1. Introduction
Oracle
Database 26ai represents the latest evolution of Oracle’s enterprise‑grade
database platform, integrating advanced AI‑driven automation, intelligent
performance optimization, and enhanced workload management to support modern,
mission‑critical applications. With its focus on autonomous operations and high
availability, Oracle 26ai enables organizations to deploy resilient, scalable,
and self‑managing database environments with reduced administrative overhead.
This
document provides a complete, step‑by‑step guide for installing Oracle
Database 26ai on Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) using Standalone
Grid Infrastructure (GI) on a single‑node Oracle Linux 8.10 system running
on VMware. ASM is Oracle’s recommended storage solution for high‑performance
and highly available database deployments, offering optimized file management,
dynamic storage allocation, and integrated redundancy. Standalone GI enables
ASM capabilities without requiring a RAC cluster, making it ideal for
single‑instance production and development environments.
This
guide is designed to be practical, clear, and execution-oriented, making it
suitable for Oracle DBAs, administrators, and learners who want to gain
hands-on experience deploying a fully functional standalone Oracle Database
26ai environment using ASM and Grid Infrastructure with udev-based disk
configuration.
2.
Environment Overview
|
Component |
Details |
|
Virtualization Platform |
VMware Workstation |
|
Operating System |
Oracle Linux 8.10
(x86_64) |
|
Storage Type |
ASM |
|
Oracle Database Version |
26ai |
|
Oracle Grid
Infrastructure Home |
/u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/grid |
|
Oracle User |
oracle |
|
ORACLE_BASE |
/u01/app/oracle |
|
ORACLE_HOME (DB) |
/u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/dbhome_1 |
|
ORACLE_SID |
ORCL26 |
|
PDB Name |
ORCL26PDB |
|
Listener Port |
1521 (default) |
3.
Prerequisites
3.1 Hardware Requirements
Standalone Server
- RAM: Minimum 8 GB (Recommended: 16
GB+)
- CPU: 2 vCPUs or more
- Primary Disk: 50 GB
- Virtualization Platform: VMware
Workstation
3.2 ASM Shared Storage
Configuration
The system uses ASM-based
shared storage for Oracle Database 26ai, managed by Oracle Grid
Infrastructure.
\
This layout is designed to provide high performance, simplified storage
management, and scalability for future growth.
Physical Disk
Configuration
The following disks are
presented to the server at the virtualization layer and dedicated exclusively
for ASM usage. These disks are made available to the operating system and
managed by Oracle Grid Infrastructure.
|
Disk Purpose |
ASM Disk Group |
Size |
Redundancy |
|
| |||
|
Database Data Files |
DATA |
30 GB |
External |
|
Fast Recovery Area |
FRA |
20 GB |
External |
The OCRVD disk group
stores cluster metadata and voting information, DATA is used for database data
files, and FRA is reserved for recovery-related files such as archivelogs and
backups. External redundancy is used, assuming storage-level redundancy.
Key Notes
•.All ASM disks are discovered and managed by Grid
Infrastructure
• Disk access is configured using udev for persistent device naming and
permissions
• ASM provides centralized storage management without relying on
filesystem-based layouts
• External redundancy is used, assuming storage-level redundancy
• This configuration is suitable for standalone deployments and future
scalability
Note: This
ASM storage layout is based on my implementation. Disk sizes, redundancy
levels, and disk group design can be adjusted according to your environment and
operational requirements.
3.3 Network Requirements
A standalone server
requires at least one primary network interface, with support for future
expansion.
Public Network (eth0)
Used
for:
- Client and database connections
- SQL*Net communication
- Administrative access (SSH)
Example configuration:
- Hostname: ol8db26.localdomain
- IP Address: 192.168.73.100
Optional NAT Adapter (VM environments
only)
Used
only for:
- Internet access
- Package downloads and updates
4.
Download Required Oracle Software
For a standalone Oracle
Database 26ai installation using ASM-based storage, both Oracle Grid
Infrastructure and Oracle Database software are required. ASM is
managed through Grid Infrastructure, even in a single-node (standalone)
environment.
Required Software Package
Download the following
software from the official Oracle website:
1. Oracle Grid
Infrastructure for Standalone Server (26ai)
This package includes:
- Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
- Oracle Restart
- Grid Infrastructure components
required to manage ASM disk groups
- High-availability services for
standalone environments
2. Oracle Database 26ai
Software (Database Home)
This package includes:
- Oracle Database binaries required to
install and configure the database
- Support for Container Database (CDB)
- Support for Pluggable Database (PDB)
- Oracle utilities and tools for
database administration and management
Both components are
mandatory for ASM-based deployments, as Grid Infrastructure provides the ASM
instance used to manage database storage.
