A 1G VM on a 2G laptop should be fine for the database. I still use the DB on a 1G VM for demos at conferences.

As for the Vmware Server vs VirtualBox thing, both are fine. My biggest problem with VMware Server is the lack of updates and bug fixes. It’s a free product, so it is very far down the list of priorities for VMware. In contrast, VirtualBox is open source and is updated regularly and bug fixes come out quickly.

I would have switched to VirtualBox a long time ago, but it lacked shared disks between VMs, so VMware Server had a slight edge. The latest version of VirtualBox corrected that, so I’ve now ditched VMware Server completely.

There are many virtualization options and they all do basically the same thing, but if possible I always go with the Oracle solution and VirtualBox fits the bill nicely.

Cheers

Tim…

Thanks very much for your detailed reply. It is much appreciated!

Hmmmm…..your last comment re-awakened my biggest fears…..lack of sufficient RAM to do all this. My laptop is in fact a 2Gig laptop, and yes, you read my mind correctly, I was thinking of dedicating 1Gig to the virtual machine. My gut feeling is that this may be OK for just running an Oracle database, but not enough to run PeopleSoft as well as an Oracle database and all the other associated stuff (Weblogic, etc.). Looks like a might have to go to Plan B, which was to invest in some more serious hardware, like a desktop with “server-size” specs and then do this whole thing properly.

However, before making this investment in new hardware, it would be nice to get something happening on my laptop in the meantime. Forgetting the PeopleSoft thing for now, do you think it is feasible, from a RAM perspective, to go ahead and install the Oracle database on Oracle Enterprise Linux on a 1Gig virtual machine on my 2Gig laptop? All I want to do initially is create and populate a few database tables and then mess around with some SQL performance/tuning tools. Do you think this is feasible on my laptop?

Also, could you please tell me if you would recommend VirtualBox above VMware Server. I know you said that either is OK, but I was just wondering why you ditched VMware Server in favour of VirtualBox. Was it a “user friendly” issue or something else?

Cheers,
Mario

1) Windows Vista is designed as a client operating system for use on PCs not servers. Microsoft have a server OS which is more sensible for server installations like databases, assuming you want to stay with Windows. Although you can install the database on Vista, Oracle would expect production installations on Windows Server, not Vista.

2) With the latest release of VirtualBox, I’ve actually ditched VMware Server in favour of VirtualBox, but it is a virtualization product, so it amounts to the same thing. For Oracle installations I always run Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL) because it is an enterprise class OS and it is the *only* *free* OS that Oracle *support*. Oracle will install on other flavors of Linux, like Ubuntu, but it is not supported so you would never do such a thing in production environments. My play with an OS that has no business relevance?

I’ve not played with peoplesoft, but I have installed eBusiness Suite on VMs and it works fine, so I would expect the same here.

Remember, the VM will need enough memory to cope with the OS and software installation, while leaving enough free memory for the host OS. Don’t expect peoplesoft installation to work on a 1G VM on a 2G laptop.

Cheers

Tim…

I was reading this thread, since I am researching the best way to install an Oracle database on my laptop that has Windows Vista Home Premium as its operating system. I have done some research on the matter, and, consistent with your advice, I have decided to use VMware to run an instance of Linux and install the Oracle database on Linux.

Although I am an IT professional, I am a complete novice when it comes to operating systems, and thus I am looking forward to filling a bit of this enormous gap in my knowledge in the process of doing this Oracle database installation. However, I would just like to ask you a couple of questions to make things a bit clearer in my mind. (1) When you say that “Windows Vista is not a server operating system”, what do you mean? (just a basic explanation, no need to go into detail). (2) Your suggestion was to use “VMware Server on Vista and install Oracle on an Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.x virtual machine”. From this, I am gathering that Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.x is a “server” version of Linux. Prior to reading this thread, I was going to partition my drive, install Linux on the other drive and use VMWare to run Linux on this other drive as a virtual machine, then install the Oracle database there. The difference between this and the way you did it is the fact that you used a “server” version of Linux, whereas I was initially planning to use a “normal” version of Linux. Please excuse my embarrassing lack of knowledge in this area, but my question is: What is the reasoning behind using a “server” version of Linux to run an Oracle database? Is it a necessity, a nice-to-have, or not important? Eventually, if I am successful with the Oracle database installation, I would like to install PeopleSoft and connect it to the Oracle database, which involves using middleware like Tuxedo, and Weblogic, etc. Even if you haven’t done something like this before, could you please give me your gut feeling about whether I should use a “server” version of Linux or just a “normal” version of Linux. My only fear in regard to installing a “server” version of Linux is my novice level of understanding, and that I may quickly get out of my depth if trying to deal with a “server” operating system.

Sorry about the length of this post.

Cheers,
Mario

I’m not a forms guy and I’ve never tried to do the install, but the OTN download page just says Windows, so I would assume it workd on Vista also.

Perhaps you would get better luck asking the question on the OTN Forms forum…

Cheers

Tim…

how can i install oracle 10g forms in window vista premium and can vista support them
plz tell me as soon as possible

thx.

If they are just basic file system installations, then you should have no problems. If you are planning to use ASM then it’s a bit trickier as 11gR2 can not run on the same machine as 10gR2 ASM. You would have to upgrade 10gR2 ASM to 11gR2 and use that for both instances.

From your description, it sounds like this is just a test system for yourself. If this is the case I would suggest using something like VirtualBox or VMware Server (both are free) and run the Oracle installation in a virtual machine. That way you will have no problems with clashing versions.

Cheers

Tim…

Regards,
Kishor

There is no 11gR2 version. All previous versions were released before Windows 7. As a result there is no guarantee any will work.

There is a 10g version for Vista. You might want to try that, and maybe the 11gR1 version for Windows.

Remember, Vista and Windows 7 are for client PCs. Oracle is a server product. Support for client installations is always going to be dubious.

My suggestions is run a virtualization product like VMware Server and install Oracle Enterprise Linux on it. You can then use Oracle properly.

Cheers

Tim…