Installing and Configuring Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server

About Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server

Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server combines Oracle Restart and Oracle ASM. Databases created after installation are automatically registered with Oracle Restart, while existing databases, listeners, ASM, and related components must be registered manually. Oracle Restart supports multiple single-instance databases, and starting with Oracle AI Database 26ai, gridSetup.sh replaces the desupported config.sh utility.

About Image-Based Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation

Image-based installation simplifies Oracle Grid Infrastructure deployment by extracting the software image into a newly created Grid home and running gridSetup.sh. It supports cluster configuration, standalone-server Oracle Restart configuration, upgrades, software-only installations, node changes, silent deployments, and customized patched images, while supporting GUI, silent, and Fleet Patching and Provisioning workflows. Grid home paths must follow Oracle Optimal Flexible Architecture recommendations.

Setup Wizard Installation Options for Creating Images

The runInstaller and gridSetup.sh setup wizards support gold-image creation through options that specify the destination, excluded files, and help output. The -createGoldImage option creates an image from the current Oracle home, -destinationLocation defines the output directory, and -exclFiles excludes specified files or paths, enabling reusable database or Grid Infrastructure deployment images.

Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server

Install Oracle Restart and Oracle ASM by preparing the required users, groups, network, storage, Oracle base, and inventory directories; extracting the current Grid Infrastructure gold image into an OFA-compliant, non-symbolic-link Grid home; and running gridSetup.sh. Select the standalone-server configuration, configure the default or additional ASM disk groups, provide or automate root-script execution, and then install the database using ASM storage. ASMFD is desupported in Oracle AI Database 26ai, with ASMlib v3 recommended for applicable Linux environments.

Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server for an Existing Database

To manage an existing database with Oracle Restart, stop its listeners, install Grid Infrastructure in a separate Grid home, restart the listeners, and register the database and listeners with srvctl. Oracle Restart can manage databases from the same release and up to one release lower, while earlier releases may coexist without being managed by Oracle Restart.

Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server Using a Software-Only Installation

A software-only installation places Grid Infrastructure binaries in the Grid home without validating or configuring Oracle Restart, so it is intended for advanced users. The process involves extracting the image, verifying prerequisites with runcluvfy.sh, running gridSetup.sh with Set Up Software Only, executing prompted root scripts, and then completing manual configuration with ASM or, without ASM, roothas.sh followed by listener registration using srvctl and Oracle Network Configuration Assistant. This method does not support upgrades from previous Oracle Restart releases.

Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server Using Command-Line Interface

Starting with Oracle Grid Infrastructure 26ai, standalone-server installation and configuration can be performed from the command line. After preparing OFA-compliant directories and extracting the image into a suitable Grid home, run gridSetup.sh -silent -configureStandaloneServer with the required operating-system groups, Oracle base, inventory, disk group, disk, redundancy, allocation-unit, discovery, and root-script options, then provide the root password when prompted. ASMFD remains desupported in this release.

Testing the Oracle Automatic Storage Management Installation

Test the ASM installation by setting ORACLE_SID to the ASM instance, setting ORACLE_HOME to the Grid home, and running asmcmd lsdg to display disk groups. If ASM is not running, start it with srvctl start asm, after which ASMCMD can connect using SYSASM privileges.

Relinking Oracle Restart and Oracle ASM Binaries

Relink Oracle Restart and ASM binaries after operating-system patching or upgrades, first stopping all executables and applications using the Grid home or its shared libraries. As root, unlock the Grid home with roothas.sh -unlock; as the grid user, run the Grid home relink utility; then as root, run rootadd_rdbms.sh and relock the home with roothas.sh -lock.

Configuring Oracle ASM Disk Groups Manually using Oracle ASMCA

After standalone-server installation, ASMCA can create and configure additional ASM disk groups, Oracle ADVM, and Oracle ACFS. If no ASM instance exists, the installation process creates one; afterward, launch ASMCA from the Grid home’s bin directory to manually configure ASM storage and related services.

Enabling Oracle ACFS on Oracle Restart Configurations

Enable root access for Oracle ACFS by logging in as root, changing to the Grid home’s crs/install directory, and running roothas.sh -lockacfs.

Applying Patches During an Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation or Upgrade

Obtain the required Release Updates or one-off patches, place them in an accessible directory, change to the Grid home, and run gridSetup.sh with -applyRU and/or -applyOneOffs. Patches may be applied separately or together, after which the remaining setup or upgrade wizard steps must be completed.

Patching and Switching Oracle Grid Infrastructure Homes

Use switchGridHome to move Oracle Grid Infrastructure between homes containing different release updates or one-off patches. Create a distinct new Grid home, initialize it with the source home’s configuration, apply the required patches, and switch to it in silent or interactive mode; services then run from the new home. To revert, unlock the old home as root and run its switchGridHome command as the grid user, optionally using zero-downtime or driver-update options.

Changing the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Base Path

To change the Grid Infrastructure base directory, create and own the new base, stop Oracle Restart and TFA, copy the Grid files, preserve the old base as a backup, and update all relevant ORACLE_BASE, OLR, inventory, network, and home-property configuration files. Restore permissions with roothas.sh -init, move AHF data with ahfctl movedatadir, and restart the Oracle Restart stack. All executables and applications using the old base or shared libraries must be stopped beforehand.
Read More: Changing the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Base Path