Introduction

In a previous blog post, I described the steps to streamline the pre-installation steps on Oracle Linux for Oracle Database 12c using the Database preinstallation package. In this post you will learn how to do a fully automated installation of Oracle Database 12c on Oracle Linux running in an Oracle VM VirtualBox guest. The tutorial is based on a Vagrantfile published in our Vagrant repo on GitHub.

Because this installation method uses VirtualBox, Vagrant and an Oracle Linux Vagrant Box, the whole process can be automated, requiring minimal to no input. Assuming you have VirtualBox, Vagrant and git installed, these are the steps needed to install Oracle Database:

1. Clone the relevant GitHub repository
2. Download the Oracle Database 12c installation media from OTN
3. Issue a Vagrant to create the VM and start the Database installation process
4. Wait 15-25 minutes, depending on your network bandwidth and machine horsepower
5. Done

The commands are straightforward:

$ git clone https://github.com/oracle/vagrant-boxes

$ cd vagrant-boxes/OracleDatabase/12.2.0.1

<download Oracle Database installation zip file>

$ vagrant up

How Does This Work?

Assuming you have the required tools in place, the steps summarized earlier cause Vagrant to do the following

• read the Vagrantfile (more about that later)
• create a headless VM based on the pre-packaged Oracle Linux 7 Vagrant box
• provision the VM by runing a script that
  • updates Oracle Linux to the latest available packages from Oracle Linux yum server
  • performs Database pre-installation checks and installs required packages
  • unzips the Database installion files,
  • installs the Oracle Database 12c software
  • creates a database and pluggable database container

After the installation has completed, you can either log in to the guest VM itself and interact with the Database there or, you can leave the VM running —headless— and connect from the host operating system to the Database using tools such as SQL Developer.

Requirements

Before You Get Started

You will need the following tools installed to follow this tutorial

• Git: follow this tutorial if Git is not already installed on your system
• Oracle VM VirtualBox
• Vagrant

Steps

Clone the vagrant-boxes repository from GitHub

Download Oracle Database Installation Files

From the Oracle Database 12c Release 2 download page, grab the Linux x86-64 file. Accept the license and click File 1 for Linux x86-64 (see Fig. 1)

Fig 1. Database 12c Release 2 installation file

Place the downloaded Database installation zip File in the appropriate directory

Because you are installing Database 12c, change to the appropriate directory:

You should see the following before you proceed:

For my installation I used Vagrant 2.0.1 and VirtualBox 5.2.8

What's in a Vagrantfile?

Before we kick off the installation, let's take a look at the Vagrantfile, the file that controls everything from creating the Oracle Linux VM, to installing the Database.

At the top of the Vagrantfile, there's a section that defines a virtual machine to be based on a Vagrant base box. In this case it's using a the latest available Oracle Linux 7 box from yum.oracle.com

This section configures port forwarding in VirtualBox so that a SQL*Net connection to port 1521 on the host operating system (for example) will end up connecting to the Database listener in the VM guest.

The last section tells Vagrant to provision the VM by running an install script that performs the Database installation. It also defines and sets environment variables for the execution of the script.  You can adjust these if you wish, but it's not required.

You can take a look at the install script here, but suffice to say it uses a response file to perform an installation of Oracle Dabase 12c using so-called response files so that no user interaction is required.

Start the installation

Now, grab yourself a beverage or a snack. The installation can take anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the power of the host running the VM and your bandwidth (to download the Oracle Linux box). On a late 2013 Macbook Pro with SSD storage and 8GB of RAM it took about 23 minutes to get from the initial vagrant command to fully installed Oracle Database.

You will see tons of output as the VM is configured and the Database is installed. Some snippets below:

==> default: Running provisioner: shell...

default: Running: /var/folders/dq/zx1355j55lj8n9wszqjq1j640000gn/T/vagrant-shell20180418-2363-fe5fuu.sh

default: INSTALLER: Started up

default: Resolving Dependencies

default: --> Running transaction check

default: ---> Package acl.x86_64 0:2.2.51-12.el7 will be updated

default: ---> Package acl.x86_64 0:2.2.51-14.el7 will be an update

default: ---> Package acpid.x86_64 0:2.0.19-8.el7 will be updated

default: ---> Package acpid.x86_64 0:2.0.19-9.el7 will be an update

default: ---> Package audit-libs.x86_64 0:2.7.6-3.el7 will be updated

default: ---> Package audit-libs.x86_64 0:2.8.1-3.el7 will be an update

default: ---> Package bash.x86_64 0:4.2.46-29.el7_4 will be updated

default: ---> Package bash.x86_64 0:4.2.46-30.el7 will be an update

default: ---> Package bind-libs-lite.x86_64 32:9.9.4-51.el7_4.2 will be updated

default: ---> Package bind-libs-lite.x86_64 32:9.9.4-61.el7 will be an update

default: ---> Package bind-license.noarch 32:9.9.4-51.el7_4.2 will be updated

...

