DOWNLOAD Oracle Application 10g Release 3 for Linux

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Installing Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 on Linux x86

Learn the basics of installing Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Novell SUSE Enterprise Linux, from the bare metal up (for evaluation purposes only).

Contents
Overview
Part I: Installing Linux
    RHEL4
    SLES9
Part II: Configuring Linux for Oracle
    Verify System Requirements
    Create Directories
    Create the Oracle Groups and User Account
    Set Shell Limits for the oracle User
Part III: Installing Oracle
    Install the Software
Conclusion

Published August 2006

The guide provides a walkthrough of installing Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 on commodity hardware for the purpose of evaluation.  If you are new to Linux and/or Oracle, this guide is for you. It starts with the basics and walks you through an installation of Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 from the bare metal up.

This guide will take the approach of offering the easiest paths, with the fewest number of steps for accomplishing a task.  This approach often means making configuration choices that would be inappropriate for anything other than an evaluation.  For that reason, this guide is not appropriate for building production-quality environments, nor does it reflect best practices.

The  Linux distributions certified for Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 are:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux  4 (RHEL4)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (RHEL3)
• Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 (SLES9)

We will cover both of the Linux 2.6 kernel-based distributions: RHEL4 and SLES9.  RHEL3 is not covered here.  

This guide is divided into three parts: Part I covers the installation of the Linux operating system, Part II covers configuring Linux for Oracle and Part III discusses the essentials of installing the Oracle Application Server. 

Hardware used for this walkthrough:

• 2.5GHz P4 CPU
• 1024MB of RAM
• Four SCSI disk drives (1 x 9GB + 3 x 36GB)
• One 100Base-T Ethernet adapter

Your hardware does not have to match this in order to use this guide.  All that is necessary for a basic install is a single CPU, 512MB of RAM, and one disk drive (IDE, SCSI, or FireWire) with at least 700MB of free space.

Now, let's walk through the process of installing the Linux operating system on a server. The instructions assume a fresh install of Linux (as opposed to an upgrade), that the server will be dedicated to Oracle, and that no other operating systems or data are on the server.

Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 is certified to run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (ES or AS) Update 1 or later. (Free evaluation copies of RHEL4 are available for download.) If you have update CDs, you can use the boot CD from the update instead of the boot CD from the base release to automatically apply all updates during the installation. All updates from Red Hat are supported by Oracle.

The easiest and fastest way to apply the updates for a fresh install of Linux is to perform the install by using the update CDs. If Linux is already installed or you don't have the updates on CDs, they can be applied through RHN. Because this guide is designed for a fresh Linux install, you'll use the update CDs.

1. Boot the server using the first CD.
   • You may need to change your BIOS settings to allow booting from the CD.
2. The boot screen appears with the boot: prompt at the bottom of the screen.
   • Select Enter to continue with a graphical install on the console. (For other installation methods and options, refer to the Red Hat Installation Guide.)
   • The installer scans your hardware, briefly displays the Red Hat splash screen, and then begins a series of screen prompts.
3. Language Selection
   • Accept the default.
4. Keyboard Configuration
   • Accept the default.
5. Welcome Screen
   • Click on Next.
6. Disk Partitioning Setup
   • A thorough treatment of disk partitioning is beyond the scope of this guide, which assumes that you are familiar with disk partitioning methods.

     (WARNING: Improperly partitioning a disk is one of the surest and fastest ways to wipe out everything on your hard disk. If you are unsure how to proceed, stop and get help, or you will risk losing data!)

     This guide uses the following partitioning scheme, with ext3 for each filesystem:
     
     The 9GB disk on the first controller (/dev/sda) will hold all Linux and Oracle software and contains the following partitions:
     - 100MB /boot partition
     -1,500MB swap partition—Set this to at least twice the amount of RAM in the system but to no more than 2GB. (Thirty-two-bit systems do not support swap files larger than 2GB.) If you need more than 2GB of swap space, create multiple swap partitions.
     -7,150MB root partition—This partition will be used for everything, including /usr, /tmp, /var, /opt, /home, and more. This approach is purely to simplify installation for the purposes of this guide. A more robust partitioning scheme would separate these directories onto separate filesystems.

