B Using Scripts or Response Files to Create Oracle Real Application Clusters Databases

B.4.1 Deciding to Use Silent Mode or Response File Mode

The following table provides reasons for running the installer in silent mode or response file mode:

B.4.2 General Procedure for Using Response Files

The following are the general steps to install and configure Oracle products using the installer in silent or response file mode:

1. Prepare a response file.

2. Run OUI in silent or response file mode.

3. If you completed a software-only installation, then run Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NETCA) and DBCA in silent or response file mode.

These steps are described in the following sections.

B.5.1 Editing a Response File Template

Oracle provides response file templates for each product and installation type and for each configuration tool. For Oracle Database, these files are located in the database\response directory on the installation media or in the Oracle_home\inventory\response directory after the software has been installed.

Table B-1 lists the response files provided with the Oracle RAC software.

To copy and modify a response file:

1. Copy the response file from the response file directory to a directory on your system.

   If you have copied the installation media to a hard drive, then you can edit the file in the staging_dir\database\response directory.

2. Open the response file in a text editor.

   During installation, you can specify sensitive information, such as passwords, at the command line rather than within the response file. The section Section B.4, "Understanding How Response Files are Used During Installation" explains this method.

   See Also:

   Oracle Universal Installer and OPatch User's Guide for Windows and UNIX for detailed information about creating response files

3. Follow the instructions in the file to edit it.

   Note:

   OUI or the configuration assistants fail if you do not correctly configure the response file.

4. Secure the response file.

   Ensure that only the user that installed the Oracle software can view or modify response files. Consider deleting the modified response file after the installation succeeds.

   Note:

   A fully specified response file for an Oracle Database installation contains the passwords for database administrative accounts and for a user who is a member of the operating system groups ORA_DBA and Administrators (required for automated backups).

B.5.2 Recording Response Files

You can use OUI in interactive mode to record response files, which you can then edit and use to complete silent mode or response file mode installations. This method is useful for Advanced or software-only installations.

Starting with Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2), you can save all the installation steps into a response file during installation by clicking Save Response File on the Summary page. You can use the generated response file for a silent installation later.

When you record the response file, you can either complete the installation, or you can exit from OUI before OUI starts to copy the software to the local disk.

If you use record mode during a response file mode installation, then OUI records the variable values that were specified in the original source response file into the new response file.

To record a response file:

1. Complete preinstallation tasks as for a standard installation.

   When you use OUI to record a response file, it checks the system to verify that it meets the requirements to install the software. For this reason, Oracle recommends that you complete all of the required preinstallation tasks and record the response file while completing an installation.

2. Log in as a user that is a member of the local Administrators group and start OUI.

3. On each installation screen, specify the required information.

4. When OUI displays the Summary screen, perform the following:

   1. Click Save Response File. In the pop up window, specify a file name and location for the new response file. Click Save to write the settings you have entered to the file.

   2. Click Finish to continue with the installation.

      Click Cancel if you do not want to continue with the installation. The installation stops, but the recorded response file is retained.

5. If you do not complete the installation, then delete the Oracle home directory that the installer created using the path you specified in the Specify File Locations screen.

6. Before you use the saved response file on another system, edit the file and make any required changes. Use the instructions in the file as a guide when editing it.

B.6.1 Viewing the Help Information for OUI

For information about all the available options for OUI, run the setup.exe command with the -help option. For example, if the installation software is accessed through a DVD disk drive mounted as E:, then you would use the following commands:

C:\> E:
E:\> database\setup.exe -help

If the installation software has been extracted from a downloaded ZIP file to the directory X:\staging_dir, where X: is a drive on your system, then you would use the following command:

C:\> X:
X:\> staging_dir\database\setup.exe -help

The help information appears in your session window after a brief delay.

B.6.2 Running OUI Using a Response File for Input

To use OUI with a response file to install the Oracle Database software, complete the following steps:

1. Complete the preinstallation tasks as for a typical installation.

2. Log in as a user with Administrator privileges.

3. Start OUI in silent or response file mode, by entering a command similar to the following:

   X:\staging_dir> database\setup.exe  [-silent] [-noconfig] \
    -responseFile responsefilename
   

   Note:

   Do not specify a relative path to the response file. If you specify a relative path, then OUI fails. Use the full path location for the response file.

   In this example:

   • X:staging_dir is either the location of the installation media (for example, a DVD drive) or the path of staging directory on the local node.

   • -silent runs OUI in silent mode.

   • -noconfig suppresses running the configuration assistants during installation, and a software-only installation is performed instead.

   • responsefilename is the full path and file name of the installation response file that you configured previously. See Section B.5.1, "Editing a Response File Template."

B.7.1 Running Oracle Database Configuration Assistant in Response File or Silent Mode

To run Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) in response file or silent mode:

1. Oracle provides a response file template named dbca.rsp in the response directory on the installation media. Copy the dbca.rsp response file template from the response file directory to a directory on your system.

   If you have copied the software to a hard drive, you can edit the file in the X:\staging_dir\database\response directory if you prefer.

   Note:

   As an alternative to editing the response file template, you can also create a database by specifying all required information as command-line options when you run DBCA. For information about the list of options supported, enter the following command:

   C:\> %ORACLE_HOME%\bin\dbca -help
   

2. Log in as a user that is a member of the local Administrators group. Set the %ORACLE_HOME% environment variable to the correct Oracle home directory. See Section 7.3, "Working with Multiple Oracle Home Directories on Windows."

3. Open the response file in a text editor.

4. Edit the file, following the instructions in the file.

   In response file mode, DBCA uses values that you specify in the response file or as command-line options, to create a database.

