Installing Oracle Database 12c on Windows

Overview

    Purpose

    This tutorial shows you how to install the Oracle Database 12c software on Microsoft Windows along with a default instance of an Oracle Database that contains example schemas ( including the HR schema).

    Time to Complete

    Approximately 1 hour.

    Introduction

    The Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) is used to install the Oracle Database software. OUI is a graphical user interface utility that enables you to:

    • View the Oracle software that is installed on your machine
    • Install new Oracle Database software
    • Delete Oracle software that is no longer required

    During the installation process, OUI will start the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) which can install a precreated default database that contains example schemas or can guide you through the process of creating and configuring a customized database.

    If you do not create a database during installation, you can invoke DBCA after you have installed the software, to create one or more databases.

    Hardware and Software Requirements

    Before installing the software, OUI performs several automated checks to ensure that your computer fulfills the basic hardware and software requirements for an Oracle Database installation. If your computer does not meet the requirements, an error message is displayed. Some of the requirements to install the software are:

    • Minimum 2 GB of physical memory
    • Sufficient virtual memory (swap)
    • At least 10 GB of free disk space

    Prerequisites

    Before starting this tutorial, you should:

    • Have access to the Oracle Database 12c distribution media, or have an internet connection so that you can download the software
    • Have general knowledge of product installation

Downloading the Oracle Database Software

    In this section, you will be downloading the files required to install Oracle database on a Windows environment.

    Open a web browser of your choice and navigate to http://otn.oracle.com/windows. By default, the page displays the What's New tab, showcasing news about Oracle on Windows.

    Note: In this OBE, we use Internet Explorer to download the software.

    Click the Downloads tab. 

    Click on the latest version of Oracle Database 12c (x64).

    The software downloads page displays the files required to download the database. It lists a set of software files to install software such as, Oracle Database Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database Gateways with the Oracle database. Each set displays a short description of what the file includes. You can choose to download any set of software depending on your requirement.

    In this OBE, we install Oracle Database 12c. Accept the license agreement and click the files under Oracle Database 12c Release ... for Microsoft Windows (x64) to download.


    Log into your Oracle web account. If you do not have an Oracle account, click the "Sign Up" link to create one. Then choose the location where you want to download the .zip files. 

    After downloading the files, use the default built-in extraction tool provided by Windows, or tools such as 7-zip to extract the .zip files. In this OBE, we use the built-in extractor to extract the software files.

    Right click winx64_12c_database_1of2 and select Extract All...

    Choose the folder of your choice and click Extract. In this OBE, we extract the file to the F:\windows_db_12c\winx64_12c_database_1of2 folder.

    The file winx64_12c_database_2of2.zip must be extracted into the same folder where the first file was extracted. Right click winx64_12c_database_2of2.zip, select the Extract All... option and specify the same location where the first file was extracted. In this OBE, we extract the files to the F:\windows_db_12c\winx64_12c_database_1of2 folder. Click Extract.

    The software files are extracted. Expand the winx64_12c_database_1 folder.

Installing the Oracle Database Software

    In this section, you will be installing the Oracle Database and creating an Oracle Home User account.

    Expand the database folder that you extracted in the previous section. Double-click setup.

    Click Yes in the User Account Control window to continue with the installation.

    The Configure Security Updates window appears. Enter your email address and My Oracle Support password to receive security issue notifications via email. If you do not wish to receive notifications via email, deselect "I wish to receive security updates via My Oracle Support". Click Next to continue. Click "Yes" in the confirmation window to confirm your preference.



    The Download Software Updates window appears with the following options:

    • Select "Use My Oracle Support credentials for download" to download and apply the latest software updates.

    • Select "Use pre-downloaded software updates" to apply software updates that you previously downloaded.

    • Select "Skip software updates" if do not want to apply any updates.

    Accept the default and click Next.


    The Select Installation Option window appears with the following options:

    • Select "Create and configure a database" to install the database, create database instance and configure the database.

    • Select "Install database software only" to only install the database software.

    • Select "Upgrade an existing database" to upgrade the database that is already installed.

    In this OBE, we create and configure the database. Select the Create and configure a database option and click Next.

    The System Class window appears. Select Desktop Class or Server Class depending on the type of system you are using. In this OBE, we will perform the installation on a desktop/laptop. Select Desktop class and click Next.

    The Oracle Home User Selection window appears. Starting with Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1), Oracle Database on Microsoft Windows supports the use of an Oracle Home User, specified at the time of installation. This Oracle Home User is used to run the Windows services for a Oracle Home, and is similar to the Oracle User on Oracle Database on Linux. This user is associated with an Oracle Home and cannot be changed to a different user post installation.

