Contents

List of Tables

Title and Copyright Information

Preface

Audience

Documentation Accessibility

Related Documents

Conventions

What's New in Oracle RAC Administration and Deployment?

Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2) New Features in Oracle RAC

Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.1) New Features in Oracle RAC

1 Introduction to Oracle RAC

Overview of Oracle RAC

Overview of Oracle Clusterware for Oracle RAC

Overview of Oracle RAC Architecture and Processing

Understanding Cluster-Aware Storage Solutions

Overview of Connecting to Oracle Database Using Services and VIP Addresses

About Oracle RAC Software Components

About Oracle RAC Background Processes

Overview of Automatic Workload Management

Overview of Installing Oracle RAC

Understanding Compatibility in Oracle RAC Environments

Overview of Oracle RAC Installation and Database Creation

Overview of Extending the Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC Software

Overview of Managing Oracle RAC Environments

About Designing and Deploying Oracle RAC Environments

About Administrative Tools for Oracle RAC Environments

About Monitoring Oracle RAC Environments

About Evaluating Performance in Oracle RAC Environments

2 Administering Storage

Overview of Storage in Oracle RAC

Optimal Flexible Architecture

Data File Access in Oracle RAC

Redo Log File Storage in Oracle RAC

Automatic Undo Management in Oracle RAC

Oracle Automatic Storage Management with Oracle RAC

Storage Management in Oracle RAC

Modifying Disk Group Configurations for Oracle ASM

Oracle ASM Disk Group Management

Configuring Preferred Mirror Read Disks in Extended Distance Clusters

Converting Nonclustered Oracle ASM to Clustered Oracle ASM

Administering Oracle ASM Instances with SRVCTL in Oracle RAC

3 Administering Database Instances and Cluster Databases

Tools for Administering Oracle RAC

Overview of Oracle RAC Database Administration

Administering Oracle RAC with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Administering Oracle RAC with SQL*Plus

Changing the SQL*Plus Prompt

How SQL*Plus Commands Affect Instances

Administering Oracle RAC with SRVCTL

Starting and Stopping Instances and Oracle RAC Databases

Overview of Starting and Stopping Oracle RAC Instances

Starting and Stopping with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Starting Up and Shutting Down with SQL*Plus

Starting Up and Shutting Down with SRVCTL

Verifying That Instances are Running

Terminating Sessions On a Specific Cluster Instance

Overview of Initialization Parameter Files in Oracle RAC

Setting SPFILE Parameter Values for Oracle RAC

Parameter File Search Order in Oracle RAC

Backing Up the Server Parameter File

Initialization Parameter Use in Oracle RAC

Parameters That Must Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Parameters That Have Unique Settings on All Instances

Parameters That Should Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Converting an Administrator-Managed Database to a Policy-Managed Database

Quiescing Oracle RAC Databases

Administering Multiple Cluster Interconnects on Linux and UNIX Platforms

Recommendations for Setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS Parameter

Usage Examples for the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS Parameter

Customizing How Oracle Clusterware Manages Oracle RAC Databases

Advanced Oracle Enterprise Manager Administration

Using Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control to Discover Nodes and Instances

Other Oracle Enterprise Manager Capabilities

Administering Jobs and Alerts in Oracle RAC

Administering Jobs in Oracle RAC

Administering Alerts in Oracle RAC with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Performing Scheduled Maintenance Using Defined Blackouts in Oracle Enterprise Manager

4 Administering Oracle RAC One Node

Overview of Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node

Adding an Oracle RAC One Node Database

Converting Databases

Converting a Database from Oracle RAC to Oracle RAC One Node

Converting a Database from Oracle RAC One Node to Oracle RAC

Online Database Relocation

5 Introduction to Automatic Workload Management

Overview of Automatic Workload Management

Automatic Workload Repository

Service Deployment Options

Using Oracle Services

Service Characteristics

Service Name

Net Service Name

Service Edition

Service Management Policy

Database Role for a Service

Instance Preference

Server Pool Assignment

Load Balancing Advisory Goal for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

Connection Load Balancing Goal

Distributed Transaction Processing

Subscription to High Availability Events

Transparent Application Failover Policy

Service Usage in an Oracle RAC Database

Resource Profile for a Service

Database Resource Manager Consumer Group Mappings for Services

Performance Monitoring by Service with AWR

Parallel Operations and Services

Oracle Streams and Oracle RAC

Default Service Connections

Connection Load Balancing

Client-Side Load Balancing

Generic Database Clients

Other Client-Side Connection Features

JDBC Clients

Oracle Call Interface Clients

Server-Side Load Balancing

Fast Application Notification

Overview of Fast Application Notification

Application High Availability with Services and FAN

Managing Unplanned Outages

Managing Planned Outages

Fast Application Notification High Availability Events

Using Fast Application Notification Callouts

User Callout Events

Load Balancing Advisory

Overview of the Load Balancing Advisory

Configuring Your Environment to Use the Load Balancing Advisory

Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

Monitoring Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

Oracle Clients That Are Integrated with Fast Application Notification

Overview of Oracle Integrated Clients and FAN

Enabling JDBC Clients for Fast Connection Failover

Oracle Notification Service for JDBC Clients

Configuring FCF for JDBC/OCI and JDBC Thin Driver Clients

Enabling JDBC Clients for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

Enabling Oracle Call Interface Clients for Fast Connection Failover

Enabling Oracle Call Interface Clients for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

Enabling ODP.NET Clients to Receive FAN High Availability Events

Enabling ODP.NET Clients to Receive FAN Load Balancing Advisory Events

Services and Distributed Transaction Processing in Oracle RAC

Overview of XA Transactions and DTP Services

Benefits of DTP Services for XA Transactions

Using DTP Services with Oracle RAC

Configuring DTP Services

Relocating DTP Services in Administrator-Managed Databases

Administering Services

Overview of Service Administration

Administering Services with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Administering Services with SRVCTL

Creating Services with SRVCTL

Starting and Stopping Services with SRVCTL

Enabling and Disabling Services with SRVCTL

Relocating Services with SRVCTL

Obtaining the Statuses of Services with SRVCTL

Obtaining the Configuration of Services with SRVCTL

Measuring Performance by Service Using the Automatic Workload Repository

Automatic Workload Repository Service Thresholds and Alerts

Example of Services and Thresholds Alerts

Enable Service, Module, and Action Monitoring

6 Configuring Recovery Manager and Archiving

Overview of Configuring RMAN for Oracle RAC

Archiving Mode in Oracle RAC

Configuring the RMAN Snapshot Control File Location

Configuring RMAN to Automatically Backup the Control File and SPFILE

Crosschecking on Multiple Oracle RAC Nodes

Configuring Channels for RMAN in Oracle RAC

Configuring Channels to Use Automatic Load Balancing

Configuring Channels to Use a Specific Node

Managing Archived Redo Logs Using RMAN in Oracle RAC

Archived Redo Log File Conventions in Oracle RAC

RMAN Archiving Configuration Scenarios

Oracle Automatic Storage Management and Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

Advantages of the Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

Initialization Parameter Settings for the Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

Location of Archived Logs for the Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

Noncluster File System Local Archiving Scheme

Considerations for Using Noncluster File System Local Archiving

Initialization Parameter Settings for Noncluster File System Local Archiving

Location of Archived Logs for Noncluster File System Local Archiving

File System Configuration for Noncluster File System Local Archiving

Monitoring the Archiver Processes

7 Managing Backup and Recovery

RMAN Backup Scenario for Noncluster File System Backups

RMAN Restore Scenarios for Oracle RAC

Restoring Backups from a Cluster File System

Restoring Backups from a Noncluster File System

Using RMAN or Oracle Enterprise Manager to Restore the Server Parameter File (SPFILE)

Instance Recovery in Oracle RAC

Single Node Failure in Oracle RAC

Multiple-Node Failures in Oracle RAC

Using RMAN to Create Backups in Oracle RAC

Channel Connections to Cluster Instances with RMAN

Node Affinity Awareness of Fast Connections

Deleting Archived Redo Logs after a Successful Backup

Autolocation for Backup and Restore Commands

Media Recovery in Oracle RAC

Parallel Recovery in Oracle RAC

Parallel Recovery with RMAN

Disabling Parallel Recovery

Disabling Instance and Crash Recovery Parallelism

Disabling Media Recovery Parallelism

Using a Fast Recovery Area in Oracle RAC

8 Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster

Introduction to Cloning Oracle RAC

Preparing to Clone Oracle RAC

Deploying Oracle RAC Clone to Nodes in a Cluster

Locating and Viewing Log Files Generated During Cloning

9 Using Cloning to Extend Oracle RAC to Nodes in the Same Cluster

About Adding Nodes Using Cloning in Oracle RAC Environments

Cloning Local Oracle Homes on Linux and UNIX Systems

Cloning Shared Oracle Homes on Linux and UNIX Systems

Cloning Oracle Homes on Windows Systems

10 Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Linux and UNIX Systems

Adding Oracle RAC to Nodes with Oracle Clusterware Installed

Adding Policy-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Adding Administrator-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

Deleting Oracle RAC from a Cluster Node

Deleting Instances from Oracle RAC Databases

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Removing Oracle RAC

Deleting Nodes from the Cluster

11 Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Windows Systems

Adding Oracle RAC to Nodes with Oracle Clusterware Installed

Adding Administrator-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

Deleting Oracle RAC from a Cluster Node

Deleting Instances from Oracle RAC Databases

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Removing Oracle RAC

Deleting Nodes from the Cluster

12 Design and Deployment Techniques

Deploying Oracle RAC for High Availability

About Designing a High Availability System

Best Practices for Deploying Oracle RAC in a High Availability Environment

Consolidating Multiple Applications in a Database or Multiple Databases in a Cluster

Scalability of Oracle RAC

General Design Considerations for Oracle RAC

General Database Deployment Topics for Oracle RAC

Tablespace Use in Oracle RAC

Object Creation and Performance in Oracle RAC

Node Addition and Deletion and the SYSAUX Tablespace in Oracle RAC

Distributed Transactions and Oracle RAC

Deploying OLTP Applications in Oracle RAC

Flexible Implementation with Cache Fusion

Deploying Data Warehouse Applications with Oracle RAC

Speed-Up for Data Warehouse Applications on Oracle RAC

Parallel Execution in Data Warehouse Systems and Oracle RAC

Data Security Considerations in Oracle RAC

Transparent Data Encryption and Wallets

Windows Firewall Considerations

13 Monitoring Performance

Overview of Monitoring and Tuning Oracle RAC Databases

Monitoring Oracle RAC and Oracle Clusterware

The Cluster Database Home Page

The Interconnects Page

The Cluster Performance Page

Tuning Oracle RAC Databases

Verifying the Interconnect Settings for Oracle RAC

Influencing Interconnect Processing

Performance Views in Oracle RAC

Creating Oracle RAC Data Dictionary Views with CATCLUST.SQL

Oracle RAC Performance Statistics

Automatic Workload Repository in Oracle RAC Environments

Active Session History Reports for Oracle RAC

Overview of ASH Reports for Oracle RAC

ASH Report for Oracle RAC: Top Cluster Events

ASH Report for Oracle RAC: Top Remote Instance

Monitoring Oracle RAC Statistics and Wait Events

Oracle RAC Statistics and Events in AWR and Statspack Reports

Oracle RAC Wait Events

Monitoring Performance by Analyzing GCS and GES Statistics

Analyzing the Effect of Cache Fusion in Oracle RAC

Analyzing Performance Using GCS and GES Statistics

Analyzing Cache Fusion Transfer Impact Using GCS Statistics

Analyzing Response Times Based on Wait Events

Block-Related Wait Events

Message-Related Wait Events

Contention-Related Wait Events

Load-Related Wait Events

A Server Control Utility Reference

Using SRVCTL

Overview of SRVCTL

Operational Notes for SRVCTL

Usage Information

Character Set and Case Sensitivity of Object Values

Summary of Tasks for Which SRVCTL Is Used

Using SRVCTL Help

Privileges and Security

Additional Topics on SRVCTL

Deprecated Subprograms or Commands

SRVCTL Command Reference

add

srvctl add asm

srvctl add cvu

srvctl add database

srvctl add filesystem

srvctl add gns

srvctl add instance

srvctl add listener

srvctl add network

srvctl add nodeapps

srvctl add oc4j

srvctl add ons

srvctl add scan

srvctl add scan_listener

srvctl add service

srvctl add srvpool

srvctl add vip

config

srvctl config asm

srvctl config cvu

srvctl config database

srvctl config filesystem

srvctl config gns

srvctl config listener

srvctl config nodeapps

srvctl config oc4j

srvctl config ons

srvctl config scan

srvctl config scan_listener

srvctl config service

srvctl config srvpool

srvctl config vip

convert

disable

srvctl disable asm

srvctl disable cvu

srvctl disable database

srvctl disable diskgroup

srvctl disable filesystem

srvctl disable gns

srvctl disable instance

srvctl disable listener

srvctl disable nodeapps

srvctl disable oc4j

srvctl disable ons

srvctl disable scan

srvctl disable scan_listener

srvctl disable service

srvctl disable vip

downgrade

srvctl downgrade database

enable

srvctl enable asm

srvctl enable cvu

srvctl enable database

srvctl enable diskgroup

srvctl enable filesystem

srvctl enable gns

srvctl enable instance

srvctl enable listener

srvctl enable nodeapps

srvctl enable oc4j

srvctl enable ons

srvctl enable scan

srvctl enable scan_listener

srvctl enable service

srvctl enable vip

getenv

srvctl getenv asm

srvctl getenv database

srvctl getenv listener

srvctl getenv nodeapps

srvctl getenv vip

modify

srvctl modify asm

srvctl modify cvu

srvctl modify database

srvctl modify filesystem

srvctl modify gns

srvctl modify instance

srvctl modify listener

srvctl modify network

srvctl modify nodeapps

srvctl modify oc4j

srvctl modify ons

srvctl modify scan

srvctl modify scan_listener

srvctl modify service

srvctl modify srvpool

relocate

srvctl relocate cvu

srvctl relocate database

srvctl relocate gns

srvctl relocate oc4j

srvctl relocate scan

srvctl relocate scan_listener

srvctl relocate server

srvctl relocate service

srvctl relocate vip

remove

srvctl remove asm

srvctl remove cvu

srvctl remove database

srvctl remove diskgroup

srvctl remove filesystem

srvctl remove gns

srvctl remove instance

srvctl remove listener

srvctl remove nodeapps

srvctl remove oc4j

srvctl remove ons

srvctl remove scan

srvctl remove scan_listener

srvctl remove service

srvctl remove srvpool

srvctl remove vip

setenv

srvctl setenv asm

srvctl setenv database

srvctl setenv listener

srvctl setenv nodeapps

srvctl setenv vip

start

srvctl start asm

srvctl start cvu

srvctl start database

srvctl start diskgroup

srvctl start filesystem

srvctl start gns

srvctl start home

srvctl start instance

srvctl start listener

srvctl start nodeapps

srvctl start oc4j

srvctl start ons

srvctl start scan

srvctl start scan_listener

srvctl start service

srvctl start vip

status

srvctl status asm

srvctl status cvu

srvctl status database

srvctl status diskgroup

srvctl status filesystem

srvctl status gns

srvctl status home

srvctl status instance

srvctl status listener

srvctl status nodeapps

srvctl status oc4j

srvctl status ons

srvctl status scan

srvctl status scan_listener

srvctl status server

srvctl status service

srvctl status srvpool

srvctl status vip

stop

srvctl stop asm

srvctl stop cvu

srvctl stop database

srvctl stop diskgroup

srvctl stop filesystem

srvctl stop gns

srvctl stop home

srvctl stop instance

srvctl stop listener

srvctl stop nodeapps

srvctl stop oc4j

srvctl stop ons

srvctl stop scan

srvctl stop scan_listener

srvctl stop service

srvctl stop vip

unsetenv

srvctl unsetenv asm

srvctl unsetenv database

srvctl unsetenv listener

srvctl unsetenv nodeapps

srvctl unsetenv vip

upgrade

srvctl upgrade database

B Troubleshooting Oracle RAC

Where to Find Files for Analyzing Errors

Managing Diagnostic Data in Oracle RAC

Using Instance-Specific Alert Files in Oracle RAC

Enabling Tracing for Java-Based Tools and Utilities in Oracle RAC

Resolving Pending Shutdown Issues

How to Determine If Oracle RAC Instances Are Using the Private Network

Glossary

Index

List of Tables

3-1 How SQL*Plus Commands Affect Instances

3-2 Descriptions of V$ACTIVE_INSTANCES Columns

3-3 Initialization Parameters Specific to Oracle RAC

3-4 Parameters That Should Have Identical Settings on All Instances

5-1 FAN Event Types

5-2 Event Parameter Name-Value Pairs and Descriptions

5-3 FAN Parameters and Matching Session Information

5-4 Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

6-1 Archived Redo Log File Name Format Parameters

6-2 UNIX/NFS Location Log Examples, Noncluster File System Local Archiving

6-3 UNIX/NFS Configuration for Shared Read Local Archiving Examples

8-1 clone.pl Script Parameters

8-2 Environment Variables Passed to the clone.pl Script

8-3 Cloning Parameters Passed to the clone.pl Script.

8-4 Finding the Location of the Oracle Inventory Directory

10-1 Variables in the DBCA Silent Mode Syntax

A-1 String Restrictions for SRVCTL Object Names

A-2 Deprecated Commands and Options for SRVCTL

A-3 Summary of SRVCTL Commands

A-4 Object Keywords and Abbreviations

A-5 srvctl add Summary

A-6 srvctl add cvu Options

A-7 srvctl add database Options

A-8 srvctl add filesystem Options

A-9 srvctl add gns Options

A-10 srvctl add instance Options

A-11 srvctl add listener Options

A-12 srvctl add network Options

A-13 srvctl add nodeapps Options

A-14 srvctl add ons Options

A-15 srvctl add scan Options

A-16 srvctl add scan_listener Options

A-17 srvctl add service Options

A-18 srvctl add srvpool Options

A-19 srvctl add vip Options

A-20 srvctl config Summary

A-21 srvctl config asm Options

A-22 srvctl config database Options

A-23 srvctl config filesystem Options

A-24 srvctl config gns Options

A-25 srvctl config listener Options

A-26 srvctl config nodeapps Option

A-27 srvctl config service Options

A-28 srvctl config vip Options

A-29 srvctl convert database Options

A-30 srvctl disable Summary

A-31 srvctl disable asm Options

A-32 srvctl disable cvu Options

A-33 srvctl disable database Options

A-34 srvctl disable diskgroup Options

A-35 srvctl disable filesystem Options

A-36 srvctl disable gns Options

A-37 srvctl disable instance Options

A-38 srvctl disable listener Options

A-39 srvctl disable nodeapps Options

A-40 srvctl disable oc4j Options

A-41 srvctl disable service Options

A-42 srvctl disable vip Options

A-43 srvctl downgrade database Options

A-44 srvctl enable Summary

A-45 srvctl enable asm Option

A-46 srvctl enable cvu Options

A-47 srvctl enable database Options

A-48 srvctl enable diskgroup Options

A-49 srvctl enable filesystem Options

A-50 srvctl enable gns Options

A-51 srvctl enable instance Option

A-52 srvctl enable listener Options

A-53 srvctl enable nodeapps Options

A-54 srvctl enable oc4j Options

A-55 srvctl enable service Options

A-56 srvctl enable vip Options

A-57 srvctl getenv Summary

A-58 srvctl getenv asm Options

A-59 srvctl getenv database Options

A-60 srvctl getenv listener Options

A-61 srvctl getenv nodeapps Options

A-62 srvctl getenv vip Options

A-63 srvctl modify Summary

A-64 srvctl modify asm Options

A-65 srvctl modify cvu Options

A-66 srvctl modify database Options

A-67 srvctl modify filesystem Options

A-68 srvctl modify gns Options

A-69 srvctl modify instance Options

A-70 srvctl modify listener Options

A-71 srvctl modify network Options

A-72 srvctl modify nodeapps Options

A-73 srvctl modify oc4j Options

A-74 srvctl modify ons Options

A-75 srvctl modify scan_listener Options

A-76 srvctl modify service Options for Moving a Service

A-77 srvctl modify service Options for Changing an Available Instance to a Preferred Instance

A-78 srvctl modify service Options for Changing Available and Preferred Status of Multiple Instances

A-79 srvctl modify service Options

A-80 srvctl modify srvpool Options

A-81 srvctl relocate Summary

A-82 srvctl relocate cvu Options

A-83 srvctl relocate database Options

A-84 srvctl relocate gns Options

A-85 srvctl relocate oc4j Options

A-86 srvctl relocate scan Options

A-87 srvctl relocate scan_listener Options

A-88 srvctl relocate server Options

A-89 srvctl relocate service Options

A-90 srvctl relocate vip Options

A-91 srvctl remove Summary

A-92 srvctl remove database Options

A-93 srvctl remove diskgroup Options

A-94 srvctl remove filesystem Options

A-95 srvctl remove instance Options

A-96 srvctl remove listener Options

A-97 srvctl remove nodeapps Options

A-98 srvctl remove oc4j Options

A-99 srvctl remove ons Options

A-100 srvctl remove service Options

A-101 srvctl remove vip Options

A-102 srvctl setenv Summary

A-103 srvctl setenv asm Options

A-104 srvctl setenv database Options

A-105 srvctl setenv listener Options

A-106 srvctl setenv nodeapps Options

A-107 srvctl setenv vip Options

A-108 srvctl start Summary

A-109 srvctl start asm Options

A-110 srvctl start cvu Options

A-111 srvctl start database Options

A-112 srvctl start diskgroup Options

A-113 srvctl start filesystem Options

A-114 srvctl start gns Options

A-115 srvctl start home Options

A-116 srvctl start instance Options

A-117 srvctl start listener Options

A-118 srvctl start nodeapps Options

A-119 srvctl start scan Options

A-120 srvctl start scan_listener Options

A-121 srvctl start service Options

A-122 srvctl start vip Options

A-123 srvctl status Summary

A-124 srvctl status asm Options

A-125 srvctl status cvu Options

A-126 srvctl status database Options

A-127 srvctl status diskgroup Options

A-128 srvctl status filesystem Options

A-129 srvctl status gns Options

A-130 srvctl status home Options

A-131 srvctl status instance Options

A-132 srvctl status listener Options

A-133 srvctl status oc4j Options

A-134 srvctl status scan Options

A-135 srvctl status scan_listener Options

A-136 srvctl status server Options

A-137 srvctl status service Options

A-138 srvctl status srvpool Options

A-139 srvctl status vip Options

A-140 srvctl stop Summary

A-141 srvctl stop asm Option

A-142 srvctl stop database Options

A-143 srvctl stop diskgroup Options

A-144 srvctl stop filesystem Options

A-145 srvctl stop gns Options

A-146 srvctl stop home Options

A-147 srvctl stop instance Options

A-148 srvctl stop listener Options

A-149 srvctl stop nodeapps Options

A-150 srvctl stop oc4j Options

A-151 srvctl stop scan Options

A-152 srvctl stop scan_listener Options

A-153 srvctl stop service Options

A-154 srvctl stop vip Options

A-155 srvctl unsetenv Command Summary

A-156 srvctl unsetenv asm Options

A-157 srvctl unsetenv database Options

A-158 srvctl unsetenv listener Options

A-159 srvctl unsetenv nodeapps Options

A-160 srvctl unsetenv vip Options

A-161 srvctl upgrade database Options

Oracle® Real Application Clusters

Administration and Deployment Guide

11g Release 2 (11.2)

E16795-13

May 2012

Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide, 11g Release 2 (11.2)

E16795-13

Copyright © 1999, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Primary Author:  Richard Strohm

Contributing Authors:  Troy Anthony, Lance Ashdown, Ram Avudaiappan, Prasad Bagal, Mark Bauer, Anand Beldalker, Eric Belden, Gajanan Bhat, David Brower, George Claborn, Carol Colrain, Jonathan Creighton, Rajesh Dasari, Steve Fogel, Richard Frank, GP Prabhaker Gongloor, Wei Hu, Yong Hu, Dominique Jeunot, Sameer Joshi, Raj K. Kammend, Sana Karam, Roland Knapp, Ken Lee, Karen Li, Barb Lundhild, Venkat Maddali, Bill Manry, Gaurav Manglik, John McHugh, Saar Maoz, Matthew Mckerley, Markus Michalewicz, Anil Nair, Philip Newlan, Michael Nowak, Muthu Olagappan, Bharat Paliwal, Hanlin Qian, Mark Ramacher, Kevin Reardon, Dipak Saggi, Sudheendra Sampath, Viv Schupmann, Daniel Semler, Ara Shakian, Cathy Shea, Khethavath P. Singh, Kesavan Srinivasan, Janet Stern, Leo Tominna, Peter Wahl, Tak Wang, Richard Wessman, Douglas Williams, Mike Zampiceni, Michael Zoll

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The information contained herein is subject to change without notice and is not warranted to be error-free. If you find any errors, please report them to us in writing.

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Preface

The Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide describes the Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) architecture and provides an overview of this product, including Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node (Oracle RAC One Node). This book also describes administrative and deployment topics for Oracle RAC.

Information in this manual applies to Oracle RAC as it runs on all platforms unless otherwise noted. In addition, the content of this manual supplements administrative and deployment topics for noncluster Oracle databases that appear in other Oracle documentation. Where necessary, this manual refers to platform-specific documentation. This Preface contains these topics:

Audience

Documentation Accessibility

Related Documents

Conventions

Audience

The Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide is intended for database administrators, network administrators, and system administrators who perform the following tasks:

Install and configure an Oracle RAC database

Administer and manage Oracle RAC databases

Manage and troubleshoot clusters and networks that use Oracle RAC

Documentation Accessibility

For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=docacc.

Access to Oracle Support

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Related Documents

This book, the Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide, provides administration and application deployment information that is specific to Oracle RAC. The discussions herein assume a knowledge of Oracle Clusterware.

For more information, see the Oracle resources listed in this section.

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide

This task-oriented guide helps you understand the basic steps required to install, configure, and administer Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC on a two-node system using Red Hat Linux system.

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide

This is an essential companion book that describes Oracle Clusterware components such as the voting disks and the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR).

Platform-specific Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC installation guides

Each platform-specific Oracle Database installation media contains a copy of an Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC platform-specific installation and configuration guide in HTML and PDF formats. These installation books contain the preinstallation, installation, and postinstallation information for the various UNIX, Linux, and Windows platforms on which Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC operate.

Oracle Database 2 Day DBA

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide

Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide

Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows

Oracle Database Administrator's Reference for Linux and UNIX

Oracle Database 11g Administrator's Reference Release 1 (11.1) for UNIX Systems: AIX Systems, HP-UX, Linux, and the Solaris Operating System (SPARC)

Note:

Additional information for this release may be available in the Oracle Database 11g README or Release Notes. If these documents are available for this release, then they are on your Oracle product installation media.

Database error messages descriptions are available online or by way of a Tahiti documentation search.

Conventions

The following text conventions are used in this document:

Convention | Meaning
boldface | Boldface type indicates graphical user interface elements associated with an action, or terms defined in text or the glossary.
italic | Italic type indicates book titles, emphasis, or placeholder variables for which you supply particular values.
monospace | Monospace type indicates commands within a paragraph, URLs, code in examples, text that appears on the screen, or text that you enter.

What's New in Oracle RAC Administration and Deployment?

This section describes the new administration and deployment features for Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) for Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.2) and 11g release 2 (11.2.0.1).

Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2) New Features in Oracle RAC

This section describes the Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) features for Oracle RAC administration and deployment.

Oracle RAC One Node

Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node (Oracle RAC One Node) provides enhanced high availability for noncluster databases, protecting them from both planned and unplanned downtime. Oracle RAC One Node provides the following:

Always-on noncluster database services

Better consolidation for database servers

Enhanced server virtualization

Lower cost development and test platform for full Oracle RAC

In addition, Oracle RAC One Node facilitates the consolidation of database storage, standardizes your database environment, and, when necessary, enables you to upgrade to a full, multinode Oracle RAC database without downtime or disruption.

Online database relocation is a tool you can use to relocate an Oracle RAC One Node database from one node to another while maintaining service availability.

This feature includes enhancements to the Server Control Utility (SRVCTL) for both Oracle RAC One Node and online database relocation.

This feature also includes enhancements to the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) to enable you to use the tool to add an Oracle RAC One Node database.

See Also:

Chapter 4, "Administering Oracle RAC One Node"

Chapter 10, "Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Linux and UNIX Systems"

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference"

Edition-Based Redefinition

You can specify an edition attribute for a database service using SRVCTL. When you specify an edition attribute for a service, all subsequent connections that specify the service use this edition as the initial session edition.

Specifying an edition as a service attribute can help to manage resource usage. For example, services associated with an edition can be placed on a separate instance in an Oracle RAC environment, and the Oracle Database Resource Manager can manage resources used by different editions by associating resource plans with the corresponding services.

See Also:

Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide for more information about edition-based redefinition

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for more information about enhancements to the srvctl add service and srvctl modify service commands

Enhancements to SRVCTL for Grid Infrastructure Management

Enhancements to SRVCTL simplify the management of various new Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC resources.

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for more information about these additional commands

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about the Cluster Verification Utility

Oracle Database Quality of Service Management Server

The Oracle Database Quality of Service Management server allows system administrators to manage application service levels hosted in Oracle Database clusters by correlating accurate runtime performance and resource metrics and analyzing with an expert system to produce recommended resource adjustments to meet policy-based performance objectives.

See Also:

Oracle Database Quality of Service Management User's Guide for more information

Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.1) New Features in Oracle RAC

This section describes the Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.1) features for Oracle RAC administration and deployment.

Grid Plug and Play

Grid Plug and Play reduces per-node configuration data and the need for explicit add and delete nodes steps, where possible. This allows a system administrator to take a template system image and run it on a node to be added with no further configuration. This removes many manual operations, reduces the opportunity for errors, and encourages configurations that can be changed more easily. Removal of the per-node configuration makes the nodes easier to replace because it is not required that they contain individual states that must be managed.

Grid Plug and Play also introduces simplified instance addition. When your databases are backed with Oracle Managed Files and Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), recovery threads and undo tablespaces are automatically created for an instance that you add explicitly with the srvctl add instance command, or implicitly when a policy-managed database brings up a new instance.

All tools and utilities such as DBCA, the Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NETCA), and SRVCTL have been updated to support Grid Plug and Play. Oracle Enterprise Manager, the graphical interface for managing Oracle RAC, provides management and monitoring for the Grid Plug and Play environment.

Grid Plug and Play reduces the cost of installing, configuring, and managing database nodes by making their per-node state disposable. Nodes can easily be replaced with regenerated state.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for more information about Grid Plug and Play

Policy-based cluster and capacity management

Oracle Clusterware allocates and reassigns capacity based on policies you define, enabling faster resource failover and dynamic capacity assignment using policy-based management.

Policy-based cluster and capacity management allows the efficient allocation of different types of applications in the cluster. Various applications can be hosted on a shared infrastructure, being isolated regarding their resource consumption by policies and, therefore, behave as if they were deployed in single-system environments. Policy-managed Oracle RAC databases use policy-based cluster management to provide the required resources for the workloads the database supports.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information

Role-separated management

Role-separated management for Oracle Clusterware allows certain administrative tasks to be delegated to different people, representing different roles in the company. It is based on the idea of an administrator role, called CRS Administrator, that can create server pools and grant administrative tasks on a per resource basis. For example, if two databases are placed into the same cluster, the CRS Administrator can manage both databases in the cluster. But, the CRS Administrator can also decide to grant different administrative privileges to each DBA responsible for each one of those databases.

Role-separated management enables multiple applications and databases to share the same cluster and hardware resources, but ensures that different administration groups do not interfere with each other.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information

Improved Cluster Resource Modeling

Oracle Clusterware can manage different types of applications and processes. You can create dependencies among the applications and processes and manage them as a single entity.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information

Oracle Enterprise Manager-based Oracle Clusterware resource management

You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager to manage Oracle Clusterware resources. You can create and configure resources in Oracle Clusterware and also monitor and manage resources after they are deployed in the cluster.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information

Oracle Cluster Registry performance enhancements

Improvements in the way Oracle Clusterware accesses Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) speed up relocation of services when a node fails. Oracle Clusterware now supports up to five copies of OCR for improved availability of the cluster and OCR can now be stored in Oracle ASM.

The tools to manage OCR have changed to support the new management options. Consistent storage management automation provides improved performance in Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC environments, and easier management of the cluster.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information

SRVCTL support for noncluster database

Server Control Utility (SRVCTL) commands have been enhanced to manage the configuration in a standalone server using Oracle Restart. The new SRVCTL functionality enables you to register a noncluster database that can be managed by Oracle Clusterware. Once registered, Oracle Clusterware can start, stop, monitor, and restart the database instance.

The new SRVCTL functionality simplifies management of Oracle Database through a consistent interface that can be used from the console or scripted. An improved management interface makes it easy to provide higher availability for noncluster databases that run on a server that is part of a cluster.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about using SRVCTL commands on a noncluster database

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for a list of SRVCTL commands

Enhanced Cluster Verification Utility

New Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) functionality checks certain storage types and configurations. Also, more consideration is given to user-specific settings.

In addition to command-line commands, these checks are done through the Oracle Universal Installer, DBCA, and Oracle Enterprise Manager. These enhancements facilitate implementation and configuration of cluster environments and provide assistance in diagnosing problems in a cluster environment, improving configuration and installation.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about CVU commands

Oracle Enterprise Manager support for Grid Plug and Play

You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager:

To support the Grid Plug and Play environment

To administer dynamic configuration use

To manage Grid Plug and Play profiles and targets, such as hosts, clusters, and Oracle RAC databases and Oracle RAC database instances

Additionally, Oracle Enterprise Manager supports other Oracle RAC administration tasks, including:

Monitoring

Startup

Shutdown

Backup and recovery

Tablespace management

Node addition

Oracle Enterprise Manager provisioning for Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC

The Oracle Enterprise Manager provisioning framework has been updated to reflect the changes to the installation and configuration of Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC. You can achieve easier implementation and management of a clustered database environment using the Oracle Enterprise Manager provisioning framework.

Zero downtime for patching Oracle RAC

Patching Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC can be completed without taking the entire cluster down. This also allows for out-of-place upgrades to the cluster software and Oracle Database, reducing the planned maintenance downtime required in an Oracle RAC environment.

Integrated support for application failover in an Oracle Data Guard configuration

Applications connected to a primary database transparently failover to a new primary database when Oracle Data Guard changes roles. Clients integrated with Fast Application Notification (FAN) can achieve fast failover between primary and standby databases, in addition to fast failover within the cluster. Services have an attribute with which you can associate the service with a database role, such as PHYSICAL_STANDBY, so that the service is only active when the database is mounted in the associated role.

See Also:

Oracle Data Guard Broker for more information

Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management"

Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager

The Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager is a kernel-loadable device driver that provides a standard device driver interface to clients, such as the Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS). Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager is the primary I/O interface for Oracle ACFS to perform I/O and build a file system using Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) as a volume manager. Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager is loaded upon Oracle ASM startup, is cluster aware, and communicates with Oracle ASM for extent map information, extent rebalancing, and I/O failures.

Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager provides a standard I/O interface allowing general-purpose file systems to leverage the full functionality of Oracle ASM as a volume manager. Files not directly supported by Oracle ASM, such as Oracle binaries, can now reside on ACFS on Oracle ASM volumes. This eliminates the need for third-party file systems or volume managers to host general-purpose files.

See Also:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information

Oracle Enterprise Manager support for Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System

Oracle Enterprise Manager provides a comprehensive management solution that extends Oracle ASM technology to support all customer application data files, both database and non-database, and in both single-host and cluster configurations. It also enhances existing Oracle Enterprise Manager support for Oracle ASM, and adds features to support the Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager (ADVM) and Oracle ASM Cluster File System (ACFS) technology.

Oracle Enterprise Manager provides a graphical user interface that makes it easier to manage the environment, whether it is a standalone server or a cluster deployment of Oracle ASM. The centralized console provides a consistent interface for managing volumes, database files, file systems, and the Oracle Database.

See Also:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System

The Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) provides a robust, modern, general purpose file system for files beyond the Oracle database files. Oracle ACFS also provides support for files such as Oracle binaries, report files, trace files, alert logs, and other application data files. With the addition of Oracle ACFS, Oracle ASM becomes a complete storage management solution for both Oracle database and non-database files.

Additionally, Oracle ACFS

Supports large files with 64-bit file and file system data structure sizes leading to exabyte-capable file and file system capacities

Uses extent-based storage allocation for improved performance

Uses a log-based metadata transaction engine for file system integrity and fast recovery

Can be exported to remote clients through industry standard protocols such as NFS and CIFS

Oracle ACFS complements and leverages Oracle ASM and provides a general purpose journaling file system for storing and managing non-Oracle database files. This eliminates the need for third-party cluster file system solutions, while streamlining, automating, and simplifying all file type management in both single node and Oracle RAC and Grid computing environments.

Oracle ACFS supports dynamic file system expansion and contraction without any downtime and is also highly available, leveraging the Oracle ASM mirroring and striping features in addition to hardware RAID functionality.

See Also:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information about Oracle ACFS

Automatic Storage Management file access control

This feature implements access control on Oracle ASM files on UNIX platforms to isolate itself and different database instances from each other and prevent unauthorized access. The feature includes SQL statements to grant, modify, and deny file permissions.

This feature enables multiple database instances to store their Oracle ASM files in the same disk group and enables consolidation of multiple databases, securely, to prevent database instances from accessing or overwriting files belonging to other database instances.

See Also:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information

"Oracle Automatic Storage Management with Oracle RAC"

Universal Connection Pool

Universal Connection Pool (UCP) is a Java connection pool that replaces the deprecated JDBC Implicit Connection Cache with Oracle Database 11g (11.1.0.7). UCP is integrated with Oracle RAC to provide the following benefits:

A single UCP can be leveraged by any Oracle component or user.

Eliminates redundant connection pools from several Oracle Components, such as AOL/J, ADF Business Components, and TopLink.

Provides consistent connection pool behavior for an Oracle component or product. For example, the connection pool sizes can be configured to provide consistent connection management behavior for an application.

Provides JMX interfaces for the UCP Manager, which delivers a consistent management interface to manage the connection pool.

UCP adapters can provide standards compliance for a specific connection type being pooled.

Supports connection pooling for Oracle and non-Oracle connections.

Supports pooling for any type of connections, including JDBC or JCA connections.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about configuring JDBC clients

Expose high availability events through a Java API

You can access fast application notification (FAN) events with a simplified JAVA API if you are not using the Oracle connection pool features.

See Also:

"Fast Application Notification" for more information about FAN events

SRVCTL enhancements to support Grid Plug and Play

This feature includes enhancements to the server control utility (SRVCTL) for the Grid Plug and Play feature.

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for a list of SRVCTL commands

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1 Introduction to Oracle RAC

This chapter introduces Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) and describes how to install, administer, and deploy Oracle RAC.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Overview of Oracle RAC

Overview of Oracle Clusterware for Oracle RAC

Overview of Oracle RAC Architecture and Processing

Overview of Automatic Workload Management

Overview of Installing Oracle RAC

Overview of Managing Oracle RAC Environments

Overview of Oracle RAC

A cluster comprises multiple interconnected computers or servers that appear as if they are one server to end users and applications. Oracle RAC enables you to cluster an Oracle database. Oracle RAC uses Oracle Clusterware for the infrastructure to bind multiple servers so they operate as a single system.

Oracle Clusterware is a portable cluster management solution that is integrated with Oracle Database. Oracle Clusterware is also a required component for using Oracle RAC. In addition, Oracle Clusterware enables both noncluster Oracle databases and Oracle RAC databases to use the Oracle high-availability infrastructure. Oracle Clusterware enables you to create a clustered pool of storage to be used by any combination of noncluster and Oracle RAC databases.

Oracle Clusterware is the only clusterware that you need for most platforms on which Oracle RAC operates. You can also use clusterware from other vendors if the clusterware is certified for Oracle RAC.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide and Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for more details

Noncluster Oracle databases have a one-to-one relationship between the Oracle database and the instance. Oracle RAC environments, however, have a one-to-many relationship between the database and instances. An Oracle RAC database can have up to 100 instances,Foot 1  all of which access one database. All database instances must use the same interconnect, which can also be used by Oracle Clusterware.

Oracle RAC databases differ architecturally from noncluster Oracle databases in that each Oracle RAC database instance also has:

At least one additional thread of redo for each instance

An instance-specific undo tablespace

The combined processing power of the multiple servers can provide greater throughput and Oracle RAC scalability than is available from a single server.

Figure 1-1 shows how Oracle RAC is the Oracle Database option that provides a single system image for multiple servers to access one Oracle database. In Oracle RAC, each Oracle instance must run on a separate server.

Figure 1-1 Oracle Database with Oracle RAC Architecture

Description of Figure 1-1 follows
Description of "Figure 1-1 Oracle Database with Oracle RAC Architecture"

Traditionally, an Oracle RAC environment is located in one data center. However, you can configure Oracle RAC on an extended distance cluster, which is an architecture that provides extremely fast recovery from a site failure and allows for all nodes, at all sites, to actively process transactions as part of a single database cluster. In an extended cluster, the nodes in the cluster are located in two buildings that are separated by greater distances (anywhere from across the street, to across a campus, or across a city). For availability reasons, the data must be located at both sites, thus requiring the implementation of disk mirroring technology for storage.

