5 Deinstalling Oracle Fusion Middleware Infrastructure

This section describes how to deinstall or reinstall Oracle Fusion Middleware Infrastructure. Always use the instructions in this topic to remove the software to verify it uninstalls properly. If you try to remove the software manually, you may experience problems when you try to reinstall the software again at a later time.

This section includes the following topics:

  • Product Deinstallation Roadmap
    The Oracle Fusion Middleware deinstaller removes software from the Oracle home directory that it starts from.
  • About Reinstalling the Software
    You can reinstall your software into the same Oracle home as a previous installation only if you have deinstalled the software by following the deinstallation instructions, including manually removing the Oracle home directory.

5.1 Product Deinstallation Roadmap

The Oracle Fusion Middleware deinstaller removes software from the Oracle home directory that it starts from.

The following table summarizes the procedure and provides links to supporting documentation.

Table 5-1 Roadmap for Deinstalling Oracle Fusion Middleware Infrastructure

Task Description Documentation

Stop Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Oracle recommends that you stop all servers and processes in your domain before you run the deinstaller.

See Stopping Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Remove your database schemas.

Run Repository Creation Utility to remove your database schemas.

See Removing Your Database Schemas.

Remove the software.

Run the product deinstaller to remove Oracle Fusion Middleware Infrastructure.

See Deinstalling the Software.

Remove the Oracle home directory.

The deinstaller does not remove all files and folders from the Oracle home directory. After the deinstaller finishes, you must manually remove the Oracle home to complete your product removal.

See Removing the Oracle Home Directory Manually.

Remove the program shortcuts on Windows operating systems.

The deinstaller does not remove the program shortcuts on your Windows operating system.

See Removing Program Shortcuts on Windows Operating Systems.

Remove your domain and application data.

The deinstaller does not remove data contained in your Domain home nor Application home directories, even if they are located inside the Oracle home. If necessary, you must remove these directories manually.

See Removing Your Domain and Application Data.

5.1.1 Stopping Oracle Fusion Middleware

Before you run the deinstaller, Oracle recommends that you stop all servers and processes associated with the Oracle home that you are going to remove.

For more information, see "Stopping an Oracle Fusion Middleware Environment" in Administering Oracle Fusion Middleware.

5.1.2 Removing Your Database Schemas

Before removing the Oracle home, Oracle recommends that you run Repository Creation Utility to remove database schemas associated with a domain.

Each domain has its own set of schemas that a custom prefix uniquely identifies (see "Understanding Custom Prefixes" in Creating Schemas with the Repository Creation Utility). This set of schemas cannot be shared with any other domain (see "Planning Your Schema Creation" in Creating Schemas with the Repository Creation Utility).

If there are multiple sets of schemas on your database, be sure to identify the schema prefix associated with the domain you are removing.

For schema removal steps, see Dropping Schemas in Creating Schemas with the Repository Creation Utility.

5.1.3 Deinstalling the Software

You can use the deinstaller or perform a silent install.

To perform a silent (command-line) deinstallation, see "Running the Oracle Universal Installer for Silent Deinstallation" in Installing Software with the Oracle Universal Installer.

5.1.3.1 Starting the Deinstallation Program

The method you use to start the deinstallation program depends on your operating system: Windows or UNIX.

On UNIX operating systems, go to the ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory and enter command ./deinstall.sh

On Windows operating systems, use a file manager window to go to the ORACLE_HOME\oui\bin directory and double click on deinstall.cmd.:

5.1.3.2 Distribution to Uninstall

The installer will display the Distribution to Uninstall screen only if more than one distribution is detected in the Oracle home from where the program is started.

Description of GUID-0E057121-B4E1-4991-8E81-5C1E661E1317-default.png follows
Description of the illustration GUID-0E057121-B4E1-4991-8E81-5C1E661E1317-default.png

Select the distribution you want to deinstall from the drop-down list, then click Uninstall.

Beneath the drop-down list are the contents of the selected distribution, so you can verify that you are choosing to remove the correct distribution.

