In oracle 10g, you need to use the oui (oracle universal installer) script supplied in the $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin folder, as shown below.
# Log in as the oracle 10g user, and set the environment to the ORACLE_HOME you are about remove.
# Check the current ORACLE_HOME
echo $ORACLE_HOME
/u01/oracle/product/10.2.0.4/db
# run oui in silent mode, and point to the correct Oracle 10g home:
cd /u01/oracle/product/10.2.0.4/db/oui/bin
./runInstaller -deinstall -silent REMOVE_HOMES={"/u01/oracle/product/10.2.0.4/db"}
./runInstaller -deinstall -silent REMOVE_HOMES={"/u01/oracle/product/10.2.0.4/db"}
Expected output:
Starting Oracle Universal Installer... No pre-requisite checks found in oraparam.ini, no system pre-requisite checks will be executed. Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from /tmp/OraInstall2015-05-20_08-51-59AM. Please wait ... Oracle Universal Installer, Version 10.2.0.4.0 Production Copyright (C) 1999, 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved. Starting deinstall Deinstall in progress (Wednesday, May 20, 2015 8:52:24 AM CEST) Configuration assistant "iSQL*Plus Configuration Assistant" succeeded Configuration assistant "Oracle Database Configuration Assistant" succeeded Configuration assistant "Oracle Net Configuration Assistant - Deinstall Script" failed ............................................................................................................... 100% Done. Deinstall successful End of install phases.(Wednesday, May 20, 2015 8:56:17 AM CEST) End of deinstallations Please check '/u01/oracle/oraInventory/logs/silentInstall2015-05-20_08-51-59AM.log' for more details.To verify the deinstallation, check the oracle inventory, in my case /u01/oracle/oraInventory/ContentsXML/inventory.xml
There should be a row similar to:
Remove the old ORACLE_HOME folder physically from disk:
cd /u01/oracle/product rm -rf 10.2.0.4