A quick tour of setting up a geodatabase in Oracle

Before you can create a geodatabase in an Oracle database management system (DBMS), you first install the Oracle software then configure the DBMS and database.

Configuring the DBMS involves setting up storage spaces for the tables, indexes, and files that are stored in the database instance and providing adequate memory allocation. You should give consideration to the names, types, and locations of tables, indexes, and storage spaces you create; how large to make your backup log files; and what size to make the temporary space. As the database administrator, you know the naming conventions used at your site as well as what type of configuration your site requires.

You must also decide in what language your data will be stored. If you want to set up your database to use languages other than the default language of the DBMS, you must configure your DBMS for that.

Once the database is ready, install ArcSDE. This gets you the files needed to create and configure the geodatabase in the Oracle database.

See System requirements for ArcSDE for Oracle to see the requirements to install ArcSDE.

The following are summaries of the steps you take to set up a geodatabase in Oracle on various operating systems. These summaries contain links to more information for instructions specific to ArcSDE. For general Oracle tasks, such as creating users, see your Oracle documentation.

Summary for setting up a geodatabase in Oracle on Linux or UNIX

1. Install the Oracle software.
2. Configure a database, including setting up tablespaces and log files. See your Oracle documentation for instructions.
3. Create an operating system (OS) account with the user name sde.
4. Set variables for the sde user. See Setting variables for the sde OS user on Linux or UNIX for more information.
5. Configure the Oracle listener.
6. Create a user named sde in the Oracle database and create a default tablespace for the user.
7. Grant the sde user permissions to create a geodatabase. See User permissions for geodatabases in Oracle for a list of these permissions.
8. Install the ArcSDE component. (If running on AIX, it is recommended that you run slibclean before installing.)
9. Modify files in $SDEHOME/etc (including the dbtune.sde file) and UNIX/etc directories.

   Optionally, alter the parameters under the DATA_DICTIONARY keyword in the dbtune.sde file to specify a tablespace for these tables. If you do not, the default tablespace of the sde user is used for these tables.

10. Grant EXECUTE on DBMS_PIPE and DBMS_LOCK to Public.
11. If ArcSDE and the Oracle DBMS are installed on different servers, you must install and configure the Oracle client on the ArcSDE server. You must also copy the shared libraries used by EXTPROC to the Oracle server.
12. Run the sdesetup command to create the geodatabase and authorize it with an ArcGIS Server Enterprise license. See Creating a geodatabase in Oracle on Linux or UNIX.
13. Run the sdemon command to start a service if you are using one. See Starting a local ArcSDE service on Linux or UNIX or Starting a remote ArcSDE service on UNIX for instructions.
14. Create other users and grant them permissions in the database.
15. If you will be using direct connections to the geodatabase, additional steps include the following:
    1. Install the Oracle client on all client computers from which a direct connection will be made.
    2. Configure the tnsnames.ora files on the clients.

    See your Oracle documentation for information on installing and configuring the Oracle client.

16. If the ArcSDE component and Oracle are on different servers, you must install and configure the Oracle client on the server where ArcSDE is installed. You must also copy the shared libraries used by EXTPROC to the Oracle server.

Summary for setting up a geodatabase in Oracle on Windows

1. Install the Oracle software.
2. Configure a database, including setting up tablespaces and log files. See your Oracle documentation for instructions.
3. Configure the Oracle listener.
4. Install the ArcSDE component using the installation wizard. See Installing ArcSDE for Oracle on Windows.
5. Optionally, alter the parameters under the DATA_DICTIONARY keyword in the dbtune.sde file to specify a tablespace for these tables. If you do not, the default tablespace of the sde user is used for these tables.
   Tip:

   While altering the dbtune.sde file for the repository tables, you could also alter other parameters for user data.

6. Run the ArcSDE for Oracle Post Installation wizard to create the geodatabase and authorize it with the ArcGIS Server Enterprise license. See Creating a geodatabase in Oracle on Windows.
7. Optionally, choose the default geometry storage in the Post Installation wizard.
8. If you plan to use an ArcSDE service to make connections to the geodatabase, use the Post Installation wizard to create and start the service.
9. Create other users and grant them permissions in the database.
10. If you will be using direct connections to the geodatabase, additional steps include the following:
    1. Install the Oracle client on all client computers from which a direct connection will be made.
    2. Configure the tnsnames.ora files on the clients.

    See your Oracle documentation for information on installing and configuring the Oracle client.

11. If ArcSDE and Oracle are on different servers, you must install and configure the Oracle client on the server where ArcSDE is installed. You must also copy the shared libraries used by EXTPROC to the Oracle server.