Ubuntu Linux Install Oracle Database XE Server

Posted on in Categories , last updated March 9, 2008

Q. How do I install Oracle Database XE Server on my Ubuntu Linux desktop system?

A. An Oracle database consists of a collection of data managed by an Oracle database management system. You can download Oracle Database XE server for Debian, Mandriva, Novell, Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux distributions. First you need to get databases up and running in order to use Oracle. The Oracle database has had a reputation among new Linux users as difficult to install on Linux systems. Now Oracle Corporation has packaged recent versions for several popular Linux distributions in an attempt to minimize installation challenges beyond the level of technical expertise required to install a database server.

Make sure you have enough disk space and memory

If you have less than 1GB memory run the following commands to create swap space:
$ sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swpfs1 bs=1M count=1000
$ sudo mkswap /swpfs1
$ sudo swapon /swpfs1

Debian / Ubuntu Oracle installation

First modify /etc/apt/sources.list file:
$ sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
Append following line:
deb http://oss.oracle.com/debian unstable main non-free
Save and close the file. Next import GPG key:
$ wget http://oss.oracle.com/el4/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Update package database:
$ sudo apt-get update
Finally install Oracle:
$ sudo apt-get install oracle-xe
Output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  linux-headers-2.6.20-15-generic linux-headers-2.6.20-15
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libaio
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libaio oracle-xe
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
Need to get 221MB/221MB of archives.
After unpacking 405MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://oss.oracle.com unstable/non-free oracle-xe 10.2.0.1-1.1 [221MB]
....
....

Post-install configuration

You must configure Oracle TCP/IP port and other parameters. Simply type the following command:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/oracle-xe configure
Output:

Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Configuration
-------------------------------------------------
This will configure on-boot properties of Oracle Database 10g Express 
Edition.  The following questions will determine whether the database should 
be starting upon system boot, the ports it will use, and the passwords that 
will be used for database accounts.  Press  to accept the defaults. 
Ctrl-C will abort.

Specify the HTTP port that will be used for Oracle Application Express [8080]: [Enter key]

Specify a port that will be used for the database listener [1521]:[Enter key]

Specify a password to be used for database accounts.  Note that the same
password will be used for SYS and SYSTEM.  Oracle recommends the use of 
different passwords for each database account.  This can be done after 
initial configuration:secret
Confirm the password:secret

Do you want Oracle Database 10g Express Edition to be started on boot (y/n) [y]:y

Starting Oracle Net Listener...Done
Configuring Database...Done
Starting Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Instance...Done
Installation Completed Successfully.
To access the Database Home Page go to "http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex"

To access the Database Home Page go to http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex. Open a web browser and type url (you need to use username “system” and password setup earlier)

Ubuntu Linux Install Oracle Database XE Server

References

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. He has worked with global clients and in various industries, including IT, education, defense and space research, and the nonprofit sector. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

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41 comment

  1. Nice and simple. Please note that any use of the Oracle Database Express Edition is subject to the following limitations;

    1. Express Edition is limited to a single instance on any server;

    2. Express Edition may be installed on a multiple CPU server, but may only be executed on one processor in any server;

    3. Express Edition may only be used to support up to 4GB of user data (not including Express Edition system data);

    4. Express Edition may use up to 1 GB RAM of available memory.

    So it is good for workstations and laptop and good for home user and students

  2. Oracle XE is only compiled for i386 – 32bits – and has some problems trying to install it under x86_64 machine. Some websites explain how to solve this. I wrote a entry in my blog with the extra steps to get XE running under Ubuntu AMD64. Is in Spanish, but I think that is not difficult to extract the steps even without knowing Spanish. In the same entry I put a link to another site what explains the same process in English.

    Hope can help

    Regards

    D.

