Re: Multiple Oracle Homes with 9i

From: NorwoodThree <norwoodthree_at_my-deja.com>
Date: 17 Sep 2002 11:59:30 -0700
Message-ID: <ba03e2c.0209171059.3726ec55@posting.google.com>

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Doc ID: Note:73963.1
Subject: WIN: Using multiple ORACLE HOMES on Windows platform Type: BULLETIN
Status: PUBLISHED
Content Type: TEXT/PLAIN
Creation Date: 03-SEP-1999
Last Revision Date: 31-MAY-2002

PURPOSE Explains the usage of multiple ORACLE_HOMES on the Windows platform

SCOPE & APPLICATION Anyone doing installations on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 2000.

Using Multiple ORACLE HOMES on Windows 32-bit platforms

Multiple Oracle Homes is a feature that is available starting with the Oracle 8.0.4 release on NT. It is applicable for 32-bit installations only.

Versions prior to Oracle8 8.0.4 must still reside in the same Oracle Home,
and the difference for those versions is still made by the second digit.

Examples:
- Oracle7 7.2.2.4 and 7.3.4 can be installed together in same Oracle Home.
- Oracle7 7.3.3 and 7.3.4 can not be installed together. - Oracle8 8.0.3 and 8.0.4 can be installed together on the same machine
in separate Oracle Homes. However, 8.0.3 should still be installed in
the first default Oracle Home.

The reason for the above limitation was due to the fact that the Oracle executables
were named using the version numbers. Server Manager was named svrmgr23 or svrmgr30.
In the case of svrmgr23, if Oracle version 7.3.4 was installed into the same home
as 7.3.3, then the executables would be over written. This naming convention has been dropped since Oracle 8i.

The Oracle Installer (ORCA) Oracle version 8.0

When using the Oracle Installer for version 8.0.X, there were still some limitations
imposed when installing into multiple Oracle homes. This version of the installer
divided the products up into the following categories:

Non-Multiple Oracle Home Products You can only install those products into an old-style Oracle Home (one and the same). This applies for all pre-8.0.4 products.
Multiple Oracle Home Compliant Products You can install those products into any Oracle Home, BUT only once per machine. When installing any of these products, if other versions are detected on your machine, you are prompted to :
- continue installation without installing the product
- quit the installation so that you can delete the existing version first.

Multiple Oracle HOME Compliant Products :

Oracle Enterprise Manager
Oracle Enterprise Manager SDK
Oracle Enterprise Manager DB Admin Applications
Oracle SNMP Support / SNMP Agent
Oracle Administrator Toolbar
Oracle Replication Manager
Oracle Web Server Manager
Oracle Biometrics Manager
Oracle Security Server Manager
Oracle File Packager
Open Database Connectivity Driver (ODBC)
Oracle Migration Assistant for Microsoft Access
Oracle8 Performance Monitor
Oracle8 ConText Cartridge System Administration
Oracle Parallel Server
All products dependent on one of the products above
- Multiple Oracle Home Enabled Products All products not belonging to the two categories above. These are the products which can be freely installed several times in separate Oracle HOME locations.

Note:

Although the Oracle Intelligent Agent is a Multiple Oracle Home Enabled

Product, and thus can be installed multiple times, ONLY ONE VERSION can be

running at a given time.

The Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) Oracle version 8.1.X - 9.1.X

With the release of Oracle 8i, the restrictions on Multiple Home compliant
products has been removed. All database products installed are now multiple home compliant

Installation

The Oracle Installer - Oracle8 8.0.4 - 8.0.6

The Oracle Installer will prompt you for an Oracle Home. With this screen, both
the starting location and the 'description/logical name' can be given.

DEFAULT_HOME is the name of the first Oracle Home installed on your machine, typically for pre-8.0.4 software.
Choose a new Oracle Home name and location. Proceed with installation, using this non-default location and name.

The Oracle Universal Installer - Oracle8i and Oracle 9i - all versions

The Oracle Universal installer will prompt you for the name of an Oracle Home
and its path.

If an Oracle home already exists on the server, it can be selected from the drop-down box. The home's path will automatically be filled in.
If a new Oracle home is desired, highlight the home name displayed and enter a new home name, then enter the path for the new Oracle home.

It is highly suggested that each version of the Oracle database be installed into
its own home. This makes maintenance easier and will allow the deletion of homes
in the event that the version is no longer needed.

