Using the Oracle Universal Installer

1 Using the Oracle Universal Installer

You can use the Oracle Universal Installer to install and deinstall Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c.

For more information about using the Oracle Universal Installer, see the following topics:

System Requirements for Oracle Universal Installer
To prepare to run the Oracle Universal Installer on your system, make sure to verify the system requirements. These requirements must be met for the installer to start.
About the Oracle Central Inventory
The Oracle central inventory stores information about all Oracle software products installed in all Oracle homes on your system, provided the products were installed using the Oracle Universal Installer.
Viewing the Contents of an Oracle Home
After your Oracle Fusion Middleware product is installed, you can use the viewInventory.sh (on UNIX operating systems) or viewInventory.cmd (on Windows operating systems) script in ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin to view the contents of any Oracle home directory.
Comparing the Contents of Two Oracle Homes
After your Oracle Fusion Middleware product is installed, you can use the compareInventory.sh (on UNIX operating systems) or compareInventory.cmd (on Windows operating systems) script in ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin to compare the contents of any two Oracle home locations.
About the Available Modes of Installation
You can run the Oracle Universal Installer in either graphical mode or silent mode.
Starting the Oracle Universal Installer
You can start the Oracle Universal Installer in various ways, depending on how the product distribution is packaged.

System Requirements for Oracle Universal Installer

To prepare to run the Oracle Universal Installer on your system, make sure to verify the system requirements. These requirements must be met for the installer to start.

See "Oracle Universal Installer Requirements" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Requirements and Specifications.

Parent topic: Using the Oracle Universal Installer

About the Oracle Central Inventory

The Oracle central inventory stores information about all Oracle software products installed in all Oracle homes on your system, provided the products were installed using the Oracle Universal Installer.

Each time the Oracle Universal Installer is run, it checks your system for a central inventory location. If no central inventory location is found (for example, this is the first time you are installing an Oracle product on your system), you are prompted to create one (Specifying the Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems).

Inventory information is stored in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. The XML format enables easier diagnosis of problems and faster loading of data. Any secure information is not stored directly in the central inventory. As a result, during removal of some products, you are prompted to enter the required credentials for validation.

Central inventory is a system-specific inventory of the installations and Oracle recommends placing the central inventory on a local file system that is not shared by other systems. It is strongly recommended that you place the central inventory on a local disk so that installations from other systems do not corrupt the inventory. Do not place the central inventory in any Oracle home, Domain home, or Application home location.

All products installed into the same Oracle home must be associated with the same Oracle central inventory.

Specifying the Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems
On UNIX operating systems, you can use the graphical installer or silent installation to set the Oracle central inventory location.
Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems
To find the Oracle central inventory on UNIX operating systems, look for the oraInst.loc file, which contains a pointer to the central inventory location.
Oracle Central Inventory Location on Windows Operating Systems
On Windows operating systems, the default location for the central inventory directory is C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory.

Parent topic: Using the Oracle Universal Installer

Specifying the Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems

On UNIX operating systems, you can use the graphical installer or silent installation to set the Oracle central inventory location.

Setting the Oracle Central Inventory Location Using the Graphical Installer on UNIX Operating Systems
If no existing Oracle central inventory is detected on your UNIX operating system when installing Oracle products using the Oracle Universal Installer graphical interface, you see the Installation Inventory Setup screen.
Setting the Oracle Central Inventory Location Using Silent Installation on UNIX Operating Systems
On UNIX operating systems, for silent installation, the Oracle central inventory must be set up on your system before you run the installation. To do this, you must run the /tmp/createCentralInventory.sh script as root to create the central inventory.

Parent topic: About the Oracle Central Inventory

Setting the Oracle Central Inventory Location Using the Graphical Installer on UNIX Operating Systems

If no existing Oracle central inventory is detected on your UNIX operating system when installing Oracle products using the Oracle Universal Installer graphical interface, you see the Installation Inventory Setup screen.

Follow the instructions on the Installation Inventory Setup screen to set up your Oracle central inventory. This must be done before you can continue with your product installation.

This does the following:

Creates the Oracle central inventory directory (default is USER_HOME/oraInventory). This directory is owned by the user performing the installation.
Creates the createCentralInventory.sh script inside the Oracle central inventory location (for example, USER_HOME/oraInventory/createCentralInventory.sh).

This script must be run as root to register your Oracle central inventory location to a standard file on your system (for example, /etc/oraInst.loc). See Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems.

Parent topic: Specifying the Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems

Setting the Oracle Central Inventory Location Using Silent Installation on UNIX Operating Systems

On UNIX operating systems, for silent installation, the Oracle central inventory must be set up on your system before you run the installation. To do this, you must run the /tmp/createCentralInventory.sh script as root to create the central inventory.