7. Boot Loader Configuration
   • Accept the default.
8. Network Configuration
   • It is usually best to configure application servers with a static IP address. To do so, click on Edit .
   • A pop-up window appears. Uncheck the Configure using DHCP box, and enter the IP Address and Netmask for the server. Be sure that Activate on boot is checked, and click on OK .
   • In the Hostname box, select manually and enter the hostname.
   • In the Miscellaneous Settings box, enter the remaining network settings.
9. Firewall Configuration
   • For the purposes of this walk-through, no firewall is configured. Select No firewall
   • Select Disabled on the "Enable SELinux" drop down list. 
   • Click on Proceed when the "Warning - No Firewall" window appears.
10. Additional Language Support
    • Accept the default.
11. Time Zone Selection
    • Choose the time settings that are appropriate for your area. Setting the system clock to UTC is usually a good practice for servers. To do so, click on System clock uses UTC.
12. Set Root Password
    
    • Enter a password for root, and enter it again to confirm.
13. Package Installation Defaults
    • Select Customize software packages to be installed.
14. Package Group Selection
    • Select only the package sets shown here and leave all others unselected. 
    • Desktop
    • X Window System
    • Gnome
    • Applications
    • Graphical Internet (optional)
    • Servers
    • Do not select anything in this group.
    • Development
    • Development Tools
    • System
    • Administration Tools
    • System Tools
    • Add the package 'sysstat' by clicking on the Details link and selecting "sysstat - The sar an iostat system monitoring commands." from the Optional Packages list.
    • Miscellaneous
    • Do not select anything in this group.
    • Click on Next to proceed.
15. Installing Packages
    • Software will be copied to the hard disk and installed. Change disks as prompted.
16. Congratulations
    • Remove the installation media from the system, and click on Reboot .
17. The system automatically reboots and presents a new welcome screen.
    • Click on Next.
18. License Agreement
    • Read the license agreement. If you agree to the terms, select Yes, I agree to the License Agreement and click on Next.
19. Date and Time
    • Set the Date and Time.
    • If you want to use an NTP server (recommended), select Enable Network Time Protocol and enter the name of the NTP server.
20. Display
    • Accept the defaults or change as required.
21. Red Hat Login
• Enter your Red Hat Network login and password or create a new one.
22. System User
• Create an account for yourself.
• Do not create an account for oracle at this time. Creating the oracle account is covered later in this section.
23. Additional CDs
• Click on Next.
24. Finish Setup
• Click on Next.
25. A graphical login screen appears.
26. Congratulations! Your RHEL4 software is now installed.

Verifying Your Installation

Once you've completed the steps above, all of the packages required for Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 will have been installed.  Verify this using the example below.

• glibc-2.3.4-2.9
• glibc-common-2.3.4-2.9
• binutils-2.15.92.0.2-13
• compat-libstdc++-296-2.96-132.7.2
• gcc-3.4.3-22.1
• gcc-c++-3.4.3-22.1
• libstdc++-3.4.3-22.1
• libstdc++-devel-3.4.3-22.1
• openmotif21-2.1.30-11.RHEL4.4
• pdksh-5.2.14-30
• setarch-1.6-1
• make-3.80-5
• gnome-libs-1.4.1.2.90-44.1
• sysstat-5.0.5-1
  
• compat-db-4.1.25-9
  
• control-center-2.8.0-12
  
• xscreensaver-4.18-5.rhel4.2

rpm -q glibc glibc-common binutils compat-libstdc++-296 gcc gcc-c++ libstdc++ libstdc++-devel openmotif21 \
pdksh setarch make gnome-libs sysstat compat-db control-center xscreensaver

