5 Configuring Oracle Real Application Clusters Storage

5.1.1 Overview of Oracle Database and Recovery File Options

There are three ways of storing Oracle Database and recovery files:

• Automatic Storage Management: Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is an integrated, high-performance database file system and disk manager for Oracle Database files. It performs striping and mirroring of database files automatically.

  Note:

  For Standard Edition Oracle Database installations using Oracle RAC, ASM is the only supported storage option.

• A supported shared file system: Supported file systems include the following:

  • A supported cluster file system: Note that if you intend to use a cluster file system for your data files, then you should create partitions large enough for the database files when you create partitions for Oracle Clusterware.

    See Also:

    The Certify page on OracleMetalink for supported cluster file systems

  • NAS Network File System (NFS) listed on Oracle Certify: Note that if you intend to use NFS for your data files, then you should create partitions large enough for the database files when you create partitions for Oracle Clusterware.

  See Also:

  The Certify page on OracleMetalink for supported Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, and supported cluster file systems

• Block or Raw Devices: A partition is required for each database file. If you do not use ASM, then for new installations on raw devices, you must use a custom installation.

5.1.2 General Storage Considerations for Oracle RAC

For all installations, you must choose the storage option that you want to use for Oracle Database files, or for Oracle Clusterware with Oracle RAC. If you want to enable automated backups during the installation, then you must also choose the storage option that you want to use for recovery files (the flash recovery area). You do not have to use the same storage option for each file type.

For single-instance Oracle Database installations using Oracle Clusterware for failover, you must use ASM, block devices, or shared raw disks if you do not want the failover processing to include dismounting and remounting of local file systems.

The following table shows the storage options supported for storing Oracle Database files and Oracle Database recovery files. Oracle Database files include data files, control files, redo log files, the server parameter file, and the password file.

https://metalink.oracle.com

Use the following guidelines when choosing the storage options that you want to use for each file type:

• You can choose any combination of the supported storage options for each file type provided that you satisfy all requirements listed for the chosen storage options.

• Oracle recommends that you choose Automatic Storage Management (ASM) as the storage option for database and recovery files.

• For Standard Edition Oracle RAC installations, ASM is the only supported storage option for database or recovery files.

• If you intend to use ASM with Oracle RAC, and you are configuring a new ASM instance, then your system must meet the following conditions:

  • All nodes on the cluster have the 11g release 1 (11.1) version of Oracle Clusterware installed.

  • Any existing ASM instance on any node in the cluster is shut down.

• If you intend to upgrade an existing Oracle RAC database, or an Oracle RAC database with ASM instances, then you must ensure that your system meets the following conditions:

  • Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) and Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) are run on the node where the Oracle RAC database or Oracle RAC database with ASM instance is located.

  • The Oracle RAC database or Oracle RAC database with an ASM instance is running on the same nodes that you intend to make members of the new cluster installation. For example, if you have an existing Oracle RAC database running on a three-node cluster, then you must install the upgrade on all three nodes. You cannot upgrade only 2 nodes of the cluster, removing the third instance in the upgrade.

  See Also:

  Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for information about how to prepare for upgrading an existing database

• If you do not have a storage option that provides external file redundancy, then you must configure at least three voting disk areas to provide voting disk redundancy.

5.1.3 After You Have Selected Disk Storage Options

After you have installed and configured Oracle Clusterware storage, and after you have reviewed your disk storage options for Oracle Database files, you must perform the following tasks in the order listed:

1: Check for available shared storage with CVU

Refer to Checking for Available Shared Storage with CVU.

2: Configure storage for Oracle Database files and recovery files

• To use a shared file system for database or recovery file storage, refer to Configuring Storage for Oracle Database Files on a Supported Shared File System, and ensure that in addition to the volumes you create for Oracle Clusterware files, you also create additional volumes with sizes sufficient to store database files.

• To use Automatic Storage Management for database or recovery file storage, refer to "Configuring Disks for Automatic Storage Management"

• To use shared devices for database file storage, refer to "Configuring Storage for Oracle Database Files on Shared Storage Devices".

