Installing oracle 12c R2 on ubuntu 18.04

Question

Installing Oracle 12c Release 2 on Ubuntu fails because it is not a supported distribution. How can I install it anyway?

Answer 1

Download the installation files and unzip them as usual.

Create the oracle, dba and oinstall users:

sudo groupadd oinstall
sudo groupadd dba
sudo useradd -g oinstall -G dba,oinstall -s /bin/bash -m -d /home/oracle oracle

Add the following parameters to /etc/sysctl.conf:

fs.aio-max-nr = 1048576
fs.file-max = 6815744
kernel.shmall = 3355443
kernel.shmmax = 17179869184
kernel.shmmni = 4096

# semaphores: semmsl, semmns, semopm, semmni
kernel.sem = 250 32000 100 128
net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 9000 65500
net.core.rmem_default=262144
net.core.rmem_max=4194304
net.core.wmem_default=262144
net.core.wmem_max=1048576

The above is for a 32GB machine. If you have a different amount then set:

• shmmax = (memory in bytes / 2)

Now install a set of packages needed for the install to complete. Start by updating your packages:

sudo apt update

Then install the following:

sudo apt install libc6-i386 \
gcc-multilib g++-multilib libc6-dev-i386 libstdc++6:i386 \
alien autoconf automake autotools-dev elfutils rpm rpm-common \
build-essential debhelper expat gawk gsfonts-x11 html2text sysstat \
unixodbc unixodbc-dev doxygen ksh openssh-server pax perl-doc rlwrap \
lsb lsb-core zlibc \
lib32z1-dev lib32ncurses5 libaio1 libaio-dev \
libelf-dev libodbcinstq4-1 libpth-dev libpthread-stubs0-dev \
libpthread-workqueue0 libpthread-workqueue-dev \
libtiff5-dev libzthread-dev libqt4-opengl:i386 libodbcinstq4-1:i386 \
libglu1-mesa:i386 libxtst6:i386 libxtst6

sudo apt-get install -s cabextract
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt update
sudo apt install wimtools libwim-dev
sudo apt install -s libbz2-dev:i386

Create a number of soft links so that the installation can find the files it needs at the places it expects them to be:

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/basename /bin/basename
sudo ln -s bin/bash /usr/bin/bash
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/rpm /bin/rpm
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/awk /bin/awk
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu /usr/lib64
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 /lib64/libstdc++.so.6
sudo ln -s /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 /lib64/libgcc_s.so.1
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpthread_nonshared.a /usr/lib/libpthread_nonshared.a
sudo ln -s /lib/lsb/init-functions /etc/init.d/functions
sudo ln -sf /bin/bash /bin/sh

Now start the Oracle installer running under account "oracle", usually as follows:

xhost +
sudo su - oracle
cd /path/to/unzipped/files/database
./runInstaller

Install the database but do not create a database during the installation!

After a while the installation will give an error on linking. Leave the error message on-screen, then open a terminal and edit the file $ORACLE_HOME/bin/orald. Find, at the start, the part reading:

if [ -z "$BASH_VERSION" -o -n "$ORALD_USE_GCC" ] ; then
  exec gcc "$@"
  exit 1
fi

and change the gcc line to read:

exec gcc -no-pie "$@"

(the -no-pie option starts with a single dash).

Then copy the following script into a file, for instance /tmp/fixora:

#!/bin/bash

# Change the path below to point to your installation
export ORACLE_HOME=/opt/oracle/12cr2

sudo ln -s $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libclntshcore.so.12.1 /usr/lib
sudo ln -s $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libclntsh.so.12.1 /usr/lib

cp $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/ins_rdbms.mk $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/ins_rdbms.bkp
cp $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.bkp

sed -i 's/\$(ORAPWD_LINKLINE)/\$(ORAPWD_LINKLINE) -lnnz12/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/ins_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(HSOTS_LINKLINE)/\$(HSOTS_LINKLINE) -lagtsh/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/ins_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(EXTPROC_LINKLINE)/\$(EXTPROC_LINKLINE) -lagtsh/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/ins_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(OPT) \$(HSOTSMAI)/\$(OPT) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(HSOTSMAI)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(OPT) \$(HSDEPMAI)/\$(OPT) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(HSDEPMAI)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(OPT) \$(EXTPMAI)/\$(OPT) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(EXTPMAI)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/^\(TNSLSNR_LINKLINE.*\$(TNSLSNR_OFILES)\) \(\$(LINKTTLIBS)\)/\1 -Wl,--no-as-needed \2/g' $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib/env_network.mk
sed -i 's/\$(SPOBJS) \$(LLIBSERVER)/\$(SPOBJS) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(LLIBSERVER)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(S0MAIN) \$(SSKFEDED)/\$(S0MAIN) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(SSKFEDED)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(S0MAIN) \$(SSKFODED)/\$(S0MAIN) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(SSKFODED)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(S0MAIN) \$(SSKFNDGED)/\$(S0MAIN) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(SSKFNDGED)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$(S0MAIN) \$(SSKFMUED)/\$(S0MAIN) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(SSKFMUED)/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/^\(ORACLE_LINKLINE.*\$(ORACLE_LINKER)\) \($(PL_FLAGS)\)/\1 -Wl,--no-as-needed \2/g' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/\$LD \$LD_RUNTIME/$LD -Wl,--no-as-needed \$LD_RUNTIME/' $ORACLE_HOME/bin/genorasdksh
sed -i 's/\$(GETCRSHOME_OBJ1) \$(OCRLIBS_DEFAULT)/\$(GETCRSHOME_OBJ1) -Wl,--no-as-needed \$(OCRLIBS_DEFAULT)/' $ORACLE_HOME/srvm/lib/env_srvm.mk

sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/env_rdbms.mk
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/crs/lib/env_has.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/odbc/lib/env_odbc.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/precomp/lib/env_precomp.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/srvm/lib/env_srvm.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib/env_network.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/ldap/lib/env_ldap.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/ord/im/lib/env_ordim.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/plsql/lib/env_plsql.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/ctx/lib/env_ctx.mk;
sed -i 's/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--disable-new-dtags/LDDISABLENEWDTAGS=-Wl,--no-as-needed,--disable-new-dtags/' $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/lib/env_sqlplus.mk;

Change the ORACLE_HOME line in the script to point to your installation directory for Oracle. Make the script executable and run it as the oracle user:

chmod a+x /tmp/fixora
sudo su - oracle
/tmp/fixora

Now return to the installer and press the "retry" button on the error dialog. The installation should now finish without further issues.

The resulting installation does not work, however: creating a database will hang in the "startup mount" command, with an oracle BEQ process deadlocked inside localtime. To fix that do the following, again as the user oracle:

cd $ORACLE_HOME/lib/stubs
rm libc*
cd ../../bin
./relink all

After the relink creating a database should work; you can create one using:

dbca -silent -createDatabase \
-templateName General_Purpose.dbc \
-gdbname $DBNAME -sid $DBNAME -responseFile NO_VALUE \
-characterSet AL32UTF8 \
-sysPassword REPLACE_WITH_PASSWORD \
-systemPassword REPLACE_WITH_PASSWORD \
-createAsContainerDatabase false \
-databaseType MULTIPURPOSE \
-automaticMemoryManagement false \
-totalMemory 2048 \
-storageType FS \
-datafileDestination "/opt/oracle/oradata/" \
-redoLogFileSize 500 \
-emConfiguration NONE \
-ignorePreReqs