Link :- Oracle AI Database 26ai Download for
Linux x86-64
-------- Download the ZIP files shown in the picture
by clicking the link above --------
Installation has 6
phases:
• Installing the
Operating System and Preparing the Servers
• Configuring the Disks
with udev
• Installation Phase 1-
Installing Grid
• Installation Phase 2-
Installing Oracle Software
• Installation Phase 3-
Adding Disk Group with asmca
• Installation Phase 4-
Creating Database with DBCA
5.
Installing the Operating System and Preparing the Servers
The operating system Oracle
Linux 8.10 has been successfully installed on VMware Workstation. This
same server will be used to proceed with the standalone Oracle Database 26ai
installation.
After booting the server,
ensure the operating system is fully updated and install all required OS
packages and dependencies needed for the Oracle Database installation. This
preparation step is essential to ensure a smooth and error-free deployment of Oracle
Database 26ai in a standalone environment.
Verify OS Version
# cat
/etc/os-release
# cat
/etc/hostname
For installing Oracle
Database 26ai on Oracle Linux 8, the recommended preinstallation package
is:
oracle-database-preinstall-23ai
Oracle has not released a
dedicated 26ai preinstall RPM for Oracle Linux 8 at this time. However,
the 23ai preinstall package is fully forward-compatible and officially
supported for newer Oracle Database releases on the same OS version.
As a fallback option, oracle-database-preinstall-19c
can also be used if the 23ai package is unavailable.
These preinstallation
RPMs automatically perform the following essential system configurations
required for Oracle Database installation:
- Configure kernel parameters (sysctl)
- Set user limits (ulimit)
- Install all required OS packages and
dependencies
- Create the oracle user and standard
Oracle groups
- Apply recommended OS-level settings
for database stability and performance
Using the oracle-database-preinstall
RPM ensures the operating system meets Oracle’s prerequisites and
significantly simplifies the database installation process, reducing manual
configuration errors.
# dnf -y update
# dnf install
-y oracle-database-preinstall-23ai
Change/Set the password
of the Oracle user.
# passwd oracle
User and Group
Configuration for ASM (Using Only oracle User)
Since ASM and the Oracle
Database will both run under the same oracle user, it is necessary to
create the required ASM–related OS groups and assign the oracle user to them.
These groups control administrative permissions for ASM and are mandatory for
installing Grid Infrastructure on a standalone server.
Create ASM-Specific
Groups
Run the following
commands as root:
# groupadd -g
54327 asmdba
# groupadd -g
54328 asmoper
# groupadd -g
54329 asmadmin
Add Oracle User to All
Required Groups
These groups provide
permissions for database administration, ASM access, backup, and Data Guard
operations.
# usermod -g oinstall -G
dba,oper,backupdba,dgdba,kmdba,asmdba,asmoper,asmadmin oracle
To confirm that the
oracle user belongs to all necessary groups, run:
# id oracle
Directory Structure Preparation
Before starting the
installation, the required directory structure was created to organize the
Oracle Grid Infrastructure, Oracle Database software, inventory, and
installation files.
An installation staging
directory /u01/oraInstall was created to store the Oracle Grid and
Database installation media. This location can be customized based on
individual requirements.
The following directories
were configured:
- /u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/grid
– Oracle Grid Infrastructure home
- /u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/dbhome_1
– Oracle Database software home
- /u01/app/oraInventory
– Oracle inventory directory
- /u01/oraInstall
– Installation media staging directory
After creating the
directories, ownership and permissions were assigned to ensure proper access
for the Oracle software owner
# mkdir -p
/u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/grid
# mkdir -p
/u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/dbhome_1
# mkdir -p
/u01/app/oraInventory
# mkdir -p
/u01/oraInstall
# chown -R
oracle:oinstall /u01
# chmod -R 775
/u01
We’ll add 1 ethernet
cards to our server, that’s why we shut down the server.
# shutdown -h
now
Click "Edit virtual machine settings".
Select “Network
Adapter” and click “Finish”.
Add 1 ethernet cards as “host-only”.
Boot the server.
Ethernet card is added to
the server as “ens224” Click “connect”.
Manage settings for “ens224”.
This card will be used for “Used for client connections, SSH, DB access, and
future Data Guard configuration”.
edit the file /etc/hosts.
# vi /etc/hosts
# shutdown -h
now
Before attaching the ASM
disks to the Linux server, create a dedicated folder on the Windows host
system where all virtual disks will be stored.