  4. Thank you very much for this HOWTO. I followed it on Ubuntu server 7.04 and also on Freespire (based on Ubuntu 7.04) and it worked perfectly. Thank you for making your knowhow available.
    Johan Blignaut

  7. My laptop has 512MB RAM. Is it advisable to intall Oracle Express?? If not is there any other option.??

  8. # Neten Says:
    April 18th, 2008 at 10:33 pm

    My laptop has 512MB RAM. Is it advisable to intall Oracle Express?? If not is there any other option.??

    XE will run pretty badly with only 512 meg of ram, but it depends on how hard you’re going to be working it. Have you looked into MySQL / PostgreSQL?

  9. Here’s what I did:
    1) added this to /etc/apt/sources.list: deb http://oss.oracle.com/debian unstable main non-free
    2) ran: wget http://oss.oracle.com/el4/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle -O- | sudo apt-key add –
    3) ran: sudo apt-get update
    4) via the Synaptic package manager, clicked on “oracle xe”. This package was installed along with libaio.
    5) checked my applications menu and saw that oracle had appeared.
    6) ran: sudo /etc/init.d/oracle-xe configure (I changed the port for Oracle Application Express to 9090 so it wouldn’t conflict with Tomcat, which uses port 8080. I indicated that I didn’t want the database server to launch on boot. I was planning launching as needed from the applications menu).

    Now I thought that I was ready to go. So I went to the applications menu and selected start database. A terminal window popped up warning me that I wasn’t a member of the dba group. I added myself to the dba group. I restarted my computer and tried starting the database once again from the applications menu.

    This time no warning terminal came up. Basically I didn’t get any feedback as to whether the database server was actually running. So I tried accessing:
    http://127.0.0.1:9090/apex. I was told the browser couldn’t establish a connection with the database. I selected “run sql from the command line” from the applications menu. This didnt’ work either. The terminal window that came up began like this:
    /usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/bin/nls_lang.sh: 114: [[: not found
    /usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/bin/nls_lang.sh: 114: [[: not found

    I also checked my logs:
    Oracle Database 10g CRS Release 10.2.0.1.0 Production Copyright 1996, 2005 Oracle. All rights reserved.
    [ OCRUTL][3067549888]u_set_comp_error: Parameter was NULL
    [ OCRUTL][3067549888]u_set_ocr_error: Parameter was NULL
    2008-07-18 22:18:24.502: [ OCROSD][3067549888]utgdv:2:ocr loc file cannot be opened
    2008-07-18 22:18:24.502: [ OCROSD][3067549888]utopen:1: Couldnt find ocr,[ocrmirror] location in config file
    [ OCRUTL][3067549888]u_set_gbl_comp_error: Parameter was NULL
    2008-07-18 22:18:24.502: [ OCRRAW][3067549888]proprinit: Could not open raw device
    2008-07-18 22:18:24.502: [ default][3067549888]a_init:7!: Backend init unsuccessful : [33]
    [ OCRUTL][3067549888]u_set_ocr_error: Parameter was NULL
    2008-07-18 22:18:24.502: [ CSSCLNT][3067549888]clsssinit: error(33 ) in OCR initialization

    Any suggestions?

  11. i typed the command for install oracle in ubuntu 8.04
    sudo apt-get install oracle-xe

    it shows :
    ” E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock – open (11 Resource temporarily unavailable)
    E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it? ”

    how do i solve this??…please give instructions..

  13. hi ,

    i did the same thing that u hav wrriten but ….m not able to start the database as i get the error on the screen that comes after i select APPLICATION->ORACLE 10g express edition “Operation failed. bikramjit is not a member of ‘dba’ group.”

