I wanted to set up a demo environment with Apache Kafka (an open-source distributed event streaming platform) and an Oracle Database, all within containers. For my purpose I opted for Oracle Database XE.
[https://kafka.apache.org/]
As I did before, on my Windows laptop, I wanted to use a demo environment within an Oracle VirtualBox appliance, with the help of Vagrant.
I am going to use Linux, and at the time I wrote this article, the general availability of Oracle Database 21c Express Edition (XE) on Linux was announced!
[https://blogs.oracle.com/database/post/oracle-database-21c-xe-generally-available]
In a series of articles, I will take you with me on my path to set everything up.
In this article I will share with you the steps I took, to set up a demo environment with an Oracle Database XE. The focus in this article will be on Oracle Database 18.4.0 XE, however.
Preparing my Windows laptop with the latest version of VirtualBox and Vagrant
First, I updated my software:
- VirtualBox 6.1.28 platform packages (for Windows hosts)
- VirtualBox 6.1.28 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
[https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads]
- Vagrant 2.2.19
[https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads]
By the way, the box configured in my Vagrantfile (for a previous demo environment with Ubuntu, K3s and Quarkus) was:
config.vm.box = “ubuntu/bionic64”
Remark:
config.vm.box (string) – This configures what box the machine will be brought up against. The value here should be the name of an installed box or a shorthand name of a box in HashiCorp’s Vagrant Cloud.
[https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/vagrantfile/machine_settings]
From the subdirectory named env on my Windows laptop, I opened a Windows Command Prompt (cmd). When I used the following command, I got a warning about plugin vagrant-alpine being deprecated:
vagrant box update
With the following output:
WARNING: Vagrant has detected the `vagrant-alpine` plugin. This plugin's functionality has been merged into the main Vagrant project and should be considered deprecated. To uninstall the plugin, run the command shown below: vagrant plugin uninstall vagrant-alpine Vagrant failed to initialize at a very early stage: The plugins failed to initialize correctly. This may be due to manual modifications made within the Vagrant home directory. Vagrant can attempt to automatically correct this issue by running: vagrant plugin repair If Vagrant was recently updated, this error may be due to incompatible versions of dependencies. To fix this problem please remove and re-install all plugins. Vagrant can attempt to do this automatically by running: vagrant plugin expunge --reinstall Or you may want to try updating the installed plugins to their latest versions: vagrant plugin update Error message given during initialization: Unable to resolve dependency: user requested 'vagrant-alpine (= 0.4.0)' C:\My\AMIS\env>
So, I used the following command:
vagrant plugin uninstall vagrant-alpine
Next, I re-installed several plugins:
vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest
With the following output:
Installing the 'vagrant-vbguest' plugin. This can take a few minutes... Installed the plugin 'vagrant-vbguest (0.30.0)'!
vagrant plugin install vagrant-disksize
With the following output:
Installing the 'vagrant-disksize' plugin. This can take a few minutes... Installed the plugin 'vagrant-disksize (0.1.3)'!
By the way, my colleague Maarten Smeets, wrote an article with the title “6 tips to make your life with Vagrant even better!” which also mentions these plugins.
[https://technology.amis.nl/continuous-delivery/provisioning/6-tips-to-make-your-life-with-vagrant-even-better/]
After I re-installed the plugins, I used the following command again:
vagrant box update
With the following output:
==> ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Checking for updates to 'ubuntu/bionic64' ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Latest installed version: 20200812.0.0 ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Version constraints: ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Provider: virtualbox ==> ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Updating 'ubuntu/bionic64' with provider 'virtualbox' from version ==> ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: '20200812.0.0' to '20211025.0.0'... ==> ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Loading metadata for box 'https://vagrantcloud.com/ubuntu/bionic64' ==> ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Adding box 'ubuntu/bionic64' (v20211025.0.0) for provider: virtualbox ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Downloading: https://vagrantcloud.com/ubuntu/boxes/bionic64/versions/20211025.0.0/providers/virtualbox.box Download redirected to host: cloud-images.ubuntu.com ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: ==> ubuntu_k3s_quarkus: Successfully added box 'ubuntu/bionic64' (v20211025.0.0) for 'virtualbox'!
