Commercial Versions

1. The 'setup.exe' file (part of the Oracle CD or download) should be executed to start the Oracle Universal Installer. The 'previous' and 'next' buttons on each screen may be clicked to retract installation steps or move forward.

Screenshot 2a: Oracle Universal Installer

2. The installer automatically detects currently installed Oracle products. It is best to uninstall these before installing new versions. Once this is complete, proceed by clicking the 'next' button.
3. The user may now select an appropriate path based on space distribution across the hard disk; commercial versions require hundreds of megabytes of space. Any drive may be chosen but Oracle is conventionally installed in subdirectories of the form oracle\ora<version_shortform>. Steps 4 - 10 are only relevant for server installation; you may skip to step 11 if you are only installing an Oracle client.

Screenshot 2b: Select Path

4. The next step involves selecting a product to install.

Screenshot 2c: Select Product

5. An appropriate edition should be selected in the next step. These do not differ much in size but the features offered by one vary from those offered by another. Installing one of the preset editions is easiest for beginners; custom installations require expertise in Oracle configuration, program structure, and settings.
6. The next step involves selecting an appropriate default database or choosing to install just the software. The general purpose database is ideal for beginners.

Screenshot 2d: General Purpose Database

7. A global database name should be specified for the default database. This name is a global identifier used to refer to the database. The value in the bottom box will serve as the Oracle System Identifier (SID) for the database. The SID is a unique identifier for a currently running instance of the database.

Screenshot 2e: Global Identifier and SID

8. The user may now select an appropriate path for the database. This will be the location of the physical datafiles that correspond to the database's tablespace(s).
9. The next step involves specifying a database character set. Select the first option to use the current language setting of the system. UTF(8) allows multiple language support.
10. Next, the installer displays a tree of the products and files that will be installed. Clicking the 'install' button will start the installation.

Screenshot 2f: Oracle Installation

11. After installation, certain configuration tools will be automatically tested by the installer. You can defer this process to a later time.
12. The client installation will only run the net configuration tool while the server installation will additionally run the HTTP Service (to allow remote connection to the database via the Internet; a DOS command window will open automatically and this service is started within the window), the Database Configuration Assistant, the Oracle Management Server Configuration Assistant (an interface or middle tier between the database and applications), and the Intelligent Agent (related to management services).

Screenshot 2g: Additional Configuration

13. The Database Configuration Assistant installs the default database with the parameters specified by the user. Once the database is created and installed, the default Database administrator account (SYS and SYSTEM) and their passwords are displayed. These should be changed the first time the database is accessed.

Screenshot 2h: Database Configuration Assistant

14. Following are screenshots of the new Windows program groups added for the server installation.

Screenshot 2i: Oracle Program Group
h2> Express Edition

Most of the configuration steps that commercial version installations require are unnecessary when XE is installed. Also, the Windows Installer, rather than the Oracle Universal Installer, installs the XE version.