Contents

 1 Get the software

 2 Prepare the Operating System
 3 Raw devices or filesystem files
o 3.1 Raw devices
o 3.2 File system files
o 3.3 Temporory databases
 4 Determine your license policy
 5 Installation
 6 Setup your environment
 7 Create the server
 8 Basic configuration
o 8.1 Load additional files
o 8.2 Increase the size of tempdb
o 8.3 Create a user database
o 8.4 Very basic server configuration
 9 Create the backup server

 10 All done

Get the software

First download ASE.

For a licensed version you need to go

here: http://sybase.subscribenet.com (account required) or to the eShop at
sybase.com:http://eshop.sybase.com/eshop/buy?id=19517

To get a free download you can go to this page http://www.sybase.com/detail?

id=1052712
At the Linux promotion page from
Sybase http://www.sybase.com/linuxpromo you can download ASE 15.0.2 in both
32 and 64 bit versions.

Some alternative locations are described

here http://www.sypron.nl/get_ase_soft.html
Prepare the Operating System

Make sure that the filesystem for the Sybase software is big enough. A full
installation needs approx. 800 Mb so 3 Gb should give you enough room to
handle upgrades too. In this case we install the software in /opt/sybase/ase15.
Database files will be stored on raw devices and/or in /var/sybase.

Become root and add a group "sybase" and a user "sybase" to the system. Also
create the needed directories.

mkdir -p /opt/sybase

mkdir -p /var/sybase

groupadd sybase

useradd -g sybase -d /opt/sybase sybase

chown sybase:sybase /opt/sybase

chown sybase:sybase /var/sybase

Enable the operating system to allow more than the default value for shared
memory.

 Solaris (pre version 10) /etc/system

set shmsys:shminfo_shmmax = 4294967295

 Linux: modify /etc/sysctl.conf

Use "sysctl kernel.shmmax" to see the current value.

Configure a new value with "sysctl -w kernel.shmmax=78643200"

Raw devices or filesystem files

Sybase recommends, and I fully 100% agree, to store all database files on raw
devices except for temporary databases like tempdb. Some Unix adminstrators do
not like raw devices and then you need to put everything on filesystems.
Whenever possible, use directio when the mounted filesystem allows it.

Raw devices

When you do raw devices, create the following:

 master (60Mb but 100Mb is better)

 sybsystemprocs(150M)
 sybsystemdb(20M)
 data01 (for instance 32G but for testing purposes 100Mb is also good. You
can always add more)
 log01(for instance 5G but for testing purposes 20Mb is also good. You can
always add more).

Do not forget to chown the raw devices to the sybase user. Check if this setting is
persistent after a reboot.

File system files

Make sure you have a filesystem that's big enough to store the files mentioned in
the 'Raw devices' section.

Temporory databases

Files for temporary databases (like tempdb) should be stored on the filesystem.
Allow at least for 100Mb but, depending on your application, 1Gb is not
uncommon.

Determine your license policy

Since ASE 15 you cannot run a production server with no license file. License files
can reside on the network or on the local system. Think about the license policy
that suits you best.

When there is no valid license after the installation ASE will run with a grace time
of 30 days. After that it will shutdown and it cannot be rebooted anymore until
you install a license.

Installation

Now, switch to the newly created user:

su - sybase

You should now be in the directory /opt/sybase. Make a work directory and put
the downloaded Sybase software in it.

mkdir work

cd work

<put the software in this directory>

tar -xf <software-distro>

Start the installation.

./setup -console

When you get a message like "A suitable JVM could not be found" check the
following documents for a possible solution

 Running a 32 bit ASE executable with a 64 bit chip

 Ubuntu 64 bit ASE installation
Use /opt/sybase/ase15 as the destination directory, do a full installation.
Assuming you store Sybase licenses on your local system, answer No at "Will
licenses be obtained from the License Server?".
Also, at "Do you want to configure email alerts?" answer No.

At the possible options of the Product Edition choose the one that suits your
situation. After installation you can reconfigure it, in case you picked the wrong
option.

At the list of possible servers to configure, deselect all options. We will do it

manually.

When the installation has finished succesful you can safely remove the work
directory.

Setup your environment

In /opt/sybase/ase15 you will find a few files, like SYBASE.csh, SYBASE.sh and
SYBASE.env. Depending on the type of shell you use you need to source in one of
these. For instance, when your default shell is bash you should do this:

. /opt/sybase/ase15/SYBASE.sh

By doing:

echo $SYBASE

it should return /opt/sybase/ase15.

Is is fairly common to activite the SYBASE.sh script (or similar one) from your
login script.

When you have generated a licence file

through http://sybase.subscribenet.com install it in the directory
$SYBASE/$SYBASE_SYSAM/licences

Create the server

Most installations run multiple ASE's and backup servers from a single Sybase
software tree. For a good overview it is quite handy to store files that are specific
for a server in it's own directory. In this example we create two servers: an ASE
called ASE1 and a backupserver called SYB_BACKUP. Configuration files and the
errorlog are stored in the admin directory, database files are stored in
/var/sybase.

