Starting Multiple Instances

6.4 Starting Multiple Instances

Learn about how to start multiple database instances.

Perform the following steps to start service for multiple Oracle Database instance:

Start the service for each instance using ORADIM or the Services dialog of the Control Panel.
At the command prompt, set the ORACLE_SID configuration parameter to the SID for the first instance to run:
```
C:\> SET ORACLE_SID=SID
```
The variable SID is the name of the Oracle Database instance.
Start SQL*Plus:
```
C:\> sqlplus /NOLOG
```
Connect AS SYSDBA:
```
SQL> CONNECT / AS SYSDBA
```
Start up the first instance:
```
SQL> STARTUP PFILE=ORACLE_BASE\admin\db_name\pfile\init.ora
```
The variable ORACLE_BASE is c:\app\username (unless you changed it during installation) and db_name is the name of the instance.
Repeat Step 2 through Step 5 for the other instances to run.