Installing Oracle Database 23ai on Amazon Linux 2023

 This guide provides steps to install Oracle Database 23ai on Amazon Linux 2023 by resolving dependency issues with the Oracle preinstall package. The steps documented here are purely for testing purpose, and never be considered as recommendation for production setup.

Problem Overview

The Oracle Database 23ai preinstall package (oracle-database-preinstall-23ai) has dependencies that conflict with Amazon Linux 2023:

1. It requires /etc/redhat-release which doesn't exist on Amazon Linux
2. It requires xorg-x11-utils which has been split into individual packages in Amazon Linux 2023

Solution: Create Custom RPMs

We'll create two custom RPMs to satisfy these dependencies without conflicting with existing packages.

1. Create fake-redhat-release RPM

This RPM provides the /etc/redhat-release file that Oracle's preinstall package checks for.

Step 1: Set up the RPM build environment

# Install RPM build tools
sudo yum install -y rpm-build rpmdevtools

# Set up the RPM build directory structure
rpmdev-setuptree

Step 2: Create the RPM spec file

cd ~
cat > fake-redhat-release.spec << 'EOF'
Name:           fake-redhat-release
Version:        9.0
Release:        1%{?dist}
Summary:        Fake Red Hat Enterprise Linux release file
License:        MIT

BuildArch:      noarch
Provides:       redhat-release = 9.0
Provides:       system-release = 9.0

%description
This package provides a fake /etc/redhat-release file to satisfy dependencies
for packages that require it on non-RHEL systems like Amazon Linux.

%prep
# Nothing to do

%build
# Nothing to build

%install
mkdir -p %{buildroot}/etc
echo "Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 9.0 (Plow)" > %{buildroot}/etc/redhat-release

%files
%attr(0644,root,root) /etc/redhat-release

%changelog
* Thu Mar 20 2025 User <user@example.com> - 9.0-1
- Initial package
EOF

Step 3: Build the RPM

rpmbuild -bb fake-redhat-release.spec

Step 4: Install the RPM

sudo rpm -ivh ~/rpmbuild/RPMS/noarch/fake-redhat-release-9.0-1*.rpm

2. Create dummy-xorg-x11-utils RPM
This RPM provides the virtual capability xorg-x11-utils without containing any files that would conflict with the individual X11 utility packages.
Step 1: Create the RPM spec file
cd ~
cat > dummy-xorg-x11-utils.spec << 'EOF'
Name:           dummy-xorg-x11-utils
Version:        7.5
Release:        39%{?dist}
Summary:        Dummy package that provides xorg-x11-utils
License:        MIT

BuildArch:      noarch
Provides:       xorg-x11-utils = 7.5-39
# Don't conflict with the actual utilities that obsolete xorg-x11-utils
Conflicts:      xorg-x11-utils

%description
This is a dummy package that provides the xorg-x11-utils virtual capability
without containing any files that would conflict with the individual X11
utility packages in Amazon Linux 2023.

%prep
# Nothing to do

%build
# Nothing to build

%install
# Create an empty directory structure
mkdir -p %{buildroot}

%files
# No files

%changelog
* Thu Mar 20 2025 User <user@example.com> - 7.5-39
- Initial dummy package
EOF
Step 2: Build the RPM
rpmbuild -bb dummy-xorg-x11-utils.spec
Step 3: Install the dummy package
sudo rpm -ivh ~/rpmbuild/RPMS/noarch/dummy-xorg-x11-utils-7.5-39*.rpm
3. Install Oracle Database 23ai Preinstall Package
After installing both custom RPMs, you can install the Oracle preinstall package:
sudo yum install https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/appstream/x86_64/getPackage/oracle-database-preinstall-23ai-1.0-2.el9.x86_64.rpm
4. Install Required X11 Utility Packages
Even with the dummy package, you should install the actual X11 utilities that Oracle might need:
sudo yum install -y xdpyinfo xev xwininfo xprop xkill xlsclients xlsatoms

After this step, you can install Oracle 23ai (FREE) RPM "oracle-database-free-23ai-1.0-1.el9.x86_64.rpm". (Link)

Notes

This approach is specifically for Amazon Linux 2023 and Oracle Database 23ai
For production environments, consider using Oracle Linux which is fully supported
Always refer to Oracle's official documentation for the latest requirements

[root@ip-x-2-2-x ~]# cat /etc/amazon-linux-release
Amazon Linux release 2023.6.20250303 (Amazon Linux)
[root@ip-x-2-2-x ~]# 
[root@ip-x-2-2-x ~]# rpm -qa|grep oracle-database-free-23ai-1.0-1.x86_64
oracle-database-free-23ai-1.0-1.x86_64