[ILUG] Oracle on Linux

[Rick Moen]

begin Dave Burke quotation:

> You need to have the Java Run Time Environement installed and working
> on your linux box before you can install oracle. Have a look for the
> JRE on freshmeat.net

Well, not strictly speaking.  If you find the Oracle documentation on 
"non-interactive installation", you can use that to install without the
JRE.  Here's the relevant excerpt:

---<snip>---

Non-Interactive Installation

You may perform a non-interactive, or "silent," install by supplying the
OUI with a response file, a text file that contains values and variables
that are used by the OUI during the installation process. By using a
response file, you can perform an installation without some or any of
the OUI's graphical interface.

Preparing the Response File

There are seven response files, one for each install type and for each
category, included on the Oracle8i CD-ROM. The typical server response
file is almost completely configured to perform a non-interactive,
typical installation using the OUI. The custom response file requires
extensive editing before it can be used as a response file for the OUI.

To use a response file, copy the response file from the Oracle8i CD-ROM
to a drive mounted on your system. For example:

% cd cdrom_mount_point_directory/stage/Response/
% cp ee_typical.rsp local_directory

Edit the response file you want to use with any text editor, to include
information specific to your system. Each file contains instructions for
properly configuring the response file.

Specifying a Response File for the Oracle Universal Installer

To make the OUI use the response file at install time, follow the same
steps as described in the section "Start the OUI", but specify the
location of the response file that you wish to use as a parameter when
running OUI:

% ./runInstaller [-silent] -responseFile filename

To perform a completely silent installation with the OUI, use the flag
-silent. Note that the OUI will fail if you use this flag
and the response file has not been configured. The success or failure of
the installation is logged in the silentInstall.log file in
the /tmp directory.

Error Handling

The OUI treats wrong context, format, or type values as if no value were
specified. Variables which are outside of any section are ignored.

Validation of Values from Response File

Calculation and validation of the response file is performed at install
time by OUI. Failure of the validation process results in the
termination of installation.

---<snip>---

I've always thought requiring a _server_ to have Java on it, just to
install a database, was a bizarre requirement.  But fortunately, as 
you can see, there's a workaround.

-- 
Cheers,                             "Ceterum censeo Linux propaganda est."
Rick Moen                                        -- Seth David Schoen
rick at linuxmafia.com