2.2.1 Memory Requirements

The following are the memory requirements for installing Oracle Database 11g Release 1:

• At least 256 MB of RAM.

  To determine the RAM size, enter the following command:

  # /usr/sbin/prtconf | grep "Memory size"
  

  If the size of the RAM is less than the required size, then you must install more memory before continuing.

• The following table describes the relationship between installed RAM and the configured swap space requirement:

  Available RAM	Swap Space Required
  Between 257 MB and 512 MB	Double the size of RAM
  Between 513 MB and 2048 MB	1.5 times the size of RAM
  Between 2049 MB and 8192 MB	Equal to the size of RAM
  More than 8192 MB	0.75 times the size of RAM

  
  

  To determine the size of the configured swap space, enter the following command:

  # /usr/sbin/swap -s
  

  If necessary, refer to the operating system documentation for information about how to configure additional swap space.

• To determine the available RAM and swap space, enter the following command:

  # sar -r i n
  

  where, n is the number of seconds to delay for the next iterations and i is the number of iterations you want to test.

2.2.2 System Architecture

To determine whether the system architecture can run the software, enter the following command:

# /bin/isainfo -kv

2.2.3 Disk Space Requirements

The following are the disk space requirements for installing Oracle Database 11g Release 1:

• The minimum disk space requirement for a client install in the /tmp directory is 150 MB.

  To determine the amount of disk space available in the /tmp directory, enter the following command:

  On Solaris 10:

  # df -h /tmp
  

  Other Solaris Platforms:

  # df -k /tmp
  

  If there is less than 400 MB of free disk space available in the /tmp directory, then complete one of the following steps:

  • Delete unnecessary files from the /tmp directory to meet the disk space requirement.

  • Set the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables when setting the oracle user's environment.

  • Extend the file system that contains the /tmp directory. If necessary, contact the system administrator for information about extending file systems.

• To determine the amount of free disk space available, enter the following command:

  On Solaris 10:

  # df -h
  

  Other Solaris Platforms:

  # df -k
  

  Installation Type	Requirement for Software Files (MB)
  Instant Client	476
  Administrator	2.12 (GB)
  Runtime	1.49 (GB)
  Custom (maximum)	1.74 (GB)

  
  

2.3.1 Operating System Requirements

The following are the operating sytem requirements for Oracle Database 11g Release 1:

• Solaris 9 Update 7

• Solaris 10

To determine the distribution and version of Solaris installed, enter the following command:

# uname -r
5.9

In this example, the version shown is Solaris 9 (5.9). If necessary, refer to your operating system documentation for information about upgrading the operating system.

2.3.2 Package Requirements

The following are the list of packages required for Oracle Database 11g Release 1.

SUNWarc
SUNWbtool
SUNWhea
SUNWlibC
SUNWlibm
SUNWlibms
SUNWsprot
SUNWtoo
SUNWi1of
SUNWi1cs
SUNWi15cs
SUNWxwfnt
SUNWsprox

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/font-requirements.html

To determine whether the required packages are installed, enter a command similar to the following:

# pkginfo -i SUNWarc SUNWbtool SUNWhea SUNWlibm SUNWlibms SUNWsprot \
 SUNWsprox SUNWtoo SUNWi1of SUNWi1cs SUNWi15cs SUNWxwfnt

If a package is not installed, then install it. Refer to your operating system or software documentation for information about installing packages.