In order to list all the boxes that are installed into Vagrant, I used the following command:
vagrant box list
With the following output (only showing the ones for ubuntu):
… ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20190814.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20191218.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200107.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200124.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200402.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200407.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200416.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200425.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200525.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200701.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200807.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200812.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200819.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20211025.0.0) ubuntu/trusty64 (virtualbox, 20181103.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20181223.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190101.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190109.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190115.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190118.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190123.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190123.0.1) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190215.0.0) …
Oracle Database 21c Express Edition
Oracle Database XE is the free Oracle Database edition for developers, DBAs, data scientists, educators and many more. It is the same powerful Oracle Database that enterprises rely on worldwide, packaged for simple download and install, ease-of-use, and a full-featured experience. You get an Oracle Database to use in any environment, plus the ability to embed and redistribute – all completely free!
[https://blogs.oracle.com/database/post/oracle-database-21c-xe-generally-available]
For installing Oracle Database XE, there are several options. In the list below I mention some of them that could be useful in my case.
Oracle Linux
- Download oracle-database-xe-21c-1.0-1.ol8.x86_64.rpm
- Run “yum -y localinstall oracle-database-xe*”
- Run “/etc/init.d/oracle-xe-21c configure”
By the way, with regard to the Operating System, the following Linux x86-64 kernels are supported:
- Oracle Linux 8.2 with the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 6: 5.4.17-2011.1.2.el8uek.x86_64 or later
- Oracle Linux 8.2 with the Red Hat Compatible Kernel: 4.18.0-193.19.1.el8_2.x86_64 or later
- Oracle Linux 7.6 with the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 5: 4.14.35-2025.404.1.el7uek.x86_64 or later
- Oracle Linux 7.4 with the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 4: 4.1.12-124.53.1.el7uek.x86_64 or later
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2: 4.18.0-193.19.1.el8_2.x86_64 or later
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1: 4.12.14-197.29-default or later
If you use Oracle Linux, then Oracle recommends that you run the Oracle Database Preinstallation RPM for your Linux release to configure your operating system for Oracle Database and Oracle Grid Infrastructure installations.
[https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/21/ladbi/operating-system-checklist-for-oracle-database-installation-on-linux.html#GUID-E5C0A90E-7750-45D9-A8BC-C7319ED934F0]
Docker
A Linux Docker image can be built using the Dockerfiles provided under https://github.com/oracle/docker-images
[https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/appdev/xe/quickstart.html]
I looked at the available Oracle Database container images.
Looking at the README.md, the most recent container image for XE was:
Oracle Database 18c (18.4.0) Express Edition (XE)
So, this was perhaps a good start, although it was not the 21c version I wanted.
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/blob/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/README.md]
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/tree/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/dockerfiles/18.4.0]
I reckoned that perhaps I could change the existing 18.4.0 scripts so they would work for 21c (but more about that, you can read in a next article).
From https://github.com/oracle/docker-images, I download the docker-images-main.zip from github.
VirtualBox
A Linux VirtualBox VM can be built using the Vagrant scripts provided under https://github.com/oracle/vagrant-boxes. You can also install into a Windows VirtualBox VM providing the version of Windows is supported. See the Oracle Database XE Windows Installation Guide.
[https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/appdev/xe/quickstart.html]
Looking at the oracle/vagrant projects for the Oracle Database, the most recent project for XE was:
18.4.0-XE
[https://github.com/oracle/vagrant-projects/tree/main/OracleDatabase/18.4.0-XE]
So again, the latest 21c version of XE was not available.
[https://github.com/oracle/vagrant-projects/tree/main/OracleDatabase]
So, taking all the options mentioned above into account, as a first step for setting up my demo environment, I opted for setting up a Linux VirtualBox VM myself, by using Vagrant scripts (as I did many times before), and installing the Oracle Database XE by using the Linux Docker image, which can be built using the Dockerfile, provided for Oracle Database 18c (18.4.0) Express Edition (XE) on github.