Ex: 
# rpm -q glibc glibc-common binutils compat-libstdc++-296 gcc gcc-c++ libstdc++ libstdc++-devel openmotif21 \
> pdksh setarch make gnome-libs sysstat compat-db control-center xscreensaver
glibc-2.3.4-2.13
glibc-common-2.3.4-2.13
binutils-2.15.92.0.2-15
compat-libstdc++-296-2.96-132.7.2
gcc-3.4.4-2
gcc-c++-3.4.4-2
libstdc++-3.4.4-2
libstdc++-devel-3.4.4-2
openmotif21-2.1.30-11.RHEL4.4
pdksh-5.2.14-30.3
setarch-1.6-1
make-3.80-5
gnome-libs-1.4.1.2.90-44.1
sysstat-5.0.5-1
compat-db-4.1.25-9
control-center-2.8.0-12.rhel4.2
xscreensaver-4.18-5.rhel4.9

Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 is certified to run on SLES9 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or above. Service Packs and package updates are available from Novell, either on CDs or online via its support portal. In this guide, we will install on the SLES9 base release.

1. Boot the server, using the SLES9 CD.
   • You may need to change your BIOS settings to allow booting from the CD.
2. The Novell SLES installation screen appears.
   • Select Installation.
   • The installer scans your hardware and presents the YaST interface.
3. Language Selection
   • Accept the license agreement.
   • Accept the default, English (US).
4. Installation Settings
   • Select New Installation.
5. Partitioning
   • A thorough treatment of disk partitioning is beyond the scope of this guide, which assumes that you are familiar with disk partitioning methods.

     (WARNING: Improperly partitioning a disk is one of the surest and fastest ways to wipe out everything on your hard disk. If you are unsure how to proceed, stop and get help, or you will risk losing data!)

     This guide uses the following partitioning scheme, with ext3 for each filesystem:
     
     The 9GB disk on the first controller (/dev/sda) will hold all Linux and Oracle software and contains the following partitions:
     - 100MB /boot partition
     -1,500MB swap partition—Set this to at least twice the amount of RAM in the system but to no more than 2GB. (Thirty-two-bit systems do not support swap files larger than 2GB.) If you need more than 2GB of swap space, create multiple swap partitions.
     -7,150MB root partition—this partition will be used for everything, including /usr, /tmp, /var, /opt, /home, and more. This approach is purely to simplify installation for the purposes of this guide. A more robust partitioning scheme would separate these directories onto separate filesystems.

6. Software
   • Click on the link for Software.
   • The Software Selection screen appears.
   • Click on Detailed Selection.
   • The left-hand window displays a list of software selections. Click on the box next to each selection to select/deselect it.
   • Select the following software (this is the recommended set; all others should be deselected):
     - Basis Runtime System
     - YaST
     - Graphical Base System
     - Linux Tools
     - C/C++ Compiler and Tools
     - Basis Sound Libraries and Tools
     - GNOME System
     - Analyzing Tools
   • It is recommended that the following items not be installed, as they may conflict with Oracle products providing the same service:
     - Simple Webserver
     - Authentication Server (NIS, LDAP, Kerberos)
   • Install openmotif21-libs and gnome-libs-devel
     - Change the Filter selection at the top to "Package Groups"
     - Scroll down and select System --> Libraries
     - In the right-hand window, scroll down and select openmotif21-libs
     - In the left-hand window, select Development --> Libraries --> GNOME
     - On the right-hand window, select gnome-libs-devel
   • Click on Accept
7. Time Zone
   • Set your time zone.
8. Click on Accept.
9. A warning box appears. Click on Yes, install when ready to proceed.
10. Change CDs as prompted by the installer.
11. Confirm Hardware Detection
    • Network Cards – Click on OK.
12. Password for "root." the system administrator.
• Enter the root password and repeat to confirm.
13. Configure your network interface(s), and click on Next when ready to proceed.
    • Static IP addresses are recommended for servers.
    • There is no need to configure printers, modems, ISDN adapters, or sound in order to build an application server.
14. Test Internet Connection
    • There is no need to connect to the Internet to download release notes or Linux updates. Select No, Skip This Test.
15. Service Configuration
    • There is no need to configure CA Management or OpenLDAP Server. Select Skip Configuration.
16. User Authentication Method
    • Select Local(/etc/passwd).
17. Add a New Local User
    • Create an account for yourself. Do not create the oracle account at this time; we'll do that later.
18. Release Notes
• Click on Next
19. Hardware Configuration
    • Confirm Hardware Detection – Graphics Cards – click on Continue.
    • There is no need to configure sound cards for an application server – click on Skip.
    • If the graphics card and monitor have been successfully detected, click on Next. Otherwise, click on the Graphics Cards link and enter the correct information.
20. Installation Completed
    • Click on Finish.
21. Congratulations! Your SLES9 software is now installed.