• To use raw devices (partitions) for database file storage, refer to "Configuring Disks for Database Files on Raw Devices".

5.4.1 Requirements for Using a File System for Oracle Database Files

To use a file system for Oracle Database files, the file system must comply with the following requirements:

• To use a cluster file system, it must be a supported cluster file system. At the time of this release, no cluster file system is supported.

• To use an NFS file system, it must be on a certified NAS device.

• If you choose to place your database files on a shared file system, then one of the following must be true:

  • The disks used for the file system are on a highly available storage device, (for example, a RAID device that implements file redundancy).

  • The file systems consist of at least two independent file systems, with the database files on one file system, and the recovery files on a different file system.

• The oracle user must have write permissions to create the files in the path that you specify.

Use Table 5-2 to determine the partition size for shared file systems.

In Table 5-2, the total required volume size is cumulative. For example, to store all database files on the shared file system, you should have at least 3.4 GB of storage available over a minimum of two volumes.

5.4.2 Deciding to Use NFS for Data Files

Network-attached storage (NAS) systems use NFS to access data. You can store data files on a supported NFS system.

NFS file systems must be mounted and available over NFS mounts before you start installation. Refer to your vendor documentation to complete NFS configuration and mounting.

5.4.3 Deciding to Use Direct NFS for Datafiles

This section contains the following information about Direct NFS:

• About Direct NFS Storage

• Using the Oranfstab File with Direct NFS

• Mounting NFS Storage Devices with Direct NFS

5.4.4 Enabling Direct NFS Client Oracle Disk Manager Control of NFS

Complete the following procedure to enable Direct NFS:

1. Create an oranfstab file with the following attributes for each NFS server to be accessed using Direct NFS:

   • Server: The NFS server name.

   • Path: Up to four network paths to the NFS server, specified either by IP address, or by name, as displayed using the ifconfig command.

   • Export: The exported path from the NFS server.

   • Mount: The local mount point for the NFS server.

   Note:

   On Linux and Unix platforms, the location of the oranfstab file is $ORACLE_HOME/dbs.

   The following is an example of an oranfstab file with two NFS server entries:

   server:  MyDataServer1
   path:  132.34.35.12
   path:  132.34.35.13
   export: /vol/oradata1 mount: /mnt/oradata1
    
   server: MyDataServer2
   path:  NfsPath1
   path:  NfsPath2
   path:  NfsPath3
   path:  NfsPath4
   export: /vol/oradata2 mount: /mnt/oradata2
   export: /vol/oradata3 mount: /mnt/oradata3
   export: /vol/oradata4 mount: /mnt/oradata4
   export: /vol/oradata5 mount: /mnt/oradata5
   

2. Oracle Database uses an ODM library, libnfsodm10.so, to enable Direct NFS. To replace the standard ODM library, $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libodm10.so, with the ODM NFS library, libnfsodm10.so, complete the following steps:

   1. Change directory to $ORACLE_HOME/lib.

   2. Enter the following commands:

      cp libodm10.so libodm10.so_stub
      ln -s libnfsodm10.so libodm10.so
      

5.4.5 Disabling Direct NFS Client Oracle Disk Management Control of NFS

Use one of the following methods to disable the Direct NFS client:

• Remove the oranfstab file.

• Restore the stub libodm10.so file by reversing the process you completed in step 2b, "Enabling Direct NFS Client Oracle Disk Manager Control of NFS"

• Remove the specific NFS server or export paths in the oranfstab file.

5.4.6 Checking NFS Mount Buffer Size Parameters for Oracle RAC

If you are using NFS, then you must set the values for the NFS buffer size parameters rsize and wsize to at least 16384. Oracle recommends that you use the value 32768.

If you are using Direct NFS, then set the rsize and wsize values to 32768. Direct NFS will not serve an NFS server with write size values (wtmax) less than 32768.

