Oracle Database 26ai Installation Using RPM on Oracle Linux 9 (OEL 9) – Step-by-Step Guide

 

In this post I will describe the installation of Oracle Database 26ai 64-bit on Oracle Linux 9 (OL8) 64-bit. The installation requires a minimum of 2g swap memory and secure Linux set to permissive or disabled.

Add hosts entry in hosts file

[root@dbvm-1 opc]# cat /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1   localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4

::1         localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6

10.0.0.45 dbvm-1.subnet09221504.vcn09221504.oraclevcn.com dbvm-1

Download the RPM for oracle installation:-

The required rpm can be downloaded directly from oracle website

https://www.oracle.com/database/free/get-started/

Rpm url : oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64.rpm

Download the rpm as root user

[root@dbvm-1 opc]# wget https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/appstream/x86_64/getPackage/oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64.rpm

[root@dbvm-1 opc]# dnf install -y oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai   Last metadata expiration check: 0:04:32 ago on Sat 06 Jun 2026 06:11:34 AM GMT. Dependencies resolved. ==============================================================================================================================================================================================  Package                                                         Architecture                        Version                                 Repository                                  Size ============================================================================================================================================================================================== Installing:  oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai                              x86_64                              1.0-1.el9                               ol9_appstream                               34 k   Transaction Summary ============================================================================================================================================================================================== Install  1 Package   Total download size: 34 k Installed size: 81 k Downloading Packages: oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64.rpm                                                                                                       416 kB/s |  34 kB     00:00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total                                                                                                                                                         407 kB/s |  34 kB     00:00 Running transaction check Transaction check succeeded. Running transaction test Transaction test succeeded. Running transaction   Preparing        :                                                                                                                                                                      1/1   Installing       : oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64                                                                                                                  1/1   Running scriptlet: oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64                                                                                                                  1/1   Verifying        : oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64                                                                                                                  1/1   Installed:   oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64   Complete! [root@dbvm-1 opc]# dnf install -y oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai   Last metadata expiration check: 0:04:32 ago on Sat 06 Jun 2026 06:11:34 AM GMT. Dependencies resolved. ==============================================================================================================================================================================================  Package                                                         Architecture                        Version                                 Repository                                  Size ============================================================================================================================================================================================== Installing:  oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai                              x86_64                              1.0-1.el9                               ol9_appstream                               34 k   Transaction Summary ============================================================================================================================================================================================== Install  1 Package   Total download size: 34 k Installed size: 81 k Downloading Packages: oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64.rpm                                                                                                       416 kB/s |  34 kB     00:00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total                                                                                                                                                         407 kB/s |  34 kB     00:00 Running transaction check Transaction check succeeded. Running transaction test Transaction test succeeded. Running transaction   Preparing        :                                                                                                                                                                      1/1   Installing       : oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64                                                                                                                  1/1   Running scriptlet: oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64                                                                                                                  1/1   Verifying        : oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64                                                                                                                  1/1   Installed:   oracle-ai-database-preinstall-26ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64   Complete!

Now Download and install the 26ai binary as root user

[root@dbvm-1 opc]# wget https://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/otn_software/db-free/oracle-ai-database-free-26ai-23.26.2-1.el9.x86_64.rpm

 

[root@dbvm-1 opc]# dnf -y install  oracle-ai-database-free-26ai-23.26.2-1.el9.x86_64.rpm Last metadata expiration check: 0:37:25 ago on Sat 06 Jun 2026 06:11:34 AM GMT. Dependencies resolved. ==============================================================================================================================================================================================  Package                                                     Architecture                          Version                                  Repository                                   Size ============================================================================================================================================================================================== Installing:  oracle-ai-database-free-26ai                                x86_64                                23.26.2-1                                @commandline                                1.4 G   Transaction Summary ============================================================================================================================================================================================== Install  1 Package   Total size: 1.4 G Installed size: 3.8 G Downloading Packages: Running transaction check Transaction check succeeded. Running transaction test Transaction test succeeded. Running transaction   Preparing        :                                                                                                                                                                      1/1   Running scriptlet: oracle-ai-database-free-26ai-23.26.2-1.x86_64                                                                                                                        1/1   Installing       : oracle-ai-database-free-26ai-23.26.2-1.x86_64                                                                                                                        1/1   Running scriptlet: oracle-ai-database-free-26ai-23.26.2-1.x86_64                                                                                                                        1/1 [INFO] Executing post installation scripts... [INFO] Oracle home installed successfully and ready to be configured. To configure Oracle AI Database Free, optionally modify the parameters in '/etc/sysconfig/oracle-free-26ai.conf' and then run '/etc/init.d/oracle-free-26ai configure' as root.     Verifying        : oracle-ai-database-free-26ai-23.26.2-1.x86_64                                                                                                                        1/1   Installed:   oracle-ai-database-free-26ai-23.26.2-1.x86_64   Complete!

ORACLE_HOME for 26ai oracle binary is /opt/oracle/product/26ai/dbhomeFree

 

Database creation:-

[root@dbvm-1 opc]# /etc/init.d/oracle-free-26ai configure Specify a password to be used for database accounts. Oracle recommends that the password entered should be at least 8 characters in length, contain at least 1 uppercase character, 1 lower case character and 1 digit [0-9]. Note that the same password will be used for SYS, SYSTEM and PDBADMIN accounts: Confirm the password: Configuring Oracle Listener. Listener configuration succeeded. Configuring Oracle AI Database FREE. Enter SYS user password: ************* Enter SYSTEM user password: ************ Enter PDBADMIN User Password: *************** Prepare for db operation 7% complete Copying database files 29% complete Creating and starting Oracle instance 30% complete 33% complete 36% complete 39% complete 43% complete Completing Database Creation 47% complete 49% complete 50% complete Creating Pluggable Databases 54% complete 71% complete Executing Post Configuration Actions 93% complete Running Custom Scripts 100% complete Database creation complete. For details check the logfiles at:  /opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/FREE. Database Information: Global Database Name:FREE System Identifier(SID):FREE Look at the log file "/opt/oracle/cfgtoollogs/dbca/FREE/FREE.log" for further details.   Connect to Oracle AI Database using one of the connect strings:      Pluggable database: dbvm-1/FREEPDB1      Multitenant container database: dbvm-1

Note: Database creation is still possible like old ways we have been doing so far.

Following screenshot shows how to create the database manually. 

[root@dbvm-1 opc]#dbca

Here we kept a separate path for oracle data files.

To connect the database:-

[oracle@dbvm-1 ~]$ sqlplus sys@//localhost:1521/free as sysdba   SQL> show pdbs      CON_ID CON_NAME                       OPEN MODE  RESTRICTED ---------- ------------------------------ ---------- ----------          2 PDB$SEED                       READ ONLY  NO          3 FREEPDB1                       READ WRITE NO   [oracle@dbvm-1 ~]$ sqlplus sys@//localhost:1521/freepdb1 as sysdba SQL> show con_name  CON_NAME ------------------------------ FREEPDB1

To Start and stop database:-

[root@dbvm-1 sshd_config.d]# /etc/init.d/oracle-free-26ai stop Shutting down Oracle AI Database instance FREE. Oracle AI Database instance FREE shut down. Stopping Oracle Net Listener. Oracle Net Listener stopped.   [root@dbvm-1 sshd_config.d]# /etc/init.d/oracle-free-26ai start Starting Oracle Net Listener. Oracle Net Listener started. Starting Oracle AI Database instance FREE. Oracle AI Database instance FREE started.