Re: Is starter database mandatory? Short on disk space

On Wed, 12 Mar 2003 00:50:46 +1000, Sandra W wrote:

>
> When I install Oracle, is there any harm done in skipping the
> creation of a starter database at the end? (i.e. ignoring the
> database creation wizard).

Not a problem at all. But if you don't have a database, all you have is a bunch of Oracle tools with nothing to connect to.

>
> Would SQL*Plus work, if no database exists?

You could certainly fire up SQL Plus and issue such riveting commands as 'set pagesize 2000' or 'set linesize 132'. But without a database, what are you going to select from or update?

>
> I needed to install Oracle 9i on Solaris 2.7 - I won't be
> using it to create database application per se, but to install
> a third-party application which needs a database system (like
> Oracle, MSSQL, etc) installed as a prerequisite.
>
> I know that this third-party app will create its own database within
> Oracle, but I'm not sure it'll work if SQL*Plus doesn't work.
>
> I've installed Oracle on NT before, but Oracle 9i on Solaris
> seems HUGE - it says it needs 2.4GB just for the server.

Bear in mind that a good 1GB of that (at least) is template databases that the Database Creation Assistant uses to make creating databaes quicker (it clones them from the templates). You can delete those templates without batting an eyelid, and get all the space back... and Oracle functionality is compromised not a whit.

>I didn't
> seem to have much luck trying to disable some options from installing -
> it seems like most of the time an option is either mandatory, or disabling
> it causes many other options to become disabled, some of which I want.
>
> I got it down to needing 2.3GB (wow).
>
> After this installs (about 2.5 hours), it gets to the database creation
> wizard, and it's already threatening to take up another 0.5 - 1 GB.
>
> Does Oracle 9i on Solaris really need this huge amount of disk space?
> Can I ignore the starter database, or tell the wizard to make an empty
>one?

If we re-phrase your question to be 'what is the smallest practical Oracle database in 9i', I'd say about 180MB - 120MB for SYSTEM (but with autoextend on just in case), 40MB for the undo tablespace, 10MB each for three redo log groups, and the rest for USERS, INDX, TEMP and TOOLS.

*You* are in ctonrol of what gets created, not the wizard. The wizard seems to think everyone has shares in Seagate (which is a jolly good idea, I reckon), there's no doubt about it. But take control. You can have a database of your design, even when using the Configuration Assistant (you just need to select the 'New Database' option, which is all you'll have left if you follow the earlier advice and delete the database templates).

>
> At the moment, I'm at that awkward stage of having installed the server,
> and having skipped the database creation wizard, which means I'd have
> to run 'dbca' manually if I want to create a sample db.
> SQL*Plus gives the errors:
> ORA-01034: Oracle Not available
> ORA-27101: Shared Memory Realm not avaible

Inevitably so if you don't have a database (try running SQL Plus and not connecting to anything... it should work).

Regards
HJR
>
> Regards,
> Sandra
Received on Wed Mar 12 2003 - 01:01:20 CST