For example, if you decide to use rsize and wsize buffer settings with the value 32768, then update the /etc/fstab file on each node with an entry similar to the following:

nfs_server:/vol/DATA/oradata  /home/oracle/netapp     nfs\   
rw,bg,vers=3,proto=tcp,noac,forcedirectio,hard,nointr,timeo=600,rsize=32768,wsize=32768,suid

5.4.7 Creating Required Directories for Oracle Database Files on Shared File Systems

Use the following instructions to create directories for shared file systems for Oracle Database and recovery files (for example, for a RAC database).

1. If necessary, configure the shared file systems that you want to use and mount them on each node.

   Note:

   The mount point that you use for the file system must be identical on each node. Ensure that the file systems are configured to mount automatically when a node restarts.

2. Use the bdf command to determine the free disk space on each mounted file system.

3. From the display, identify the file systems that you want to use:

   File Type	File System Requirements
   Database files	Choose either: A single file system with at least 1.5 GB of free disk space. Two or more file systems with at least 1.5 GB of free disk space in total.
   Recovery files	Choose a file system with at least 2 GB of free disk space.

   
   

   If you are using the same file system for more than one type of file, then add the disk space requirements for each type to determine the total disk space requirement.

4. Note the names of the mount point directories for the file systems that you identified.

5. If the user performing installation (typically, oracle) has permissions to create directories on the disks where you plan to install Oracle Database, then DBCA creates the Oracle Database file directory, and the Recovery file directory.

   If the user performing installation does not have write access, then you must create these directories manually using commands similar to the following to create the recommended subdirectories in each of the mount point directories and set the appropriate owner, group, and permissions on them:

   • Database file directory:

     # mkdir /mount_point/oradata
     # chown oracle:oinstall /mount_point/oradata
     # chmod 775 /mount_point/oradata
     

   • Recovery file directory (flash recovery area):

     # mkdir /mount_point/flash_recovery_area
     # chown oracle:oinstall /mount_point/flash_recovery_area
     # chmod 775 /mount_point/flash_recovery_area
     

By making the oracle user the owner of these directories, this permits them to be read by multiple Oracle homes, including those with different OSDBA groups.

5.5.1 Identifying Storage Requirements for Automatic Storage Management

https://metalink.oracle.com

To identify the storage requirements for using Automatic Storage Management, you must determine how many devices and the amount of free disk space that you require. To complete this task, follow these steps:

1. Determine whether you want to use Automatic Storage Management for Oracle Database files, recovery files, or both.

   Note:

   You do not have to use the same storage mechanism for database files and recovery files. You can use the file system for one file type and Automatic Storage Management for the other.

   If you choose to enable automated backups and you do not have a shared file system available, then you must choose Automatic Storage Management for recovery file storage.

   If you enable automated backups during the installation, you can choose Automatic Storage Management as the storage mechanism for recovery files by specifying an Automatic Storage Management disk group for the flash recovery area. Depending on how you choose to create a database during the installation, you have the following options:

   • If you select an installation method that runs Database Configuration Assistant in interactive mode (for example, by choosing the Advanced database configuration option) then you can decide whether you want to use the same Automatic Storage Management disk group for database files and recovery files, or you can choose to use different disk groups for each file type.

     The same choice is available to you if you use Database Configuration Assistant after the installation to create a database.

   • If you select an installation method that runs Database Configuration Assistant in noninteractive mode, then you must use the same Automatic Storage Management disk group for database files and recovery files.

2. Choose the Automatic Storage Management redundancy level that you want to use for the Automatic Storage Management disk group.

   The redundancy level that you choose for the Automatic Storage Management disk group determines how Automatic Storage Management mirrors files in the disk group and determines the number of disks and amount of disk space that you require, as follows:

   • External redundancy

     An external redundancy disk group requires a minimum of one disk device. The effective disk space in an external redundancy disk group is the sum of the disk space in all of its devices.