   Note:

   DBCA fails if you do not correctly configure the response file.

5. Open a command-line window. Change directories to the location of the Oracle home directory.

6. Use a command similar to the following example to run DBCA in silent or response file mode using a response file:

   C:\> %ORACLE_HOME%\bin\dbca {-progressOnly | -silent} -responseFile \
   local_dir\dbca.rsp
   

   In this example:

   • The -silent option runs DBCA in silent mode, suppressing user prompts.

   • The -progressOnly option runs DBCA in response file mode.

   • local_dir is the full path of the directory where the dbca.rsp response file is located.

   As DBCA configures and starts the database, it displays a window that contains status messages and a progress bar. The window that DBCA displays is the same window that is displayed when you choose to create a preconfigured database during an Oracle Database Enterprise Edition or Standard Edition installation.

B.7.2 Running Oracle Net Configuration Assistant Using Response Files

You can run Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NETCA) in silent mode to configure and start an Oracle Net listener on the system, configure naming methods, and configure Oracle Net service names. To run NETCA in silent mode, you must copy and edit a response file template. Oracle provides a response file template named netca.rsp in the response subdirectory of:

• The Oracle_home\inventory\response directory after a software-only installation

• The database\response directory on the installation media or staging area

To run NETCA using a response file:

1. Copy the netca.rsp response file template from the response file directory on the installation media to a directory on your system.

   If the software is staged on a hard drive, or has already been installed, then you can edit the file in the response directory located on the local disk instead.

2. Open the response file in a text editor.

3. Follow the instructions in the file to edit it.

   Note:

   NETCA fails if you do not correctly configure the response file.

4. Log in as a user that is a member of the local Administrators group. Set the %ORACLE_HOME% environment variable to the correct Oracle home directory. See Section 7.3, "Working with Multiple Oracle Home Directories on Windows."

5. Enter a command similar to the following to run NETCA in silent mode:

   C:\> Oracle_home\bin\netca -silent -responsefile X:\local_dir\netca.rsp
   

   In this command:

   • The -silent option runs NETCA in silent mode.

   • X:\local_dir is the full path of the directory where you copied the netca.rsp response file template, where X is the drive on which the file is located and local_dir is the folder on that drive.

B.7.3 About the Postinstallation Configuration File

When you perform an installation using silent more or response file mode, you provide information about your servers in a response file that you otherwise provide manually using a graphical user interface. However, the response file does not contain passwords for user accounts that configuration assistants require after software installation is complete. To run the configuration assistants after the installation completes in silent mode, you must provide the passwords used by the assistants in a password file.

The configuration assistants are started with a script called configToolAllCommands. You can run this script in silent mode by using a password response file. The script uses the passwords in the file to run the configuration tools in succession to complete the software configuration. If you keep the password file to use when cloning installations, then Oracle strongly recommends that you store the password file in a secure location.

You can also use the password file to restart a failed installation. If you have to stop an installation to fix an error, then you can rerun the configuration assistants using configToolAllCommands and a password response file.

The configToolAllCommands password response file has the following options:

• internal_component_name is the name of the component that the configuration assistant configures.

• variable_name is the name of the configuration file variable.

• value is the desired value to use for configuration.

The command syntax is as follows:

internal_component_name|variable_name=value

For example, to set the password for the SYS user of Oracle ASM:

oracle.assistants.asm|S_ASMPASSWORD=myPassWord

Oracle Database configuration assistants require the SYS, SYSTEM, SYSMAN, and DBSNMP passwords for use with DBCA. You might need to specify the following additional passwords, depending on your system configuration:

• If the database is using Oracle ASM for storage, then you need to specify a password for the S_ASMSNMPPASSWORD variable. If you are not using Oracle ASM, then leave the value for this password variable blank.

• If you selected to configure Oracle Enterprise Manager, then you must set the value of the S_HOSTUSERPASSWORD variable to the password of the Oracle software installation owner. If you do not want to enable Oracle Enterprise Manager, the leave the value for this password variable blank.

oracle.assistants.server|S_SYSPASSWORD=password
oracle.assistants.server|S_SYSTEMPASSWORD=password
oracle.assistants.server|S_SYSMANPASSWORD=password
oracle.assistants.server|S_DBSNMPPASSWORD=password
oracle.assistants.server|S_HOSTUSERPASSWORD=password
oracle.assistants.server|S_ASMSNMPPASSWORD=password

B.7.4 Creating a Password Response File

To create a password response file to use with the configuration assistants, perform the following steps:

1. Create a response file that has a name of the format filename.properties.

2. Open the file with a text editor, and cut and paste the sample password file contents, as shown in Example B-1, "Sample Password Response File for Oracle RAC Databases", modifying as needed.

3. If the file is stored on a volume formatted for Windows New Technology File System (NTFS), then modify the security permissions to secure the file.

B.7.5 Performing Postinstallation Configuration Using a Response File

To run configuration assistants with the configToolAllCommands script in silent mode or response file mode, perform the following steps:

1. Change directory to %ORACLE_HOME%\cfgtoollogs.

2. Run the configuration script using the following syntax:

   configToolAllCommands RESPONSE_FILE=\path\name.properties
   

   Example B-2 Running Configuration Assistants in Response File Mode

   Assume you created a password response file in the C:\users\oracle\db directory with a name of cfg_db.properties. To run the configuration assistants in response file mode to configure the Oracle software after installation, enter commands similar to the following:

   C:\> cd %ORACLE_HOME%\cfgtoollogs
   C:\..\cfgtoollogs> configToolAllCommands RESPONSE_FILE=C:\users\oracle\db\cfg
   _db.properties