2 Introduction to Oracle Universal Installer

Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Automatically installed with Oracle Universal Installer on most platforms. Check the Release Notes or installation guide of the products that you are installing for the required version.

Memory Requirements. Memory requirements vary depending on the number of components installed. Check the Release Notes or installation guide for the products that you are installing for details. 32 MB minimum recommended on all platforms.

Disk Space Requirements. Oracle recommends atleast 60 MB for Oracle Universal Installer files on Windows platforms; 70 MB on UNIX. (UNIX requires more memory because of the difference in JRE sizes for the platforms.) You may need up to 1 MB for the related inventory files.

An XML-based centralized inventory.

The XML format allows third-party Java applications to query the inventory for information about installed software. For backward compatibility, the Central Inventory continues to maintain the binary versions as well.

Cloning of existing Oracle homes.

Allows you to copy an existing Oracle home to another location and "fix it up" by updating the installation configuration to be specific to the new environment. Cloning makes it easy to propagate a standard setup without having to install and configure installation after installation.

Better support for cluster environments.

Oracle Universal Installer now replicates its inventory to all nodes that participate in a cluster-based installation. Users can invoke Oracle Universal Installer from any node on the cluster that is part of the installation. Users can then upgrade/remove/patch existing software from any node.

True silent capability.

When running Oracle Universal Installer in silent mode on a character mode console, you no longer need to specify an X-server or set the DISPLAY environment variable on UNIX. No GUI classes are instantiated, making the silent mode truly silent.

Ability to record your Oracle Universal Installer session to a response file.

This feature makes it easy to duplicate the results of a successful installation on multiple systems. All the options you selected during the installation are saved in the resulting response file. For information about recording your Oracle Universal Installer sessions refer to section "Creating a Response File With Record Mode".

More accurate disk space calculations.

Oracle Universal Installer now uses a more accurate method of calculating the disk space required by your Oracle products. This feature reduces the risk of running out of disk space during an installation.

Automatically launched software after installation.

Some Oracle products now take advantage of a new feature that allows the software to launch automatically immediately after the installation.

Cleaner de-installation and upgrades.

De-installation completely removes all software, leaving no "bits" behind. Also completely removes files associated with configuration assistants and patchsets. Oracle homes can also be removed from the inventory and registry.

Integrated pre-requisite checking.

Provides a pre-requisite checking tool to diagnose the readiness of an environment for installation. The pre-requisite checks are run as part of the installation process, but can also be run as a separate application.

Support for single click installation.

Provides a facility where you can do single click installs for certain products for basic configurations. You also have an advanced mode for more options.