5. Installing Oracle 8.1.7

You have two choices for obtaining the 8.1.7 "tarball". Regardless of whether you copy the file from the CD or copy it over the network, you will want to save it in /opt, rather than your home directory (because the file is very large, saving it into your home directory will quickly fill up our fileserver, and installation will be quicker if the file is on your local hard drive). In order to save the tarrball onto your local machine, though, you will want to alter the permissions on /opt:

Throughout these instructions, we will refer to a number of configurable settings and advise certain defaults. With the exception of passwords, we advise you to follow these defaults unless you know what you are doing. Subsequent documents will expect that you used the defaults, so a change made here will necessitate further changes later. For a guide to the defaults, please see Section 5.10..

5.3. Pre-Installation Tasks

Though Oracle 8.1.7 has an automated installer, we still need to perform several manual, administrative tasks before we can launch it. You must perform all of these steps as the root user. We recommend doing a 'su -' to become root, but only when it
is necessary. This command gives you full root access.

Login as yourself (if you are not already logged in)

Open a terminal window type and login as root

[bob@localhost]$ su -
; Enter the root password (obtained from a TA) when prompted.
[root@localhost]#

Create and setup the oracle group and oracle account

We need to create a user oracle, which is used to install the product, as well as starting and stopping the database.

 [root@localhost]# groupadd
dba [root@localhost]# groupadd
oinstall [root@localhost]# groupadd
oracle [root@localhost]# useradd -g dba -G oinstall,oracle -m oracle -d
/opt/oraclehome

Now change the oracle account password

 [root@localhost]# passwd.local
oracle [root@localhost]#
logout

You will be prompted for the New Password and Confirmation of that password.

Setup the installation location for Oracle

While Oracle can reside in a variety of places in the file system, we will have adopted '/opt/ora8' as the base directory.

Note: the Oracle install needs about 1 GB free on '/opt/' to install successfully.

[bob@localhost]$ su - oracle
Password: <the password you set above>
[oracle@localhost]$ mkdir /opt/ora8
[oracle@localhost]$ cd /opt/ora8
[oracle@localhost]$ mkdir -p m01 m02 m03/oradata/ora8

Set up the oracle user environment

Log in as the user oracle

In the same terminal window, type the following.

[bob@localhost]$ su - oracle
Password:   ; Enter oracle's password>

Use a text editor to edit the .bash_profile file in the oracle account home directory.

[oracle@localhost]$ emacs ~oracle/.bash_profile

You may get this error trying to start emacs:

Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server
Xlib: Client is not authorized to connect to Server
emacs: Cannot connect to X server :0.
Check the DISPLAY environment variable or use `-d'.
Also use the `xhost' program to verify that it is set to permit
connections from your machine.

If so, do the following.

Open a new terminal window.
[bob@localhost]$ xhost +localhost
Now, back in the oracle terminal
[oracle@localhost]$ export DISPLAY=    
  
     
      
  
     
      
  
     
  localhost:0.0
[oracle@localhost]$ emacs ~oracle/.bash_profile

Try this procedure anytime you get an Xlib connection refused error.

Add the following lines to ~oracle/.bash_profile:

export ORACLE_BASE=/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle
export ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_BASE/product/8.1.7
export PATH=$PATH:$ORACLE_HOME/bin
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib:/lib:/usr/lib
export ORACLE_SID=ora8
export ORACLE_TERM=vt100
export ORA_NLS33= 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 $ORACLE_HOME/ocommon/nls/admin/data

umask 022

Save the file by typing CTRL-X CTRL-S and then exit by typing CTRL-X CTRL-C. Alternatively, use the menus.

These lines will change the Oracle date settings and will break the ArsDigita Community System (ACS) because ACS depends on the ANSI date format, YYYY-MM-DD dates.

Log out as oracle
[oracle@localhost]$ exit

Log back in as oracle and double check that your environment variables are as intended

[bob@localhost]$ su - oracle
[oracle@localhost]$ env | grep ORA

If it worked, you should see:

ORACLE_SID=ora8
ORACLE_BASE=/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle
ORACLE_TERM=vt100
ORACLE_HOME=/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7
ORA_NLS33=











/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/ocommon/nls/admin/data

If not, try adding the files to ~oracle/.bashrc instead of .bash_profile. Then logout and log back in again. Also, be certain you are doing su - and not just su. The - means that .bashrc and .bash_profile will be evaluated.

