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Oracle® Database Client Installation Guide
10g Release 2 (10.2) for Linux x86-64

Part Number B15669-01
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3 Installation Tasks

The Oracle Client software is available on disc (DVD) or you can download it from the Oracle Technology Network Web site. In most cases, you use the graphical user interface (GUI) provided by Oracle Universal Installer to install the software. However, you can also use Oracle Universal Installer to complete silent-mode installations, without using the GUI.


See Also:

Appendix A for information about silent-mode installations

This chapter includes information about the following topics:

3.1 Reviewing Component-Specific Installation Guidelines

Review the following guidelines before starting Oracle Universal Installer:

3.2 Accessing the Installation Software

The Oracle Client software is available on compact disc (DVD) or you can download it from the Oracle Technology Network Web site. To install the software from the hard disk, you must either download it from Oracle Technology Network and unpack it, or copy it from the disc, if you have it.

You can access and install Oracle Client by using one of the following methods:

3.2.1 Downloading Oracle Software from the OTN Web Site

This section describes how to download the installation archive files and extract them on your hard disk. It contains the following topics:

3.2.1.1 Downloading the Installation Archive Files

To download the installation archive files from Oracle Technology Network:

  1. Use any browser to access the software download page from Oracle Technology Network:

    http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/
    
    
  2. Navigate to the download page for the product that you want to install.

  3. On the download page, identify the required disk space by adding the file sizes for each required file.

    The file sizes are listed next to the file names.

  4. Select a file system with enough free space to store and expand the archive files.

    In most cases, the available disk space must be at least twice the size of all of the archive files.

  5. On the file system that you selected in step 4, create a parent directory for each product, for example OraCli10g, to hold the installation directories.

  6. Download all of the installation archive files to the directory that you created in step 5.

  7. Verify that the files you downloaded are the same size as the corresponding files on Oracle Technology Network.

3.2.1.2 Extracting the Installation Files

To extract the installation archive files, perform the following steps:

  1. If necessary, change directory to the directory that contains the downloaded installation archive files.

  2. To uncompress each file, enter a command similar to the following:

    $ gunzip filename.cpio.gz
    
    

    This command creates files with names similar to the following:

    filename.cpio
    
    
  3. To extract the installation files, enter a command similar to the following:

    $ cpio -idcmv < filename.cpio
    

    Note:

    Refer to the download page for information about the correct options to use with the cpio command.

    Some browsers uncompress files while downloading them, but leave the .gz file extension. If these steps do not work, remove the .gz extension from the files and repeat step 3.


    For each file, this command creates a subdirectory named Diskn, where n is either 1 or the disk number identified in the file name.

When you have extracted all of the required installation files, refer to "Installing the Oracle Client Software".

3.2.2 Copying the Software to the Hard Disk

Before installing Oracle Client, you might want to copy the softare to the hard disk. This enables the installation process to run a bit faster. Before copying the disc content to the hard disk, you must mount the disc. The following sections describe to mount disc and copy its content to the hard disk.

3.2.2.1 Mounting Discs

On most Linux systems, the disc mounts automatically when you insert it into the disc drive. If the disc does not mount automatically, then follow these steps to mount it:

  1. Switch user to root:

    $ su - root
    
    
  2. If necessary, enter a command similar to one of the following to eject the currently mounted disc, then remove it from the drive:

    • Red Hat:

      # eject /mnt/dvd
      
      
    • SUSE:

      # eject /media/dvd
      
      

    In these examples, /mnt/dvd and /media/dvd are the mount point directories for the disc drive.

  3. Insert the appropriate disc into the disc drive.

  4. To verify that the disc mounted automatically, enter one of the following commands depending on the platform:

    • Red Hat:

      # ls /mnt/dvd
      
      
    • SUSE:

      # ls /media/dvd
      
      
  5. If this command fails to display the contents of the disc, enter a command similar to the following to mount it, depending on the platform:


    Note:

    Before running the following command, ensure that the /mnt/dvd and /media/dvd directories exist on Red Hat and SUSE Linux, respectively. If not, create the /mnt/dvd and /media/dvd directories, as required, to mount the DVD.

