more deinstall headaches

Today I needed to re-install an ORACLE_HOME. Why? I have my reasons so let me do it. In the old days we ran $ORACLE_HOME/oui/runInstaller and selected deinstall product to get rid of the software. Now, 11gR2 (11.2.0.1) the only reaction is a popup box telling me to run $ORACLE_HOME/deinstall/deinstall to deinstall the ORACLE_HOME.

The specified ORACLE_HOME is used for a database, a database that I did not want to loose. Instead of just do what I ask, deinstall the specified ORACLE_HOME, I get a huge list of questions and end up with a system that no longer has the ORACLE_HOME on it (even the directory is deleted), but also a system that no longer has the database files on it. This came as a big surprise and not one that I liked.

Why should Oracle delete my database? There is no reason for that. If I want to delete a database, I will do so. If I deinstall an ORACLE_HOME, I expect the ORACLE_HOME to be deinstalled. I can live with the fact that ORACLE_HOME is deleted, I can not live with the fact that during this deinstallation also my database, not living in ORACLE_HOME, is deleted.

Please Oracle, give me back a normal deinstall and leave my databases alive. If I start $ORACLE_HOME/deinstall/deinstall, als are you sure, once, and deinstall the ORACLE_HOME, not the rest. In this case I was going to install the software again and bring up my database again using the fresh installation.

Tip for other dba's: test the deinstall process before you try it on a production system .... It does deinstall but not as we expect it ...