     Because Automatic Storage Management does not mirror data in an external redundancy disk group, Oracle recommends that you use only RAID or similar devices that provide their own data protection mechanisms as disk devices in this type of disk group.

   • Normal redundancy

     In a normal redundancy disk group, Automatic Storage Management uses two-way mirroring by default, to increase performance and reliability. A normal redundancy disk group requires a minimum of two disk devices (or two failure groups). The effective disk space in a normal redundancy disk group is half the sum of the disk space in all of its devices.

     For most installations, Oracle recommends that you select normal redundancy disk groups.

   • High redundancy

     In a high redundancy disk group, Automatic Storage Management uses three-way mirroring to increase performance and provide the highest level of reliability. A high redundancy disk group requires a minimum of three disk devices (or three failure groups). The effective disk space in a high redundancy disk group is one-third the sum of the disk space in all of its devices.

     While high redundancy disk groups do provide a high level of data protection, you must consider the greater cost of additional storage devices before deciding to select high redundancy disk groups.

3. Determine the total amount of disk space that you require for the database files and recovery files.

   Use the following table to determine the minimum number of disks and the minimum disk space requirements for the installation:

   Redundancy Level	Minimum Number of Disks	Database Files	Recovery Files	Both File Types
   External	1	1.15 GB	2.3 GB	3.45 GB
   Normal	2	2.3 GB	4.6 GB	6.9 GB
   High	3	3.45 GB	6.9 GB	10.35 GB

   
   

   For RAC installations, you must also add additional disk space for the Automatic Storage Management metadata. You can use the following formula to calculate the additional disk space requirements (in MB):

   15 + (2 * number_of_disks) + (126 * number_of_Automatic_Storage_Management_instances)

   For example, for a four-node RAC installation, using three disks in a high redundancy disk group, you require an additional 525 MB of disk space:

   15 + (2 * 3) + (126 * 4) = 525

   If an Automatic Storage Management instance is already running on the system, then you can use an existing disk group to meet these storage requirements. If necessary, you can add disks to an existing disk group during the installation.

   The following section describes how to identify existing disk groups and determine the free disk space that they contain.

4. Optionally, identify failure groups for the Automatic Storage Management disk group devices.

   Note:

   You need to complete this step only if you intend to use an installation method that runs Database Configuration Assistant in interactive mode, for example, if you intend to choose the Custom installation type or the Advanced database configuration option. Other installation types do not enable you to specify failure groups.

   If you intend to use a normal or high redundancy disk group, then you can further protect your database against hardware failure by associating a set of disk devices in a custom failure group. By default, each device comprises its own failure group. However, if two disk devices in a normal redundancy disk group are attached to the same SCSI controller, then the disk group becomes unavailable if the controller fails. The controller in this example is a single point of failure.

   To protect against failures of this type, you could use two SCSI controllers, each with two disks, and define a failure group for the disks attached to each controller. This configuration would enable the disk group to tolerate the failure of one SCSI controller.

   Note:

   If you define custom failure groups, then you must specify a minimum of two failure groups for normal redundancy disk groups and three failure groups for high redundancy disk groups.

5. If you are sure that a suitable disk group does not exist on the system, then install or identify appropriate disk devices to add to a new disk group. Use the following guidelines when identifying appropriate disk devices:

   • All of the devices in an Automatic Storage Management disk group should be the same size and have the same performance characteristics.

   • Do not specify more than one partition on a single physical disk as a disk group device. Automatic Storage Management expects each disk group device to be on a separate physical disk.

   • Although you can specify a logical volume as a device in an Automatic Storage Management disk group, Oracle does not recommend their use. Logical volume managers can hide the physical disk architecture, preventing Automatic Storage Management from optimizing I/O across the physical devices.

   See Also:

   The "Configuring Disks for Automatic Storage Management" section for information about completing this task

5.5.2 Using an Existing Automatic Storage Management Disk Group

If you want to store either database or recovery files in an existing Automatic Storage Management disk group, then you have the following choices, depending on the installation method that you select:

• If you select an installation method that runs Database Configuration Assistant in interactive mode (for example, by choosing the Advanced database configuration option), then you can decide whether you want to create a disk group, or use an existing one.