    • Red Hat:

      # mount -t iso9660 /dev/dvd /mnt/dvd
      
      
    • SUSE:

      # mount -t iso9660 /dev/dvd /media/dvd
      
      

    In these examples, /mnt/dvd and /media/dvd are the mount point directories for the disc drive.

  6. If Oracle Universal Installer is displaying the Disk Location dialog box, enter the disc mount point directory path, for example:

    /mnt/dvd
    
    

To continue, go to one of the following sections:

3.2.2.2 Copying the Oracle Client Software to a Hard Disk

If the system does not have a DVD drive, you can copy the software from the disc to a file system on another system, then either mount that file system using NFS, or use FTP to copy the files to the system where you want to install the software.

To copy the contents of the disc to a hard disk:

  1. Create a directory on the hard disk to hold the Oracle software:

    $ mkdir OraCl10g
    
    
  2. Change directory to the directory you created in step 1:

    $ cd OraCl10g
    
    
  3. Mount thedisc, if it is not already mounted.

    Some platforms automatically mount the disc when you insert it into the drive. If the disc does not mount automatically, refer to the "Mounting Discs" section for platform-specific information about mounting it.

  4. Copy the contents of the mounted disc to the corresponding new subdirectory as follows:

    $ cp -R /directory_path OraCl10g
    
    

    In this example, /directory_path is the disc mount point directory, for example /mnt/dvd on Red Hat systems or /media/dvd on SUSE systems, or the path of the client directory on the DVD. The mount point directory is /dvd.

  5. If necessary, mount the next disc and repeat step 5.

After you have copied all the required discs, refer to the "Installing the Oracle Client Software" section.

3.3 Installing the Oracle Client Software

The following sections describe how to install the Oracle software:

3.3.1 Reviewing Installation Guidelines

Review the following guidelines before starting Oracle Universal Installer:

  • Oracle Universal Installer

    Do not use Oracle Universal Installer from an earlier Oracle product release to install components from this release.

  • Installations on a cluster

    If Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) are already installed on the system, Oracle Universal Installer displays the Specify Hardware Cluster Installation Mode screen. You must select Local Installation on this screen.

  • Reinstalling Oracle software

    If you reinstall Oracle software into an Oracle home directory where Oracle Client is already installed, you must also re-install any components that were installed before you began the re-installation.

3.3.2 Running Oracle Universal Installer

This section describes the Basic Installation as a default setting. For any type of installation process, start Oracle Universal Installer and install the software, as follows:

  1. If you are installing the software from disc, mount the first disc if it is not already mounted.

    Some platforms automatically mount the disc when you insert the disc into the drive.

    If the disc does not mount automatically, refer to the "Mounting Discs" section for platform-specific information about mounting it.

  2. To start Oracle Universal Installer, complete one of the following steps depending on the location of the installation files:


    Note:

    Start Oracle Universal Installer from the terminal session where you logged in as the oracle user and set the user's environment (described in Chapter 2).

    • If the installation files are on disc, enter commands similar to the following, where directory_path is the path of the client directory on the DVD:

      $ cd /tmp
      $ /directory_path/runInstaller
      
      
    • If the installation files are on the hard disk, change directory to the client directory and enter the following command:

      $ ./runInstaller
      
      

    If Oracle Universal Installer does not appear, refer to the "X Window Display Errors" section for information about troubleshooting.

  3. Use the following guidelines to complete the installation:

    • Follow the instructions displayed on the Oracle Universal Installer screens. If you need additional information, click Help.

    • When Oracle Universal Installer prompts you to run a script with root privileges, enter a command similar to the following in a terminal where you are logged in as the root user, then click Continue or OK:

      # /script_path/script_name
      
      

      The following table lists the various screens displayed and the recomended actions required when you select the Basic Installation option.

  4. If you chose an installation type that runs Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NetCA) in interactive mode, you must provide detailed information about configuring the network.

    If you need assistance when using NetCA in interactive mode, then click Help on the screen.


    Note:

    If you chose a default installation, NetCA runs in noninteractive mode.

  5. When all of the configuration tools have finished, click Exit, then click Yes to exit from Oracle Universal Installer.

    Refer to Chapter 4 for information about tasks that you must complete after you have installed the software.