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Initialize Oracle with Script

KubeDB supports initializing an Oracle database with a user provided SQL script. When the database boots for the first time, KubeDB runs your script so you can pre-create schemas, tables, and seed data. This tutorial shows how.

Before You Begin

• At first, you need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. If you do not already have a cluster, you can create one by using kind.

• Now, install KubeDB cli on your workstation and KubeDB operator in your cluster following the steps here.

• To keep things isolated, this tutorial uses a separate namespace called demo throughout this tutorial.

$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created

Note: YAML files used in this tutorial are stored in docs/examples/oracle/initialization folder in GitHub repository kubedb/docs.

Oracle images are pulled from container-registry.oracle.com. Every Oracle CR must reference an image pull secret (named orclcred in this tutorial) through spec.podTemplate.spec.imagePullSecrets. Create an Oracle Container Registry token, if you haven’t created one already, by following the instructions in the guide below: here

Prepare Initialization Script

The initialization script can be supplied through a ConfigMap or a Secret. The script file must be named setup.sql.

Below is a ConfigMap that creates a table named emp, inserts a row, and selects it back:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: oracle-init-script
  namespace: demo
data:
  setup.sql: |
    CREATE TABLE emp (
                         id   INT,
                         name CHAR(10)
    );

    INSERT INTO emp VALUES (1, 'John');

    SELECT * FROM emp;    

Let’s create the ConfigMap,

$ kubectl create -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2026.6.19/docs/examples/oracle/initialization/oracle-init-script-config-map.yaml
configmap/oracle-init-script created

Note: the key inside the ConfigMap (the file name) must be setup.sql.

Create Oracle with script source

Now, create an Oracle CR that references the ConfigMap through spec.init.script.configMap:

apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1alpha2
kind: Oracle
metadata:
  name: init-config
  namespace: demo
spec:
  version: "21.3.0"
  edition: enterprise
  mode: Standalone
  storageType: Durable
  replicas: 1
  storage:
    storageClassName: "local-path"
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 1Gi
  podTemplate:
    spec:
      imagePullSecrets:
        - name: orclcred
  init:
    script:
      configMap:
        name: oracle-init-script
  deletionPolicy: WipeOut

Here,

• spec.init.script.configMap.name refers to the ConfigMap (oracle-init-script) holding the setup.sql script. You can use spec.init.script.secret to source the script from a Secret instead.

Let’s create the Oracle CR,

$ kubectl create -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2026.6.19/docs/examples/oracle/initialization/oracle-init-script.yaml
oracle.kubedb.com/init-config created

Now, wait until init-config has status Ready and the pod prints the DATABASE IS READY TO USE!!! banner. The initialization script runs once during this first boot.

Note: Initialization scripts run only on the first boot of a fresh database. They do not re-run when an existing database is restarted.

Verify Initialization

Once the database is ready, let’s connect to it and confirm the emp table created by our script exists and contains the seeded row,

$ kubectl get secret -n demo init-config-auth -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d
# (use the printed password below)

$ kubectl exec -n demo init-config-0 -c oracle -- bash -lc \
    "echo -e 'SELECT * FROM emp;\nexit;' | sqlplus -s sys/<password>@localhost:1521/ORCL as sysdba"

        ID NAME
---------- ----------
         1 John

The emp table and its row are present, confirming the initialization script ran successfully.

Cleaning up

To clean up the Kubernetes resources created by this tutorial, run:

kubectl patch -n demo oracle/init-config -p '{"spec":{"deletionPolicy":"WipeOut"}}' --type="merge"
kubectl delete oracle -n demo init-config
kubectl delete configmap -n demo oracle-init-script
kubectl delete ns demo

Next Steps

• Detail concepts of Oracle object.
• Run Oracle with a custom configuration file.
• Want to hack on KubeDB? Check our contribution guidelines.

⚠️ Legal Notice

Oracle® and Oracle Database® are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. KubeDB is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Oracle Corporation.

KubeDB provides only orchestration and management tooling for Kubernetes. It does not distribute, bundle, ship, or include any Oracle Database software or binaries.

Users must provide their own Oracle container images and hold valid Oracle licenses. Users are solely responsible for compliance with Oracle’s licensing terms, including all rules regarding containers, Docker, and Kubernetes environments.

KubeDB makes no representations or warranties regarding Oracle licensing compliance.