Make sure that /bin, /usr/bin, and /usr/local/bin are in your path by typing (it may not look exactly like this, but as long as the /opt/ora8 stuff is there, all is well):

[oracle@localhost]$ echo $PATH
/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/X11R6/bin:/opt/oraclehome/bin:/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin

If they are not, then add them to the .bash_profile by changing the PATH statement above to PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin:$ORACLE_HOME/bin

5.4. Installing Oracle 8.1.7 Server

Log in as the user oracle:

Start a new terminal
[bob@localhost]$ xhost +localhost
[bob@localhost]$ su - oracle
Password:   ; Enter oracle password
[oracle@localhost]$ export DISPLAY=   
  
   
    
     
  
   
    
     
  
   
    
  
localhost:0.0

Find the 'runInstaller' script
- If you are installing from the tarball, the install script is located in the 'Oracle8iR2' directory that was created when you expanded the archive.
  [oracle@localhost]$ cd /opt/Disk1
Check to make sure the file is there.
[oracle@localhost]$ ls doc index.htm install runInstaller stage starterdb
If you don't see runInstaller you are in the wrong directory.
Run the installer
[oracle@localhost]$ ./runInstaller
- A window will open that welcomes you to the 'Oracle Universal Installer' (OUI). Click on "Next"
The "File Locations" screen in the OUI:
- The "Source" path should be prefilled with /opt/Disk1/stage/products.jar"
- The "destination" path should be prefilled with "/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7"
- If the destination is not correct it is because your environment variables are not set properly. Make sure you logged on as oracle using su - oracle. If so, edit the ~oracle/.bash_profile as you did in Section 5.3.
- Click "Next" (a pop up window will display Loading Product information).

The "Unix Group Name" screen in the OUI:

The Unix Group name needs to be set to 'oinstall' ( we made this Unix group earlier ).
Click "Next"
A popup window appears instantly, requesting you to run a script a root:

In an active terminal window, then type:

[bob@localhost]$ su
[root@localhost]# cd /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7
[root@localhost]# ./orainstRoot.sh  
; You should see:
Creating Oracle Inventory pointer file (/etc/oraInst.loc)
Changing groupname of /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/oraInventory to oinstall.      
[root@localhost]# exit

Click "Retry"

The "Available Products" screen in the OUI:
- Select "Oracle8i Enterprise Edition 8.1.7.0.1"
- Click "Next"
The "Installation Types" screen
- Select the "Custom" installation type.
- Click "Next"
The "Available Product Components" screen
- In addition to the defaults, make sure that "Oracle Protocol Support 8.1.7.0.0," and "Oracle8i for Unix Documentation 8.1.7.0.0" are also checked. In order to save space, you can safely disable Oracle Enterprise Manager Products, and SQLJ (under Oracle JDBC Drivers).
- Click "Next"
- A progress bar will appear for about 1 minute.
The "Component Locations" screen in the OUI
- Click on the "Java Runtime Environment 1.1.8" It should have the path "/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/jre/1.1.8"
- Click "Next"
- A progress bar will appear for about 1 minute.
The "Privileged Operation System Groups" screen in the OUI
- Enter "dba" for "Database Administrator (OSDBA) Group"
- Enter "dba" for the "Database Operator (OSOPER) Group"
- Click "Next"
- A progress bar will appear for a short while.
The "Authentication Methods" screen in the OUI
- None of the items should be selected.
- Click "Next"
When the JDK Home directory screen comes up, enter "/usr/java" and click "Next"
The "Create a Database" screen in the OUI
- Select "No" as we will do this later, after some important configuration changes.
- Click "Next"
"Oracle Protocol Support"
- TCP should be grayed, but selected. LU6.2 should not be selected.
- Click "Next"

The "Summary" screen in the OUI

Check the "Space Requirements" section to verify you have enough disk space for the install.
Check that "(116 products)" is in the "New Installations" section title. If you have fewer than 104, panic. If you have more, it is probably okay, but it will use up more of your possibly precious disk space.
Click "Install"
A progress bar will appear for about 20- 30 minutes. Now is a good time to take a break.
A "Setup Privileges" window will popup towards the end of the installation asking you to run a script as root

The script supplied by Oracle has two minor shell errors in it. Copy the version from 10.11.0.81, and run the script as root.

