Auto Start/Shutdown Oracle Database 11g R2 on Linux

September 13, 2011June 3, 2018 Sarmad Jari34 Comments

Installing Oracle Database 11g R2 on a Linux Server (you can check my previous post) does not provide the database the possibility to preform an automatic startup/shutdown when the system is starts or shutdown, we need to do it manually!

so here is a few steps to make it happen automatically.

The automatic startup and shutdown of the Oracle database can be achieved with the files dbstart and dbshut both provided by Oracle. These files rely on the existence of the file /etc/oratab to work.

The format of the /etc/oratab file is as follows:

SID:ORACLE_HOME:AUTO

or in my example:

ORCL:/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1:Y

To start and stop the database when the machine comes up and goes down by modifying the startup routines for the Linux machine. This is quite easy, although I should point out here that this may change depending on which flavor of Linux (slackware, debian, redhat, etc). I will show examples which work for Oracle Linux 5.x. To modify these for your own flavor of Linux, please see your Linux documentation sets.

Note1: /etc/init.d is the official location for placing start up scripts and most, but not all distros follow this convention. /etc/rc.d/init.d is where Red Hat (which Oracle Linux is based on) places startup scripts, but in order to comply with modern convention, they make /etc/initd a symlink to /etc/rc.d/init.d.

Firstly, we need to create the script which will run dbshut and dbstart in the /etc/rc.d/init.d directory. Create the following file as /etc/init.d/oracle:

Note2: The parts in red are optional where if you like to have Oracle Enterprise Manager starting/shutting down with the system. Note2: If you copy and paste the script you may/will get errors because of the double quotation and the (-) chars, please read Mike’s comment

#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle
# Description: Starts and stops the Oracle database, listeners and Enterprise Manager
# See how we were called.

case "$1" in
start)
echo "Starting Oracle"
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
date +"! %T %a %D : Starting Oracle Databases as part of system up." >> /var/log/oracle
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
echo -n "Starting Oracle Listeners: "
su - oracle -c "lsnrctl start" >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo -n "Starting Oracle Databases: "
su - oracle -c dbstart >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo -n "Starting Oracle Enterprise Manager: "
su - oracle -c "emctl start dbconsole" >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo ""
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
date +"! %T %a %D : Finished." >> /var/log/oracle
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
touch /var/lock/subsys/oracle
;;
stop)
echo "Shutting Down Oracle"
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
date +"! %T %a %D : Shutting Down Oracle Databases as part of system down." >> /var/log/oracle
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
echo -n "Shutting Down Oracle Enterprise Manager: "
su - oracle -c "emctl stop dbconsole" >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo -n "Shutting Down Oracle Listeners: "
su - oracle -c "lsnrctl stop" >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
rm -f /var/lock/subsys/oracle
echo -n "Shutting Down Oracle Databases: "
su - oracle -c dbshut >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo ""
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
date +"! %T %a %D : Finished." >> /var/log/oracle
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
;;
restart)
echo "Restarting Oracle"
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
date +"! %T %a %D : Restarting Oracle Databases as part of system up." >> /var/log/oracle
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
echo -n "Restarting Oracle Listeners: "
su - oracle -c "lsnrctl stop" >> /var/log/oracle
su - oracle -c "lsnrctl start" >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo -n "Restarting Oracle Databases: "
su - oracle -c dbshut >> /var/log/oracle
su - oracle -c dbstart >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo -n "Restarting Oracle Enterprise Manager: "
su - oracle -c "emctl stop dbconsole" >> /var/log/oracle
su - oracle -c "emctl start dbconsole" >> /var/log/oracle
echo "Done."
echo ""
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
date +"! %T %a %D : Finished." >> /var/log/oracle
echo "—————————————————-" >> /var/log/oracle
touch /var/lock/subsys/oracle
;;
*)
echo "Usage: oracle {start|stop|restart}"
exit 1
esac

it’s important to remember to make the script executable by simply run the command:

$ chmod +x /etc/init.d/oracle

It is worth checking that this file actually correctly stops and starts the databases for your system. Check the log file, /var/log/oracle for error messages.

Once this script is working we need to create start and kill symbolic links in the appropriate runlevel directories /etc/rc.d/rcX.d.

