Rapid Install Basics

Hello all,

Before I post on installations/upgrades of Oracle Application Releases, it is important to know about the tool, that does it all that, 'Rapid Install'. This runs for all the autoconfig enabled releases.

Installing a new system using rapid install:

With Rapid Install , you can perform these operations:
■ install a new, fully configured Oracle Applications system, including the latest certified Oracle Applications technology stack and all patches, minipacks, family packs, and other updates available at the time of this release.
■ lay down the file system and configure server processes for an upgraded system
■ install a new database tier or application tier technology stack

With Rapid Install wizard that presents the screen flow associated with one of these operations, you enter configuration values for your system, and save them in a file (config.txt). When you run Rapid Install, you point it to that file so that it can use the parameters as it performs tasks such as creating the Oracle Applications file system, installing a fresh database, registering products, managing NLS requirements, configuring port connections, and creating and running the start and stop scripts for the database and listeners. The same config.txt is picked up if you restart your installation.

AutoConfig is delivered with and required for a new installation of Release 11.5.9 and above. It is the main rapid install engine which standardizes the management of system configuration.

Rapid install wizard operations:

This is how the rapid install wizard screen looks like:




Using can perform one of the following operations:

1. New Installation :

You can install a new application environment using either a complete set of your own system-specific parameters, or a combination of a few key system-specific parameters and the Rapid Install default parameters.

Express installation :
In an express installation, you set up a fully configured, single-user/single-node system using a few basic configuration parameters, such as the database type and name, the top-level installation directory, and port increments. The remaining
directories and mount points are supplied by Rapid Install using default values. An
express installation contains a set of core products and the US7ASCII character set.

Installation with system-specific parameters:

In a new installation, you can define the configuration depending on whether you want a single node or multinode environment.

The rapid install screen for choosing system configuration looks like this :



Rapid Install offers following system configurations
a) Single node:

In a single-node installation, the database, all product directories and AD core directories, and all servers (concurrent processing, forms, and Web) under one common APPL_TOP and RDBMS home are installed on a single node . This type of installation is generally used for smaller systems or for demonstration purposes.

b) Multi-node:

Multi-node installation distributes the RDBMS and application tier servers across two or more nodes. The core AD technology directories and all product directories are installed under the APPL_TOP on all tiers. Nodes can be configured to use a shared APPL_TOP. With a shared APPL_TOP, changes made to the file system are immediately available on all nodes. Advantages being easier administration, patching, load distribution, etc.

This is generally used for large systems.

The above installations can be done using a fresh database or a vision database. Vision database comes with data of a fictious company, this can be used for demo or training purposes.

2. Upgrade Oracle Applications :

As part of a system upgrade, you enter configuration parameters in the Rapid Install wizard and run Rapid Install as one of the pre-upgrade tasks (performed prior torunning AutoUpgrade). It uses the parameters to lay down the file system and install the new technology stack. You must also migrate or upgrade your existing database to Oracle 10g as one of the pre-upgrade tasks.
After you complete the pre-upgrade tasks, you run AutoUpgrade to upgrade products and update the database objects and code to Release 11i. Then, you run AutoPatch to apply the patches and run the drivers required to update the database to the most current release level (for example, 11.5.10). After you have completed the database upgrade, you run Rapid Install a second time to configure and start the servers and services.

I will be posting a blog on 11i to R12 upgrade, you can check steps in detail.

Rapid Install allows lisencing selection, nls settings, etc. It validates pre and post installation/upgrade system configuration validations. All these details, together with steps to run rapid install will be shared in upcoming blogs.

Hope this gives you some idea before you wet your hands in Installation/Upgrading of Oracle Applications.
Happy learning and working !!
Cheers !!