  The same choice is available to you if you use Database Configuration Assistant after the installation to create a database.

• If you select an installation method that runs Database Configuration Assistant in noninteractive mode, then you must choose an existing disk group for the new database; you cannot create a disk group. However, you can add disk devices to an existing disk group if it has insufficient free space for your requirements.

To determine whether an existing Automatic Storage Management disk group exists, or to determine whether there is sufficient disk space in a disk group, you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control or Database Control. Alternatively, you can use the following procedure:

1. View the contents of the oratab file to determine whether an Automatic Storage Management instance is configured on the system:

   # more /etc/oratab
   

   If an Automatic Storage Management instance is configured on the system, then the oratab file should contain a line similar to the following:

   +ASM2:oracle_home_path
   

   In this example, +ASM2 is the system identifier (SID) of the Automatic Storage Management instance, with the node number appended, and oracle_home_path is the Oracle home directory where it is installed. By convention, the SID for an Automatic Storage Management instance begins with a plus sign.

2. Set the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME environment variables to specify the appropriate values for the Automatic Storage Management instance that you want to use.

3. Connect to the Automatic Storage Management instance as the SYS user with SYSDBA privilege and start the instance if necessary:

   # $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus "SYS/SYS_password as SYSDBA"
   SQL> STARTUP
   

4. Enter the following command to view the existing disk groups, their redundancy level, and the amount of free disk space in each one:

   SQL> SELECT NAME,TYPE,TOTAL_MB,FREE_MB FROM V$ASM_DISKGROUP;
   

5. From the output, identify a disk group with the appropriate redundancy level and note the free space that it contains.

6. If necessary, install or identify the additional disk devices required to meet the storage requirements listed in the previous section.

   Note:

   If you are adding devices to an existing disk group, then Oracle recommends that you use devices that have the same size and performance characteristics as the existing devices in that disk group.

5.5.3 Configuring Disks for Automatic Storage Management

To configure disks for use with ASM on HP-UX, follow these steps:

1. If necessary, install the shared disks that you intend to use for the ASM disk group.

2. To make sure that the disks are available, enter the following command on every node:

   # /usr/sbin/ioscan -fun -C disk
   

   The output from this command is similar to the following:

   Class  I  H/W Path    Driver S/W State   H/W Type     Description
   ==========================================================================
   disk    0  0/0/1/0.6.0 sdisk  CLAIMED     DEVICE       HP   DVD-ROM 6x/32x
                          /dev/dsk/c0t6d0   /dev/rdsk/c0t6d0
   disk    1  0/0/1/1.2.0 sdisk  CLAIMED     DEVICE      SEAGATE ST39103LC
                          /dev/dsk/c1t2d0   /dev/rdsk/c1t2d0
   

   This command displays information about each disk attached to the system, including the block device name (/dev/dsk/cxtydz) and the character raw device name (/dev/rdsk/cxtydz).

   Note:

   On HP-UX 11i v.3, you can also use agile view to review mass storage devices, including block devices (/dev/disk/diskxyz), or character raw devices (/dev/rdisk/diskxyz). For example:

   #>ioscan -funN -C disk
   Class     I  H/W Path  Driver S/W State   H/W Type     Description
   ===================================================================
   disk      4  64000/0xfa00/0x1   esdisk   CLAIMED     DEVICE       HP 73.4GST373454LC
                    /dev/disk/disk4   /dev/rdisk/disk4
   disk    907  64000/0xfa00/0x2f  esdisk   CLAIMED     DEVICE       COMPAQ  MSA1000 VOLUME
                    /dev/disk/disk907   /dev/rdisk/disk907
   

3. If the ioscan command does not display device name information for a device that you want to use, enter the following command to install the special device files for any new devices:

   # /usr/sbin/insf -e
   

4. For each disk that you want to add to a disk group, enter the following command on any node to verify that it is not already part of an LVM volume group:

   # /sbin/pvdisplay /dev/dsk/cxtydz
   

   If this command displays volume group information, the disk is already part of a volume group. The disks that you choose must not be part of an LVM volume group.

