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Requirements and Features

Completing a quick, successful installation depends on the local system satisfying the software dependencies and space requirements for Oracle software. This chapter describes the requirements for installing the Oracle8 Server, Release 8.0.5 for LINUX. Verify that the system meets the requirements described in this chapter before starting the installation.

Installation Overview

Installing the Oracle8 Server involves the following steps:

Satisfy Prerequisites: make sure the local system satisfies the hardware, software, memory, and disk space requirements for the products you want to install. See Chapter 1 of this manual. If you are upgrading an existing installation, see Chapter 5, "Upgrading and Migrating".
Check the LINUX Environment: make sure the LINUX environment is properly set up for the products you want to install. See Chapter 2, "Setting the Environment" of this manual.
Install: use the Installer to install the Oracle software. See Chapter 3, "Installation Tasks" of this manual.
Post-Installation: create database objects, establish the user environment, and configure the installed Oracle products for the local system. See Chapter 4, "Configuring the Oracle8 System" of this manual.
Client Installations: install Oracle tools, applications, and client interfaces, in accordance with the installation guides for those products.

System Installation Requirements

Verify that your system meets the installation requirements described in the following sections before you install the Oracle8 Server.

Hardware Requirements
Table 1-1 Hardware Requirements

Hardware Requirements

Memory

A minimum of 48 MB RAM is required.

Swap Space

In general, three times the amount of RAM is recommended. In systems with large amounts of memory (more than 1 GB), this can be reduced to two times the amount of RAM or less.

Disk Drives

At least four devices: one for the Oracle software distribution and three for creating an OFA-compliant database.

Note: To improve performance and fault tolerance, Oracle Corporation recommends that disk space be spread across many, smaller drives, rather than a few, large drives.

Disk Space

At least 600 MB is required when installing the entire Oracle8 Server distribution. Less space is required if installing only a subset of the available products.

CD-ROM Device

A CD-ROM drive supported by LINUX is required. Oracle uses High Sierra or ISO 9660 format CD-ROM disks with RockRidge extension.

Hardware	Requirements
Memory	A minimum of 48 MB RAM is required.
Swap Space	In general, three times the amount of RAM is recommended. In systems with large amounts of memory (more than 1 GB), this can be reduced to two times the amount of RAM or less.
Disk Drives	At least four devices: one for the Oracle software distribution and three for creating an OFA-compliant database. Note: To improve performance and fault tolerance, Oracle Corporation recommends that disk space be spread across many, smaller drives, rather than a few, large drives.
Disk Space	At least 600 MB is required when installing the entire Oracle8 Server distribution. Less space is required if installing only a subset of the available products.
CD-ROM Device	A CD-ROM drive supported by LINUX is required. Oracle uses High Sierra or ISO 9660 format CD-ROM disks with RockRidge extension.

Operating System Software Requirements
Table 1-2 Operating System Software Requirements

OS Software Requirements

Operating System

LINUX 2.0.34

System Libraries

GNU C Library, version 2.0.7

Window Manager

An X Window system

OS Software	Requirements
Operating System	LINUX 2.0.34
System Libraries	GNU C Library, version 2.0.7
Window Manager	An X Window system

Additional Product-Specific Installation Requirements

This section provides product-specific information additional to hardware and software requirements provided earlier in this chapter.

Table 1-3 Restrictions, Requirements, and Installation Tasks for Server, Options, and Cartridges

Product Name	Restrictions and Requirements	Required Tasks for Successful Installation
Oracle8 Server, 8.0.5	None.	Complete all pre-installation, installation, and post-installation tasks.
Oracle8 Objects Option, 8.0.5	Only available with Oracle8 Enterprise Edition.	None.
Oracle8 Partitioning Option, 8.0.5	Only available with Oracle8 Enterprise Edition.	None.
Oracle8 ConText Cartridge, 2.4.5	Requires an installed Oracle8 database.	Note: Migration and upgrade requirements are described in "Complete Pre-Upgrade Tasks" in Chapter 5.
Oracle8 Spatial Cartridge, 8.0.5	Only available with Oracle8 Enterprise Edition.	None.
Oracle8 Image Cartridge, 8.0.5	Only available with Oracle8 Enterprise Edition.	None.
Oracle8 Visual Information Retrieval Cartridge, 8.0.5	Only available with Oracle8 Enterprise Edition. Requires Oracle8 Image Cartridge.	None.
PL/SQL, 8.0.5	None.	None.

