You can use AutoUpgrade to install an Oracle home on a brand-new, empty server.

Previously, AutoUpgrade used an existing Oracle home to determine how to create a new Oracle home. Now, you can use config file parameters to instruct AutoUpgrade on installing the new Oracle home.

This allows you to use AutoUpgrade to prepare a new server for use with Oracle Database.

How To

Preparations

I start with a brand new Oracle Linux 8 system.

This is a test system, so I disable SELinux:
```
sed -i 's/^SELINUX=.*/SELINUX=disabled/' /etc/selinux/config
reboot
```
- Alternatively, follow the guidelines for SELinux in your organization.

Install the preinstall package and Java (required by AutoUpgrade):

yum -y install oracle-database-preinstall-19c
yum -y install java-1.8.0-openjdk

Additional configurations like mount points and swapfile.

Install Oracle Home

Download AutoUpgrade:

wget https://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/otn_software/autoupgrade.jar

Create an AutoUpgrade config file called install-home.cfg:

global.global_log_dir=/home/oracle/autoupgrade/logs
install1.patch=RU:19.27,OPATCH,OJVM,DPBP
install1.folder=/u01/app/oracle/software
install1.target_home=/u01/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1927
install1.home_settings.oracle_base=/u01/app/oracle
install1.home_settings.edition=EE
install1.home_settings.inventory_location=/u01/app/oraInventory
install1.download=no

I have already downloaded the base release and required patches using AutoUpgrade download mode. The files are in an NFS file share which I specify with the folder parameter.
I use the home_settings parameters to specify how I want to install the Oracle home. There are many other settings that I can use.

I start AutoUpgrade:

java -jar autoupgrade.jar -config install-home.cfg -mode create_home

On this system, the oracle user is not allowed to sudo, so I must manually execute the root scripts:
```
/u01/app/oracle/product/dbhome_1927/root.sh
/u01/app/oraInventory/orainstRoot.sh
```
- AutoUpgrade prints the scripts to the console.
- It also writes the scripts into <global_log_dir>/create_home_1/<job-no>/rootsh/rootsh.log.
That’s it! I’ve now installed a new Oracle home and can move on with the creation of a listener, database, and so forth

Appendix

Installing on Microsoft Windows

You can use the same functionality on Windows.

You must use home_settings.account_type to specify the user that runs the Windows service. If you specify a user, then it must exist already. Although runInstaller can create the user for you, AutoUpgrade doesn’t support it.
You should not use home_settings.inventory_location on Windows. On Windows, the Oracle Inventory is always placed in %SYSTEM_DRIVE%\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory.

Installing Java

AutoUpgrade requires Java 8 or Java 11. It doesn’t support newer versions because the tool must be backward compatible. The latest version of AutoUpgrade still supports upgrades from Oracle Database 11g.

I recommend using Oracle Java. This is what we test and develop with, however, other Java packs should be fine as well. I tested the commands in this blog post with OpenJDK.

If you have a license for Oracle Database, you can read about using Oracle JDK/JRE in the License Guide or Oracle Java SE licensing FAQ.

Tag: install

AutoUpgrade New Features: Install Oracle Home on Brand-New, Empty Server