A Installing and Configuring Oracle Products Using Response Files

This appendix describes how to install and configure Oracle products using response files. It includes information about the following topics:

How Response Files Work
Creating the oraInst.loc File
Preparing a Response File
Running Oracle Universal Installer Using a Response File
Silent-Mode Response File Error Handling

A.1 How Response Files Work

You can automate the installation and configuration of Oracle software, either fully or partially, by specifying a response file when you start Oracle Universal Installer. Oracle Universal Installer uses the values contained in the response file to provide answers to some or all of Oracle Universal Installer prompt. It includes information about the following topic:

Typically, Oracle Universal Installer runs in interactive mode, which means that it prompts you to provide information in graphical user interface (GUI) screens. When you use response files to provide this information, you run Oracle Universal Installer at a command prompt using either of the following modes:

Silent mode

If you include responses for all of the prompts in the response file and specify the -silent option when starting Oracle Universal Installer, then Oracle Universal Installer runs in silent mode. During a silent-mode installation, Oracle Universal Installer does not display any screens. Instead, it displays progress information in the terminal that you used to start it.
Response file mode

If you include responses for some or all of the prompts in the response file and omit the -silent option, then Oracle Universal Installer runs in response file mode. During a response file mode installation, Oracle Universal Installer displays all the screens, screens for which you specify information in the response file and also screens for which you did not specify the required information in the response file. The advantage is that you can validate the values in the screens for which you have already provided the information in the response file and continue with the installation.

You define the settings for a silent or response file installation by entering values for the variables listed in the response file. For instance, to specify the Oracle home location for Oracle Audit Vault Server, you would supply the appropriate value for the ORACLE_HOME variable, as follows:

ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/av_1

Another way of specifying the response file's variable settings is to pass them as command line arguments when you run Oracle Universal Installer. For example:

-silent directory_path

In this command, directory_path is the path of the Audit Vault directory on the DVD or on the hard drive.

This method is particularly useful if you do not want to embed sensitive information, such as passwords, in the response file. For example:

-silent "s_dlgRBOPassword=password" ...

Ensure that you enclose the variable and its setting in quotes.

A.1.1 Reasons for Using Silent Mode or Response File Mode

The following table describes several reasons why you might want to run Oracle Universal Installer in silent mode or response file mode.

Mode Uses

Mode	Uses
Silent	Use silent mode to: Complete an unattended installation, which you might schedule using operating system utilities such as `cron` Complete several similar installations on multiple systems without user interaction Install the software on a system that does not have X Window System software installed on it Oracle Universal Installer displays progress information in the terminal that you used to start it, but it does not display any of Oracle Universal Installer screens.
Response File	Use response file mode to complete similar Oracle software installations on more than one system, providing default answers to some, but not all of Oracle Universal Installer prompts. In response file mode, all the installer screens are displayed, but defaults for the fields in these screens are provided by the response file. You have to provide information for the fields in screens where you have not provided values in the response file.

Silent

Use silent mode to:

Complete an unattended installation, which you might schedule using operating system utilities such as cron
Complete several similar installations on multiple systems without user interaction
Install the software on a system that does not have X Window System software installed on it

Oracle Universal Installer displays progress information in the terminal that you used to start it, but it does not display any of Oracle Universal Installer screens.

Response File

Use response file mode to complete similar Oracle software installations on more than one system, providing default answers to some, but not all of Oracle Universal Installer prompts.

In response file mode, all the installer screens are displayed, but defaults for the fields in these screens are provided by the response file. You have to provide information for the fields in screens where you have not provided values in the response file.

A.2 Creating the oraInst.loc File

If you plan to install Oracle products using Oracle Universal Installer in silent or response file mode, then you must manually create the oraInst.loc file if it does not already exist. This file specifies the location of the Oracle Inventory directory where Oracle Universal Installer creates the inventory of Oracle products installed on the system.

Note:

If Oracle software has been installed previously on the system, the oraInst.loc file might already exist. If the file does exist, you do not need to create a file.

To create the oraInst.loc file, follow these steps:

Switch user to root:
```
$ su - root
```
Create the /etc/ directory if it does not exist:
```
# mkdir /etc/
```
Change directory as follows:
```
# cd /etc/
```
Use a text editor to create the oraInst.loc file, containing the following lines:
```
inventory_loc=/u01/app/oraInventory 
inst_group=oinstall
```
In this example, inventory_loc is the location of the Oracle inventory; and the inst_group parameter shows the name of the Oracle inventory group (in this example, oinstall).
Enter the following commands to set the appropriate owner, group, and permissions on the oraInst.loc file:
```
# chown oracle:oinstall oraInst.loc
# chmod 664 oraInst.loc
```

A.3 Preparing a Response File

This section describes the following methods to prepare a response file for use during silent mode or response file mode installations:

Editing a Response File Template
Saving a Response File

A.3.1 Editing a Response File Template

Oracle provides response file templates for each product and installation type, and for each configuration tool. These files are located in the /directory_path/response directory, where /directory_path/response is the path of the Audit Vault directory on the DVD or on the hard drive.

Note:

If you copied the software to a hard disk, the response files are located in the directory_path/response directory, where /directory_path/response is the path of the Audit Vault directory on the DVD or on the hard drive.

