Oracle JVM Installation For Oracle 18c Database on RHEL

This blog describes the steps needed to install and configure Oracle JVM for the Oracle 18c Database. The implementation described in this blog is based on a server installation with a minimum resource allocations required by Oracle and can also be used to install Oracle JVM for Oracle Database 11g/12c as well.

Oracle JVM Overview

Java has emerged as the object-oriented programming language of choice. Oracle Database provides support for developing, storing, and deploying Java applications: Oracle PL/SQL developers can develop server-side Java applications that take advantage of the scalability and performance of Oracle Database. The ability to run Java from within the Oracle database is possible as a result of the Oracle Java Virtual Machine (JVM) feature in the database. Few things to cover before we get started.

Make sure you have SYS (with SYSDBA) access to the database
Make sure you have a working Oracle 18c database provisioned, but without JVM component

Pre-Installation Steps

Before installing Oracle JVM, you must ensure that the configuration requirements for Oracle JVM are fulfilled. The main configuration for Java classes within Oracle Database includes configuring the:

Java memory requirements: You must have at least 50 MB of JAVA_POOL_SIZE and 96 MB of SHARED_POOL_SIZE. You can also refer to the Oracle Doc for Java Memory Usage
Database Processes: You must decide whether to use dedicated server processes or shared server processes for your database server.

Ensure ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID environment variables are set on the database host

$ echo $ORACLE_SID
$ echo $ORACLE_HOME

Installation Steps

Connect to database instance as SYS (with SYSDBA privilege) to confirm status of OJVM. If “JAVAVM” is missing, then proceed.

SQL> SET wrap off
SQL> col comp_name format a20
SQL> SELECT comp_id, comp_name, status FROM dba_registry WHERE comp_id LIKE '%JAVA%';
 
no ROWS selected
 
SQL> EXIT;

On the OS, navigate to $ORACLE_HOME/javavm/install directory, then connect as to the database instance as SYS (with SYSDBA privilege).

$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/javavm/install
$ sqlplus / as sysdba

Run initjvm.sql script. The initjvm.sql script initializes JServer by installing core Java class libraries and Oracle-specific Java classes.

SQL> @initjvm.SQL
SQL> EXIT;

On the OS, navigate to $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin directory, then connect as to the database instance as SYS (with SYSDBA privilege).

$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin
$ sqlplus / as sysdba

Run catjava.sql script. The catjava.sql script installs Java-related packages and classes.

SQL> @catjava.SQL

Post-Installation Steps

Confirm Oracle JVM component is now installed.

SQL> SET wrap off
SQL> col comp_name format a20
SQL> SELECT comp_id, comp_name, status FROM dba_registry WHERE comp_id LIKE '%JAVA%';
 
COMP_ID COMP_NAME STATUS
------------------------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
JAVAVM JServer JAVA Virtual VALID
CATJAVA Oracle DATABASE JAVA VALID