Oracle Universal Installer on UNIX and Linux normally uses a Java GUI (Graphical User Interface) to display installation options to the operator. I say normally, due to the option of a silent installation which does not require any type of GUI to install, however does require the configuration of certain files, before installation occurs. In this procedure we will cover the error message you will find if the DISPLAY variable is not properly setup and how to resolve.

1. Move to the location of you Oracle binary installer files in this case we have stored our Oracle binaries under /opt/oracle/software/linux/10.2.0.1/database

cd /opt/oracle/software/hp/10.2.0.1/database

2. List the files located under this directory.

myhpux:> ls
doc response stage
install runInstaller welcome.html
myhpux:>

3. Execute the runInstaller shell script to begin your installation.

myhpux:> ./runInstaller -ignoresysprereqs
Starting Oracle Universal Installer…

Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from
/tmp/OraInstall2010-05-02_08-41-03AM. Please wait …
DISPLAY not set. Please set the DISPLAY and try again.
Depending on the Unix Shell, you can use one of the following commands as
examples to set the DISPLAY environment variable:
– For csh: % setenv DISPLAY 192.168.1.128:0.0
– For sh, ksh and bash: $ DISPLAY=192.168.1.128:0.0; export DISPLAY
Use the following command to see what shell is being used:
echo $SHELL
Use the following command to view the current DISPLAY environment variable
setting:
echo $DISPLAY
– Make sure that client users are authorized to connect to the X Server.
To enable client users to access the X Server, open an xterm, dtterm or xconsole
as the user that started the session and type the following command:
% xhost +
To test that the DISPLAY environment variable is set correctly, run a X11 based
program that comes with the native operating system such as ‘xclock’:
%
If you are not able to run xclock successfully, please refer to your PC-X Server
or OS vendor for further assistance.
Typical path for xclock: /usr/bin/X11/xclock

4. NOTE: the error message received references the lack of a defined DISPLAY variable, the OUI (Oracle Universal Installer) does not know where to send output to and thus fails.

5. To resolve this issue simple set your DISPLAY variable to the local host or client machine you are currently using. If using a remote machine you will need a tool to except the output from your server: VNC, Hummingbird, KEA!, etc will all work. NOTE: VNC is free for client use. Example: If my client machines IP is 192.168.0.110

myhpux:> export DISPLAY=192.168.0.110:0.0

6. Now re-execute the runInstaller variable again and you will be presented with the OUI GUI.

myhpux:> ./runInstaller -ignoresysprereqs
Starting Oracle Universal Installer…

Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from
/tmp/OraInstall2010-05-02_08-54-42AM. Please wait …myhpux:> Oracle Universal
Installer, Version 10.2.0.1.0 Production
Copyright (C) 1999, 2005, Oracle. All rights reserved.

This completes correcting failure of OUI (Oracle Universal Installer) due to DISPLAY error.

Larry J Catt OCP 9i. 10g
oracle@allcompute.com
www.allcompute.com