If you choose to implement this architecture, you must assess whether this architecture is a good solution for your business, especially considering distance, latency, and the degree of protection it provides. Oracle RAC on extended clusters provides higher availability than is possible with local Oracle RAC configurations, but an extended cluster may not fulfill all of the disaster-recovery requirements of your organization. A feasible separation provides great protection for some disasters (for example, local power outage or server room flooding) but it cannot provide protection against all types of outages. For comprehensive protection against disasters—including protection against corruptions and regional disasters—Oracle recommends the use of Oracle Data Guard with Oracle RAC, as described in the Oracle Database High Availability Overview and on the Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) Web site at

http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/availability/htdocs/maa.htm

Oracle RAC is a unique technology that provides high availability and scalability for all application types. The Oracle RAC infrastructure is also a key component for implementing the Oracle enterprise grid computing architecture. Having multiple instances access a single database prevents the server from being a single point of failure. Oracle RAC enables you to combine smaller commodity servers into a cluster to create scalable environments that support mission critical business applications. Applications that you deploy on Oracle RAC databases can operate without code changes.

Overview of Oracle Clusterware for Oracle RAC

Oracle Clusterware provides a complete, integrated clusterware management solution on all Oracle Database platforms. This clusterware functionality provides all of the features required to manage your cluster database including node membership, group services, global resource management, and high availability functions.

You can install Oracle Clusterware independently or as a prerequisite to the Oracle RAC installation process. Oracle Database features, such as services, use the underlying Oracle Clusterware mechanisms to provide advanced capabilities. Oracle Database also continues to support select third-party clusterware products on specified platforms.

Oracle Clusterware is designed for, and tightly integrated with, Oracle RAC. You can use Oracle Clusterware to manage high-availability operations in a cluster. When you create an Oracle RAC database using any of the management tools, the database is registered with and managed by Oracle Clusterware, along with the other required components such as the Virtual Internet Protocol (VIP) address, the Single Client Access Name (SCAN), the SCAN listener, Oracle Notification Service, and the Oracle Net listeners. These resources are automatically started when Oracle Clusterware starts the node and automatically restarted if they fail. The Oracle Clusterware daemons run on each node.

Anything that Oracle Clusterware manages is known as a CRS resource. A CRS resource can be a database, an instance, a service, a listener, a VIP address, or an application process. Oracle Clusterware manages CRS resources based on the resource's configuration information that is stored in the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR). You can use SRVCTL commands to administer any Oracle-defined CRS resources. Oracle Clusterware provides the framework that enables you to create CRS resources to manage any process running on servers in the cluster which are not predefined by Oracle. Oracle Clusterware stores the information that describes the configuration of these components in OCR that you can administer as described in the Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide.

Overview of Oracle RAC Architecture and Processing

At a minimum, Oracle RAC requires Oracle Clusterware software infrastructure to provide concurrent access to the same storage and the same set of data files from all nodes in the cluster, a communications protocol for enabling interprocess communication (IPC) across the nodes in the cluster, enable multiple database instances to process data as if the data resided on a logically combined, single cache, and a mechanism for monitoring and communicating the status of the nodes in the cluster.

The following sections describe these concepts in more detail:

Understanding Cluster-Aware Storage Solutions

Overview of Connecting to Oracle Database Using Services and VIP Addresses

About Oracle RAC Software Components

About Oracle RAC Background Processes

Understanding Cluster-Aware Storage Solutions

An Oracle RAC database is a shared everything database. All data files, control files, SPFILEs,Foot 2  and redo log files in Oracle RAC environments must reside on cluster-aware shared disks, so that all of the cluster database instances can access these storage components. Because Oracle RAC databases use a shared everything architecture, Oracle RAC requires cluster-aware storage for all database files.

In Oracle RAC, the Oracle Database software manages disk access and is certified for use on a variety of storage architectures. It is your choice how to configure your storage, but you must use a supported cluster-aware storage solution. Oracle Database provides the following file storage options for Oracle RAC:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM)

Oracle recommends this solution to manage your storage.

A certified cluster file system, including OCFS2 and Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS for Windows)

OCFS2 is available for Linux, and OCFS for Windows is available for Windows platforms. However you may optionally use a third-party cluster file system or cluster-aware volume manager that is certified for Oracle RAC.

Certified network file system (NFS) file servers

Overview of Connecting to Oracle Database Using Services and VIP Addresses

All nodes in an Oracle RAC environment must connect to a Local Area Network (LAN) to enable users and applications to access the database. Applications should use the Oracle Database services feature to connect to an Oracle database. Services enable you to define rules and characteristics to control how users and applications connect to database instances. These characteristics include a unique name, workload balancing and failover options, and high availability characteristics. Oracle Net Services enable the load balancing of application connections across all of the instances in an Oracle RAC database.

Users can access an Oracle RAC database using a client/server configuration or through one or more middle tiers, with or without connection pooling. Users can be database administrators, developers, application users, power users, such as data miners who create their own searches, and so on.

Most public networks typically use TCP/IP, but you can use any supported hardware and software combination. Oracle RAC database instances should be accessed through the Single Client Access Name (SCAN) for the cluster.

See Also:

"Overview of Automatic Workload Management" for more information about SCANs

The interconnect network is a private network that connects all of the servers in the cluster. The interconnect network uses a switch (or multiple switches) that only the nodes in the cluster can access. Configure User Datagram Protocol (UDP) on a Gigabit Ethernet for your cluster interconnect. On Linux and UNIX systems, you can configure Oracle Clusterware to use either the UDP or Reliable Data Socket (RDS) protocols. Windows clusters use the TCP protocol. Crossover cables are not supported for use with Oracle Clusterware interconnects.

Note:

Do not use the interconnect (the private network) for user communication, because Cache Fusion uses the interconnect for interinstance communication.

If a node fails, then the node's VIP address fails over to another node on which the VIP address can accept TCP connections, but it does not accept connections to the Oracle database. Generally, VIP addresses fail over when:

The node on which a VIP address runs fails

All interfaces for the VIP address fail

All interfaces for the VIP address are disconnected from the network

Clients that attempt to connect to the VIP address receive a rapid connection refused error instead of waiting for TCP connect timeout messages. When the network on which the VIP is configured comes back online, Oracle Clusterware fails back the VIP to its home node where connections are accepted.

If you use Network Attached Storage (NAS), then you are required to configure a second private network. Access to this network is typically controlled by the vendor's software. The private network uses static IP addresses.

Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2) supports multiple public networks. Each network has its own subnet and each database service uses a particular network to access the Oracle RAC database. Each network is a resource managed by Oracle Clusterware.

You must also create a SCAN for each cluster, which is a single network name defined either in your organization's Domain Name Server (DNS) or in the Grid Naming Service (GNS) that round robins to three IP addresses. Oracle recommends that all connections to the Oracle RAC database use the SCAN in their client connection string. Incoming connections are load balanced across the active instances providing the requested service through the three SCAN listeners. With SCAN, you do not have to change the client connection even if the configuration of the cluster changes (nodes added or removed).

About Oracle RAC Software Components

Oracle RAC databases generally have two or more database instances that each contain memory structures and background processes. An Oracle RAC database has the same processes and memory structures as a noncluster Oracle database and additional processes and memory structures that are specific to Oracle RAC. Any one instance's database view is nearly identical to any other instance's view in the same Oracle RAC database; the view is a single system image of the environment.

Each instance has a buffer cache in its System Global Area (SGA). Using Cache Fusion, Oracle RAC environments logically combine each instance's buffer cache to enable the instances to process data as if the data resided on a logically combined, single cache.

Note:

The SGA size requirements for Oracle RAC are greater than the SGA requirements for noncluster Oracle databases due to Cache Fusion.

To ensure that each Oracle RAC database instance obtains the block that it requires to satisfy a query or transaction, Oracle RAC instances use two processes, the Global Cache Service (GCS) and the Global Enqueue Service (GES). The GCS and GES maintain records of the statuses of each data file and each cached block using a Global Resource Directory (GRD). The GRD contents are distributed across all of the active instances, which effectively increases the size of the SGA for an Oracle RAC instance.

After one instance caches data, any other instance within the same cluster database can acquire a block image from another instance in the same database faster than by reading the block from disk. Therefore, Cache Fusion moves current blocks between instances rather than re-reading the blocks from disk. When a consistent block is needed or a changed block is required on another instance, Cache Fusion transfers the block image directly between the affected instances. Oracle RAC uses the private interconnect for interinstance communication and block transfers. The GES Monitor and the Instance Enqueue Process manage access to Cache Fusion resources and enqueue recovery processing.

About Oracle RAC Background Processes

The GCS and GES processes, and the GRD collaborate to enable Cache Fusion. The Oracle RAC processes and their identifiers are as follows:

ACMS: Atomic Controlfile to Memory Service (ACMS)

In an Oracle RAC environment, the ACMS per-instance process is an agent that contributes to ensuring a distributed SGA memory update is either globally committed on success or globally aborted if a failure occurs.

GTX0-j: Global Transaction Process

The GTX0-j process provides transparent support for XA global transactions in an Oracle RAC environment. The database autotunes the number of these processes based on the workload of XA global transactions.

LMON: Global Enqueue Service Monitor

The LMON process monitors global enqueues and resources across the cluster and performs global enqueue recovery operations.

LMD: Global Enqueue Service Daemon

The LMD process manages incoming remote resource requests within each instance.

LMS: Global Cache Service Process

The LMS process maintains records of the data file statuses and each cached block by recording information in a Global Resource Directory (GRD). The LMS process also controls the flow of messages to remote instances and manages global data block access and transmits block images between the buffer caches of different instances. This processing is part of the Cache Fusion feature.

LCK0: Instance Enqueue Process

The LCK0 process manages non-Cache Fusion resource requests such as library and row cache requests.

RMSn: Oracle RAC Management Processes (RMSn)

The RMSn processes perform manageability tasks for Oracle RAC. Tasks accomplished by an RMSn process include creation of resources related to Oracle RAC when new instances are added to the clusters.

RSMN: Remote Slave Monitor manages background slave process creation and communication on remote instances. These background slave processes perform tasks on behalf of a coordinating process running in another instance.

Note:

Many of the Oracle Database components that this section describes are in addition to the components that are described for noncluster Oracle databases in Oracle Database Concepts.

Overview of Automatic Workload Management

Automatic workload management enables you to manage the distribution of workloads to provide optimal performance for users and applications. This includes providing the highest availability for database connections, rapid failure recovery, and balancing workloads optimally across the active configuration. Oracle Database with Oracle RAC includes many features that can enhance automatic workload management, such as connection load balancing, fast connection failover, the load balancing advisory, and runtime connection load balancing. Automatic workload management provides the greatest benefits to Oracle RAC environments. You can, however, take advantage of automatic workload management by using Oracle Database services in noncluster Oracle databases, especially those that use Oracle Data Guard or Oracle Streams.

Automatic workload management includes the following components:

High Availability Framework: The Oracle RAC high availability framework enables Oracle Database to always maintain components in a running state. Oracle high availability implies that Oracle Clusterware monitors and restarts critical components if they stop, unless you override the restart processing. Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC also provide alerts to clients when configurations change, enabling clients to immediately react to the changes, enabling application developers to hide outages and reconfigurations from end users. The scope of Oracle high availability spans from the restarting of stopped Oracle Database processes in an Oracle database instance to failing over the processing of an entire instance to other available instances.

Single Client Access Name (SCAN): A single network name and IP addresses defined either in your DNS or GNS that all clients should use to access the Oracle RAC database. With SCAN, you are no longer required to modify your clients when changes occur to the cluster configuration. SCAN also allows clients to use an Easy Connect string to provide load balancing and failover connections to the Oracle RAC database.

Note:

SCAN is required regardless of whether you use GNS. If you use GNS, then Oracle automatically creates the SCAN. If you do not use GNS, then you must define the SCAN in DNS.

Load Balancing Advisory: This is the ability of the database to provide information to applications about the current service levels being provided by the database and its instances. Applications can take advantage of this information to direct connection requests to the instance that provides the application request with the best service quality to complete the application's processing. Oracle Database has integrated its Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) connection pools to work with the load balancing information. Applications can use the integrated connection pools without programmatic changes.

Services: Oracle Database provides a powerful automatic workload management facility, called services, to enable the enterprise grid vision. Services are entities that you can define in Oracle RAC databases. Services enable you to group database workloads and route the work to the optimal instances that are assigned to process the service. Furthermore, you can use services to define the resources that Oracle Database assigns to process workloads and to monitor workload resources. Applications that you assign to services transparently acquire the defined automatic workload management characteristics, including high availability and load balancing rules. Many Oracle Database features are integrated with services, such as Resource Manager, which enables you to restrict the resources that a service can use within an instance. Some database features are also integrated with Oracle Streams, Advanced Queuing (to achieve queue location transparency), and Oracle Scheduler (to map services to specific job classes).

In Oracle RAC databases, the service performance rules that you configure control the amount of work that Oracle Database allocates to each available instance for that service. As you extend your database by adding nodes, applications, components of applications, and so on, you can add more services.

Server Pools: Server pools enable the CRS Administrator to create a policy which defines how Oracle Clusterware allocates resources. An Oracle RAC policy-managed database runs in a server pool. Oracle Clusterware attempts to keep the required number of servers in the server pool and, therefore, the required number of instances of the Oracle RAC database. A server can be in only one server pool at any time. However, a database can run in multiple server pools. Cluster-managed services run in a server pool where they are defined as either UNIFORM (active on all instances in the server pool) or SINGLETON (active on only one instance in the server pool).

Connection Load Balancing: Oracle Net Services provides connection load balancing for database connections. Connection load balancing occurs when the connection is created. Connections for a given service are balanced across all of the running instances that offer the service. You should define how you want connections to be balanced in the service definition. However, you must still configure Oracle Net Services. When you enable the load balancing advisory, the listener uses the load balancing advisory for connection load balancing.

See Also:

Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management"

Overview of Installing Oracle RAC

Install Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Database software using Oracle Universal Installer, and create your database with Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA). This ensures that your Oracle RAC environment has the optimal network configuration, database structure, and parameter settings for the environment that you selected. As a database administrator, after installation your tasks are to administer your Oracle RAC environment at three levels:

Instance Administration

Database Administration

Cluster Administration

This section introduces the installation processes for Oracle RAC under the following topics:

Understanding Compatibility in Oracle RAC Environments

Overview of Oracle RAC Installation and Database Creation

Overview of Extending the Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC Software

Note:

You must first install Oracle Clusterware before installing Oracle RAC. See Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information.

Understanding Compatibility in Oracle RAC Environments

To run Oracle RAC in configurations with different versions of the database in the same cluster, you must also install clusterware. For example, to run Oracle9i and Oracle Database 10g in the same cluster:

For Oracle RAC nodes running the Oracle9i database, you must install an Oracle9i cluster:

For UNIX, the clusterware can be HACMP, Serviceguard, Sun Clusterware, or Veritas SF

For Windows and Linux, the cluster is Oracle Cluster Manager

If you want to install Oracle RAC running Oracle Database 10g or later releases, you must also install Oracle Clusterware. For Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2), this means you must first install the Grid Infrastructure for a cluster. See your platform-specific Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide and the Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information.

If you run Oracle RAC 10g and Oracle RAC 11g in the same cluster, you must run Oracle Clusterware 11g (only)

Oracle requires that you install the Oracle9i RAC software first if you are going to run it in a cluster with Oracle RAC 10g or Oracle RAC 11g.

Note:

If you are adding Oracle RAC to servers that are part of a cluster, either migrate to Oracle Clusterware or ensure the clusterware you run is supported to run with Oracle RAC 10g or later releases and ensure you have installed the correct options for the two to work together. Oracle strongly recommends that you do not run different cluster software on the same servers unless they are certified to work together.

Overview of Oracle RAC Installation and Database Creation

Once you have installed Oracle Clusterware and it is operational, run Oracle Universal Installer to install the Oracle database software with Oracle RAC components.

During the installation, you can select to create a database during the database home installation. Oracle Universal Installer runs DBCA to create your Oracle RAC database according to the options that you select.

Note:

A prerequisite of creating a database is that a default listener must be running in the Grid Infrastructure home. If a default listener is not present in the Grid Infrastructure home, then DBCA returns an error instructing you to run NETCA from the Grid Infrastructure home to create a default listener.

See Also:

Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for more information about NETCA

Oracle RAC software is distributed as part of the Oracle Database installation media. By default, the Oracle Database software installation process installs the Oracle RAC option when it recognizes that you are performing the installation on a cluster. Oracle Universal Installer installs Oracle RAC into a directory structure referred to as the Oracle home, which is separate from the Oracle home directory for other Oracle software running on the system. Because Oracle Universal Installer is cluster aware, it installs Oracle RAC software on all of the nodes that you defined to be part of the cluster.

Oracle recommends that you select Oracle ASM during the installation to simplify storage management; Oracle ASM automatically manages the storage of all database files within disk groups. If you plan to use Oracle Database Standard Edition to create an Oracle RAC database, then you must use Oracle ASM to store all of the database files.

Note:

You must configure Oracle ASM separately prior to creating an Oracle RAC database.

By default, Oracle Database creates one service for your Oracle RAC installation. This service is for the database. The default database service is typically identified using the combination of the DB_NAME and DB_DOMAIN initialization parameters: db_name.db_domain. The default service is available on all instances in an Oracle RAC environment, unless the database is in restricted mode.

Note:

Avoid changing host names after you complete the Oracle Clusterware installation, including adding or deleting domain qualifications. Nodes with changed host names must be deleted from the cluster and added back with the new name.

Overview of Extending the Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC Software

You can extend Oracle RAC in grid environments to additional nodes by copying cloned images of the Oracle RAC database home to other nodes in the cluster. Oracle cloning copies images of the software to other nodes that have similar hardware and software. Cloning is best suited to a scenario where you must quickly extend your Oracle RAC environment to several nodes of the same configuration.

Oracle provides the following methods of extending Oracle RAC environments:

Oracle cloning procedure using cloning scripts

See Also:

Chapter 8, "Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster"

Oracle Enterprise Manager cloning

The addNode.sh (addNode.bat on Windows) script and Oracle Universal Installer cloning

Note:

Oracle cloning is not a replacement for Oracle Enterprise Manager cloning that is part of the Provisioning Pack. During Oracle Enterprise Manager cloning, the provisioning process includes a series of steps where details about the home you want to capture, the location you want to deploy to, and various other parameters are collected.

For new installations or if you install only one Oracle RAC database, you should use the traditional automated and interactive installation methods, such as Oracle Universal Installer, or the Provisioning Pack feature of Oracle Enterprise Manager. If your goal is to add or delete Oracle RAC from nodes in the cluster, you can use the procedures detailed in Chapter 10, "Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Linux and UNIX Systems".

The cloning process assumes that you successfully installed an Oracle Clusterware home and an Oracle home with Oracle RAC on at least one node. In addition, all root scripts must have run successfully on the node from which you are extending your cluster database.

At a high level, Oracle cloning involves the following main tasks:

Clone the Oracle Clusterware home following the instructions in Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide.

Clone the Oracle home with the Oracle RAC software.

The process for cloning the Oracle home onto new nodes is similar to the process for cloning the Oracle Clusterware home.

If you have not yet created a database, then run DBCA to create one.

Follow the post-cloning procedures to complete the extension of your Oracle RAC environment onto the new nodes.

See Also:

Chapter 8, "Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster"

Chapter 10, "Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Linux and UNIX Systems" for information about adding and deleting nodes and instances

Chapter 11, "Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Windows Systems" for information about adding and deleting nodes and instances

Oracle Enterprise Manager online Help system for more information about the Provisioning Pack

Overview of Managing Oracle RAC Environments

This section describes the following Oracle RAC environment management topics:

About Designing and Deploying Oracle RAC Environments

About Administrative Tools for Oracle RAC Environments

About Monitoring Oracle RAC Environments

About Evaluating Performance in Oracle RAC Environments

About Designing and Deploying Oracle RAC Environments

Any enterprise that is designing and implementing a high availability strategy with Oracle RAC must begin by performing a thorough analysis of the business drivers that require high availability. An analysis of business requirements for high availability combined with an understanding of the level of investment required to implement different high availability solutions enables the development of a high availability architecture that achieves both business and technical objectives.

See Also:

For help choosing and implementing the architecture that best fits your availability requirements:

Chapter 12, "Design and Deployment Techniques" provides a high-level overview you can use to evaluate the high availability requirements of your business.

Oracle Database High Availability Overview describes how to select the most suitable architecture for your organization, describes several high availability architectures, and provides guidelines for choosing the one that best meets your requirements.

Information about the Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture at

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/features/availability/maa-090890.html

Oracle RAC provides a new method to manage your clustered database. Traditionally, databases were administrator managed, where a DBA managed each instance of the database by defining specific instances to run on specific nodes in the cluster. To help implement dynamic grid configurations, Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2) introduces policy-managed databases, where the DBA is required only to define the cardinality (number of database instances required). Oracle Clusterware manages the allocation of nodes to run the instances and Oracle RAC allocates the required redo threads and undo tablespaces, as needed.

Note:

Automatic allocation of the required redo threads and undo tablespaces only happens when the database uses Oracle Managed Files.

About Administrative Tools for Oracle RAC Environments

Oracle enables you to administer a cluster database as a single system image through Oracle Enterprise Manager, SQL*Plus, or through Oracle RAC command-line interfaces such as Server Control Utility (SRVCTL):

Oracle Enterprise Manager: Oracle Enterprise Manager has both the Database Control and Grid Control GUI interfaces for managing both noncluster database and Oracle RAC database environments. Oracle recommends that you use Oracle Enterprise Manager to perform administrative tasks whenever feasible.

You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to also manage Oracle RAC One Node databases.

Server Control Utility (SRVCTL): SRVCTL is a command-line interface that you can use to manage an Oracle RAC database from a single point. You can use SRVCTL to start and stop the database and instances and to delete or move instances and services. You can also use SRVCTL to manage configuration information, Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node (Oracle RAC One Node), Oracle Clusterware, and Oracle ASM.

SQL*Plus: SQL*Plus commands operate on the current instance. The current instance can be either the local default instance on which you initiated your SQL*Plus session, or it can be a remote instance to which you connect with Oracle Net Services.

Cluster Verification Utility (CVU): CVU is a command-line tool that you can use to verify a range of cluster and Oracle RAC components, such as shared storage devices, networking configurations, system requirements, and Oracle Clusterware, in addition to operating system groups and users. You can use CVU for preinstallation checks and for postinstallation checks of your cluster environment. CVU is especially useful during preinstallation and during installation of Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC components. Oracle Universal Installer runs CVU after installing Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Database to verify your environment.

Install and use CVU before you install Oracle RAC to ensure that your configuration meets the minimum Oracle RAC installation requirements. Also, use CVU for verifying the completion of ongoing administrative tasks, such as node addition and node deletion.

DBCA: DBCA is the recommended method for creating and initially configuring Oracle RAC, Oracle RAC One Node, and Oracle noncluster databases.

NETCA: Configures the network for your Oracle RAC environment.

See Also:

Chapter 3, "Administering Database Instances and Cluster Databases" for an introduction to Oracle RAC administration using Oracle Enterprise Manager, SQL*Plus, and the SRVCTL utility

"Monitoring Oracle RAC and Oracle Clusterware"

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for SRVCTL reference information

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about the Cluster Verification Utility (CVU), in addition to other Oracle Clusterware tools, such as the OIFCFG tool for allocating and deallocating network interfaces and the OCRCONFIG command-line tool for managing OCR

Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for more information about NETCA

About Monitoring Oracle RAC Environments

Web-based Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control and Grid Control enable you to monitor an Oracle RAC database. The Oracle Enterprise Manager Console is a central point of control for the Oracle environment that you access by way of a graphical user interface (GUI). See "Monitoring Oracle RAC and Oracle Clusterware" and the Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for detailed information about using Oracle Enterprise Manager to monitor Oracle RAC environments.

Also, note the following recommendations about monitoring Oracle RAC environments:

Use the Oracle Enterprise Manager Console to initiate cluster database management tasks.

Use Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control to administer multiple Oracle RAC databases. You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to manage individual Oracle RAC databases.

Use the global views (GV$ views), which are based on V$ views. The catclustdb.sql script creates the GV$ views. Run this script if you do not create your database with DBCA. Otherwise, DBCA runs this script for you.

For almost every V$ view, there is a corresponding global GV$ view. In addition to the V$ information, each GV$ view contains an extra column named INST_ID, which displays the instance number from which the associated V$ view information was obtained.

Use the sophisticated management and monitoring features of the Oracle Database Diagnostic and Tuning packs within Oracle Enterprise Manager that include the Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM) and AWR.

Note:

Although Statspack is available for backward compatibility, Statspack provides reporting only. You must run Statspack at level 7 to collect statistics related to block contention and segment block waits.

See Also:

The Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide describes the Oracle Database automatic features for performance diagnosing and tuning, including ADDM.

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about monitoring performance and troubleshooting

About Evaluating Performance in Oracle RAC Environments

You do not need to perform special tuning for Oracle RAC; Oracle RAC scales without special configuration changes. If your application performs well on a noncluster Oracle database, then it will perform well in an Oracle RAC environment. Many of the tuning tasks that you would perform on a noncluster Oracle database can also improve Oracle RAC database performance. This is especially true if your environment requires scalability across a greater number of CPUs.

Some of the performance features specific to Oracle RAC include:

Dynamic resource allocation

Oracle Database dynamically allocates Cache Fusion resources as needed

The dynamic mastering of resources improves performance by keeping resources local to data blocks

Cache Fusion enables a simplified tuning methodology

You do not have to tune any parameters for Cache Fusion

No application-level tuning is necessary

You can use a bottom-up tuning approach with virtually no effect on your existing applications

More detailed performance statistics

More views for Oracle RAC performance monitoring

Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control and Grid Control are integrated with Oracle RAC

Footnote Legend

Footnote 1: For configurations running Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) and later releases, Oracle Clusterware supports 100 nodes in a cluster, and Oracle RAC supports 100 instances in an Oracle RAC database.
Footnote 2: Note that PFILE files do not need to be shared.

2 Administering Storage

This chapter describes storage topics, such as Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), in Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) environments.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Overview of Storage in Oracle RAC

Optimal Flexible Architecture

Data File Access in Oracle RAC

Redo Log File Storage in Oracle RAC

Automatic Undo Management in Oracle RAC

Oracle Automatic Storage Management with Oracle RAC

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide

Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide

Overview of Storage in Oracle RAC

All data files (including an undo tablespace for each instance) and redo log files (at least two for each instance) must reside in an Oracle ASM disk group, on a cluster file system, or on shared raw devices. In addition, Oracle recommends that you use one shared server parameter file (SPFILE) with instance-specific entries. Alternatively, you can use a local file system to store instance-specific parameter files (PFILEs).

Notes:

Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) does not support shared raw devices for this release, nor does DBCA allow PFILES. However, you can use SQL commands to configure data files on shared raw devices.

If you are using the IBM General Parallel File System (GPFS), then you can use the same file system for all purposes, including using it for the Oracle home directory and for storing data files and logs. For optimal performance, you should use a large GPFS block size (typically, at least 512 KB). GPFS is designed for scalability, and there is no requirement to create multiple GPFS file systems as long as the amount of data fits in a single GPFS file system.

Unless otherwise noted, Oracle Database storage features such as Oracle ASM, Oracle Managed Files, automatic segment-space management, and so on, function the same in Oracle RAC environments as they do in noncluster Oracle database environments.

See Also:

For additional information about these storage features:

Oracle Database 2 Day DBA

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide

If you do not use Oracle ASM, if your platform does not support a cluster file system, or if you do not want to use a cluster file system for database file storage, then create additional raw devices as described in your platform-specific Oracle RAC installation and configuration guide. However, Oracle recommends that you use Oracle ASM for database file storage, as described in "Oracle Automatic Storage Management with Oracle RAC".

Notes:

If you use raw devices, then you cannot use DBCA.

To create an Oracle RAC database using Oracle Database Standard Edition, you must use Oracle ASM for your database storage.

Optimal Flexible Architecture

Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) ensures reliable installations and improves software manageability. This feature streamlines the way in which Oracle software installations are organized, thereby simplifying the on-going management of your installations and improves manageability by making default Oracle Database installs more compliant with OFA specifications.

During installation, you are prompted to specify an Oracle base (ORACLE_BASE) location, which is owned by the user performing the installation. You can choose an existing ORACLE_BASE, or choose another directory location that does not have the structure for an ORACLE_BASE directory.

Using an Oracle base directory helps to facilitate the organization of Oracle installations, and helps to ensure that installations of multiple databases maintain an OFA configuration. During the installation, ORACLE_BASE is the only required input, because the Oracle home uses a default value based on the value chosen for ORACLE_BASE. In addition, Oracle recommends that you set the ORACLE_BASE and ORACLE_HOME environment variables when starting databases. Note that ORACLE_BASE may become a required environment variable for database startup in a future release.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide installation guide for more information about specifying an ORACLE_BASE directory

Data File Access in Oracle RAC

All Oracle RAC instances must be able to access all data files. If a data file must be recovered when the database is opened, then the first Oracle RAC instance to start is the instance that performs the recovery and verifies access to the file. As other instances start, they also verify their access to the data files. Similarly, when you add a tablespace or data file or bring a tablespace or data file online, all instances verify access to the file or files.

If you add a data file to a disk that other instances cannot access, then verification fails. Verification also fails if instances access different copies of the same data file. If verification fails for any instance, then diagnose and fix the problem. Then run the ALTER SYSTEM CHECK DATAFILES statement on each instance to verify data file access.

Redo Log File Storage in Oracle RAC

If you increase the cardinality of a server pool in a policy-managed database, and a new server is allocated to the server pool, then Oracle starts an instance on the new server if you have Oracle Managed Files enabled. If the instance starts and there is no thread or redo log file available, then Oracle automatically enables a thread of redo and allocates the associated redo log files if the database uses Oracle ASM or any cluster file system.

You should create redo log groups only if you are using administrator-managed databases. For policy-managed databases, increase the cardinality and when the instance starts, if you are using Oracle Managed Files and Oracle ASM, then Oracle automatically allocates the thread, redo, and undo.

For administrator-managed databases, each instance has its own online redo log groups. Create these redo log groups and establish group members. To add a redo log group to a specific instance, specify the INSTANCE clause in the ALTER DATABASE ADD LOGFILE statement. If you do not specify the instance when adding the redo log group, then the redo log group is added to the instance to which you are currently connected.

See Also:

"About Designing and Deploying Oracle RAC Environments" for more information about administrator and policy management for databases

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information about creating redo log groups and establishing group members

Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for information about the ALTER DATABASE ADD LOGFILE SQL statement

Each instance must have at least two groups of redo log files. You must allocate the redo log groups before enabling a new instance with the ALTER DATABASE ENABLE INSTANCE instance_name command. When the current group fills, an instance begins writing to the next log file group. If your database is in ARCHIVELOG mode, then each instance must save filled online log groups as archived redo log files that are tracked in the control file.

During database recovery, all enabled instances are checked to see if recovery is needed. If you remove an instance from your Oracle RAC database, then you should disable the instance's thread of redo so that Oracle does not have to check the thread during database recovery.

Automatic Undo Management in Oracle RAC

Oracle Database automatically manages undo segments within a specific undo tablespace that is assigned to an instance. Only the instance assigned to the undo tablespace can modify the contents of that tablespace. However, instances can always read all undo blocks throughout the cluster environment for consistent read purposes. Also, any instance can update any undo tablespace during transaction recovery, if that undo tablespace is not currently used by another instance for undo generation or transaction recovery.

You assign undo tablespaces in your Oracle RAC administrator-managed database by specifying a different value for the UNDO_TABLESPACE parameter for each instance in your SPFILE or individual PFILEs. For policy-managed databases, Oracle automatically allocates the undo tablespace when the instance starts if you have Oracle Managed Files enabled. You cannot simultaneously use automatic undo management and manual undo management in an Oracle RAC database. In other words, all instances of an Oracle RAC database must operate in the same undo mode.

See Also:

"Setting SPFILE Parameter Values for Oracle RAC" for information about modifying SPFILE parameters

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for detailed information about creating and managing undo tablespaces

Oracle Automatic Storage Management with Oracle RAC

Oracle ASM automatically maximizes I/O performance by managing the storage configuration across the disks that Oracle ASM manages. Oracle ASM does this by evenly distributing the database files across all of the available storage assigned to the disk groups within Oracle ASM in your cluster database environment. Oracle ASM partitions your total disk space requirements into uniformly sized units across all disks in a disk group. Oracle ASM can also automatically mirror data to prevent data loss. Because of these features, Oracle ASM also significantly reduces your administrative overhead.

Oracle ASM instances are created on each node where you install Oracle Clusterware. Each Oracle ASM instance has either an SPFILE or PFILE type parameter file. Oracle recommends that you back up the parameter files and the TNS entries for nondefault Oracle Net listeners.

To use Oracle ASM with Oracle RAC, select Oracle ASM as your storage option when you create your database with the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA). As in noncluster Oracle databases, using Oracle ASM with Oracle RAC does not require I/O tuning.

The following topics describe Oracle ASM and Oracle ASM administration, as follows:

Storage Management in Oracle RAC

Modifying Disk Group Configurations for Oracle ASM

Oracle ASM Disk Group Management

Configuring Preferred Mirror Read Disks in Extended Distance Clusters

Converting Nonclustered Oracle ASM to Clustered Oracle ASM

Administering Oracle ASM Instances with SRVCTL in Oracle RAC

See Also:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for complete information about managing Oracle ASM

Storage Management in Oracle RAC

You can create Oracle ASM disk groups and configure mirroring for Oracle ASM disk groups using the Oracle ASM configuration assistant (ASMCA). After your Oracle RAC database is operational, you can administer Oracle ASM disk groups with Oracle Enterprise Manager.

The Oracle tools that you use to manage Oracle ASM, including ASMCA, Oracle Enterprise Manager, and the silent mode install and upgrade commands, include options to manage Oracle ASM instances and disk groups.

You can use the Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) to verify the integrity of Oracle ASM across the cluster. Typically, this check ensures that the Oracle ASM instances on all nodes run from the same Oracle home and, if asmlib exists, that it is a valid version and has valid ownership. Run the following command to perform this check:

cluvfy comp asm [-n node_list] [-verbose]

Replace node_list with a comma-delimited list of node names on which the check is to be performed. Specify all to check all nodes in the cluster.

Use the cluvfy comp ssa command to locate shared storage.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about CVU

Modifying Disk Group Configurations for Oracle ASM

When you create a disk group for a cluster or add new disks to an existing clustered disk group, prepare the underlying physical storage on shared disks and give the Oracle user permission to read and write to the disk. The shared disk requirement is the only substantial difference between using Oracle ASM with an Oracle RAC database compared to using it with a noncluster Oracle database. Oracle ASM automatically re-balances the storage load after you add or delete a disk or disk group.

In a cluster, each Oracle ASM instance manages its node's metadata updates to the disk groups. In addition, each Oracle ASM instance coordinates disk group metadata with other nodes in the cluster. As with noncluster Oracle databases, you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager, ASMCA, SQL*Plus, and the Server Control Utility (SRVCTL) to administer disk groups for Oracle ASM that are used by Oracle RAC. The Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide explains how to use SQL*Plus to administer Oracle ASM instances. Subsequent sections describe how to use the other tools.

Note:

When you start ASMCA, if there is not an Oracle ASM instance, then the utility prompts you to create one.

Oracle ASM Disk Group Management

To use Oracle ASM, you must first create disk groups with ASMCA before creating a database with DBCA. You can also use the Oracle ASM disk group management feature to create and manage an Oracle ASM instance and its associated disk groups independently of creating a database. You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager or DBCA to add disks to a disk group, to mount a disk group or to mount all of the disk groups, or to create Oracle ASM instances. Additionally, you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager to dismount and drop disk groups or to delete Oracle ASM instances.

Oracle ASM instances are created when you install Oracle Clusterware. To create an Oracle ASM disk group, run ASMCA from the Grid_home/bin directory. You can also use the Oracle ASM Disk Groups page in ASMCA for Oracle ASM management. That is, you can configure Oracle ASM storage separately from database creation. For example, from the ASM Disk Groups page, you can create disk groups, add disks to existing disk groups, or mount disk groups that are not currently mounted.

See Also:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for information about managing Oracle ASM

When you start ASMCA, if the Oracle ASM instance has not been created, then ASMCA prompts you to create the instance. ASMCA prompts you for the sysasm password and the ASMSNMP password.

Configuring Preferred Mirror Read Disks in Extended Distance Clusters

When you configure Oracle ASM failure groups, it may be more efficient for a node to read from an extent that is closest to the node, even if that extent is a secondary extent. You can configure Oracle ASM to read from a secondary extent if that extent is closer to the node instead of Oracle ASM reading from the primary copy which might be farther from the node. Using preferred read failure groups is most beneficial in an extended distance cluster.

To configure this feature, set the ASM_PREFERRED_READ_FAILURE_GROUPS initialization parameter to specify a list of failure group names as preferred read disks. Oracle recommends that you configure at least one mirrored extent copy from a disk that is local to a node in an extended cluster. However, a failure group that is preferred for one instance might be remote to another instance in the same Oracle RAC database. The parameter setting for preferred read failure groups is instance specific.

See Also:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for complete information about configuring preferred mirror read disks in extended distance clusters

Oracle Database Reference for information about the ASM_PREFERRED_READ_FAILURE_GROUPS initialization parameter

Converting Nonclustered Oracle ASM to Clustered Oracle ASM

When installing Grid Infrastructure, any nonclustered Oracle ASM instances are automatically converted to clustered Oracle ASM.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for information about using Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control to convert nonclustered Oracle ASM to clustered Oracle ASM

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for complete information about configuring preferred mirror read disks in extended distance clusters

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for your platform for detailed information about converting Oracle ASM using the rconfig command

Administering Oracle ASM Instances with SRVCTL in Oracle RAC

You can use the Server Control Utility (SRVCTL) to add or remove an Oracle ASM instance. To issue SRVCTL commands to manage Oracle ASM, log in as the operating system user that owns the Grid Infrastructure home and issue the SRVCTL commands from the bin directory of the Grid Infrastructure home.

Use the following syntax to add an Oracle ASM instance:

srvctl add asm

Use the following syntax to remove an Oracle ASM instance:

srvctl remove asm [-f]

You can also use SRVCTL to start, stop, and obtain the status of an Oracle ASM instance as in the following examples.

Use the following syntax to start an Oracle ASM instance:

srvctl start asm [-n node_name] [-o start_options]

Use the following syntax to stop an Oracle ASM instance:

srvctl stop asm [-n node_name] [-o stop_options]

Use the following syntax to show the configuration of an Oracle ASM instance:

srvctl config asm -n node_name

Use the following syntax to display the state of an Oracle ASM instance:

srvctl status asm [-n node_name]

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for more SRVCTL commands you can use to administer Oracle ASM

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information about administering Oracle ASM instances

3 Administering Database Instances and Cluster Databases

This chapter describes how to administer Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) databases and database instances.

The topics in this chapter include:

Tools for Administering Oracle RAC

Starting and Stopping Instances and Oracle RAC Databases

Verifying That Instances are Running

Terminating Sessions On a Specific Cluster Instance

Overview of Initialization Parameter Files in Oracle RAC

Initialization Parameter Use in Oracle RAC

Converting an Administrator-Managed Database to a Policy-Managed Database

Quiescing Oracle RAC Databases

Administering Multiple Cluster Interconnects on Linux and UNIX Platforms

Customizing How Oracle Clusterware Manages Oracle RAC Databases

Advanced Oracle Enterprise Manager Administration

See Also:

The Oracle Enterprise Manager online help for more information about Oracle Enterprise Manager

Tools for Administering Oracle RAC

The following sections introduce Oracle RAC administration using the three tools that you commonly use to manage Oracle RAC databases and instances: Oracle Enterprise Manager, SQL*Plus, and the SRVCTL utility. In many cases, you use these tools the same way to manage Oracle RAC environments as you would use them manage noncluster Oracle databases:

Overview of Oracle RAC Database Administration

Administering Oracle RAC with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Administering Oracle RAC with SQL*Plus

Administering Oracle RAC with SRVCTL

Overview of Oracle RAC Database Administration

Prior to Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2), DBAs had to hard-code parameters, such as database instance number and redo threads, to allocate specific Oracle RAC database instances to nodes within the cluster. If a node in the cluster does not start, then the database instance does not start. In Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2.0.2), this method of managing your Oracle RAC database continues to be available. An Oracle RAC database managed in this manner is referred to as an administrator-managed database. Administrator-managed databases include pre-11g release 2 (11.2) Oracle databases and upgraded Oracle databases. You can manage these databases using the same commands or methods (such as DBCA or Oracle Enterprise Manager) you used with previous releases of Oracle Database. All commands and utilities maintain backward compatibility.

With Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2), you define a database as a resource in Oracle Clusterware. The resource is automatically created when you create your database with DBCA or the resource can be manually created by adding your database with SRVCTL. This resource contains the Oracle home, the SPFILE, one or more server pools, and one or more Oracle ASM disk groups required for the database. The database resource also has a weak start dependency on the VIP, which means that the resource tries to start the VIP for the node when the database instance starts. If the VIP does not start successfully, then the instance still starts but the service does not. The database service resource depends on a running VIP.

