Computer Usage

• How to install on Oracle Account on veni (IT computer) ?
• How to use Oracle via ssh to veni ?
• List of free DBMS software, trial software

1. Use your UC Davis Account (Not your CSIF Account!!) to connect to veni.ucdavis.edu using secure shell (ssh).


2. Once you are connected to veni, make sure that your Unix environment include the following (use the Unix command env):

     ORACLE_HOME should be set to /opt/pkg/oracle/10.2.0
     ORACLE_SID  should be set to academic
    PATH        should include /opt/pkg/oracle/10.2.0/bin

Your LD_LIBRARY_PATH should include $ORACLE_HOME/lib. If your environment variables don't look like this, change them and make the changes permanent in your .profile or .cshrc (depending on the Unix Shell you use; you can check this by typing echo $SHELL). We assume that you know how to set environment variables under Unix, so better check your Unix material before asking questions!
 
Type orastart. The program first asks you for your Unix account (again, your UC Davis Account) and then the Oracle password you want to choose (<= 8 characters). Note that Oracle only allows letters and numbers for your password. Do not begin your password with a number!!. orastart then  creates an Oracle account for you (the account will be ops$<your Unix account>). Creating the account may take a while. After this, you should see your Unix shell prompt again. Note that you can create an Oracle account only once, so don't forget your password!!

 
Connect to the Oracle RDBMS by typing sqlplus /

If you use "/", then you don't have to enter your password (Oracle then uses an OS-based authentication). Otherwise Oracle then asks you for your Oracle account which is ops$<your Unix account>, and then the password you just entered. After this you then should see some Oracle/SQL*Plus product release information and finally an SQL prompt SQL>.

Type exit to leave Oracle SQL*Plus and connect again to Oracle by typing just sqlplus /<return>.


Note that the next time you want to login in to Oracle you just have to use sqlplus /. You also don't have to set the environment variables again once you've entered the seetings into your startup file (.cshrc or .profile).

• You can use the secure shell (free downloads for Windows are available at www.ssh.com) from any computer here on Campus (or home) (Here are some alternative sites to get secure shell programs: Putty). Once you are logged in, just type sqlplus /. No password is asked.
• Note that all files you want to use with Oracle on veni (e.g., the source data for the sample database) must be located in the directory from where you've started SQL*Plus, unless you specify the full/relative path when you start an SQL script.

List of free/trial DBMS software

• At the Oracle Technology Network you can download a variety of Oracle Database products (10g, 9i, 8i). You can get Oracle versions for Linux, and Windows platforms. You need an account to download the software. Registration is free! This site also contains quite a lot of other useful documentation, including various Oracle online documents and whitepapers.
• MiniSQL (MSQL) at Hughes Technologies,
• MySQL Open Source Database, including a variety of tools
• PostgresSQL, a sophisticated Object-Relational DBMS
• IBM DB2 (trial version of DB2 Universal Database version 9)