  14. u have to add yourself to dba gruop
    then:
    start database
    launch SQL command line
    type: connect / as sysdba
    then type: exec dbms_xdb.sethttpport(8181);

    and finally try: http://127.0.0.1:8181/apex

    and u should be able to use web interface

  16. Thank you very much, this really helps !
    I was thinking to download and install manually, especially I remembered that so many system parameters need to be adjusted for accomodating oracle like SHMMAX etc

  19. I had the same issue in my ubuntu, it only worked the first time but later on reboot it stoped working, is there a formal way to start the Oracle services? start database from menu doesn’t seems to work at all

  21. Thanks a lot!
    Very straightforward on Ubuntu Karmic, I am able to use the database immediately after this.
    And it saves me from registering on the Oracle website!
    We might even get updates :-)

  22. I just installed the Ubuntu 9.10 and then installed Oracle 10 Express and all went fine. I can access oracle on 127.0.0.1:8080/apex address however when I try to access the server on it’s external ip address (192.168.1.14) even when I’m on my Ubuntu machine it’s failing.
    I’m new to Linux so I’m sure this should be silly and simple issue but I can’t find a way around it. I need this so I can access the oracle server from outside world (other nodes on the network)
    Any help is appreciated.

    Amir

  23. ORACLE XE + Ubuntu best development environment ever, not for everyone but if you master it, it rocks.

  25. I installed on Lucid and one thing I have to do which I can’t find mentioned in any how-to’s or tutorials is to be logged in as “oracle” which is created during the install. If I want to connect through terminal I have to first do “su oracle”. Otherwise the normal “sqlplus sys as sysdba” doesn’t work. Even after adding my user to the dba group I still have to be logged in as “oracle” to use sqlplus.

    Is this something new in the Lucid install? Is there a way to make it where my user account can log into it without “su oracle”?

    Thanks anyone who answers this.

  31. Dear all,
    Thank you very much for the nice guide. Can anyone please advice me as to how i should go about accessing the oracle-xe db that I just installed on my ubuntu 10.04 notebook via sqlplus? I have successfully installed the “oracle-xe 10g server” and client” and I can access the admin page from the browser. (http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex)

    However when I try to say sqlplus on the shell it gives me this:
    “error while loading shared libraries: libsqlplus.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory”

    I have set the paths and variables right Im sure, but I just cant connect with sqlpolus.

    Please help gentlemen I know nothing about oracle.

  32. I followed the instructions and Oracle-XE installed Ubuntu 11.04 okay.

    Typing in the url: http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex

    brought me to the Oracle XE home page and I could logon to the system fine.

    Thank you for a simple solution.

    Derek

  33. Thanks a lot. I have installed oracle xe server. but I was not getting to configure.
    Your Q. Answer helped me to configure oracle server on my Ubuntu 11.04 LTS.
    deb http://oss.oracle.com/debian unstable main non-free this string I directly edit thru synaptical package manager.

    I was getting swap space problem which I resolved through gparted application.

    Thank once again.

  34. I am sorry, i using English verry bad.

    I install oracle 10g in ubuntu server 10.10( I istall ubuntu server 10.10 and then install oracle 10g and desktop-ubuntu). In ubuntu, i access oracle OK.
    but, i can not connected from PLSSQL Developer(PC windows). The PC windows and ubuntu server are the same LAN. my PC windows can acess oracle 10g in redHat 5, I edit tnsnames.ora for connecting oracle 10g in ubuntu. its not OK

    1. Hi Vanthang,

      It seems that you have problems with your tnsnames.ora. I would suggested you try with sqldeveloper first, and if it works try to translate your connection parameters to your tnsnames.ora.

      Hope it helps,

      Luis

  35. Amazingly simple and straight forward. Followed it on Ubuntu 11.04, and I got no problems. Its just great!

  36. hai,
    i hav a problem. i instal oracle in ubuntu, when i tried to connect in sql prompt, it is showinthis,

    SQL> conn system
    Enter password:
    ERROR:
    ORA-01034: ORACLE not available
    ORA-27101: shared memory realm does not exist
    Linux Error: 2: No such file or directory

    can any one say what to do..

  38. need to install an oracle 11g server and administer a single database for a multi-dimensional business outfit.
    don’t know how to get around that?

  39. i need to install an oracle database 11g server and administer a database for a multi-dimensional business outfit.
    i don’t really know how to get around that?

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