Preface

This guide provides instructions about installing and configuring Oracle Database Client on Linux. This guide also talks about installing and configuring database using response files, globalization support, ports, and troubleshooting.

The preface contains the following topics:

Audience
Documentation Accessibility
Command Syntax
Accessing Documentation
Related Documentation
Typographic Conventions

Audience

This guide is intended for anyone responsible for installing Oracle Database Client 11g Release 2 (11.2). Additional installation guides for Oracle Database, Oracle Real Application Clusters, Oracle Clusterware, Oracle Database Examples, and Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control are available on the relevant installation media.

Documentation Accessibility

For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=docacc.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=info or visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=trs if you are hearing impaired.

Command Syntax

UNIX command syntax appears in monospace font. The dollar character ($), number sign (#), or percent character (%) are UNIX command prompts. Do not enter them as part of the command. The following command syntax conventions are used in this guide:

Convention	Description
backslash \	A backslash is the UNIX command continuation character. It is used in command examples that are too long to fit on a single line. Enter the command as displayed (with a backslash) or enter it on a single line without a backslash: dd if=/dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s6 of=/dev/rst0 bs=10b \ count=10000
braces { }	Braces indicate required items: .DEFINE {macro1}
brackets [ ]	Brackets indicate optional items: cvtcrt termname [outfile]
ellipses ...	Ellipses indicate an arbitrary number of similar items: CHKVAL fieldname value1 value2 ... valueN
italics	Italic type indicates a variable. Substitute a value for the variable: library_name
vertical line \|	A vertical line indicates a choice within braces or brackets: FILE filesize [K\|M]

Accessing Documentation

The documentation for this release includes platform-specific documentation and generic product documentation.

Platform-Specific Documentation

Platform-specific documentation includes information about installing and using Oracle products on particular platforms.

This guide contains information required to install Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2). Ensure that you review information related to the platform on which you intend to install Oracle Database 11g.

The platform-specific documentation for this product is available in both Adobe portable document format (PDF) and HTML format on the product media. To access the platform-specific documentation on media:

Use a Web browser to open the welcome.html file in the top-level directory of the media.
Platform-specific documentation is available in PDF and HTML formats in the Documentation section.

Product Documentation

Product documentation includes information about configuring, using, or administering Oracle products on any platform. The product documentation for Oracle Database 11g products is available in both HTML and PDF formats in the following locations:

On the Oracle Database Documentation Library media

Use a Web browser to view or open the index.htm file in the top-level directory on the media.

Online on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) Web site:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html

Related Documentation

The related documentation for Oracle Database 11g products includes the following manuals:

For information about Oracle error messages, see Oracle Database Error Messages. Oracle error message documentation is available only in HTML. If you only have access to the Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2) Online Documentation Library, then you can browse the error messages by range. Once you find the specific range, use your browser's "find in page" feature to locate the specific message. When connected to the Internet, you can search for a specific error message using the error message search feature of the Oracle online documentation.

Many books in the documentation set use the sample schemas of the seed database, which is installed by default when you install Oracle. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself.

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network. You must register online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/community/join/index.html

If you already have a user name and password for Oracle Technology Network, then you can go directly to the documentation section of the Oracle Technology Network Web site at:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html

Refer to Oracle Database Release Notes for Linux for important information that was not available when this book was released. The release notes for Oracle Database 11g are updated regularly. The most recent version is available on Oracle Technology Network at:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html

Typographic Conventions

The following text conventions are used in this document:

Convention	Meaning
boldface	Boldface type indicates graphical user interface elements associated with an action, or terms defined in text or the glossary.
italic	Italic type indicates book titles, emphasis, or placeholder variables for which you supply particular values.
`monospace`	Monospace type indicates commands within a paragraph, URLs, code in examples, text that appears on the screen, or text that you enter.