Once you've completed the steps above, all of the packages required for Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 will have been installed.  Verify this using the example below.

• glibc-2.3.3-98.28
• gcc-3.3.3-43.24
• gcc-c++-3.3.3-43.24
• libstdc++-3.3.3-43.24
• libstdc++-devel-3.3.3-43.24
• openmotif21-libs-2.1.30MLI4-119.1
• pdksh-5.2.14-780.1
• make-3.80-184.1
• gnome-libs-1.4.1.7-671.1
• gnome-libs-devel-1.4.1.7-671.1
• sysstat-5.0.1-35.1
• binutils-2.15.90.0.1.1-32.5

rpm -q glibc gcc gcc-c++ libstdc++ libstdc++-devel openmotif21-libs \
 pdksh make gnome-libs gnome-libs-devel sysstat binutils

Ex: 
# rpm -q glibc gcc gcc-c++ libstdc++ libstdc++-devel openmotif21-libs \
>  pdksh make gnome-libs gnome-libs-devel sysstat binutils orarun
glibc-2.3.3-98.47
gcc-3.3.3-43.34
gcc-c++-3.3.3-43.34
libstdc++-3.3.3-43.34
libstdc++-devel-3.3.3-43.34
openmotif21-libs-2.1.30MLI4-119.4
pdksh-5.2.14-780.7
make-3.80-184.1
gnome-libs-1.4.1.7-671.1
gnome-libs-devel-1.4.1.7-671.1
sysstat-5.0.1-35.4
binutils-2.15.90.0.1.1-32.10

ln -sf /usr/bin/perl /usr/local/bin/perl
ln -sf /bin/fuser /sbin/fuser

Part II: Configuring Linux for Oracle

Now that the Linux software is installed, you need to configure it for Oracle. This section walks through the steps required to configure Linux for Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3.

Verifying System Requirements

To verify that your system meets the minimum requirements for a Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3, log in as root and run the commands below.

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

Ex:
# grep MemTotal /proc/meminfo
MemTotal: 1034680 kB
# grep SwapTotal /proc/meminfo
SwapTotal: 1534196 kB

The minimum RAM required is 512MB, and the minimum required swap space is 1024MB. 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.

You also need 700MB of available disk space for the Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 software. 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

Ex:
# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3 6.8G 1.3G 5.2G 20% /
/dev/sda1 99M 17M 77M 18% /boot

The example shows that the /tmp directory does not have its own filesystem. (It's part of the root filesystem for this guide.) With 5.2 GB available, the root filesystem has just enough space for the installation (2.5 + 1.2 + 0.4 = 4.1GB) with a little room left over.

Create the Oracle Groups and User Account

Next, create the Linux groups and user account that will be used to install and maintain the Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 software. The user account will be called oracle, and the group will be oinstall. Execute the following commands as root:

/usr/sbin/groupadd oinstall
/usr/sbin/useradd -m -g oinstall oracle
id oracle

Ex:
# /usr/sbin/groupadd oinstall
# /usr/sbin/useradd -m -g oinstall oracle
# id oracle
uid=501(oracle) gid=502(oinstall) groups=502(oinstall)

Set the password on the oracle account:

passwd oracle

Ex:
# passwd oracle
Changing password for user oracle.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

Create Directories

Now create directories to store the Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 software and its files.