2.3.3 Compiler Requirements

The following are the compiler requirements for Pro*C/C++, Oracle Call Interface, Oracle C++ Call Interface, Oracle XML Developer's Kit (XDK):

• Sun ONE Studio 8 (C and C++ 5.5)

• gcc 3.4.2

2.3.4 Instant Client Light Requirements

In addition to the requirements described in the preceding section, if you plan to use Instant Client Light, then the applications must use the following languages and character sets:

• Language: Any language that is supported by Oracle

• Territory: Any territory that is supported by Oracle

• Character sets:

  • Single byte

    • US7ASCII

    • WE8DEC

    • WE8MSWIN1252

    • WE8ISO8859P1

  • Unicode

    • UTF8

    • AL16UTF16

    • AL32UTF8

    Instant Client Light can connect to databases having one of the following database character sets:

    • US7ASCII

    • WE8DEC

    • WE8MSWIN1252

    • WE8ISO8859P1

    • WE8EBCDIC37C

    • WE8EBCDIC1047

    • UTF8

    • AL32UTF8

The language, territory, and character sets are determined by the NLS_LANG environment variable.

2.3.5 Additional Software Requirements

Depending on the components you want to use, you must ensure that the following software are installed:

• Oracle JDBC/OCI Drivers

• Browser Requirements

• Programming languages

2.3.6 Patch Requirements

The following are the list of patches required for Oracle Database 11g Release 1:

# /usr/sbin/patchadd -p | grep patch_number(without version number)

# /usr/sbin/patchadd -p | grep 111713

http://sunsolve.sun.com

2.4.1 Creating the Oracle Inventory Group

You must create the Oracle Inventory group if it does not already exist. The following subsections describe how to determine the Oracle Inventory group name, if it exists, and how to create it if necessary.

Determining Whether the Oracle Inventory Group Exists

When you install Oracle software on the system for the first time, Oracle Universal Installer creates the oraInst.loc file. This file identifies the name of the Oracle Inventory group and the path of the Oracle Inventory directory.

To determine whether the Oracle Inventory group exists, enter the following command:

# more /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc

If the output of this command shows the oinstall group name, then the group already exists.

If the oraInst.loc file exists, then the output from this command is similar to the following:

inventory_loc=/u01/app/oracle/oraInventory
inst_group=oinstall

The inst_group parameter shows the name of the Oracle Inventory group, oinstall.

Creating the Oracle Inventory Group

If the oraInst.loc file does not exist, then enter the following command to create the Oracle Inventory group:

# /usr/sbin/groupadd oinstall

2.4.2 Creating the Oracle Software Owner User

You must create an Oracle software owner user in the following circumstances:

• If an Oracle software owner user does not exist, for example, if this is the first installation of Oracle software on the system

• If an Oracle software owner user exists, but you want to use a different operating system user

# id oracle

uid=440(oracle) gid=200(oinstall) groups=201(dba),202(oper)

2.5.1 Oracle Base Directory

The Oracle base directory is a top-level directory for Oracle software installations. It is analogous to the C:\Oracle directory used for Oracle software installations on Microsoft Windows systems. On Solaris systems, the Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines recommend that you use a path similar to the following for the Oracle base directory:

/mount_point/app/oracle_sw_owner

In this example:

• mount_point is the mount point directory for the file system that will contain the Oracle software.

  The examples in this guide use /u01 for the mount point directory. However, you could choose another mount point directory, such as /oracle or /opt/oracle.

• oracle_sw_owner is the operating system user name of the Oracle software owner, for example oracle.

You need to specify the ORACLE_BASE folder that contains all Oracle products.

You can use the same Oracle base directory for more than one installation or you can create separate Oracle base directories for different installations. If different operating system users install Oracle software on the same system, then each user must create a separate Oracle base directory. The following example Oracle base directories could all exist on the same system:

/u01/app/oracle
/u01/app/orauser
/opt/oracle/app/oracle

The following sections describe how to identify existing Oracle base directories that may be suitable for the installation and how to create an Oracle base directory if necessary.

Regardless of whether you create an Oracle base directory or decide to use an existing one, you must set the ORACLE_BASE environment variable to specify the full path to this directory.

2.5.2 Oracle Inventory Directory

The Oracle Inventory directory (oraInventory) stores an inventory of all software installed on the system. It is required by, and shared by, all Oracle software installations on a single system.