    Note:

    • Different Oracle homes on a system can share the same Oracle Home User or use different Oracle Home Users.
    • The Oracle Home User is different from an Oracle Installation User. The Oracle Installation User is the user who requires administrative privileges to install Oracle products. The Oracle Home User is used to run the Windows services for the Oracle Home.

      The window provides the following options:

    • If you select "Use Existing Windows User", the user credentials provided must be a standard Windows user account (not an administrator).
      • If this is a single instance database installation, the user can be a local user, a domain user, or a managed services account.
      • If this is an Oracle RAC database installation, the existing user must be a Windows domain user. The Oracle installer will display an error if this user has administrator privileges.
    • If you select "Create New Windows User", the Oracle installer will create a new standard Windows user account. This user will be assigned as the Oracle Home User. Please note that this user will not have login privileges. This option is not available for an Oracle RAC Database installation.
    • If you select "Use Windows Built-in Account", the system uses the Windows Built-in account as the Oracle Home User.

    Select the Create New Windows User option. Enter the user name as OracleHomeUser1 and password  as Welcome1. Click Next.

    Note: Remember the Windows User password. It will be required later to administer or manage database services.

    The Typical Install Configuration window appears. Click on a text field and then the balloon icon ( )to know more about the field. Note that by default, the installer creates a container database along with a pluggable database called "pdborcl". The pluggable database contains the sample HR schema. Change the Global database name to orcl. Enter the "Administrative password" as Oracle_1. This password will be used later to log into administrator accounts such as SYS and SYSTEM. Click Next.

    The prerequisite checks are performed and a Summary window appears. Review the settings and click Install.

    Note: Depending on your firewall settings, you may need to grant permissions to allow java to access the network.

    The progress window appears.

    The Database Configuration Assistant creates the database.

    After the Database Configuration Assistant creates the database, you can navigate to https://localhost:5500/em as a SYS user to manage the database using Enterprise Manager Database Express. You can click "Password Management..." to unlock accounts. Click OK to continue.


    The Finish window appears. Click Close to exit the Oracle Universal Installer.

Verifying the Installation

    In this section, you will be performing steps to verify the installation of Oracle Database. If you had changed the default location to install the database, make sure to  specify the correct location of the files in the following steps. Alternatively, you can also perform a quick search using the Windows Start Menu to locate files.

    View Oracle Services

      Navigate to C:\Windows\system32 using Windows Explorer. Double-click services. The Services window appears, displaying a list of services.



      Scroll down to view a list Oracle services. You see that most of the Oracle services are started successfully by the database.

    View Oracle Home on the File System

      Navigate to the C:\app\OracleHomeUser1 folder. This folder contains database files (in oradata folder) and the Oracle Database software (in the product folder).

      Navigate to C:\app\OracleHomeUser1\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1 folder. This folder is the new "Oracle Home" created by the installer and contains software files related to the database.

    View the tnsnames.ora File

      Navigate to C:\app\OracleHomeUser1\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1\NETWORK\ADMIN. Double-click tnsnames.ora to view the network configuration settings.

      You see that a connect alias called "ORCL" has been created. This "ORCL" alias points to the container database with the service name "ORCL".

      Create a database connect alias called "PDBORCL" and specify the network configuration settings to access the pluggable database "PDBORCL" that we created during installation. Copy the following code and paste it in the tnsnames.ora file. If necessary, modify the host and port to match the values in the ORCL alias.

      PDBORCL =
        (DESCRIPTION =
          (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = localhost)(PORT = 1521))
          (CONNECT_DATA =
            (SERVER = DEDICATED)
            (SERVICE_NAME = pdborcl)
          )
        )

      Save and close the file.

Connecting to Oracle Database Using SQL*Plus

    In this section, you will be connecting to the pluggable database using the SQL*Plus utility.

    Open a command prompt and execute the following command. This command uses SQL*Plus to connect to the pluggable database as a system administrator:

    sqlplus sys/Oracle_1@pdborcl as sysdba;

    Note: If you had chosen a different administrative password during installation, replace Oracle_1 with the appropriate password in the command.

    By default, the HR schema is locked. Execute the following command to unlock the HR schema.

    alter user hr identified by hr account unlock;

    Execute the following commands to connect to the HR schema in the pluggable database and query the EMPLOYEES table.

    connect hr/hr@pdborcl
    select count(*) from employees;

    The EMPLOYEES table contains 107 rows. This verifies that the HR schema was created successfully when the database was installed.

Summary

    In this tutorial, you have learned how to:

    • Download the Oracle database software
    • Install the Oracle database software in a Windows environment
    • Create a database containing example schemas
    • Verify the database installation
    • Connect to an Oracle instance using the SQL*Plus utility
    • Unlock  and query the HR schema

    Resources

    Credits

    • Lead Curriculum Developer: Supriya Ananth
    • Other Contributors: Christian Shay

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