The following assumes that the directories are being created in the root filesystem. This is done for the sake of simplicity and is not recommended as a general practice. These directories would normally be created as separate filesystems.

Issue the following commands as root:

mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle
chown -R oracle:oinstall /u01/app/oracle
chmod -R 775 /u01/app/oracle

Ex:
# mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle
# chown -R oracle:oinstall /u01/app/oracle
# chmod -R 775 /u01/app/oracle

Setting Shell Limits for the oracle User

Oracle recommends setting limits on the number of processes and open files each Linux account may use. To make these changes, cut and paste the following commands as root:

cat >> /etc/security/limits.conf <<EOF
* soft nproc 2047
* hard nproc 16384
* soft nofile 2048
* hard nofile 65536
EOF

cat >> /etc/pam.d/login <<EOF
session required /lib/security/pam_limits.so
EOF

For RHEL4, use the following:

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

cat >> /etc/csh.login <<EOF
if ( \$USER == "oracle" ) then
 limit maxproc 16384
 limit descriptors 65536
 umask 022
endif
EOF

For SLES 9, use the following:

cat >> /etc/profile.local <<EOF
if [ \$USER = "oracle" ]; then 
 if [ \$SHELL = "/bin/ksh" ]; then
 ulimit -p 16384
 ulimit -n 65536
 else
 ulimit -u 16384 -n 65536
 fi
 umask 022
fi
EOF

cat >> /etc/csh.login.local <<EOF
if ( \$USER == "oracle" ) then
 limit maxproc 16384
 limit descriptors 65536
 umask 022
endif
EOF

Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 for Linux can be downloaded from OTN. Oracle offers a development and testing license free of charge. However, no support is provided and the license does not permit production use. A full description of the license agreement is available on OTN.

The easiest way to make the Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 distribution media available on your server is to download them directly to the server.

Use the graphical login to log in as oracle.

Create a directory to contain the Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 distribution:

mkdir AS10gR3

After downloading Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 from OTN, unzip and extract the file:

cd AS10gR3
cpio -idmv < as_linux_x86_101300_disk1.cpio

Install the Application Server Software

Log in using the oracle account.

Ex:
$ cd $HOME/AS10gR3

Start the Oracle Universal Installer.

$ ./runInstaller

1. Oracle Application Server 10g 10.1.3.0.0 Installation
• Installation Directory: /u01/app/oracle/product/10.1.3/OracleAS_1
• Select Basic Installation
• Installation Type: Integrated Webserver, J2EE Server, Process Management
• Instance Name: appserver
• Administration Name: oc4jadmin (cannot be changed)
• Administration Password:  Enter a password and confirm
• Click on Install
2. Specify Inventory Directory and Credentials
   
   • Inventory Directory: /u01/app/oracle/oraInventory
   • Operating System group name:  oinstall
   • Click on Next
   • Run the indicated script as root and click on Continue
     
3. Product-specific Prerequisite Checks
   • If you've been following the steps in this guide, all the checks should pass without difficulty. If one or more checks fail, correct the problem before proceeding. 
   • Click on Next
   • Dismiss the Warning window that may appear regarding installed physical memory by clicking on OK.
     
4. Install
• Watch the installation process
5. Configuration Assistants
• The configuration assistants should succeed without any action on your part.
6. Setup Privileges
• At the end of the installation, a pop up window will appear indicating that a script needs to be run as root.  Login as root and run the indicated script.
• Click on OK when finished.
7. End of Installation
   • Make note of the URLs presented in the summary, and click on Exit when ready.
8. Congratulations! Your new Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 is up and ready for use.
   

Now that your application server is up and running, you can begin exploring the many new features offered in Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3.  If you're unsure where to begin, the Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide contains everything you need to get started. OTN also has a number of guides designed to help you get the most out of Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3.