Since we will create two ASM disk groups, add the following disks:
- 30 GB
disk for DATA
- 20 GB
disk for FRA (RECO)
After adding these disks
to the VM, shut down the standalone server once to ensure the OS
properly detects the newly attached storage.
Once the server is started again, you can proceed with configuring these disks
for ASM using oracleasm utility.
Click “Edit virtual
machine settings”.
Click “Add” and
then “Hard Disk”.
Select “NVME”.
Create a new virtual disk
and continue.
Click “Allocate all disk space now” and “Next”.
I create the first disk named “DATA” in the
folder I’ve created before.
We’ve created the first disk, let’s add one more disk named “FRA” in that index in the same way.
6.
Configuring the Disks with UDEV
udev
is a Linux device manager that dynamically manages device files in the /dev
directory. It allows administrators to define rules that control device
ownership, permissions, and naming when disks are detected by the operating
system.
In Oracle ASM
environments, udev is used to:
- Ensure persistent disk
identification across system reboots
- Assign correct ownership and
permissions to ASM disks
- Allow Oracle Grid Infrastructure
to reliably discover and manage disks
- Avoid dependency on deprecated tools
like oracleasm
Using udev is the recommended
and supported approach for configuring ASM disks on modern Oracle Linux
versions, including Oracle Linux 8.x.
This ensures a stable,
predictable, and production-ready ASM disk configuration.
Check the disks you’ve
added.
# ls -al /dev/nvme*
Edit the udev rules file:
# vi
/etc/udev/rules.d/99-oracle-asm.rules
Add the following entries:
# ASM Disk for DATA
KERNEL=="nvme0n3", OWNER="oracle",
GROUP="oinstall", MODE="0660"
# ASM Disk for FRA
KERNEL=="nvme0n4", OWNER="oracle",
GROUP="oinstall", MODE="0660"
Reload and apply the udev
rules:
# udevadm
control --reload-rules
# udevadm
trigger
Verify Permissions
# ls -l
/dev/nvme0n2
# ls -l
/dev/nvme0n3
# ls -l
/dev/nvme0n4
After this step, the ASM disks are available with correct permissions and can be selected during Grid Infrastructure installation or ASMCA disk group creation.
Transfer
Installation Files to the Linux Server
After downloading the
required Oracle installation files in Step 4 (Grid Infrastructure and
Oracle Database Home), transfer them from your Windows machine to standalone
server only using WinSCP.
1. Open
WinSCP and connect to server using the oracle user.
2. Navigate
to the desired folder on the Linux server (example: /u01/orainstall or
any folder you created for installation files).
3. Upload
the downloaded zip file:
· Grid
Infrastructure installation file
· Oracle
Database Home installation file
Switch to Oracle
user and create profile files.
# su - oracle
$ vi .profile_grid
$ vi
.profile_db
Upon creating the
profiles, start chrony service on server.
# systemctl
enable chronyd
# systemctl
restart chronyd
Before starting the
installation, enable the GUI by setting export DISPLAY=:0 and
allow root access with xhost +.
7.
Installation Phase 1- Installing Grid
Unzip with the Oracle
user.
$ unzip
LINUX.X64_2326100_grid_home.zip -d
After unzip is Done. Install
“cvuqdisk” with root user.
# rpm -Uvh
cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm
set up the Grid
environment by sourcing the profile script, and then start the installation.
$ .
.profile_grid
$ cd /u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/grid
$
./gridSetup.sh
Start the installation by
clicking “Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server”.
Choose the index, where
you’ve defined the disks, with Change Discovery Path. Make the Disk Group Name DATA.
Select External in Redundancy.
High Redundancy:
Data is stored with 3 different copies. No data loss even 2 groups crash.
Normal Redundancy:
Data is stored with 2 different copies. No data loss even the other group
crashes.
External Redundancy:
Data is stored with only a copy. It’s better if you store systems in normal
redundancy disk groups.
External redundancy should only be used when redundancy is provided by underlying storage such as RAID.
Choose the passwords. You
can choose a different password, I’ll use the same.
Click “Next” since
we won’t use EM Cloud Control.
Adjust the groups.
Check if the Oracle Base
index is correct.
Click “Next”.
I suggest running the
scripts manually but since this is a test environment, we’ll run them
automatically.
No problem seen in
pre-check.
Click “Install”
and start the installation.
It asks for permission to
run the scripts automatically. Click “Yes” and allow it.
This is how installing
Grid ends.