   Note:

   If you are using different volume management software, for example VERITAS Volume Manager, refer to the appropriate documentation for information about verifying that a disk is not in use.

5. Enter commands similar to the following on every node to change the owner, group, and permissions on the character raw device file for each disk that you want to add to a disk group:

   # chown oracle:dba /dev/rdsk/cxtydz
   # chmod 660 /dev/rdsk/cxtydz
   

   Note:

   If you are using a multi-pathing disk driver with ASM, make sure that you set the permissions only on the correct logical device name for the disk.

   If the nodes are configured differently, the device name for a particular device might be different on some nodes. Make sure that you specify the correct device names on each node.

6. If you also want to use raw devices for storage, then refer to the following section, "Configuring Disks for Database Files on Raw Devices" section.

5.6.1 Planning Your Shared Storage Device Creation Strategy

Before installing the Oracle Database 11g release 1 (11.1) software with Oracle RAC, create enough partitions of specific sizes to support your database, and also leave a few spare partitions of the same size for future expansion. For example, if you have space on your shared disk array, then select a limited set of standard partition sizes for your entire database. Partition sizes of 50 MB, 100 MB, 500 MB, and 1 GB are suitable for most databases. Also, create a few very small and a few very large spare partitions that are (for example) 1 MB and perhaps 5 GB or greater in size. Based on your plans for using each partition, determine the placement of these spare partitions by combining different sizes on one disk, or by segmenting each disk into same-sized partitions.

5.6.2 Identifying Required Shared Partitions for Database Files

Table 5-3 lists the number and size of the shared partitions that you must configure for database files.

5.6.3 Desupport of the Database Configuration Assistant Raw Device Mapping File

With the release of Oracle Database 11g and Oracle RAC release 11g, configuring raw devices using Database Configuration Assistant is not supported.

5.7.1 Identifying Partitions and Configuring Raw Devices for Database Files

Table 5-4 lists the number and size of the raw disk devices that you must configure for database files.

dbname_system_raw_500m

dbname_sysaux_raw_800m

dbname_undotbsn_raw_500m

dbname_temp_raw_250m

dbname_example_raw_160m

dbname_users_raw_120m

dbname_redon_m_raw_120m

dbname_control{1|2}_raw_110m

dbname_spfile_raw_5m

dbname_pwdfile_raw_5m

1. If you intend to use raw disk devices for database file storage, then choose a name for the database that you want to create.

   The name that you choose must start with a letter and have no more than four characters, for example, orcl.

2. Identify or configure the required disk devices.

   The disk devices must be shared on all of the cluster nodes.

3. To ensure that the disks are available, enter the following command on every node:

   # /usr/sbin/ioscan -fun -C disk
   

   The output from this command is similar to the following:

   Class  I  H/W Path    Driver S/W State   H/W Type     Description
   ==========================================================================
   disk    0  0/0/1/0.6.0 sdisk  CLAIMED     DEVICE       HP   DVD-ROM 6x/32x
                          /dev/dsk/c0t6d0   /dev/rdsk/c0t6d0
   disk    1  0/0/1/1.2.0 sdisk  CLAIMED     DEVICE      SEAGATE ST39103LC
                          /dev/dsk/c1t2d0   /dev/rdsk/c1t2d0
   

   This command displays information about each disk attached to the system, including the block device name (/dev/dsk/cxtydz) and the character raw device name (/dev/rdsk/cxtydz).