For more information on running the /tmp/createCentralInventory.sh script to create the Oracle central inventory using silent installation, see UNIX Users: Creating the Central Inventory.

After doing so, all directories that are created on your system by running the script are owned by root instead of the user performing the installation.

Parent topic: Specifying the Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems

Oracle Central Inventory Location on UNIX Operating Systems

To find the Oracle central inventory on UNIX operating systems, look for the oraInst.loc file, which contains a pointer to the central inventory location.

The oraInst.loc file is in the following directories (default locations):

Linux: /etc/oraInst.loc
HP-UX, IBM AIX, Mac OS X, and Solaris: /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc

Parent topic: About the Oracle Central Inventory

Oracle Central Inventory Location on Windows Operating Systems

On Windows operating systems, the default location for the central inventory directory is C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory.

Parent topic: About the Oracle Central Inventory

Viewing the Contents of an Oracle Home

After your Oracle Fusion Middleware product is installed, you can use the viewInventory.sh (on UNIX operating systems) or viewInventory.cmd (on Windows operating systems) script in ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin to view the contents of any Oracle home directory.

There are two kinds of inventories - the Oracle central inventory and the Oracle home inventory. You use the viewInventory.sh or viewInventory.cmd script to view the Oracle home inventory.

The following information is provided in the output:

Name and version of installed distributions.
Name and version of installed feature sets.
Name and version of installed components.
Patch ID and unique ID of installed patches.

Note:

For more information about distributions and feature sets, see About Product Distributions in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

The script output can be sent to the console window, an XML file, or a CSV file which can be imported into spreadsheets.

The script is located in the ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory.

To run the script on UNIX operating systems, use the following syntax:

viewInventory.sh
   [-jreLoc jre_location]
   [-oracle_home oracle_home_location]
   [-output_format [report|xml|csv]]
   [-output_file output_file_location_and_name]

To run the script on Windows operating systems, use the following syntax:

viewInventory.cmd
   [-jreLoc jre_location]
   [-oracle_home oracle_home_location]
   [-output_format [report|xml|csv]]
   [-output_file output_file_location_and_name]

All the options for this command are optional and are described in the following table.

Table 1-1 Options for the viewInventory Script

Options	Description
`-jreLoc`	The `-jreLoc` option specifies the Java home to be used. If `-jreLoc` is not specified, the default location is the Java home associated with the Oracle home containing the `viewInventory` script.
`-oracle_home`	The Oracle home for which you want to view inventory information. If no Oracle home is specified, the default is the Oracle home from where the script is run.
`-output_format`	The format for which you want the output to be recorded. Valid values are: Report Sends output to the console window. See Sample viewInventory Output to Terminal Window. Xml Sends output to an XML file. See Sample viewInventory Output to XML File. Csv Sends output to a CSV file. See Sample viewInventory Output to CSV File. If no output format is specified, the default is detected based on whatever is specified for `-output_file`.
`-output_file`	The name and format of the output file. This option is only required if you want to save your output to XML or CSV format; if no output file is specified, the script defaults to the console window.

Parent topic: Using the Oracle Universal Installer

Comparing the Contents of Two Oracle Homes

After your Oracle Fusion Middleware product is installed, you can use the compareInventory.sh (on UNIX operating systems) or compareInventory.cmd (on Windows operating systems) script in ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin to compare the contents of any two Oracle home locations.

If any differences are found, the following information is provided in the output:

Location of the Oracle home
Name and version of the distribution.
Name and version of the feature set.
Name and version of the component.
Patch ID and unique ID of patch.

Note:

For more information about distributions and feature sets, see About Product Distributions in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

The script output can be sent to the console window, an XML file, or a CSV file which can be imported into spreadsheets.

The script is located in the ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory.

To run the script on UNIX operating systems, use the following syntax:

compareInventory.sh
   -oracle_home1 oracle_home1_location
   -oracle_home2 oracle_home2_location
   [-jreLoc jre_location]
   [-input_type1 [dir|xml]]
   [-input_type2 [dir|xml]]
   [-output_file output_file_location_and_name]

To run the script on Windows operating systems, use the following syntax:

compareInventory.cmd
   -oracle_home1 oracle_home1_location
   -oracle_home2 oracle_home2_location
   [-jreLoc jre_location]
   [-input_type1 [dir|xml]]
   [-input_type2 [dir|xml]]
   [-output_file output_file_location_and_name]

Only the -oracle_home1 and -oracle_home2 options are required. All the options for this command are optional and are described in the following table.

