Oracle 11g XE installation not working. "Create CONTROLFILE failed"

Question

I installed Oracle 11g XE on my Windows computer (running on Windows XP Pro), but unfortunately, can't get it to work. There are no errors that the GUI installer shows up during the installation and I get the "installed successfully" message, but when I try to connect to Oracle using the SQL command prompt, I get the following error:

SQL> connect
Enter user-name: system
Enter password:
ERROR:
ORA-01033: ORACLE initialization or shutdown in progress
Process ID: 0
Session ID: 0 Serial number: 0

The 'Get Started' shortcut icon takes me to :

http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex/f?p=4950

which gives me an "Unable to Connect" message

After having spent 2 days doing research on this, I found out that apart from this being a Listener issue, my 'oradata\XE' folder located at: E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE is empty. I think it should have contained the control files etc.

There are some errors related to creation of control files etc. reported in the log files located at : E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\log and am pasting them here ->

cloneDBCreation.log

SQL> Create controlfile reuse set database "XE"
  2  MAXINSTANCES 8
  3  MAXLOGHISTORY 1
  4  MAXLOGFILES 16
  5  MAXLOGMEMBERS 3
  6  MAXDATAFILES 100
  7  Datafile
  8  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\system.dbf',
  9  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\undotbs1.dbf',
 10  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\sysaux.dbf',
 11  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\users.dbf'
 12  LOGFILE
 13  GROUP 1 SIZE 51200K,
 14  GROUP 2 SIZE 51200K,
 15  RESETLOGS;
Create controlfile reuse set database "XE"
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01503: CREATE CONTROLFILE failed 
ORA-01565: error in identifying file 
'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\system.dbf' 
ORA-27041: unable to open file 
OSD-04002: unable to open file 
O/S-Error: (OS 2) The system cannot find the file specified. 


SQL> exec dbms_backup_restore.zerodbid(0);
BEGIN dbms_backup_restore.zerodbid(0); END;

*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00210: cannot open the specified control file 
ORA-06512: at "SYS.X$DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE", line 4754 
ORA-06512: at line 1 


SQL> shutdown immediate;
ORA-01507: database not mounted 


ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> startup nomount pfile="E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\scripts\initXETemp.ora";
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area  535662592 bytes                                       
Fixed Size                  1384760 bytes                                       
Variable Size             226496200 bytes                                       
Database Buffers          301989888 bytes                                       
Redo Buffers                5791744 bytes                                       
SQL> Create controlfile reuse set database "XE"
  2  MAXINSTANCES 8
  3  MAXLOGHISTORY 1
  4  MAXLOGFILES 16
  5  MAXLOGMEMBERS 3
  6  MAXDATAFILES 100
  7  Datafile
  8  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\system.dbf',
  9  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\undotbs1.dbf',
 10  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\sysaux.dbf',
 11  'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\users.dbf'
 12  LOGFILE
 13  GROUP 1 SIZE 51200K,
 14  GROUP 2 SIZE 51200K,
 15  RESETLOGS;
Create controlfile reuse set database "XE"
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01503: CREATE CONTROLFILE failed 
ORA-01565: error in identifying file 
'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\system.dbf' 
ORA-27041: unable to open file 
OSD-04002: unable to open file 
O/S-Error: (OS 2) The system cannot find the file specified. 


SQL> alter system enable restricted session;

System altered.

SQL> alter database "XE" open resetlogs;
alter database "XE" open resetlogs
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01507: database not mounted 


SQL> alter database rename global_name to "XE";
alter database rename global_name to "XE"
                                     *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter system switch logfile;
alter system switch logfile
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter system checkpoint;
alter system checkpoint
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter database drop logfile group 3;
alter database drop logfile group 3
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01507: database not mounted 


SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE TEMP ADD TEMPFILE 'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\temp.dbf' SIZE 20480K REUSE AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 640K MAXSIZE UNLIMITED;
ALTER TABLESPACE TEMP ADD TEMPFILE 'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE\temp.dbf' SIZE 20480K REUSE AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 640K MAXSIZE UNLIMITED
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> select tablespace_name from dba_tablespaces where tablespace_name='USERS';
select tablespace_name from dba_tablespaces where tablespace_name='USERS'
                            *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01219: database not open: queries allowed on fixed tables/views only 


SQL> select sid, program, serial#, username from v$session;