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/tree/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/dockerfiles/18.4.0]
At this point in setting up my demo environment, I am also going to use Docker. I already had a script file docker.sh for installing it, that I used when writing a previous article.
[https://technology.amis.nl/continuous-delivery/containers/rapidly-spinning-up-a-vm-with-ubuntu-docker-and-minikube-using-the-vm-drivernone-option-on-my-windows-laptop-using-vagrant-and-oracle-virtualbox/]
Docker Engine
Docker Engine is an open source containerization technology for building and containerizing your applications.
[https://docs.docker.com/engine/]
To install Docker Engine, you need the 64-bit version of one of these Ubuntu versions:
- Ubuntu Impish 21.10
- Ubuntu Hirsute 21.04
- Ubuntu Focal 20.04 (LTS)
- Ubuntu Bionic 18.04 (LTS)
Docker Engine is supported on x86_64 (or amd64), armhf, arm64, and s390x architectures.
[https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/]
So, I chose: Ubuntu Focal 20.04 (LTS)
I followed the steps in :
https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/
and put them in my already existing script file docker.sh:
[in bold, I highlighted the changes]
#!/bin/bash echo "**** Begin installing Docker Engine" #Uninstall old versions sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc #Set up the repository ##Update the apt package index sudo apt-get update ##Install packages to allow apt to use a repository over HTTPS sudo apt-get install ca-certificates sudo apt-get install curl sudo apt-get install gnupg sudo apt-get install lsb-release ##Add Docker’s official GPG key curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg ##Set up the stable repository echo \ "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \ $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null #Install Docker Engine ##Update the apt package index sudo apt-get update -qq #Install a specific version of Docker Engine sudo apt-get install -yqq docker-ce=5:20.10.10~3-0~ubuntu-focal docker-ce-cli=5:20.10.10~3-0~ubuntu-focal containerd.io #Verify that Docker Engine is installed correctly by running the hello-world image sudo docker run hello-world #use Docker as a non-root user sudo usermod -aG docker vagrant echo "**** End installing Docker Engine"
Remark:
In order to list all the available versions of Docker Engine in the repo, you can use the following command (ones you are in the Oracle VirtualBox appliance via ssh):
sudo apt-cache madison docker-ce
With the following output:
docker-ce | 5:20.10.10~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.9~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.8~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.7~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.6~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.5~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.4~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.3~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.2~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.1~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:20.10.0~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:19.03.15~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:19.03.14~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:19.03.13~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:19.03.12~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:19.03.11~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:19.03.10~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages docker-ce | 5:19.03.9~3-0~ubuntu-focal | https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal/stable amd64 Packages
As you can see in my script file docker.sh, I chose: 5:20.10.10~3-0~ubuntu-focal
Then, I changed the Vagrantfile to contain the following:
[in bold, I highlighted the changes]
Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
config.vm.box = "ubuntu/focal64"
config.vm.define "ubuntu_docker" do |ubuntu_docker|
config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|
vb.name = "Ubuntu Docker"
vb.memory = "8192"
vb.cpus = "1"
args = []
config.vm.provision "docker shell script", type: "shell",
path: "scripts/docker.sh",
args: args
end
end
end
Creating the Oracle VirtualBox appliance
From the subdirectory named env on my Windows laptop, I opened a Windows Command Prompt (cmd) and typed: vagrant up
This command creates and configures guest machines according to your Vagrantfile.
