Hil and Co IT Solutions: Install Oracle 10g R2 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4

Before you begin you must check that your system met some requirements:
1. Required kernel version: 2.6.5-7.97 (or later)
Check your kernel version by running the following command:

# uname –r

2. The minimum RAM required is 1024MB, and the minimum required swap space is 1GB. Swap space should be twice the amount of RAM for systems with 2GB of RAM or less and between one and two times the amount of RAM for systems with more than 2GB. To check available RAM and swap space run:

# grep MemTotal /proc/meminfo
# grep SwapTotal /proc/meminfo

You also need 2.5GB of available disk space for the Oracle Database 10g Release 2 software and another 1.2GB for the database. The /tmp directory needs at least 400MB of free space. To check the available disk space on your system, run the following command:

# df –h

3. The following packages (or later) must be installed:

binutils-2.15.92.0.2-10.EL4
compat-db-4.1.25-9
control-center-2.8.0-12
gcc-3.4.3-9.EL4
gcc-c++-3.4.3-9.EL4
glibc-2.3.4-2
glibc-common-2.3.4-2
gnome-libs-1.4.1.2.90-44.1
libstdc++-3.4.3-9.EL4
libstdc++-devel-3.4.3-9.EL4
make-3.80-5
pdksh-5.2.14-30
sysstat-5.0.5-1
xscreensaver-4.18-5.rhel4.2
libaio-0.3.96
openmotif21-2.1.30-11.RHEL4.2 (Required only to install Oracle demos. Installation of Oracle demos is not covered by this guide.)

To check does your system has, for example libaio installed run:

# rpm –q libaio

In case that you missing something install it with a following command:

# rpm –Uvh package name

4. Set kernel parameters and shell limits for Oracle. Linux allows modification of most kernel parameters while the system is up and running. There's no need to reboot the system after making kernel parameter changes. Oracle Database 10g Release 2 requires the kernel parameter settings shown below. The values given are minimums, so if your system uses a larger value, don't change it.

kernel.shmall = 2097152
kernel.shmmax = 536870912
kernel.shmmni = 4096
kernel.sem = 250 32000 100 128
fs.file-max = 65536
net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 1024 65000
net.core.rmem_default=262144
net.core.wmem_default=262144
net.core.rmem_max=262144
net.core.wmem_max=262144

Assuming that you kernel is set to the default run the following command:

#mcedit /etc/sysctl.conf

At the end write the following things:

kernel.shmall = 2097152
kernel.shmmax = 536870912
kernel.shmmni = 4096
kernel.sem = 250 32000 100 128
fs.file-max = 65536
net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 1024 65000
net.core.rmem_default=262144
net.core.wmem_default=262144
net.core.rmem_max=262144
net.core.wmem_max=262144

run command:

# /sbin/sysctl –p

Set shell limits for oracle user:

# mcedit /etc/security/limits.conf

At the end write the following things:

oracle soft nproc 2047
oracle hard nproc 16384
oracle soft nofile 1024
oracle hard nofile 65536

#mcedit /etc/profile

At the end write the following things:

if [ \$USER = "oracle" ]; then
      if [ \$SHELL = "/bin/ksh" ]; then
          -p 16384
          ulimit -n 65536
      else
          ulimit -u 16384 -n 65536
      fi
      umask 022
fi

#mcedit /etc/csh.login

At the end write the following things:

if ( \$USER == "oracle" ) then
      limit maxproc 16384
      limit descriptors 65536
      umask 022
endif

5. Create group and user for installation:

# groupadd dba
# groupadd oinstall
# useradd –g oinstall –G dba –d /home/oracle oracle

6. Create the directories to store the db software and had it over to oracle (assuming that you are logged in as supper user)

# mkdir –p /u01/app/oracle/
# chmod 775 –R /u01/app/oracle
#chown oracle.oinstall –R /u01/app/oracle

Now you have everything except the source, download it from http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/database/oracle10g/htdocs/10201linuxsoft.html. Log in as oracle user, and unpack the zip archive:

# unzip 10201_database_linux32.zip

Change your working directory to database

# cd database

And start up the universal installer:

# ./RunInsaller

Click on radio button next to Advanced Installation and click on Next button.

Select Enterprise Edition and click on Next.

Set the name of the installation (hilandco) and the installation path(/u01/app…) and click Next.

The OUI is checks that my system met the requirement.
Note: I have insufficient swap space, but I have more than enough RAM, so I’ll ignore warning.
Click on Next