       SID PROGRAM                                                              
---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------     
   SERIAL# USERNAME                                                             
---------- ------------------------------                                       
         1 ORACLE.EXE (PMON)                                                    
         1                                                                      

         2 ORACLE.EXE (VKTM)                                                    
         1                                                                      

         3 ORACLE.EXE (DIAG)                                                    
         1                                                                      


       SID PROGRAM                                                              
---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------     
   SERIAL# USERNAME                                                             
---------- ------------------------------                                       
         4 ORACLE.EXE (DIA0)                                                    
         1                                                                      

         5 ORACLE.EXE (DBW0)                                                    
         1                                                                      

         6 ORACLE.EXE (RECO)                                                    
         1                                                                      


       SID PROGRAM                                                              
---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------     
   SERIAL# USERNAME                                                             
---------- ------------------------------                                       
         8 ORACLE.EXE (CKPT)                                                    
         1                                                                      

         9 sqlplus.exe                                                          
         3 SYS                                                                  

        10 ORACLE.EXE (MMNL)                                                    
         5                                                                      


       SID PROGRAM                                                              
---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------     
   SERIAL# USERNAME                                                             
---------- ------------------------------                                       
        88 ORACLE.EXE (PSP0)                                                    
         1                                                                      

        89 ORACLE.EXE (GEN0)                                                    
         1                                                                      

        90 ORACLE.EXE (DBRM)                                                    
         1                                                                      


       SID PROGRAM                                                              
---------- ----------------------------------------------------------------     
   SERIAL# USERNAME                                                             
---------- ------------------------------                                       
        91 ORACLE.EXE (MMAN)                                                    
         1                                                                      

        92 ORACLE.EXE (LGWR)                                                    
         1                                                                      

        93 ORACLE.EXE (SMON)                                                    
         1                                                                      


15 rows selected.

SQL> alter user sys identified by "&&sysPassword";
alter user sys identified by "tiger"
                             *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter user system identified by "&&systemPassword";
alter user system identified by "tiger"
                                *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter system disable restricted session;

System altered.

SQL> @E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\scripts\postScripts.sql
SQL> connect "SYS"/"&&sysPassword" as SYSDBA
Connected.
SQL> set echo on
SQL> spool E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\log\postScripts.log

CloneRmanRestore.log

SQL> startup nomount pfile="E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\scripts\init.ora";
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area  535662592 bytes                                       
Fixed Size                  1384760 bytes                                       
Variable Size             226496200 bytes                                       
Database Buffers          301989888 bytes                                       
Redo Buffers                5791744 bytes                                       
SQL> @E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\scripts\rmanRestoreDatafiles.sql;
SQL> set echo off;

TO_CHAR(SYSTIMEST                                                               
-----------------                                                               
20140530 06:00:59                                                               

Allocating device....                                                           
Specifying datafiles...                                                         
Specifing datafiles...                                                          
Restoring ...                                                                   
declare
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-19624: operation failed, retry possible 
ORA-19870: error while restoring backup piece 
E:\ORACLEXE\APP\ORACLE\PRODUCT\11.2.0\SERVER\CONFIG\SEEDDB\EXPRESS.DFB 
ORA-19504: failed to create file "E:\ORACLEXE\APP\ORACLE\ORADATA\XE\SYSTEM.DBF" 
ORA-27044: unable to write the header block of file 
OSD-04008: WriteFile() failure, unable to write to file 
O/S-Error: (OS 112) There is not enough space on the disk. 
ORA-06512: at "SYS.X$DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE", line 5827 
ORA-06512: at line 16 



TO_CHAR(SYSTIMEST                                                               
-----------------                                                               
20140530 06:01:02                                                               

Connected.
SQL> spool E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\log\cloneDBCreation.log

postDBCreation.log

SQL> connect "SYS"/"&&sysPassword" as SYSDBA
Connected.
SQL> set echo on
SQL> //create or replace directory DB_BACKUPS as 'E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\fast_recovery_area';
SP2-0103: Nothing in SQL buffer to run.
SQL> begin
  2     dbms_xdb.sethttpport('8080');
  3     dbms_xdb.setftpport('0');
  4  end;
  5  /
   dbms_xdb.sethttpport('8080');
   *
ERROR at line 2:
ORA-06550: line 2, column 4: 
PLS-00201: identifier 'DBMS_XDB.SETHTTPPORT' must be declared 
ORA-06550: line 2, column 4: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 
ORA-06550: line 3, column 4: 
PLS-00201: identifier 'DBMS_XDB.SETFTPPORT' must be declared 
ORA-06550: line 3, column 4: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 


SQL> create spfile='E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\dbs/spfileXE.ora' FROM pfile='E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\config\scripts\init.ora';

File created.