default: --> Finished Dependency Resolution

default:

default: Dependencies Resolved

default:

default: ================================================================================

default:  Package                     Arch   Version                 Repository     Size

default: ================================================================================

default: Installing:

default:  kernel-uek                  x86_64 4.1.12-124.14.1.el7uek  ol7_UEKR4      46 M

default:  kernel-uek-firmware         noarch 4.1.12-124.14.1.el7uek  ol7_UEKR4     2.5 M

default: Updating:

default:  acl                         x86_64 2.2.51-14.el7           ol7_latest     81 k

default:  acpid                       x86_64 2.0.19-9.el7            ol7_latest     68 k

default:  audit-libs                  x86_64 2.8.1-3.el7             ol7_latest     99 k

...

default: Dependencies Resolved

default:

default: ================================================================================

default:  Package                 Arch   Version                        Repository  Size

default: ================================================================================

default: Installing:

default:  oracle-database-server-12cR2-preinstall

default:                          x86_64 1.0-3.el7                      ol7_latest  19 k

default: Installing for dependencies:

default:  bind-libs               x86_64 32:9.9.4-61.el7                ol7_latest 1.0 M

default:  bind-utils              x86_64 32:9.9.4-61.el7                ol7_latest 204 k

...

default: INSTALLER: Oracle preinstall and openssl complete

default: INSTALLER: Oracle directories created

default: INSTALLER: Environment variables set

default: Archive:  /vagrant/linuxx64_12201_database.zip

default:    creating: /vagrant/database/

default:    creating: /vagrant/database/install/

...

default: Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

default:

default: Checking Temp space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 30233 MB    Passed

default: Checking swap space: must be greater than 150 MB.   Actual 4088 MB    Passed

default: Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from /tmp/OraInstall2018-04-18_08-33-54PM. Please wait ...

default: [WARNING] [INS-32055] The Central Inventory is located in the Oracle base.

default:    ACTION: Oracle recommends placing this Central Inventory in a location outside the Oracle base directory.

default: You can find the log of this install session at:

default:  /opt/oracle/oraInventory/logs/installActions2018-04-18_08-33-54PM.log

default: Prepare in progress.

...

default: Finish Setup successful.

default: The installation of Oracle Database 12c was successful.

default: Please check '/opt/oracle/oraInventory/logs/silentInstall2018-04-18_08-33-54PM.log' for more details.

...

default: Copying database files

default: 1% complete

default: 13% complete

default: 25% complete

default: Creating and starting Oracle instance

default: 26% complete

default: 30% complete

...

default: 100% complete

default: Look at the log file "/opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/ORCLCDB/ORCLCDB.log" for further details.

default:

default: SQL*Plus: Release 12.2.0.1.0 Production on Wed Apr 18 20:47:37 2018

default:

default: Copyright (c) 1982, 2016, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

default:

default: Connected to:

default: Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production

default: SQL>

default: Pluggable database altered.

default: SQL>

default: Disconnected from Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production

default: INSTALLER: Database created

default: INSTALLER: Oratab configured

default: Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/oracle-rdbms.service to /etc/systemd/system/oracle-rdbms.service.

default: INSTALLER: Created and enabled oracle-rdbms systemd's service

default: INSTALLER: setPassword.sh file setup

default: ORACLE PASSWORD FOR SYS, SYSTEM AND PDBADMIN: **********

default: INSTALLER: Installation complete, database ready to use!

Be sure to make a note of the generated password shown at the end of the output.

Next Steps

Connecting to the Database

To connect to your Database, you can either 1) ssh to the VM and interact with the database there; or 2) connect a database tool such as SQL Developer from your host machine to the VM.

1. ssh to the VM and interact with the database

The command vagrant ssh logs you in to the VM. This is another benefit of Vagrant — ssh keys are set up on both the host and the VM so that you can log in without a password. Next, set up the Oracle environment and use sqlplus to connect to the database with a connect string that includes a hostname and a service, in this case, localhost/orclpdb1.

Note: If the generated password has a / or @ in it, you may need to use escaped quotes around the password as follows:

2. Connect the Database from the host system

You'll recall that the Vagrantfile set up port mapping in VirtualBox so that a connection to port 1521 on the local host is re-directed to port 1521 in the VM. This means  you can create a connection in Oracle SQL Developer as follows:

Create a new connection (Fig. 2)

Fig 2. Create a new connection

Unless you changed the defaults in the Vagrantfile, the connection details are (see Fig. 3)

Hostname: localhost

Port: 1521

Service name: orclpdb1

You are now ready to connect to the Database, create database objects and run queries.

Learn from the Database 12c Learning Library

If you are new to Oracle Database or Database 12c, try some of the tutorials in the Database 12c Learning Library.

Use Vagrant to Make and Restore Snapshot of your VM

Oracle VM VirtualBox has a snapshot feature so that you can make a snapshot of your VM in a known, good state and recover this state later.  Using Vagrant's CLI:

Conclusion

In this tutorial I showed how using only git, Oracle VM VirtualBox, and Vagrant you can perform an automated installation of Oracle Database 12c on your development machine.