A Troubleshooting the Oracle Database Companion CD Installation

This appendix contains information about troubleshooting. It contains the following sections:

Verifying Requirements
What to Do If an Installation Error Occurs
Reviewing the Log of an Installation Session
Troubleshooting Configuration Assistants
Cleaning Up After a Failed Installation
Silent-Mode Response File Error Handling

A.1 Verifying Requirements

Before performing any of the troubleshooting steps in this appendix, ensure that the system meets the requirements and that you have completed all of the preinstallation tasks specified in Chapter 2.

A.2 What to Do If an Installation Error Occurs

If you encounter an error during installation, then:

Do not exit Oracle Universal Installer.
If you clicked Next after you entered incorrect information on one of the installation screens, then click Back to return to the screen and correct the information.
If you encounter an error while Oracle Universal Installer is copying or linking files, then refer to the "Reviewing the Log of an Installation Session" section.
If you encounter an error while a configuration assistant is running, then refer to the "Troubleshooting Configuration Assistants" section.
If you cannot resolve the problem, then remove the failed installation by following the steps listed in the "Cleaning Up After a Failed Installation" section.

A.3 Reviewing the Log of an Installation Session

During an installation, Oracle Universal Installer records all of the actions that it performs in a log file. If you encounter problems during the installation, then review the log file for information about possible causes of the problem.

To view the contents of the log file, follow these steps:

If necessary, enter the following command to determine the location of the oraInventory directory:
The inventory_loc parameter in this file specifies the location of the oraInventory directory.
Enter the following command to change directory to the Oracle Universal Installer log file directory, where orainventory_location is the location of the oraInventory directory:
```
$ cd /orainventory_location/logs
```
Enter the following command to determine the name of the log file:
```
$ ls -ltr
```
This command lists the files in the order of creation, with the most recent file shown last. Installer log files have names similar to the following, where date_time indicates the date and time that the installation started:
```
installActionsdate_time.log
```
To view the most recent entries in the log file, in which information about a problem is most likely to appear, enter a command similar to the following:
```
$ tail -50 installActionsdate_time.log | more
```
This command displays the last 50 lines in the log file.
If the error displayed by Oracle Universal Installer or listed in the log file indicates a relinking problem, then refer to the following file for more information:
```
$ORACLE_HOME/install/make.log
```

A.4 Troubleshooting Configuration Assistants

To troubleshoot an installation error that occurred when a configuration assistant was running:

Review the installation log files listed in the "Reviewing the Log of an Installation Session" section.
Review the specific configuration assistant log file located in the $ORACLE_HOME/cfgtoollogs directory. Try to fix the issue that caused the error.
If you see the Fatal Error. Reinstall message, then look for the cause of the problem by reviewing the log files. Refer to the "Fatal Errors" section for more information.

A.4.1 Configuration Assistant Failure

Oracle configuration assistant failures are noted at the bottom of the installation screen. The configuration assistant interface displays additional information, if available. The configuration assistant execution status is stored in the following file:

oraInventory_location/logs/installActionsdate_time.log

A.4.2 Fatal Errors

If you receive a fatal error while a configuration assistant is running, then you must remove the current installation and reinstall the Oracle software, as follows:

Remove the failed installation as described in the "Cleaning Up After a Failed Installation" section.
Correct the cause of the fatal error.
Reinstall the Oracle software.

A.5 Cleaning Up After a Failed Installation

If an installation fails, then you must remove files that Oracle Universal Installer created during the attempted installation and remove the Oracle home directory. To do this:

Start Oracle Universal Installer as described in the "Installing Oracle Database 10g Products" section.
Click Deinstall Products on the Welcome screen, or click Installed Products on any Oracle Universal Installer screen.

The Inventory screen appears, listing installed products.
Select the products that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
Manually remove the Oracle home directory created during the failed installation.
Reinstall the Oracle software.

A.6 Silent-Mode Response File Error Handling

To determine whether a silent-mode installation succeeds or fails, refer to the following log file:

/oraInventory_location/logs/silentInstalldate_time.log

If necessary, refer to the previous section for information about determining the location of the oraInventory directory.

A silent installation fails if:

You do not specify a response file
You specify an incorrect or incomplete response file

For example, a common problem is that while all the product-specific data is filled out correctly, the staging area location may be incorrect. If this is the case, check the FROM_LOCATION variable and ensure that it points to the products.xml file in the installation media. This products.xml file is in the response/stage directory of the installation media.
Oracle Universal Installer encounters an error, such as insufficient disk space

Oracle Universal Installer or configuration assistant validates the response file at run time. If the validation fails, the silent-mode installation or configuration process ends. Oracle Universal Installer treats values for parameters that are of the wrong context, format, or type as if no value was specified in the file.