[bob@localhost]$ scp 10.11.0.81:/opt/use_this_root.sh /tmp/root.sh
bob@10.11.0.81's password:  ; enter your password
[bob@localhost]$ su -
Password:   ; Enter root password
   
     
  
  [root@localhost]# source ~oracle/.bash_profile
[root@localhost]# /tmp/root.sh
; You should see the following.   
Running Oracle8 root.sh script...
The following environment variables are set as:
    ORACLE_OWNER= oracle
    ORACLE_HOME=  /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7
    ORACLE_SID=   ora8

Enter the full pathname of the local bin directory: [/usr/local/bin]: 

Press ENTER here to accept default of /usr/local/bin


       Creating /etc/oratab
file... Entry will be added to the /etc/oratab file
by Database Configuration Assistant when a database is
created Finished running generic part of root.sh
script. Now product-specific root actions will be
performed. [root@localhost]#
exit

Go back to the pop-up window and click "OK"
The "Configuration Tools" screen in the OUI
- This window displays the config tools that will automatically be launched. Wait a few seconds...
The "Welcome" screen in the "net 8 Configuration Assistant" will popup
- Make sure the "Perform Typical installation" is not selected.
- Click "Next"
- The "Directory Service Access" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- Select "No"
- Click "Next"
The "Listener Configuration, Listener Name" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- Accept the default listener name of "LISTENER"
- Click "Next"
The "Listener Configuration, Select Protocols" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- The only choice in "Select protocols:" should be "TCP/IP"
- Click "Next"
The "Listener Configuration TCP/IP Protocol" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- Default Port should be 1521 and selected.
- Click "Next"
The "Listener Configuration, More Listeners" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- Select "No"
- Click "Next"
The "Listener Configuration Complete" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- Click "Next"
The "Naming Methods Configuration" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- Select "No"
- Click "Next"
The "Complete" screen in the "Net 8 Configuration Assistant"
- Click "Finish"
The "End of Installation" screen in the OUI
- Click "Exit"
- Click "Yes" on the confirmation pop up window.
- The Oracle Universal Installer window should have disappeared!

Congratulations, you have just installed Oracle 8.1.7 Server! However, you still need to create a database which can take about an hour of non-interactive time, so don't quit yet.

5.5. Creating the First Database

This step will take you through the steps of creating a customized database. Be warned that this process takes about an hour on a Pentium II with 128 MB of RAM. It also takes a huge chunk of diskspace, so you may want to delete your Oracle tarball before creating the database (using the command 'rm /opt/linux81701.tar').

Open up a terminal and su to oracle and then run the dbassist program.

[bob@localhost]$ xhost +localhost
[bob@localhost]$ su - oracle
Password:     ; Enter oracle password
[oracle@localhost]$ export DISPLAY=  
   
    
    
   
    
    
   
    
  localhost:0.0
[oracle@localhost]$ dbassist

The "Welcome" screen in the Oracle Database Configuration Agent (ODCA)
- Select "Create a database"
- Click "Next"
The "Select database type" screen in the ODCA
- Select "Custom"
- Click "Next"
The "Primary Database Type" window in ODCA
- Select "Multipurpose"
- Click "Next"
The "concurrent connected users" screen of the ODCA
- Select "30" concurrent users.
- Click "Next"
Select "Dedicated Server Mode", click "Next"
Accept all of the options, and click "Next" Oracle Visual Information Retrieval may be grayed out. If so, you can ignore it; just make sure that everything else is checked.
For "Global Database Name", enter "ora8"; for "SID", also enter "ora8" (it should do this automatically). Click "Next".
Accept the defaults for the next screen (control file location). Click "Next"
Under the System tab, set Size to 100MB
Under the Users tab, set Size to 50MB
Under the Rollback tab, set Size to 100MB. Click "Next"
Increase the redo log sizes to 10000K each. Click "Next"
Use the default checkpoint interval & timeout. Click "Next"
Set "Block Size" to 4096 (better for small Linux boxes; aD uses 8192 on the big Solaris machines). Click "Next"
Accept the defaults for the Trace File Directories. Click "Next"
Do not choose to create the database now. Select "Save information to a shell script" and click "Finish" (We're going to examine the contents of this file before creating our database).
Click the "OK" button in the resulting popup window. Oracle should pop up another one saying "Your shell script will be saved as: ./sqlora8.sh" The full path to this will likely be /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/assistants/dbca/jlib/sqlora8.sh
Click the "OK" button again. Oracle will alert you that the script has been saved successfully.
We now need to customize the database configuration a bit. While still logged on as oracle, edit the database initialization script (run when the db loads). The scripts are kept in $ORACLE_HOME/dbs and the name of the script is usually initSID.ora where SID is the SID of your database. The following will open the file for editing:
; edit /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/dbs/initora8.ora
[oracle@localhost]$ emacs /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/dbs/initora8.ora

