Chapter 2. Installing and Uninstalling Oracle Database XE

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. - Unknown

In this chapter we will explore the installation/un-installation of Oracle Database 11g XE and starting/stopping the database. Before beginning with the installation, we will look at the system requirements. We will also learn how to start and stop Oracle Database 11g XE and finally uninstall it. We will cover both the Windows and Linux environments. This chapter will guide you with the help of screenshots for easy understanding. The topics that will be covered in this chapter are as follows:

• Downloading Oracle Database 11g XE

• Installing Oracle Database 11g XE on Windows XP (32-bit)

• Starting and stopping Oracle Database XE in Windows

• Uninstalling Oracle Database 11g XE on Windows XP (32-bit)

• Installing Oracle Database 11g XE on Oracle Enterprise Linux (64-bit)

• Starting and stopping Oracle Database XE in Linux

• Uninstalling...

Downloading Oracle Database 11g XE

You can download Oracle Database 11g XE from Oracle's website (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/express-edition/downloads/index.html). To download the software you must sign in to the Oracle website and agree to the license agreement. At the time of writing this book, Oracle Database 11g XE is available on the Windows 32-bit and Linux 64-bit platforms. Oracle Database 11g XE software is 301 MB and 312 MB in size for Linux and Windows operating systems, respectively. As mentioned earlier, Oracle Database 11g XE is a free software.

Installing Oracle Database 11g XE on Windows XP (32-bit)

The installation of Oracle Database 11g XE in a Windows environment is pretty straightforward. You can install Oracle Database XE on Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows Server 2008.

Note

The recommended RAM for running Oracle Database XE is 512 MB; however, nowadays most computers are equipped with at least 1 GB of memory. To continue with the database installation make sure you have administrative privilege.

The following Oracle Database XE installation procedure is for the Windows XP operating system. Make the necessary navigational changes if you are using other versions of Microsoft Windows' operating system.

1. 1. Unzip the downloaded Oracle Database XE software into a temporary folder, say c:\temp.

2. 2. Navigate to the Disk1 folder under c:\temp and double-click on setup.exe. A new window pops up, as shown in the following screenshot:

   

3. 3. Oracle Database XE prepares the install shield wizard and once...

Uninstalling Oracle Database 11g XE on Windows XP (32-bit)

Uninstalling Oracle Database 11g XE is the process of removing Oracle Database XE software and the database from the machine. To remove the software and database, navigate to Start | Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs . Right-click on Oracle Database 11g Express Edition and click on Remove.

A confirmation window pops up, as shown in the following screenshot. Click on Yes to continue uninstalling:

If Oracle Database 11g XE is already running, the uninstallation process first stops the database and then proceeds with removing the database and software.

Installing Oracle Database 11g XE on Oracle Enterprise Linux (64-bit)

Before we begin installing Oracle Database XE in Linux, we need to prepare the environment by installing the required packages, setting kernel parameters, and so on.

To begin, make sure that the following Linux packages are installed. To verify that the following Linux packages are installed use the rpm —qa <package name> command:

• kernel-headers-2.6.18-194.el5.x86_64.rpm

• glibc-2.5-49.x86_64.rpm

• make-3.81-3.el5.x86_64.rpm

• binutils-2.17.50.0.6-14.el5.x86_64.rpm

• glibc-devel-2.5-49.x86_64.rpm

• glibc-headers-2.5-49.x86_64.rpm

• libgomp-4.4.0-6.el5.x86_64.rpm

• gcc-4.1.2-48.el5.x86_64.rpm

• libaio-0.3.106-5.x86_64.rpm

The parameters that need to be included in the sysctl.conf file under /etc are as follows. These changes are to be made by logging in as the root user:

kernel.semmsl=250
kernel.semmns=32000
kernel.semopm=100
kernel.semmni=128
kernel.shmmax=4294967295
kernel.shmmni=4096
kernel.shmall=2097152
kernel.sem= 250...

Uninstalling Oracle Database 11g XE on Oracle Enterprise Linux (64-bit)

When you uninstall Oracle Database XE, all components, including datafiles, control files, redo logfiles, and software are removed.

Log on with the root privilege and run the command shown in the following screenshot to uninstall Oracle Database XE:

Summary

After completing this chapter, you should be able to install and uninstall Oracle Database 11g XE on both Linux and Windows operating systems. You should be familiar with starting and stopping the database on both the Linux and Windows environments using the respective services/commands. We also had a first look at the Oracle Database 11g XE home page.

In the next chapter, we will configure our database for local and remote database connections.