4. If the ioscan command does not display device name information for a device that you want to use, then enter the following command to install the special device files for any new devices:

   # /usr/sbin/insf -e
   

5. For each disk that you want to use, enter the following command on any node to verify that it is not already part of an LVM volume group:

   # /sbin/pvdisplay /dev/dsk/cxtydz
   

   If this command displays volume group information, then the disk is already part of a volume group. The disks that you choose must not be part of an LVM volume group.

   Note:

   If you are using different volume management software, for example VERITAS Volume Manager, then refer to the appropriate documentation for information about verifying that a disk is not in use.

6. If the ioscan command shows different device names for the same device on any node, then:

   1. Change directory to the /dev/rdsk directory.

   2. Enter the following command to list the raw disk device names and their associated major and minor numbers:

      # ls -la
      

      The output from this command is similar to the following for each disk device:

      crw-r--r--   1 bin        sys        188 0x032000 Nov  4  2003 c3t2d0
      

      In this example, 188 is the device major number and 0x32000 is the device minor number.

   3. Enter the following command to create a new device file for the disk that you want to use, specifying the same major and minor number as the existing device file:

      Note:

      Oracle recommends that you use the alternative device file names shown in the previous table.

      # mknod ora_ocr_raw_256m c 188 0x032000
      

   4. Repeat these steps on each node, specifying the correct major and minor numbers for the new device files on each node.

7. Enter commands similar to the following on every node to change the owner, group, and permissions on the character raw device file for each disk device that you want to use:

   Note:

   If you are using a multi-pathing disk driver with Automatic Storage Management, then ensure that you set the permissions only on the correct logical device name for the disk.

   If you created an alternative device file for the device, then set the permissions on that device file.

   • OCR:

     # chown root:oinstall /dev/rdsk/cxtydz
     # chmod 640 /dev/rdsk/cxtydz
     

   • Oracle Clusterware voting disk or database files:

     # chown oracle:dba /dev/rdsk/cxtydz
     # chmod 660 /dev/rdsk/cxtydz
     

8. If you are using raw disk devices for database files, then follow these steps to create the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant raw device mapping file:

   Note:

   You must complete this procedure only if you are using raw devices for database files. The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant raw device mapping file enables Oracle Database Configuration Assistant to identify the appropriate raw disk device for each database file. You do not specify the raw devices for the Oracle Clusterware files in the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant raw device mapping file.

   1. Set the ORACLE_BASE environment variable to specify the Oracle base directory that you identified or created previously:

      • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

        $ ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle ; export ORACLE_BASE
        

      • C shell:

        % setenv ORACLE_BASE /u01/app/oracle
        

   2. Create a database file subdirectory under the Oracle base directory and set the appropriate owner, group, and permissions on it:

      # mkdir -p $ORACLE_BASE/oradata/dbname
      # chown -R oracle:oinstall $ORACLE_BASE/oradata
      # chmod -R 775 $ORACLE_BASE/oradata
      

      In this example, dbname is the name of the database that you chose previously.

   3. Change directory to the $ORACLE_BASE/oradata/dbname directory.

   4. Using any text editor, create a text file similar to the following that identifies the disk device file name associated with each database file.

      Oracle recommends that you use a file name similar to dbname_raw.conf for this file.

      Note:

      The following example shows a sample mapping file for a two-instance RAC cluster. Some of the devices use alternative disk device file names. Ensure that the device file name that you specify identifies the same disk device on all nodes.

      system=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d1
      sysaux=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d2
      example=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d3
      users=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d4
      temp=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d5
      undotbs1=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d6
      undotbs2=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d7
      redo1_1=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d8
      redo1_2=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d9
      redo2_1=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d10
      redo2_2=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d11
      control1=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d12
      control2=/dev/rdsk/c2t1d13
      spfile=/dev/rdsk/dbname_spfile_raw_5m
      pwdfile=/dev/rdsk/dbname_pwdfile_raw_5m
      

      In this example, dbname is the name of the database.

