Unable to install Oracle SQL Developer 4.0.2 (4.0.2.15.21) from rpm file

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 14.04 (using Update Manager), and it works fine with no issues.

In which I am using SQL Developer 3.2.20.09 and it works fine. Now a newer version was released on May 5th 2014, and I would like to use it, as it works fine with JDK 1.7. I followed the installation instructions provided by Oracle, but it fails to install.

1. Downloaded sqldeveloper-4.0.2.15.21-1.noarch.rpm from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sql-developer/downloads/index.html

2. Followed installation instructions from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sql-developer/downloads/sqldev-install-linux-1969676.html using the command:

   rpm -Uhv sqldeveloper-4.0.2.15.21-1.noarch.rpm  
   

   which resulted in:

   rpm: RPM should not be used directly install RPM packages, use Alien instead!
   rpm: However assuming you know what you are doing...
   error: Failed dependencies:
       /bin/sh is needed by sqldeveloper-4.0.1.14.48-1.noarch
   

3. Used Alien to install the RPM package:

   sudo alien sqldeveloper-4.0.1.14.48-1.noarch.rpm 
   

   which resulted in this error:

   error: db5 error(-30969) from dbenv->open: BDB0091 DB_VERSION_MISMATCH: Database environment version mismatch
   error: cannot open Packages index using db5 -  (-30969)
   error: cannot open Packages database in /home/arthanarisamy/.rpmdb
   

Should any package be updated manually, or have I missed updating while upgrading to Ubuntu 14.04?

You should first convert .rpm file to .deb which is the installation file format in ubuntu.

sudo alien -d sqldeveloper-4.0.2.15.21-1.noarch.rpm

Then install that .deb file by :

sudo dpkg -i sqldeveloper-4.0.2.15.21-1.noarch.deb

I don't like using converted RPM for installation in Ubuntu, if there is an alternative.

I prefer manually using a binary package, specially with Java applications that usually does not have specific dependency (obviously JRE / JDK).

In this case, I install SQLDeveloper in this way:

• download the "Other Platforms" package: sqldeveloper-4.0.2.15.21-no-jre.zip
• unzip the package in /opt/sqldeveloper (or other directory if you like, I put all manually installed packages in /opt)
• create a sqldeveloper.desktop file in /usr/share/applications (for all users) or ~/.local/share/applications (for your user only)