Can Shareplex installation on Unix be automated by using some installation file or parameter file (4330144)

When a customer needs to carry out Shareplex installation or upgrade frequently, it is desired to have a means to automate the process. This is less prone to user errors and saves time since it may not need to be attended to throughout the process. This solution delves into how this is achieved.

General information.

Starting with Shareplex 6.0 and up, it is possible to automate the installation/upgrade of Shareplex on Unix. This can substitute the manual install that has been the only option available in earlier versions. Please refer to the Installation Guide CHAPTER 1 titled "UNIX Installation and Setup" section titled "Unattended Install/Upgrade". 

Unattended install is achieved by providing an editable response file as a parameter to the .tpm file during the installation/upgrade. This response file template is created in /proddir/install directory when Shareplex is manually installed for the first time. The file can also be obtained from Supportlink or from Shareplex Support department, in case the user does not want to get into manual installation even for the first Shareplex instance.

The response file can be edited to include proddir, vardir, ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_SID, port #, etc. The file is provided as a parameter to the .tpm file in the following manner:

# ./<.tpm file> -r <absolute path and name of response file>

The following is an example:

# ./SharePlex-6.0.0-b86-oracle100-aix-52-ppc.tpm -r  /splex/temp/nonroot-
upgrade-only.rsp

There are response files for non-root install and upgrade as well as for root upgrade. There is no response file for root install, to avoid any issues when automating an installation through a super user having all the privileges that can be disastrous if the installation process does not prompt to confirm the action sought even if it may have serious consequences. 

NOTE:  The ora_setup does not have any automatic installation mechanism or script. Ora_setup still needs to be run manually for such installation.

The following is a sample long listing of the install subdirectory under the product directory containing editable response file template (identified by the extension .rsp):

# ls -l
total 18
lrwxrwxrwx   1 oracle   spadmin       24 Nov 24 19:50 clear_reclaim -> ../.app-r
-rw-rw-r--   1 oracle   spadmin      948 Nov 24 19:50 non-root-install-only.rsp
-rw-rw-r--   1 oracle   spadmin      832 Nov 24 19:50 non-root-upgrade-only.rsp
-rw-rw-r--   1 oracle   spadmin     1198 Nov 24 19:50 root-upgrade-only.rsp
.
.