File Path and Directory Changes in Read-Only Oracle Homes

Learn from these examples the differences between hierarchical file mappings in a read-only Oracle home compared to a read/write Oracle home.

Prior to Oracle Database 21c, the default ORACLE_HOME layout combined ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_BASE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE_CONFIG into a single location. Starting with Oracle Database 21c, the only available configuration is a read-only ORACLE_HOME where ORACLE_BASE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE_CONFIG are located separately from ORACLE_HOME.

This example shows an Optimal Flexible Architecture-compliant Oracle Database installation, for the user oracle, with the ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_BASE, ORACLE_BASE_HOME, and ORACLE_BASE_CONFIG logical locations. The database files are mounted on /u01 and the HOME_NAME is OraDB21Home1.

This example also shows the changes in the Oracle Database software defined paths of configuration files, log files, and other directories in a read-only Oracle home when compared to a read/write Oracle home.

Table 11-1 Read-Only Oracle Home and Read/Write Oracle Home File Path Examples

Directory	Read-Only Oracle Home File Path (21c onwards)	Read/Write Oracle Home File Path (before 21c)
ORACLE_HOME	`/u01/app/oracle/product/21.0.0/dbhome_1`	`/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1`
ORACLE_BASE	`/u01/app/oracle/`	`/u01/app/oracle/`
ORACLE_BASE_HOME	ORACLE_BASE/homes/HOME_NAME (or) `/u01/app/oracle/homes/OraDB21Home1`	ORACLE_HOME (or) `/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1`
ORACLE_BASE_CONFIG	ORACLE_BASE (or) `/u01/app/oracle/`	ORACLE_HOME (or) `/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1`
`network`	ORACLE_BASE_HOME/network/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/homes/OraDB21Home1/network/admin`	ORACLE_HOME/network/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/network/admin`
`dbs`	ORACLE_BASE_CONFIG/dbs (or) `/u01/app/oracle/dbs`	ORACLE_HOME/dbs (or) `/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/dbs`
`hs`	ORACLE_BASE_HOME/hs/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/homes/OraDB21Home1/hs/admin`	ORACLE_HOME/hs/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/hs/admin`
`mgw`	ORACLE_BASE_HOME/mgw/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/homes/OraDB21Home1/mgw/admin`	ORACLE_HOME/mgw/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/mgw/admin`
`drdaas`	ORACLE_BASE_HOME/drdaas/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/homes/OraDB21Home1/drdaas/admin`	ORACLE_HOME/drdaas/admin (or) `/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1/drdaas/admin`

To print the ORACLE_BASE_HOME path, run:

$ setenv ORACLE_HOME /u01/app/oracle/product/21.0.0/dbhome_1
$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
$ ./orabasehome

To print the ORACLE_BASE_CONFIG path, run:

$ setenv ORACLE_HOME /u01/app/oracle/product/21.0.0/dbhome_1
$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
$ ./orabaseconfig

Parent topic: Configuring Oracle Homes