G Troubleshooting

G.1 Verify 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.

Read the Release Notes

Read the release notes for the product before installing it. The release notes are available on the Oracle Database 11g DVD. The latest version of the release notes is also available on the Oracle Technology Network Web site:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html

G.2 X Window Display Errors

If you run Oracle Universal Installer on a remote system and you want to display Oracle Universal Installer's user interface on your local system, you might see error messages similar to the following:

"Failed to connect to server"
"Connection refused by server"
"Can't open display"

If you see one of these error messages, follow these steps:

1. In a local terminal window, log in as the user that started the X Window session.

2. Enter the following command:

   $ xhost fully_qualified_remote_host_name
   

   For example:

   $ xhost somehost.us.example.com
   

3. Enter the following commands, where workstation_name is the host name or IP address of your workstation:

   • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

     $ DISPLAY=workstation_name:0.0
     $ export DISPLAY
     

   • C shell:

     % setenv DISPLAY workstation_name:0.0
     

4. To determine if an X Window application displays correctly on the local system, enter the following command:

   $ xclock
   

   The X clock should appear on your monitor.

5. If the X clock appears, close the X clock and start Oracle Universal Installer again.

   See Also:

   PC-X Server or operating system vendor documents for further assistance

G.3 Remote Terminal Installation Error

If you run the installation from a remote terminal, or if you use an su command to change users you might receive an error similar to the following:

Could not execute auto check for display colors using command
/usr/X11R6/bin/xdpyinfo

This can occur if the DISPLAY variable is not set, or the user running the installation is not authorized to open an X window. For instance, if you use an su command to change from a user that is authorized to open an X window to a user account that is not authorized to open an X window on the display, such as a lower-privileged user opening windows on the root user's console display.

To troubleshoot this issue, run the command echo $DISPLAY to ensure that the display variable is set to the correct visual or to the correct host. If the display variable is set correctly then either ensure that you are logged in as the user authorized to open an X window, or run the command xhost + to allow any user to open an X window.

G.4 What to Do If an Installation Error Occurs?

If you encounter an error during installation:

• Do not exit Oracle Universal Installer.

• If you click Next after you enter incorrect information on one of the installation screens, 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 rerun Oracle Universal Installer with the -debug option:

  $./runInstaller -debug
  

  Check the log file for details. Refer to "Reviewing the Log of an Installation Session" section.

• If you encounter an error while a configuration assistant is running, refer to "Troubleshooting Configuration Assistants" section.

• If you cannot resolve the problem, remove the failed installation by following the steps listed in the "Cleaning Up After a Failed Installation" section.

G.5 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, review the log file for information about possible causes of the problem.

To view the log file, follow these steps:

1. If necessary, enter the following command to determine the location of the oraInventory directory:

   $ cat /etc/oraInst.loc
   

   The inventory_loc parameter in this file specifies the location of the oraInventory directory.

2. Enter the following command to change directory to Oracle Universal Installer log file directory, where orainventory_location is the location of the oraInventory directory:

   $ cd /orainventory_location/logs
   

3. 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
   

4. To view the most recent entries in the log file, where 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.

5. If the error displayed by Oracle Universal Installer or listed in the log file indicates a relinking problem, refer to the following file for more information:

   $ORACLE_HOME/install/make.log
   

G.6 Troubleshooting Host Name Changes and CSS

If you change the host name for Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), then the Oracle CSS daemon does not start. In order to solve this problem, perform the following:

• Login as the root user

• Run localconfig delete to deconfigure CSS. This removes any configuration related files on the system that referenced the old host name.

• Run localconfig add to reconfigure CSS using the new host name.

For Example:

# $ORACLE_HOME/bin/localconfig [add] [delete] [ reset destination_Oracle_home ]
[-silent] [-paramfile Complete_path_of_file_specifying_parameter_values]

G.7 Troubleshooting Configuration Assistants

To troubleshoot an installation error that occurs when a configuration assistant is 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, look for the cause of the problem by reviewing the log files. Refer to "Irrecoverable Errors" for further instructions.

oraInventory_location/logs/installActionsdate_time.log

G.8 Troubleshooting Inventory Issues

If you face any of the following situations for Oracle home, then run the opatch lsinventory -detail command to list the contents of the inventory and see section "Recovering from inventory corruption" in the Oracle Universal Installer and OPatch User's Guide for Windows and UNIX for information about fixing the issue.

• Oracle home is cloned without completing the inventory steps.

• There is bad inventory.

• Inventory is not available but it is created when the Oracle Enterprise Manager Agent is installed in a separate Oracle home.

G.9 Troubleshooting Screen Display Issues

If you connect to Oracle database with a screen resolution of 640X480 or 800X600, then the Next button in the GUI is not visible as it hides behind the Taskbar. To fix this problem, perform one of the following:

• Hide the Taskbar.

• Move the Oracle Universal Installer screen up.

• Set the screen resolution to 1024X768 or higher.

G.10 Silent-Mode Response File Error Handling

To determine if 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. In the installation media, this products.xml is in response/stage.

• 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.

G.11 Core File Not Enabled Error

The core file setting currently prevents the creation of a core file for process aborts and exceptions. Hence, you might receive the following error:

Core files are not enabled

The workaround is to enable core file creation. For example:

# /sbin/sysctl -w fs.suid_dumpable=1

Also update the parameter value in /etc/sysctl.conf to enable core file creation. Enabling core file creation can vary between distributions; refer to your vendor documentation for details.

G.12 Cleaning Up After a Failed Installation

If an installation fails, you must remove files that Oracle Universal Installer created during the attempted installation.

To do this, run the Deinstallation Tool. For more information about how to run the Deinstallation Tool refer to the "Removing Oracle Software Using the Deinstallation Tool" section.