Add the following line to the end:

       nls_date_format =       "YYYY-MM-DD"

Save the file. In emacs, do CTRL-X CTRL-S to save followed by CTRL-X CTRL-C to exit or use the menu.
At this point, you are ready to initiate database creation. We recommend shutting down X to free up some RAM unless you have 256 MB of RAM or more. You can do this quickly by doing a CRTL-ALT-BACKSPACE, but make sure you have saved any files you were editing. You should now be returned to a text shell prompt. If you get sent to a graphical login screen instead, switch to a virtual console by doing CRTL-ALT-F1. Then login as oracle.
Change to the directory where the database creation script is and run it:
[oracle@localhost]$ cd /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/assistants/dbca/jlib [oracle@localhost]$ ./sqlora8.sh
In some instances, Oracle will save the file to /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/assistants/dbca Try running the script there if your first attempt does not succeed.
Your database will now be built. It will take > 1 hour - no fooling. You should see lots of errors scroll by (like: "ORA-01432: public synonym to be dropped does not exist") Don't let this worry you.

Eventually, you'll be returned to your shell prompt. In the meantime, relax, you've earned it.

5.6. Acceptance Test

For this step, open up a terminal and su to oracle as usual. You should be running X and Netscape for this phase.

You need to download the "Oracle Acceptance Test" file. It's available here and at http://philip.greenspun.com/wtr/oracle/acceptance-sql.txt. Save the file to /tmp

In the oracle shell, copy the file.

[oracle@localhost]$ cp /tmp/acceptance-sql.txt /tmp/acceptance.sql

Once you've got the acceptance test file all set, stay in your term and type the following:
[oracle@localhost]$ sqlplus system/manager
SQL*Plus should startup. If you get an ORA-01034: Oracle not Available error, it is because your Oracle instance is not running. You can manually start it as the oracle user.
[oracle@localhost]$ svrmgrl SVRMGR> connect internal SVRMGR> startup

Now that you're into SQL*Plus, change the default passwords for system, sys, and ctxsys to "alexisahunk" (or to something you'll remember):

SQL> alter user system identified by alexisahunk;
SQL> alter user sys identified by alexisahunk;
SQL> alter user ctxsys identified by alexisahunk;

Verify that your date settings are correct.
SQL> select sysdate from dual;
If you don't see a date that fits the format YYYY-MM-DD, please read Section 5.8..
At this point we are going to hammer your database with an intense acceptance test. This usually takes around 30 minutes.
SQL> @ /tmp/acceptance.sql ; A bunch of lines will scroll by. You'll know if the test worked if ; you see this at the end: SYSDATE ---------- 2000-06-10 SQL>
Many people encounter an error regarding maximum key length:
ERROR at line 1: ORA-01450: maximum key length (758) exceeded
This error occurs if your database block size is wrong and is usually suffered by people trying to load the ACS into a pre-existing database. Unfortunately, the only solution is to create a new database with a block size of at least 4096. For instructions on how to do this, see Section 5.5. above. You can set the parameter using the dbassist program or by setting the DB_BLOCK_SIZE parameter in your database's creation script.
If there were no errors, then consider yourself fortunate. Your Oracle installation is working.

5.7. Automating Startup & Shutdown

You will want to automate the database startup and shutdown process. It's probably best to have Oracle spring to life when you boot up your machine.

