Re: ORACLE_BASE and $ORACLE_HOME

obakesan <pellicleundies_at_hotmail.com> wrote:
> In the past I recall using both $ORACLE_BASE and $ORACLE_HOME, but when
> reading Administrator's Guide 10g Release 1 (10.1) Part No. B10739-01 I find
> that it suggests ORACLE_BASE is only windows platform.
>
> the manual states:
>
> This release complies with Optimal
> Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines.
> All subdirectories are not under a top
> level ORACLE_HOME directory. There is a
> top level directory called ORACLE_BASE
> that by default is C:\oracle. If you
> install the latest Oracle Database release
> on a computer with no other Oracle
> software installed, then the default setting
> for the first Oracle home directory is
> C:\oracle\orann, where nn is the
> latest release number
>
> For example a table on p48 Ch2:
>
> Platform | Default Name | Default Location
> UNIX | spfiledbname.ora | $ORACLE_HOME/dbs or the same location as
> the datafiles
> Windows | spfileSID.ora | ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME\database

I cannot see from your quotation that ORACLE_BASE is recommended only for Windows.

Oh, do you mean the last line of your quotation? That must be a typo or an imprecision.

Correct would be "%ORACLE_HOME%\database" if it should correspond to the UNIX line above.

Maybe Oracle wanted to emphasize that ORACLE_HOME should be a subdirectory of ORACLE_BASE if you want to stick with their recommendations.

This part of the 10gR1 documentation explains ORACLE_BASE: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/em.102/b16227/oui3_manage_oracle_homes.htm#sthref139

In my perception, ORACLE_BASE does not have a technical significance, it is more a "soft" thing that helps to organize an Oracle installation in a meaningful and self-explanatory way.

However, some Oracle tools will respect an ORACLE_BASE setting: If you install Oracle on a machine for the first time, the Universal Installer will choose ORACLE_BASE, if it is set, as parent directory for the Oracle Inventory.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe Received on Fri Oct 24 2008 - 03:11:45 CDT