Oracle Database 23c Free RPM Installation On Oracle Linux 8 (OL8)

Oracle 23c free developer-release can be installed on Oracle Linux 8 using an RPM. This article describes the RPM installation of Oracle Database 23c free 64-bit on Oracle Linux 8 (OL8) 64-bit. The article is based on a server installation with a minimum of 2G swap and secure Linux set to permissive.

Hosts File

The "/etc/hosts" file must contain a fully qualified name for the server.

<IP-address>  <fully-qualified-machine-name>  <machine-name>

For example.

127.0.0.1       localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4

192.168.56.107  ol8-23.localdomain  ol8-23

Set the correct hostname in the "/etc/hostname" file.

ol8-23.localdomain

Oracle Installation

Download the relevant RPM from download page here.

◉ oracle-database-free-23c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm

With the RPM file downloaded, we can install the Oracle prerequisites using the following commands as the "root" user.

dnf install -y oraclelinux-developer-release-el8

dnf install -y oracle-database-preinstall-23c

We now install the 23c software using the following command as the root user. This assumes the RPM file is in the "/tmp" directory.

dnf -y localinstall /tmp/oracle-database-free-23c-1.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm

The ORACLE_HOME for the software installation is "/opt/oracle/product/23c/dbhomeFree".

Create Database

In addition to the software installation, the RPM creates a script that allows us to create a demo database called "FREE", with a pluggable database (PDB) called "FREEPDB1". In the following example we set the DB_PASSWORD environment variable so we can do a silent database creation using the script.

# export DB_PASSWORD=SysPassword1

# (echo "${DB_PASSWORD}"; echo "${DB_PASSWORD}";) | /etc/init.d/oracle-free-23c configure

Specify a password to be used for database accounts. Oracle recommends that the password entered should be at least 8 characters in length, contain at least 1 uppercase character, 1 lower case character and 1 digit [0-9]. Note that the same password will be used for SYS, SYSTEM and PDBADMIN accounts:

Confirm the password:

Configuring Oracle Listener.

Listener configuration succeeded.

Configuring Oracle Database FREE.

Enter SYS user password:

*************

Enter SYSTEM user password:

**************

Enter PDBADMIN User Password:

************

Prepare for db operation

7% complete

Copying database files

29% complete

Creating and starting Oracle instance

30% complete

33% complete

36% complete

39% complete

43% complete

Completing Database Creation

47% complete

49% complete

50% complete

Creating Pluggable Databases

54% complete

71% complete

Executing Post Configuration Actions

93% complete

Running Custom Scripts

100% complete

Database creation complete. For details check the logfiles at:

 /opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/FREE.

Database Information:

Global Database Name:FREE

System Identifier(SID):FREE

Look at the log file "/opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/FREE/FREE.log" for further details.

Connect to Oracle Database using one of the connect strings:

     Pluggable database: localhost.localdomain/FREEPDB1

     Multitenant container database: localhost.localdomain

[root@localhost yum.repos.d]#

We can of course create a database in the normal way, using the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA). We don't have to use this script.

Using It

From the "oracle" user we can connect as follows.

export ORACLE_HOME=/opt/oracle/product/23c/dbhomeFree

export PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$PATH

-- Root container

sqlplus sys/SysPassword1@//localhost:1521/free as sysdba

-- Pluggable database

sqlplus sys/SysPassword1@//localhost:1521/freepdb1 as sysdba

We can stop and start the service from the root user with the following commands.

/etc/init.d/oracle-free-23c stop

/etc/init.d/oracle-free-23c start

Thoughts

Here are some thoughts about this method of installation.

◉ The mechanism is designed for a software-only installation of the Oracle database software. It is not a single command to get Oracle running. As a result it doesn't feel particularly simpler than doing a regular silent installation of the database software, but people with less experience may disagree.

◉ The RPM can only be used to install the software, not update it. This is a "one-shot" solution.

◉ We have no control of the software installation itself. If you have a corporate standard you use for your installations, this is not the solution for you. Remember, the ORACLE_HOME for the software installation is "/opt/oracle/product/23c/dbhomeFree".

◉ Even with a ULN subscription, it is unlikely you would want to pull this software down for each installation. You would need to create a local Yum repository to host it.

◉ It's an interesting exercise, but I would not consider using this approach for anything other than demos at this time.

Vagrant Example

If you want to see it in action, you might want to try one of these Vagrant build.

◉ ol8_23_free

Source: oracle-base.com