The following commands will ensure that the databases will come up in runlevels 2,3,4 and 5:

$ ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc2.d/S99oracle
$ ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S99oracle
$ ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc4.d/S99oracle 
$ ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S99oracle

To stop the databases on reboot or restart we need the following links:

$ ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc0.d/K01oracle # Halting
$ ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc6.d/K01oracle # Rebooting

I use the method above and it works fine for me, no issues so far, also I have to add that I did not write the whole thing it’s based on my online resources that can be easily found by just searching

34 thoughts on “Auto Start/Shutdown Oracle Database 11g R2 on Linux”

Dave W. says:

March 2, 2012 at 07:01

Thanks for this. With as many detailed instructions there are for installing it, and for as much as it costs, you’d think they’d provide a script like this. After all, one might like to actually start the database now and then.

Note: WordPress turned the quotation marks in your script into fancy quotes rather than plain ascii ones, and thus copying and pasting it doesn’t work without alot of hand editing. The oracle commands are likely not included in one’s path, so I added a variable set to that and referenced it in front of all the commands

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  February 5, 2013 at 12:13
  
  Thanks, now fixed 🙂
  
  Reply
Tim says:

July 31, 2012 at 10:42

Hi,

Thanks for your post guidelines. But I have found some issues.

“touch /var/lock/subsys/oracle”

I can’t find the file. The file does not exist that the script file doesn’t work properly.

Reply
Tim says:

July 31, 2012 at 11:02

Hi, I have adjust a little about system environment variables. But got the following error while try to execute the /etc/init.d/oracle script.

./oracle: line 71: restart}”: command not found
stop: missing job name
Try `stop –help’ for more information.

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  February 5, 2013 at 12:16
  
  I fixed the script and added a note. there is a link to download the script, hope it will work for you
  
  Reply
oraenthu says:

August 27, 2012 at 14:53

is the symbolic link right??

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  February 5, 2013 at 12:14
  
  yes it is.
  
  Reply
Frank-Jan Franken says:

November 12, 2012 at 16:58

Hi,

Great script. However in the “restart” section it says dbstop instead of dbshut.

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  February 5, 2013 at 11:59
  
  Thanks allot, Fixed 😉
  
  Reply
Mike says:

December 18, 2012 at 19:39

First of all great article. It is a wonder oracle can’t seem to manage to put this in their own documentation.

For those getting the error: ./oracle: line 71: restart}” This was caused by a copy paste issue with the doublequotes. Simply replace the open and close double quotes with standard ” quotes.

After this I was getting the error: su: user – does not exist
This was a copy paste issue as well. replace – with a standard – and then it should work like a charm.

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  February 5, 2013 at 12:03
  
  Thanks Mike, I added a note referring to your comment 🙂
  
  Reply
maxabg says:

February 6, 2013 at 14:05

Thanks for your help!

I have to notice that when I downloaded the script (by using Firefox 10.0.0.12, Oracle Linux 6.3) there was Carriage Return plus Linefeed at the end of each line. Unix systems use a Linefeed (\n, ASCII 10 or 0x0A), while Windows uses Carriage Return PLUS Linefeed (\r\n, ASCII 10,13 or 0x0D 0x0A). (Some help, how to remove CR from shell with tr will be highly appreciated 🙂 )

Also, can we use “Create the following file as /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle” instead “Create the following file as /etc/init.d/oracle”?

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  February 7, 2013 at 07:58
  
  Hi, sorry for that, I did updated the script with Unix/Linux ending 🙂
  
  Reply
  - artaxerxes3 says:
    
    June 21, 2013 at 15:25
    
    Hi, I think, listener must be started before start of databaze, please have a look on this parties of your scripts.
win says:

April 26, 2013 at 21:08

Hi.. i have problem running oracle script

[root@zmwlinux log]# service oracle start
/etc/init.d/oracle: line 10: syntax error near unexpected token `Oracle”
echo “—————————————————-” >> /var/log/oracle
date + “!’
/etc/init.d/oracle: line 10: `date + “! %T %a %D : Starting Oracle Databases as part of system up.” >> /var/log/oracle’

Reply
- Mahmoud says:
  
  November 27, 2013 at 02:55
  
  I got the same error with the updated script
  
  Reply
  - SJ says:
    
    January 9, 2014 at 10:06
    
    I did another update, it should work (hopefully)
omid says:

May 2, 2013 at 11:02

Hi, thanks a lot for this post. however in script 6th line — case “$1” in — second double quotation still is a fancy quotes.

Reply
VK says:

May 19, 2013 at 17:24

The script just has so many errors still now. Gosh!

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  October 28, 2013 at 08:45
  
  Hi, what type of errors?
  Wordpress change the chars specially the quotation 😦
  but I provided a link to the script file, please if you have issues keep me updated so I can fix the script, cheers 🙂
  
  Reply
bett says:

October 28, 2013 at 03:35

hi, i still new in linux, just wanna know, how to test out the script?

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  October 28, 2013 at 08:46
  
  not sure what do you mean, I would be glad to help you, is there there any thing unclear?
  
  Reply
Ishanka Anuradha Ranasooriya says:

November 7, 2013 at 08:25

I did it auto start and stop in this way

1-Edit the #vi /etc/oratabfile :
orcl:/home/oracle/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1:Y

then

vi /etc/init.d/oracle

paste this script to it and save

#!/bin/bash
#
# oracle This shell script takes care of starting and stopping
# the Oracle subsystem (oracle).
#
# chkconfig: – 64 36
# description: Oracle database server.
# processname: oracle
# pidfile: /var/run/oracle/oracle.pid
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: oracle
# Required-Start: $local_fs $remote_fs $network $named $syslog $time
# Required-Stop: $local_fs $remote_fs $network $named $syslog $time
# Short-Description: start and stop Oracle server
# Description: Oracle database server
### END INIT INFO

# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

# Source networking configuration.
. /etc/sysconfig/network

start() {
if [ -e /var/lock/subsys/oracle ];then
echo “Starting Oracle Enterprise Server”
failure
else
echo “Starting Oracle Enterprise Server”
success
echo “`date “+%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S”` : Starting Oracle Listeners” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
su – oracle -c “lsnrctl start” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
echo “`date “+%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S”` : Starting Oracle Databases” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
su – oracle -c “dbstart” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
echo “`date “+%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S”` : Starting Oracle Enterprise Manager” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
su – oracle -c “emctl start dbconsole” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
touch /var/lock/subsys/oracle
fi
}

stop() {
if [ -f /var/lock/subsys/oracle ];then
echo “Shutting Down Oracle Enterprise Server”
success
echo “`date “+%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S”` : Shutting Down Oracle Enterprise Manager” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
su – oracle -c “emctl stop dbconsole” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
echo “`date “+%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S”` : Shutting Down Oracle Listeners” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
su – oracle -c “lsnrctl stop” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
echo “`date “+%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S”` : Shutting Down Oracle Databases” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
su – oracle -c “dbshut” >> /var/log/oracle/oracle.log
rm -f /var/lock/subsys/oracle
else
echo “Shutting Down Oracle Enterprise Server”
failure
fi
}

case “$1” in
start)
start
;;
stop)
stop
;;
status)
if [ -e /var/lock/subsys/oracle ]; then
echo -n “Oracle Enterprise Server is Running”
success
echo
else
echo -n “Oracle Enterprise Server is Not Running”
failure
echo
fi
;;
restart)
stop
sleep 2
start
;;
*)
echo $”Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}”
exit 1

esac
exit 0

then
chkconfig –add oracle
chkconfig oracle on

Cheers Your done

Reply
anthony adewumi says:

November 27, 2013 at 13:38

Thanks for this script. Please can you tell me do i need to create a separate file to hold the symbolic link commands if yes where should i put the file. Sorry to be a pain i am new to oracle

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  January 9, 2014 at 10:09
  
  hello,
  
  the commands below the script should do that for you 🙂
  
  ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc2.d/S99oracle ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S99oracle ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc4.d/S99oracle ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S99oracle ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc0.d/K01oracle ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/oracle /etc/rc.d/rc6.d/K01oracle
  
  Reply
alcubierre7 says:

January 2, 2014 at 16:37

In response to the win comment. There is still an error on the line 7:
case “$1″ in. The ending doublequote is not correct. This is the origin of the error on line 10.

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  January 9, 2014 at 09:43
  
  Thanks
  fixed, but you download the script from my Google Drive (link located above the script) to avoid any chars errors 🙂
  
  Reply
Jason says:

April 3, 2014 at 23:41

You need to add oracle to service.

Reply
Diego Rodrigo says:

September 8, 2014 at 16:39

Works perfectly! Thanks a lot!

Reply
Auto Start/Shutdown Oracle Database 11g R2 on Linux | Prakash's DBA Blog says:

March 25, 2015 at 06:04

[…] script you may/will get errors because of the double quotation and the (-) chars, please read Mike’s comment, here is the script with the correct […]

Reply
Babu says:

May 18, 2015 at 21:29

Hi SJ.. thanks for info.. how to do if we have two instances running on same server and single oracle home?

Reply
- SJ says:
  
  May 18, 2015 at 21:38
  
  you do not have to do anything special
  just make sure in /etc/oratab it’s set to Y not N
  
  example: ORCL:/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1:Y
  where:
  ORCL is the SID
  /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1 is the Oracle Home
  and Y means the commands “dbstart” and “dbshut” will be affective
  we used these commands to auto start/shutdown the databases.
  
  hope that explains everything you need to know.
  
  Reply
  - Babu says:
    
    May 18, 2015 at 22:34
    
    Thanks for quick reply SJ. script execute and db shutdown completed but having issues in startup. here is the oracle log under /var/log/
    
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    ! 16:19:51 Mon 05/18/15 : Shutting Down Oracle Databases as part of system down.
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    
    LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 11.2.0.3.0 – Production on 18-MAY-2015 16:19:51
    
    Copyright (c) 1991, 2011, Oracle. All rights reserved.
    
    Connecting to (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=REGISTER))
    The command completed successfully
    
    ORACLE_HOME_LISTNER is not SET, unable to auto-stop Oracle Net Listener
    Usage: /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/bin/dbshut ORACLE_HOME
    Processing Database instance “nydev”: log file /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/shutdown.log
    Processing Database instance “mddev”: log file /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/shutdown.log
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    ! 16:20:12 Mon 05/18/15 : Finished.
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    ! 16:21:42 Mon 05/18/15 : Starting Oracle Databases as part of system up.
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    
    LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 11.2.0.3.0 – Production on 18-MAY-2015 16:21:42
    
    Copyright (c) 1991, 2011, Oracle. All rights reserved.
    
    Starting /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/bin/tnslsnr: please wait…
    
    TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 11.2.0.3.0 – Production
    System parameter file is /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/network/admin/listener.ora
    Log messages written to /apps/opt/oracle/diag/tnslsnr/midd5/listener/alert/log.xml
    Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=REGISTER)))
    Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=midd5)(PORT=1521)))
    
    Connecting to (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=REGISTER))
    STATUS of the LISTENER
    ————————
    Alias LISTENER
    Version TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 11.2.0.3.0 – Production
    Start Date 18-MAY-2015 16:21:42
    Uptime 0 days 0 hr. 0 min. 0 sec
    Trace Level off
    Security ON: Local OS Authentication
    SNMP OFF
    Listener Parameter File /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/network/admin/listener.ora
    Listener Log File /apps/opt/oracle/diag/tnslsnr/midd5/listener/alert/log.xml
    Listening Endpoints Summary…
    (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=REGISTER)))
    (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=midd5)(PORT=1521)))
    Services Summary…
    Service “mddev” has 1 instance(s).
    Instance “mdvdev”, status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service…
    Service “nynedev” has 1 instance(s).
    Instance “nydev”, status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service…
    The command completed successfully
    
    ORACLE_HOME_LISTNER is not SET, unable to auto-start Oracle Net Listener
    Usage: /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/bin/dbstart ORACLE_HOME
    Processing Database instance “nydev”: log file /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/startup.log
    Processing Database instance “mddev”: log file /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2/db_1/startup.log
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    ! 16:21:42 Mon 05/18/15 : Finished.
    âââââââââââââââââ-
    
    We still use pfile to startup the instance since these are non prod db .
    
    all startup.log and shutdown.logs are 0 bytes.
    
    Is some thing wrong with my env setup for not starting up?
    
    Regards,
    Babu.
  - Md.Moktar Hossain says:
    
    November 17, 2015 at 09:59
    
    Thanks, When start os ,will database start automaticaly and shutdown os database stop atutomatically?