A suggested layout for Oracles homes is

		X:\Oracle
			...\Admin
			...\Ora816
			...\Ora817
			...\Ora911
			...\Oradata

	With the above disk layout, we have a separate Oracle home for Oracle

8.1.6, 8.1.7
and Oracle 9.1.1. The directories ADMIN and ORADATA contain administrative and datafiles respectively.

System Changes

The name of the Windows group "Oracle for Windows NT" is appended with the
name given during install to your new Oracle Home. The group for an Oracle HOME installation named HOME_804 will be created as "Oracle for Windows NT - HOME_804"

The new Oracle Home name is included in the service names. As an example, a listener
installed in an ORACLE_HOME named HOME_804 will be registered as a service named "OracleHOME_804Listener80".

The database service will NOT include the Oracle Home name. A database with the
sid name of PROD installed into an Oracle Home will be named OracleServicePROD.

Registry settings

New registry keys have been added in the ORACLE tree to support multiple
Oracle homes.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES holds :

The name of the first and default Oracle Home (DEFAULT_HOME). By default this is set to "DEFAULT_HOME", but you can change this if you like. If you change this value, you will also have to change the NAME value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES\ID0
A counter to keep track of the number of different Oracle Homes (HOME_COUNTER).
The identifier of the last installed Oracle Home (LAST_HOME).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES\IDx, where x is the identifier of the Oracle Home, holds:

The name you gave to this Oracle Home during install (NAME).
The NLS_LANG value used by the installer.
The directory you've chosen to install the software in, for this Oracle Home (PATH).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\HOMEx, where x is the identifier of the
Oracle Home, holds:

All environment variables for this particular Oracle Home.

How it Works

Everything is based upon the BIN directory from which an executable is started.

Oracle knows from which BIN directory a particular executable has been started and searches in this BIN directory for a file named oracle.key.
In this file Oracle finds the reference to the environment it should use
e.g. SOFTWARE\ORACLE\HOME1. If the oracle.key file is not present, then
the Default Oracle Home is used. This is the case for Non-Multiple Oracle
Home products.

The user should always be aware of which executable they are using.

The user should either start the executable from within a Windows Group e.g.
"Oracle for Windows NT - HOME_804", in which case the target of the shortcut
includes the ORACLE_HOME\BIN directory or start the executable from a DOS prompt,
in which case the order of the ORACLE_HOME directories in the PATH are of importance.

A utility, the Oracle Home Selector, is provided to allow the switching of
Oracle Homes. This utility does nothing other than set the ORACLE_HOME\BIN
directory, of the Oracle Home one has chosen to use, as the first directory
in your PATH variable. When using the Oracle Home Selector, you will need to
re-open your DOS window in order for those changes to take effect. The Oracle
Home Selector utility is only installed when you choose to install the Oracle
Installer.

Removing an Oracle Home

WARNING: THIS SECTION SHOULD BE USED WITH THE GREATEST OF CAUTION. IT
IS POSSIBLE TO RENDER ALL ORACLE SOFTWARE UNUSABLE IF THIS PROCEDURE IS
NOT FOLLOWED EXACTLY. Assume x is the identifier of the Oracle Home one wants to remove.

Registry :
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\ALL_HOMES :
  - LAST_HOME := LAST_HOME - 1
  - HOME_COUNTER := HOME_COUNTER - 1
  - Delete the IDx key
  - For all IDy, where y > x, IDy := IDy-1 (rename keys with regedit)
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE :
  - Delete the HOMEx key
  - For all HOMEy, where y > x, HOMEy := HOMEy-1 (rename keys with regedit)
For all HOMEy, where HOMEy has been renamed to HOMEy-1 (see step 1), edit the ORACLE_HOME\BIN\oracle.key file and change HOMEy to HOMEy-1 The ORACLE.KEY file contains the registry hive in which the settings for that particular ORACLE_HOME are stored. Since the 'HOME' number has changed, the value of this file must be adjusted as well.
In each 'HOMEy' key, check for a registry parameter called 'ID'. The value of this parameter must match the home number assigned to that ORACLE_HOME.
Delete the Windows Group of the removed Oracle Home
Delete the complete directory of the removed Oracle Home
Remove the ORACLE_HOME\BIN directory, of the removed Oracle Home, from your PATH variable (Control Panel - System - Environment - System Variables)
Delete all services related to the removed Oracle Home Deleting of the services should be done with either the 'SC.EXE' or the 'SRVINSTW.EXE' from the NT resource kit. Removing the service directly from the services key in the registry, will leave behind the LEGACY service which is kept for the hardware profiles. These 'orphaned' services can later pose problems if software is reinstalled or re-used.