5.1.3.3 Navigating the Deinstallation Screens

The deinstallation program shows a series of screens in the order that the following table describes.

If you need additional help with any deinstallation screen, click the screen name.

Table 5-2 Deinstall Screens and Descriptions

Screen Description

Welcome

Introduces you to the product deinstaller.

Deinstallation Summary

Shows the Oracle home directory and its contents that will be deinstalled. Verify that this is the correct directory.

Click Deinstall to begin removing the software.

Deinstallation Progress

Shows the progress of the deinstallation.

Deinstallation Complete

Opens when the deinstallation is complete. Review the information on this screen then click Finish to dismiss the deinstaller.

5.1.4 Removing the Oracle Home Directory Manually

After the deinstaller finishes, you must manually remove your Oracle home directory and any existing sub-directories that the deinstaller did not remove.

For example, if your Oracle home directory was /home/Oracle/Products/Oracle_Home on a UNIX operating system:

cd /home/Oracle/Products
rm -rf Oracle_Home

On a Windows operating system, if your Oracle home directory was C:\Oracle\Products\Oracle_Home, use a file manager window and navigate to the C:\Oracle\Products directory, then right-click on the Oracle_Home folder and select Delete.

5.1.5 Removing Program Shortcuts on Windows Operating Systems

On Windows operating systems, you must also manually remove the program short cuts; the deinstaller does not remove them for you.

Go to the C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Oracle\Oracle Home\Product directory. If you only have one product installed in your Oracle home, you can remove the Oracle Home directory. If you have multiple products installed in your Oracle home, you must remove all products before removing the Oracle Home.

5.1.6 Removing Your Domain and Application Data

If you will no longer use domain and application files, you can remove them.

To remove your domain and application data:

  1. Manually remove your Domain home directory.

    For example, if your Domain home directory was /home/Oracle/config/domains/infra_domain on a UNIX operating system:

    cd /home/Oracle/config/domains
rm -rf infra_domain

    On a Windows operating system, if your Domain home directory was C:\Oracle\Config\domains\infra_domain, use a file manager window and navigate to the C:\Oracle\Config\domains directory, then right-click on the infra_domain folder and select Delete.

  2. Manually remove your Application home directory.

    For example, if your Application home directory was /home/Oracle/config/applications/infra_domain on a UNIX operating system:

    cd /home/Oracle/config/applications
rm -rf infra_domain

    On a Windows operating system, if your Application home directory was C:\Oracle\Config\applications\infra_domain, use a file manager window and navigate to the C:\Oracle\Config\applications directory, then right-click on the infra_domain folder and select Delete.

  3. Backup the domain_registry.xml file in your Oracle home, then edit the file and remove the line associated with the domain you are removing. For example, to remove the infra_domain, find the following line and remove it: 
    <domain location="/home/Oracle/config/domains/infra_domain"/>

    Save and exit the file when you are finished.

5.2 About Reinstalling the Software

You can reinstall your software into the same Oracle home as a previous installation only if you have deinstalled the software by following the deinstallation instructions, including manually removing the Oracle home directory.

When you reinstall, you can then specify the same Oracle home as your previous installation.

Consider the following cases where the Oracle home is not empty:

5.2.1 Scenario: Installing in an Existing Oracle Home that Contains the Same Feature Sets

The installer warns you that the Oracle home you specified during the installation already contains the same software you are trying to install.

Your options:

  • Select a different installation type. In this case, only feature sets that don't already exist in the Oracle home directory get installed.

  • Select a different Oracle home directory.

5.2.2 Scenario: Installing in an Existing, Non-Empty Oracle Home

Suppose that you have chosen to create your Domain home or Application home somewhere inside your existing Oracle home.

The deinstallation process doesn’t remove this data, so if you attempt to reinstall into the same Oracle home, the installer does not allow it.

Your options:

  • Deinstall your software from the Oracle home as this topic describes, and then remove the Oracle home directory. After this is complete, you can reinstall and reuse the same Oracle home location, using the instructions in Installing the Infrastructure Software. You will need to re-create any domain or application data that was in the Oracle home.

  • Select a different Oracle home directory.