[https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/cli/up.html]
With the following output (only showing certain parts):
Bringing machine 'ubuntu_docker' up with 'virtualbox' provider... ==> ubuntu_docker: Box 'ubuntu/focal64' could not be found. Attempting to find and install... ubuntu_docker: Box Provider: virtualbox ubuntu_docker: Box Version: >= 0 ==> ubuntu_docker: Loading metadata for box 'ubuntu/focal64' ubuntu_docker: URL: https://vagrantcloud.com/ubuntu/focal64 ==> ubuntu_docker: Adding box 'ubuntu/focal64' (v20211026.0.0) for provider: virtualbox ubuntu_docker: Downloading: https://vagrantcloud.com/ubuntu/boxes/focal64/versions/20211026.0.0/providers/virtualbox.box Download redirected to host: cloud-images.ubuntu.com ubuntu_docker: ==> ubuntu_docker: Successfully added box 'ubuntu/focal64' (v20211026.0.0) for 'virtualbox'! ==> ubuntu_docker: Importing base box 'ubuntu/focal64'... … ==> ubuntu_docker: Mounting shared folders... ubuntu_docker: /vagrant => C:/My/AMIS/env … ubuntu_docker: **** Begin installing Docker Engine … ubuntu_docker: Unable to find image 'hello-world:latest' locally ubuntu_docker: latest: Pulling from library/hello-world ubuntu_docker: 2db29710123e: Pulling fs layer ubuntu_docker: 2db29710123e: Verifying Checksum ubuntu_docker: 2db29710123e: Download complete ubuntu_docker: 2db29710123e: Pull complete ubuntu_docker: Digest: sha256:37a0b92b08d4919615c3ee023f7ddb068d12b8387475d64c622ac30f45c29c51 ubuntu_docker: Status: Downloaded newer image for hello-world:latest ubuntu_docker: ubuntu_docker: Hello from Docker! ubuntu_docker: This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly. ubuntu_docker: ubuntu_docker: To generate this message, Docker took the following steps: ubuntu_docker: 1. The Docker client contacted the Docker daemon. ubuntu_docker: 2. The Docker daemon pulled the "hello-world" image from the Docker Hub. ubuntu_docker: (amd64) ubuntu_docker: 3. The Docker daemon created a new container from that image which runs the ubuntu_docker: executable that produces the output you are currently reading. ubuntu_docker: 4. The Docker daemon streamed that output to the Docker client, which sent it ubuntu_docker: to your terminal. ubuntu_docker: ubuntu_docker: To try something more ambitious, you can run an Ubuntu container with: ubuntu_docker: &docker run -it ubuntu bash ubuntu_docker: ubuntu_docker: Share images, automate workflows, and more with a free Docker ID: ubuntu_docker: https://hub.docker.com/ ubuntu_docker: ubuntu_docker: For more examples and ideas, visit: ubuntu_docker: https://docs.docker.com/get-started/ ubuntu_docker: ubuntu_docker: **** End installing Docker Engine
Again, in order to list all the boxes that are installed into Vagrant, I used the following command:
vagrant box list
With the following output (only showing the ones for ubuntu):
… ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20190814.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20191218.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200107.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200124.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200402.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200407.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200416.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200425.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200525.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200701.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200807.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200812.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20200819.0.0) ubuntu/bionic64 (virtualbox, 20211025.0.0) ubuntu/focal64 (virtualbox, 20211026.0.0) ubuntu/trusty64 (virtualbox, 20181103.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20181223.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190101.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190109.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190115.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190118.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190123.0.0) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190123.0.1) ubuntu/xenial64 (virtualbox, 20190215.0.0) …
In the list above, you can see that box ‘ubuntu/focal64’ (v20211026.0.0) was added successfully and that Docker was also working.
And the Oracle VirtualBox appliance was running.
So, then I first tried installing the already available Oracle Database 18.4.0 XE.
Getting dockerfiles for Oracle Database 18.4.0 XE
From the docker-images-main.zip, I downloaded earlier from github, I extracted directory OracleDatabase\SingleInstance\dockerfiles\18.4.0 to directory
C:\My\AMIS\env\oraclexedatabase\dockerfiles\18.4.0
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/tree/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/dockerfiles/18.4.0]
I also I extracted file buildContainerImage.sh to directory C:\My\AMIS\env\oraclexedatabase\dockerfiles
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/blob/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/dockerfiles/buildContainerImage.sh]
Remark about shared folder:
Mounting shared folders... ubuntu_docker: /vagrant => C:/My/AMIS/env
As you can see in the output from vagrant up via the shared folder, the copied files are now also available from within the Oracle VirtualBox appliance.