SQL> shutdown immediate;
ORA-01507: database not mounted 


ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> connect "SYS"/"&&sysPassword" as SYSDBA
Connected to an idle instance.
SQL> startup ;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area  535662592 bytes                                       
Fixed Size                  1384760 bytes                                       
Variable Size             226496200 bytes                                       
Database Buffers          301989888 bytes                                       
Redo Buffers                5791744 bytes                                       
ORA-00205: error in identifying control file, check alert log for more info 


SQL> select 'utl_recomp_begin: ' || to_char(sysdate, 'HH:MI:SS') from dual;

'UTL_RECOMP_BEGIN:'||TO_CH                                                      
--------------------------                                                      
utl_recomp_begin: 06:01:55                                                      

SQL> execute utl_recomp.recomp_serial();
BEGIN utl_recomp.recomp_serial(); END;

      *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-06550: line 1, column 7: 
PLS-00201: identifier 'UTL_RECOMP.RECOMP_SERIAL' must be declared 
ORA-06550: line 1, column 7: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 


SQL> select 'utl_recomp_end: ' || to_char(sysdate, 'HH:MI:SS') from dual;

'UTL_RECOMP_END:'||TO_CH                                                        
------------------------                                                        
utl_recomp_end: 06:01:55                                                        

SQL> alter user hr password expire account lock;
alter user hr password expire account lock
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter user ctxsys password expire account lock;
alter user ctxsys password expire account lock
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter user outln password expire account lock;
alter user outln password expire account lock
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> alter user MDSYS password expire;
alter user MDSYS password expire
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01109: database not open 


SQL> @E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\11.2.0\server\apex\apxxepwd.sql "&1"
SQL> Rem  Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1999 - 2006. All Rights Reserved.
SQL> Rem
SQL> Rem    NAME
SQL> Rem      apxxepwd.sql
SQL> Rem
SQL> Rem    DESCRIPTION
SQL> Rem      Changes the password for the INTERNAL ADMIN user
SQL> Rem
SQL> Rem    NOTES
SQL> Rem      Assumes the SYS user is connected.
SQL> Rem
SQL> Rem    REQUIRENTS
SQL> Rem      - Oracle 10g
SQL> Rem
SQL> Rem
SQL> Rem    MODIFIED   (MM/DD/YYYY)
SQL> Rem      jstraub   08/01/2006 - Created
SQL> Rem      jkallman  09/29/2006 - Adjusted current_schema to FLOWS_030000
SQL> Rem      jkallman  08/02/2007 - Change FLOWS_030000 references to FLOWS_030100
SQL> Rem      jkallman  07/08/2008 - Change FLOWS_030100 references to FLOWS_040000
SQL> Rem      jkallman  10/02/2008 - Change FLOWS_040000 references to APEX_040000
SQL> 
SQL> Rem
SQL> 
SQL> set define '&'
SQL> 
SQL> set verify off
SQL> 
SQL> alter session set current_schema = APEX_040000;
ERROR:
ORA-01435: user does not exist 


SQL> 
SQL> prompt ...changing password for ADMIN
...changing password for ADMIN
SQL> 
SQL> begin
  2  
  3      wwv_flow_security.g_security_group_id := 10;
  4      wwv_flow_security.g_user := 'ADMIN';
  5      wwv_flow_security.g_import_in_progress := true;
  6  
  7      for c1 in (select user_id
  8               from wwv_flow_fnd_user
  9              where security_group_id = wwv_flow_security.g_security_group_id
 10                and user_name = wwv_flow_security.g_user) loop
 11  
 12          wwv_flow_fnd_user_api.edit_fnd_user(
 13          p_user_id   => c1.user_id,
 14          p_user_name     => wwv_flow_security.g_user,
 15          p_web_password  => '&1',
 16          p_new_password  => '&1');
 17      end loop;
 18  
 19      wwv_flow_security.g_import_in_progress := false;
 20  
 21  end;
 22  /
    wwv_flow_security.g_security_group_id := 10;
    *
ERROR at line 3:
ORA-06550: line 3, column 5: 
PLS-00201: identifier 'WWV_FLOW_SECURITY.G_SECURITY_GROUP_ID' must be declared 
ORA-06550: line 3, column 5: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 
ORA-06550: line 4, column 5: 
PLS-00201: identifier 'WWV_FLOW_SECURITY.G_USER' must be declared 
ORA-06550: line 4, column 5: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 
ORA-06550: line 5, column 5: 
PLS-00201: identifier 'WWV_FLOW_SECURITY.G_IMPORT_IN_PROGRESS' must be declared 
ORA-06550: line 5, column 5: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 
ORA-06550: line 8, column 23: 
PL/SQL: ORA-01219: database not open: queries allowed on fixed tables/views 
only 
ORA-06550: line 7, column 16: 
PL/SQL: SQL Statement ignored 
ORA-06550: line 13, column 32: 
PLS-00364: loop index variable 'C1' use is invalid 
ORA-06550: line 12, column 9: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 
ORA-06550: line 19, column 5: 
PLS-00201: identifier 'WWV_FLOW_SECURITY.G_IMPORT_IN_PROGRESS' must be declared 
ORA-06550: line 19, column 5: 
PL/SQL: Statement ignored 


SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

SQL> spool off;

XE.bat.log

Instance created.

I have not pasted the contents of the postScripts.log as it was causing the body of this question to exceed the allowed limit of characters.

As suggested in some articles/posts on the internet, I tried connecting to Oracle as sysdba to view the control_file parameter. This is what I got:

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.

SQL> show parameter control_files

NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE
------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------
control_files                        string      E:\ORACLEXE\APP\ORACLE\ORADATA
                                                 \XE\CONTROL.DBF

I am sorry for posting all the information from the log files, but I thought it might be necessary.

Also, pls be aware of the following:

• I am logged in as a User which is a part of the Administrators group.
• I am using a dual boot system, so my Windows XP is installed on drive E:
• I have used the GUI installer only and did not meddle in the installation process

Can some Oracle expert please help ? What is wrong with the installation and how do I get it to work ? I have tried reinstalling it several times, but am stuck with the same issues.

Answer 1

The key is the error in CloneRmanRestore.log during the installation

ERROR at line 1:
ORA-19624: operation failed, retry possible 
ORA-19870: error while restoring backup piece 
E:\ORACLEXE\APP\ORACLE\PRODUCT\11.2.0\SERVER\CONFIG\SEEDDB\EXPRESS.DFB 
ORA-19504: failed to create file "E:\ORACLEXE\APP\ORACLE\ORADATA\XE\SYSTEM.DBF" 
ORA-27044: unable to write the header block of file 
OSD-04008: WriteFile() failure, unable to write to file 
O/S-Error: (OS 112) There is not enough space on the disk. 
ORA-06512: at "SYS.X$DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE", line 5827 
ORA-06512: at line 16 

Oracle wants create a database by restoring it from the files that are delivered with the OracleExpressEdition. But it cannot write the files to "E:\ORACLEXE\APP\ORACLE\ORADATA\XE\SYSTEM.DBF". The error message is

There is not enough space on the disk

This may be true, or as other user already wrote, this may mean that you don't have the privilege to write to this location. All other error messages are caused by this problem, because Oracle couldn't create the database. I will skip the details her.

Check if you are able to write to this location, e.g. copy a file to this location. If you can't copy then resolve the problem and retry the installation. As other user pointed out this may be a problem of privileges. You always should do the installation with admin privileges.

Answer 2

This helped me with a similar issue.

1. Uninstall OracleXE.
2. Go to services and check to see if there are any services that start with Oracle.
3. Manually remove any existing Oracle services by opening an administrator command prompt and typing in the command sc delete servicename (e.g., sc delete OracleServiceXE).
4. Go to your environment variables and set your Oracle_home to the appropriate location (e.g., c:\oraclexe\app\product\11.2.0\server) and add the appropriate string to the beginning of the PATH variable (e.g., c:\oraclexe\app\product\11.2.0\server\bin).
5. Reinstall OracleXE.

Answer 3

I faced the same problem:

Enter user-name: system
Enter password:
ERROR:
ORA-01033: ORACLE initialization or shutdown in progress
Process ID: 0
Session ID: 0 Serial number: 0

After reading the above conversation I realized that I am unable to create any file in "E:\oraclexe\app\oracle\oradata\XE".

I can only create folders because it is Read-only. I finally uninstalled, created a folder in F drive and re-installed in it. This solved my problem and now I'm connected.

Answer 4

i had this problem too, just reinstall with run as administrator solve the problems and create databases