When you review the database resource for an administrator-managed database, you see a server pool defined with the same name as the Oracle database. This server pool is part of a special Oracle-defined server pool called Generic. Oracle RAC manages the Generic server pool to support administrator-managed databases. When you add or remove an administrator-managed database using either SRVCTL or DBCA, Oracle RAC creates or removes the server pools that are members of Generic. You cannot use SRVCTL or CRSCTL commands to modify the Generic server pool.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about defining resources, server pools, and resource dependencies

In Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2), Oracle introduces policy-managed databases to move away from any hard coding of parameters, and to help to replace nodes in a cluster or expand the cluster as requirements change. If you use policy-managed databases, then you must install the Oracle home software on every node in your cluster. Policy-managed databases must use Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) and cannot coexist on the same servers as administrator-managed databases.

Note:

You cannot run more than one instance of the same database on the same node.

A policy-managed database is defined by cardinality, which is the number of database instances you want running during normal operations. A policy-managed database runs in one or more database server pools that are created in the cluster by a user assigned the CRS Administrator role, and it can run on different servers at different times. A database instance starts on all servers that are in the server pools defined for the database. If you are using Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) with Oracle Managed Files for your database storage, then, when an instance starts and there is no redo thread available, Oracle RAC automatically enables one and creates the required redo log files and undo tablespace. Clients can connect to a policy-managed database using the same SCAN-based connect string no matter which servers they happen to be running on at the time.

See Also:

"Converting an Administrator-Managed Database to a Policy-Managed Database"

Using the Same Cluster for Administrator-Managed and Policy-Managed Databases

If you want to create an administrator-managed database on a cluster that already hosts policy-managed databases, then you must carefully select the nodes for the administrator-managed database. This is because the nodes that you select for an administrator-managed database that are in policy-managed server pools will be moved into the Generic server pool as part of this process.

If you select nodes that already run other policy-managed database instances, then DBCA prompts you with a message that lists the instances and services that will be shut down when DBCA creates the administrator-managed database. If you select the Yes button on the dialog box when DBCA asks "Do you want to continue?," then your policy-managed database instances and services will be shut down as a result of the administrator-managed database creation process.

Note:

This is also true if you use the srvctl add instance command, which returns a similar error message indicating that the databases would be shut down. If you also use the force option (-f) with the srvctl add instance command, then this is the same as choosing Yes on the DBCA dialog. Doing this shuts down any policy-managed databases that are running on the node before moving the node into the Generic server pool.

Administering Oracle RAC with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Oracle Enterprise Manager provides a central point of control for the Oracle RAC environment, allowing you to perform administrative tasks simultaneously on multiple cluster databases. It has both the Database Control and Grid Control graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for managing noncluster and Oracle RAC environments. Because there is one Oracle Enterprise Manager Agent on each node of an Oracle RAC database, for Database Control you can use any URL for that database to administer it with Oracle Enterprise Manager.

In Oracle Enterprise Manager, Oracle RAC-specific administrative tasks generally focus on two levels: tasks that affect an entire cluster database and tasks that affect specific instances. For example, you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager to start, stop, and monitor databases, cluster database instances, and their listeners, and to schedule jobs or set up alert thresholds for metrics. Or you can perform instance-specific commands such as setting parameters or creating resource plans. You can also use Oracle Enterprise Manager to manage schemas, security, and cluster database storage features.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for a task-oriented guide that explains how to use Oracle Enterprise Manager to perform routine Oracle RAC database administrative tasks

"Advanced Oracle Enterprise Manager Administration" for advanced administration tasks not covered in Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide

Administering Oracle RAC with SQL*Plus

SQL*Plus commands operate on the current instance. The current instance can be either the local default instance on which you initiated your SQL*Plus session, or it can be a remote instance to which you connect with Oracle Net Services.

Because, by default, the SQL*Plus prompt does not identify the current instance, you should direct your commands to the correct instance. Starting a SQL*Plus session and connecting to the database without specifying an instance directs all SQL*Plus commands to the local instance. In this case, the default instance is also the current instance.

To connect to a different instance in SQL*Plus, issue a new CONNECT command and specify a remote instance net service name, as shown in the following example, where password is the password:

CONNECT user_name@net_service_name
Enter password: password

Connecting as SYSOPER or SYSDBA enables you to perform privileged operations, such as instance startup and shutdown. Multiple SQL*Plus sessions can connect to the same instance at the same time. SQL*Plus automatically disconnects you from the first instance whenever you connect to another one.

Note:

Use the SYSASM privilege instead of the SYSDBA privilege to connect to and administer an Oracle ASM instance. If you use the SYSDBA privilege to connect to an Oracle ASM instance, then Oracle Database writes warnings to the alert log files because commands that run using the SYSDBA privilege on an Oracle ASM instance are deprecated.

See the Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information.

See Also:

SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference

Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for the proper specification of net_service_name

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information about connecting to the database using SYSDBA or SYSOPER privileges

Changing the SQL*Plus Prompt

To change the SQL*Plus prompt so that it includes the name of the current instance:

SET SQLPROMPT '_CONNECT_IDENTIFIER> '

This command replaces the "SQL" string in front of the greater than symbol (>) with the user variable _CONNECT_IDENTIFIER that displays the current instance name for the duration of your current session.

To change the prompt for all sessions automatically, add an entry similar to the following entry in your glogin.sql file, found in the SQL*Plus administrative directory:

SET SQLPROMPT '_CONNECT_IDENTIFIER> '

You may include any other required text or SQL*Plus user variable between the single quotes in the command.

How SQL*Plus Commands Affect Instances

Most SQL statements affect the current instance. You can use SQL*Plus to start and stop instances in the Oracle RAC database. You do not need to run SQL*Plus commands as root on Linux and UNIX systems or as Administrator on Windows systems. You need only the proper database account with the privileges that you normally use for a noncluster Oracle database. Some examples of how SQL*Plus commands affect instances are:

ALTER SYSTEM CHECKPOINT LOCAL affects only the instance to which you are currently connected, rather than the default instance or all instances.

ALTER SYSTEM CHECKPOINT or ALTER SYSTEM CHECKPOINT GLOBAL affects all instances in the cluster database.

ALTER SYSTEM SWITCH LOGFILE affects only the current instance.

To force a global log switch, use the ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT statement.

The INSTANCE option of ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG enables you to archive each online redo log file for a specific instance.

Table 3-1 describes how SQL*Plus commands affect instances.

Table 3-1 How SQL*Plus Commands Affect Instances

SQL*Plus Command
Associated Instance

ARCHIVE LOG

Always affects the current instance.

CONNECT

Affects the default instance if no instance is specified in the CONNECT command.

HOST

Affects the node running the SQL*Plus session, regardless of the location of the current and default instances.

RECOVER

Does not affect any particular instance, but rather the database.

SHOW INSTANCE

Displays information about the current instance, which can be different from the default local instance if you have redirected your commands to a remote instance.

SHOW PARAMETER and SHOW SGA

Displays parameter and SGA information from the current instance.

STARTUP and SHUTDOWN

Always affects the current instance. These are privileged SQL*Plus commands.

Administering Oracle RAC with SRVCTL

Note:

if you currently set environment variables other than Oracle home and Oracle SID in your session or profile when accessing the Oracle database, then use the srvctl setenv command to set them for SRVCTL.

The Server Control Utility (SRVCTL) is a command-line interface that you can use to manage an Oracle RAC database from a single point. You can use SRVCTL to start and stop the database and instances, and to delete or move instances and services. You can also use SRVCTL to add services and manage configuration information, in addition to other resources in the cluster.

When you use SRVCTL to perform configuration operations on your cluster, SRVCTL stores configuration data in the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR). SRVCTL performs other operations, such as starting and stopping instances, by configuring and managing Oracle Clusterware resources, which define agents that perform database startup and shutdown operations using Oracle Call Interface APIs.

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for more information about SRVCTL

Starting and Stopping Instances and Oracle RAC Databases

You can start and stop instances with Oracle Enterprise Manager, SQL*Plus or SRVCTL as described in the following sections. Both Oracle Enterprise Manager and SRVCTL provide options to start and stop all of the instances in an Oracle RAC database with a single step.

You can only perform certain operations when the database is in a NOMOUNT or MOUNT state. Performing other operations requires that the database be OPEN. In addition, some operations require that only one instance be in the required state, while other operations require that all of the instances be in an identical state.

Note:

Oracle does not support running more than one instance of the same database on the same node.

The procedures in the following sections discuss starting and stopping Oracle RAC database instances:

Overview of Starting and Stopping Oracle RAC Instances

Starting and Stopping with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Starting Up and Shutting Down with SQL*Plus

Starting Up and Shutting Down with SRVCTL

Overview of Starting and Stopping Oracle RAC Instances

Before you can start an Oracle RAC instance, your clusterware and any required operating system-specific processes must be running. For more information about these processes, see your operating system documentation.

The procedure for shutting down Oracle RAC instances is identical to shutting down instances in noncluster Oracle databases, with the exceptions described here.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about shutting down Oracle databases

In Oracle RAC, shutting down one instance does not interfere with the operation of other running instances.

To shut down an Oracle RAC database completely, shut down every instance that has the database open or mounted.

After a NORMAL or IMMEDIATE shutdown, instance recovery is not required. Recovery is required, however, after you issue the SHUTDOWN ABORT command or after an instance terminates abnormally. An instance that is still running performs instance recovery for the instance that shut down. If no other instances are running, the next instance to open the database performs instance recovery for any instances needing it.

The SHUTDOWN TRANSACTIONAL command with the LOCAL option is useful to shutdown an instance after all active transactions on the instance have either committed or rolled back. This is in addition to what this command does for SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE. Transactions on other instances do not block this operation. If you omit the LOCAL option, then this operation waits until transactions on all other instances that started before the shutdown was issued either commit or rollback.

Starting and Stopping with Oracle Enterprise Manager

See the Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for step-by-step instructions on using Oracle Enterprise Manager to start or stop a cluster database instance or a cluster database.

Starting Up and Shutting Down with SQL*Plus

Note:

This section assumes you are using an SPFILE.

If you want to start or stop just one instance and you are connected to your local node, you should first ensure that your current environment includes the SID for the local instance. Note that any subsequent commands in your session, whether inside or outside a SQL*Plus session, are associated with that same SID.

To start or shutdown your local instance, initiate a SQL*Plus session and connect with the SYSDBA or SYSOPER privilege and then issue the required command. For example to start and mount an instance on your local node, run the following commands in your SQL*Plus session:

   CONNECT / AS SYSDBA
   STARTUP MOUNT

Note:

If you use Oracle ASM disk groups, use the SYSASM privilege instead of the SYSDBA privilege to connect to and administer the Oracle ASM instances. See the Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information.

You can start multiple instances from a single SQL*Plus session on one node using Oracle Net Services. Connect to each instance in turn by using a Net Services connection string, typically an instance-specific alias from your TNSNAMES.ORA file.

Note:

To ensure that you connect to the correct instance, you must use an alias in the connect string that is associated with just one instance. If you use an alias to a service or with multiple addresses, you may not be connected to your intended instance.

For example, you can use a SQL*Plus session on a local node to perform a transactional shutdown for two instances on remote nodes by connecting to each in turn using the instance's individual alias name. Assume the alias name for the first instance is db1 and that the alias for the second instance is db2. Connect to the first instance and shut it down as follows:

   CONNECT /@db1 AS SYSDBA
   SHUTDOWN TRANSACTIONAL

Then connect to and shutdown the second instance by entering the following from your SQL*Plus session:

   CONNECT /@db2 AS SYSDBA
   SHUTDOWN TRANSACTIONAL

It is not possible to start or stop multiple instances, simultaneously, with SQL*Plus, so you cannot start or stop all of the instances for a cluster database with a single SQL*Plus command. You may want to create a script that connects to each instance in turn and start it up and shut it down. However, you must maintain this script manually if you add or drop instances.

See Also:

SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for information about other startup and shut down keywords, such as NOMOUNT, MOUNT, IMMEDIATE, and so on

Starting Up and Shutting Down with SRVCTL

Note:

This section assumes that you are using an SPFILE for your database.

Enter the following SRVCTL syntax from the command line, providing the required database name and instance name, or include multiple instance names to start multiple specific instances:

To start administrator-managed databases, enter a comma-delimited list of instance names:

$ srvctl start instance -d db_unique_name -i instance_name_list [-o start_options]

In Windows you must enclose a comma-delimited list in double quotation marks ("").

To start policy-managed databases, enter a single node name:

$ srvctl start instance -d db_unique_name -n node_name [-o start_options]

Note that this command also starts all enabled and non-running services that have AUTOMATIC management policy, and for which the database role matches one of the service's roles.

To stop one or more instances, enter the following SRVCTL syntax from the command line:

$ srvctl stop instance -d db_unique_name [ -i "instance_name_list" |
  -n node_name ] [ -o stop_options ]

You can enter either a comma-delimited list of instance names to stop several instances or you can enter a node name to stop one instance. In Windows you must enclose a comma-delimited list in double quotation marks ("").

This command also stops the services related to the terminated instances on the nodes where the instances were running. As an example, the following command shuts down the two instances, orcl3 and orcl4, on the orcl database using the immediate stop option:

$ srvctl stop instance -d orcl -i "orcl3,orcl4" -o immediate

To start or stop your entire cluster database, that is, all of the instances and its enabled services, enter the following SRVCTL commands:

$ srvctl start database -d db_unique_name [-o start_options]

$ srvctl stop database -d db_unique_name [-o stop_options]

The following SRVCTL command, for example, mounts all of the non-running instances of an Oracle RAC database:

$ srvctl start database -d orcl -o mount

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for information about SRVCTL options and information about other administrative tasks that you can perform with SRVCTL

Verifying That Instances are Running

To verify that instances are running, on any node from a SQL*Plus prompt enter the following, where password is the password:

CONNECT SYS/as SYSDBA
Enter password: password
SELECT * FROM V$ACTIVE_INSTANCES;

This query returns output similar to the following:

INST_NUMBER INST_NAME
-----------  -----------------
1            db1-sun:db1
2            db2-sun:db2
3            db3-sun:db3

The output columns for this example are shown in Table 3-2.

Table 3-2 Descriptions of V$ACTIVE_INSTANCES Columns

Column
Description

INST_NUMBER

Identifies the instance number.

INST_NAME

Identifies the host name and instance name as host_name:instance_name.

Terminating Sessions On a Specific Cluster Instance

You can use the ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION statement to terminate a session on a specific instance. When a session is terminated, any active transactions of the session are rolled back, and resources held by the session (such as locks and memory areas) are immediately released and available to other sessions.

Using this statement enables you to maintain strict application service-level agreements in Oracle RAC environments. Often, the goal of a service-level agreement is to execute a transaction in a specified time limit. In an Oracle RAC environment, this may require terminating a transaction on an instance and retrying the transaction on another instance within a specified time frame.

To terminate sessions, follow these steps:

Query the value of the INST_ID column in the GV$SESSION dynamic performance view to identify which session to terminate.

Issue the ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION and specify the session index number (SID) and serial number of a session that you identified with the GV$SESSION dynamic performance view.

KILL SESSION 'integer1, integer2[, @integer3]'

For integer1, specify the value of the SID column.

For integer2, specify the value of the SERIAL# column.

For the optional integer3, specify the ID of the instance where the session to be killed exists. You can find the instance ID by querying the GV$ tables.

To use this statement, your instance must have the database open, and your session and the session to be terminated must be on the same instance unless you specify integer3.

If the session is performing some activity that must be completed, such as waiting for a reply from a remote database or rolling back a transaction, then Oracle Database waits for this activity to complete, marks the session as terminated, and then returns control to you. If the waiting lasts a minute, then Oracle Database marks the session to be terminated and returns control to you with a message that the session is marked to be terminated. The PMON background process then marks the session as terminated when the activity is complete.

The following examples provide three scenarios in which a user identifies and terminates a specific session. In each example, the SYSDBA first queries the GV$SESSION view for the SCOTT user's session to identify the session to terminate, and then runs the ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION statement to terminate the session on the instance.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Performance Tuning Guide for examples of these procedures using Oracle Enterprise Manager

Example 1   Identify and terminate the session on an busy instance

In this example, assume that the executing session is SYSDBA on the instance INST_ID=1. The ORA-00031 message is returned because some activity must be completed before the session can be terminated.

SQL> SELECT SID, SERIAL#, INST_ID FROM GV$SESSION WHERE USERNAME='SCOTT';

       SID    SERIAL#    INST_ID
---------- ---------- ----------
        80          4          2

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION '80, 4, @2';
alter system kill session '80, 4, @2'
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00031: session marked for kill
SQL>

Example 2   Identify and terminate the session on an idle instance

In this example, assume that the executing session is SYSDBA on the instance INST_ID=1. The session on instance INST_ID=2 is terminated immediately when Oracle Database executes the statement within 60 seconds.

SQL> SELECT SID, SERIAL#, INST_ID FROM GV$SESSION WHERE USERNAME='SCOTT';

       SID    SERIAL#    INST_ID
---------- ---------- ----------
        80          6          2

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION '80, 6, @2';

System altered.

SQL>

Example 3   Using the IMMEDIATE parameter

The following example includes the optional IMMEDIATE clause to immediately terminate the session without waiting for outstanding activity to complete.

SQL> SELECT SID, SERIAL#, INST_ID FROM GV$SESSION WHERE USERNAME='SCOTT';

       SID    SERIAL#    INST_ID
---------- ---------- ----------
        80          8          2

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION '80, 8, @2' IMMEDIATE;

System altered.

SQL>

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about terminating sessions

Overview of Initialization Parameter Files in Oracle RAC

When you create the database, Oracle Database creates an SPFILE in the file location that you specify. This location can be an Oracle ASM disk group, a cluster file system, or a shared raw device. If you manually create your database, then Oracle recommends that you create an SPFILE from an initialization parameter file (PFILE).

Note:

Oracle RAC uses a traditional PFILE only if an SPFILE does not exist or if you specify PFILE in your STARTUP command. Oracle recommends that you use an SPFILE to simplify administration, to maintain parameter setting consistency, and to guarantee parameter setting persistence across database shutdown and startup events. In addition, you can configure RMAN to back up your SPFILE.

All instances in the cluster database use the same SPFILE at startup. Because the SPFILE is a binary file, do not directly edit the SPFILE with an editor. Instead, change SPFILE parameter settings using Oracle Enterprise Manager or ALTER SYSTEM SQL statements.

When creating an SPFILE, if you include the FROM MEMORY clause (for example, CREATE PFILE FROM MEMORY or CREATE SPFILE FROM MEMORY), then the CREATE statement creates a PFILE or SPFILE using the current system-wide parameter settings. In an Oracle RAC environment, the created file contains the parameter settings from each instance. Because the FROM MEMORY clause requires all other instances to send their parameter settings to the instance that is trying to create the parameter file, the total execution time depends on the number of instances, the number of parameter settings on each instance, and the amount of data for these settings.

This section includes the following topics:

Setting SPFILE Parameter Values for Oracle RAC

Parameter File Search Order in Oracle RAC

Backing Up the Server Parameter File

Setting SPFILE Parameter Values for Oracle RAC

You can change SPFILE settings with Oracle Enterprise Manager or by using the SET clause of the ALTER SYSTEM statement.

Note:

Modifying the SPFILE using tools other than Oracle Enterprise Manager or SQL*Plus can corrupt the file and prevent database startup. To repair the file, you might be required to create a PFILE and then regenerate the SPFILE.

The examples in this section appear in ASCII text although the SPFILE is a binary file. Assume that you start an instance with an SPFILE containing the following entries:

*.OPEN_CURSORS=500
prod1.OPEN_CURSORS=1000

The value before the period (.) in an SPFILE entry identifies the instance to which the particular parameter value belongs. When an asterisk (*) precedes the period, the value is applied to all instances that do not have a subsequent, individual value listed in the SPFILE.

For the instance with the Oracle system identifier (SID) prod1, the OPEN_CURSORS parameter is set to 1000 even though it has a database-wide setting of 500. Parameter file entries that have the asterisk (*) wildcard character only affect the instances without an instance-specific entry. This gives you control over parameter settings for instance prod1. These two types of settings can appear in any order in the parameter file.

If another DBA runs the following statement, then Oracle Database updates the setting on all instances except the instance with SID prod1:

ALTER SYSTEM SET OPEN_CURSORS=1500 sid='*' SCOPE=MEMORY;

Then if you run the following statement on another instance, the instance with sid prod1 also assumes the new setting of 2000:

ALTER SYSTEM SET OPEN_CURSORS=2000 sid='*' SCOPE=MEMORY;

In the following example, the server parameter file contains these entries:

prod1.OPEN_CURSORS=1000
*.OPEN_CURSORS=500

Run the following statement to make Oracle Database disregard the first entry from the server parameter file:

ALTER SYSTEM RESET OPEN_CURSORS SCOPE=SPFILE;

Run the following statement to reset a parameter to its default value for instance prod1 only:

ALTER SYSTEM RESET OPEN_CURSORS SCOPE=SPFILE SID='prod1';

Parameter File Search Order in Oracle RAC

Oracle Database searches for your parameter file in a particular order depending on your platform.

On Linux and UNIX platforms, the search order is as follows:

$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/spfilesid.ora

$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/spfile.ora

$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/initsid.ora

On Windows platforms, the search order is as follows:

%ORACLE_HOME%\database\spfilesid.ora

%ORACLE_HOME%\database\spfile.ora

%ORACLE_HOME%\database\initsid.ora

Note:

Oracle recommends that you do not use the default SPFILE names because all instances must use the same file and they all have different SIDs. Instead, store the SPFILE on Oracle ASM. If you store the SPFILE on a cluster file system, then use the following naming convention for the SPFILE: $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/spfiledb_unique_name.ora. Create a PFILE named $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/initsid.ora that contains the name SPFILE=ORACLE_HOME/dbs/spfiledb_unique_name.ora.

Backing Up the Server Parameter File

Oracle recommends that you regularly back up the server parameter file for recovery purposes. Do this using Oracle Enterprise Manager (as described in the Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide) or use the CREATE PFILE statement. For example:

CREATE PFILE='?/dbs/initdbname.ora'
FROM SPFILE='/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/dbspfile'

You can use Recovery Manager (RMAN) to create backups of the server parameter file. You can also recover an SPFILE by starting an instance using a client-side initialization parameter file. Then re-create the server parameter file using the CREATE SPFILE statement. Note that if the parameter file that you use for this operation was for a single instance, then the parameter file does not contain instance-specific values, even those that must be unique in Oracle RAC instances. Therefore, ensure that your parameter file contains the appropriate settings as described earlier in this chapter.

To ensure that your SPFILE (and control files) are automatically backed up by RMAN during typical backup operations, use Oracle Enterprise Manager or the RMAN CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP statement to enable the RMAN autobackup feature

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide to perform backup jobs using Oracle Enterprise Manager

Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for more information about the CREATE SPFILE statement

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for more information about the CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP statement

Initialization Parameter Use in Oracle RAC

By default, most parameters are set to a default value and this value is the same across all instances. However, many initialization parameters can also have different values on different instances as described in Table 3-3. Other parameters must either be unique or identical as described in the following sections

Parameters That Must Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Parameters That Have Unique Settings on All Instances

Parameters That Should Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Table 3-3 summarizes the initialization parameters used specifically for Oracle RAC databases.

See Also:

Oracle Database Reference for additional information about these and other initialization parameters

Table 3-3 Initialization Parameters Specific to Oracle RAC

Parameter
Description

ACTIVE_INSTANCE_COUNT

This initialization parameter is deprecated in Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2). Instead, use a service with one preferred and one available instance.

ASM_PREFERRED_READ_FAILURE_GROUPS

Specifies a set of disks to be the preferred disks from which to read mirror data copies. The values you set for this parameter are instance specific and need not be the same on all instances.

CLUSTER_DATABASE

Enables a database to be started in cluster mode. Set this parameter to TRUE.

CLUSTER_DATABASE_INSTANCES

Oracle RAC uses this parameter to allocate adequate memory resources. It must be set to the same value on all instances.

For policy-managed databases, Oracle internally sets this parameter to 16

For administrator-managed databases, Oracle internally sets it to the number of configured Oracle RAC instances

You can set this parameter to a value that is greater than the current number of instances, if you are planning to add instances. For policy-managed databases, you should set this parameter to a higher value only if you intend to run a database with more than 16 instances. In this case, set the parameter to the expected maximum number of instances on which this database will run.

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS

Specifies an alternative cluster interconnect for the private network when there are multiple interconnects. The CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter is used only in Linux and UNIX environments where UDP IPC is enabled.

Notes:

Oracle recommends that all Oracle databases and Oracle Clusterware use the same interconnect network. If an Oracle database runs on a separate network from Oracle Clusterware, then the timeout on error is 900s.

Oracle does not recommend setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter except in certain situations. See "Administering Multiple Cluster Interconnects on Linux and UNIX Platforms" for more details.

This parameter is stored in the Grid Plug and Play profile in a Grid Plug and Play environment.

DB_NAME

If you set a value for DB_NAME in instance-specific parameter files, the setting must be identical for all instances.

DISPATCHERS

Set the DISPATCHERS parameter to enable a shared server configuration, that is a server that is configured to enable many user processes to share very few server processes. With shared server configurations, many user processes connect to a dispatcher. The DISPATCHERS parameter may contain many attributes.

Oracle recommends that you configure at least the PROTOCOL and LISTENER attributes. PROTOCOL specifies the network protocol for which the dispatcher process generates a listening end point. LISTENER specifies an alias name for the Oracle Net Services listeners. Set the alias to a name that is resolved through a naming method such as a tnsnames.ora file. The tnsnames.ora file contains net service names. Clients, nodes, and the Oracle Performance Manager node need this file. Oracle Enterprise Manager does not require tnsnames.ora entries on the client for Database Control or Grid Control.

See Also: Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for complete information about configuring the DISPATCHERS parameter and its attributes and for configuring the shared server

GCS_SERVER_PROCESSES

This static parameter specifies the initial number of server processes for an Oracle RAC instance's Global Cache Service (GCS). The GCS processes manage the routing of interinstance traffic among Oracle RAC instances. The default number of GCS server processes is calculated based on system resources with a minimum setting of 2. For systems with one CPU, there is one GCS server process. For systems with two to eight CPUs, there are two GCS server processes. For systems with more than eight CPUs, the number of GCS server processes equals the number of CPUs divided by 4, dropping any fractions. For example, if you have 10 CPUs, then 10 divided by 4 means that your system has 2 GCS processes. You can set this parameter to different values on different instances.

INSTANCE_NAME

Specifies the unique name of an instance. Clients can use this name to force their session to be connected to a specific instance in the cluster. The format of the INSTANCE_NAME parameter is generally db_unique_name_instance_number, such as orcldb_2.

Note: In Grid Plug and Play environments, the INSTANCE_NAME parameter is not required and defaults to db_unique_name_instance_number if not specified.

RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE

In a clustered database, you can either set RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=0 on every instance to disable the result cache, or use a nonzero value on every instance to enable the result cache. To switch between enabled and disabled result cache requires that you restart every instance:

Enabling the result cache: Set RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE to a value greater than 0, or leave the parameter unset. You can size the cache differently on individual instances.

Disabling the result cache: Set RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=0 on all instances to disable the result cache. If you set RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=0 upon startup of any one instance, then you must set the parameter to zero on all instance startups because disabling the result cache must done clusterwide. Disabling the result cache on some instances may lead to incorrect results.

If you do not set the RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE parameter, the parameter resolves to a default, nonzero value.

SERVICE_NAMES

When you use services, Oracle recommends that you do not set a value for the SERVICE_NAMES parameter but instead you should create cluster managed services through the Cluster Managed Services page in Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control. This is because Oracle Clusterware controls the setting for this parameter for the services that you create and for the default database service. The service features described in Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management" are not directly related to the features that Oracle provides when you set SERVICE_NAMES. In addition, setting a value for this parameter may override some benefits of using services.

Note: Entries in the SERVICE_NAMES parameter may be used by client connections rather than the INSTANCE_NAME parameter value. The SERVICE_NAMES parameter may include one or more names and different instances may share one or more names with other instances, enabling a client to connect to either a specific instance or to any one of a set of instances, depending on the service name chosen in the connection string.

SPFILE

When you use an SPFILE, all Oracle RAC database instances must use the SPFILE and the file must be on shared storage.

THREAD

Specifies the number of the redo threads to be used by an instance. You can specify any available redo thread number if that thread number is enabled and is not used. If specified, this parameter must have unique values on all instances. The best practice is to use the INSTANCE_NAME parameter to specify redo log groups.

Parameters That Must Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Certain initialization parameters that are critical at database creation or that affect certain database operations must have the same value for every instance in an Oracle RAC database. Specify these parameter values in the SPFILE or in the individual PFILEs for each instance. The following list contains the parameters that must be identical on every instance:

COMPATIBLE
CLUSTER_DATABASE
CLUSTER_DATABASE_INSTANCES
CONTROL_FILES
DB_BLOCK_SIZE
DB_DOMAIN
DB_FILES
DB_NAME
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE
DB_UNIQUE_NAME
INSTANCE_TYPE (RDBMS or ASM)
PARALLEL_EXECUTION_MESSAGE_SIZE
REMOTE_LOGIN_PASSWORDFILE
UNDO_MANAGEMENT

The following parameters must be identical on every instance only if the parameter value is set to zero:

DML_LOCKS
RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE

Parameters That Have Unique Settings on All Instances

When it is necessary to set parameters that have unique settings on a policy-managed database, you can ensure that instances always use the same name on particular nodes by running the srvctl modify instance -n node_name -i instance_name command for each server that can be assigned to the database's server pool. Then a unique value of the parameter can be specified for instance_name that is used whenever the database runs on node_name.

Specify the ORACLE_SID environment variable, which consists of the database name and the number of the INSTANCE_NAME assigned to the instance.

Use the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter to specify an alternative interconnect to the one Oracle Clusterware is using for the private network. Each instance of the Oracle RAC database gets a unique value when setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter.

See Also:

"Administering Multiple Cluster Interconnects on Linux and UNIX Platforms" for more information about the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter

Oracle Database uses the INSTANCE_NUMBER parameter to distinguish among instances at startup and the INSTANCE_NAME parameter to assign redo log groups to specific instances. The instance name can take the form db_unique_name_instance_number and when it has this form of name and number separated by an underscore, the number after the underscore is used as the INSTANCE_NUMBER. With Oracle Database 11.2 using Grid Plug and Play, you no longer have to explicitly assign instance numbers for policy-managed databases and the instance name defaults to db_unique_name_instance_number, where Oracle Database assigns the instance number.

When you specify UNDO_TABLESPACE with automatic undo management enabled, then set this parameter to a unique undo tablespace name for each instance.

If you use the ROLLBACK_SEGMENTS parameters, then Oracle recommends setting unique values for it by using the SID identifier in the SPFILE. However, you must set a unique value for INSTANCE_NUMBER for each instance and you cannot use a default value.

Using the ASM_PREFERRED_READ_FAILURE_GROUPS initialization parameter, you can specify a list of preferred read failure group names. The disks in those failure groups become the preferred read disks. Thus, every node can read from its local disks. This results in higher efficiency and performance and reduced network traffic. The setting for this parameter is instance-specific, and the values need not be the same on all instances.

Parameters That Should Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Oracle recommends that you set the values for the parameters in Table 3-4 to the same value on all instances. Although you can have different settings for these parameters on different instances, setting each parameter to the same value on all instances simplifies administration.

Table 3-4 Parameters That Should Have Identical Settings on All Instances

Parameter
Description

ARCHIVE_LAG_TARGET

Different values for instances in your Oracle RAC database are likely to increase overhead because of additional automatic synchronization performed by the database processing.

When using Streams with your Oracle RAC database, the value should be greater than zero.

LICENSE_MAX_USERS

Because this parameter determines a database-wide limit on the number of users defined in the database, it is useful to have the same value on all instances of your database so you can see the current value no matter which instance you are using. Setting different values may cause Oracle Database to generate additional warning messages during instance startup, or cause commands related to database user management to fail on some instances.

LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT

If you do not use the same value for all your instances, then you unnecessarily complicate media recovery. The recovering instance expects the required archive log file names to have the format defined by its own value of LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT, regardless of which instance created the archive log files.

Databases that support Data Guard, either to send or receive archived redo log files, must use the same value of LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT for all instances.

SPFILE

If this parameter does not identify the same file to all instances, then each instance may behave differently and unpredictably in fail over, load-balancing, and during normal operations. Additionally, a change you make to the SPFILE with an ALTER SYSTEM SET or ALTER SYSTEM RESET command is saved only in the SPFILE used by the instance where you run the command. Your change is not reflected in instances using different SPFILEs.

If the SPFILE values are different in instances for which the values were set by the server, then you should restart the instances that are not using the default SPFILE.

TRACE_ENABLED

If you want diagnostic trace information to be always available for your Oracle RAC database, you must set TRACE_ENABLED to TRUE on all of your database instances. If you trace on only some of your instances, then diagnostic information might not be available when required should the only accessible instances be those with TRACE_ENABLED set to FALSE.

UNDO_RETENTION

By setting different values for UNDO_RETENTION in each instance, you are likely to reduce scalability and encounter unpredictable behavior following a failover. Therefore, you should carefully consider whether there are any benefits before you assign different values for this parameter to the instances in your Oracle RAC database.

Converting an Administrator-Managed Database to a Policy-Managed Database

You can convert an administrator-managed database to a policy-managed database, as follows:

Check the current configuration of all services and the database (if you make a mistake and need to recover, then you can know what the configuration looked like when you began), as follows:

srvctl config database -d db_unique_name
srvctl config service -d db_unique_name

Caution:

By default, any named user may create a server pool. To restrict the operating system users that have this privilege, Oracle strongly recommends that you add specific users to the CRS Administrators list.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about adding users to the CRS Administrators list

Create a server pool for the policy-managed database (you must have CRS Administrator privileges to do this), as follows:

srvctl add srvpool -g server_pool -l 0 -u n

In the preceding command, n is the number of servers you want in the server pool.

Note:

This step does not necessarily place servers in the newly-created server pool. If there are no servers in the Free pool from which the new server pool can allocate servers, for example, then you may have to use the srvctl relocate server command to relocate a server from another server pool.

Modify the database to be in the new server pool, as follows:

srvctl modify database -d db_unique_name -g server_pool

Check the status of the database to confirm that it is now policy managed by repeating the commands in step 1.

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for more information about these commands

Configure Oracle Enterprise Manager to recognize the change you made in the previous procedure, as follows:

In order for Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to recognize the new database instances, you must change the instance name from db_unique_name# to db_unique_name_# (notice the additional underscore (_) before the number sign (#) character).

Rename the orapwd file in the dbs/database directory (or create a new orapwd file by running the orapwd command).

By default, there is an orapwd file with the instance name appended to it, such as orapwdORCL1. You must change the name of the file to correspond to the instance name you changed in the previous step. For example, you must change orapwdORCL1 to orapwdORCL_1 or create a new orapwd file.

Run emca to reconfigure Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control, as follows:

emca -config dbcontrol db -cluster

You cannot directly convert a policy-managed database to an administrator-managed database. Instead, you can remove the policy-managed configuration using the srvctl remove database and srvctl remove service commands, and then register the same database as an administrator-managed database using the srvctl add database and srvctl add instance commands. Once you register the database and instance, you must use the srvctl add service command to add back the services as you removed them.

See Also:

"SRVCTL Command Reference" for more information about these commands

Services for administrator-managed databases continue to be defined by the PREFERRED and AVAILABLE definitions. For policy-managed databases, a service is defined to a database server pool and can either be uniform (running on all instances in the server pool) or singleton (running on only one instance in the server pool). If you change the management policy of the database, then you must recreate the database services to be either uniform/singleton or PREFERRED/AVAILABLE, depending upon which database management policy you choose.

See Also:

"Service Deployment Options" for more information about managing services

Quiescing Oracle RAC Databases

The procedure for quiescing Oracle RAC databases is identical to quiescing a noncluster database. You use the ALTER SYSTEM QUIESCE RESTRICTED statement from one instance. You cannot open the database from any instance while the database is in the process of being quiesced. When all non-DBA sessions become inactive, the ALTER SYSTEM QUIESCE RESTRICTED statement finishes, and the database is considered as in a quiesced state. In an Oracle RAC environment, this statement affects all instances, not just the one from which the statement is issued.

To successfully issue the ALTER SYSTEM QUIESCE RESTRICTED statement in an Oracle RAC environment, you must have the Database Resource Manager feature activated, and it must have been activated since instance startup for all instances in the cluster database. It is through the facilities of the Database Resource Manager that non-DBA sessions are prevented from becoming active. Also, while this statement is in effect, any attempt to change the current resource plan is queued until after the system is unquiesced.

These conditions apply to Oracle RAC:

If you issued the ALTER SYSTEM QUIESCE RESTRICTED statement but Oracle Database has not finished processing it, you cannot open the database.

You cannot open the database if it is in a quiesced state.

The ALTER SYSTEM QUIESCE RESTRICTED and ALTER SYSTEM UNQUIESCE statements affect all instances in an Oracle RAC environment, not just the instance that issues the command.

Note:

You cannot use the quiesced state to take a cold backup. This is because Oracle Database background processes may still perform updates for Oracle Database internal purposes even while the database is in quiesced state. In addition, the file headers of online data files continue to look like they are being accessed. They do not look the same as if a clean shutdown were done. You can still take online backups while the database is in a quiesced state.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for details on the quiesce database feature

Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for more information about the ALTER SYSTEM QUIESCE RESTRICTED syntax

Administering Multiple Cluster Interconnects on Linux and UNIX Platforms

In Oracle RAC environments that run on Linux and UNIX platforms where UDP IPC is enabled, you can use the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter to specify an alternative interconnect to the one Oracle Clusterware is using for the private network.

If you set multiple values for CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS, then Oracle Database uses all of the interconnects that you specify, providing load balancing if all of the listed interconnects remain operational. You must use identical values, including the order in which the interconnects are listed, on all instances of your database when defining multiple interconnects with this parameter.

Oracle does not recommend setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter, which overrides the default interconnect settings at the operating system level. Instead, the best practice is to use operating system bonding techniques (also referred to as NIC (network interface card) bonding). See your platform-specific Oracle RAC installation guide for information about setting up NIC bonding at the operating system level.

This section includes the following topics:

Recommendations for Setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS Parameter

Usage Examples for the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS Parameter

Recommendations for Setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS Parameter

The CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter requires an IP address. It enables you to specify multiple IP addresses, separated by colons. Oracle RAC network traffic is distributed between the specified IP addresses.

Notes:

Oracle does not recommend setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter when using a policy-managed database.

If you must set the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter for a policy-managed database, then Oracle recommends that you use the srvctl modify instance -n node_name -i instance_name command for all servers in the server pool.

Oracle recommends that all databases and Oracle Clusterware use the same interconnect network.

Typically, you set the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter only in the following situations:

Due to operating system limitations, you cannot use NIC bonding to provide increased bandwidth using multiple network interfaces.

The cluster is running multiple databases and you need the interconnect traffic to be separated.

You have a single IP address that is made highly available by the operating system, and it does not have a stable interface name (for example, the name can change when you restart).

Do not set the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter for the following common configurations:

If you have only one cluster interconnect.

If the default cluster interconnect meets the bandwidth requirements of your Oracle RAC database, which is typically the case.

Consider the following important points when specifying the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter:

The CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter is useful only in Linux and UNIX environments where UDP IPC is enabled.

Specify a different value for each instance of the Oracle RAC database when setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter in the parameter file.

The IP addresses you specify for the different instances of the same database on different nodes must belong to network adapters that connect to the same interconnect network.

If you specify multiple IP addresses for this parameter, then list them in the same order for all instances of the same database. For example, if the parameter for the first instance on node1 lists the IP addresses of the alt0:, fta0:, and ics0: devices in that order, then the parameter for the second instance on node2 must list the IP addresses of the equivalent network adapters in the same order. See the examples in "Usage Examples for the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS Parameter" for more information about setting multiple interconnects with this parameter.

If an operating system error occurs while Oracle Database is writing to the interconnect that you specify with the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter, then Oracle Database returns an error even if some other interfaces are available. This is because the communication protocols between Oracle Database and the interconnect can vary greatly depending on your platform. See your Oracle Database platform-specific documentation for more information.

See Also:

Oracle Database Reference for more information about the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter

Usage Examples for the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS Parameter

This section provides two examples for setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter.

Example 1   

Consider setting CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS when a single cluster interconnect cannot meet your bandwidth requirements. You may need to set this parameter in data warehouse environments with high interconnect bandwidth demands from one or more databases as described here.

