Installing Oracle Database 10g Express Edition on Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) x86_64 (amd64)

1AUG/10

Installing Oracle Database 10g Express Edition on Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) x86_64 (amd64)

As at the moment Oracle doesn't offer a 64-bit version of their Oracle Database 10g Express Edition (XE), the installation procedure for this architecture is slightly different than for the 32-bit one. To keep the long story short, I've managed to successfully install the Oracle Database 10g Express Edition on a 64-bit Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) by following these steps:

Step 1. Download the Debian package oracle-xe-universal_10.2.0.1-1.0_i386.deb (262,440,214 bytes), which represents Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.1) Express Edition for Linux x86 (i.e. 32-bit version). Note that you'll have to go through the registration procedure, and Accept the License Agreement before you're able to proceed with the download.

Step 2. Save the package to a destination folder of your choice, e.g. ~/Downloads/

Step 3. Start a Terminal instance (i.e. go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal)

Step 4. Install the Linux Kernel Asynchronous I/O Access Library by executing the following line in the Terminal:

sudo apt-get install libaio1

You should see a similar output to the one displayed below:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libaio1
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 194 not upgraded.
Need to get 9,448B of archives.
After this operation, 77.8kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main libaio1 0.3.107-3ubuntu1 [9,448B]
Fetched 9,448B in 0s (21.2kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package libaio1.
(Reading database ... 152446 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libaio1 (from .../libaio1_0.3.107-3ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ...
Setting up libaio1 (0.3.107-3ubuntu1) ...
 
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place

Step 5. Install the Oracle Database 10g XE by executing the following line in the Terminal:

sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture oracle-xe-universal_10.2.0.1-1.0_i386.deb

The execution should yield an output similar to the one below:

dpkg: warning: overriding problem because --force enabled:
package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Selecting previously deselected package oracle-xe-universal.
(Reading database ... 152454 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking oracle-xe-universal (from oracle-xe-universal_10.2.0.1-1.0_i386.deb) ...
Setting up oracle-xe-universal (10.2.0.1-1.0) ...
update-rc.d: warning: /etc/init.d/oracle-xe missing LSB information
update-rc.d: see <http://wiki.debian.org/LSBInitScripts>
Executing Post-install steps...
-e You must run '/etc/init.d/oracle-xe configure' as the root user to configure the database.
 
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for sreadahead ...
sreadahead will be reprofiled on next reboot

It is important to note that we've supplied the "--force-architecture" argument to the the Debian package management system (dpkg), in order to ensure that the installation process does not halt due to the architecture incompatibility warning (i.e. "package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)").

Step 6. Run the Oracle Database 10g XE Configuration Utility by executing the following line in the Terminal:

sudo /etc/init.d/oracle-xe configure

You should be prompted with several questions for which you can either use the default settings (which are enclosed in the brackets) by not typing anything except pressing the Enter key, or you can specify different values based on your preference. However, you might want to answer n (for no) to the question "Do you want Oracle Database 10g Express Edition to be started on boot?"

If you've accepted the default values (except for the auto-boot question), you should see an output similar to the one listed below:

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 <Enter> to accept the defaults.
Ctrl-C will abort.
 
Specify the HTTP port that will be used for Oracle Application Express [8080]:
 
Specify a port that will be used for the database listener [1521]:
 
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:
Confirm the password:
 
Do you want Oracle Database 10g Express Edition to be started on boot (y/n) [y]:n
 
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"

Step 7. If you've got to here, then congratulations! You're done! Now you can visit the following address http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex and start using the Oracle Database 10g XE.