Table 1-2 Options for the compareInventory Script

Option	Description
`-oracle_home1`	Full path to one of the two Oracle home locations you want to compare.
`-oracle_home2`	Full path to the second Oracle home location you want to compare.
`-jreLoc`	The `-jreLoc` option specifies the Java home to be used. If `-jreLoc` is not specified, the default location is the Java home associated with the Oracle home containing the `compareInventory` script.
`-input_type1`	Specify whether the data from `-oracle_home1` is provided as an XML file, or as a directory location. Valid values are: Dir (for directory location) Xml (for XML file) If no value is specified, the script automatically detects the source format.
`-input_type2`	Specify whether the data from `-oracle_home2` is provided as an XML file, or as a directory location. Valid values are: Dir (for directory location) Xml (for XML file) If no value is specified, the script automatically detects the source format.
`-output_file`	The name and format of the output file. This option is only required if you want to save your output to XML or CSV format; if no output file is specified, the script defaults to the console window. For sample output to the terminal window, see Sample compareInventory Output to Terminal Window. For sample output to a CSV file, see Sample compareInventory Output to CSV File. For sample output to an XML file, see Sample compareInventory Output to XML File.

Parent topic: Using the Oracle Universal Installer

About the Available Modes of Installation

You can run the Oracle Universal Installer in either graphical mode or silent mode.

Graphical mode

Graphical-mode installation is an interactive, GUI-based method for installing your software. It can be run on both Windows and UNIX systems.

In order to run the installation program in graphical mode on UNIX operating systems, the console attached to the machine on which you are installing the software must support a Java-based GUI. All consoles for Windows systems support Java-based GUIs, but not all consoles for UNIX systems do.

Also on UNIX operating systems, the DISPLAY environment variable must be set to the monitor where you want the installer GUI to appear. If you are performing the installation, you must have permissions to access the machine to which DISPLAY is set. Refer to your operating system documentation for specific instructions, as procedures vary depending on your exact operating system.
Silent mode

Silent-mode installation is a non-interactive method of installing your software. You use a properties file (called a response file) to specify the installation options. You can run silent-mode installation from either a script or from the command line. Silent-mode installation allows you to define the installation configuration only once, and then use that configuration to duplicate the installation on many machines.

For more information about silent mode installation and how to create a response file, see Using the Oracle Universal Installer in Silent Mode . For sample response files, see Sample Response Files for Silent Installation and Deinstallation.

Parent topic: Using the Oracle Universal Installer

Starting the Oracle Universal Installer

You can start the Oracle Universal Installer in various ways, depending on how the product distribution is packaged.

Starting the Oracle Universal Installer in a Generic (.jar) Distribution
Follow these steps to start the Oracle Universal Installer in a .jar distribution.
Starting the Oracle Universal Installer in a Platform-Specific Distribution
Follow these steps to start the Oracle Universal Installer in a platform-specific distribution.

Parent topic: Using the Oracle Universal Installer

Starting the Oracle Universal Installer in a Generic (.jar) Distribution

Follow these steps to start the Oracle Universal Installer in a .jar distribution.

To start the Oracle Universal Installer that is packaged in a .jar distribution, make sure that you have a certified JDK already installed on your system. See the System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c certification document on the Oracle Fusion Middleware Supported System Configurations page.

To start the installer without setting any environment variables:

Go to the directory where you downloaded the product distribution.

Invoke the java -jar command located within your JDK home. For example:

On UNIX operating systems:

/home/Oracle/products/jdk1.8.0_101/bin/java -jar distribution_name.jar

On Windows operating systems:

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_101\bin\java -jar distribution_name.jar

You can also set the JAVA_HOME and PATH environment variables to run the installer:

Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable on your system to the JDK directory. For example:
On UNIX operating systems
```
export JAVA_HOME=/home/Oracle/products/jdk1.8.0_101
```
On Windows operating systems
```
set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_101
```
Add the directory of the appropriate JDK to the PATH variable definition on the target system. For example:
On UNIX operating systems:
```
PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH; export PATH
```
On Windows operating systems:
```
set PATH=%JAVA_HOME%\bin:%PATH%
```
Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program.
Launch the installation program by entering the following command:
```
java -jar distribution_name.jar
```

Parent topic: Starting the Oracle Universal Installer

Starting the Oracle Universal Installer in a Platform-Specific Distribution

Follow these steps to start the Oracle Universal Installer in a platform-specific distribution.

Some products (for example, Oracle HTTP Server) may be available in a product-specific distribution; on UNIX operating systems, the distribution is available as a .bin file, and on Windows operating systems, as a .exe file.

To start the Oracle Universal Installer in a .bin distribution:

Change the permissions of the .bin file:
```
chmod a+x distribution_name.bin
```
Execute the .bin file:
```
./distribution_name.bin
```

To start the Oracle Universal Installer in a .exe distribution, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the directory containing the distribution, and double-click on the setup_distribution_name.exe file.

Parent topic: Starting the Oracle Universal Installer