For example, if you have two databases with high interconnect bandwidth requirements, then you can override the default interconnect provided by your operating system and nominate a different interconnect for each database using the following syntax in each server parameter file where ipn is an IP address in standard dot-decimal format, for example: 144.25.16.214:

Database One: crm1.CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS = ip1
Database Two: ext1.CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS = ip2

If you have one database with high bandwidth demands, then you can nominate multiple interconnects using the following syntax:

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS = ip1:ip2:...:ipn

Example 2   

Use the ifconfig or netstat command to display the IP address of a device. This command provides a map between device names and IP addresses. For example, to determine the IP address of a device, run the following command as the root user:

# /usr/sbin/ifconfig -a
fta0: flags=c63<UP,BROADCAST,NOTRAILERS,RUNNING,MULTICAST,SIMPLEX>
      inet 192.34.137.212 netmask fffffc00 broadcast 192.34.139.255 ipmtu 1500

lo0:  flags=100c89<UP,LOOPBACK,NOARP,MULTICAST,SIMPLEX,NOCHECKSUM>
      inet 172.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 ipmtu 4096

ics0:  flags=1100063<UP,BROADCAST,NOTRAILERS,RUNNING,NOCHECKSUM,CLUIF>
      inet 10.0.0.1 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 10.0.0.255 ipmtu 7000

sl0:  flags=10<POINTOPOINT>

tun0: flags=80<NOARP>

In the preceding example, the interface fta0: has an IP address of 192.34.137.212 and the interface ics0: has an IP address of 10.0.0.1.

To use the network interface whose IP address is 192.34.137.212 for all GCS, GES, and IPQ IPC traffic, set the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter as follows:

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS=192.34.137.212

Customizing How Oracle Clusterware Manages Oracle RAC Databases

By default, Oracle Clusterware controls database restarts in Oracle RAC environments. In some cases, you may need to minimize the level of control that Oracle Clusterware has over your Oracle RAC database, for example, during database upgrades.

Note:

When using third-party clusterware, Oracle recommends that you allow Oracle Clusterware to manage the Oracle RAC instances. If you set the instance to manual and start it with third-party clusterware, do not use the third-party clusterware to monitor and restart database instances, Oracle Clusterware must do that.

To prevent Oracle Clusterware from restarting your Oracle RAC database when you restart your system, or to avoid restarting failed instances more than once, configure a policy to define the degree of control. There are two policies: AUTOMATIC, which is the default, and MANUAL. If the policy is set to AUTOMATIC, the database is automatically restored to its previous running condition (started or stopped) upon restart of the database host computer. If MANUAL, the database is never automatically restarted upon restart of the database host computer. A MANUAL setting does not prevent Oracle Restart from monitoring the database while it is running and restarting it if a failure occurs.

Use SRVCTL commands to display and change the Oracle Clusterware policies, as shown in the following examples:

Example 1   Display the Current Policy

For example, use the following command syntax to display the current policy where db_unique_name is the name of the database for which you want to change policies:

srvctl config database -d db_unique_name -a

See Also:

"srvctl config database" for more information about the srvctl config database command and its options

Example 2   Change the Current Policy to Another Policy

Use the following SRVCTL command syntax to change the current policy to either AUTOMATIC or MANUAL:

srvctl modify database -d db_unique_name -y [AUTOMATIC | MANUAL]

See Also:

"srvctl modify database" for more information about the srvctl modify database command and its options

This command syntax sets the resource attribute of the database resource.

Example 3   Specify a Policy for a New Database

When you add a new database using the SRVCTL command, you can use the -y option to specify the management policy as either AUTOMATIC or MANUAL, as shown in the following example where db_unique_name is the name of the database:

srvctl add database -d db_unique_name -y [AUTOMATIC | MANUAL] -o $ORACLE_HOME -d DATA

See Also:

"srvctl add database" for more information about the srvctl add database command and its options

This command syntax places the new database under the control of Oracle Clusterware. If you do not provide a management policy option, then Oracle Database uses the default value of automatic. After you change the policy, the Oracle Clusterware resource records the new value for the affected database.

Advanced Oracle Enterprise Manager Administration

You can install, configure, and monitor an Oracle RAC database from a single location using either Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control or Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control.

This section provides advanced administration tasks that are not covered in Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide or in "Overview of Monitoring and Tuning Oracle RAC Databases".

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for a task-oriented guide that explains how to use Oracle Enterprise Manager to perform routine Oracle RAC database administrative tasks

This section includes the following topics:

Using Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control to Discover Nodes and Instances

Other Oracle Enterprise Manager Capabilities

Administering Jobs and Alerts in Oracle RAC

Using Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control to Discover Nodes and Instances

Discovering Oracle RAC database and instance targets in Oracle Enterprise Manager enables monitoring and administration from the console:

Database Control does not require discovery because DBCA performs any necessary configuration while creating the database. Database Control also monitors a single database.

Grid Control enables you to use the Oracle Enterprise Manager console interface to discover Oracle RAC database and instance targets.

If the Grid Control agents are installed on a cluster that has an Oracle RAC database, Oracle RAC database targets are discovered at install time. You can use the console interface to discover targets if a database is created after agents are installed or if a database is not automatically discovered at agent install time.

To discover nodes and instances, use Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control as follows:

Log in to Oracle Enterprise Manager and click the Targets tab.

Click the Database tab to view all of the available targets. The column labeled Types shows the Oracle RAC databases using the entry Cluster Database.

Add the database target by selecting the target name, then clicking Add. The Add Database Target: Specify Host page appears, which enables you to add databases, listeners, and Oracle ASM as monitored targets.

Click the flashlight icon to display the available host names, select a host, then click Continue. The Add Database: Specify Source page appears.

Either request Oracle Enterprise Manager to discover only noncluster databases and listeners, or to discover all cluster databases, noncluster databases, and listeners on the cluster, then click Continue.

If this procedure did not discover your reconfigured cluster database and all of its instances, you can use the Targets Discovered on Cluster page to manually configure your cluster database and noncluster databases.

Other Oracle Enterprise Manager Capabilities

This section lists Oracle Enterprise Manager capabilities available with Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g release 2 (11.2).

A new deployment procedure—Oracle Grid Infrastructure/Oracle RAC Provisioning—provisions Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2) and Grid Infrastructure. This procedure also introduces a feature called Profiles, which enables you to record the inputs and subsequently use them for repeated deployments.

Dynamic prerequisites for the new procedures enable Oracle Enterprise Manager, when connected to My Oracle Support (formerly OracleMetaLink), to download the latest prerequisites and tools for Oracle RAC provisioning.

The existing One-Click Extend Cluster Database capability now supports Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2) stack.

The existing Delete/Scale down Oracle Real Application Clusters capability is certified with Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2) clusters.

The existing Oracle Database Provisioning procedure now supports provisioning of single instances of Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2).

A new deployment procedure—Oracle Grid Infrastructure Provisioning for Standalone Servers—has been introduced to provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure 11g release 2 (11.2) for noncluster databases.

Administering Jobs and Alerts in Oracle RAC

The Cluster Database Home page shows all of the instances in the Oracle RAC database and provides an aggregate collection of several Oracle RAC-specific statistics that are collected by the Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) for server manageability.

You do not need to navigate to an instance-specific page to see these details. However, on the Cluster Database Home page, if an instance is down that should be operating, or if an instance has a high number of alerts, then you can drill down to the instance-specific page for each alert.

To perform specific administrative tasks as described in the remainder of this section, log in to the target Oracle RAC database, navigate to the Cluster Database Home page, and click the Administration tab.

This section includes the following topics:

Administering Jobs in Oracle RAC

Administering Alerts in Oracle RAC with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Performing Scheduled Maintenance Using Defined Blackouts in Oracle Enterprise Manager

Administering Jobs in Oracle RAC

You can administer Oracle Enterprise Manager jobs at both the database and instance levels. For example, you can create a job at the cluster database level to run on any active instance of the target Oracle RAC database. Or you can create a job at the instance level to run on the specific instance for which you created it. In the event of a failure, recurring jobs can run on a surviving instance.

Because you can create jobs at the instance level, cluster level, or cluster database level, jobs can run on any available host in the cluster database. This applies to scheduled jobs as well. Oracle Enterprise Manager also displays job activity in several categories, including, Active, History, and Library.

Use the Jobs tab to submit operating system scripts and SQL scripts and to examine scheduled jobs. For example, to create a backup job for a specific Oracle RAC database:

Click Targets and click the database for which you want to create the job.

Log in to the target database.

When Oracle Enterprise Manager displays the Database Home page, click Maintenance.

Complete the Enterprise Manage Job Wizard pages to create the job.

Administering Alerts in Oracle RAC with Oracle Enterprise Manager

You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager to configure Oracle RAC environment alerts. You can also configure special Oracle RAC database tests, such as global cache converts, consistent read requests, and so on.

Oracle Enterprise Manager distinguishes between database- and instance-level alerts in Oracle RAC environments. Alert thresholds for instance-level alerts, such as archive log alerts, can be set at the instance target level. This function enables you to receive alerts for the specific instance if performance exceeds your threshold. You can also configure alerts at the database level, such as setting alerts for tablespaces, to avoid receiving duplicate alerts at each instance.

See Also:

Oracle Technology Network for an example of configuring alerts in Oracle RAC and the Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference for information about using packages to configure thresholds

Performing Scheduled Maintenance Using Defined Blackouts in Oracle Enterprise Manager

You can define blackouts (which are time periods in which database monitoring is suspended so that maintenance operations do not skew monitoring data or generate needless alerts) for all managed targets of an Oracle RAC database to prevent alerts from occurring while performing maintenance. You can define blackouts for an entire cluster database or for specific cluster database instances.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about defining blackouts

4 Administering Oracle RAC One Node

Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node (Oracle RAC One Node) is a single instance of an Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database that runs on one node in a cluster. This option adds to the flexibility that Oracle offers for database consolidation. You can consolidate many databases into one cluster with minimal overhead while also providing the high availability benefits of failover protection, online rolling patch application, and rolling upgrades for the operating system and Oracle Clusterware.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Overview of Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node

Adding an Oracle RAC One Node Database

Converting Databases

Online Database Relocation

Overview of Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node

You can limit the CPU consumption of individual database instances per server within the cluster through Resource Manager Instance Caging and dynamically change this limit if needed. With Oracle RAC One Node, there is no limit to server scalability and if applications grow to require more resources than a single node can supply, then you can easily upgrade your applications online to Oracle RAC. If the node that is running Oracle RAC One Node becomes overloaded, then you can relocate the instance to another node in the cluster using the online database relocation utility with no downtime for application users.

Oracle RAC One Node is supported on all platforms on which Oracle RAC is certified. Similar to Oracle RAC, Oracle RAC One Node is certified on Oracle Virtual Machine (Oracle VM). Using Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node with Oracle VM increases the benefits of Oracle VM with the high availability and scalability of Oracle RAC.

Using Oracle RAC One Node online database relocation, you can relocate the Oracle RAC One Node instance to another server, if the current server is running short on resources or requires maintenance operations, such as operating system patches. You can use the same technique to relocate Oracle RAC One Node instances to high capacity servers to accommodate changes in workload, for example, depending on the resources available in the cluster. In addition, Resource Manager Instance Caging or memory optimization parameters can be set dynamically to further optimize the placement of the Oracle RAC One Node instance on the new server.

Using the Single Client Access Name (SCAN) to connect to the database, clients can locate the service independently of the node on which it is running. Relocating an Oracle RAC One Node instance is therefore mostly transparent to the client, depending on the client connection. Oracle recommends to use either Oracle Fast Application Notification or Transparent Application Failover to minimize the impact of a relocation on the client.

Oracle RAC One Node databases are administered slightly differently from Oracle RAC or noncluster databases. For administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases, you must monitor the candidate node list and make sure a server is always available for failover, if possible. Candidate servers reside in the Generic server pool and the database and its services will fail over to one of those servers.

For policy-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases, you must ensure that the server pools are configured such that a server will be available for the database to fail over to in case its current node becomes unavailable. Also, for policy-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases, the destination node for online database relocation must be located in the database's server pool.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for Linux and UNIX for information about installing Oracle RAC One Node databases

Adding an Oracle RAC One Node Database

Use the srvctl add database command to add an Oracle RAC One Node database to your cluster. For example:

srvctl add database -c  RACONENODE [-e server_list] [-i instance_name] [-w timeout]

Use the -e option and the -i option when adding an administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node database.

Using DBCA to create an Oracle RAC One Node database adds the newly created database to the cluster.

See Also:

"srvctl add database" for usage information

"Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes" for information adding an Oracle RAC One Node database

Each service on an Oracle RAC One Node database is configured by using the same value for the SERVER_POOLS attribute as the underlying database. When you add services to an Oracle RAC One Node database, the Server Control Utility (SRVCTL) does not accept any placement information, but instead configures those services using the value of the SERVER_POOLS attribute.

Note:

When adding an administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node database, you can optionally supply an instance prefix with the -i instance_name option of the srvctl add database command. The name of the instance will then be prefix_1. If you do not specify an instance prefix, then the first 12 characters of the unique name of the database becomes the prefix. The instance name changes to prefix_2 during an online database relocation and reverts back to prefix_1 during a subsequent online database relocation. The same instance name is used on failover.

Converting Databases

Using SRVCTL, you can convert an Oracle RAC database with one instance to an Oracle RAC One Node database and vice versa.

This section includes the following topics:

Converting a Database from Oracle RAC to Oracle RAC One Node

Converting a Database from Oracle RAC One Node to Oracle RAC

Converting a Database from Oracle RAC to Oracle RAC One Node

You can convert an Oracle RAC database with one instance to an Oracle RAC One Node database using the srvctl convert database command, as follows:

srvctl convert database -d db_unique_name -c RACONENODE [-i instance_name
-w timeout]

See Also:

"convert" for more information about the srvctl convert database command

Note:

An Oracle RAC database that you want to convert to Oracle RAC One Node must either use Oracle Managed Files (to enable automatic thread allocation) or have at least two redo threads.

Prior to converting an Oracle RAC database to an Oracle RAC One Node database, you must first ensure that the Oracle RAC database has only one instance.

If the Oracle RAC database is administrator managed, then you must change the configuration of all services to set the preferred instance to the instance that you want to keep as an Oracle RAC One Node database after conversion. If any service had a PRECONNECT TAF policy, then its TAF policy must be updated to BASIC or NONE before starting the conversion process. These services must no longer have any available instance.

If the Oracle RAC database is policy managed, then you must change the configuration of all services so that they all use the same server pool before you convert the Oracle RAC database to an Oracle RAC One Node database.

Converting a Database from Oracle RAC One Node to Oracle RAC

You can convert a database from Oracle RAC One Node to Oracle RAC using the srvctl convert database command, as follows:

srvctl convert database -d db_unique_name -c RAC [-n node_name]

If the database is up and running and you do not specify the node where the database is running, then the command returns an error instructing you to specify the node.

If you are relocating the database you want to convert to Oracle RAC using online database relocation, or an online database relocation has failed, then you must either abort or complete the relocation before you run the srvctl convert database command.

See Also:

"convert" for more information

Converting an administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node database to an Oracle RAC database sets all database services so that the single instance is preferred. After you convert the database, you can add instances using DBCA.

Converting a policy-managed Oracle RAC One Node database to an Oracle RAC database sets all database services to UNIFORM cardinality. It also results in reusing the server pool in which the database currently runs. The conversion reconfigures the database to run on all nodes in the server pool. The command does not start any additional instances but running the srvctl start database command starts the database on all nodes in the server pool.

Online Database Relocation

You can relocate an Oracle RAC One Node database to another node while still maintaining service availability using the online database relocation utility. Only during a planned online database relocation is a second instance of an Oracle RAC One Node database created, so that any database sessions can continue while the database is relocated to a new node.

If your Oracle RAC One Node database is administrator managed, then the target node to which you want to relocate the database must be in the candidate list or in the Free server pool. If the target node is in the Free server pool, then the node is added to the candidate list.

Note:

When you relocate a database instance to a target node that is not currently in the candidate server list for the database, you must copy the password file, if configured, to the target node.

When you use password file-based authentication for remote management of Oracle RAC One Node databases without any shared password file, you must have two password files on each node where the database can run: one named SID_prefix_1 and the other named SID_prefix_2. You must recopy both of these files to all candidate nodes every time you update the password file. This is true for both policy-managed and administrator-managed databases.

Oracle recommends using OS authentication, instead, or using Oracle Clusterware to start and stop the database, and defining users in the data dictionary for other management.

Use the srvctl relocate database command to initiate relocation of an Oracle RAC One Node database. For example:

srvctl relocate database -d rac1 -n node7

See Also:

"srvctl relocate database" for more information

The script content on this page is for navigation purposes only and does not alter the content in any way.

5 Introduction to Automatic Workload Management

When a user or application connects to a database, Oracle recommends that you use a service specified in the CONNECT_DATA portion of the connect string. Oracle Database automatically creates one database service when the database is created. For many installations, this may be all you need. To enable more flexibility in the management of the workload using the database, Oracle Database enables you to create multiple services and specify which instances (or the server pools that contain the instances) the services are started on. If you are interested in greater workload management flexibility, then continue reading this chapter to understand the added features that you can use with services.

Note:

The features discussed in this chapter do not work with the default database service. You must create cluster managed services to take advantage of these features. You can only manage the services that you create. Any service created automatically by the database server is managed by the database server.

This chapter describes how to manage workloads in Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) to provide high availability and scalability for your applications. This chapter includes the following topics:

Overview of Automatic Workload Management

Automatic Workload Repository

Service Deployment Options

Connection Load Balancing

Fast Application Notification

Load Balancing Advisory

Oracle Clients That Are Integrated with Fast Application Notification

Services and Distributed Transaction Processing in Oracle RAC

Administering Services

Measuring Performance by Service Using the Automatic Workload Repository

Automatic Workload Repository Service Thresholds and Alerts

Overview of Automatic Workload Management

Automatic workload management enables you to manage workload distributions to provide optimal performance for users and applications. Automatic workload management comprises the following:

Services: Oracle Database provides a powerful automatic workload management facility, called services, to enable the enterprise grid vision. Services are entities that you can define in Oracle RAC databases that enable you to group database workloads and route work to the optimal instances that are assigned to offer the service.

Connection Load Balancing: A feature of Oracle Net Services that balances incoming connections across all of the instances that provide the requested database service.

High Availability Framework: An Oracle RAC component that enables Oracle Database to always maintain components in a running state.

Event Notification: Oracle Clusterware generates events that can be received by application subscribers and listeners. These events are used for:

Fast Application Notification (FAN): Provides information to Oracle RAC applications and clients about cluster state changes and workload service level changes, such as UP and DOWN events for instances, services, or nodes. FAN has two methods for publishing events to clients, the Oracle Notification Service daemon, which is used by Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) clients including the Oracle Application Server, and Oracle Streams Advanced Queueing, which is used by Oracle Call Interface and Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) clients.

Load Balancing Advisory: Provides information to applications about the current service levels that the database and its instances are providing. The load balancing advisory makes recommendations to applications about where to direct application requests to obtain the best service based on the policy that you have defined for that service. Load balancing advisory events are published through Oracle Notification Service.

Automatic Workload Repository (AWR): Tracks service-level statistics as metrics. Server generated alerts can be created for these metrics when they exceed or fail to meet certain thresholds.

Fast Connection Failover: This is the ability of Oracle Clients to provide rapid failover of connections by subscribing to FAN events.

Runtime Connection Load Balancing: This is the ability of Oracle Clients to provide intelligent allocations of connections in the connection pool based on the current service level provided by the database instances when applications request a connection to complete some work.

Single Client Access Name (SCAN): Provides a single name to the clients connecting to Oracle RAC that does not change throughout the life of the cluster, even if you add or remove nodes from the cluster. Clients connecting with SCAN can use a simple connection string, such as a thin JDBC URL or EZConnect, and still achieve the load balancing and client connection failover.

You can deploy Oracle RAC and noncluster Oracle database environments to use automatic workload management features in many different ways. Depending on the number of nodes and your environment's complexity and objectives, your choices for optimal automatic workload management and high-availability configuration depend on several considerations that are described in this chapter.

Automatic Workload Repository

The Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) collects, processes, and maintains performance statistics for the database. The gathered data can be displayed in both reports and views. If you use services with your database, then AWR tracks metrics at the service level.

Metrics can be measured against a variety of units, including time, transactions, or database calls. For example, the number of database calls per second is a metric. Server generated alerts can be placed on these metrics when they exceed or fail to meet user-specified thresholds. The database or system administrator can then respond, for example, by:

Using the Oracle Database Resource Manager to configure the service level for one service to have priorities relative to other services

Stopping overloaded processes

Modifying a service level requirement

Implementing recovery scenarios in response to service quality changes

Using AWR metrics and performance alerts enables you to maintain continued service availability despite service level changes. It also enables you to measure the quality of service provided by the database services.

The AWR ensures that the Oracle Clusterware workload management framework and the database resource manager have persistent and global representations of performance data. This information helps Oracle Database schedule job classes by service and to assign priorities to consumer groups. If necessary, you can rebalance workloads manually with either Oracle Enterprise Manager or SRVCTL. You can also disconnect a series of sessions, but leave the service running.

Note:

Oracle does not recommend using the DBMS_SERVICE package for use with services used by an Oracle RAC database. Use SRVCTL or Oracle Enterprise Manager to create database services for Oracle RAC.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Performance Tuning Guide for more information on creating alerts for metric thresholds

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for more information about the Automatic Workload Repository

Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference for details about Oracle Database packages

Service Deployment Options

This section describes the following service deployment topics:

Using Oracle Services

Service Characteristics

Service Usage in an Oracle RAC Database

Service Usage in an Oracle RAC Database

Default Service Connections

Using Oracle Services

To manage workloads or a group of applications, you can define services that you assign to a particular application or to a subset of an application's operations. You can also group work by type under services. For example, online users can use one service, while batch processing can use another and reporting can use yet another service to connect to the database.

Oracle recommends that all users who share a service have the same service level requirements. You can define specific characteristics for services and each service can represent a separate unit of work. There are many options that you can take advantage of when using services. Although you do not have to implement these options, using them helps optimize application performance.

Service Characteristics

When you create new services for your database, you should define the automatic workload management characteristics for each service. The characteristics of a service include:

Service Name

Net Service Name

Service Edition

Service Management Policy

Database Role for a Service

Instance Preference

Server Pool Assignment

Load Balancing Advisory Goal for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

Connection Load Balancing Goal

Distributed Transaction Processing

Subscription to High Availability Events

Transparent Application Failover Policy

See Also:

"Creating Services with SRVCTL" for more information

"SRVCTL Command Reference" for more information about using SRVCTL to create or modify services and descriptions of the various options

Service Name

Each Oracle database or service has a service name. The service name for an Oracle database is normally its global database name. The service name is used by clients to connect to one or more instances. The service name should be unique throughout your system.

Net Service Name

To connect to a database service, clients use a connect descriptor that provides the location of the database and the name of the database service. A connect descriptor is comprised of one or more protocol addresses of the listener and the connect information for the destination service in the tnsnames.ora file.

Service Edition

The edition attribute of a database service, which specifies the initial session edition for a session that is started using that service. If the program that creates a new session does not specify the initial session, then the edition name specified by the service is used. If the service does not specify the edition name, then the initial session edition is the database default edition.

Service Management Policy

When you use Oracle Clusterware to manage your database, you can configure startup options for each individual database service when you add the service using the srvctl add service command with the -y option. If you set the management policy for a service to AUTOMATIC (the default), then the service starts automatically when you start the database with SRVCTL. If you set the management policy to MANUAL, then the service does not automatically start, and you must manually start it with SRVCTL. A MANUAL setting does not prevent Oracle Clusterware from monitoring the service when it is running and restarting it if a failure occurs. Prior to Oracle RAC 11g release 2 (11.2), all services worked as though they were defined with a MANUAL management policy.

See Also:

"srvctl add service" for more usage information

Using CRSCTL to stop and restart Oracle Clusterware is treated as a failure and the service is restarted if it was previously running.

Note:

When you use automatic services in an administrator-managed database, during planned database startup, services may start on the first instances to start rather than their preferred instances.

Database Role for a Service

If you configured Oracle Data Guard in your environment, then you can define a role for each service using SRVCTL with the -l option. When you specify a role for a service, Oracle Clusterware automatically starts the service only when the database role matches the role you specified for the service. Valid roles are PRIMARY, PHYSICAL_STANDBY, LOGICAL_STANDBY, and SNAPSHOT_STANDBY.

If multiple databases in the cluster offer the same service name, then Oracle RAC balances connections to that service across all such databases. This is useful for standby and active Oracle Data Guard databases, but if you want client connections to a service to be directed to a particular database, then the service name must be unique within the cluster (not offered by any other database).

See Also:

Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration for more information about database roles

Instance Preference

When you define a service for an administrator-managed database, you define which instances normally support that service using SRVCTL with the -r option. These are known as the preferred instances. You can also define other instances to support a service if the service's preferred instance fails using SRVCTL with the -a option. These are known as available instances.

When you specify preferred instances, you are specifying the number of instances on which a service normally runs. Oracle Clusterware attempts to ensure that the service always runs on the number of instances for which you have configured the service. Afterwards, due to either instance failure or planned service relocations, a service may be running on an available instance. You cannot control which available instance to which Oracle Clusterware relocates the services if there are multiple instances in the list.

When a service moves to an available instance, Oracle Database does not move the service back to the preferred instance when the preferred instance restarts because:

The service is running on the desired number of instances.

Maintaining the service on the current instance provides a higher level of service availability.

Not moving the service back to the initial preferred instance prevents a second outage.

You can, however, easily automate fail back to the preferred instance by using FAN callouts.

See Also:

"Overview of Oracle RAC Database Administration" for more information about policy-managed and administrator-managed databases

Server Pool Assignment

When you define services for a policy-managed database, you assign the service to a server pool where the database is running using SRVCTL with the -g option. You can define the service as either UNIFORM (running on all instances in the server pool) or SINGLETON (running on only one instance in the server pool) using the -c option. For singleton services, Oracle RAC chooses on which instance in the server pool the service is active. If that instance fails, then the service fails over to another instance in the server pool. A service can only run in one server pool.

Note:

If you use Oracle Database Quality of Service Management (Oracle Database QoS Management), then you cannot have singleton services in a server pool, unless the maximum size of that server pool is one.

See Also:

"Overview of Oracle RAC Database Administration" for more information about policy-managed and administrator-managed databases

Load Balancing Advisory Goal for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

With runtime connection load balancing, applications can use load balancing advisory events to provide better service to users. Oracle JDBC, Oracle Universal Connection Pool (UCP) for Java, Oracle Call Interface, Connection Manager (CMAN), and ODP.NET clients are automatically integrated to take advantage of load balancing advisory events. The load balancing advisory informs the client about the current service level that an instance is providing for a service. To enable the load balancing advisory, use SRVCTL with the -B option when creating or modifying the service.

The load balancing advisory also recommends how much of the workload should be sent to that instance. The goal determines whether connections are made to the service based on best service quality (how efficiently a single transaction completes) or best throughput (how efficiently a complete job or long-running query completes).

Connection Load Balancing Goal

Oracle Net Services provides connection load balancing to enable you to spread user connections across all of the instances that are supporting a service. For each service, you can use SRVCTL to define the method you want the listener to use for load balancing by setting the connection load balancing goal, specified with the -j option. Connections are classified as LONG (such as connection pools and SQL*FORMS) which tells the listener to use session-based statistics, or SHORT which tells the listener to use CPU-based statistics. If the load balancing advisory is enabled, its information is used to balance connections; otherwise, CPU utilization is used to balance connections.

Distributed Transaction Processing

Distributed transaction processing applications have unique requirements. To make it easier to use Oracle RAC with global transactions, use SRVCTL and specify the distributed transaction processing option (-x TRUE) for the service so that all tightly coupled branches of a distributed transaction processing transaction are run on the same instance.

See Also:

"Services and Distributed Transaction Processing in Oracle RAC" for more information about distributed transaction processing in Oracle RAC

Subscription to High Availability Events

Oracle RAC uses FAN to notify applications about configuration changes and the current service level that is provided by each instance where the service is enabled. If you are using a client that uses Oracle Streams Advanced Queuing, such as OCI and ODP.NET clients, to receive FAN events, you must enable the service used by that client to access the alert notification queue by using SRVCTL with the -q option.

Transparent Application Failover Policy

When Oracle Net Services establishes a connection to an instance, the connection remains open until the client closes the connection, the instance is shutdown, or a failure occurs. If you configure transparent application failover (TAF) for the connection, then Oracle Database moves the session to a surviving instance when an outage occurs.

TAF can restart a query after failover has completed but for other types of transactions, such as INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE, the application must rollback the failed transaction and resubmit the transaction. You must also reexecute any session customizations, in other words, ALTER SESSION statements, after failover has occurred. However, with TAF, a connection is not moved during normal processing, even if the workload changes over time.

Services simplify the deployment of TAF. You can define a TAF policy for a service, and all connections using this service will automatically have TAF enabled. This does not require any client-side changes. The TAF setting on a service overrides any TAF setting in the client connection definition.

To define a TAF policy for a service, use SRVCTL as in the following example, where the service name is tafconn.example.com and the database name is CRM:

$ srvctl modify service -d crm -s tafconn.example.com -P BASIC
   -e SELECT -z 5 -w 120

You can also specify a single transparent application failover (TAF) policy for all users of a service by defining the FAILOVER_METHOD (-m option), FAILOVER_TYPE (-e option). The TAF policy can also define the number of times that a failed session attempts to reconnect to the service (-z option) and how long it should wait between reconnection attempts (-w option).

Oracle Call Interface applications with TAF enabled should use FAN high availability events for fast connection failover.

See Also:

Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for more information about configuring TAF

Service Usage in an Oracle RAC Database

A service name can identify multiple database instances, and an instance can belong to multiple services. Services for an Oracle RAC database are used by several database features, as described in the following topics:

Resource Profile for a Service

Database Resource Manager Consumer Group Mappings for Services

Performance Monitoring by Service with AWR

Parallel Operations and Services

Resource Profile for a Service

Resource profiles are automatically created when you define a service. A resource profile describes how Oracle Clusterware should manage the service and which instance the service should failover to if the preferred instance stops. Resource profiles also define service dependencies for the instance and the database. Due to these dependencies, if you stop a database, then the instances and services are automatically stopped in the correct order.

Database Resource Manager Consumer Group Mappings for Services

Services are integrated with the Resource Manager, which enables you to restrict the resources that are used by the users who connect to an instance by using a service. The Resource Manager enables you to map a consumer group to a service so that users who connect to an instance using that service are members of the specified consumer group.

Performance Monitoring by Service with AWR

The metric data generated by Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) is organized into various groups, such as event, event class, session, service, and tablespace metrics. Typically, you view the AWR data using Oracle Enterprise Manager or AWR reports.

See Also:

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for more information about generating and viewing AWR reports

Parallel Operations and Services

By default, in an Oracle RAC environment, a SQL statement executed in parallel can run across all of the nodes in the cluster. For this cross-node or inter-node parallel execution to perform well, the interconnect in the Oracle RAC environment must be size appropriately because inter-node parallel execution may result in a lot of interconnect traffic. To limit inter-node parallel execution, you can control parallel execution in an Oracle RAC environment using the PARALLEL_FORCE_LOCAL initialization parameter. By setting this parameter to TRUE, the parallel execution servers can only execute on the same Oracle RAC node where the SQL statement was started.

Services are used to limit the number of instances that participate in a parallel SQL operation. When the default database service is used, the parallel SQL operation can run on all available instances. You can create any number of services, each consisting of one or more instances. When a parallel SQL operation is started, the parallel execution servers are only spawned on instances which offer the specified service used in the initial database connection.

PARALLEL_INSTANCE_GROUP is an Oracle RAC parameter that, when used in conjunction with services, lets you restrict parallel query operations to a limited number of instances.To restrict parallel query operations to a limited number of instances, set the PARALLEL_INSTANCE_GROUP initialization parameter to the name of a service. This does not affect other parallel operations such as parallel recovery or the processing of GV$ queries.

Oracle Streams and Oracle RAC

Oracle Streams takes advantage of Oracle RAC features in many ways. When Oracle Streams is configured in an Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) environment, each queue table has an owning instance. If the instance that hosts a queue table fails, another instance in the Oracle RAC database becomes the owning instance for the queue table, allowing Oracle Streams to continue operating.

Also, on an Oracle RAC database, a service is created for each buffered queue. This service always runs on the owner instance of the destination queue and follows the ownership of this queue if the ownership switches because of instance startup, instance shutdown, and so on. This service is used by queue-to-queue propagations.

See Also:

Oracle Streams Concepts and Administration

Default Service Connections

A special Oracle database service is created by default for your Oracle RAC database. This default service is always available on all instances in an Oracle RAC environment, unless an instance is in restricted mode. You cannot alter this service or its properties. The database also supports the following two internal services:

SYS$BACKGROUND is used by the background processes only

SYS$USERS is the default service for user sessions that are not associated with any application service

Both of these internal services support all of the automatic workload management features. You cannot stop or disable either of these internal services.

Note:

You can explicitly manage only the services that you create. If a feature of the database creates an internal service, you cannot manage it using the information in this chapter.

Connection Load Balancing

Oracle Net Services provides the ability to balance client connections across the instances in an Oracle RAC configuration. There are two types of load balancing that you can implement: client-side and server-side load balancing. Client-side load balancing balances the connection requests across the listeners. With server-side load balancing, the SCAN listener directs a connection request to the best instance currently providing the service by using the load balancing advisory.

In an Oracle RAC database, client connections should use both types of connection load balancing.

Client-Side Load Balancing

Other Client-Side Connection Features

Server-Side Load Balancing

See Also:

Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for detailed information about both types of load balancing

Client-Side Load Balancing

Client-side load balancing is defined in your client connection definition (tnsnames.ora file, for example) by setting the parameter LOAD_BALANCE=ON. When you set this parameter to ON, Oracle Database randomly selects an address in the address list, and connects to that node's listener. This balances client connections across the available SCAN listeners in the cluster.

The SCAN listener redirects the connection request to the local listener of the instance that is least loaded and provides the requested service. When the listener receives the connection request, the listener connects the user to an instance that the listener knows provides the requested service. To see what services a listener supports, run the lsnrctl services command.

When clients connect using SCAN, Oracle Net automatically load balances client connection requests across the three IP addresses you defined for the SCAN, unless you are using EZConnect.

If you want to use both SCAN and non-SCAN VIPs on the client side, then set the REMOTE_LISTENER parameter on the Oracle RAC database to a mix of SCAN VIPs and a list of node VIPs (you must manually update the REMOTE_LISTENER parameter to include all the SCAN VIPs and all the node VIPs).

The following is an example of the format you use to add SCAN and node VIP information to the tnsnames.ora file for a two-node cluster:

LISTENERS_db_unique_name =
  (ADDRESS_LIST =
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=scan_VIP1)(PORT = scan_port_number))
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=scan_VIP2)(PORT = scan_port_number))
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=scan_VIP3)(PORT = scan_port_number))
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = node_VIP_name1-vip)(PORT = listener_port_number))
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = node_VIP_name2-vip)(PORT = listener_port_number))
  )

Note:

The number of node VIPs you add must correspond to the number of nodes in the cluster.

Run the following SQL*Plus command:

SQL> SYSTEM SET REMOTE_LISTENER = 'LISTENERS_db_unique_name' SCOPE=BOTH SID=*

Alternatively, you can run the following SQL*Plus command to update a two-node cluster:

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET remote_listener = '
(ADDRESS_LIST=
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=scan_VIP1)(PORT = scan_port_number))
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=scan_VIP2)(PORT = scan_port_number))
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=scan_VIP3)(PORT = scan_port_number))
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=node_VIP_name1-vip)(PORT = listener_port_number))
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=node_VIP_name2-vip)(PORT = listener_port_number)))'
SCOPE=BOTH SID=*

Generic Database Clients

With Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2), Oracle Net Services introduces the ability to add the connect_timeout and retry_count parameters to individual tnsnames.ora connection strings.

(CONNECT_TIMEOUT=10)(RETRY_COUNT=3)

The granularity is seconds. Oracle Net waits for 10 seconds to receive a response, after which it assumes a failure. Oracle Net goes through the address list three times before it returns a failure to the client.

Other Client-Side Connection Features

In addition to client-side load balancing, Oracle Net Services include connection failover. If an error is returned from the chosen address in the list, Oracle Net Services tries the next address in the list until it is either successful or it has exhausted all addresses in its list. For SCAN, Oracle Net Services tries all three addresses before returning a failure to the client. EZConnect with SCAN includes this connection failover feature.

To increase availability, you can specify a timeout that specifies how long Oracle Net waits for a response from the listener before returning an error. The method of setting this timeout parameter depends on the type of client access.

JDBC Clients

You can avoid delays by setting the oracle.net.ns.SQLnetDef.TCP_CONNTIMEOUT_STR property, as follows:

Properties prop = new Properties ();
prop.put (oracle.net.ns.SQLnetDef.TCP_CONNTIMEOUT_STR,
"" + (1 * 1000)); // 1 second
dbPools[ poolIndex ].setConnectionProperties ( prop );

The parameter value is specified in milliseconds. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the timeout to 500Ms if the application retries connecting.

Oracle Call Interface Clients

For Oracle Call Interface clients, create a local sqlnet.ora file on the client side. Configure the connection timeout in this file by adding the following line:

sqlnet.outbound_connect_timeout = 1

The granularity of the timeout value for the Oracle Call Interface client is in seconds. The sqlnet.ora file affects all connections using this client.

Note:

Do not configure the connection timeout in the sqlnet.ora file on the server.

Server-Side Load Balancing

When you create an Oracle RAC database with DBCA, it automatically:

Configures and enables server-side load balancing

Sets the remote listener parameter to the SCAN listener (Note: If you do not use DBCA, you should set the REMOTE_LISTENER database parameter to scan_name:scan_port.)

Creates a sample client-side load balancing connection definition in the tnsnames.ora file on the server

FAN, Fast Connection Failover, and the load balancing advisory depend on an accurate connection load balancing configuration that includes setting the connection load balancing goal for the service. You can use a goal of either LONG or SHORT for connection load balancing. These goals have the following characteristics:

LONG: Use the LONG connection load balancing method for applications that have long-lived connections. This is typical for connection pools and SQL*Forms sessions. LONG is the default connection load balancing goal. The following is an example of modifying a service, batchconn, with the srvctl utility to define the connection load balancing goal for long-lived sessions:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s batchconn -j LONG

SHORT: Use the SHORT connection load balancing method for applications that have short-lived connections. When using connection pools that are integrated with FAN, set the CLB_GOAL to SHORT. The following example modifies the service known as oltpapp, using SRVCTL to set the connection load balancing goal to SHORT:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s oltpapp -j SHORT

Fast Application Notification

This section provides a detailed description of FAN under the following topics:

Overview of Fast Application Notification

Application High Availability with Services and FAN

Managing Unplanned Outages

Managing Planned Outages

Fast Application Notification High Availability Events

Using Fast Application Notification Callouts

See Also:

"Oracle Clients That Are Integrated with Fast Application Notification" for more information about specific client environments that you can use with FAN

Overview of Fast Application Notification

FAN is a notification mechanism that Oracle RAC uses to notify other processes about configuration and service level information that includes service status changes, such as UP or DOWN events. Applications can respond to FAN events and take immediate action. FAN UP and DOWN events can apply to instances, services, and nodes.

For cluster configuration changes, the Oracle RAC high availability framework publishes a FAN event immediately when a state change occurs in the cluster. Instead of waiting for the application to poll the database and detect a problem, applications can receive FAN events and react immediately. With FAN, in-flight transactions can be immediately terminated and the client notified when the instance fails.

FAN also publishes load balancing advisory events. Applications can take advantage of the load balancing advisory FAN events to direct work requests to the instance in the cluster that is currently providing the best service quality. You can take advantage of FAN events in the following three ways:

Your application can use FAN without programmatic changes if you use an integrated Oracle client. The integrated clients for FAN events include Oracle Database JDBC, Oracle Database ODP.NET, and Oracle Database Oracle Call Interface. This includes applications that use TAF. The integrated Oracle clients must be Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) or later to take advantage of the load balancing advisory FAN events. (See the Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for more information about configuring TAF.)

Applications can use FAN programmatically by using the JDBC and Oracle RAC FAN application programming interface (API) or by using callbacks with Oracle Call Interface to subscribe to FAN events and to execute event handling actions upon the receipt of an event.

You can implement FAN with server-side callouts on your database tier.

For DOWN events, the disruption to the application can be minimized because sessions to the failed instance or node can be terminated. Incomplete transactions can be terminated and the application user is immediately notified. Application users who request connections are directed to available instances only. For UP events, when services and instances are started, new connections can be created so that the application can immediately take advantage of the extra resources. Through server-side callouts, you can also use FAN to:

Log status information

Page DBAs or to open support tickets when resources fail to start

Automatically start dependent external applications that must be co-located with a service

Change resource plans or shut down services when the number of available instances for a policy-managed database decreases, for example, if nodes fail

Automate the fail back of a service to preferred instances for administrator-managed databases, if needed

FAN events are published using Oracle Notification Service and Oracle Streams Advanced Queuing. The publication mechanisms are automatically configured as part of your Oracle RAC installation.

Connection Manager (CMAN) and Oracle Net Services listeners are integrated with FAN events, enabling the listener and CMAN to immediately de-register services provided by the failed instance and to avoid erroneously sending connection requests to failed instances.

If you specify the connection load balancing goal CLB_GOAL_SHORT for the service, then the listener uses the load balancing advisory when the listener balances the connection loads. When load balancing advisory is enabled, the metrics used for the listener are finer grained.