Oracle includes a script called dbstart that can be used to automatically start the database. Unfortunately, the script shipped in the Linux distribution does not work out of the box. The fix is simple. Follow these directions to apply it. First, save dbstart to /tmp. Then login, and su to oracle.
$ cp /tmp/dbstart.txt /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/dbstart $ chmod 755 /opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/dbstart
While you're logged in as oracle, you should configure the oratab file to load your database at start. Edit the file /etc/oratab:
- You will see this line.
  ora8:/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7:N
  By the way, if you changed the service name or have multiple databases, the format of this file is
  service_name:$ORACLE_HOME:Y || N (for autoload)
- Change the last letter from "N" to "Y". This tells Oracle that you want the database to start when the machine boots. It should look like this.
  ora8:/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7:Y
- Save the file & quit the terminal.

You need a script to automate startup and shutdown. Get oracle8i.txt from the course page and save it in /tmp. Then login as root and install the script.

$ su -
# cp /tmp/oracle8i.txt /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle8i
# chown root.root /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle8i
# chmod 700 /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle8i

Test the script by typing the following commands and checking the output.

# /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle8i stop
Oracle 8i auto start/stop
Shutting Oracle8i:
Oracle Server Manager Release 3.1.6.0.0 - Production

Copyright (c) 1997, 1999, Oracle Corporation.  All Rights Reserved.

Oracle8i Enterprise Edition Release 8.1.7.1.0 - Production
With the Partitioning option
JServer Release 8.1.7.0.0 - Production

SVRMGR> Connected.
SVRMGR> Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SVRMGR> 
Server Manager complete.
Database "ora8" shut down.
      
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle8i start
Oracle 8i auto start/stop
Starting Oracle8i: 
SQL*Plus: Release 8.1.7.0.0 - Production on Sat Jun 10 17:56:02 2000

(c) Copyright 1999 Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved.

SQL> Connected to an idle instance.
SQL> ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area   85004272 bytes
Fixed Size            69616 bytes
Variable Size          76374016 bytes
Database Buffers        8388608 bytes
Redo Buffers             172032 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
SQL> Disconnected

Database "ora8" warm started.

If it worked, then run these commands to make the startup and shutdown automatic.

# cd /etc/rc.d/init.d/                      
# chkconfig --add oracle8i
# chkconfig --list oracle8i
; You should see:
oracle8i        0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off

You also need some scripts to automate startup and shutdown of the Oracle8i listener. The listener is a name server that allows your Oracle programs to talk to local and remote databases using a standard naming convention. It is required for Intermedia Text and full site search.

Download these three scripts into /tmp

Now issue the following commands (still as root).

# su - oracle
# cp /tmp/startlsnr.txt /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/startlsnr
$ cp /tmp/stoplsnr.txt /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/stoplsnr    
$ chmod 700 /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/startlsnr
$ chmod 700 /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/stoplsnr
$ exit
; You should now be back as root.
# cp /tmp/listener8i.txt /etc/rc.d/init.d/listener8i
# cd /etc/rc.d/init.d
# chmod 700 listener8i

Test the listener automation by running the following commands and checking the output.

# ./listener8i stop
Oracle 8i listener start/stop
Shutting down Listener for 8i: 
LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 8.1.7.0.0 - Production on 10-JUN-2000 18:28:49

(c) Copyright 1998, 1999, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=localhost.localdomain)(PORT=1521)))
The command completed successfully

    
# ./listener8i start
Oracle 8i listener start/stop
Starting the Listener for 8i: 
LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 8.1.7.0.0 - Production on 10-JUN-2000 18:28:52

(c) Copyright 1998, 1999, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Starting /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/tnslsnr: please wait...

TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 8.1.7.0.0 - Production
System parameter file is /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/network/admin/listener.ora
Log messages written to /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/network/log/listener.log
Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=localhost.localdomain)(PORT=1521)))
Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=EXTPROC)))

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=localhost.localdomain)(PORT=  
   
    
         

        

  
   


  
   
    
         

        

   

      
    
    
  
  

    
   
    
         

        

  
   


  
   
    
         

        

   

      
    
    
  
  

    
   
    
         

        

  
   


  
   
    
         

        

   

      
    
    
  
  

  1521)))
STATUS of the LISTENER
------------------------
Alias                     LISTENER
Version                   TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 8.1.7.0.0 - Production
Start Date                10-JUN-2000 18:28:53
Uptime                    0 days 0 hr. 0 min. 0 sec
Trace Level               off
Security                  OFF
SNMP                      OFF
Listener Parameter File   /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/network/admin/listener.ora
Listener Log File         /ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7/network/log/listener.log
Services Summary...
  PLSExtProc        has 1 service handler(s)
  ora8      has 1 service handler(s)
The command completed successfully

This test will verify that the listener is operating normally. Login into the database using the listener naming convention.

sqlplus username/password/@SID

# su - oracle
$ sqlplus system/alexisahunk@ora8

SQL> select sysdate from dual;

SYSDATE
----------
2000-06-10

SQL> exit
$ exit
#

Now run chkconfig on the listener8i script.

# cd /etc/rc.d/init.d/
# chkconfig --add listener8i
# chkconfig --list listener8i
listener8i      0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off

Test the automation

As a final test, reboot your computer and make sure Oracle comes up. You can do this by typing
# /sbin/shutdown -r -t 0 now
Log back in and ensure that Oracle started automatically.
$ su - oracle $ sqlplus system/alexisahunk@ora8 SQL> exit

Congratulations, your installation of Oracle 8.1.7 is complete.

5.8. Troubleshooting Oracle Dates

Oracle has an internal representation for storing the data based on the number of seconds elapsed since some date. However, for the purposes of inputing dates into Oracle and getting them back out, Oracle needs to be told to use a specific date format. By default, it uses an Oracle-specific format which isn't copacetic. You want Oracle to use the ANSI-compliant date format which is of form 'YYYY-MM-DD'.

To fix this, you should include the following line in $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/initSID.ora or for the default case, $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/initora8.ora

nls_date_format =    "YYYY-MM-DD"

You test whether this solved the problem by firing up sqlplus and typing:

SQL> select sysdate from dual;

You should see back a date like 2000-06-02. If some of the date is chopped off, i.e. like 2000-06-0, everything is still fine. The problem here is that sqlplus is simply truncating the output. You can fix this by typing:

SQL> column sysdate format a15
SQL> select sysdate from dual;

If the date does not conform to this format, double-check that you included the necessary line in the init scripts. If it still isn't working, make sure that you have restarted the database since adding the line if you didn't do it prior to database creation.

If you're sure that you have restarted the database since adding the line, check your initialization scripts. Make sure that the following line is not included:

export nls_lang =       american

Setting this environment variable will override the date setting. Either delete this line and login again or add the following entry to your login scripts after the nls_lang line:

export nls_date_format =       'YYYY-MM-DD'

Log back in again. If adding the nls_date_format line doesn't help, you can ask for advice in our web/db forum.

5.9. Useful Procedures

Dropping a tablespace
- Run sqlplus as the dba:
  $ sqlplus system/changeme
- To drop a user and all of the tables and data owned by that user:
  SQL> drop user oracle_user_name cascade;
- To drop the tablespace: This will delete everything in the tablespace overriding any referential integrity constraints. Run this command only if you want to clean out your database entirely.
  SQL> drop tablespace table_space_name including contents cascade constraints;

For more information on Oracle, please consult the documentation.

5.10. Defaults

We used the following defaults while installing Oracle.


Variable	Value	Reason
ORACLE_HOME	/opt/ora8/m01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7	This is the default Oracle installation directory.
ORACLE_SERVICE	ora8	The service name is a domain-qualified identifier for your Oracle server.
ORACLE_SID	ora8	This is an identifier for your Oracle server.
ORACLE_OWNER	oracle	The user who owns all of the oracle files.
ORACLE_GROUP	dba	The special oracle group. Users in the dba group are authorized to do a `connect internal` within `svrmgrl` to gain full system access to the Oracle system.

($Id: oracle.xml,v 1.1.2.6 2001/02/20 19:52:53 claus Exp $)

Installing Oracle 8.1.7 - ADU style

5.1. Acquire Oracle 8.1.7 Enterprise Edition

5.2. Things to Keep in Mind