Step By Step Guide - Install Oracle 11g RAC Database on ASM / Grid Infrastructure in Linux Virtual Machines running on VMware ESXi 5.5

Objective: To install Oracle 11g RAC Database on 64 Bit Oracle Linux 6.3 Virtual Machines hosted on VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.5 using vSphere Client

Purpose: To practice and evaluate Oracle 11g RAC Database and Grid Infrastructure in a test environment.

Setup:

Machine # 1: Dell T7400 Workstation - 64 bit Dual Intel Xeon Quad Core Processor - 8 GB of memory
Hypervisor: VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.5
Operating System of VMs: Oracle Linux Release 6 for x86 64 Bit (Linux 6.3)
Clusterware Software: 64 bit Oracle 11g Grid Infrastructure for Oracle Linux
Database Software: 64 bit Oracle 11g RAC Database for Oracle Linux

Machine # 2: Dell Studio Laptop, i5 Processor - 8 GB of memory
Software: VMware vSphere Client 5.5, VMware vSphere CLI, SSH PuTTY client, Win SCP 

Operating System: 64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium

Network: Both machines are in the same LAN Network.

Major Installation Steps:

Here are the steps, click below links for step by step guide with detailed instructions and screenshots:

Step # 1: Install VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.5  
Step # 2: Install VMware vSphere Client 5.5   
Step # 3: Create Linux Virtual Machine 
Step # 4: Install Oracle Linux 6.3 on Virtual Machine 
Step # 5: Clone Virtual Machine to create the 2nd Node 
Step # 6: Create Shared Disk 
Step # 7: Install Oracle 11g Grid Infrastructure 
Step # 8: Install Oracle 11g RAC Database

Step # 9: Enable Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Database Control

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