Application High Availability with Services and FAN

Oracle Database focuses on maintaining service availability. In Oracle RAC, Oracle services are designed to be continuously available with loads shared across one or more instances. The Oracle RAC high availability framework maintains service availability by using Oracle Clusterware and resource profiles.

The Oracle RAC high availability framework monitors the database and its services and sends event notifications using FAN. Oracle Clusterware recovers and balances services according to business rules and the service attributes.

Managing Unplanned Outages

You can assign services to one or more instances in an administrator-managed Oracle RAC database or to server pools in a policy-managed database. If Oracle RAC detects an outage, then Oracle Clusterware isolates the failed component and recovers the dependent components. For services, if the failed component is an instance, then Oracle Clusterware relocates the service to an available instance in the cluster. FAN events can occur at various levels within the Oracle Database architecture and are published through Oracle Notification Service and Oracle Streams AQ. You can also program notification using FAN callouts.

Note:

Oracle Database does not run Oracle RAC callouts with guaranteed ordering. Callouts are run asynchronously and they are subject to scheduling variabilities.

Notification occurs from a surviving node when the failed node is out of service. The location and number of instances in an Oracle RAC environment that provide a service are transparent to applications. Restart and recovery are automatic, including the restarting of the subsystems, such as the listener and the Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) processes, not just the database. You can use FAN callouts to report faults to your fault management system and to initiate repair jobs.

Managing Planned Outages

For repairs, upgrades, and changes that require you to isolate one or more instances or nodes, Oracle RAC provides interfaces that relocate, disable, and enable services to minimize service disruption to application users. When you relocate a service, you indicate the service should run on another instance temporarily. If you disable a service, then the service is stopped on all database instances and is no longer available. Disabled services are not restarted automatically. Once you complete the operation, you can return the service to normal operation or enable the service and then restart it.

Due to dependencies, if you manually shutdown your database, then all of your services for that database automatically stop. If you want your services to automatically start when you manually restart the database, then you must set the management policy of the service to automatic. If you want to shut down only one instance of the database, but not the service, you can use the srvctl stop instance command with the -f option. When you use the -f option with this command, the database services that were running on that instance are failed over to another instance if possible.

See Also:

"Service Management Policy"

Fast Application Notification High Availability Events

Table 5-1 lists the FAN event types and Table 5-2 describes name-value pairs for the event parameters. The event type is always the first entry and the timestamp is always the last entry, as in the following example:

FAN event type: SERVICEMEMBER VERSION=1.0
service=fantest database=ractest instance=rac1host=node01 status=up
reason=FAILURE card=1 timestamp=2010-07-02 22:06:02

Table 5-1 FAN Event Types

Event Types
Notes

DATABASE, INSTANCE, NODE, SERVICE, SERVICEMEMBER, SERVICEMETRICS, SRV_PRECONNECT.

DATABASE and INSTANCE types list the database service as DB_UNIQUE_NAME.

Events of SERVICEMETRICS type are load balancing advisory events.

See Also: Table 5-4 for more information about load balancing events

Table 5-2 Event Parameter Name-Value Pairs and Descriptions

Parameter
Description

VERSION

Version of the event record. Used to identify release changes.

DATABASE

The unique name of the database supporting the service; matches the initialization parameter value for DB_UNIQUE_NAME, which defaults to the value of the DB_NAME initialization parameter.

INSTANCE

The name of the instance that supports the service; matches the ORACLE_SID value.

HOST

The name of the node that supports the service or the node that has stopped; matches the node name known to Cluster Synchronization Services (CSS).

SERVICE

The service name; matches the name of the service as listed in DBA_SERVICES.

STATUS

Values are UP, DOWN, NODEDOWN (this only applies to the NODE event type), NOT_RESTARTING, PRECONN_UP, PRECONN_DOWN, and UNKNOWN.

Notes:

When the node is down, the status is NODEDOWN, as opposed to DOWN for other event types.

When STATUS=NODEDOWN and REASON=MEMBER_LEAVE, a node has failed and is no longer part of the cluster.

When STATUS=NODEDOWN and REASON=PUBLIC_NW_DOWN, the node is up but it is unreachable because the public network is down.

REASON

AUTOSTART, BOOT, DEPENDENCY, FAILURE, MEMBER_LEAVE, PUBLIC_NW_DOWN, USER.

Notes:

For DATABASE and SERVICE event types, REASON=AUTOSTART if, when the node started, the AUTO_START resource attribute was set to 1, and the resource was offline before the node started

For DATABASE and SERVICE event types, REASON=BOOT if, when the node started, the resource started because it was online before the node started

CARDINALITY

The number of service members that are currently active; included in all SERVICEMEMBER UP events.

Following is an example of SERVICEMEMBER UP event:

SERVICEMEMBER VERSION=1.0 service=myServ.us.oracle.com
database=prod instance=PROD1 host=stru09 status=up
reason=USER card=1 timestamp=2010-07-27 14:43:03

INCARNATION

For NODEDOWN events; the new cluster incarnation.

Following is an example of NODEDOWN event:

NODE VERSION=1.0 host=stru09 incarn=175615351 status=down
reason=member_leave timestamp=27-Jul-2010 14:49:32

TIMESTAMP

The local time zone to use when ordering notification events.

Some of the FAN event record parameters have values that correspond to values returned by the SYS_CONTEXT function using the default namespace USERENV, as shown in Table 5-3.

Table 5-3 FAN Parameters and Matching Session Information

FAN Parameter
Matching Session Information

SERVICE

sys_context('userenv', 'service_name')

DATABASE_UNIQUE_NAME

sys_context('userenv', 'db_unique_name')

INSTANCE

sys_context('userenv', 'instance_name')

CLUSTER_NODE_NAME

sys_context('userenv', 'server_host')

Using Fast Application Notification Callouts

FAN callouts are server-side executables that Oracle RAC executes immediately when high availability events occur. You can use FAN callouts to automate activities when events occur in a cluster configuration, such as:

Opening fault tracking tickets

Sending messages to pagers

Sending e-mail

Starting and stopping server-side applications

Maintaining an uptime log by logging each event as it occurs

Relocating low-priority services when high priority services come online

To use FAN callouts, place an executable in the Grid_home/racg/usrco directory on every node that runs Oracle Clusterware. The executable must be able to run stand-alone when called, with optional arguments, from another program. The following is an example file for the Grid_home/racg/usrco/callout.sh callout:

#! /bin/ksh
FAN_LOGFILE= [your path name]/admin/log/'hostname`_uptime'.log
echo $* "reported="'date' >> $FAN_LOGFILE &

The previous example produces output similar to the following:

NODE VERSION=1.0 host=sun880-2 incarn=23 status=nodedown reason=
timestamp=08-Oct-2004 04:02:14 reported=Fri Oct 8 04:02:14 PDT 2004

The contents of a FAN event record matches the current session of the user logged on to the database, as shown in Table 5-3. The user environment (USERENV) information is also available using Oracle Call Interface connection handle and descriptor attributes (using OCIAttrGet()). Use this information to take actions on sessions that match the FAN event data.

See Also:

Table 5-2, "Event Parameter Name-Value Pairs and Descriptions" for information about the callout and event details

Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide for more information about connection handle and descriptor attributes

User Callout Events

All user callout events originate from Oracle Clusterware. If a node goes down, or a resource (such as a VIP or a database) changes state or properties, then Oracle Clusterware sends out an Oracle Notification Service event to that effect. This event must always be pushed to at least one node in the cluster, and the best way to ensure that is to make the user callouts listen to Oracle Notification Service events from within the agent of the Oracle Notification Service resource.

If the Oracle Notification Service resource is down on a particular node, then the events on that node are lost, and so user callouts are not issued. The Oracle Notification Service event is read from within the agent of the Oracle Notification Service resource, is translated, and is posted to user callouts.

In general, events are only posted to user callouts on the node from which the event originated. For example, if the database on node1 goes down, then the callout is posted to node1, only. The only exceptions to this are node down and VIP down events—these events are posted to all nodes, regardless of from where they originated.

Note:

In Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.2), the two attributes service and database for event types of DATABASE or INSTANCE do not include the database domain name.

Load Balancing Advisory

This section describes the load balancing advisory under the following topics:

Overview of the Load Balancing Advisory

Configuring Your Environment to Use the Load Balancing Advisory

Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

Monitoring Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

Overview of the Load Balancing Advisory

Load balancing distributes work across all of the available Oracle RAC database instances. Oracle recommends that applications use persistent connections that span the instances that offer a particular service, such as when using connection pools. When using persistent connections, connections are created infrequently and exist for a long duration. Work comes into the system with high frequency, borrows these connections, and exists for a relatively short duration. The load balancing advisory provides advice about how to direct incoming work to the instances that provide the optimal quality of service for that work. This minimizes the need to relocate the work later.

By using the Load Balancing Advisory or runtime connection load balancing goals, feedback is built in to the system. Work is routed to provide the best service times globally, and routing responds gracefully to changing system conditions. In a steady state, the system approaches equilibrium with improved throughput across all of the Oracle RAC instances.

Standard architectures that can use the load balancing advisory include connection load balancing, transaction processing monitors, application servers, connection concentrators, hardware and software load balancers, job schedulers, batch schedulers, and message queuing systems. All of these applications can allocate work.

The load balancing advisory is deployed with key Oracle clients, such as a listener, the JDBC universal connection pool, and the ODP.NET Connection Pool. Third-party applications can also subscribe to load balancing advisory events by using JDBC and Oracle RAC FAN API or by using callbacks with Oracle Call Interface.

Configuring Your Environment to Use the Load Balancing Advisory

You can configure your environment to use the load balancing advisory by defining service-level goals for each service for which you want to enable load balancing. Configuring a service-level goal enables the load balancing advisory and the publishing of FAN load balancing events for that service.

There are two types of service-level goals for runtime connection load balancing:

SERVICE_TIME: Attempts to direct work requests to instances according to response time. Load balancing advisory data is based on elapsed time for work done in the service plus available bandwidth to the service. An example for the use of SERVICE_TIME is for workloads such as internet shopping where the rate of demand changes. The following example shows how to set the goal to SERVICE_TIME for connections using the online service:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s online -B SERVICE_TIME -j SHORT

THROUGHPUT: Attempts to direct work requests according to throughput. The load balancing advisory is based on the rate that work is completed in the service plus available bandwidth to the service. An example for the use of THROUGHPUT is for workloads such as batch processes, where the next job starts when the last job completes. The following example shows how to set the goal to THROUGHPUT for connections using the sjob service:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s sjob -B THROUGHPUT -j LONG

Setting the runtime connection load balancing goal to NONE disables load balancing for the service. You can see the goal settings for a service in the data dictionary by querying the DBA_SERVICES, V$SERVICES, and V$ACTIVE_SERVICES views. You can also review the load balancing settings for a service using Oracle Enterprise Manager.

See Also:

"Administering Services" for more information about administering services and adding goals to services

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about managing services using Oracle Enterprise Manager

Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

The load balancing advisory FAN events provide metrics for load balancing algorithms. The easiest way to take advantage of these events is to use the runtime connection load balancing feature of an Oracle integrated client such as JDBC, ODP.NET, or Oracle Call Interface. Other client applications can take advantage of FAN programatically by using the Oracle Notification Service application programming interface (ONS API) to subscribe to FAN events and execute event-handling actions upon receipt. Table 5-4 describes the load balancing advisory FAN event parameters.

Table 5-4 Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

Parameter
Description

VERSION

Version of the event record. Used to identify release changes.

EVENT_TYPE

A load balancing advisory event is always of the SERVICEMETRICS event type.

SERVICE

The service name; matches the value of NAME in DBA_SERVICES.

DATABASE_UNIQUE_NAME

The unique database supporting the service; matches the initialization parameter value for DB_UNIQUE_NAME, which defaults to the value of the initialization parameter DB_NAME.

INSTANCE

The name of the instance that supports the service; matches the ORACLE_SID value.

PERCENT

The percentage of work requests to send to this database instance.

FLAG

Indication of the service quality relative to the service goal. Valid values are GOOD, VIOLATING, NO DATA, and BLOCKED.

TIMESTAMP

The local time zone to use when ordering notification events.

See Also:

Oracle Database JDBC Developer's Guide for more information about the Oracle RAC FAN API

Monitoring Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

You can use the following query against the internal queue table for load balancing advisory FAN events to monitor load balancing advisory events generated for an instance:

SET PAGES 60 COLSEP '|' LINES 132 NUM 8 VERIFY OFF FEEDBACK OFF
COLUMN user_data HEADING "AQ Service Metrics" FORMAT A60 WRAP
BREAK ON service_name SKIP 1
SELECT
 TO_CHAR(enq_time, 'HH:MI:SS') Enq_time, user_data
 FROM sys.sys$service_metrics_tab
 ORDER BY 1 ;

The results of this query contain rows similar to the following:

02:56:05|SYS$RLBTYP('hr', 'VERSION=1.0 database=sales service=hr { {in
        |stance=sales_4 percent=38 flag=GOOD aff=TRUE}{instance=sales_1
        | percent=62 flag=GOOD aff=TRUE} } timestamp=2010-07-16 07:56
        |:05')

Oracle Clients That Are Integrated with Fast Application Notification

Oracle has integrated FAN with many of the common client application environments that are used to connect to Oracle RAC databases. Therefore, the easiest way to use FAN is to use an integrated Oracle Client.

The following sections discuss how FAN is integrated with Oracle Clients and how to enable FAN events for the several specific client development environments:

Overview of Oracle Integrated Clients and FAN

Enabling JDBC Clients for Fast Connection Failover

Enabling JDBC Clients for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

Enabling Oracle Call Interface Clients for Fast Connection Failover

Enabling Oracle Call Interface Clients for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

Enabling ODP.NET Clients to Receive FAN High Availability Events

Enabling ODP.NET Clients to Receive FAN Load Balancing Advisory Events

Overview of Oracle Integrated Clients and FAN

The overall goal when using FAN is to enable applications to consistently obtain connections to available instances that provide the best service. The Oracle integrated clients you can use are Oracle Call Interface Session Pools, CMAN session pools, and JDBC and ODP.NET connection pools. The Fast Connection Failover (FCF) feature is a FAN client implemented through a connection pool.

Due to the integration with FAN, Oracle integrated clients are more aware of the current status of an Oracle RAC cluster. This prevents client connections from waiting or trying to connect to an instance that is no longer available. When instances start, Oracle RAC uses FAN to notify the connection pool so that the connection pool can create connections to the recently started instance and take advantage of the additional resources that this instance provides.

Oracle connection pools that are integrated with FAN can:

Balance connections across all of the Oracle RAC instances when a service starts; this is preferable to directing the sessions that are defined for the connection pool to the first Oracle RAC instance that supports the service

Remove terminated connections immediately when a service is declared DOWN at an instance, and immediately when nodes are declared DOWN

Report errors to clients immediately when Oracle Database detects the NOT RESTARTING state, instead of making the client wait while the service repeatedly attempts to restart

Balance work requests at runtime using load balancing advisory events

The use of connection pools and FAN requires that you have properly configured database connection load balancing across all of the instances that provide the services used by the connection pool. Oracle recommends that you configure both client-side and server-side load balancing with Oracle Net Services. If you use DBCA to create your database, then both client-side and server-side load balancing are configured by default.

See Also:

"Connection Load Balancing"

Enabling JDBC Clients for Fast Connection Failover

Enabling Fast Connection Failover (FCF) for the Oracle JDBC Universal Connection Pool (UCP) enables the use of FAN high availability and load balancing advisory events. To use FAN, your application can use the JDBC development environment for either thick or thin JDBC clients. The Java Database Connectivity Oracle Call Interface (JDBC/OCI) driver connection pooling functionality is part of the JDBC client. This functionality is provided by the OracleOCIConnectionPool class.

The UCP is integrated to take advantage of Load Balancing Advisory information. Oracle introduced the Universal Connection Pool for JDBC in Oracle Database 11g release 11.1.0.7.0. Consequently, Oracle deprecated the existing JDBC connection pool, the Implicit Connection Cache, that was introduced in Oracle Database 10g release 1, for use with Oracle RAC databases. You can use the UCP with Oracle Database 10g or Oracle Database 11g.

To enable FCF for the JDBC client, set the fastConnectionFailoverEnabled property of the OracleDataSource class in the oracle.jdbc.pool package before making the first getConnection() request. When you enable FCF for the JDBC client, the failover property applies to every connection in the connection pool. Enabling FCF with JDBC Thin Driver (Thin driver) or JDBC/OCI clients enables the connection pool to receive and react to all FAN events.

JDBC application developers can now programatically integrate with FAN by using a set of APIs introduced in Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2). The Oracle RAC FAN APIs enable application code to receive and respond to FAN event notifications sent by Oracle RAC in the following ways:

Listening for Oracle RAC service down, service up, and node down events

Listening for load balancing advisory events and responding to them

See Also:

Oracle Database JDBC Developer's Guide for more information about using APIs, configuring the JDBC universal connection pool, and Oracle Notification Service

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about configuring JDBC clients

Oracle Notification Service for JDBC Clients

FCF relies on Oracle Notification Service to propagate database events between the connection pool and the Oracle RAC database. At runtime, the connection pool must be able to setup an Oracle Notification Service environment. Oracle Notification Service (ons.jar) is included as part of the Oracle Client software. Oracle Notification Service can be configured using either remote configuration or client-side Oracle Notification Service daemon configuration. Remote Oracle Notification Service subscription offers the following advantages:

Support for an All Java mid-tier software

An Oracle Notification Service daemon is not necessary on the client system, so you do not have to manage this process

Simple configuration by way of a DataSource property

Configuring FCF for JDBC/OCI and JDBC Thin Driver Clients

You can enable FCF for Oracle's Implicit Connection Cache or UCP. Oracle recommends using the UCP for Java. The Implicit Connection Cache is deprecated.

This procedure explains how to enable FCF for JDBC. For JDBC/OCI clients, if you enable FCF, do not enable TAF, either on the client or for the service. To enable FCF, you must first enable the UCP, as described in the following procedure:

Create the connection pool and set FastConnectionFailoverEnabled.

The following example creates a connection pool and enables FCF. The ucp.jar library must be included in the classpath of an application to use this example.

PoolDataSource pds = PoolDataSourceFactory.getPoolDataSource();
pds.setFastConnectionFailoverEnabled(true);

Determine the ports to use for Oracle Notification Service remote subscriptions.

Use the following command to view the Oracle Notification Service configuration on each node that is running Oracle Clusterware as in the following example:

srvctl config nodeapps -s

The output of this command lists the local and remote ports configured for Oracle Notification Service.

Note:

Oracle Notification Service configuration should have been automatically completed during the Oracle Clusterware installation.

Add Oracle Notification Service daemons to remote nodes for upgraded Oracle9i databases.

The information in the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) for Oracle Notification Service daemons is automatically configured for Oracle Database 10g and higher. If you are upgrading from an Oracle9i version of the database, then add Oracle Notification Service daemons to remote nodes (nodes outside the cluster), with the following command:

srvctl modify nodeapps -t host_port_list

Configure the remote Oracle Notification Service subscription.

When using the Universal Connection Pool, an application calls setONSConfiguration for an OracleDataSource instance and specifies the nodes and port numbers to use. The port numbers used for each node are the same as the remote port displayed for each node in Step 2, as shown in the following example. The ons.jar library must be included in the classpath of an application to use this example.

pds.setONSConfiguration("nodes=racnode1:6200,racnode2:6200");

Applications that use remote Oracle Notification Service configuration must set the oracle.ons.oraclehome system property to the location of ORACLE_HOME before starting the application, for example:

java -Doracle.ons.oraclehome=$ORACLE_HOME ...

Configure the connection URL.

A connection factory's connection URL must use the service name syntax when using FCF. The service name is used to map the connection pool to the service. The following example demonstrates configuring the connection URL:

pds.setConnectionFactoryClassName("oracle.jdbc.pool.OracleDataSource");
pds.setURL("jdbc:oracle:thin@//SCAN_name:1521/service_name");......

See Also:

Oracle Database JDBC Developer's Guide for more information about JDBC

Oracle Universal Connection Pool for JDBC Developer's Guide for more information about configuring FCF

Enabling JDBC Clients for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

UCP JDBC connection pools leverage the load balancing functionality provided by an Oracle RAC database. Runtime connection load balancing requires the use of an Oracle JDBC driver and an Oracle RAC database.

Runtime connection load balancing requires that FCF is enabled and configured properly. See "Configuring FCF for JDBC/OCI and JDBC Thin Driver Clients". In addition, the Oracle RAC load balancing advisory must be configured with service-level goals for each service used by the connection pool. The connection load balancing goal should be set to SHORT, for example:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s service_name -B SERVICE_TIME -j SHORT

See Also:

Oracle Universal Connection Pool for JDBC Developer's Guide for more information about configuring runtime connection load balancing for UCP JDBC connection pools

Enabling Oracle Call Interface Clients for Fast Connection Failover

Oracle Call Interface (OCI) clients can enable FCF by registering to receive notifications for Oracle RAC high availability FAN events and responding when events occur. Using FCF improves the session failover response time in OCI applications and also removes connections to nonfunctioning instances from connection and session pools. FCF can be used in OCI applications that also use TAF, connection pools, or session pools.

To use FCF, you must use a service with the load balancing advisory goal and the connection load balancing goal configured. The service metrics received from the Oracle RAC load balancing advisory through FAN events for the service are automatically placed in the Oracle Streams AQ queue table, ALERT_QUEUE. Client applications can register callbacks that are used whenever an event occurs. This reduces the time that it takes to detect a connection failure.

During DOWN event processing, OCI:

Terminates affected connections at the client and returns an error

Removes connections from the OCI connection pool and the OCI session pool—the session pool maps each session to a physical connection in the connection pool, and there can be multiple sessions for each connection

Fails over the connection if you have configured TAF. If TAF is not configured, then the client only receives an error if the instance it is connected to fails.

If your application is using TAF, then you must enable the TAF properties for the service using SRVCTL or Oracle Enterprise Manager. Configure your OCI client applications to connect to an Oracle RAC database using the configured service.

Note:

Oracle Call Interface does not manage UP events.

See Also:

Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for more information about configuring TAF

Configuring FCF for OCI Clients

OCI applications must connect to an Oracle RAC instance to enable HA event notification. Furthermore, these applications must perform the following steps to configure FCF for an OCI client:

Configure the service for your OCI connection pool to enable connection load balancing and runtime connection load balancing. Also configure the service to have Advanced Queuing notifications enabled, as shown in the following example:

$ srvctl modify service -d crm -s ociapp.example.com -q TRUE
   -B THROUGHPUT -j LONG

Set the context of the environment for OCI calls on the client to enable subscriptions by using the OCIEnvCreate() call, setting the MODE parameter value to OCI_EVENTS, as follows:

(void) OCIEnvCreate(&myenvhp, OCI_EVENTS|OCI_OBJECT, ...);

Link the application with a thread library.

After linking with the thread library, the applications can register a callback that is invoked whenever a FAN event occurs.

See Also:

Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide for more information about Oracle Call Interface

Enabling Oracle Call Interface Clients for Runtime Connection Load Balancing

As of Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2), OCI session pooling enables multiple threads of an application to use a dynamically managed set of pre-created database sessions. In connection pooling, the pool element is a connection, but in session pooling, the pool element is a session. Oracle Database continually reuses the sessions in the session pool to form nearly permanent channels to the instances, thus saving the overhead of creating and closing sessions every time applications need them.

Runtime connection load balancing is enabled by default in a release 11.1 or higher client talking to a server of 10.2 or higher. For Oracle RAC environments, session pools use service metrics received from the Oracle RAC load balancing advisoryFoot 1  through Fast Application Notification (FAN) events to balance application session requests. The work requests coming into the session pool can be distributed across the instances of Oracle RAC offering a service, using the current service performance.

Runtime connection load balancing is basically routing work requests to sessions in a session pool that best serve the work. It comes into effect when selecting a session from an existing session pool and thus is a very frequent activity. For session pools that support services at one instance only, the first available session in the pool is adequate. When the pool supports services that span multiple instances, there is a need to distribute the work requests across instances so that the instances that are providing better service or have greater capacity get more requests.

Connect time load balancing occurs when a session is first created by the application. It is necessary that the sessions that are part of the pool be well distributed across Oracle RAC instances, at the time they are first created. This ensures that sessions on each of the instances get a chance to execute work.

Configuring OCI Clients to Receive Load Balancing Advisory FAN Events

For Oracle RAC environments, session pools use service metrics received from the Oracle RAC load balancing advisory through Fast Application Notification (FAN) events to balance application session requests. To enable your application to receive the service metrics based on the service time, ensure you have met the following conditions:

Link the application with the threads library.

Create the OCI environment in OCI_EVENTS and OCI_THREADED mode.

Configure the load balancing advisory goal (-B option) and connection load balancing goal (-j option) for a service that is used by the session pool, as shown in the following example:

srvctl modify service -d crm -s ociapps -B SERVICE_TIME -j SHORT

See Also:

Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide for more information about Oracle Call Interface

Enabling ODP.NET Clients to Receive FAN High Availability Events

ODP.NET connection pools can subscribe to notifications that indicate when nodes, services, and service members are down. After a DOWN event, Oracle Database cleans up sessions in the connection pool that go to the instance and ODP.NET proactively removes connections that are no longer valid. ODP.NET establishes additional connections to existing Oracle RAC instances if the removal of invalid connections reduces the total number of connections to below the value for the MIN_POOL_SIZE parameter.

Perform the following steps to enable FAN for ODP.NET clients:

Enable Advanced Queuing notifications for a service by using SRVCTL as shown in the following example:

srvctl modify service -d crm -s odpnet.example.com -q TRUE

Grant permissions on the internal event queue table by executing the following command for the users that will be connecting by way of the ODP.NET application, where user_name is the database user name:

EXECUTE DBMS_AQADM.GRANT_QUEUE_PRIVILEGE('DEQUEUE','SYS.SYS$SERVICE_METR
ICS', user_name);

Enable Fast Connection Failover for ODP.NET connection pools by subscribing to FAN high availability events. To enable FCF, include "HA Events=true" and "pooling=true" (the default value) in the connection string, as shown in the following example where user_name is the name of the database user and password is the password for that user:

con.ConnectionString =
   "User Id=user_name;Password=password;Data Source=odpnet;" +
   "Min Pool Size=10;Connection Lifetime=120;Connection Timeout=60;" +
   "HA Events=true;Incr Pool Size=5;Decr Pool Size=2";

See Also:

Oracle Data Provider for .NET Developer's Guide for more information about using FAN events in ODP.NET applications

Enabling ODP.NET Clients to Receive FAN Load Balancing Advisory Events

Use the following procedures to enable ODP.NET clients or applications to receive FAN load balancing advisory events:

Enable Advanced Queuing notifications by using SRVCTL, and set the connection load balancing goal as shown in the following example:

srvctl modify service -d crm -s odpapp.example.com -q TRUE -j LONG

Ensure Oracle Net Services is configured for connection load balancing.

Grant permissions on the internal event queue table by executing the following command for the users that will be connecting by way of the ODP.NET application, where user_name is the name of the database user:

EXECUTE DBMS_AQADM.GRANT_QUEUE_PRIVILEGE('DEQUEUE','SYS.SYS$SERVICE_METR
ICS', user_name);

To take advantage of load balancing events with ODP.NET connection pools, set the load balancing attribute in the ConnectionString to TRUE (the default is FALSE). You can do this at connect time. This only works if you are using connection pools, or when the pooling attribute is set to TRUE which is the default.

The following example demonstrates how to configure the ConnectionString to enable load balancing, where user_name is the name of the user and password is the password:

con.ConnectionString =
  "User Id=user_name;Password=password;Data Source=odpapp;" +
  "Min Pool Size=10;Connection Lifetime=120;Connection Timeout=60;" +
  "Load Balancing=true;Incr Pool Size=5;Decr Pool Size=2";

Note:

ODP.NET does not support connection redistribution when a node starts (UP events). However, if you have enabled failover on the server-side, then ODP.NET can migrate connections to newly available instances.

See Also:

Oracle Data Provider for .NET Developer's Guide for more information about ODP. NET

"srvctl modify service" in Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference".

Services and Distributed Transaction Processing in Oracle RAC

The X/Open Distributed Transaction Processing (DTP) architecture defines a standard architecture or interface that enables multiple application programs (APs) to share resources provided by multiple, and possibly different, resource managers (RMs). It coordinates the work between APs and RMs into global transactions.

The following sections discuss how Oracle RAC supports XA transactions and DTP processing:

Overview of XA Transactions and DTP Services

Benefits of DTP Services for XA Transactions

Using DTP Services with Oracle RAC

Configuring DTP Services

Relocating DTP Services in Administrator-Managed Databases

Overview of XA Transactions and DTP Services

An XA transaction can span Oracle RAC instances by default, allowing any application that uses the Oracle XA library to take full advantage of the Oracle RAC environment to enhance the availability and scalability of the application.

GTXn background processes support global (XA) transactions in an Oracle RAC environment. The GLOBAL_TXN_PROCESSES initialization parameter, which is set to 1 by default, specifies the initial number of GTXn background processes for each Oracle RAC instance. Use the default value for this parameter clusterwide to allow distributed transactions to span multiple Oracle RAC instances. Using the default value allows the units of work performed across these Oracle RAC instances to share resources and act as a single transaction (that is, the units of work are tightly coupled). It also allows 2PC requests to be sent to any node in the cluster.

Before Oracle RAC 11g release 1 (11.1), the way to achieve tight coupling in Oracle RAC was to use Distributed Transaction Processing (DTP) services, that is, services whose cardinality (one) ensured that all tightly-coupled branches landed on the same instance—regardless of whether load balancing was enabled. Tightly coupled XA transactions no longer require the special type of singleton services to be deployed on Oracle RAC databases if the XA application does not join or resume XA transaction branches. XA transactions are transparently supported on Oracle RAC databases with any type of service configuration.

Note:

Oracle RAC 11g release 1 (11.1) and later does not require a DTP service but performance might be improved if you use a DTP service, as described in "Benefits of DTP Services for XA Transactions".

An external transaction manager, such as Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server (OraMTS), coordinates DTP/XA transactions. However, an internal Oracle transaction manager coordinates distributed SQL transactions. Both DTP/XA and distributed SQL transactions must use the DTP service in Oracle RAC.

See Also:

Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide for complete information about using Oracle XA with Oracle RAC

Oracle Database Reference for information about the GLOBAL_TXN_PROCESSES initialization parameter

Benefits of DTP Services for XA Transactions

To provide improved application performance with distributed transaction processing in Oracle RAC, you may want to take advantage of DTP services. Using DTP services, you can direct all branches of a distributed transaction to a single instance in the cluster. To load balance across the cluster, it is better to have several groups of smaller application servers with each group directing its transactions to a single service, or set of services, than to have one or two larger application servers.

In addition, connection pools at the application server tier that load balance across multiple connections to an Oracle RAC database can use this method to ensure that all tightly-coupled branches of a global distributed transaction run on only one Oracle RAC instance. This is also true in distributed transaction environments using protocols such as X/Open Distributed Transaction Processing (DTP) or the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC).

To enhance the performance of distributed transactions, you can use services to manage DTP environments. By defining the DTP property of a service, the service is guaranteed to run on one instance at a time in an Oracle RAC database. All global distributed transactions performed through the DTP service are ensured to have their tightly-coupled branches running on a single Oracle RAC instance. This has the following benefits:

The changes are available locally within one Oracle RAC instance when tightly coupled branches need information about changes made by each other

Relocation and failover of services are fully supported for DTP

By using more DTP services than there are Oracle RAC instances, Oracle Database can balance the load by services across all of the Oracle RAC database instances

Using DTP Services with Oracle RAC

To leverage all of the instances in a cluster, create one or more DTP services for each Oracle RAC instance that hosts distributed transactions. Choose one DTP service for one distributed transaction. Choose different DTP services for different distributed transactions to balance the workload among the Oracle RAC database instances. Because all of the branches of a distributed transaction are on one instance, you can leverage all of the instances to balance the load of many DTP transactions through multiple singleton services, thereby maximizing application throughput.

If you add or delete nodes from your cluster database, then you may have to identify and relocate services that you are using for DTP transactions to ensure that you maintain optimum performance levels.

See Also:

Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide for more information about transaction branch management in Oracle RAC

Configuring DTP Services

To create DTP services for distributed transaction processing, perform the following steps:

Create a singleton service using Oracle Enterprise Manager or SRVCTL.

For an administrator-managed database, define only one instance as the preferred instance. You can have as many available instances as you want, for example:

srvctl add service -d crm -s xa_01.example.com -r RAC01 -a RAC02,RAC03

For a policy-managed database, specify the server pool to use, and set the cardinality of the service to SINGLETON, for example:

srvctl add service -d crm -s xa_01.example.com -g dtp_pool -c SINGLETON

Set the DTP option (-x) for the service to TRUE (the default value is FALSE). You can use Oracle Enterprise Manager or SRVCTL to modify the DTP property of the singleton service. The following example shows how to modify the xa_01.example.com service using SRVCTL:

srvctl modify service -d crm -s xa_01.example.com -x TRUE

Relocating DTP Services in Administrator-Managed Databases

If the instance that provides a DTP service, for example XA_01, fails, then the singleton service fails over to an available instance, such as RAC02 or RAC03.

If services migrate to other instances, then you might have to force the relocation of the service back to the preferred instance after it is restarted to evenly re-balance the load on all of the available hardware. You can use data from the GV$ACTIVE_SERVICES view to determine whether you need to relocate the STP service.

Administering Services

You can create and administer services with Oracle Enterprise Manager and the SRVCTL utility. The following sections describe how to perform service-related tasks using these tools:

Overview of Service Administration

Administering Services with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Administering Services with SRVCTL

Note:

You can also use the DBMS_SERVICE package to create or modify services and service attributes, but SRVCTL or Oracle Enterprise Manager will override any settings made using this package. The DBMS_SERVICE package is not recommended for use with services used by an Oracle RAC database.

Overview of Service Administration

When you create and administer services, you are dividing the work that your database performs into manageable units. The goal of using services is to achieve optimal utilization of your database infrastructure. You can create and deploy services based on business requirements. Oracle Database can measure the performance for each service. Using the DBMS_MONITOR package, you can define both the application modules within a service and the individual actions for a module and monitor thresholds for these actions, enabling you to manage workloads to deliver capacity on demand.

To create a service, you can use either Oracle Enterprise Manager, or SRVCTL. When you create new services for your database, you should define the automatic workload management characteristics for each service, as described in "Service Characteristics".

See Also:

Oracle Database Quality of Service Management User's Guide if you are using Oracle Database QoS Management with your Oracle cluster for details on how to configure the database services

"Oracle Clients That Are Integrated with Fast Application Notification" for more details

In addition to creating services, you can:

Delete a service. You can delete services that you created. However, you cannot delete or modify the properties of the default database service that Oracle Database created.

Check the status of a service. A service can be assigned different roles among the available instances. In a complex database with many services, you may not remember the details of every service. Therefore, you may have to check the status on an instance or service basis. For example, you may have to know the status of a service for a particular instance before you make modifications to that instance or to the Oracle home from which it runs.

Start or stop a service for a database or an instance. A service must be started before it can be used for client connections to that instance. If you shut down your database, for example, by running the SRVCTL command srvctl stop database -d db_unique_name where db_unique_name is the name of the database you want to stop, then Oracle Database stops all services to that database. Depending on the service management policy, you may have to manually restart the services when you start the database.

Note:

If Oracle Database QoS Management is enabled for the Oracle RAC database, then the services are automatically restarted after they are stopped.

Map a service to a consumer group. Oracle Database can automatically map services to Resource Manager Consumer groups to limit the amount of resources that services can use in an instance. You must create the consumer group and then map the service to the consumer group.

See Also:

Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference for information about the DBMS_RESOURCE_MANAGER.SET_CONSUMER_GROUP_MAPPING_PRI procedure

Enable or disable a service for a database or an instance. By default, Oracle Clusterware attempts to restart a service automatically after failures. You can prevent this behavior by disabling a service. Disabling a service is useful when you must perform database or instance maintenance, for example, if you are performing an upgrade and you want to prevent connection requests.

Relocate a service to a different instance. You can move a service from one instance to another instance to re-balance workloads, for example, after adding or deleting cluster nodes.

Notes:

When you use services, do not set a value for the SERVICE_NAMES parameter; Oracle Database controls the setting for this parameter for the services that you create and for the default database service. The service features that this chapter describes are not directly related to the features that Oracle Database provides when you set SERVICE_NAMES. In addition, setting a value for this parameter may override some benefits of using services.

If you specify a service using the DISPATCHERS initialization parameter, it overrides any service in the SERVICE_NAMES parameter, and cannot be managed. (For example, stopping the service with a SRVCTL command does not stop users connecting with the service.)

Administering Services with Oracle Enterprise Manager

The Cluster Managed Database Services page is the master page for beginning all tasks related to services. To access this page, go to the Cluster Database Availability page, then click Cluster Managed Database Services in the Services section. You can use this page and drill down from this page to perform the following tasks:

View a list of services for the cluster

View the instances on which each service is currently running

View the status for each service

Create or edit a service

Start or stop a service

Enable or disable a service

Perform instance-level tasks for a service

Delete a service

Note:

You must have SYSDBA credentials to access a cluster database. Cluster Managed Database Services does not permit you to connect as anything other than SYSDBA.

See Also:

Oracle Enterprise Manager online help for more information about administering services with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about using Oracle Enterprise Manager to manage services

Administering Services with SRVCTL

When you create a service by using SRVCTL, you must start the service with a separate SRVCTL command. However, you may later have to manually stop or restart the service. You may also have to disable the service to prevent automatic restarts, to manually relocate the service, or obtain status information about the service. The following sections explain how to use SRVCTL to perform the following administrative tasks:

Creating Services with SRVCTL

Starting and Stopping Services with SRVCTL

Enabling and Disabling Services with SRVCTL

Relocating Services with SRVCTL

Obtaining the Statuses of Services with SRVCTL

Obtaining the Configuration of Services with SRVCTL

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for more information about SRVCTL commands that you can use to manage services, including descriptions of options

Creating Services with SRVCTL

To create a service with SRVCTL, enter a command from the command line using the following syntax:

srvctl add service -d db_unique_name -s service_name -t edition_name
{-r preferred_list [-a available_list]} | {-g server_pool
[-c {UNIFORM | SINGLETON}] [-k net_number]}
[-P {BASIC | NONE}] [-l {[PRIMARY] | [PHYSICAL_STANDBY] | [LOGICAL_STANDBY] |
[SNAPSHOT_STANDBY]}] [-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL}] [-q {TRUE | FALSE}]
[-x {TRUE | FALSE}] [-j {SHORT | LONG}] [-B {NONE | SERVICE_TIME | THROUGHPUT}]
 [-e {NONE |SESSION | SELECT}] [-m {NONE | BASIC}] [-z failover_retries]
 [-w failover_delay]

Note:

The service_name initialization parameter has a 4 kilobyte (KB) limit for its value. Therefore, the total length of the names of all services assigned to an instance cannot exceed 4 KB.

Starting and Stopping Services with SRVCTL

For applications to connect using a server, the service must be started. If you stop a service, then it is temporarily unavailable, but is still subject to automatic restart and failover.

Enter the following SRVCTL syntax from the command line to stop or start a service:

srvctl start service -d database_unique_name [-s service_name_list] [-i inst_name]
[-o start_options]

srvctl stop service -d database_unique_name -s service_name_list [-i inst_name]
[-o start_options]

Enabling and Disabling Services with SRVCTL

If you disable a service, then Oracle Clusterware does not consider the service for automatic startup, failover, or restart. You might disable a service when performing application maintenance, to ensure the service is not accidentally restarted by Oracle Clusterware until your maintenance operations are complete. To make the service available for normal operation again, you enable the service.

Use the following SRVCTL syntax from the command line to enable and disable services:

srvctl enable service -d database_unique_name -s service_name_list [-i inst_name]

srvctl disable service -d database_unique_name -s service_name_list [-i inst_name]

Relocating Services with SRVCTL

Run the srvctl relocate service command from the command line to relocate a service. You might use this command when a service has failed over to an available instance, but you want to move it back to the preferred instance after that instance is restarted.

The following command relocates the crm service from instance apps1 to instance apps3:

srvctl relocate service -d apps -s crm -i apps1 -t apps3

Obtaining the Statuses of Services with SRVCTL

Run the srvctl status service command from the command line to obtain the status of a service. For example, the following command returns the status of the services that are running on the apps database:

srvctl status service -d apps

Service erp is running on nodes: apps02,apps03
Service hr is running on nodes: apps02,apps03
Service sales is running on nodes: apps01,apps04

Obtaining the Configuration of Services with SRVCTL

Run the srvctl config service command from the command line to obtain the high availability configuration of a service. For example, the following command returns the configuration of the erp service that is running on the apps database:

srvctl config service -d apps -s erp

Service name: erp
Service is enabled
Server pool: sp1
Cardinality: UNIFORM
Disconnect: false
Service role: PRIMARY
Management policy: AUTOMATIC
DTP transaction: false
AQ HA notificaitons: false
Failover type: NONE
Failover method: NONE
TAF failover retries: 0
TAF failover delay: 0
Connection Load Balancing Goal: LONG
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: SERVICE_TIME
TAF policy specification: NONE
Edition:
Service is enabled on nodes:
Service is disabled on nodes:

See Also:

Appendix A, "Server Control Utility Reference" for information about other administrative tasks that you can perform with SRVCTL

Measuring Performance by Service Using the Automatic Workload Repository

Services add a new dimension for performance tuning. With services, workloads are visible and measurable, and therefore resource consumption and wait times are attributable by application. Tuning by using 'service and SQL' replaces tuning by 'session and SQL' in the majority of systems where all sessions are anonymous and shared.

The Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) maintains performance statistics that include information about response time, throughput, resource consumption, and wait events for all services and work that a database performs. Oracle Database also maintains metrics, statistics, wait events, wait classes, and SQL-level traces for services. You can optionally augment these statistics by defining modules within your application to monitor certain statistics. You can also define the actions within those modules that business critical transactions should execute in response to particular statistical values.

Enable module and action monitoring using the DBMS_MONTIOR PL/SQL package. For example, for connections that use the erp service, the following command enables monitoring for the exceptions pay action in the payroll module:

EXECUTE DBMS_MONITOR.SERV_MOD_ACT_STAT_ENABLE(SERVICE_NAME => 'ERP',
MODULE_NAME=> 'PAYROLL', ACTION_NAME => 'EXCEPTIONS PAY');

For connections that use the erp service, the following command enables monitoring for all actions in the payroll module:

EXECUTE DBMS_MONITOR.SERV_MOD_ACT_STAT_ENABLE(SERVICE_NAME => 'ERP',
MODULE_NAME=> 'PAYROLL', ACTION_NAME => NULL);

Use the DBA_ENABLED_AGGREGATIONS view to verify that you have enabled monitoring for application modules and actions.

Statistics aggregation and tracing by service are global in scope for Oracle RAC databases. In addition, these statistic aggregations are persistent across instance restarts and service relocations for both Oracle RAC and noncluster Oracle databases.

The service, module, and action names are visible in V$SESSION, V$ACTIVE_SESSION_HISTORY, and V$SQL views. The call times and performance statistics are visible in V$SERVICE_STATS, V$SERVICE_EVENT, V$SERVICE_WAIT_CLASS, V$SERVICEMETRIC, and V$SERVICEMETRIC_HISTORY. When you enable statistics collection for an important transaction, you can see the call speed for each service, module, and action name at each database instance using the V$SERV_MOD_ACT_STATS view.

The following sample SQL*Plus script provides service quality statistics for a five second interval. You can use these service quality statistics to monitor the quality of a service, to direct work, and to balance services across Oracle RAC instances:

SET PAGESIZE 60 COLSEP '|' NUMWIDTH 8 LINESIZE 132 VERIFY OFF FEEDBACK OFF
COLUMN service_name FORMAT A20 TRUNCATED HEADING 'Service'
COLUMN begin_time HEADING 'Begin Time' FORMAT A10
COLUMN end_time HEADING 'End Time' FORMAT A10
COLUMN instance_name HEADING 'Instance' FORMAT A10
COLUMN service_time HEADING 'Service Time|mSec/Call' FORMAT 999999999
COLUMN throughput HEADING 'Calls/sec'FORMAT 99.99
BREAK ON service_name SKIP 1
SELECT
    service_name
  , TO_CHAR(begin_time, 'HH:MI:SS') begin_time
  , TO_CHAR(end_time, 'HH:MI:SS') end_time
  , instance_name
  , elapsedpercall  service_time
  ,  callspersec  throughput
FROM
    gv$instance i
  , gv$active_services s
  , gv$servicemetric m
WHERE s.inst_id = m.inst_id
  AND s.name_hash = m.service_name_hash
  AND i.inst_id = m.inst_id
  AND m.group_id = 10
ORDER BY
   service_name
 , i.inst_id
 , begin_time ;

Automatic Workload Repository Service Thresholds and Alerts

Service level thresholds enable you to compare actual service levels against required levels of service. This provides accountability for the delivery or the failure to deliver an agreed service level. The end goal is a predictable system that achieves service levels. There is no requirement to perform as fast as possible with minimum resource consumption; the requirement is to meet the quality of service.

AWR allows you to explicitly specify two performance thresholds for each service: the response time for calls (ELAPSED_TIME_PER_CALL), and the CPU time for calls (CPU_TIME_PER_CALL). The response time threshold indicates that the elapsed time for each user call for each service should not exceed a certain value, and the CPU time for calls threshold indicates that the time spent using the CPU for each call for each service should not exceed a certain value. Response time is a fundamental measure that reflects all delays and faults that might be blocking the call from running on behalf of the user. Response time can also indicate differences in node power across the nodes of an Oracle RAC database.

You must set these thresholds on each instance of an Oracle RAC database. The elapsed time and CPU time are calculated as the moving average of the elapsed, server-side call time. The AWR monitors the elapsed time and CPU time and publishes AWR alerts when the performance exceeds the thresholds. You can schedule actions using Oracle Enterprise Manager jobs for these alerts, or you can schedule actions to occur programmatically when the alert is received. You can respond to these alerts by changing the priority of a job, stopping overloaded processes, or by relocating, starting or stopping a service. This permits you to maintain service availability despite changes in demand.

This section includes the following topics:

Example of Services and Thresholds Alerts

Enable Service, Module, and Action Monitoring

Example of Services and Thresholds Alerts

In this scenario, you need to check the thresholds for the payroll service. You can use the AWR report to get this information. You should compare the results from reports run over several successive intervals during which time the system is running optimally. For example, assume that for servers accessed by a payroll application, the AWR report runs each Thursday during the peak usage times of 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The AWR report contains the response time, or elapsed database time, and the CPU consumption time, or CPU time, for calls for each server, including the payroll service. The AWR report also provides a breakdown of the work done and the wait times that are contributing to the response times.

Using DBMS_MONITOR, you set a warning threshold for the elapsed time per call for the payroll service at 0.5 seconds (500000 microseconds). You also set a critical threshold for the elapsed time per call for the payroll service at 0.75 seconds (750000 microseconds).

In this example, thresholds are added for the payroll service as follows:

EXECUTE DBMS_SERVER_ALERT.SET_THRESHOLD(
METRICS_ID => DBMS_SERVER_ALERT.ELAPSED_TIME_PER_CALL
, warning_operator => DBMS_SERVER_ALERT.OPERATOR_GE
, warning_value => '500000'
, critical_operator => DBMS_SERVER_ALERT.OPERATOR_GE
, critical_value => '750000'
, observation_period => 30
, consecutive_occurrences => 5
, instance_name => NULL
, object_type => DBMS_SERVER_ALERT.OBJECT_TYPE_SERVICE
, object_name => 'payroll');

You can verify the threshold configuration is set on all the instances using the following SELECT statement:

SELECT METRICS_NAME, INSTANCE_NAME, WARNING_VALUE, CRITICAL_VALUE,
OBSERVATION_PERIOD FROM dba_thresholds ;

Enable Service, Module, and Action Monitoring

You can enable performance data tracing for important modules and actions within each service. The performance statistics are available in the V$SERV_MOD_ACT_STATS view. For example, you might decide to set the following:

For the ERP service, enable monitoring for the exceptions pay action in the payroll module.

For the ERP service, enable monitoring for the all actions in the payroll module.

For the HOT_BATCH service, enable monitoring for all actions in the posting module.

The following commands show how to enable the module and action monitoring for the services:

EXECUTE DBMS_MONITOR.SERV_MOD_ACT_STAT_ENABLE(service_name => 'erp', module_name=>
 'payroll', action_name => 'exceptions pay');
EXECUTE DBMS_MONITOR.SERV_MOD_ACT_STAT_ENABLE(service_name => 'erp', module_name=>
 'payroll', action_name => NULL);
EXECUTE DBMS_MONITOR.SERV_MOD_ACT_STAT_ENABLE(service_name => 'hot_batch',
module_name =>'posting', action_name => NULL);

To verify monitoring is enabled for the service, module, and actions, use the following SELECT statement:

COLUMN AGGREGATION_TYPE FORMAT A21 TRUNCATED HEADING 'AGGREGATION'
COLUMN PRIMARY_ID FORMAT A20 TRUNCATED HEADING 'SERVICE'
COLUMN QUALIFIER_ID1 FORMAT A20 TRUNCATED HEADING 'MODULE'
COLUMN QUALIFIER_ID2 FORMAT A20 TRUNCATED HEADING 'ACTION'
SELECT * FROM DBA_ENABLED_AGGREGATIONS ;

The output might appear as follows:

AGGREGATION           SERVICE                MODULE        ACTION
------------           --------------------   ----------    -------------
SERVICE_MODULE_ACTION  ERP                    PAYROLL       EXCEPTIONS PAY
SERVICE_MODULE_ACTION  ERP                    PAYROLL
SERVICE_MODULE_ACTION  HOT_BATCH              POSTING

Footnote Legend

Footnote 1: Runtime connection load balancing is basically routing work requests to sessions in a session pool that can best serve the work. It comes into effect when selecting a session from an existing session pool. Thus, runtime connection load balancing is a very frequent activity.

6 Configuring Recovery Manager and Archiving

This chapter explains how to configure Recovery Manager (RMAN) for use in Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) environments. This chapter also provides procedures for using for archiving in Oracle RAC environments and discusses online redo log and archived redo log considerations.

The topics in this chapter include:

Overview of Configuring RMAN for Oracle RAC

Archiving Mode in Oracle RAC

Configuring the RMAN Snapshot Control File Location

Configuring RMAN to Automatically Backup the Control File and SPFILE

Crosschecking on Multiple Oracle RAC Nodes

Configuring Channels for RMAN in Oracle RAC

Managing Archived Redo Logs Using RMAN in Oracle RAC

Archived Redo Log File Conventions in Oracle RAC

RMAN Archiving Configuration Scenarios

Monitoring the Archiver Processes

Overview of Configuring RMAN for Oracle RAC

RMAN enables you to back up, restore, and recover data files, control files, server parameter files (SPFILEs) and archived redo log files. RMAN is included with Oracle Database and does not require separate installation. You can run RMAN from the command line or use RMAN in the Backup Manager in Oracle Enterprise Manager.

Archiving Mode in Oracle RAC

In order for redo log files to be archived, the Oracle RAC database must be in ARCHIVELOG mode. You can run the ALTER DATABASE SQL statement to change the archiving mode in Oracle RAC, because the database is mounted by the local instance but not open in any instances. You do not need to modify parameter settings to run this statement.

Notes:

The ARCHIVELOG mode is set at the database level, not the instance level. Either all instances archive or none do.

You can also change the archive log mode by using the Recovery Settings page in the Maintenance tab of the Oracle Enterprise Manager Oracle RAC Database Home Page.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about setting the archiving mode

Configuring the RMAN Snapshot Control File Location

The snapshot control file is a copy of a database control file created in an operating system-specific location by RMAN. RMAN creates the snapshot control file so that it has a consistent version of a control file to use when either resynchronizing the recovery catalog or backing up the control file. You can also create a snapshot control file, by entering the following at the RMAN prompt:

DUPLICATE FROM ACTIVE

You can specify a cluster file system or a raw device destination for the location of your snapshot control file. This file is shared across all nodes in the cluster and must be accessible by all nodes in the cluster. Run the following RMAN command to determine the configured location of the snapshot control file:

SHOW SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME;

You can change the configured location of the snapshot control file. For example, on Linux and UNIX systems you can specify the snapshot control file location as $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/scf/snap_prod.cf by entering the following at the RMAN prompt:

CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/scf/snap_prod.cf';

This command sets the configuration for the location of the snapshot control file for every instance of your cluster database. Therefore, ensure that the directory $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/scf exists on all nodes that perform backups.

The CONFIGURE command creates persistent settings across RMAN sessions. Therefore, you do not need to run this command again unless you want to change the location of the snapshot control file.

To delete a snapshot control file you must first change the snapshot control file location, then delete the file at the older location, as follows:

CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO 'new_name';
DELETE COPY OF CONTROLFILE;

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for more information about configuring the snapshot control file

Configuring RMAN to Automatically Backup the Control File and SPFILE

If you set CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP to ON, then RMAN automatically creates a control file and an SPFILE backup after you run the BACKUP or COPY commands. RMAN can also automatically restore an SPFILE, if this is required to start an instance to perform recovery, because the default location for the SPFILE must be available to all nodes in your Oracle RAC database.

These features are important in disaster recovery because RMAN can restore the control file even without a recovery catalog. RMAN can restore an autobackup of the control file even after the loss of both the recovery catalog and the current control file. You can change the default name that RMAN gives to this file with the CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT command. Note that if you specify an absolute path name in this command, then this path must exist identically on all nodes that participate in backups.

RMAN performs the control file autobackup on the first allocated channel. Therefore, when you allocate multiple channels with different parameters, especially when you allocate a channel with the CONNECT command, determine which channel will perform the control file autobackup. Always allocate the channel for this node first.

Besides using the RMAN control file, you can also use Oracle Enterprise Manager to use the RMAN features.

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for more information about using the control file autobackup feature

Crosschecking on Multiple Oracle RAC Nodes

When crosschecking on multiple nodes (and when operating RMAN in general), configure the cluster so that all backups can be accessed by every node, regardless of which node created the backup. When the cluster is configured this way, you can allocate channels to any node in the cluster during restore or crosscheck operations.

If you cannot configure the cluster so that each node can access all backups, then during restore and crosscheck operations, you must allocate channels on multiple nodes by providing the CONNECT option to the CONFIGURE CHANNEL command, so that every backup can be accessed by at least one node. If some backups are not accessible during crosscheck because no channel was configured on the node that can access those backups, then those backups are marked EXPIRED in the RMAN repository after the crosscheck.

For example, you can use CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... CONNECT in an Oracle RAC configuration in which tape backups are created on various nodes in the cluster and each backup is only accessible on the node on which it is created. This is described in more detail in "Configuring Channels to Use a Specific Node".

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for more information about crosschecking

Configuring Channels for RMAN in Oracle RAC

This section describes how to configure channels for RMAN. You can configure channels to use automatic load balancing or you can specify specific channels for specific instances as described in the following topics:

Configuring Channels to Use Automatic Load Balancing

Configuring Channels to Use a Specific Node

Configuring Channels to Use Automatic Load Balancing

To configure channels to use automatic load balancing, use the following syntax:

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE [disk | sbt] PARALLELISM number_of_channels;
...

Where number_of_channels is the number of channels that you want to use for the operation. After you complete this one-time configuration, you can issue BACKUP or RESTORE commands.

Configuring Channels to Use a Specific Node

To configure one RMAN channel for each policy-managed Oracle RAC database instance, use the following syntax:

CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt CONNECT '@racinst_1'
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt CONNECT '@racinst_2'
...

After this one-time configuration step, you can issue the BACKUP or RESTORE commands.

Managing Archived Redo Logs Using RMAN in Oracle RAC

When a node generates an archived redo log, Oracle Database always records the filename of the log in the control file of the target database. If you are using a recovery catalog, then RMAN also records the archived redo log filenames in the recovery catalog when a resynchronization occurs.

The archived redo log naming scheme that you use is important because when a node writes to a log with a specific file name on its file system, the file must be readable by any node that must access this archived redo log. For example, if node1 archives a log to /oracle/arc_dest/log_1_100_23452345.arc, then node2 can back up this archived redo log only if it can read /oracle/arc_dest/log_1_100_23452345.arc on its own file system.

The backup and recovery strategy that you choose depends on how you configure the archiving destinations for each node. Whether only one node or all nodes perform archived redo log backups, you must ensure that all archived redo logs are backed up. If you use RMAN parallelism during recovery, then the node that performs recovery must have read access to all archived redo logs in your cluster.

Multiple nodes can restore archived logs in parallel. However, during recovery, only one node applies the archived logs. Therefore, the node that is performing the recovery must be able to access all of the archived logs that are needed for the recovery operation. By default, the database determines the optimum number of parallel threads to use during the recovery operation. You can use the PARALLEL clause in the RECOVER command to change the number of parallel threads.

Guidelines and Considerations for Archived Redo Logs

The primary consideration is to ensure that all archived redo logs can be read from every node during recovery, and, if possible, during backups. During recovery, if the archived log destinations are visible from the node that performs the recovery, then Oracle Database can successfully recover the archived log data.

Archived Redo Log File Conventions in Oracle RAC

For any archived redo log configuration, uniquely identify the archived redo logs with the LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT parameter. The format of this parameter is operating system-specific and it can include text strings, one or more variables, and a filename extension.

Table 6-1 Archived Redo Log File Name Format Parameters

Parameter
Description
Example

%r

Resetlogs identifier, not padded

log_1_62_23452345

%R

Resetlogs identifier, left-zero-padded

log_1_62_0023452345

%s

Log sequence number, not padded

log_251

%S

Log sequence number, left-zero-padded

log_0000000251

%t

Thread number, not padded

log_1

%T

Thread number, left-zero-padded

log_0001

All of the file name format parameters for the archive redo logs, in either upper or lowercase, are mandatory for Oracle RAC. These parameters enable Oracle Database to create unique names for archive logs across the incarnation. This requirement is in effect when the COMPATIBLE parameter is set to 10.0 or greater.

Use the %R or %r parameters to include the resetlogs identifier to avoid overwriting the logs from a previous incarnation. If you do not specify a log format, then the default is operating system-specific and includes %t, %s, and %r.

As an example, if the instance associated with redo thread number 1 sets LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT to log_%t_%s_%r.arc, then its archived redo log files are named:

log_1_1000_23435343.arc
log_1_1001_23452345.arc
log_1_1002_23452345.arc
...

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide about specifying the archived redo log filename format and destination, and Oracle Database platform-specific documentation about the default log archiving format and destination

RMAN Archiving Configuration Scenarios

This section describes the archiving scenarios for an Oracle RAC database. The two configuration scenarios in this chapter describe a three-node UNIX cluster for an Oracle RAC database. For both scenarios, the LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT that you specify for the instance performing recovery must be the same as the format that you specified for the instances that archived the redo log files.

This section includes the following topics:

Oracle Automatic Storage Management and Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

Noncluster File System Local Archiving Scheme

Oracle Automatic Storage Management and Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

The preferred configuration for Oracle RAC is to use Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) for a recovery area using a disk group for your recovery set that is different from the disk group used for your data files. When you use Oracle ASM, it uses an Oracle Managed Files naming format.

Alternatively, you can use a cluster file system archiving scheme. If you use a cluster file system, then each node writes to a single location on the cluster file system when archiving the redo log files. Each node can read the archived redo log files of the other nodes. For example, as shown in Figure 6-1, if Node 1 archives a redo log file to /arc_dest/log_1_100_23452345.arc on the cluster file system, then any other node in the cluster can also read this file.

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for more information about managing space in the recovery area and backing up archived redo logs with RMAN

Figure 6-1 Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

Description of Figure 6-1 follows
Description of "Figure 6-1 Cluster File System Archiving Scheme"

Note:

The archive log naming format in this example is only for a cluster file system example.

If you do not use a cluster file system, then the archived redo log files cannot be on raw devices. This is because raw devices do not enable sequential writing of consecutive archive log files.

Advantages of the Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

The advantage of this scheme is that none of the nodes uses the network to archive logs. Because the file name written by a node can be read by any node in the cluster, RMAN can back up all logs from any node in the cluster. Backup and restore scripts are simplified because each node has access to all archived redo logs.

Initialization Parameter Settings for the Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

In the cluster file system scheme, each node archives to a directory that is identified with the same name on all instances within the cluster database (/arc_dest, in the following example). To configure this directory, set values for the LOG_ARCH_DEST_1 parameter, as shown in the following example:

*.LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1="LOCATION=/arc_dest"

The following list shows archived redo log entry examples that would appear in the RMAN catalog or in the control file based on the previous example. Note that any node can archive logs using any of the threads:

/arc_dest/log_1_999_23452345.arc
/arc_dest/log_1_1000_23435343.arc
/arc_dest/log_1_1001_23452345.arc <- thread 1 archived in node3
/arc_dest/log_3_1563_23452345.arc <- thread 3 archived in node2
/arc_dest/log_2_753_23452345.arc <- thread 2 archived in node1
/arc_dest/log_2_754_23452345.arc
/arc_dest/log_3_1564_23452345.arc

Location of Archived Logs for the Cluster File System Archiving Scheme

Because the file system is shared and because each node is writing its archived redo logs to the /arc_dest directory in the cluster file system, each node can read the logs written by itself and any other node.

Noncluster File System Local Archiving Scheme

When archiving locally to a noncluster file system, each node archives to a uniquely named local directory. If recovery is required, then you can configure the recovery node so that it can access directories on the other nodes remotely. For example, use NFS on Linux and UNIX computers, or mapped drives on Windows systems. Therefore, each node writes only to a local destination, but each node can also read archived redo log files in remote directories on the other nodes.

Considerations for Using Noncluster File System Local Archiving

If you use noncluster file system local archiving for media recovery, then you must configure the node that is performing recovery for remote access to the other nodes so that it can read the archived redo log files in the archive directories on the other nodes. In addition, if you are performing recovery and you do not have all of the available archive logs, then you must perform an incomplete recovery up to the first missing archived redo log sequence number. You do not have to use a specific configuration for this scheme. However, to distribute the backup processing onto multiple nodes, the easiest method is to configure channels as described in the backup scenarios in Chapter 7, "Managing Backup and Recovery".

Note:

Because different file systems are used in a noncluster case, the archive log directories must be unique on each node. For example, /arc_dest_1 is only available on node1, /arc_dest_2 is only directly mounted on node2, and so on.

Then node1 mounts /arc_dest_2 from node2 and /arc_dest_3 from node3 through NFS.

Initialization Parameter Settings for Noncluster File System Local Archiving

You can set the archiving destination values as follows in the initialization parameter file for either policy-managed or administrator-managed databases.

Set the the SID.LOG_ARCH_DEST parameter for each instance using the SID designator, as shown in the following example:

sid1.LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1="LOCATION=/arc_dest_1"
sid2.LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1="LOCATION=/arc_dest_2"
sid3.LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1="LOCATION=/arc_dest_3"

For policy-managed databases, manually create a node and instance binding to ensure that sid1 always runs on the same node, as follows:

$ srvctl modify database -d mydb -n node1 -i sid1
$ srvctl modify database -d mydb -n node2 -i sid2
$ srvctl modify database -d mydb -n node3 -i sid3

The following list shows the possible archived redo log entries in the database control file. Note that any node can read archived redo logs from any of the threads, which must happen in order for the database to recover after a failure.

/arc_dest_1/log_1_1000_23435343.arc
/arc_dest_2/log_1_1001_23452345.arc <- thread 1 archived in node2
/arc_dest_2/log_3_1563_23452345.arc <- thread 3 archived in node2
/arc_dest_1/log_2_753_23452345.arc <- thread 2 archived in node1
/arc_dest_2/log_2_754_23452345.arc
/arc_dest_3/log_3_1564_23452345.arc

Location of Archived Logs for Noncluster File System Local Archiving

As illustrated in Table 6-2, each of three nodes has a directory containing the locally archived redo logs. Additionally, if you mount directories on the other nodes remotely through NFS or mapped drives, then each node has two remote directories through which RMAN can read the archived redo log files that are archived by the remaining nodes.

Note:

The archive log destinations, similar to those shown in Table 6-2, must be different on each node so that if you mount the NFS directory on a different node, then it does not conflict with an existing archive log directory

Table 6-2 UNIX/NFS Location Log Examples, Noncluster File System Local Archiving

Node
Reads the archived redo log files in the directory
For logs archived by node

1

/arc_dest_1

1

1

/arc_dest_2

2 (through NFS)

1

/arc_dest_3

3 (through NFS)

2

/arc_dest_1

1 (through NFS)

2

/arc_dest_2

2

2

/arc_dest_3

3 (through NFS)

3

/arc_dest_1

1 (through NFS)

3

/arc_dest_2

2 (through NFS)

3

/arc_dest_3

3

File System Configuration for Noncluster File System Local Archiving

If you are performing recovery and a surviving instance must read all of the logs that are on disk but not yet backed up, then you should configure NFS as shown in Table 6-3.

Table 6-3 UNIX/NFS Configuration for Shared Read Local Archiving Examples

Node
Directory...
Is configured...
And mounted on...
On node...

1

/arc_dest_1

Local read/write

n/a

n/a

1

/arc_dest_2

NFS read

/arc_dest_2

2

1

/arc_dest_3

NFS read

/arc_dest_3

3

2

/arc_dest_1

NFS read

/arc_dest_1

1

2

/arc_dest_2

Local read/write

n/a

n/a

2

/arc_dest_3

NFS read

/arc_dest_3

3

3

/arc_dest_1

NFS read

/arc_dest_1

1

3

/arc_dest_2

NFS read

/arc_dest_2

2

3

/arc_dest_3

Local read/write

n/a

n/a

Note:

Windows users can achieve the same results depicted in the examples in this section by using mapped drives.

Monitoring the Archiver Processes

After your RMAN configuration is operative in your Oracle RAC environment, use the GV$ARCHIVE_PROCESSES and V$ARCHIVE_PROCESSES views to determine the status of the archiver processes. Depending on whether you query the global or local views, these views display information for all database instances, or for only the instance to which you are connected.

Note:

If you use the kill command to stop the archiver process, then the database instance will fail.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about the archiver processes

Oracle Database Reference for more information about the database views

7 Managing Backup and Recovery

This chapter explains instance recovery and how to use Recovery Manager (RMAN) to back up and restore Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) databases. This chapter also describes Oracle RAC instance recovery, parallel backup, recovery with SQL*Plus, and using the Fast Recovery Area in Oracle RAC. The topics in this chapter include:

RMAN Backup Scenario for Noncluster File System Backups

RMAN Restore Scenarios for Oracle RAC

Instance Recovery in Oracle RAC

Media Recovery in Oracle RAC

Parallel Recovery in Oracle RAC

Using a Fast Recovery Area in Oracle RAC

Note:

For restore and recovery in Oracle RAC environments, you do not have to configure the instance that performs the recovery to also be the sole instance that restores all of the data files. In Oracle RAC, data files are accessible from every node in the cluster, so any node can restore archived redo log files.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about backing up and restoring the Oracle Clusterware components such as the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) and the voting disk

RMAN Backup Scenario for Noncluster File System Backups

In a noncluster file system environment, each node can back up only to a locally mounted noncluster file system directory. For example, node1 cannot access the archived redo log files on node2 or node3 unless you configure the network file system for remote access. If you configure a network file system file for backups, then each node backs up its archived redo logs to a local directory.

RMAN Restore Scenarios for Oracle RAC

This section describes the following common RMAN restore scenarios:

Restoring Backups from a Cluster File System

Restoring Backups from a Noncluster File System

Using RMAN or Oracle Enterprise Manager to Restore the Server Parameter File (SPFILE)

Note:

The restore and recovery procedures in a cluster file system scheme do not differ substantially from Oracle noncluster scenarios.

Restoring Backups from a Cluster File System

The scheme that this section describes assumes that you are using the "Oracle Automatic Storage Management and Cluster File System Archiving Scheme". In this scheme, assume that node3 performed the backups to a cluster file system. If node3 is available for the restore and recovery operation, and if all of the archived logs have been backed up or are on disk, then run the following commands to perform complete recovery:

RESTORE DATABASE;
RECOVER DATABASE;

If node3 performed the backups but is unavailable, then configure a media management device for one of the remaining nodes and make the backup media from node3 available to this node.

Note:

If you configured RMAN as described in "Configuring Channels to Use Automatic Load Balancing", then, in order to load balance the channels across nodes, note that channels cannot be load balanced before at least one instance has successfully opened the database. This means that the channels will not be load balanced across the nodes during a full database restore. To achieve load balancing of channels for RESTORE and RECOVER commands, you can temporarily reallocate channels by running commands similar to the following:

run {
ALLOCATE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt C1 CONNECT '@racinst_1'
ALLOCATE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt C2 CONNECT '@racinst_2'
...
}

Restoring Backups from a Noncluster File System

The scheme that this section describes assumes that you are using the "Noncluster File System Local Archiving Scheme". In this scheme, each node archives locally to a different directory. For example, node1 archives to /arc_dest_1, node2 archives to /arc_dest_2, and node3 archives to /arc_dest_3. You must configure a network file system file so that the recovery node can read the archiving directories on the remaining nodes.

If all nodes are available and if all archived redo logs have been backed up, then you can perform a complete restore and recovery by mounting the database and running the following commands from any node:

RESTORE DATABASE;
RECOVER DATABASE;

Because the network file system configuration enables each node read access to the redo log files on other nodes, then the recovery node can read and apply the archived redo logs located on the local and remote disks. No manual transfer of archived redo logs is required.

Using RMAN or Oracle Enterprise Manager to Restore the Server Parameter File (SPFILE)

RMAN can restore the server parameter file either to the default location or to a location that you specify.

You can also use Oracle Enterprise Manager to restore the SPFILE. From the Backup/Recovery section of the Maintenance tab, click Perform Recovery. The Perform Recovery link is context-sensitive and navigates you to the SPFILE restore only when the database is closed.

Instance Recovery in Oracle RAC

Instance failure occurs when software or hardware problems disable an instance. After instance failure, Oracle Database automatically uses the online redo logs to perform recovery as described in this section.

This section includes the following topics:

Single Node Failure in Oracle RAC

Multiple-Node Failures in Oracle RAC

Using RMAN to Create Backups in Oracle RAC

Node Affinity Awareness of Fast Connections

Deleting Archived Redo Logs after a Successful Backup

Autolocation for Backup and Restore Commands

Single Node Failure in Oracle RAC

Instance recovery in Oracle RAC does not include the recovery of applications that were running on the failed instance. Oracle Clusterware restarts the instance automatically.

Applications that were running on a node before it failed continue running by using failure recognition and recovery. This provides consistent and uninterrupted service if hardware or software fails. When one instance performs recovery for another instance, the surviving instance reads online redo logs generated by the failed instance and uses that information to ensure that committed transactions are recorded in the database. Thus, data from committed transactions is not lost. The instance performing recovery rolls back transactions that were active at the time of the failure and releases resources used by those transactions.

Note:

All online redo logs must be accessible for instance recovery. Therefore, Oracle recommends that you mirror your online redo logs.

Multiple-Node Failures in Oracle RAC

When multiple node failures occur, if one instance survives, then Oracle RAC performs instance recovery for any other instances that fail. If all instances of an Oracle RAC database fail, then Oracle Database automatically recovers the instances the next time one instance opens the database. The instance performing recovery can mount the database in either cluster database or exclusive mode from any node of an Oracle RAC database. This recovery procedure is the same for Oracle Database running in shared mode as it is for Oracle Database running in exclusive mode, except that one instance performs instance recovery for all of the failed instances.

Using RMAN to Create Backups in Oracle RAC

Oracle Database provides RMAN for backing up and restoring the database. RMAN enables you to back up, restore, and recover data files, control files, SPFILEs, and archived redo logs. RMAN is included with the Oracle Database server and it is installed by default. You can run RMAN from the command line or you can use it from the Backup Manager in Oracle Enterprise Manager. In addition, RMAN is the recommended backup and recovery tool if you are using Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM). The procedures for using RMAN in Oracle RAC environments do not differ substantially from those for Oracle noncluster environments.

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for more information about noncluster RMAN backup procedures

Channel Connections to Cluster Instances with RMAN

Channel connections to the instances are determined using the connect string defined by channel configurations. For example, in the following configuration, three channels are allocated using dbauser/pwd@service_name. If you configure the SQL Net service name with load balancing turned on, then the channels are allocated at a node as decided by the load balancing algorithm.

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 3;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE SBT CONNECT 'dbauser/pwd@service_name'

However, if the service name used in the connect string is not for load balancing, then you can control at which instance the channels are allocated using separate connect strings for each channel configuration, as follows:

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 3;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1.. CONNECT 'dbauser/pwd@mydb_1';
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2.. CONNECT 'dbauser/pwd@mydb_2';
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 3.. CONNECT 'dbauser/pwd@mydb_3';

In the previous example, it is assumed that mydb_1, mydb_2 and mydb_3 are SQL*Net service names that connect to pre-defined nodes in your Oracle RAC environment. Alternatively, you can also use manually allocated channels to backup your database files. For example, the following command backs up the SPFILE, controlfile, data files and archived redo logs:

RUN
{
    ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH1 CONNECT 'dbauser/pwd@mydb_1';
    ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH2 CONNECT 'dbauser/pwd@mydb_2';
    ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH3 CONNECT 'dbauser/pwd@mydb_3';
    BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVED LOG;
}

During a backup operation, if at least one channel allocated has access to the archived log, then RMAN automatically schedules the backup of the specific log on that channel. Because the control file, SPFILE, and data files are accessible by any channel, the backup operation of these files is distributed across the allocated channels.

For a local archiving scheme, there must be at least one channel allocated to all of the nodes that write to their local archived logs. For a cluster file system archiving scheme, if every node writes the archived logs in the same cluster file system, then the backup operation of the archived logs is distributed across the allocated channels.

During a backup, the instances to which the channels connect must be either all mounted or all open. For example, if the instance on node1 has the database mounted while the instances on node2 and node3 have the database open, then the backup fails.

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for more information about the CONNECT clause of the CONFIGURE CHANNEL statement

Node Affinity Awareness of Fast Connections

In some cluster database configurations, some nodes of the cluster have faster access to certain data files than to other data files. RMAN automatically detects this situation, which is known as node affinity awareness. When deciding which channel to use to back up a particular data file, RMAN gives preference to the nodes with faster access to the data files that you want to back up. For example, if you have a three-node cluster, and if node1 has faster read/write access to data files 7, 8, and 9 than the other nodes, then node1 has greater node affinity to those files than node2 and node3.

Deleting Archived Redo Logs after a Successful Backup

If you have configured the automatic channels as defined in section "Channel Connections to Cluster Instances with RMAN", then you can use the following example to delete the archived logs that you backed up n times. The device type can be DISK or SBT:

DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP n TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE device_type;

During a delete operation, if at least one channel allocated has access to the archived log, then RMAN automatically schedules the deletion of the specific log on that channel. For a local archiving scheme, there must be at least one channel allocated that can delete an archived log. For a cluster file system archiving scheme, assuming that every node writes to the archived logs on the same cluster file system, the archived log can be deleted by any allocated channel.

If you have not configured automatic channels, then you can manually allocate the maintenance channels as follows and delete the archived logs.

ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/oracle@node1';
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/oracle@node2';
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/oracle@node3';
DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP n TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE device_type;

Autolocation for Backup and Restore Commands

RMAN automatically performs autolocation of all files that it must back up or restore. If you use the noncluster file system local archiving scheme, then a node can only read the archived redo logs that were generated by an instance on that node. RMAN never attempts to back up archived redo logs on a channel it cannot read.

During a restore operation, RMAN automatically performs the autolocation of backups. A channel connected to a specific node only attempts to restore files that were backed up to the node. For example, assume that log sequence 1001 is backed up to the drive attached to node1, while log 1002 is backed up to the drive attached to node2. If you then allocate channels that connect to each node, then the channel connected to node1 can restore log 1001 (but not 1002), and the channel connected to node2 can restore log 1002 (but not 1001).

Media Recovery in Oracle RAC

Media recovery must be user-initiated through a client application, whereas instance recovery is automatically performed by the database. In these situations, use RMAN to restore backups of the data files and then recover the database. The procedures for RMAN media recovery in Oracle RAC environments do not differ substantially from the media recovery procedures for noncluster environments.

The node that performs the recovery must be able to restore all of the required data files. That node must also be able to either read all of the required archived redo logs on disk or be able to restore them from backups.

When recovering a database with encrypted tablespaces (for example after a SHUTDOWN ABORT or a catastrophic error that brings down the database instance), you must open the Oracle Wallet after database mount and before you open the database, so the recovery process can decrypt data blocks and redo.

Parallel Recovery in Oracle RAC

Oracle Database automatically selects the optimum degree of parallelism for instance, crash, and media recovery. Oracle Database applies archived redo logs using an optimal number of parallel processes based on the availability of CPUs. You can use parallel instance recovery and parallel media recovery in Oracle RAC databases as described under the following topics:

Parallel Recovery with RMAN

Disabling Parallel Recovery

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for more information on these topics

Parallel Recovery with RMAN

With RMAN's RESTORE and RECOVER commands, Oracle Database automatically makes parallel the following three stages of recovery:

Restoring Data Files When restoring data files, the number of channels you allocate in the RMAN recover script effectively sets the parallelism that RMAN uses. For example, if you allocate five channels, you can have up to five parallel streams restoring data files.

Applying Incremental Backups Similarly, when you are applying incremental backups, the number of channels you allocate determines the potential parallelism.

Applying Archived Redo Logs With RMAN, the application of archived redo logs is performed in parallel. Oracle Database automatically selects the optimum degree of parallelism based on available CPU resources.

Disabling Parallel Recovery

You can override parallel recovery using the procedures under the following topics:

Disabling Instance and Crash Recovery Parallelism

Disabling Media Recovery Parallelism

Disabling Instance and Crash Recovery Parallelism

To disable parallel instance and crash recovery on a system with multiple CPUs, set the RECOVERY_PARALLELISM parameter in the database initialization parameter file, SPFILE, to 0 or 1.

Disabling Media Recovery Parallelism

Use the NOPARALLEL clause of the RMAN RECOVER command or the ALTER DATABASE RECOVER statement to force Oracle Database to use non-parallel media recovery.

Using a Fast Recovery Area in Oracle RAC

To use a fast recovery area in Oracle RAC, you must place it on an Oracle ASM disk group, a Cluster File System, or on a shared directory that is configured through a network file system file for each Oracle RAC instance. In other words, the fast recovery area must be shared among all of the instances of an Oracle RAC database. In addition, set the parameter DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST to the same value on all instances.

Oracle Enterprise Manager enables you to set up a fast recovery area. To use this feature:

From the Cluster Database home page, click the Maintenance tab.

Under the Backup/Recovery options list, click Configure Recovery Settings.

Specify your requirements in the Fast Recovery Area section of the page.

Click Help on this page for more information.

See Also:

Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for information about setting up and configuring the fast recovery area

8 Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster

This chapter describes how to clone Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database homes on Linux and UNIX systems to nodes in a new cluster. To extend Oracle RAC to nodes in an existing cluster, see Chapter 9, "Using Cloning to Extend Oracle RAC to Nodes in the Same Cluster".

This chapter describes a noninteractive cloning technique that you implement with scripts. The cloning techniques described in this chapter are best suited for performing multiple simultaneous cluster installations. Creating the scripts is a manual process and can be error prone. If you only have one cluster to install, then you should use the traditional automated and interactive installation methods, such as Oracle Universal Installer, or the Provisioning Pack feature of Oracle Enterprise Manager.

Note:

Cloning is not a replacement for Oracle Enterprise Manager cloning that is a part of the Provisioning Pack. During Oracle Enterprise Manager cloning, the provisioning process interactively asks you the details about the Oracle home (such as the location to which you want to deploy the clone, the name of the Oracle Database home, a list of the nodes in the cluster, and so on).

The Provisioning Pack feature of Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control provides a framework to make it easy for you to automate the provisioning of new nodes and clusters. For data centers with many Oracle RAC clusters, the investment in creating a cloning procedure to easily provision new clusters and new nodes to existing clusters is worth the effort.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Introduction to Cloning Oracle RAC

Preparing to Clone Oracle RAC

Deploying Oracle RAC Clone to Nodes in a Cluster

Locating and Viewing Log Files Generated During Cloning

Introduction to Cloning Oracle RAC

Cloning is the process of copying an existing Oracle RAC installation to a different location and updating the copied bits to work in the new environment. The changes made by one-off patches applied on the source Oracle home, would also be present after the clone operation. The source and the destination path (host to be cloned) need not be the same.

Some situations in which cloning is useful are:

Cloning provides a way to prepare an Oracle home once and deploy it to many hosts simultaneously. You can complete the installation silently, as a noninteractive process. You do not need to use a graphical user interface (GUI) console and you can perform cloning from a Secure Shell (SSH) terminal session, if required.

Cloning enables you to create an installation (copy of a production, test, or development installation) with all patches applied to it in a single step. Once you have performed the base installation and applied all patch sets and patches on the source system, the clone performs all of these individual steps as a single procedure. This is in contrast to going through the installation process to perform the separate steps to install, configure, and patch the installation on each node in the cluster.

Installing Oracle RAC by cloning is a very quick process. For example, cloning an Oracle home to a new cluster of more than two nodes requires a few minutes to install the Oracle base software, plus a few minutes more for each node (approximately the amount of time it takes to run the root.sh script).

The cloned installation behaves the same as the source installation. For example, the cloned Oracle home can be removed using Oracle Universal Installer or patched using OPatch. You can also use the cloned Oracle home as the source for another cloning operation. You can create a cloned copy of a test, development, or production installation by using the command-line cloning scripts. The default cloning procedure is adequate for most usage cases. However, you can also customize various aspects of cloning, for example, to specify custom port assignments, or to preserve custom settings.

The cloning process works by copying all of the files from the source Oracle home to the destination Oracle home. Thus, any files used by the source instance that are located outside the source Oracle home's directory structure are not copied to the destination location.

The size of the binaries at the source and the destination may differ because these are relinked as part of the clone operation and the operating system patch levels may also differ between these two locations. Additionally, the number of files in the cloned home would increase because several files copied from the source, specifically those being instantiated, are backed up as part of the clone operation.

