Installing Oracle Database

About Installing Oracle Database

Oracle Database and Oracle Grid Infrastructure are distributed as image-based zip files and can be installed through Oracle Universal Installer, silent or response-file methods, or Oracle Fleet Patching and Provisioning. Software is obtained from Oracle download services or installation media. Oracle ASM storage requires Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server, and components from this release cannot be installed with an earlier Oracle Universal Installer.

About Image-Based Oracle Database Installation

Image-based installation creates an Oracle home, extracts the database image into it, and runs the setup wizard to register and configure the product. It supports single-instance and clustered deployments, enables database options by default, and facilitates automation, cloning, and deployment of patched custom images. The image must be extracted directly into an OFA-compliant Oracle home before running the setup wizard.

About Deploying Oracle Database Using Oracle Fleet Patching and Provisioning

Oracle Fleet Patching and Provisioning provisions, patches, and upgrades Oracle Database software through managed gold images of Oracle homes. Working copies of these images can be deployed across data-center or cloud nodes for single-instance databases on Oracle Restart, clusters, or standalone systems, regardless of whether Grid Infrastructure is installed. The technology, formerly called Rapid Home Provisioning, is not supported on Microsoft Windows or HP-UX Itanium.

Downloading Oracle Software

Oracle Database software can be downloaded from the Oracle website or Oracle Software Delivery Cloud, subject to the applicable license terms. Downloads should be stored in suitable product directories with sufficient space for extraction, verified against published file sizes and checksums, and then extracted. Software Delivery Cloud requires signing in, selecting the product and platform, accepting the license agreement, downloading the files, and validating their digest.

About Character Set Selection During Installation

The database character set should be selected carefully before creation because changing it later can require extensive data conversion. It defines the encoding for character data, identifiers, and stored SQL or PL/SQL; Oracle Database 12.2 and later generally use Unicode AL32UTF8 by default. Although Unicode may require more storage and processing for some workloads, it supports broad language and technology compatibility. Legacy character sets should be chosen only for compelling compatibility, storage, or performance needs, and a multitenant container database should use a character set compatible with intended pluggable databases.

About Automatic Memory Management Installation Options

Typical installations generally enable Automatic Memory Management through DBCA, while Advanced installations allow manual allocation or automatic management. Automatic Memory Management dynamically distributes a configured memory target between the SGA and instance PGA, but it cannot be selected during installation when total physical memory exceeds 4 GB; automatic shared memory management should be used instead. Automatic memory management can also be enabled after installation, requiring a database restart, and is disabled by default for typical installations on systems with more than 4 GB of RAM.

Running the Installer in a Different Language

The database installer uses the operating system session locale to determine its language. Supported languages include Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese. The locale must be changed before starting the installer, and unsupported locales cause the installer to run in English.

Installing the Oracle Database Software

Oracle Database is normally installed by extracting the database image into an OFA-compliant Oracle home and running runInstaller from that directory, with GUI, silent, response-file, and optional Release Update application supported. The process requires appropriate Oracle base and inventory directories, ownership, permissions, configuration choices, and root-script execution or automation. Gold images can be created with setup-wizard options, and Oracle Restart or ASM deployments require Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server beforehand.

Installing Oracle Database Using RPM Packages

RPM installation supports single-instance Oracle Database and Instant Client deployments by performing prerequisite checks, extracting software, configuring ownership and inventory, and creating an Oracle home; DBCA can then create a database. Packages may be installed through yum or manually after installing the preinstallation RPM, and the supplied service script can create a default ORCLCDB container with ORCLPDB1 and a listener on port 1521. RPM patching and upgrades are unsupported, Standard Edition 2 is unavailable through this method, and multiple versions may be installed in separate homes.

Installing Standard Edition High Availability

Standard Edition High Availability provides cluster-based failover for single-instance Oracle Database Standard Edition 2 using Oracle Clusterware, ASM, and ACFS. It requires at least two nodes, compatible Grid Infrastructure and database releases, consistent operating-system configuration, supported local or ACFS software storage, ASM or ACFS data storage, shared SPFILE and password files, and appropriate listener registration. Installation involves deploying patched database software on local storage or ACFS, extending the Oracle home to other nodes, running required root scripts, and using DBCA to create the database.
Read More: Installing Standard Edition High Availability