Table 1-4 Restrictions, Requirements, and Installation Tasks for Tools and Precompilers

Product Name	Restrictions and Requirements	Required Tasks for Successful Installation
Java Database Connect (JDBC) 8.0.5, including JDBC OCI Driver and JDBC Thin Driver	Requires JDK release 1.0.2 or 1.1.1.	Complete "Pre-Installation Steps for JDBC" in Chapter 2.
Migration Utility (Oracle7 to Oracle8), 8.0.5	None.	None.
Object Type Translator, 8.0.5	None.	None.
Oracle Installer, 4.0.3	None.	None.
Oracle Online Text Viewer, 1.0.1	None.	None.
Oracle Server Manager: Line Mode, 3.0.4	None.	None.
Pro*C/C++, 8.0.5	Requires LINUX gcc 2.7.2.3 compiler or higher.	Complete "Pre-Installation Steps for the Pro*C/C++ Precompiler" in Chapter 2. Complete "Post-Installation Steps for Oracle Precompilers" in Chapter 4.
SQL*Plus, 8.0.5	None.	None.

Table 1-5 Restrictions, Requirements, and Installation Tasks for Networking and System Management Products

Product Name	Restrictions and Requirements	Required Tasks for Successful Installation
Oracle8 Data Gatherer, 8.0.5	Requires Oracle Intelligent Agent.	For more information, refer to the Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Guide and the Oracle Data Gatherer Installation and Configuration Guide.
NIS Native Naming Integration, 8.0.5	None.	None.
Oracle Intelligent Agent, 8.0.5	None.	Complete "Post-Installation Steps for Oracle Intelligent Agent" in Chapter 4.
Oracle Names Server, 8.0.5	None.	Complete "Pre-Installation Steps for Oracle Names Server" in Chapter 2. Complete "Post-Installation Steps for Oracle Names Server (Optional)" in Chapter 4.
Oracle Net8, 8.0.5	None.	Complete "Pre-Installation Steps for Oracle Net8" in Chapter 2. Complete "Post-Installation Steps for Oracle Net8" in Chapter 4. Note: Migration and upgrade requirements are described in "Complete Pre-Upgrade Tasks" in Chapter 5.
Oracle TCP/IP Protocol Adapter, 8.0.5	None.	Complete "Pre-Installation Steps for the Oracle Protocol Adapters" in Chapter 2. Complete "Post-Installation Steps for Oracle Protocol Adapters" in Chapter 4.

Software Requirements for Networking Products

All network adapters require the underlying software and operating system libraries for the supported network. The network software must be installed and running prior to installation of the Oracle Net8 products. Refer to the operating system and third party vendor networking product documentation for more information. Oracle Net8 products require the specific release of Oracle8 Server and Oracle Net8 supplied with this release.

Disk Space and Memory Requirements

The total installed size of the Oracle8 Server distribution is approximately 600 MB. If you have at least this much disk space available under a single mount point, you have adequate disk space to install the Oracle8 Server distribution.

The minimum recommended RAM for running the products in this release is 32 MB. If you have at least this much memory available on the system, you have enough memory to run the products in this release.

Note:

600 MB of disk space does not account for the size of your database, and 32 MB of RAM is the minimum amount required for running the products in this release. A production RDBMS supporting many users requires significantly greater disk space and memory.

If you are installing other Oracle products on the server machine-Developer/2000 tools or Oracle Applications, for example-you must take the space and memory requirements for those products into account separately. See the installation guides for the additional products to determine their space and memory requirements.

Operating System and Installation-Specific Issues and Restrictions

The following issues and restrictions may affect the installation or use of the Oracle8 Server on LINUX 2.0.34. You should also check the release notes that accompany this release, and the README file in the $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/doc directory before using the Oracle8 Server, Release 8.0.5. README files for other products on the Oracle8 Server distribution are in the doc or admin/doc directories for the respective products.

Concurrent Process Limit

The number of concurrent Oracle processes (initsid.ora parameter PROCESSES) for each Oracle system is limited by the LINUX-imposed limit for the maximum number of semaphore identifiers.

File Systems

The Oracle Server must be able to verify that file writes have been made to disk. File systems that do not support this verification are not supported for use with Oracle, such as NFS based on the UDP protocol.

Optimal Flexible Architecture

All new installations and all database creations performed with the Installer comply with the Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) standard, in that the Installer requires you to enter a value for ORACLE_BASE. If you need to create a non-OFA structure, the Installer allows you to specify the same value for ORACLE_BASE as you specify for ORACLE_HOME

See Also:

OFA is described in detail in Chapter 1 of the Oracle8 Administrator's Reference for LINUX.

Very Large Files

Oracle8 includes native support for large files (greater than 2 GB).However you should verify that your file system and volume manager do not impose file size limits.

1 Requirements and Features