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About

The Oracle base directory is a top-level directory for Oracle software installations.

The ORACLE_BASE environment variable specify the Oracle Installation base directory that you have created.

On Linux

The Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines recommend that you use a path similar to the following for the Oracle base directory: 

/mount_point/app/software_owner

In this example:

  • mount_point is the mount point directory for the file system that will contain the Oracle software.

The examples in this guide use /u01 for the mount point directory. However, you can choose another mount point directory, such as /oracle or /opt/oracle.

  • software_owner is the operating system user name of the software owner installing the Oracle software, for example oracle, or grid.

You can use the same Oracle base directory for more than one installation or you can create separate Oracle base directories for different installations. If different operating system users install Oracle software on the same system, then each user must create a separate Oracle base directory. The following are examples of Oracle base directories that can exist on the same system: 

/u01/app/oracle
/u01/app/orauser
/opt/oracle/app/oracle

To create an appropriate file system:

  • Check the free disk space on each mounted file system using the following command:
# df -h
  • Create the Oracle base directory and specify the correct owner, group, and permissions for it:
# mkdir -p /mount_point/app/oracle_sw_owner
# chown -R oracle:oinstall /mount_point/app/oracle_sw_owner      
# chmod -R 775 /mount_point/app/oracle_sw_owner

For example: 

# mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle
# chown -R oracle:oinstall /u01/app/oracle
# chmod -R 775 /u01/app/oracle