Building Oracle Database container image for Oracle Database 18.4.0 XE
I used vagrant ssh to connect into the running VM. Next, in order to build the image for Oracle Database 18.4.0 XE, I used the following commands on the Linux Command Prompt (after reading README.md):
cd /vagrant/oraclexedatabase/dockerfiles ./buildContainerImage.sh -v 18.4.0 -x
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/blob/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/README.md]
Remark:
There are some steps (see pictures below) in the process that take a long time, it seems like the process is hanging, but you have to be patience. The whole process can take more than 5 minutes.
With the following output:
WARNING: No swap limit support Checking Docker version. … Building image 'oracle/database:18.4.0-xe' ... Sending build context to Docker daemon 19.46kB Step 1/8 : FROM oraclelinux:7-slim 7-slim: Pulling from library/oraclelinux a755c2d4aa36: Pull complete … Complete! Loaded plugins: ovl … Transaction test succeeded Running transaction Installing : file-5.11-37.el7.x86_64 1/2 Installing : oracle-database-xe-18c-1.0-1.x86_64 2/2 [INFO] Executing post installation scripts... … Successfully built b1b2390e2d72 Successfully tagged oracle/database:18.4.0-xe Oracle Database container image for 'xe' version 18.4.0 is ready to be extended: --> oracle/database:18.4.0-xe Build completed in 614 seconds. vagrant@ubuntu-focal:/vagrant/oraclexedatabase/dockerfiles$
Remark:
When you take a look at the script buildContainerImage.sh, the part for building the image is:
# ################## #
# BUILDING THE IMAGE #
# ################## #
echo "Building image '${IMAGE_NAME}' ..."
# BUILD THE IMAGE (replace all environment variables)
BUILD_START=$(date '+%s')
"${CONTAINER_RUNTIME}" build --force-rm=true --no-cache=true \
"${BUILD_OPTS[@]}" "${PROXY_SETTINGS[@]}" --build-arg DB_EDITION=${EDITION} \
-t "${IMAGE_NAME}" -f "${DOCKERFILE}" . || {
echo ""
echo "ERROR: Oracle Database container image was NOT successfully created."
echo "ERROR: Check the output and correct any reported problems with the build operation."
exit 1
}
In my case, this was the actual command being used (showing the image name and Dockerfile name):
In order to get a list of all the docker images, I used the following command on the Linux Command Prompt:
docker image ls
With the following output:
REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE oracle/database 18.4.0-xe b1b2390e2d72 9 minutes ago 5.89GB oraclelinux 7-slim 078d6e3ae75e 2 weeks ago 132MB hello-world latest feb5d9fea6a5 7 weeks ago 13.3kB
So, here we can see the image was successfully created.
Running Oracle Database 18.4.0 XE in a container
For creating a container based on an image, the following command can be used: docker run
In order to create the container, I used the following command on the Linux Command Prompt (after reading README.md):
docker run --name oracle_database_18.4.0-xe \ -p 1521:1521 -p 5500:5500 \ -e ORACLE_PWD=manager \ -e ORACLE_CHARACTERSET=AL32UTF8 \ -v /opt/oracle/oradata:/opt/oracle/oradata \ oracle/database:18.4.0-xe
Parameters:
| –name: | The name of the container (default: auto generated) |
| -p: | The port mapping of the host port to the container port. Two ports are exposed: 1521 (Oracle Listener), 5500 (EM Express) |
| -e | ORACLE_PWD: The Oracle Database SYS, SYSTEM and PDB_ADMIN password (default: auto generated |
| -e | ORACLE_CHARACTERSET: The character set to use when creating the database (default: AL32UTF8) |
| -v | /opt/oracle/oradata The data volume to use for the database. Has to be writable by the Unix “oracle” (uid: 54321) user inside the container! If omitted the database will not be persisted over container recreation. |
| -v | /opt/oracle/scripts/startup | /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/startup Optional: A volume with custom scripts to be run after database startup. For further details see the “Running scripts after setup and on startup” section below. |