Preparing to Clone Oracle RAC

In the preparation phase, you create a copy of an Oracle home that you then use to perform the cloning procedure on one or more nodes. You also install Oracle Clusterware.

Step 1   Install Oracle RAC

Use the detailed instructions in the Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide to install the Oracle RAC software and patches:

Install Oracle RAC and choose the Software only installation option.

Patch the release to the required level (for example, 11.2.0.n).

Apply one-off patches, if necessary.

Step 2   Create a backup of the source home

Create a copy of the Oracle RAC home. Use this file to copy the Oracle RAC home to each node in the cluster (as described in "Deploying Oracle RAC Clone to Nodes in a Cluster").

When creating the backup (tar) file, the best practice is to include the release number in the name of the file. For example:

# cd /opt/oracle/product/11g/db_1
# tar –zcvf /pathname/db1120.tgz .

Step 3   Install and start Oracle Clusterware

Before you can use cloning to create an Oracle RAC home, you must first install and start Oracle Clusterware on the node or nodes to which you want to copy a cloned Oracle RAC home. In other words, you configure an Oracle RAC home that you cloned from a source cluster onto the nodes in a target cluster in the same order that you installed the Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC software components on the original nodes.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about cloning Oracle Clusterware homes to create new clusters, and starting Oracle Clusterware by issuing the crsctl start crs command

Deploying Oracle RAC Clone to Nodes in a Cluster

After you complete the prerequisite tasks described in "Preparing to Clone Oracle RAC", you can deploy cloned Oracle homes.

Deploying the Oracle RAC database home to a cluster is a multiple-step process.

This section provides step-by-step instructions that describe how to:

Prepare the new cluster nodes

Deploy the Oracle RAC database software

Run the clone.pl script on each node

Run the $ORACLE_HOME/root.sh script on each node

Run DBCA on one node to create the Oracle RAC instances on each node

Step 1   Prepare the new cluster nodes

Perform the Oracle RAC preinstallation steps, including such things as:

Specify the kernel parameters.

Ensure Oracle Clusterware is active.

Ensure that Oracle ASM is active and that at least one Oracle ASM disk group exists and is mounted.

See your platform-specific Oracle RAC installation guide for a complete preinstallation checklist.

Step 2   Deploy the Oracle RAC database software

To deploy the Oracle RAC software, you must:

Copy the clone of the Oracle home to all nodes. For example:

[root@node1 root]# mkdir -p /opt/oracle/product/11g/db
[root@node1 root]# cd /opt/oracle/product/11g/db
[root@node1 db]# tar –zxvf /path_name/db1120.tgz

When providing the home location and path_name, the home location can be in the same directory path or in a different directory path from the source home that you used to create the tar.

If either the oracle user or the oinstall group, or both is different between the source and destination nodes, then change the ownership of the Oracle Inventory files, as follows:

[root@node1]# chown -R oracle:oinstall /opt/oracle/product/11g/db

When you run the preceding command on the Grid home, it clears setuid and setgid information from the Oracle binary.

Note:

You can perform this step at the same time you perform Step 3 and Step 4 to run the clone.pl and $ORACLE_HOME/root.sh scripts on each cluster node.

Step 3   Run the clone.pl script on each node

To run the clone.pl script, which performs the main Oracle RAC cloning tasks, you must:

Supply the environment variables and cloning parameters in the start.sh script, as described in Table 8-2 and Table 8-3. Because the clone.pl script is sensitive to the parameters being passed to it, you must be accurate in your use of brackets, single quotation marks, and double quotation marks.

Run the script as oracle or the user that owns the Oracle RAC software.

Table 8-1 lists and describes the clone.pl script parameters.

Table 8-1 clone.pl Script Parameters

Parameter
Description

ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home

The complete path to the Oracle home you want to clone. If you specify an invalid path, then the script exits. This parameter is required.

ORACLE_BASE=ORACLE_BASE

The complete path to the Oracle base you want to clone. If you specify an invalid path, then the script exits. This parameter is required.

ORACLE_HOME_NAME=
Oracle_home_name |
-defaultHomeName

The Oracle home name of the home you want to clone. Optionally, you can specify the -defaultHomeName flag. This parameter is optional.

OSDBA_GROUP=group_name

Specify the operating system group you want to use as the OSDBA privileged group. This parameter is optional.

OSOPER_GROUP=group_name

Specify the operating system group you want to use as the OSOPER privileged group. This parameter is optional.

OSASM_GROUP=group_name

Specify the operating system group you want to use as the OSASM privileged group. This parameter is optional.

-O

The clone.pl script passes anything following this flag to the Oracle Universal Installer command line.

-debug

Specify this option to run the clone.pl script in debug mode

-help

Specify this option to obtain help for the clone.pl script.

Example 8-1 shows an excerpt from the start.sh script that calls the clone.pl script.

Example 8-1 Excerpt From the start.sh Script to Clone Oracle RAC for Linux and UNIX

ORACLE_BASE=/opt/oracle
ORACLE_HOME=/opt/oracle/product/11g/db
cd $ORACLE_HOME/clone
THISNODE='hostname -s'

E01=ORACLE_HOME=/opt/oracle/product/11g/db
E02=ORACLE_HOME_NAME=OraDBRAC
E03=ORACLE_BASE=/opt/oracle
C01="-O'\"CLUSTER_NODES={node1, node2}\"'"
C02="-O'\"LOCAL_NODE=$THISNODE"'"

perl $ORACLE_HOME/clone/bin/clone.pl $E01 $E02 $E03 $C01 $C02

Example 8-2 shows an excerpt from the start.bat script that the user must create that calls the clone.pl script.

Example 8-2 Excerpt From the start.bat Script to Clone Oracle RAC for Windows

set ORACLE_home=C:\oracle\product\11g\db1
cd %ORACLE_home%\clone\bin
set THISNODE=%hostname%
set E01=ORACLE_HOME=%ORACLE_home%
set E02=ORACLE_HOME_NAME=OraDBRAC
set E03=ORACLE_BASE=Oracle_Base
set C01="-O'\"CLUSTER_NODES={node1,node2}"'"
set C02="-O'\"LOCAL_NODE=%THISNODE%"'"
perl clone.pl %E01% %E02% %E03% %C01% %C02%

Table 8-2 describes the environment variables E01, E02, and E03 that are shown in bold typeface in Example 8-1.

Table 8-2 Environment Variables Passed to the clone.pl Script

Symbol
Variable
Description

E01

ORACLE_HOME

The location of the Oracle RAC database home. This directory location must exist and must be owned by the Oracle operating system group: oinstall.

E02

ORACLE_HOME_NAME

The name of the Oracle home for the Oracle RAC database. This is stored in the Oracle Inventory.

E03

ORACLE_BASE

The location of the Oracle Base directory.

Table 8-3 describes the cloning parameters C01 and C02, that are shown in bold typeface in Example 8-1.

Table 8-3 Cloning Parameters Passed to the clone.pl Script.

Variable
Name
Parameter
Description

C01

Cluster Nodes

CLUSTER_NODES

Lists the nodes in the cluster.

C02

Local Node

LOCAL_NODE

The name of the local node.

Step 4   Run the $ORACLE_HOME/root.sh script on each node

Note:

This step applies to Linux and UNIX installations, only.

Run the $ORACLE_HOME/root.sh as the root operating system user as soon as the clone.pl procedure completes on the node.

[root@node1 root]# /opt/oracle/product/11g/db/root.sh -silent

Note that you can run the script on each node simultaneously:

[root@node2 root]# /opt/oracle/product/11g/db/root.sh -silent

Ensure the script has completed on each node before proceeding to the next step.

Step 5   Run DBCA on one node to create the Oracle RAC instances on each node

Note:

You need only run DBCA on one node in the cluster to create Oracle RAC instances on all nodes.

This step shows how to run the DBCA in silent mode and provide response file input to create the Oracle RAC instances.

The following example creates an Oracle RAC database named ERI on each node, creates database instances on each node, registers the instances in OCR, creates the database files in the Oracle ASM disk group called DATA, and creates sample schemas. It also sets the SYS, SYSTEM, SYSMAN and DBSNMP passwords to password, which is the password for each account:

[oracle@node1 oracle]$ export ORACLE_HOME=/opt/oracle/product/11g/db
[oracle@node1 oracle]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin/
[oracle@node1 bin]$./dbca -silent -createDatabase -templateName General_Purpose.dbc \
-gdbName ERI -sid ERI \
-sysPassword password -systemPassword password \
-sysmanPassword password -dbsnmpPassword password \
-emConfiguration LOCAL \
-storageType ASM -diskGroupName DATA \
-datafileJarLocation $ORACLE_HOME/assistants/dbca/templates \
-nodelist node1,node2 -characterset WE8ISO8859P1 \
-obfuscatedPasswords false -sampleSchema true

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day DBA for information about using DBCA to create and configure a database

Locating and Viewing Log Files Generated During Cloning

The cloning script runs multiple tools, each of which may generate its own log files. After the clone.pl script finishes running, you can view log files to obtain more information about the cloning process.

The following log files that are generated during cloning are the key log files of interest for diagnostic purposes:

Central_Inventory/logs/cloneActionstimestamp.log

Contains a detailed log of the actions that occur during the Oracle Universal Installer part of the cloning.

Central_Inventory/logs/oraInstalltimestamp.err

Contains information about errors that occur when Oracle Universal Installer is running.

Central_Inventory/logs/oraInstalltimestamp.out

Contains other miscellaneous messages generated by Oracle Universal Installer.

$ORACLE_HOME/clone/logs/clonetimestamp.log

Contains a detailed log of the actions that occur before cloning and during the cloning operations.

$ORACLE_HOME/clone/logs/errortimestamp.log

Contains information about errors that occur before cloning and during cloning operations.

Table 8-4 describes how to find the location of the Oracle inventory directory.

Table 8-4 Finding the Location of the Oracle Inventory Directory

Type of System...
Location of the Oracle Inventory Directory

All UNIX computers except Linux and IBM AIX

/var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc

IBM AIX and Linux

/etc/oraInst.loc file.

Windows

C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory

9 Using Cloning to Extend Oracle RAC to Nodes in the Same Cluster

This chapter provides information about using cloning to extend Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) to nodes in an existing cluster. To add Oracle RAC to nodes in a new cluster, see Chapter 8, "Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster".

This chapter contains the following topics:

About Adding Nodes Using Cloning in Oracle RAC Environments

Cloning Local Oracle Homes on Linux and UNIX Systems

Cloning Shared Oracle Homes on Linux and UNIX Systems

Cloning Oracle Homes on Windows Systems

See Also:

"Introduction to Cloning Oracle RAC" for an overview of cloning and a discussion about the benefits of cloning

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about adding nodes to your cluster

About Adding Nodes Using Cloning in Oracle RAC Environments

The cloning procedures assume that you have successfully installed and configured an Oracle RAC environment to which you want to add nodes and instances. To add nodes to an Oracle RAC environment using cloning, first extend the Oracle Clusterware configuration, then extend the Oracle Database software with Oracle RAC, and then add the listeners and instances by running the Oracle assistants

The cloning script runs multiple tools, each of which may generate its own log files. After the clone.pl script finishes running, you can view log files to obtain more information about the cloning process. See "Locating and Viewing Log Files Generated During Cloning" for more information.

Cloning Local Oracle Homes on Linux and UNIX Systems

This section explains how to add nodes to existing Oracle RAC environments by cloning a local (non-shared) Oracle home in Linux and UNIX system environments.

Complete the following steps to clone Oracle Database with Oracle RAC software:

Follow the steps in the "Preparing to Clone Oracle RAC" to create a copy of an Oracle home that you then use to perform the cloning procedure on one or more nodes.

Use the tar utility to create an archive of the Oracle home on the existing node and copy it to the new node. If the location of the Oracle home on the source node is $ORACLE_HOME, then you must use this same directory as the destination location on the new node.

On the new node, configure the environment variables ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE. Then go to the $ORACLE_HOME/clone/bin directory and run the following command where existing_node is the name of the node that you are cloning, new_node2 and new_node3 are the names of the new nodes, and Oracle_home_name is the name of the Oracle home:

perl clone.pl '-O"CLUSTER_NODES={existing_node,new_node2,new_node3}"'
 '-O"LOCAL_NODE=new_node2"' ORACLE_BASE=$ORACLE_BASE ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_HOME
 ORACLE_HOME_NAME=Oracle_home_name '-O-noConfig'

Note:

If you run this command on Windows, then do not use the -O option.

Run the following command to run the configuration assistants to configure Oracle RAC on the new nodes:

$ORACLE_HOME/cfgtoollogs/configToolFailedCommands

This script contains all commands that failed, were skipped, or were cancelled during the installation. You can use this script to run the database configuration assistants outside of Oracle Universal Installer. Note that before you run the script you should check the script to see if any passwords within it need to be updated.

Run the following command on the existing node from the $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory to update the inventory in the Oracle Database home with Oracle RAC, specified by Oracle_home, where existing_node is the name of the original node that you are cloning and new_node2 and new_node3 are the names of the new nodes:

./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_HOME "CLUSTER_
NODES={existing_node,new_node2,new_node3}"

On each new node, go to the $ORACLE_HOME directory and run the following command:

./root.sh

From the node that you cloned, run Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) to add Oracle RAC database instances on the new nodes.

Cloning Shared Oracle Homes on Linux and UNIX Systems

This section explains how to add nodes to existing Oracle RAC environments by cloning a shared Oracle home in Linux and UNIX system environments.

Complete the following steps to clone Oracle Database with Oracle RAC software:

Follow the steps in the "Preparing to Clone Oracle RAC" to create a copy of an Oracle home that you then use to perform the cloning procedure on one or more nodes.

On the new node, configure the environment variables ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE. Then go to the $ORACLE_HOME/clone/bin directory and run the following command where existing_node is the name of the node that you are cloning, new_node2 and new_node3 are the names of the new nodes, Oracle_home_name is the name of the Oracle home, and the -O-cfs option indicates the Oracle home is shared:

perl clone.pl '-O"CLUSTER_NODES={existing_node,new_node2,new_node3}"'
'-O"LOCAL_NODE=new_node2"' ORACLE_BASE=$ORACLE_BASE ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_HOME
 ORACLE_HOME_NAME=Oracle_home_name '-O-noConfig' '-O-cfs'

Note:

If you run this command on Windows, then do not use the -O option.

Run the following command to run the configuration assistants to configure Oracle RAC on the new nodes:

$ORACLE_HOME/cfgtoollogs/configToolFailedCommands

Run the following command on the existing node from the $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory to update the inventory in the Oracle Database home with Oracle RAC, specified by Oracle_home, where existing_node is the name of the original node that you are cloning and new_node2 and new_node3 are the names of the new nodes:

./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_HOME "CLUSTER_
NODES={existing_node,new_node2,new_node3}"

On each new node, go to the $ORACLE_HOME directory and run the following command:

./root.sh

From the node that you cloned, run Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) to add Oracle RAC database instances to the new nodes.

Cloning Oracle Homes on Windows Systems

This section explains how to add nodes to existing Oracle RAC environments by cloning a shared or local Oracle home in Windows system environments.

Complete the following steps to clone Oracle Database with Oracle RAC software:

If you have a local Oracle home, then use the ZIP utility to create an archive of the Oracle Database home with Oracle RAC on the existing node and copy it to the new node. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

Extract the Oracle Database with Oracle RAC home files from the ZIP file on the new node in the same directory in which the Oracle Database home with Oracle RAC resided on the existing node. For example, assume that the location of the destination Oracle RAC home on the new node is %ORACLE_HOME%.

On the new node, go to the %ORACLE_HOME%\clone\bin directory and run the following command where Oracle_Home is the Oracle Database home, Oracle_Home_Name is the name of the Oracle Database home, Oracle_Base is the Oracle base directory, existing_node is the name of the existing node, and new_node is the name of the new node:

perl clone.pl ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_Home ORACLE_BASE=Oracle_Base
 ORACLE_HOME_NAME=Oracle_Home_Name -O'"CLUSTER_NODES={existing_node,new_node}"'
 -O'"LOCAL_NODE=new_node"'

Note:

If you run this command on Windows, then do not use the -O option.

If you have a shared Oracle Database home with Oracle RAC, then append the -cfs option to the command to indicate that the Oracle home is shared, as shown in the following example:

perl clone.pl ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_Home ORACLE_BASE=Oracle_Base
ORACLE_HOME_NAME=Oracle_Home_Name -O'"CLUSTER_NODES={existing_node,new_node}"'
-O'"LOCAL_NODE=new_node"' '-O-noConfig' '-O-cfs'

Note:

If you run this command on Windows, then do not use the -O option.

On the existing node, from the %ORACLE_HOME%\oui\bin directory run the following command to update the inventory in the Oracle Database home with Oracle RAC, specified by Oracle_home, where existing_node is the name of the existing node, and new_node is the name of the new node:

setup.exe -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home "CLUSTER_NODES={existing_node,new_node}" LOCAL_NODE=existing_node

From the node that you cloned, run DBCA to add Oracle RAC database instances to the new nodes.

10 Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Linux and UNIX Systems

This chapter describes how to extend an existing Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) home to other nodes and instances in the cluster, and delete Oracle RAC from nodes and instances in the cluster. This chapter provides instructions for Linux and UNIX systems.

If your goal is to clone an existing Oracle RAC home to create multiple new Oracle RAC installations across the cluster, then use the cloning procedures that are described in Chapter 8, "Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster".

The topics in this chapter include the following:

Adding Oracle RAC to Nodes with Oracle Clusterware Installed

Deleting Oracle RAC from a Cluster Node

Notes:

Ensure that you have a current backup of Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) before adding or deleting Oracle RAC by running the ocrconfig -showbackup command.

The phrase "target node" as used in this chapter refers to the node to which you plan to extend the Oracle RAC environment.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for additional information about configuring a new Oracle RAC cluster or scaling up an existing Oracle RAC cluster

Chapter 11, "Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Windows Systems"

Adding Oracle RAC to Nodes with Oracle Clusterware Installed

Before beginning this procedure, ensure that your existing nodes have the correct path to the Grid_home and that the $ORACLE_HOME environment variable is set to the Oracle RAC home.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about extending the Oracle Clusterware home to new nodes in a cluster

If you are using a local (non-shared) Oracle home, you must extend the Oracle RAC database home that is on an existing node (node1 in this procedure) to a target node (node3 in this procedure).

Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory on node1 and run the addNode.sh script using the following syntax:

$ ./addNode.sh -silent "CLUSTER_NEW_NODES={node3}"

Run the $ORACLE_HOME/root.sh script on node3 as root.

If you are using a shared Oracle home (such as storing the Oracle home on Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS)), then you do not have to extend the Oracle RAC database home to the target nodes because the home is shared across the nodes in the cluster.

Instead, you must first create a mount point for the Oracle RAC database home on the target node, mount and attach the Oracle home, and update the Oracle inventory, as follows:

Run the srvctl config db -d db_name command on an existing node in the cluster to obtain the mount point information.

Run the following command as root on node3 to create the mount point:

# mkdir -p mount_point_path

Mount the file system that hosts the Oracle RAC database home.

Run the following command from the Oracle_home/oui/bin directory on the node you are adding to add the Oracle RAC database home:

$ ./runInstaller -attachHome ORACLE_HOME="ORACLE_HOME""CLUSTER
_NODES={node_list}" LOCAL_NODE="node_name"

Update the Oracle Inventory, as follows:

$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=mount_point_path "CLUSTER
_NODES={node_list}"

In the preceding command, node_list refers to a list of all nodes where the Oracle RAC database home is installed, including the node you are adding.

Run the Grid_home/root.sh script on the node3 as root and run the subsequent script, as instructed.

Note:

Oracle recommends that you back up the OCR after you complete the node addition process.

You can now add an Oracle RAC database instance to the target node using either of the procedures in the following sections.

Adding Policy-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Adding Administrator-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Adding Policy-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Before adding an Oracle RAC database instance, run the following command on an existing node to configure Oracle Enterprise Manager on the node where you plan to add the database instance:

$ emca -addNode db

The Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant prompts you for database and node information.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for Linux and UNIX for more information about configuring Oracle Enterprise Manager

You must manually add undo and redo logs, unless you store your policy-managed database on Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) and Oracle Managed Files is enabled.

If there is space in a server pool to add a node and the database has been started at least once, then Oracle Clusterware adds the Oracle RAC database instance to the newly added node and no further action is necessary.

Note:

The database must have been started at least once before you can add the database instance to the newly added node.

If there is no space in any server pool, then the newly added node moves into the Free server pool. Use the srvctl modify srvpool command to increase the cardinality of a server pool to accommodate the newly added node, after which the node moves out of the Free server pool and into the modified server pool, and Oracle Clusterware adds the Oracle RAC database instance to the node.

Adding Administrator-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Note:

The procedures in this section only apply to administrator-managed databases. Policy-managed databases use nodes when the nodes are available in the databases' server pool.

You can use either Oracle Enterprise Manager or DBCA to add Oracle RAC database instances to the target nodes. To add a database instance to a target node with Oracle Enterprise Manager, see the Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for complete information.

This section describes using DBCA to add Oracle RAC database instances under the following topics:

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

These tools guide you through the following tasks:

Creating a new database instance on each target node

Creating and configuring high availability components

Creating the Oracle Net configuration for a non-default listener from the Oracle home

Starting the new instance

Creating and starting services if you entered services information on the Services Configuration page

After adding the instances to the target nodes, you should perform any necessary service configuration procedures, as described in Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management".

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

To add a database instance to a target node with DBCA in interactive mode, perform the following steps:

Ensure that your existing nodes have the $ORACLE_HOME environment variable set to the Oracle RAC home.

Start DBCA by entering dbca at the system prompt from the Oracle_home/bin directory.

DBCA performs certain CVU checks while running. However, you can also run CVU from the command line to perform various verifications.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about CVU

DBCA displays the Welcome page for Oracle RAC. Click Help on any DBCA page for additional information.

Select Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) database, click Next, and DBCA displays the Operations page.

Select Instance Management, click Next, and DBCA displays the Instance Management page.

Select Add Instance and click Next. DBCA displays the List of Cluster Databases page that shows the databases and their current status, such as ACTIVE or INACTIVE.

From the List of Cluster Databases page, select the active Oracle RAC database to which you want to add an instance. Enter user name and password for the database user that has SYSDBA privileges. Click Next and DBCA displays the List of Cluster Database Instances page showing the names of the existing instances for the Oracle RAC database that you selected.

Click Next to add a new instance and DBCA displays the Adding an Instance page.

On the Adding an Instance page, enter the instance name in the field at the top of this page if the instance name that DBCA provides does not match your existing instance naming scheme.

Review file locations for undo tablespaces and redo log groups of the new instance and click Finish on the Instance Storage page.

Review the information on the Summary dialog and click OK or click Cancel to end the instance addition operation. DBCA displays a progress dialog showing DBCA performing the instance addition operation. When DBCA completes the instance addition operation, DBCA displays a dialog asking whether you want to perform another operation.

After you terminate your DBCA session, run the following command to verify the administrative privileges on the target node and obtain detailed information about these privileges where nodelist consists of the names of the nodes on which you added database instances:

cluvfy comp admprv -o db_config -d Oracle_home -n nodelist [-verbose]

Perform any necessary service configuration procedures, as described in Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management".

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

You can use DBCA in silent mode to add instances to nodes on which you have extended an Oracle Clusterware home and an Oracle Database home. Before you run the dbca command, ensure that you have set the ORACLE_HOME environment variable correctly on the existing nodes. Run DBCA, supplying values for the variables described in Table 10-1,as follows:

dbca -silent -addInstance -nodeList node_name -gdbName gdb_name
[-instanceName instance_name -sysDBAUserName sysdba -sysDBAPassword password]

Table 10-1 Variables in the DBCA Silent Mode Syntax

Variable
Description

node_name

The node on which you want to add (or delete) the instance.

gdb_name

Global database name.

instance_name

Name of the instance. Provide an instance name only if you want to override the Oracle naming convention for Oracle RAC instance names.

sysdba

Name of the Oracle user with SYSDBA privileges.

password

Password for the SYSDBA user.

Perform any necessary service configuration procedures, as described in Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management".

Deleting Oracle RAC from a Cluster Node

To remove Oracle RAC from a cluster node, you must delete the database instance and the Oracle RAC software before removing the node from the cluster.

Note:

If there are no database instances on the node you want to delete, then proceed to "Removing Oracle RAC".

This section includes the following procedures to delete nodes from clusters in an Oracle RAC environment:

Deleting Instances from Oracle RAC Databases

Removing Oracle RAC

Deleting Nodes from the Cluster

Deleting Instances from Oracle RAC Databases

The procedures for deleting database instances are different for policy-managed and administrator-managed databases. Deleting a policy-managed database instance involves reducing the number of servers in the server pool in which the database instance resides. Deleting an administrator-managed database instance involves using DBCA to delete the database instance.

Deleting Policy-Managed Database Instances

If you plan to delete the node on which the database instance resides from the cluster, then, before deleting the database instance, run the following command on a remaining node to deconfigure Oracle Enterprise Manager on the node you plan to delete:

$ emca -deleteNode db

The Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant prompts you for database and node information.

To delete a policy-managed database, reduce the number of servers in the server pool in which a database instance resides by relocating the server on which the database instance resides to another server pool. This effectively removes the instance without having to remove the Oracle RAC software from the node or the node from the cluster.

For example, you can delete a policy-managed database by running the following commands on any node in the cluster:

$ srvctl stop instance -d db_unique_name -n node_name
$ srvctl relocate server -n node_name -g Free

The first command stops the database instance on a particular node and the second command moves the node out of its current server pool and into the Free server pool.

See Also:

"Removing Oracle RAC" for information about removing the Oracle RAC software from a node

Deleting Instances from Administrator-Managed Databases

Note:

Before deleting an instance from an Oracle RAC database, use either SRVCTL or Oracle Enterprise Manager to do the following:

If you have services configured, then relocate the services

Modify the services so that each service can run on one of the remaining instances

Ensure that the instance to be removed from an administrator-managed database is neither a preferred nor an available instance of any service

See Also:

"Administering Services with Oracle Enterprise Manager" and "Administering Services with SRVCTL"

The procedures in this section explain how to use DBCA in interactive or silent mode, to delete an instance from an Oracle RAC database.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for information about how to delete a database instance from a target node with Oracle Enterprise Manager

This section includes the following topics:

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

To delete an instance using DBCA in interactive mode, perform the following steps:

Start DBCA.

Start DBCA on a node other than the node that hosts the instance that you want to delete. The database and the instance that you plan to delete should be running during this step.

On the DBCA Welcome page select Oracle Real Application Clusters Database, click Next. DBCA displays the Operations page.

On the DBCA Operations page, select Instance Management and click Next. DBCA displays the Instance Management page.

On the DBCA Instance Management page, select the instance to be deleted, select Delete Instance, and click Next.

On the List of Cluster Databases page, select the Oracle RAC database from which to delete the instance, as follows:

On the List of Cluster Database Instances page, DBCA displays the instances that are associated with the Oracle RAC database that you selected and the status of each instance. Select the cluster database from which you will delete the instance.

Enter a user name and password for the database user that has SYSDBA privileges. Click Next.

Click OK on the Confirmation dialog to proceed to delete the instance.

DBCA displays a progress dialog showing that DBCA is deleting the instance. During this operation, DBCA removes the instance and the instance's Oracle Net configuration. When DBCA completes this operation, DBCA displays a dialog asking whether you want to perform another operation.

Click No and exit DBCA or click Yes to perform another operation. If you click Yes, then DBCA displays the Operations page.

Verify that the dropped instance's redo thread has been removed by using SQL*Plus on an existing node to query the GV$LOG view. If the redo thread is not disabled, then disable the thread. For example:

SQL> ALTER DATABASE DISABLE THREAD 2;

Verify that the instance has been removed from OCR by running the following command, where db_unique_name is the database unique name for your Oracle RAC database:

srvctl config database -d db_unique_name

If you are deleting more than one node, then repeat these steps to delete the instances from all the nodes that you are going to delete.

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

You can use DBCA in silent mode to delete a database instance from a node.

Run the following command, where the variables are the same as those shown in Table 10-1 for the DBCA command to add an instance. Provide a node name only if you are deleting an instance from a node other than the one on where DBCA is running as shown in the following example where password is the password:

dbca -silent -deleteInstance [-nodeList node_name] -gdbName gdb_name
-instanceName instance_name -sysDBAUserName sysdba -sysDBAPassword password

At this point, you have accomplished the following:

Deregistered the selected instance from its associated Oracle Net Services listeners

Deleted the selected database instance from the instance's configured node

Removed the Oracle Net configuration

Deleted the Oracle Flexible Architecture directory structure from the instance's configured node.

Removing Oracle RAC

This procedure removes Oracle RAC software from the node you are deleting from the cluster and updates inventories on the remaining nodes.

If there is a listener in the Oracle RAC home on the node you are deleting, then you must disable and stop it before deleting the Oracle RAC software. Run the following commands on any node in the cluster, specifying the name of the listener and the name of the node you are deleting:

$ srvctl disable listener -l listener_name -n name_of_node_to_delete
$ srvctl stop listener -l listener_name -n name_of_node_to_delete

Run the following command from $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin on the node that you are deleting to update the inventory on that node:

$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home_location
"CLUSTER_NODES={name_of_node_to_delete}" -local

Depending on whether you have a shared or nonshared Oracle home, complete one of the following two procedures to remove the Oracle RAC software:

For a shared home, detach the node instead of deinstalling it by running the following command from the $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory on each of the nodes that you want to delete:

$ ./runInstaller -detachHome ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home_location

For a nonshared home, deinstall the Oracle home from the node that you are deleting by running the following command:

$ORACLE_HOME/deinstall/deinstall -local

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about deleting nodes

Run the following command from the $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin directory on any one of the remaining nodes in the cluster to update the inventories of those nodes, specifying a comma-delimited list of remaining node names:

$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home_location
"CLUSTER_NODES={remaining_node_list}"

If you have a shared Oracle Grid Infrastructure home, then append the -cfs option to the command example in this step and provide a complete path location for the cluster file system.

Deleting Nodes from the Cluster

After you delete the database instance and the Oracle RAC software, you can begin the process of deleting the node from the cluster. You accomplish this by running scripts on the node you want to delete to remove the Oracle Clusterware installation and then you run scripts on the remaining nodes to update the node list.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about deleting nodes from the cluster

11 Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Windows Systems

This chapter describes how to extend an existing Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) home to other nodes and instances in the cluster, and delete Oracle RAC from nodes and instances in the cluster. This chapter provides instructions for Windows systems.

Notes:

In this chapter, the entries for Grid_home refer to the full path name for the Grid Infrastructure home, and the entries for Oracle_home refer to substitutes for environment variables for the Oracle home with Oracle RAC.

If your goal is to clone an existing Oracle RAC home to create multiple new Oracle RAC installations across the cluster, then use the cloning procedures that are described in Chapter 8, "Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster".

This chapter includes the following topics:

Adding Oracle RAC to Nodes with Oracle Clusterware Installed

Deleting Oracle RAC from a Cluster Node

Notes:

Ensure that you have a current backup of Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) before adding or deleting Oracle RAC by running the ocrconfig -showbackup command.

Using Oracle Enterprise Manager to add and delete nodes and instances is not supported on Windows.

For all of the add node and delete node procedures, temporary directories such as %TEMP% or C:\Temp should not be shared directories. If your temporary directories are shared, then set your temporary environment variable, such as %TEMP%, to a location on a local node. In addition, use a directory path that exists on all of the nodes.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for additional information about configuring a new Oracle RAC cluster or adding to and deleting nodes from an existing Oracle RAC cluster.

Adding Oracle RAC to Nodes with Oracle Clusterware Installed

Before beginning this procedure, ensure that your existing nodes have the correct path to the Grid_home and that the Oracle_home environment variables are set correctly.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about adding nodes to a cluster

To add Oracle RAC database instances to nodes that already have Oracle Clusterware installed, you must extend the Oracle RAC home that is on an existing node (node1 in this procedure) of the cluster to the target nodes.

Navigate to the Oracle_home\oui\bin directory on node1 and run the addNode.bat script using the following syntax, where node2 is the name of the node you are adding:

addNode.bat "CLUSTER_NEW_NODES={node2}"

If you store your policy-managed database on Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), Oracle Managed Files is enabled, and if there is space in a server pool for node2, then crsd adds the Oracle RAC database instance to node2 and no further action is necessary. If Oracle Managed Files is not enabled, then you must manually add undo and redo logs.

If there is no space in a server pool, then node2 moves into the Free server pool. Use the srvctl modify srvpool command to increase the cardinality of the server pool to accommodate node2, after which time node2 moves out of the Free server pool and into the modified server pool, and crsd adds the Oracle RAC database instance to node2.

If you have an administrator-managed database, then add a new instance on node2 as described in "Adding Administrator-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes".

Note:

Oracle recommends that you back up your voting disk and Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) files after you complete the node addition process.

Adding Administrator-Managed Oracle RAC Database Instances to Target Nodes

Before adding an Oracle RAC database instance, run the following command on an existing node to configure Oracle Enterprise Manager on the node where you plan to add the database instance:

C:\>emca -addNode db

The Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant prompts you for database and node information.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows for more information about configuring Oracle Enterprise Manager

You can use either Oracle Enterprise Manager or DBCA to add Oracle RAC database instances to the target nodes. To add a database instance to a target node with Oracle Enterprise Manager, see the Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for complete information.

This section describes using DBCA to add Oracle RAC database instances under the following topics:

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

These tools guide you through the following tasks:

Creating a new database instance on each target node

Creating and configuring high availability components

Creating the Oracle Net configuration for a non-default listener from the Oracle home

Starting the new instance

Creating and starting services if you entered services information on the Services Configuration page

After adding the instances to the target nodes, you should perform any necessary service configuration procedures, as described in Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management".

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

To add a database instance to a target node using DBCA in interactive mode, perform the following steps:

Ensure that your existing nodes have the Oracle home environment variable set correctly.

Start DBCA by entering dbca at the system prompt from the Oracle_home\bin directory on an existing node.

DBCA performs certain CVU checks while running. However, you can also run CVU from the command line to perform various verifications.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about CVU

DBCA displays the Welcome page for Oracle RAC. Click Help on any DBCA page for additional information.

Select Oracle Real Application Clusters database, click Next, and DBCA displays the Operations page.

Select Instance Management, click Next, and DBCA displays the Instance Management page.

Select Add Instance and click Next. DBCA displays the List of Cluster Databases page that shows the databases and their current status, such as ACTIVE or INACTIVE.

From the List of Cluster Databases page, select the active Oracle RAC database to which you want to add an instance. Enter the user name and password for a database user that has SYSDBA privileges. Click Next and DBCA displays the List of Cluster Database Instances page showing the names of the existing instances for the Oracle RAC database that you selected.

Click Next to add a new instance and DBCA displays the Adding an Instance page.

On the Adding an Instance page, enter the instance name in the field at the top of this page if the instance name that DBCA provides does not match your existing instance naming scheme. Then select the new node name from the list, click Next, and DBCA displays the Services Page.

Enter the services information for the new node's instance, click Next, and DBCA displays the Instance Storage page.

If you are using Oracle ASM or a cluster file system, then click Finish on the Instance Storage page.

Review the information on the Summary dialog and click OK or click Cancel to end the instance addition operation. The DBCA displays a progress dialog showing DBCA performing the instance addition operation. When DBCA completes the instance addition operation, DBCA displays a dialog asking whether you want to perform another operation.

After you terminate your DBCA session, run the following command to verify the administrative privileges on the new node and obtain detailed information about these privileges where nodelist consists of the newly added nodes:

cluvfy comp admprv -o db_config -d oracle_home -n nodelist [-verbose]

Perform any necessary service configuration procedures, as described in Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management".

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

You can use DBCA in silent mode to add instances to nodes on which you have extended an Oracle Clusterware home and an Oracle Database home. Use the following syntax:

dbca -silent -addInstance -nodeList node_name -gdbName gdb_name
[-instanceName instance_name -sysDBAUserName sysdba -sysDBAPassword password]

See Also:

Table 10-1 for definitions of the variables used in the preceding syntax

Perform any necessary service configuration procedures, as described in Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management".

Deleting Oracle RAC from a Cluster Node

To remove Oracle RAC from a cluster node, you must delete the database instance and the Oracle RAC software prior to removing the node from the cluster.

Note:

If there are no database instances on the node you want to delete, then proceed to "Removing Oracle RAC".

This section includes the following procedures to delete nodes from clusters in an Oracle RAC environment:

Deleting Instances from Oracle RAC Databases

Removing Oracle RAC

Deleting Nodes from the Cluster

Deleting Instances from Oracle RAC Databases

The procedures for deleting instances are different for policy-managed and administrator-managed databases. Deleting a policy-managed database instance involves reducing the size of the server pool in which the database instance resides. Deleting an administrator-managed database instance involves using DBCA to delete the database instance.

Deleting Policy-Managed Databases

If you plan to delete the node on which the database resides from the cluster, then, before deleting the database instance, run the following command on a node that you are not deleting to deconfigure Oracle Enterprise Manager on the node you plan to delete:

emca -deleteNode db

The Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant prompts you for database and node information.

To delete a policy-managed database, decrease the size of the server pool in which a database instance resides. This effectively removes the instance without having to remove the Oracle RAC software from the node or the node from the cluster.

For example, you can delete a policy-managed database by running the following commands on any node in the cluster:

srvctl stop instance -d db_unique_name -n node_name
srvctl relocate server -n node_name -g Free

The first command stops on the instance on a particular node and the second command moves the node out of its current server pool and into the Free server pool.

See Also:

"Removing Oracle RAC" for information about removing the Oracle RAC software from a node

Deleting Instances from Administrator-Managed Databases

Note:

Before deleting an instance from an Oracle RAC database, use either SRVCTL or Oracle Enterprise Manager to do the following:

If you have services configured, then relocate the services

Modify the services so that each service can run on one of the remaining instances

Ensure that the instance to be removed from an administrator-managed database is neither a preferred nor an available instance of any service

See Also:

"Administering Services with Oracle Enterprise Manager" and "Administering Services with SRVCTL"

The procedures in this section explain how to use DBCA in interactive or silent mode, to delete an instance from an Oracle RAC database.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for information about how to delete a database instance from a target node with Oracle Enterprise Manager

This section includes the following topics:

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

To delete an instance using DBCA in interactive mode, perform the following steps:

Verify there is a current backup of OCR.

Run the ocrconfig -showbackup command to ensure there is a valid backup.

Start DBCA.

Start DBCA on a node other than the node that hosts the instance that you want to delete. The database and the instance that you plan to delete should continue to be started and running during this step.

On the DBCA Welcome page select Oracle Real Application Clusters Database, click Next, and DBCA displays the Operations page.

On the DBCA Operations page, select Instance Management, click Next, and DBCA displays the Instance Management page.

On the Instance Management page, select Delete Instance, click Next, and DBCA displays the List of Cluster Databases page.

Select an Oracle RAC database from which to delete an instance. Enter a user name and password for the database user that has SYSDBA privileges. Click Next and DBCA displays the List of Cluster Database Instances page. The List of Cluster Database Instances page shows the instances that are associated with the Oracle RAC database that you selected and the status of each instance.

On the List of Cluster Databases page, select the Oracle RAC database from which to delete the instance, as follows:

On the List of Cluster Database Instances page, DBCA displays the instances that are associated with the Oracle RAC database that you selected and the status of each instance. Select the cluster database from which you will delete the instance. Click Finish.

Click OK on the Confirmation dialog to proceed to delete the instance.

Click OK on the next Confirmation dialog to delete the instance and related Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) directory structure.

DBCA displays a progress dialog showing that DBCA is deleting the instance. During this operation, DBCA removes the instance and the instance's Oracle Net configuration. When DBCA completes this operation, DBCA displays a dialog asking whether you want to perform another operation.

Click No and exit DBCA or click Yes to perform another operation. If you click Yes, then DBCA displays the Operations page.

Verify that the dropped instance's redo thread has been removed using SQL*Plus to query the V$LOG view from an existing instance. If the redo thread is not disabled, then disable the thread. For example:

SQL> ALTER DATABASE DISABLE THREAD 2;

Verify that the instance has been removed from OCR by running the following command, where db_unique_name is the name of the database:

srvctl config database -d db_unique_name

If you are deleting more than one node, then repeat these steps to delete the instances from all the nodes that you are going to delete.

Using DBCA in Silent Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

You can use DBCA in silent mode to delete a database instance from a node.

Run the following command, where the variables are the same as those shown in Table 10-1 for the DBCA command to add an instance. Provide a node name only if you are deleting an instance from a node other than the one on where DBCA is running as shown in the following example where password is the SYSDBA password:

dbca -silent -deleteInstance [-nodeList node_name] -gdbName gdb_name
-instanceName instance_name -sysDBAUserName sysdba -sysDBAPassword password

At this point, you have accomplished the following:

Deregistered the selected instance from its associated Oracle Net Services listeners

Deleted the selected database instance from the instance's configured node

Removed the Oracle Net configuration

Deleted the Oracle Flexible Architecture directory structure from the instance's configured node.

Removing Oracle RAC

This procedure removes the Oracle RAC software from the node you are deleting from the cluster and updates inventories on the remaining nodes.

