Auto-run startup scripts in Oracle 19c Docker to keep disk clean
Oracle's diagnostic files (trace, incident dumps, listener logs) grow without bound inside the container. If you're running doctorkirk/oracle-19c locally, they'll silently eat your disk.
The fix: mount a startup script into /opt/oracle/scripts/startup/ — this directory runs on every container start (unlike /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/ which only runs on first database creation).
# docker-compose.yml
volumes:
- ./startup-scripts:/opt/oracle/scripts/startup
# startup-scripts/init.sh (chmod +x)
#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Oracle startup config starting ==="
# Set ADR purge policies — auto-delete old diagnostic files
adrci <<EOF
set home diag/rdbms/orcl/ORCL
set control (SHORTP_POLICY = 24)
set control (LONGP_POLICY = 48)
set home diag/tnslsnr/$(hostname)/listener
set control (SHORTP_POLICY = 24)
set control (LONGP_POLICY = 48)
EOF
echo "ADR purge policy set: SHORT=24h, LONG=48h"
# Disable listener log (it's huge and rarely needed locally)
lsnrctl set log_status off
echo "Listener logging disabled"
echo "=== Oracle startup config done ==="
SHORTP_POLICY controls how long short-lived files (trace, cdump) are kept. LONGP_POLICY controls incident dumps and core files. 24h/48h is aggressive but fine for a dev environment.
Add echo markers so you can verify it ran: docker compose logs oracle19c | grep "startup config".
One more thing — the diag directory lives in the container's writable layer by default. If Oracle goes haywire (e.g. ORA-600 loop), it can still fill up overlay2 and tank Docker entirely. Mount it out as a safety valve:
- ./oracle-19c/diag/:/opt/oracle/diag