6 Silent Installation of the Oracle Content DB Middle Tier

This chapter discusses silent and noninteractive installation of Oracle Content DB.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Introduction to Oracle Content DB Noninteractive Installations
Silent or Noninteractive Installation Requirements
Response Files
Postinstallation Tasks
Security Tips for Silent and Noninteractive Installations
Error Handling
Silent Deinstallation of Oracle Content DB

Introduction to Oracle Content DB Noninteractive Installations

Oracle Content DB features the following two noninteractive methods of installation:

Silent Installation of Oracle Content DB Middle Tier
Noninteractive Installation of Oracle Content DB Middle Tier

Silent Installation of Oracle Content DB Middle Tier

Silent installation eliminates the need to monitor the Oracle Content DB installation because there is no graphical output and no input by the user. It is accomplished by supplying Oracle Universal Installer with a response file and specifying the -silent flag on the command line.

You can use silent installation of Oracle Content DB when you want similar installations on more than one computer. Additionally, you can use silent installation when performing the Oracle Content DB installation from a remote location using the command line.

The response file used in a silent installation is a text file. Oracle Universal Installer uses variables and values specified in the response file to provide answers to all of its user prompts. Therefore, you must include responses for all of the prompts in the response file.

Noninteractive Installation of Oracle Content DB Middle Tier

Noninteractive installations of Oracle Content DB display a graphical output. If you have not provided responses to all of the user prompts, you may need to enter information during the installation.

Noninteractive installation of Oracle Content DB is also accomplished by supplying the Oracle Universal Installer with a response file, but without specifying the -silent flag on the command line. Oracle Universal Installer uses the variables and values contained in the response file to provide answers to some or all of its user prompts.

Use noninteractive installation of Oracle Content DB when there are specific screens you want to observe during installation.

Silent or Noninteractive Installation Requirements

The installation requirements for these types of installations are the same as those described in Chapter 4, "Preinstallation Requirements for Oracle Content DB Middle Tier".

Response Files

Before performing a silent or noninteractive installation, you must provide information specific to your installation in a response file. Oracle Universal Installer fails if you attempt an installation using a response file that is not configured correctly. Response files are text files that you can create or edit with a text editor.

The Oracle Content DB Media Pack provides a template for the Oracle Universal Installer response file.

Response files are located in the \response directory on Disk 1 of the Oracle Content DB Media Pack. You must edit the response file according to your requirements for silent or noninteractive installation.

To use a response file, first copy it from the DVD to your system, as follows:

Go to the \response directory on the first DVD of the Oracle Content DB Media Pack.
Copy the contentdb.rsp file to your system hard drive.

This section includes the following topics:

Editing a Response File
Creating a Response File Using the Record Mode in the Installer
Specifying a Response File and Starting the Installation

Editing a Response File

Use any text editor to edit the response file to include information specific to your system. The response file text identifies information that you must provide.

You must specify values for variables in your response file. Each variable listed in the response file is associated with a comment, which identifies the variable type. For example:

string = "Sample Value"
Boolean = True or False
Number = 1000
StringList = {"StringValue 1", "String Value 2"}

The values that are given as <Value Required> must be specified for silent installation.

Note:

Ensure that you use forward slashes (/) when you enter directory paths.

Delete the given sample values in the response file and enter your specific values before starting the Oracle Content DB installation.

Creating a Response File Using the Record Mode in the Installer

You can run Oracle Universal Installer in record mode to save your inputs to a file that you can use later as a response file. This feature is useful if you need to perform the same installation on different computers.

To run Oracle Universal Installer in record mode:

Start Oracle Universal Installer with the -record and -destinationFile parameters, as follows:
```
SYSTEM_DRIVE:\> setup.exe -record -destinationFile new_response_file
```
Replace new_response_file with the full path to the response file that you want Oracle Universal Installer to create, such as C:\temp\contendb.rsp.
Enter the values for the Oracle Universal Installer screens. Oracle Universal Installer writes these values to the file specified in the -destinationFile parameter.

When you get to the Summary screen, Oracle Universal Installer automatically writes all the values that you supplied to the specified file. At this point, you can complete the installation on this computer, or you can exit without performing the installation.

Specifying a Response File and Starting the Installation

Before you specify a response file, ensure that all the values in the response file are correct.

To set up Oracle Universal Installer to use the response file at the time of installation, specify the location of the response file as a parameter when starting Oracle Universal Installer, as follows:

SYSTEM_DRIVE:\> setup.exe -responseFile absolute_path_to_file_name

To perform a noninteractive installation:

SYSTEM_DRIVE:\> setup.exe -responseFile absolute_path_and_file_name

To perform a silent installation, use the -silent parameter:

SYSTEM_DRIVE:\> setup.exe -silent -responseFile absolute_path_and_file_name

The success or failure of the noninteractive installation is logged in the installActions.log file. The success or failure of the silent installation is logged in the silentInstall.log file. Both log files are created in subdirectory logs in the logs directory, under the oraInventory directory, during installation and typically contain timestamps in their file names.

For example:

installActions2006-07-28_11-35-45AM.log

Caution:

During installation, response files may be copied to subdirectories under $ORACLE_HOME%ORACLE_HOME% to install some Oracle Content DB components. When the installation completes successfully, these copies are removed. If the installation fails, however, these copies may not be removed. In both cases, if you have provided passwords or other sensitive information in your response files, Oracle recommends that you ensure their security and, if needed, delete any copies of the response files that remain in your file system.

Postinstallation Tasks

The success or failure of the noninteractive and silent installations is logged in the installActions.log file. Additionally, the silent installation creates the silentInstall.log file. The log files are typically created in the C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs directory.

The silentInstall.log file contains the following line if the installation was successful:

The installation of Oracle Content DB was successful.

The installActions.log file contains specific information for each Oracle Content DB installation.

Security Tips for Silent and Noninteractive Installations

One of the pieces of information in the response file is the installation password. The password information is not encrypted.

To minimize security issues regarding the password in the response file, follow these guidelines:

Set the permissions on the response files so that they are readable only by the operating system user who will be performing the silent or noninteractive installation.
If possible, remove the response files from the system after the silent or noninteractive installation is complete, or clear the password entries.

Error Handling

If the silent or noninteractive installation fails, you must deinstall the Oracle Content DB middle tier, then reinstall it. See Appendix G, "Deinstalling the Oracle Content DB Middle Tier" for complete instructions on how to deinstall the Oracle Content DB middle tier.

Response File Error Handling

Oracle Universal Installer or most of the configuration assistants validate the response file at run time. If the validation fails, the noninteractive 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. Variables that are outside any section are also ignored.

Silent Deinstallation of Oracle Content DB

If your silent or noninteractive installation fails, you must completely deinstall any files remaining from your Oracle Content DB installation attempt.