Removing Oracle AI Database Software

About Oracle Deinstallation Options

The deinstall utility, located in each Oracle home, removes supported Oracle AI Database, Grid Infrastructure, RAC, and Client installations, but not individual components. It can generate or consume response files, must be run from the same software release, and may require complete configuration details for failed or inactive installations. Grid Infrastructure removal additionally requires root scripts, ACFS dismounting, ADVM disabling, and GNS DNS cleanup when applicable. If no other homes remain in the central inventory, deinstallation may delete Oracle base administration, diagnostic, recovery, and data directories, including user-owned data and configuration files outside the Oracle base, so Oracle recommends OFA layouts and exclusive Oracle paths.

Oracle Deinstallation Deinstall

The deinstall command stops and removes Oracle software and configuration for a specific Oracle home. Its options support interactive or silent execution, configuration inspection with -checkonly, response-file selection and overrides, custom response, temporary, and log directories, local-only cluster deinstallation, preservation of local or remote Grid homes, and help. Silent mode requires accessible configuration data or a suitable response file, while -checkonly creates a response file without removing software.

Removing the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Home

To remove a previous-release Grid Infrastructure home after removing the current installation, first use root privileges to correct the old home’s permissions and ownership. As the Grid owner, run the old home’s deinstall utility with -checkonly, then perform the silent deinstallation and, as root, execute the generated rootdeinstall.sh script. The deinstallation utility must match the release of the home being removed and must not come from a later release.

Deinstallation Examples for Oracle AI Database

Run deinstall from the Oracle home’s deinstall directory to start interactively, or use -checkonly to discover configuration details and generate a response file. The resulting file can be supplied with -paramfile to remove an Oracle Database or Grid Infrastructure home noninteractively; the examples show response-file usage for both database and Grid homes.

Deinstallation Response File Example for Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Cluster

A Grid Infrastructure cluster response file defines the home, inventory and base paths, cluster nodes, local and remote nodes, ASM disk groups and discovery settings, network interfaces, VIPs, SCAN, storage configuration, ownership, logging, and silent-operation parameters. The example represents a two-node cluster and illustrates the values required by deinstall -paramfile; quotation marks should generally be omitted, except for CRS node VIP addresses and network interface definitions.

Migrating Standalone Oracle Grid Infrastructure Servers to a Cluster

Migration from Oracle Restart to clustered Grid Infrastructure involves documenting databases, services, and listeners with srvctl, stopping them, unmounting ACFS, deconfiguring Oracle Restart with roothas.sh, and removing its oratab entry. The existing home can be unlocked or a new Grid home prepared, with optional reuse of ASM disk groups for OCR, voting files, and the ASM SPFILE. After silent cluster installation and root configuration, remount storage, re-enable ACFS volumes, recreate filesystem, database, and service resources, and add additional cluster nodes as needed.

Changing the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Home Path

To relocate a clustered Grid home, stop all executables and dependent applications, copy the old binaries to the new path, correct ownership, and run gridSetup.sh in software-only mode without changing the Oracle base. Execute the new home’s root.sh, relink RAC, dNFS, and ioracle components, then use rootcrs.sh -move to activate the destination home. Repeat the procedure on every cluster node.