See "Modifying a Response File" for more information.

• If you start Oracle Universal Installer from the command line, see "Using Oracle Universal Installer Exit Codes".

The following sections describe how to specify a response file when you start Oracle Universal Installer.

Note: If you attempt to perform a silent installation on a UNIX computer where no Oracle products have been installed, you will receive an error message. Before you can perform a silent installation on such a computer, you must first run the script oraInstRoot.sh, which is saved in the /oraInventory directory. You must run this script with root privileges. This enables Oracle Universal Installer to set up the Central Inventory on a clean host. See "Oracle Universal Installer Inventory" for more information on the Central Inventory.

Specifying a Response File

To start Oracle Universal Installer and specify the response file, enter the following command at the command line in the directory where the executable file is installed:

setup.exe -responseFile <filename> <optional_parameters> (on Windows)
./runInstaller -responseFile <filename> <optional_parameters> (on UNIX)

Note: You must specify the complete responseFile path. If you do not, Oracle Universal Installer assumes the location to be relative to the oraparam.ini associated with the launched Oracle Universal Installer.

For help on command line usage, enter the following at the command line in the directory where the executable file is stored:

setup -help (on Windows)
./runInstaller -help (on UNIX)

In Windows, when you execute setup -help, a new command window appears, with the "Preparing to launch..." message. A moment later, the help information appears in that window.

Optional Parameters When Specifying a Response File

Optional parameters you can use with the -responseFile flag are:

• -nowelcome — Use the -nowelcome flag with the -responseFile flag to suppress the Welcome dialog that appears during installation.

• -silent — Use the -silent flag with the -responseFile flag to run Oracle Universal Installer in complete silent mode. Note that the Welcome dialog is suppressed automatically.

• -formCluster — Use the -formCluster flag for Oracle Clusterware installations to specify the cluster.

Note that when you specify the -silent flag, but no values are specified to a particular variable in a dialog, the installer stops. The success or failure of the installation when you specify this flag is generated as follows:

• In a file named silentInstall<timestamp>.log for hosts without an Oracle inventory. This file is generated in the /tmp directory on UNIX and the directory specified by the variable TEMP on Windows platforms.

• In the inventory logs directory for hosts that already had an inventory.

  
  

  Note: Using the -nowelcome option with the -silent option is unnecessary since the Welcome screen does not appear when you use the -silent option.

  
  

Setting Response File Variables From the Command Line

With Oracle Universal Installer 2.1 and higher, you can specify the value of certain variables when you start Oracle Universal Installer from the command line. Specifically, you can specify session and component variables. For specific information about the format and organization of response files, see "Modifying a Response File".

When you specify the value of a variable on the command line, that value overrides the value of the variable if it is defined in the response file.

Specifying the Value of a Session Variable

To specify the value of a session variable, use the following command syntax:

./runInstaller session:<variable_name>=<value> (on UNIX)
setup.exe session:<variable_name>=<value> (on Windows)

For example, to install English and French files:

./runInstaller session:COMPONENT_LANGUAGES="{"en","fr"}" (on UNIX)
setup.exe session:COMPONENT_LANGUAGES="{"en","fr"}" (on Windows)

Note that the "session:" tag is optional and is used mainly to remove any possible ambiguity.

Specifying the Value of a Component Variable

To specify the value of a component variable, use the following command syntax:

./runInstaller <component_name>:<component_version>:<variable_name>=<value> (on UNIX)
setup.exe <component_name>:<component_version>:<variable_name>=<value> (on Windows)

For example, to modify the value of a variable VAR1 in version 1.1 of a component called COMP2:

./runInstaller COMP2:1.1.0.0.0:VAR1="test" (on UNIX)
setup.exe COMP2:1.1.0.0.0:VAR1="test" (on Windows)

Note that the "<component_name>:" and "<component_version>:" optional tags are used mainly to remove any possible ambiguity. If two variables exist with the same name for different components/versions, use these tags to distinguish between them.