Create the directories for these servers:

cd /opt/sybase

mkdir admin

mkdir admin/ASE1

mkdir admin/SYB_BACKUP

mkdir /var/sybase/ASE1

When you choose to use raw device it's quite handy when you create symbolic
links from /var/sybase/ASE1 to those devices. For example:

ln -s /dev/hda4 /var/sybase/ASE1/master.dat

Do this also for the other raw devices that you made.

Now go to the "/opt/sybase/admin/ASE1" directory and create a resource file.

Use the following template as an example, call it ASE1.rs. You can also use the
Sybase supplied resource file, it's
$SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/init/sample_resource_files/srvbuild.adaptive_server.rs

sybinit.release_directory: USE_DEFAULT

sybinit.product: sqlsrv
sqlsrv.server_name: ASE1

sqlsrv.new_config: yes

sqlsrv.do_add_server: yes

sqlsrv.network_protocol_list: tcp

sqlsrv.network_hostname_list: PUT_YOUR_HOSTNAME_HERE

sqlsrv.network_port_list: 4000

sqlsrv.server_page_size: USE_DEFAULT

sqlsrv.force_buildmaster: no

sqlsrv.master_device_physical_name: /var/sybase/ASE1/master.dat

sqlsrv.master_device_size: 60

sqlsrv.master_database_size: 30

sqlsrv.errorlog: /opt/sybase/admin/ASE1/errorlog

sqlsrv.do_upgrade: no

sqlsrv.sybsystemprocs_device_physical_name:
/var/sybase/ASE1/sybsystemprocs.dat

sqlsrv.sybsystemprocs_device_size: 150

sqlsrv.sybsystemprocs_database_size: 150

sqlsrv.sybsystemdb_device_physical_name:
/var/sybase/ASE1/sybsystemdb.dat

sqlsrv.sybsystemdb_device_size: 20
sqlsrv.sybsystemdb_database_size: 20

sqlsrv.default_backup_server: SYB_BACKUP

sqlsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters:

Please note that the option sqlsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters was added in 15.0.2

so you do not need to specify this for older releases.

Build the server with the command:

srvbuildres -r ASE1.rs

When the srvbuildres command fails with:

Task failed

Unable to boot server 'ASE1'.

Server 'ASE1' was not created.

then go to this page for tips how to solve this: srvbuildres task failed.

After a succesful creation you can connect to the server:

isql -Usa -P -SASE1

Basic configuration

Load additional files

Often forgotten, but you should load this file too:

isql -Usa -P -SASE1 < $SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/scripts/instmsgs.ebf

Load the monitoring tables (automatically done since 15.0.2), like this:
Pre 15.0, create a loopback server

isql -Usa -P -SASE1

sp_addserver loopback,null,@@servername

go

quit

Since 12.5.0.3, load the monitoring tables:

isql -Usa -P -SASE1 < $SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/scripts/installmontables

Increase the size of tempdb

Log on with isql and do the following:

disk init name =

temp01,physname="/var/sybase/ASE1/temp01.dat",dsync=false,size="100M"

go

alter database tempdb on temp01=100

go

For a more advanced configuration of tempdb, go here: Tempdb space

management.

[edit]
Create a user database

disk init name =

data01,size="1G",physname="/var/sybase/ASE1/data01.dat"

go

disk init name =

log01,size="100M",physname="/var/sybase/ASE1/log01.dat"

go

create database my_database on data01="1G" log on log01 = "100M"

go

Very basic server configuration

Set some common options and increase memory size. Depending on your
situation you need to increase the given values.

sp_configure "max memory",100000

go

sp_cacheconfig "default data cache","20M"

go

sp_poolconfig "default data cache","5M","4K"

go

sp_poolconfig "default data cache","5M","16K"

go

sp_configure "procedure cache size",14000

go

These values provide only a minimal starting point and should not be used in a
production environment. Consult your local DBA for further assistance.

Create the backup server

Create the backup server using the following steps.

Go to the "/opt/sybase/admin/SYB_BACKUP" directory and create a resource file.

Use the following template as an example, call it SYB_BACKUP.rs. You can also
use the Sybase supplied resource file, it's
$SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/init/sample_resource_files/srvbuild.backup_server.rs

sybinit.release_directory: USE_DEFAULT

sybinit.product: bsrv

bsrv.server_name: SYB_BACKUP

bsrv.new_config: yes

bsrv.do_add_backup_server: yes

bsrv.do_upgrade: no

bsrv.network_protocol_list: tcp

bsrv.network_hostname_list: PUT_YOUR_HOSTNAME_HERE

bsrv.network_port_list: 4001
bsrv.language: USE_DEFAULT

bsrv.character_set: USE_DEFAULT

bsrv.tape_config_file: USE_DEFAULT

bsrv.errorlog: /opt/sybase/admin/SYB_BACKUP/errorlog

sqlsrv.related_sqlsrvr: ASE1

sqlsrv.sa_login: sa

sqlsrv.sa_password: USE_DEFAULT

bsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters:

Please note that the option bsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters was added in 15.0.2

so you do not need to specify this for older releases.

Build the server with the command:

srvbuildres -r SYB_BACKUP.rs

All done