| -v | /opt/oracle/scripts/setup | /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/setup Optional: A volume with custom scripts to be run after database setup. |
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/blob/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/README.md]
With the following output:
ORACLE PASSWORD FOR SYS AND SYSTEM: manager Specify a password to be used for database accounts. Oracle recommends that the password entered should be at least 8 characters in length, contain at least 1 uppercase character, 1 lower case character and 1 digit [0-9]. Note that the same password will be used for SYS, SYSTEM and PDBADMIN accounts: Confirm the password: Configuring Oracle Listener. Listener configuration succeeded. Configuring Oracle Database XE. Enter SYS user password: ****** Enter SYSTEM user password: ****** Enter PDBADMIN User Password: ********* Prepare for db operation Cannot create directory "/opt/oracle/oradata/XE". 7% complete Copying database files 29% complete 100% complete [FATAL] Recovery Manager failed to restore datafiles. Refer logs for details. 7% complete 0% complete Look at the log file "/opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/XE/XE.log" for further details. Database configuration failed. Check logs under '/opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca'. mkdir: cannot create directory '/opt/oracle/oradata/dbconfig': Permission denied mv: cannot stat '/opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhomeXE/dbs/spfileXE.ora': No such file or directory mv: cannot move '/opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhomeXE/dbs/orapwXE' to '/opt/oracle/oradata/dbconfig/XE/': No such file or directory mv: cannot move '/opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhomeXE/network/admin/listener.ora' to '/opt/oracle/oradata/dbconfig/XE/': No such file or directory mv: cannot move '/opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhomeXE/network/admin/tnsnames.ora' to '/opt/oracle/oradata/dbconfig/XE/': No such file or directory cp: cannot create regular file '/opt/oracle/oradata/dbconfig/XE/': No such file or directory ln: failed to create symbolic link '/opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhomeXE/dbs/orapwXE': File exists cp: cannot stat '/opt/oracle/oradata/dbconfig/XE/oratab': No such file or directory The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /opt/oracle ##################################### ########### E R R O R ############### DATABASE SETUP WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL! Please check output for further info! ########### E R R O R ############### ##################################### The following output is now a tail of the alert.log: Changing di2dbun from xe to XE .... (PID:613): Redo network throttle feature is disabled at mount time 2021-11-17T07:14:28.223270+00:00 Successful mount of redo thread 1, with mount id 2969993360 2021-11-17T07:14:28.223527+00:00 Database mounted in Exclusive Mode Lost write protection disabled .... (PID:613): Using STANDBY_ARCHIVE_DEST parameter default value as /opt/oracle/product/18c/dbhomeXE/dbs/arch [krsd.c:17717] Create Relation IPS_PACKAGE_UNPACK_HISTORY Completed: ALTER DATABASE MOUNT ^Cvagrant@ubuntu-focal:/vagrant/oraclexedatabase/dockerfiles$
So, I canceled the command.
After further reading the README.md, I saw the following remark:
The data volume to use for the database.
Has to be writable by the Unix “oracle” (uid: 54321) user inside the container!>
If omitted the database will not be persisted over container recreation.
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/blob/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/README.md]
So, I checked the directory:
cd /opt/oracle/oradata ls -latr
With the following output:
total 8 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Nov 17 07:13 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 17 07:13 .
And I changed, the rights:
sudo chmod -R o+w ls -latr
With the following output:
total 8 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Nov 17 07:13 .. drwxr-xrwx 2 root root 4096 Nov 17 07:13 .