The first time you install Oracle software on a system, Oracle Universal Installer prompts you to specify the path to this directory. Oracle recommends that you choose the following path:

oracle_base/oraInventory

Oracle Universal Installer creates the directory that you specify and sets the correct owner, group, and permissions for it. You do not need to create it.

2.5.3 Oracle Home Directory

The Oracle home directory is the directory where you choose to install the software for a particular Oracle product. You must install different Oracle products, or different releases of the same Oracle product, in separate Oracle home directories. When you run Oracle Universal Installer, it prompts you to specify the path to this directory, as well as a name that identifies it. The directory that you specify must be a subdirectory of the Oracle base directory. Oracle recommends that you specify a path similar to the following for the Oracle home directory:

oracle_base/product/11.1.0/client_1

Oracle Universal Installer creates the directory path that you specify under the Oracle base directory. It also sets the correct owner, group, and permissions on it. You do not need to create this directory.

2.6.1 Identifying an Existing Oracle Base Directory

Existing Oracle base directories may not have paths that comply with OFA guidelines. However, if you identify an existing Oracle Inventory directory or existing Oracle home directories, then you can usually identify the Oracle base directories, as follows:

• Identifying an existing Oracle Inventory directory

  Enter the following command to view the contents of the oraInst.loc file:

  # more /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc
  

  If the oraInst.loc file exists, then the output from this command is similar to the following:

  inventory_loc=/u01/app/oracle/oraInventory
  inst_group=oinstall
  

  The inventory_loc parameter identifies the Oracle Inventory directory (oraInventory). The parent directory of the oraInventory directory is typically an Oracle base directory. In the previous example, /u01/app/oracle is an Oracle base directory.

• Identifying existing Oracle home directories

  Enter the following command to view the contents of the oratab file:

  # more /var/opt/oracle/oratab
  

  If the oratab file exists, then it contains lines similar to the following:

  *:/u03/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1:N
  *:/opt/orauser/infra_904:N
  *:/oracle/9.2.0:N
  

  The directory paths specified on each line identify Oracle home directories. Directory paths that end with the user name of the Oracle software owner that you want to use are valid choices for an Oracle base directory. If you intend to use the oracle user to install the software, then you could choose one of the following directories from the previous example:

  /u03/app/oracle
  /oracle
  

  Note:

  If possible, choose a directory path similar to the first (/u03/app/oracle). This path complies with the OFA guidelines.

• Identifying existing Oracle base directories

  After you have located the Oracle home directory you can issue the following command to confirm the location of Oracle base:

  cat inventory/ContentsXML/oraclehomeproperties.xml
  

To continue:

• If an Oracle base directory exists and you want to use it, then refer to the "Configuring the oracle User's Environment" section.

  When you configure the oracle user's environment later in this chapter, set the ORACLE_BASE environment variable to specify the directory you chose.

• If an Oracle base directory does not exist on the system or if you want to create an Oracle base directory, then refer to the following section.

2.6.2 Creating an Oracle Base Directory

Before you create an Oracle base directory, you must identify an appropriate file system with disk space

To identify an appropriate file system:

1. To determine the free disk space on each mounted file system use the following command:

   # df -k 
   

2. From the display, identify a file system that has appropriate free space.

3. Note the name of the mount point directory for the file system that you identified.

To create the Oracle base directory and specify the correct owner, group, and permissions for it:

1. Enter commands similar to the following to create the recommended subdirectories in the mount point directory that you identified and set the appropriate owner, group, and permissions on them:

   # mkdir -p /mount_point/app/oracle_sw_owner
   # chown -R oracle:oinstall /mount_point/app/oracle_sw_owner
   # chmod -R 775 /mount_point/app/oracle_sw_owner
   

   For example, if the mount point you identify is /u01 and oracle is the user name of the Oracle software owner, then the recommended Oracle base directory path is as follows:

   /u01/app/oracle
   

2. When you configure the oracle user's environment later in this chapter, set the ORACLE_BASE environment variable to specify the Oracle base directory that you have created.