Server Configuration Checklist for Oracle Database Installation

Use this checklist to check minimum server configuration requirements for Oracle Database installations.

Table 1-3 Server Configuration Checklist for Oracle Database

Check	Task
Disk space allocated to the /tmp directory	At least 1 GB of space in the /tmp directory.
Swap space allocation relative to RAM (Oracle Database)	Between 1 GB and 2 GB: 1.5 times the size of the RAM Between 2 GB and 16 GB: Equal to the size of the RAM More than 16 GB: 16 GB Note: If you enable HugePages for your Linux servers, then you should deduct the memory allocated to HugePages from the available RAM before calculating swap space.
Swap space allocation relative to RAM (Oracle Restart)	Between 8 GB and 16 GB: Equal to the size of the RAM More than 16 GB: 16 GB Note: If you enable HugePages for your Linux servers, then you should deduct the memory allocated to HugePages from the available RAM before calculating swap space.
Oracle Inventory (oraInventory) and OINSTALL Group Requirements	For upgrades, the installer detects an existing oraInventory directory from the /etc/oraInst.loc file, and uses the existing oraInventory. For new installs, if you have not configured an oraInventory directory, then you can specify the oraInventory directory during the software installation and Oracle Universal Installer will set up the software directories for you. The Oracle inventory is one directory level up from the Oracle base for the Oracle software installation and designates the installation owner's primary group as the Oracle inventory group. Ensure that the oraInventory path that you specify is in compliance with the Oracle Optimal Flexible Architecture recommendations. The Oracle Inventory directory is the central inventory of Oracle software installed on your system. Users who have the Oracle Inventory group as their primary group are granted the OINSTALL privilege to write to the central inventory. The OINSTALL group must be the primary group of all Oracle software installation owners on the server. It should be writable by any Oracle installation owner.
Groups and users	Oracle recommends that you create groups and user accounts required for your security plans before starting installation. Installation owners have resource limits settings and other requirements. Group and user names must use only ASCII characters.
Mount point paths for the software binaries	Oracle recommends that you create an Optimal Flexible Architecture configuration as described in the appendix "Optimal Flexible Architecture" in Oracle Database Installation Guide for your platform.
Ensure that the Oracle home (the Oracle home path you select for Oracle Database) uses only ASCII characters	The ASCII character restriction includes installation owner user names, which are used as a default for some home paths, as well as other directory names you may select for paths.
Unset Oracle software environment variables	If you have an existing Oracle software installation, and you are using the same user to install this installation, then unset the following environment variables: $ORACLE_HOME,$ORA_NLS10, and $TNS_ADMIN. If you have set $ORA_CRS_HOME as an environment variable, then unset it before starting an installation or upgrade. Do not use $ORA_CRS_HOME as a user environment variable, except as directed by Oracle Support.
Set locale (if needed)	Specify the language and the territory, or locale, in which you want to use Oracle components. A locale is a linguistic and cultural environment in which a system or program is running. NLS (National Language Support) parameters determine the locale-specific behavior on both servers and clients. The locale setting of a component determines the language of the user interface of the component, and the globalization behavior, such as date and number formatting.
Check Shared Memory File System Mount	By default, your operating system includes an entry in /etc/fstab to mount /dev/shm. However, if your Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) or installer checks fail, ensure that the /dev/shm mount area is of type tmpfs and is mounted with the following options: rw and exec permissions set on it Without noexec or nosuid set on it Note: These options may not be listed as they are usually set as the default permissions by your operating system.
Symlinks	Oracle home or Oracle base cannot be symlinks, nor can any of their parent directories, all the way to up to the root directory.