Oracle Database 11 g - Online Public Access Catalog

2 CHAPTER 1 ■ INSTALLING, UPGRADING, AND MANAGING CHANGE• Real Application Testing• Database software patchingNew Features in Server InstallationThe installation process for the Oracle server software is essentially the same in the OracleDatabase 11g and 10g versions. Invoking the Oracle Universal Installer (invoked by runInstalleron Unix/Linux and setup on Windows) remains the same, and the Oracle Universal Installerperforms the same operating system checks as in the older versions. There are, however, a fewimportant changes when installing Oracle Database 11g, which we summarize in the followingsections.Changes in the Optimal Flexible ArchitectureThe Oracle 11g installation process contains changes in the way you specify the Oracle base,the Oracle home, and the flash recovery area. In addition, there is a new infrastructure calledthe automatic diagnostic repository, which serves as a consolidated location for all databasediagnostic information.Choosing the Oracle Base LocationThe Oracle base directory is the top-level directory for installing Oracle software, and the OFArecommendedpath for this directory is /mount_point/app/. For example,a typical Oracle base directory path is /u01/app/oracle, where oracle is the Oracle software owner.The Oracle base is recommended as an environment variable, as in the earlier Oracle versions, butin future versions Oracle is likely to make this a mandatory variable. The Oracle Universal Installernow provides a list box for you to edit or select the Oracle base. The Oracle Universal Installerautomatically derives the default Oracle home location from the Oracle base location you provide.The Oracle home directory is a subdirectory of the Oracle base directory, and that’s where youinstall all your Oracle software. You can edit the location offered by the Oracle Universal Installer ifyou want to specify a different directory as the Oracle home location. Oracle recommends youspecify the same Oracle base for multiple Oracle homes created by a user.Choosing the Datafile and Flash Recovery Area LocationsIn Oracle Database 11g, by default, all datafiles are located one level below the Oracle base. Theflash recovery area is also one level below the Oracle base, and Oracle recommends you createthis on a disk that is separate from the ones hosting the datafiles. In Oracle Database 10g, bycontrast, both the flash recovery area and the datafiles are located in the Oracle home directory.The datafile location and the flash recovery area in an Oracle Database 11g release databasethen would look like the following, assuming you chose /u01/app/oracle as your Oracle baselocation:/u01/app/oracle/oradata/u01/app/oracle/flash_recovery_areaThe Oracle Universal Installer will warn you if you don’t put the datafiles and the flashrecovery area in separate locations.