In this article I'll describe the installation of Oracle Database 10g (10.1.0.2) on RedHat Advanced Server 4.0. The article assumes you've performed the standard advanced server installation including the development tools with secure Linux switched off.
Download Software
Unpack Files
Hosts File
Set Kernel Parameters
Setup
Installation
Post Installation

Download Software

Download the following software:

Unpack Files

First unzip the files:

gunzip ship.db.cpio.gz

Next unpack the contents of the files:

cpio -idmv < ship.db.cpio

You should now have a single directory (Disk1) containing installation files.

Hosts File

The /etc/hosts file must contain a fully qualified name for the server:

Set Kernel Parameters

Add the following lines to the /etc/sysctl.conf file:

kernel.shmall = 2097152
kernel.shmmax = 2147483648
kernel.shmmni = 4096
# semaphores: semmsl, semmns, semopm, semmni
kernel.sem = 250 32000 100 128
fs.file-max = 65536
net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 1024 65000

Run the following command to change the current kernel parameters:

/sbin/sysctl -p

Add the following lines to the /etc/security/limits.conf file:

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

Add the following line to the /etc/pam.d/login file, if it does not already exist:

session    required     /lib/security/pam_limits.so

Note by Kent Anderson: In the event that pam_limits.so cannot set privilidged limit settings see .

Setup

Install the following packages:

# From RedHat AS4 Disk 2
cd /media/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
rpm -Uvh setarch-1.6-1.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-47.3.i386.rpm

# From RedHat AS4 Disk 3
cd /media/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
rpm -Uvh openmotif-2.2.3-6.RHEL4.2.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh compat-db-4.1.25-9.i386.rpm

# From RedHat AS4 Disk 4
cd /media/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
rpm -Uvh compat-gcc-32-3.2.3-47.3.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh compat-gcc-32-c++-3.2.3-47.3.i386.rpm

Create the new groups and users:

groupadd oinstall
groupadd dba
groupadd oper

useradd -g oinstall -G dba oracle
passwd oracle

Create the directories in which the Oracle software will be installed:

mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle/product/10.1.0/db_1
chown -R oracle.oinstall /u01

Login as root and issue the following command:

xhost +

Edit the /etc/redhat-release file replacing the current release information (Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 4 (Nahant)) with the following:

redhat-3

Login as the oracle user and add the following lines at the end of the .bash_profile file:

# Oracle Settings
TMP=/tmp; export TMP
TMPDIR=$TMP; export TMPDIR

ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle; export ORACLE_BASE
ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_BASE/product/10.1.0/db_1; export ORACLE_HOME
ORACLE_SID=TSH1; export ORACLE_SID
ORACLE_TERM=xterm; export ORACLE_TERM
PATH=/usr/sbin:$PATH; export PATH
PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$PATH; export PATH

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib:/lib:/usr/lib; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
CLASSPATH=$ORACLE_HOME/JRE:$ORACLE_HOME/jlib:$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/jlib; export CLASSPATH
#LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1; export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL

if [ $USER = "oracle" ]; then
  if [ $SHELL = "/bin/ksh" ]; then
    ulimit -p 16384
    ulimit -n 65536
  else
    ulimit -u 16384 -n 65536
  fi
fi

Installation

Log into the oracle user. If you are using X emulation then set the DISPLAY environmental variable:

DISPLAY=:0.0; export DISPLAY

Start the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) by issuing the following command in the Disk1 directory:

./runInstaller

During the installation enter the appropriate ORACLE_HOME and name then continue with a "software only" installation.

Post Installation

Create a new instance using the DBCA. If you get the "ORA-27125: unable to create shared memory segment" error when using the DBCA issue the following commands as the oracle user then try again:

cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin

mv oracle oracle.bin

cat >oracle <<"EOF"
#!/bin/bash
 
export DISABLE_HUGETLBFS=1
exec $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oracle.bin $@
EOF
 
chmod +x oracle

I didn't encounter the previous issue myself, so hopefully you won't either.

Edit the /etc/redhat-release file restoring the original release information:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 4 (Nahant)

Finally edit the /etc/oratab file setting the restart flag for each instance to 'Y':

TSH1:/u01/app/oracle/product/10.1.0/db_1:Y

For more information see: