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Deinstall Oracle Software

Cleanly deinstall Oracle software with proper steps.

This article describes how to remove oracle database and software from a Linux server. We will first delete database using DBCA silent mode and then proceed with Oracle software deletion.


DBCA Delete Database


You can use DBCA to delete database from a Linux server. Use below command to run DBCA in silent mode and delete a database

dbca -silent -deleteDatabase -sysDBAUserName sys -sourceDB testdb 
If dbca errors out stating cannot find the database, then make sure database entry is there in /etc/oratab file. Else dbca cannot delete the database.

Remove Oracle Software

Under your ORACLE_HOME, we get a deinstall utility that you can use to remove the oracle software from your Linux server. This should be your first choice

$ORACLE_HOME/deinstall/deinstall

ALTERNATIVELY - You can use runInstaller to deinstall Oracle software

./runInstaller -deinstall -home /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/


Manually Delete ORACLE HOME


Sometimes ORACLE software installation gets corrupted and in such case, above deinstallation utilities will not help you to remove oracle software. Stop all the oracle databases / processes running from the ORACLE_HOME and delete ORACLE_HOME files

cd $ORACLE_HOME
rm -rf *

Delete files and folders inside ORACLE_BASE

cd $ORACLE_BASE
rm -rf *

Remove oratab file

rm /etc/oratab

Enjoy!


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