I checked the list of all the docker containers:
docker container ls -a
With the following output:
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES dcbe02842070 oracle/database:18.4.0-xe "/bin/sh -c 'exec $O…" 5 minutes ago Exited (129) 3 minutes ago oracle_database_18.4.0-xe 4077a9630d2b hello-world "/hello" 13 hours ago Exited (0) 13 hours ago pedantic_almeida vagrant@ubuntu-focal:/opt/oracle/oradata$
In order to remove the docker container, I used the following command on the Linux Command Prompt:
docker container rm oracle_database_18.4.0-xe
With the following output:
oracle_database_18.4.0-xe
Again, I checked the list of all the docker containers:
docker container ls -a
With the following output:
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES 4077a9630d2b hello-world "/hello" 13 hours ago Exited (0) 13 hours ago pedantic_almeida
Again, in order to create the container, I used the following command on the Linux Command Prompt (after reading README.md):
docker run --name oracle_database_18.4.0-xe \ -p 1521:1521 -p 5500:5500 \ -e ORACLE_PWD=manager \ -e ORACLE_CHARACTERSET=AL32UTF8 \ -v /opt/oracle/oradata:/opt/oracle/oradata \ oracle/database:18.4.0-xe
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/blob/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/README.md]
This time, with the following output:
ORACLE PASSWORD FOR SYS AND SYSTEM: manager Specify a password to be used for database accounts. Oracle recommends that the password entered should be at least 8 characters in length, contain at least 1 uppercase character, 1 lower case character and 1 digit [0-9]. Note that the same password will be used for SYS, SYSTEM and PDBADMIN accounts: Confirm the password: Configuring Oracle Listener. Listener configuration succeeded. Configuring Oracle Database XE. Enter SYS user password: ******* Enter SYSTEM user password: ********* Enter PDBADMIN User Password: ********* Prepare for db operation 7% complete Copying database files 29% complete Creating and starting Oracle instance 30% complete 31% complete 34% complete 38% complete 41% complete 43% complete Completing Database Creation 47% complete 50% complete Creating Pluggable Databases 54% complete 71% complete Executing Post Configuration Actions 93% complete Running Custom Scripts 100% complete Database creation complete. For details check the logfiles at: /opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/XE. Database Information: Global Database Name:XE System Identifier(SID):XE Look at the log file "/opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/XE/XE.log" for further details. Connect to Oracle Database using one of the connect strings: Pluggable database: a7e088c563b7/XEPDB1 Multitenant container database: a7e088c563b7 Use https://localhost:5500/em to access Oracle Enterprise Manager for Oracle Database XE The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /opt/oracle ######################### DATABASE IS READY TO USE! ######################### The following output is now a tail of the alert.log: 2021-11-17T07:39:16.965489+00:00 XEPDB1(3):Resize operation completed for file# 10, old size 358400K, new size 368640K 2021-11-17T07:39:18.595777+00:00 XEPDB1(3):CREATE SMALLFILE TABLESPACE "USERS" LOGGING DATAFILE '/opt/oracle/oradata/XE/XEPDB1/users01.dbf' SIZE 5M REUSE AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 1280K MAXSIZE UNLIMITED EXTENT MANAGEMENT LOCAL SEGMENT SPACE MANAGEMENT AUTO XEPDB1(3):Completed: CREATE SMALLFILE TABLESPACE "USERS" LOGGING DATAFILE '/opt/oracle/oradata/XE/XEPDB1/users01.dbf' SIZE 5M REUSE AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 1280K MAXSIZE UNLIMITED EXTENT MANAGEMENT LOCAL SEGMENT SPACE MANAGEMENT AUTO XEPDB1(3):ALTER DATABASE DEFAULT TABLESPACE "USERS" XEPDB1(3):Completed: ALTER DATABASE DEFAULT TABLESPACE "USERS" 2021-11-17T07:39:19.242467+00:00 ALTER PLUGGABLE DATABASE XEPDB1 SAVE STATE Completed: ALTER PLUGGABLE DATABASE XEPDB1 SAVE STATE ^Cvagrant@ubuntu-focal:/opt/oracle/oradata$
I canceled the tail command and, I checked the directory:
ls -latr
With the following output:
total 16 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Nov 17 07:13 .. drwxr-x--- 4 54321 54321 4096 Nov 17 07:32 XE drwxr-xr-x 3 54321 54321 4096 Nov 17 07:39 dbconfig drwxr-xrwx 4 root root 4096 Nov 17 07:39 .