      Use the following guidelines when creating or editing this file:

      • Each line in the file must have the following format:

        database_object_identifier=device_file_name
        

        The alternative device file names suggested in the previous table include the database object identifier that you must use in this mapping file. For example, in the following alternative disk device file name, redo1_1 is the database object identifier:

        rac_redo1_1_raw_120m
        

      • For a RAC database, the file must specify one automatic undo tablespace datafile (undotbsn) and two redo log files (redon_1, redon_2) for each instance.

      • Specify at least two control files (control1, control2).

      • To use manual instead of automatic undo management, specify a single RBS tablespace datafile (rbs) instead of the automatic undo management tablespace data files.

   5. Save the file and note the file name that you specified.

   6. When you are configuring the oracle user's environment later in this chapter, set the DBCA_RAW_CONFIG environment variable to specify the full path to this file.

9. When you are installing Oracle Clusterware, you must enter the paths to the appropriate device files when prompted for the path of the OCR and Oracle Clusterware voting disk, for example:

   /dev/rdsk/cxtydz
   

5.7.2 Creating the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant Raw Device Mapping File

To enable Oracle Database Configuration Assistant to identify the appropriate raw device for each database file, you must create a raw device mapping file, as follows:

1. Set the ORACLE_BASE environment variable to specify the Oracle base directory that you identified or created previously:

   • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

     $ ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle ; export ORACLE_BASE
     

   • C shell:

     % setenv ORACLE_BASE /u01/app/oracle
     

2. Create a database file subdirectory under the Oracle base directory and set the appropriate owner, group, and permissions on it:

   # mkdir -p $ORACLE_BASE/oradata/dbname
   # chown -R oracle:oinstall $ORACLE_BASE/oradata
   # chmod -R 775 $ORACLE_BASE/oradata
   

   In this example, dbname is the name of the database that you chose previously.

3. Change directory to the $ORACLE_BASE/oradata/dbname directory.

4. Enter a command similar to the following to create a text file that you can use to create the raw device mapping file:

   # find /dev/vg_name -user oracle -name 'r*' -print > dbname_raw.conf
   

5. Edit the dbname_raw.conf file in any text editor to create a file similar to the following:

   Note:

   The following example shows a sample mapping file for a two-instance RAC cluster.

   system=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_system_raw_500m
   sysaux=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_sysaux_raw_800m
   example=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_example_raw_160m
   users=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_users_raw_120m
   temp=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_temp_raw_250m
   undotbs1=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_undotbs1_raw_500m
   undotbs2=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_undotbs2_raw_500m
   redo1_1=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_redo1_1_raw_120m
   redo1_2=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_redo1_2_raw_120m
   redo2_1=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_redo2_1_raw_120m
   redo2_2=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_redo2_2_raw_120m
   control1=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_control1_raw_110m
   control2=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_control2_raw_110m
   spfile=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_spfile_raw_5m
   pwdfile=/dev/vg_name/rdbname_pwdfile_raw_5m
   

   In this example:

   • vg_name is the name of the volume group

   • dbname is the name of the database

   Use the following guidelines when creating or editing this file:

   • Each line in the file must have the following format:

     database_object_identifier=logical_volume
     

     The logical volume names suggested in this manual include the database object identifier that you must use in this mapping file. For example, in the following logical volume name, redo1_1 is the database object identifier:

     /dev/oracle_vg/rrac_redo1_1_raw_120m
     

   • The file must specify one automatic undo tablespace datafile (undotbsn) and two redo log files (redon_1, redon_2) for each instance.

   • Specify at least two control files (control1, control2).

   • To use manual instead of automatic undo management, specify a single RBS tablespace datafile (rbs) instead of the automatic undo management tablespace data files.

   • Save the file and note the file name that you specified.

   • When you are configuring the oracle user's environment later in this chapter, set the DBCA_RAW_CONFIG environment variable to specify the full path to this file.

5.7.3 Desupport of the Database Configuration Assistant Raw Device Mapping File

With the release of Oracle Database 11g and Oracle RAC release 11g, configuring raw devices using Database Configuration Assistant is not supported.