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Directory Structure

For those platforms on which a hierarchical directory structure exists, the Oracle default home directory has a name such as Oracle8; below this, you'll find many subdirectories ”usually one for each product being installed. Within each of these product subdirectories, further subdirectories exist for elements such as install scripts, demo files, and so on.

WARNING
Do not change the directory structure below the Oracle home directory. Oracle needs to know where to find the different files for the software being installed.

For those platforms that support it, an operating system environment variable exists to define where the starting location is for the Oracle software ($ORACLE_HOME for UNIX, ORA_ROOT for VMS, and the ORACLE.INI file for the MS Windows platform). If this environment variable exists, Oracle can work out the locations of the subdirectories and gain access to the files it requires.

On some platforms, you can install many different versions of the Oracle software.

Operating System Specifics

This section highlights some points for three of the major platforms for Oracle: UNIX, VMS, and Microsoft Windows.

UNIX

In addition to the Installation and User's Guide provided for your platform, a generic UNIX Technical Reference Guide exists that applies to all UNIX platforms on which Oracle can run. You should read this guide along with the Installation and User 's Guide before starting the installation.

You use the $ORACLE_HOME environment variable to locate the home directory for the Oracle software; you use the $ORACLE_SID environment variable to determine to which instance ID the user process connects.

The PATH environment variable should include the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory so that you can access the various Oracle components .

One of the options available for the UNIX platform is to allow Oracle to use raw disk devices; essentially , this means that the Oracle software can bypass the Buffer Manager for the disks and access the disk drives directly, which increases performance. You should ensure that the necessary UNIX expertise is on-hand to manage raw disk devices, however. You shouldn't consider using raw disk devices for sites new to UNIX and Oracle.

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DEC VAX VMS

You use the ORA_ROOT logical to point to the location of the home directory for the Oracle software. In addition, the ORA_SID symbol is used to determine the instance ID of the instance to which user processes will connect.

Microsoft Windows

Nowadays, Microsoft Windows is one of the easiest platforms on which to install the Oracle tools and software.

You use the ORACLE.INI file to set the various parameters used by Oracle. The parameters that end with path control where the Oracle software on the PC attempts to find the Oracle software. The default location of the database server machine, the network protocol used to connect that machine, and the instance ID used when a connection is made to that machine can be given by the LOCAL parameter in the INIT.ORA file.

Summary

In this chapter, you got an overview of some of the things to consider when installing the Oracle software. This is one of the areas in which major differences exist between various platforms. Be sure to refer to the Installation and User's Guide to learn the specifics for your platform.

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Oracle Unleashed
Oracle Development Unleashed (3rd Edition)
ISBN: 0672315750
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1997
Pages: 391

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