Again, I checked the list of all the docker containers:
docker container ls -a
With the following output:
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES a7e088c563b7 oracle/database:18.4.0-xe "/bin/sh -c 'exec $O…" 17 minutes ago Exited (129) 4 minutes ago oracle_database_18.4.0-xe 4077a9630d2b hello-world "/hello" 13 hours ago Exited (0) 13 hours ago pedantic_almeida
So, because I canceled the command, the database was stopped.
No, problem, I restarted it.
docker container start oracle_database_18.4.0-xe
With the following output:
oracle_database_18.4.0-xe
Again, I checked the list of all the docker containers (and I repeated this command until the STATUS was healthy):
docker container ls -a
With the following output:
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES a7e088c563b7 oracle/database:18.4.0-xe "/bin/sh -c 'exec $O…" 22 minutes ago Up 36 seconds (health: starting) 0.0.0.0:1521->1521/tcp, :::1521->1521/tcp, 0.0.0.0:5500->5500/tcp, :::5500->5500/tcp oracle_database_18.4.0-xe 4077a9630d2b hello-world "/hello" 14 hours ago Exited (0) 14 hours ago pedantic_almeida CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES a7e088c563b7 oracle/database:18.4.0-xe "/bin/sh -c 'exec $O…" 22 minutes ago Up 47 seconds (health: starting) 0.0.0.0:1521->1521/tcp, :::1521->1521/tcp, 0.0.0.0:5500->5500/tcp, :::5500->5500/tcp oracle_database_18.4.0-xe 4077a9630d2b hello-world "/hello" 14 hours ago Exited (0) 14 hours ago pedantic_almeida CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES a7e088c563b7 oracle/database:18.4.0-xe "/bin/sh -c 'exec $O…" 22 minutes ago Up 56 seconds (health: starting) 0.0.0.0:1521->1521/tcp, :::1521->1521/tcp, 0.0.0.0:5500->5500/tcp, :::5500->5500/tcp oracle_database_18.4.0-xe 4077a9630d2b hello-world "/hello" 14 hours ago Exited (0) 14 hours ago pedantic_almeida CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES a7e088c563b7 oracle/database:18.4.0-xe "/bin/sh -c 'exec $O…" 22 minutes ago Up About a minute (healthy) 0.0.0.0:1521->1521/tcp, :::1521->1521/tcp, 0.0.0.0:5500->5500/tcp, :::5500->5500/tcp oracle_database_18.4.0-xe 4077a9630d2b hello-world "/hello" 14 hours ago Exited (0) 14 hours ago pedantic_almeida
Running SQL*Plus
Next, I wanted to check the database via SQL*Plus.
See the following in the README.md:
Once the container has been started you can connect to it just like to any other database:
sqlplus sys/<your password>@//localhost:1521/XE as sysdba
sqlplus system/<your password>@//localhost:1521/XE
You may use the same container image you used to start the database, to run sqlplus to connect to it, for example:
Another option is to use docker exec and run sqlplus from within the same container already running the database:
docker exec -ti <container name> sqlplus pdbadmin@ORCLPDB1
[https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/blob/main/OracleDatabase/SingleInstance/README.md]
I opted for running SQL*Plus in a container.
docker exec -ti oracle_database_18.4.0-xe sqlplus system/manager@//localhost:1521/XE
With the following output:
SQL*Plus: Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production on Wed Nov 17 07:57:02 2021 Version 18.4.0.0.0 Copyright (c) 1982, 2018, Oracle. All rights reserved. Last Successful login time: Wed Nov 17 2021 07:56:47 +00:00 Connected to: Oracle Database 18c Express Edition Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production Version 18.4.0.0.0 SQL>
I issued the following SQL command:
SQL> select count(*) from user_tables;
With the following output:
COUNT(*) ---------- 128
Next, I used exit to close SQL*Plus.
With the following output:
Disconnected from Oracle Database 18c Express Edition Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production Version 18.4.0.0.0
So, the database was working and I could use SQL statements. Great!
With exit I closed the ssh Windows Command Prompt.
In a next article, you can read more about the steps I took to get Oracle Database 21c XE working.
