At least 800M free on your hard disk. Type:
bash$ df -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/hda2 5.3G 3.6G 1.4G 72% /
and read the field Avail.
The steps we are going to describe allow to have Oracle 8i, version 8.1.7 running on:
In any case, never underestimate Oracle's system prerequisites.
We focus on a Linux RedHat 7.2 distribution, since we had problems with it and we wanted to use it. The steps we are going to describe should work on any Red Hat 7.2 based Linux distribution.
We assume you have your Linux RedHat 7.2 box installed and working in a reasonable way for you. In any case, 'base' packages, X Windows (the installation routine is a Java GUI) and the development tools regardless of whether you intend doing any coding or not is what you need.
Login as root:
$ su - root
and type whatever password you decided root must have.
Create groups:
bash# groupadd oinstall bash# groupadd dba bash# groupadd oper
Create oracle user and set its password:
bash# useradd oracle -g oinstall -G dba,oper bash# passwd oracle (to change password)
The only Java Virtual Machine compatible with Oracle 8i, version 8.1.7, is:
ftp://sunsite.dk/mirrors/java-linux/JDK-1.1.8/i386/v3/jdk118_v3-glibc-2.1.3.tar.bz2.
Do not think: "newer versions will be less
buggy", as the installer probably won't work. And don't think.
Once downloaded it, move it:
bash# mv jdk118_v3-glibc-2.1.3.tar.bz2 /usr/local
untar it:
bash# tar xvIf jdk118_v3-glibc-2.1.3.tar.bz2
and create a symbolic link to the folder the command here above has just created:
bash# ln -s /usr/local/jdk118_v3 /usr/local/java
Oracle documentation suggests that you make changes to the Linux kernel so you can get more shared memory. If you decide to follow that way, keep the instructions in the Oracle documentation and the Linux Kernel HOWTO at hand to build your new kernel.
In fact, the required changes can be made by setting some parameter in a suitable initialization file. Just follow some steps:
bash# cd /etcand create a new file
rc.config
, if it does not exists.
Inside rc.config
copy the following four lines:
cd /proc/sys/kernel echo 250 32000 100 128 > sem echo 4294967295 > shmmax echo 4096 > shmmni
/etc/rc
and add the line:
/etc/rc.config
In any case, if you want just to start playing with Oracle 8i, version 8.1.7, Linux RedHat 7.2 default settings can work fine, and you do not need to set any kernel parameter, as just described.
There may be some compatibility problems between Oracle 8i and gcc versions >= 2.1. If you experience them, download these rpms:
compat-egcs-6.2-1.1.2.14.i386.rpm
compat-glibc-6.2-2.1.3.2.i386.rpm
compat-libs-6.2-3.i386.rpm
install them, as usual, by:
$ rpm -Uvh compat-egcs-6.2-1.1.2.14.i386.rpm compat-glibc-6.2-2.1.3.2.i386.rpm compat-libs-6.2-3.i386.rpmand, finally set a symbolic link because there is a small installation bug in one of the packages just installed:
bash# ln -s /bin/id /usr/bin/id
Reboot your machine and keep reading...