Next, verify the Grid
Infrastructure status by running:
$ crsctl stat res -t
This command displays the
Clusterware resource status in a tree format. It shows the state of
essential cluster components such as:
- Cluster Synchronization Services
(CSS)
- Cluster Ready Services (CRS)
- ASM instance
- Listener resources
- other cluster-managed services
If everything is
configured properly, you will see resources running with status ONLINE,
confirming that your Grid Infrastructure is functioning correctly.
8.
Installation Phase I- Installing Oracle Software
Unzip with the Oracle user.
$ unzip LINUX.X64_2326100_db_home.zip -d
/u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/dbhome_1
After unzip is Done . set
up the db environment by sourcing the profile script, and then start the
installation.
$ . .profile_db
$ cd /u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/dbhome_1
$ ./runInstaller
Click “Software only”.
Click “Single Instance database installation”.
Be sure that software location is the “/u01/app/oracle/product/26ai/dbhome_1”
index.
Make sure Inventory Location is Correct.
Check all the groups are assigned properly.
Write the root password to run the scripts
automatically. I suggest running the scripts manually but
since this is a test environment, we’ll run them automatically.
Click “Install”.
Approve to run the scripts automatically.
Finish the software installation by clicking “Close”.
9.
Installation Phase 3- Adding Disk Group with asmca
Creating the disk groups
required for the Standalone database, we will use the ASM Configuration
Assistant (asmca) tool. This utility allows us to graphically create and
manage ASM disk groups such as DATA and FRA.
Before launching asmca,
ensure that the correct Grid Infrastructure environment is loaded. To do this,
log in as the oracle user and source the .profile_grid file:
$ . .profile_grid
$ asmca
Once the environment is
set, you will be ready to start asmca to create the ASM disk groups that
will store the database files.
As you see, we have one disk group which we created during grid installation.
click “Create”.
I name the disk group as “DATA” & “FRA”
where we’ll create the database. You can name it however you want. Add the disk
you’ve configured with UDEV before. Click “OK”.
We’ve created the disk group. You can view disk groups
as in the picture. Click “Exit” and leave the asmca tool.
10. Installation
Phase II- Creating Database with DBCA
you must load the Database
Home environment using the .profile_db file. Once the database environment
variables are active, you can start the Database Configuration Assistant
(DBCA) to create the database:
$ . .profile_db
$ dbca
The DBCA tool will guide
you through the graphical interface to configure a Standalone database,
including selecting the database name, storage options (ASM), character set,
memory settings, and pluggable database (PDB) configuration.
Click “Create a
database”.
Click “Advanced
Configuration”.
Click “General Purpose
or Transaction Processing” and click “Next”.
You need to name the
database and adjust sid value. We chose both as ‘orcl26’. In 26ai the “Create
as Container database” option is enabled by default.so name PDB as ‘orcl26pdb’
and continue.
Select ASM as the
storage option for database files
Enable “Archiving”
and Select “FRA”.
Select a listener
Since we’ll not use “DB
Vault” and “Label Security”, click “Next”.
We’ll continue by using
ASSM, if you wish you can use something else in accordance with your system.
What’s important is that, the value shouldn’t exceed two third of the physical
RAM value of the server.
Continue because we won’t
use cloud control.
Choose the passwords for
“SYS” and “SYSTEM”.
Select “Create
Database”.
Click “Finish” and
start the installation.
Click “Close” and
finish the installation.
12.
Summary
In this deployment, a
fully functional Standalone Oracle Database 26ai environment was successfully
installed and configured on Oracle Linux 8.10, running on VMware Workstation.
The database was deployed using ASM-based storage architecture managed
by Oracle Grid Infrastructure, following best practices for disk management and
high availability even in a single-node setup.
The following key tasks
were successfully completed:
- OS preparation:
Oracle Linux 8.10 was updated and configured using the
oracle-database-preinstall-26ai package to meet all Oracle prerequisites.
- ASM disk configuration:
Dedicated disks were configured for ASM using udev rules. Disk
groups were created for OCR/Voting (OCRVD), Data, and Fast Recovery Area
(FRA).
- Grid Infrastructure installation:
Installed Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server to manage ASM
instances and high-availability services.
- Oracle software installation:
Installed Oracle Database 26ai software home on top of Grid
Infrastructure.
- Database creation:
Created a Single Instance Container Database (CDB) with a Pluggable
Database (PDB) using ASM disk groups for all data files, control files,
and redo logs.
- Environment setup:
Configured Oracle environment variables and user profiles for seamless
database administration.
- Validation:
Verified ASM disk groups, database status, background processes, listener
services, and version banners to ensure system stability.
The system is now fully
operational and ready for standalone Oracle Database 26ai workloads, providing
a robust, scalable, and enterprise-ready ASM-based architecture suitable
for learning, testing, and production use cases.