Install Oracle DB 10g on RH5

N.B.: Blogger has hosed up some of the text blocks below. If you receive strange warnings about invalid options or field formats, you may need to retype some of the values here or otherwise convert them to plaintext.

Oracle Database 10g refuses to install on Redhat AS 5 because the OS is newer than the app. It's not hard to fix, especially if you have some chewing gum and baling wire on hand, but the fix is a right PITA to find.

I have some inanely long-winded docs from Metalink which (overlapping slightly with the 10g Quick Install) boil down to this:

1. Make sure that the server's primary IP address is associated with the primary, or lowest-numbered, NIC. For example, the installer will fail obscurely if your main, named, network IP is on eth2 and your management network interface is on eth0.
   
   Don't be dense: ask yourself whether this requires recabling.


2. Create oracle:oinstall and set its home directory to ORACLE_BASE (read on to see what ORACLE_BASE means.)
   
   • Add ORACLE_BASE and ORACLE_SID to the oracle user's shell profile; for example:
     

     # vi /home/oracle/.bash_profile
     export ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
     export ORACLE_SID=orcl
     unset ORACLE_HOME

3. Edit database/install/oraparam.ini thusly:
   [Certified Versions]
   Linux=redhat­3,SuSE­9,redhat­4,UnitedLinux­1.0,asianux­1,asianux­2,redhat­5 


4. Edit database/stage/prereq/db/refhost.xml, inserting the following before the Operating System stanza for Redhat 9:

   <OPERATING_SYSTEM> 
   <VERSION VALUE="5"/> 
   <ARCHITECTURE VALUE="x86"/> 
   <NAME VALUE="Linux"/> 
   <VENDOR VALUE="redhat"/> 
   <GLIBC ATLEAST="2.5­12"> 
   </GLIBC> 
   <PACKAGES> 
   <PACKAGE NAME="make" VERSION="3.81" /> 
   <PACKAGE NAME="binutils" VERSION="2.17" />
   <PACKAGE NAME="gcc" VERSION="4.1" > 
   <PACKAGE NAME="libaio" VERSION="0.3.106" > 
   <KERNEL> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="semmsl" NAME2="semmsl2" VALUE="250" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="semmns" VALUE="32000" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="semopm" VALUE="100" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="semmni" VALUE="128" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="shmmax" VALUE="536870912" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="shmmni" VALUE="4096" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="shmall" VALUE="2097152" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="file­max" VALUE="65536" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="VERSION" VALUE="2.6.9" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="ip_local_port_range" ATLEAST="1024" ATMOST="65000" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="rmem_default" VALUE="262144" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="rmem_max" VALUE="262144" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="wmem_default" VALUE="262144" /> 
   <PROPERTY NAME="wmem_max" VALUE="262144" /> 
   </KERNEL> 
   </OPERATING_SYSTEM> 

• Or use the following in the same spot for a client-only install:
  

  <OPERATING_SYSTEM> 
  <VERSION VALUE="5"> 
  <ARCHITECTURE VALUE="x86"> 
  <NAME VALUE="Linux"> 
  <VENDOR VALUE="redhat"> 
  <PACKAGES> 
  <PACKAGE NAME="make" VERSION="3.81" > 
  <PACKAGE NAME="binutils" VERSION="2.17" > 
  <PACKAGE NAME="gcc" VERSION="4.1" > 
  </PACKAGES> 
  </OPERATING_SYSTEM> 
  



5. Use the info you added to refhost.xml to solve dependencies before running the installer. Hints from Oracle:
    
   
   • gcc­-4.1.1 ­52.el5.i386.rpm 
   • libstdc++­-devel­-4.1.1­52.el5.i386.rpm 
   • glibc-­devel-­2.5­12.i386.rpm 
   • glibc­-headers-­2.5­12.i386.rpm 
   • libgomp­-4.1.1­52.el5.i386.rpm 
   • gcc­-c++-­4.1.1­52.el5.i386.rpm
   • libXp-­1.0.0 ­8.i386.rpm 
   • compat-libstdc++­-33­-3.2.3­61.i386.rpm 
   • compat ­libstdc++­296­2.96­138.i386.rpm 
   • sysstat­-7.0.0­3.el5.i386.rpm
   
   All of these should be available on RHN.


6. Make sure the following lines/values are in /etc/sysctl.conf, then activate them with sysctl -p:

   kernel.shmmni = 4096 
   kernel.sem = 250 32000 100 128 
   fs.file­max = 65536 
   net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 1024 65000 
   net.core.rmem_default = 1048576 
   net.core.rmem_max = 1048576 
   net.core.wmem_default = 262144 
   net.core.wmem_max = 262144 
   net.ipv4.tcp_wmem = 262144 262144 262144 
   net.ipv4.tcp_rmem = 4194304 4194304 4194304 

7. More /etc edits ...
   
   • Add this to /etc/security/limits.conf:
     

     oracle soft nproc 2047 
     oracle hard nproc 16384 
     oracle soft nofile 1024 
     oracle hard nofile 65536 

   • Add to /etc/pam.d/login: session required pam_limits.so
   
   
   • Add to /etc/profile:
     

     if [ $USER = "oracle" ]; then 
            ulimit -­u 16384 
            ulimit -n 65536 
     fi 



8. Now, now, only NOW may you run the installer. At. Your. Peril.
   (Don't forget to use an X-enabled session. Doh.)