Oracle Database HOWTO: Introduction

1.1 Version History

v0.1 - 21 Feb 1998 - Paul Haigh - Original Version.
v0.2 - 01 Mar 1998 - Paul Haigh - Comments From Proofreaders Added.
v1.0 - 10 Mar 1998 - Paul Haigh - First Release to LDP.
v1.1 - 20 Jun 1998 - Paul Haigh - Added troubleshooting section & general tidyup.
v1.2 - 04 Aug 1998 - Paul Haigh - Added Oracle Corp News & Removed Section on Future Enhancements.

1.2 Copyright

Like all Linux HOWTO documents, this may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium, physical or electronic, so long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies.

Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however the author would like to be notified of such distributions. You may translate this HOWTO into any language whatsoever provided that you leave this copyright statement and disclaimer intact, and that you append a notice stating who translated the document.

1.3 Disclaimer

While I have tried to include the most correct and up to date information available to me, I cannot guarantee that usage of information in this document does not result in loss of data or equipment. I provide NO WARRANTY about the information in the HOWTO and I cannot be made liable for any consequences resulting from using the information in this HOWTO.

1.4 Aim of the HOWTO

In this HOWTO I will attempt to cover installation and basic admin of an Oracle database running on a Linux machine. In particular I will cover Oracle server installation, SQL*Net configuration and client configuration.

This document is not an in depth tutorial on using or administering an Oracle database, if that is what you are looking for there are great books on those subjects published by O'Reilly and others.

I am also not going to cover the development of Oracle programs under UNIX. If this is absolutley necessary to you then I would recommend that you purchase the SCO development system (with OpenServer 5.x) from SCO, which I am told can be obtained for a very reasonable US $19, from www.sco.com.

1.5 Requirements

I am assuming a number of items that you will need for following the HOWTO.

Oracle Server CD for SCO Openserver (Version 7.3.3.0.0.)

This must be a legal copy. Remember that Oracle are a profit making company and charge for their products. If you want a free SQL compliant database use PostgresSQL or similar.
It is also possible to install oracle, using a 60 day evaluation licence, from a downloadable tar file from the Oracle web site. I have not personally tried this and it is completely unverified.
A Linux Server

You wouldn't be reading this without one...would you?
Kernel 2.0.30+

I cannot guarantee that these instructions will be accurate for any other Kernel. (Not that I am guaranteeing it for 2.0.30 either...).
iBCS

It is very important to have this installed and working with the latest possible version for your platform. (I am using iBCS-2.0-10.i386.rpm from Redhat Linux).
Lots of disc space

600 Mb+ is a reasonable amount. It is possible to install with less but you need to make some sacrifices, and I never like starting with those. However, I will attempt to point out areas in which space can be freed up.
32Mb+ Ram

I know that this sounds like a lot, especially in Linux terms, but remember that Oracle is a complex piece of software. You wouldn't have the same reservations on SCO!

I am not saying that Oracle doesn't work with less, just that it is less than Oracle recommend and I wouldn't suggest it.
Licenses from Oracle

I know that I have already mentioned this but I want to be clear that this is important. Using software from Oracle without a license is illegal.

1.6 News From Oracle Corporation

Oracle have bowed into pressure from the Linux community. Oracle Corporation have decided to officially support Oracle 8 on the Linux (i386) platform. This should be released in December 1998, according to the Oracle website.

Better still Oracle will also be porting Oracle Applications to the linux platform. This should be available in the first half of 1999, according to the Oracle website.

References:

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1. Introduction