Table A-1 lists the response files provided with Oracle Audit Vault Server.

Table A-1 Response Files

Response File	Description
`av.rsp`	Silent installation of Oracle Audit Vault Server

To copy and modify a response file:

Copy the response file from the response file directory to a directory on your system:
```
$ cp /directory_path/response/response_file.rsp local_directory
```
In this example, directory_path is the path to the Audit Vault directory on the installation media. If you have copied the software to a hard drive, then you can edit the file in the response directory if you prefer.
Open the response file in a text editor:
```
$ vi /local_dir/response_file.rsp
```
Remember that you can specify sensitive information, such as passwords, at the command line rather than within the response file. Section A.1 explains this method.
Follow the instructions in the file to edit it.

Note:
Oracle Universal Installer or configuration assistant fails if you do not correctly configure the response file. Refer to Section A.5 for more information about troubleshooting a failed response file mode installation.
Change the permissions on the file to 700:
```
$ chmod 700 /local_dir/response_file.rsp
```
Note:
A fully specified response file for an Oracle Audit Vault Server installation contains the passwords for database administrative accounts and for a user who is a member of the OSDBA group (required for automated backups). Ensure that only the Oracle software owner user can view or modify response files or consider deleting them after the installation succeeds.

A.3.2 Saving a Response File

You can use Oracle Universal Installer in interactive mode to save 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.

You can save all the installation steps into a response file during installation. You can click the Save Response File button on the Summary page to do this. Later, this file can be used for a silent installation.

When you save the response file, you can either complete the installation, or you can exit from Oracle Universal Installer on the Summary page, before it starts to copy the software to the system.

If you save a response file during a silent installation, then Oracle Universal Installer saves the variable values that were specified in the original source response file into the new response file.

Note:

Oracle Universal Installer does not save passwords in the response file.

To save a response file:

Complete the preinstallation tasks listed in Chapter 2.

When you run Oracle Universal Installer to save a response file, it checks the system to verify that it meets the requirements to install the software. For this reason, Oracle recommends that you complete all of the required preinstallation tasks and save the response file while completing an installation.
If you have not installed Oracle software on this system previously, create the oraInst.loc file as described in Section A.2.
Ensure that the Oracle software owner user has permissions to create or write to the Oracle home path that you will specify when you run Oracle Universal Installer.
On each Oracle Universal Installer screen, specify the required information.

See Also:
Section 4.3 or Section 4.5 for information about the installation process
When Oracle Universal Installer displays the Summary screen, perform the following:
1. Click Save Response File and specify a file name and location for the response file. Then, click Save to save the values to the file.
2. Click Finish to continue with the installation.
  
  Click Cancel if you do not want to continue with the installation. The installation stops, but the saved response file is retained.
Before you use the saved response file on another system, edit the file and make any required changes.

Use the instructions in the file as a guide when editing it.

A.4 Running Oracle Universal Installer Using a Response File

Now, you are ready to run Oracle Universal Installer at the command line, specifying the response file you created, to perform the installation. The Oracle Universal Installer executable, runInstaller, provides several options. For help information about the full set of these options, run the runInstaller command with the -help option, for example:

$ directory_path/runInstaller -help

The help information appears in a window after some time.

To run Oracle Universal Installer using a response file:

Complete the preinstallation tasks listed in Chapter 2.
Log in as the Oracle software owner user (typically, oracle).
If you are completing a response file mode installation, set the DISPLAY environment variable.

Note:
You do not have to set the DISPLAY environment variable if you are completing a silent-mode installation.
To start Oracle Universal Installer in silent or response file mode, enter a command similar to the following:
```
$ /directory_path/runInstaller [-silent] [-noconfig] \
 -responseFile responsefilename
```
Note:
Do not specify a relative path to the response file. If you specify a relative path, then Oracle Universal Installer fails.

In this example:
- directory_path is the path of the Audit Vault directory on the DVD or on the hard drive.
- -silent runs Oracle Universal Installer in silent mode.
- -noconfig suppresses running the configuration assistants during installation, and a software-only installation is performed instead.
- responsefilename is the full path and file name of the installation response file that you configured.
When the installation completes, log in as the root user and run the root.sh script:
```
$ su - root
password:
# /oracle_home_path/root.sh
```

A.5 Silent-Mode Response File Error Handling

To determine if a silent-mode installation succeeds or fails, refer to the following log file:

/oraInventory_location/logs/silentInstalldate_time.log

If necessary, refer to Section 2.9.2 for information about determining the location of the oraInventory directory.

A silent installation fails if:

You do not specify a response file
You specify an incorrect or incomplete response file

For example, a common problem is that while all the product-specific data is filled out correctly, the staging area location may be incorrect. If this is the case, check the FROM_LOCATION variable and ensure that it points to the products.xml file in the installation media. In the installation media, this products.xml is in stage/.
Oracle Universal Installer encounters an error, such as insufficient disk space

Oracle Universal Installer or configuration assistant validates the response file at run time. If the validation fails, the silent-mode installation or configuration process ends. Oracle Universal Installer treats values for parameters that are of the wrong context, format, or type as if no value was specified in the file.