If there is a listener in the Oracle RAC home on the node you are deleting, then you must disable and stop it before deleting the Oracle RAC software. Run the following commands on any node in the cluster, specifying the name of the listener and the name of the node you are deleting:

srvctl disable listener -l listener_name -n name_of_node_to_delete
srvctl stop listener -l listener_name -n name_of_node_to_delete

Run the following command from %ORACLE_HOME%\oui\bin on the node that you are deleting to update the inventory on that node:

setup.exe -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home_location
"CLUSTER_NODES={name_of_node_to_delete}" -local

Depending on whether you have a shared or nonshared Oracle home, complete one of the following two procedures:

For a shared home, detach the node instead of deinstalling it by running the following command from the Oracle_home\oui\bin directory on each of the nodes that you want to delete:

setup.exe –detachHome ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home

For a nonshared home, deinstall the Oracle home from the node that you are deleting by running the following command from the Oracle_home\deinstall directory:

deinstall -local

Run the following command from the Oracle_home\oui\bin directory on any one of the remaining nodes in the cluster to update the inventories of those nodes, specifying a comma-delimited list of remaining node names:

setup.exe -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=Oracle_home_location
"CLUSTER_NODES={remaining_node_list}"

Deleting Nodes from the Cluster

After you delete the instance, you can begin the process of deleting the node from the cluster. You accomplish this by running scripts on the node you want to delete to remove the Oracle Clusterware installation and you run scripts on the remaining nodes to update the node list.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information about deleting nodes from the cluster

Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows for more information about removing Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM

12 Design and Deployment Techniques

This chapter briefly describes database design and deployment techniques for Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) environments. It also describes considerations for high availability and provides general guidelines for various Oracle RAC deployments.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Deploying Oracle RAC for High Availability

General Design Considerations for Oracle RAC

General Database Deployment Topics for Oracle RAC

Deploying Oracle RAC for High Availability

Many customers implement Oracle RAC to provide high availability for their Oracle Database applications. For true high availability, you must make the entire infrastructure of the application highly available. This requires detailed planning to ensure there are no single points of failure throughout the infrastructure. Even though Oracle RAC makes your database highly available, if a critical application becomes unavailable, then your business can be negatively affected. For example, if you choose to use the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for authentication, then you must make the LDAP server highly available. If the database is up but the users cannot connect to the database because the LDAP server is not accessible, then the entire system appears to be down to your users.

This section includes the following topics:

About Designing a High Availability System

Best Practices for Deploying Oracle RAC in a High Availability Environment

Consolidating Multiple Applications in a Database or Multiple Databases in a Cluster

Scalability of Oracle RAC

About Designing a High Availability System

For mission critical systems, you must be able to perform failover and recovery, and your environment must be resilient to all types of failures. To reach these goals, start by defining service level requirements for your business. The requirements should include definitions of maximum transaction response time and recovery expectations for failures within the datacenter (such as for node failure) or for disaster recovery (if the entire data center fails). Typically, the service level objective is a target response time for work, regardless of failures. Determine the recovery time for each redundant component. Even though you may have hardware components that are running in an active/active mode, do not assume that if one component fails the other hardware components can remain operational while the faulty components are being repaired. Also, when components are running in active/passive mode, perform regular tests to validate the failover time. For example, recovery times for storage channels can take minutes. Ensure that the outage times are within your business' service level agreements, and where they are not, work with the hardware vendor to tune the configuration and settings.

When deploying mission critical systems, the testing should include functional testing, destructive testing, and performance testing. Destructive testing includes the injection of various faults in the system to test the recovery and to make sure it satisfies the service level requirements. Destructive testing also allows the creation of operational procedures for the production system.

To help you design and implement a mission critical or highly available system, Oracle provides a range of solutions for every organization regardless of size. Small workgroups and global enterprises alike are able to extend the reach of their critical business applications. With Oracle and the Internet, applications and their data are now reliably accessible everywhere, at any time. The Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) is the Oracle best practices blueprint that is based on proven Oracle high availability technologies and recommendations. The goal of the MAA is to remove the complexity in designing an optimal high availability architecture.

See Also:

Oracle Database High Availability Overview

Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) Web site at

http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/availability/htdocs/maa.htm

Best Practices for Deploying Oracle RAC in a High Availability Environment

Applications can take advantage of many Oracle Database, Oracle Clusterware, and Oracle RAC features and capabilities to minimize or mask any failure in the Oracle RAC environment. For example, you can:

Remove TCP/IP timeout waits by using the VIP address to connect to the database.

Create detailed operational procedures and ensure you have the appropriate support contracts in place to match defined service levels for all components in the infrastructure.

Take advantage of the Oracle RAC Automatic Workload Management features such as connect time failover, Fast Connection Failover, Fast Application Notification, and the Load Balancing Advisory. See Chapter 5, "Introduction to Automatic Workload Management" for more details.

Place voting disks on separate volume groups to mitigate outages due to slow I/O throughput. To survive the failure of x voting devices, configure 2x + 1 mirrors.

Use Oracle Database Quality of Service Management (Oracle Database QoS Management) to monitor your system and detect performance bottlenecks

Place OCR with I/O service times in the order of 2 milliseconds (ms) or less.

Tune database recovery using the FAST_START_MTTR_TARGET initialization parameter.

Use Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) to manage database storage.

Ensure that strong change control procedures are in place.

Check the surrounding infrastructure for high availability and resiliency, such as LDAP, NIS, and DNS. These entities affect the availability of your Oracle RAC database. If possible, perform a local backup procedure routinely.

Use Oracle Enterprise Manager to administer your entire Oracle RAC environment, not just the Oracle RAC database. Use Oracle Enterprise Manager to create and modify services, and to start and stop the cluster database instances and the cluster database. See the Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information using Oracle Enterprise Manager in an Oracle RAC environment.

Use Recovery Manager (RMAN) to back up, restore, and recover data files, control files, server parameter files (SPFILEs) and archived redo log files. You can use RMAN with a media manager to back up files to external storage. You can also configure parallelism when backing up or recovering Oracle RAC databases. In Oracle RAC, RMAN channels can be dynamically allocated across all of the Oracle RAC instances. Channel failover enables failed operations on one node to continue on another node. You can start RMAN from Oracle Enterprise Manager Backup Manager or from the command line. See Chapter 6, "Configuring Recovery Manager and Archiving" for more information about using RMAN.

If you use sequence numbers, then always use CACHE with the NOORDER option for optimal performance in sequence number generation. With the CACHE option, however, you may have gaps in the sequence numbers. If your environment cannot tolerate sequence number gaps, then use the NOCACHE option or consider pre-generating the sequence numbers. If your application requires sequence number ordering but can tolerate gaps, then use CACHE and ORDER to cache and order sequence numbers in Oracle RAC. If your application requires ordered sequence numbers without gaps, then use NOCACHE and ORDER. The NOCACHE and ORDER combination has the most negative effect on performance compared to other caching and ordering combinations.

Note:

If your environment cannot tolerate sequence number gaps, then consider pre-generating the sequence numbers or use the ORDER and CACHE options.

If you use indexes, then consider alternatives, such as reverse key indexes to optimize index performance. Reverse key indexes are especially helpful if you have frequent inserts to one side of an index, such as indexes that are based on insert date.

Consolidating Multiple Applications in a Database or Multiple Databases in a Cluster

Many people want to consolidate multiple applications in a single database or consolidate multiple databases in a single cluster. Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC support both types of consolidation.

Creating a cluster with a single pool of storage managed by Oracle ASM provides the infrastructure to manage multiple databases whether they are single instance databases or Oracle RAC databases.

With Oracle RAC databases, you can adjust the number of instances and which nodes run instances for a given database, based on workload requirements. Features such as cluster-managed services allow you to manage multiple workloads on a single database or across multiple databases.

It is important to properly manage the capacity in the cluster when adding work. The processes that manage the cluster—including processes both from Oracle Clusterware and the database—must be able to obtain CPU resources in a timely fashion and must be given higher priority in the system. Oracle Database Quality of Service Management (Oracle Database QoS Management) can assist consolidating multiple applications in a cluster or database by dynamically allocating CPU resources to meet performance objectives.

See Also:

Oracle Database Quality of Service Management User's Guide for more information

Oracle recommends that the number of real time Global Cache Service Processes (LMSn) on a server is less than or equal to the number of processors. (Note that this is the number of recognized CPUs that includes cores. For example, a dual-core CPU is considered to be two CPUs.) It is important that you load test your system when adding instances on a node to ensure that you have enough capacity to support the workload.

If you are consolidating many small databases into a cluster, you may want to reduce the number of LMSn created by the Oracle RAC instance. By default, Oracle Database calculates the number of processes based on the number of CPUs it finds on the server. This calculation may result in more LMSn processes than is needed for the Oracle RAC instance. One LMS process may be sufficient for up to 4 CPUs.To reduce the number of LMSn processes, set the GC_SERVER_PROCESSES initialization parameter minimally to a value of 1. Add a process for every four CPUs needed by the application. In general, it is better to have few busy LMSn processes. Oracle Database calculates the number of processes when the instance is started, and you must restart the instance if you want to change the value.

Scalability of Oracle RAC

Oracle RAC provides concurrent, transactionally consistent access to a single copy of the data from multiple systems. It provides scalability beyond the capacity of a single server. If your application scales transparently on symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) servers, then it is realistic to expect the application to scale well on Oracle RAC, without the need to make changes to the application code.

Traditionally, when a database server runs out of capacity, it is replaced with a new larger server. As servers grow in capacity, they become more expensive. However, for Oracle RAC databases, you have alternatives for increasing the capacity:

You can migrate applications that traditionally run on large SMP servers to run on clusters of small servers.

You can maintain the investment in the current hardware and add a new server to the cluster (or create or add a new cluster) to increase the capacity.

Adding servers to a cluster with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC does not require an outage. As soon as the new instance is started, the application can take advantage of the extra capacity.

All servers in the cluster must run the same operating system and same version of Oracle Database but the servers do not have to be exactly the same capacity. With Oracle RAC, you can build a cluster that fits your needs, whether the cluster is made up of servers where each server is a two-CPU commodity server or clusters where the servers have 32 or 64 CPUs in each server. The Oracle parallel execution feature allows a single SQL statement to be divided up into multiple processes, where each process completes a subset of work. In an Oracle RAC environment, you can define the parallel processes to run only on the instance where the user is connected or to run across multiple instances in the cluster.

See Also:

Chapter 8, "Cloning Oracle RAC to Nodes in a New Cluster"

Chapter 9, "Using Cloning to Extend Oracle RAC to Nodes in the Same Cluster"

Chapter 10, "Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Linux and UNIX Systems"

Chapter 11, "Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Windows Systems"

General Design Considerations for Oracle RAC

This section briefly describes database design and deployment techniques for Oracle RAC environments. It also describes considerations for high availability and provides general guidelines for various Oracle RAC deployments.

Consider performing the following steps during the design and development of applications that you are deploying on an Oracle RAC database:

Tune the design and the application

Tune the memory and I/O

Tune contention

Tune the operating system

Note:

If an application does not scale on an SMP system, then moving the application to an Oracle RAC database cannot improve performance.

Consider using hash partitioning for insert-intensive online transaction processing (OLTP) applications. Hash partitioning:

Reduces contention on concurrent inserts into a single database structure

Affects sequence-based indexes when indexes are locally partitioned with a table and tables are partitioned on sequence-based keys

Is transparent to the application

If you use hash partitioning for tables and indexes for OLTP environments, then you can greatly improve performance in your Oracle RAC database. Note that you cannot use index range scans on an index with hash partitioning.

General Database Deployment Topics for Oracle RAC

This section describes considerations when deploying Oracle RAC databases. Oracle RAC database performance is not compromised if you do not employ these techniques. If you have an effective noncluster design, then your application will run well on an Oracle RAC database.

This section includes the following topics:

Tablespace Use in Oracle RAC

Object Creation and Performance in Oracle RAC

Node Addition and Deletion and the SYSAUX Tablespace in Oracle RAC

Distributed Transactions and Oracle RAC

Deploying OLTP Applications in Oracle RAC

Flexible Implementation with Cache Fusion

Deploying Data Warehouse Applications with Oracle RAC

Data Security Considerations in Oracle RAC

Tablespace Use in Oracle RAC

In addition to using locally managed tablespaces, you can further simplify space administration by using automatic segment space management (ASSM) and automatic undo management.

ASSM distributes instance workloads among each instance's subset of blocks for inserts. This improves Oracle RAC performance because it minimizes block transfers. To deploy automatic undo management in an Oracle RAC environment, each instance must have its own undo tablespace.

Object Creation and Performance in Oracle RAC

As a general rule, only use DDL statements for maintenance tasks and avoid executing DDL statements during peak system operation periods. In most systems, the amount of new object creation and other DDL statements should be limited. Just as in noncluster Oracle databases, excessive object creation and deletion can increase performance overhead.

Node Addition and Deletion and the SYSAUX Tablespace in Oracle RAC

If you add nodes to your Oracle RAC database environment, then you may need to increase the size of the SYSAUX tablespace. Conversely, if you remove nodes from your cluster database, then you may be able to reduce the size of your SYSAUX tablespace.

See Also:

Your platform-specific Oracle RAC installation guide for guidelines about sizing the SYSAUX tablespace for multiple instances

Distributed Transactions and Oracle RAC

If you are running XA Transactions in an Oracle RAC environment and the performance is poor, direct all branches of a tightly coupled distributed transaction to the same instance.

To ensure this, create multiple Oracle Distributed Transaction Processing (DTP) services, with one or more on each Oracle RAC instance. Each DTP service is a singleton service that is available on one and only one Oracle RAC instance. All access to the database server for distributed transaction processing must be done by way of the DTP services. Ensure that all of the branches of a single global distributed transaction use the same DTP service. In other words, a network connection descriptor, such as a TNS name, a JDBC URL, and so on, must use a DTP service to support distributed transaction processing.

See Also:

"Services and Distributed Transaction Processing in Oracle RAC" for more details about enabling services and distributed transactions

Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide for more information about distributed transactions in Oracle RAC

Deploying OLTP Applications in Oracle RAC

Cache Fusion makes Oracle RAC databases the optimal deployment servers for online transaction processing (OLTP) applications. This is because these types of applications require:

High availability in the event of failures

Scalability to accommodate increased system demands

Load balancing according to demand fluctuations

The high availability features of Oracle Database and Oracle RAC can re-distribute and load balance workloads to surviving instances without interrupting processing. Oracle RAC also provides excellent scalability so that if you add or replace a node, then Oracle Database re-masters resources and re-distributes processing loads.

Flexible Implementation with Cache Fusion

To accommodate the frequently changing workloads of online transaction processing systems, Oracle RAC remains flexible and dynamic despite changes in system load and system availability. Oracle RAC addresses a wide range of service levels that, for example, fluctuate due to:

Varying user demands

Peak scalability issues like trading storms (bursts of high volumes of transactions)

Varying availability of system resources

Deploying Data Warehouse Applications with Oracle RAC

This section discusses how to deploy data warehouse systems in Oracle RAC environments by briefly describing the data warehouse features available in shared disk architectures.

This section includes the following topics:

Speed-Up for Data Warehouse Applications on Oracle RAC

Parallel Execution in Data Warehouse Systems and Oracle RAC

Speed-Up for Data Warehouse Applications on Oracle RAC

Oracle RAC is ideal for data warehouse applications because it augments the noncluster benefits of Oracle Database. Oracle RAC does this by maximizing the processing available on all of the nodes that belong to an Oracle RAC database to provide speed-up for data warehouse systems.

The query optimizer considers parallel execution when determining the optimal execution plans. The default cost model for the query optimizer is CPU+I/O and the cost unit is time. In Oracle RAC, the query optimizer dynamically computes intelligent defaults for parallelism based on the number of processors in the nodes of the cluster. An evaluation of the costs of alternative access paths, table scans versus indexed access, for example, takes into account the degree of parallelism (DOP) available for the operation. This results in Oracle Database selecting the execution plans that are optimized for your Oracle RAC configuration.

Parallel Execution in Data Warehouse Systems and Oracle RAC

Oracle Database's parallel execution feature uses multiple processes to run SQL statements on one or more CPUs. Parallel execution is available on both noncluster Oracle databases and Oracle RAC databases.

Oracle RAC takes full advantage of parallel execution by distributing parallel processing across all available instances. The number of processes that can participate in parallel operations depends on the DOP assigned to each table or index.

See Also:

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for more information about the query optimizer

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for more information about parallel execution

Data Security Considerations in Oracle RAC

This section describes the following two Oracle RAC security considerations:

Transparent Data Encryption and Wallets

Windows Firewall Considerations

Transparent Data Encryption and Wallets

Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) enables Oracle RAC nodes to share the wallet. This eliminates the need to manually copy and synchronize the wallet across all nodes. Oracle recommends that you create the wallet on a shared file system. This allows all instances to access the same shared wallet.

Oracle RAC uses wallets in the following ways:

Any wallet operation, like opening or closing the wallet, performed on any one Oracle RAC instance is applicable for all other Oracle RAC instances. This means that when you open and close the wallet for one instance, then it opens and closes the wallet for all Oracle RAC instances.

When using a shared file system, ensure that the ENCRYPTION_WALLET_LOCATION parameter for all Oracle RAC instances points to the same shared wallet location. The security administrator must also ensure security of the shared wallet by assigning appropriate directory permissions.

Note:

If Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) is available for your operating system, then Oracle recommends that you store the wallet in Oracle ACFS. If you do not have Oracle ACFS in Oracle ASM, then use the Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) to create it. You must add the mount point to the sqlnet.ora file in each instance, as follows:

ENCRYPTION_WALLET_LOCATION=
  (SOURCE = (METHOD = FILE)
    (METHOD_DATA =
      (DIRECTORY = /opt/oracle/acfsmounts/data_wallet)))

This file system is mounted automatically when the instances start. Opening and closing the wallet, as well as commands to set or rekey and rotate the TDE master encryption key, are synchronized between all nodes.

A master key rekey performed on one instance is applicable for all instances. When a new Oracle RAC node comes up, it is aware of the current wallet open or close status.

Do not issue any wallet open or close commands while setting up or changing the master key.

Deployments where shared storage does not exist for the wallet require that each Oracle RAC node maintain a local wallet. After you create and provision a wallet on a single node, you must copy the wallet and make it available to all of the other nodes, as follows:

For systems using Transparent Data Encryption with encrypted wallets, you can use any standard file transport protocol, though Oracle recommends using a secured file transport.

For systems using Transparent Data Encryption with obfuscated wallets, file transport through a secured channel is recommended.

To specify the directory in which the wallet must reside, set the or ENCRYPTION_WALLET_LOCATION parameter in the sqlnet.ora file. The local copies of the wallet need not be synchronized for the duration of Transparent Data Encryption usage until the server key is re-keyed though the ALTER SYSTEM SET KEY SQL statement. Each time you issue the ALTER SYSTEM SET KEY statement on a database instance, you must again copy the wallet residing on that node and make it available to all of the other nodes. Then, you must close and reopen the wallet on each of the nodes. To avoid unnecessary administrative overhead, reserve re-keying for exceptional cases where you believe that the server master key may have been compromised and that not re-keying it could cause a serious security problem.

See Also:

Oracle Database Advanced Security Administrator's Guide for more information about creating and provisioning a wallet

Windows Firewall Considerations

By default, all installations of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and higher enable the Windows Firewall to block virtually all TCP network ports to incoming connections. As a result, any Oracle products that listen for incoming connections on a TCP port will not receive any of those connection requests, and the clients making those connections will report errors.

Depending upon which Oracle products you install and how they are used, you may need to perform additional Windows post-installation configuration tasks so that the Firewall products are functional on Windows Server 2003.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows for more information about Oracle RAC executables requiring Windows Firewall exceptions

13 Monitoring Performance

This chapter describes how to monitor and tune Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) performance.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Overview of Monitoring and Tuning Oracle RAC Databases

Verifying the Interconnect Settings for Oracle RAC

Influencing Interconnect Processing

Performance Views in Oracle RAC

Creating Oracle RAC Data Dictionary Views with CATCLUST.SQL

Oracle RAC Performance Statistics

Automatic Workload Repository in Oracle RAC Environments

Active Session History Reports for Oracle RAC

Monitoring Oracle RAC Statistics and Wait Events

Overview of Monitoring and Tuning Oracle RAC Databases

This section includes the following topics:

Monitoring Oracle RAC and Oracle Clusterware

Tuning Oracle RAC Databases

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide

The Oracle Enterprise Manager Online Help

Oracle Database 2 Day DBA for more information about basic database tuning

Oracle Database 2 Day + Performance Tuning Guide for more information about general performance tuning

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about diagnosing problems for Oracle Clusterware components

Monitoring Oracle RAC and Oracle Clusterware

Using Oracle Enterprise Manager is the preferred method for monitoring Oracle RAC and Oracle Clusterware. Oracle Enterprise Manager is an Oracle Web-based integrated management solution for monitoring and administering your computing environment. From any location where you can access a web browser, you can manage Oracle RAC databases, application servers, host computers, and Web applications, as well as related hardware and software. For example, you can monitor your Oracle RAC database performance from your office, home, or a remote site, as long as you have access to a Web browser.

Both Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control and Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control are cluster-aware and provide a central console to manage your cluster database. From the Cluster Database Home page, you can do all of the following:

View the overall system status, such as the number of nodes in the cluster and their current status. This high-level view capability means that you do not have to access each individual database instance for details if you just want to see inclusive, aggregated information.

View alert messages aggregated across all the instances with lists for the source of each alert message. An alert message is an indicator that signifies that a particular metric condition has been encountered. A metric is a unit of measurement used to report the system's conditions.

Review issues that are affecting the entire cluster as well as those that are affecting individual instances.

Monitor cluster cache coherency statistics to help you identify processing trends and optimize performance for your Oracle RAC environment. Cache coherency statistics measure how well the data in caches on multiple instances is synchronized. If the data caches are completely synchronized with each other, then reading a memory location from the cache on any instance will return the most recent data written to that location from any cache on any instance.

Oracle Enterprise Manager accumulates data over specified periods of time, called collection-based data. Oracle Enterprise Manager also provides current data, called real-time data.

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide provides complete information about monitoring performance with Oracle Enterprise Manager, including:

Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor and Oracle RAC Performance

The Cluster Database Home Page

The Interconnects Page

The Cluster Performance Page

The Cluster Database Home Page

When you log in to Oracle Enterprise Manager using a client browser, the Cluster Database Home page appears where you can monitor the status of both Oracle Clusterware and the Oracle RAC environments. Monitoring can include such things as:

Notification if there are any VIP relocations

Status of the Oracle Clusterware on each node of the cluster using information obtained through the Cluster Verification Utility (cluvfy)

Notification if node applications (nodeapps) start or stop

Notification of issues in the Oracle Clusterware alert log for OCR, voting disk issues (if any), and node evictions

The Cluster Database Home page is similar to a noncluster Database Home page. However, on the Cluster Database Home page, Oracle Enterprise Manager displays the system state and availability. This includes a summary about alert messages and job activity, as well as links to all the database and Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) instances. For example, you can track problems with services on the cluster including when a service is not running on all of the preferred instances or when a service response time threshold is not being met.

The Interconnects Page

You can use the Oracle Enterprise Manager Interconnects page to monitor the Oracle Clusterware environment. The Interconnects page shows the public and private interfaces on the cluster and the load contributed by database instances on the interconnect, including:

Overall throughput across the private interconnect

Notification if a database instance is using public interface due to misconfiguration

Throughput and errors (if any) on the interconnect

Throughput contributed by individual instances on the interconnect

All of this information is also available as collections that have a historic view. This is useful in conjunction with cluster cache coherency, such as when diagnosing problems related to cluster wait events. You can access the Interconnects page by clicking the Interconnect tab on the Cluster Database home page or clicking the Interconnect Alerts link under Diagnostic Findings on the Oracle RAC database home page.

The Cluster Performance Page

The Oracle Enterprise Manager Cluster Database Performance page provides a quick glimpse of the performance statistics for a database. Statistics are rolled up across all the instances in the cluster database in charts. Using the links next to the charts, you can get more specific information and perform any of the following tasks:

Identify the causes of performance issues.

Decide whether resources need to be added or redistributed.

Tune your SQL plan and schema for better optimization.

Resolve performance issues

The charts on the Cluster Database Performance page include the following:

Chart for Cluster Host Load Average: The Cluster Host Load Average chart in the Cluster Database Performance page shows potential problems that are outside the database. The chart shows maximum, average, and minimum load values for available nodes in the cluster for the previous hour.

Chart for Global Cache Block Access Latency: Each cluster database instance has its own buffer cache in its System Global Area (SGA). Using Cache Fusion, Oracle RAC environments logically combine each instance's buffer cache to enable the database instances to process data as if the data resided on a logically combined, single cache.

Chart for Average Active Sessions: The Average Active Sessions chart in the Cluster Database Performance page shows potential problems inside the database. Categories, called wait classes, show how much of the database is using a resource, such as CPU or disk I/O. Comparing CPU time to wait time helps to determine how much of the response time is consumed with useful work rather than waiting for resources that are potentially held by other processes.

Chart for Database Throughput: The Database Throughput charts summarize any resource contention that appears in the Average Active Sessions chart, and also show how much work the database is performing on behalf of the users or applications. The Per Second view shows the number of transactions compared to the number of logons, and the amount of physical reads compared to the redo size per second. The Per Transaction view shows the amount of physical reads compared to the redo size per transaction. Logons is the number of users that are logged on to the database.

In addition, the Top Activity drill down menu on the Cluster Database Performance page enables you to see the activity by wait events, services, and instances. Plus, you can see the details about SQL/sessions by going to a prior point in time by moving the slider on the chart.

The Cluster Database Performance page provides a quick glimpse of the performance statistics for an Oracle RAC database. Statistics are rolled up across all of the instances in the cluster database so that users can identify performance issues without going through all the instances. To help triage the performance issues related to services, Oracle Enterprise Manager aggregates the activity data at the following levels:

Aggregate by waits

All the activity data is presented in 12 categories: CPU, Scheduler, User I/O, System I/O, Concurrency, Application, Commit, Configuration, Administrative, Network, Cluster and Other. The data presented is rolled up from all of the running instances.

Aggregate by services

All the activity data is rolled up for each service. When the activity data is presented in this way, it is easy to identify which service is most active, and needs more analysis.

Aggregate by instances

As a similar effort, the activity data is rolled up for each instance, if services are not the interested ones.

The aggregates are provided on the pages where the activity data is presented including: Database Performance Page, Top Activity Page, Wait Details Page and Service Details Page.

See Also:

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide

Tuning Oracle RAC Databases

All noncluster tuning practices for Oracle Database apply to Oracle RAC databases. Therefore, implement the noncluster tuning methodologies described in the Oracle Database 2 Day + Performance Tuning Guide and the Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide.

Verifying the Interconnect Settings for Oracle RAC

The interconnect and internode communication protocols can affect Cache Fusion performance. In addition, the interconnect bandwidth, its latency, and the efficiency of the IPC protocol determine the speed with which Cache Fusion processes block transfers.

To verify the interconnect settings of the Oracle RAC database instance to which you are connected, query the V$CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS and V$CONFIGURED_INTERCONNECTS views. For example:

Example 13-1 Verify Interconnect Settings with V$CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS

SQL> SELECT * FROM V$CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS;

NAME             IP_ADDRESS       IS_PUBLIC SOURCE
---------------  --------------   ---       -------------------------------
eth2             10.137.20.181    NO        Oracle Cluster Repository

Note:

You can query the GV$CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS view to display the entries for all of the instances in the cluster.

Example 13-2 Verify Interconnect Settings with V$CONFIGURED_INTERCONNECTS

SQL> SELECT * FROM V$CONFIGURED_INTERCONNECTS;

NAME             IP_ADDRESS       IS_PUBLIC   SOURCE
---------------  ---------------  ---         -------------------------------
eth2             10.137.20.181    NO          Oracle Cluster Repository
eth0             10.137.8.225     YES         Oracle Cluster Repository

Influencing Interconnect Processing

Once your interconnect is operative, you cannot significantly influence its performance. However, you can influence an interconnect protocol's efficiency by adjusting the interprocess communication (IPC) buffer sizes.

The Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) stores your system's interconnect information. Use the Oracle Interface Configuration (OIFCFG) command-line utility oifcfg getif command or the OCRDUMP utility to identify the interconnect that you are using. You can then change the interconnect that you are using by running an OIFCFG command.

See Also:

Your vendor-specific interconnect documentation for more information about adjusting IPC buffer sizes

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about enabling and using the OIFCFG and OCRDUMP utilities

Although you rarely need to set the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter, you can use it to assign a private network IP address or NIC as in the following example:

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS=10.0.0.1

If you are using an operating system-specific vendor IPC protocol, then the trace information may not reveal the IP address.

Note:

You can also use OIFCFG command to assign private network or private IP addresses.

See Also:

Oracle Database Reference for more information about the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter

Performance Views in Oracle RAC

Each instance has a set of instance-specific views, which are prefixed with V$. You can also query global dynamic performance views to retrieve performance information from all of the qualified instances. Global dynamic performance view names are prefixed with GV$.

Querying a GV$ view retrieves the V$ view information from all qualified instances. In addition to the V$ information, each GV$ view contains an extra column named INST_ID of data type NUMBER. The INST_ID column displays the instance number from which the associated V$ view information was obtained.

You can use the INST_ID column as a filter to retrieve V$ information from a subset of available instances. For example, the following query retrieves the information from the V$LOCK view for instances 2 and 5:

SQL> SELECT * FROM GV$LOCK WHERE INST_ID = 2 OR INST_ID = 5;

See Also:

Oracle Database Reference for complete descriptions of GV$ views

Creating Oracle RAC Data Dictionary Views with CATCLUST.SQL

If you did not create your Oracle RAC database with the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA), then you must run the CATCLUST.SQL script to create views and tables related to Oracle RAC. You must have SYSDBA privileges to run this script.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide installation guides for more information about creating your Oracle RAC database

Oracle RAC Performance Statistics

Oracle RAC statistics appear as message request counters or as timed statistics. Message request counters include statistics showing the number of certain types of block mode conversions. Timed statistics reveal the total or average time waited for read and write I/O for particular types of operations.

Automatic Workload Repository in Oracle RAC Environments

You can use Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) to monitor performance statistics related to Oracle RAC databases. AWR automatically generates snapshots of the performance data once every hour and collects the statistics in the workload repository. In Oracle RAC environments, each AWR snapshot captures data from all active instances in the cluster. The data for each snapshot set is captured from the same point in time. AWR stores the snapshot data for all instances in the same table and the data is identified by an instance qualifier. For example, the BUFFER_BUSY_WAIT statistic shows the number of buffer waits on each instance. AWR does not store data that is aggregated from across the entire cluster. In other words, the data is stored for each individual instance.

Using the Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM), you can analyze the information collected by AWR for possible performance problems with Oracle Database. ADDM presents performance data from a cluster-wide perspective, thus enabling you to analyze performance on a global basis. In an Oracle RAC environment, ADDM can analyze performance using data collected from all instances and present it at different levels of granularity, including:

Analysis for the entire cluster

Analysis for a specific database instance

Analysis for a subset of database instances

To perform these analyses, you can run the ADDM Advisor in ADDM for Oracle RAC mode to perform an analysis of the entire cluster; in Local ADDM mode to analyze the performance of an individual instance; or in Partial ADDM mode to analyze a subset of instances. Activate ADDM analysis using the advisor framework through Advisor Central in Oracle Enterprise Manager, or through the DBMS_ADVISOR and DBMS_ADDM PL/SQL packages.

See Also:

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for information about AWR and ADDM

Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about how to access and analyze global and local ADDM data using Oracle Enterprise Manager

Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference for more information about the DBMS_ADVISOR and DBMS_ADDM packages

Active Session History Reports for Oracle RAC

This section describes Active Session History (ASH) reports for Oracle RAC under the following topics:

Overview of ASH Reports for Oracle RAC

ASH Report for Oracle RAC: Top Cluster Events

ASH Report for Oracle RAC: Top Remote Instance

See Also:

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for more information about ASH reports

Overview of ASH Reports for Oracle RAC

ASH is an integral part of the Oracle Database self-management framework and is useful for diagnosing performance problems in Oracle RAC environments. ASH report statistics provide details about Oracle Database session activity. Oracle Database records information about active sessions for all active Oracle RAC instances and stores this data in the System Global Area (SGA). Any session that is connected to the database and using CPU is considered an active session. The exception to this is sessions that are waiting for an event that belongs to the idle wait class.

ASH reports present a manageable set of data by capturing only information about active sessions. The amount of the data is directly related to the work being performed, rather than the number of sessions allowed on the system.

ASH statistics that are gathered over a specified duration can be put into ASH reports. Each ASH report is divided into multiple sections to help you identify short-lived performance problems that do not appear in the ADDM analysis. Two ASH report sections that are specific to Oracle RAC are Top Cluster Events and Top Remote Instance as described in the next two sections.

ASH Report for Oracle RAC: Top Cluster Events

The ASH report Top Cluster Events section is part of the Top Events report that is specific to Oracle RAC. The Top Cluster Events report lists events that account for the highest percentage of session activity in the cluster wait class event along with the instance number of the affected instances. You can use this information to identify which events and instances caused a high percentage of cluster wait events.

ASH Report for Oracle RAC: Top Remote Instance

The ASH report Top Remote Instance section is part of the Top Load Profile report that is specific to Oracle RAC. The Top Remote Instance report shows cluster wait events along with the instance numbers of the instances that accounted for the highest percentages of session activity. You can use this information to identify the instance that caused the extended cluster wait period.

Monitoring Oracle RAC Statistics and Wait Events

This section explains wait events and statistics specific to Oracle RAC and how to interpret them when assessing performance data generated by the Automatic Workload Repository (AWR), Statspack, or by ad-hoc queries of the dynamic performance views.

This section includes the following topics:

Oracle RAC Statistics and Events in AWR and Statspack Reports

Oracle RAC Wait Events

Monitoring Performance by Analyzing GCS and GES Statistics

Analyzing Cache Fusion Transfer Impact Using GCS Statistics

Analyzing Response Times Based on Wait Events

See Also:

Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide for more information about wait event analysis and the spdoc.txt file for details about the Statspack utility

Oracle RAC Statistics and Events in AWR and Statspack Reports

The statistics snapshots generated by AWR and Statspack can be evaluated by producing reports displaying summary data such as load and cluster profiles based on regular statistics and wait events gathered on each instance.

Most of the relevant data is summarized on the Oracle RAC Statistics Page. This information includes:

Global cache load profile

Global cache efficiency percentages—workload characteristics

Global cache and Enqueue Service (GES)—messaging statistics

Additional Oracle RAC sections appear later in the report:

Global enqueue statistics

Global CR statistics

Global CURRENT served statistics

Global cache transfer statistics.

Oracle RAC Wait Events

Analyzing and interpreting what causes sessions to wait is an important method to determine where time is spent. In Oracle RAC, the wait time is attributed to an event which reflects the exact outcome of a request. For example, when a session on an instance is looking for a block in the global cache, it does not know whether it will receive the data cached by another instance or whether it will receive a message to read from disk. The wait events for the global cache convey precise information and waiting for global cache blocks or messages is:

Summarized in a broader category called Cluster Wait Class

Temporarily represented by a placeholder event which is active while waiting for a block, for example:

gc current block request

gc cr block request

Attributed to precise events when the outcome of the request is known, for example:

gc current block 3-way

gc current block busy

gc cr block grant 2-way

In summary, the wait events for Oracle RAC convey information valuable for performance analysis. They are used in Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM) to enable precise diagnostics of the effect of cache fusion.

Monitoring Performance by Analyzing GCS and GES Statistics

In order to determine the amount of work and cost related to inter-instance messaging and contention, examine block transfer rates, remote requests made by each transaction, the number and time waited for global cache events as described under the following headings:

Analyzing the Effect of Cache Fusion in Oracle RAC

Analyzing Performance Using GCS and GES Statistics

Analyzing the Effect of Cache Fusion in Oracle RAC

The effect of accessing blocks in the global cache and maintaining coherency is represented by:

The Global Cache Service (GCS) statistics for current and cr blocks, for example, gc current blocks received, gc cr blocks received, and so on

The GCS wait events, for gc current block 3-way, gc cr grant 2-way, and so on.

The response time for cache fusion transfers is determined by the messaging and processing times imposed by the physical interconnect components, the IPC protocol and the GCS protocol. It is not affected by disk I/O factors other than occasional log writes. The cache fusion protocol does not require I/O to data files in order to guarantee cache coherency and Oracle RAC inherently does not cause any more I/O to disk than a nonclustered instance.

Analyzing Performance Using GCS and GES Statistics

This section describes how to monitor GCS performance by identifying data blocks and objects which are frequently used (hot) by all instances. High concurrency on certain blocks may be identified by GCS wait events and times.

The gc current block busy wait event indicates that the access to cached data blocks was delayed because they were busy either in the remote or the local cache. This could be caused by any of the following:

The blocks were pinned

The blocks were held up by sessions

The blocks were delayed by a log write on a remote instance

A session on the same instance was already accessing a block which was in transition between instances and the current session needed to wait behind it (for example, gc current block busy)

Use the V$SESSION_WAIT view to identify objects and data blocks with contention. The GCS wait events contain the file and block number for a block request in p1 and p2, respectively.

An additional segment statistic, gc buffer busy, has been added to quickly determine the busy objects without having to query the V$SESSION_WAIT view mentioned earlier.

The AWR infrastructure provides a view of active session history which can also be used to trace recent wait events and their arguments. It is therefore useful for hot block analysis. Most of the reporting facilities used by AWR and Statspack contain the object statistics and cluster wait class category, so that sampling of the views mentioned earlier is largely unnecessary.

Note:

Oracle recommends using ADDM and AWR. However, Statspack is available for backward compatibility. Statspack provides reporting only. You must run Statspack at level 7 to collect statistics related to block contention and segment block waits.

It is advisable to run ADDM on the snapshot data collected by the AWR infrastructure to obtain an overall evaluation of the impact of the global cache. The advisory will also identify the busy objects and SQL highest cluster wait time.

Analyzing Cache Fusion Transfer Impact Using GCS Statistics

This section describes how to monitor GCS performance by identifying objects read and modified frequently and the service times imposed by the remote access. Waiting for blocks to arrive may constitute a significant portion of the response time, in the same way that reading from disk could increase the block access delays, only that cache fusion transfers in most cases are faster than disk access latencies.

The following wait events indicate that the remotely cached blocks were shipped to the local instance without having been busy, pinned or requiring a log flush:

gc current block 2-way

gc current block 3-way

gc cr block 2-way

gc cr block 3-way

The object statistics for gc current blocks received and gc cr blocks received enable quick identification of the indexes and tables which are shared by the active instances. As mentioned earlier, creating an ADDM analysis will, in most cases, point you to the SQL statements and database objects that could be impacted by inter-instance contention.

Any increases in the average wait times for the events mentioned in the preceding list could be caused by the following occurrences:

High load: CPU shortages, long run queues, scheduling delays

Misconfiguration: using public instead of private interconnect for message and block traffic

If the average wait times are acceptable and no interconnect or load issues can be diagnosed, then the accumulated time waited can usually be attributed to a few SQL statements which need to be tuned to minimize the number of blocks accessed.

The column CLUSTER_WAIT_TIME in V$SQLAREA represents the wait time incurred by individual SQL statements for global cache events and will identify the SQL which may need to be tuned.

Analyzing Response Times Based on Wait Events

Most global cache wait events that show a high total time as reported in the AWR and Statspack reports or in the dynamic performance views are normal and may present themselves as the top database time consumers without actually indicating a problem. This section describes frequent wait events that you should be aware of when interpreting performance data.

If user response times increase and a high proportion of time waited is for global cache, then you should determine the cause. Most reports include a breakdown of events sorted by percentage of the total time.

It is useful to start with an ADDM report, which analyzes the routinely collected performance statistics with respect to their impact, and points to the objects and SQL contributing most to the time waited, and then moves on to the more detailed reports produced by AWR and Statspack.

Wait events for Oracle RAC include the following categories:

Block-Related Wait Events

Message-Related Wait Events

Contention-Related Wait Events

Load-Related Wait Events

Block-Related Wait Events

The main wait events for block-related waits are:

gc current block 2-way

gc current block 3-way

gc cr block 2-way

gc cr block 3-way

The block-related wait event statistics indicate that a block was received as either the result of a 2-way or a 3-way message, that is, the block was sent from either the resource master requiring 1 message and 1 transfer, or was forwarded to a third node from which it was sent, requiring 2 messages and 1 block transfer.

Message-Related Wait Events

The main wait events for message-related waits are:

gc current grant 2-way

gc cr grant 2-way

The message-related wait event statistics indicate that no block was received because it was not cached in any instance. Instead a global grant was given, enabling the requesting instance to read the block from disk or modify it.

If the time consumed by these events is high, then it may be assumed that the frequently used SQL causes a lot of disk I/O (in the event of the cr grant) or that the workload inserts a lot of data and needs to find and format new blocks frequently (in the event of the current grant).

Contention-Related Wait Events

The main wait events for contention-related waits are:

gc current block busy

gc cr block busy

gc buffer busy acquire/release

The contention-related wait event statistics indicate that a block was received which was pinned by a session on another node, was deferred because a change had not yet been flushed to disk or because of high concurrency, and therefore could not be shipped immediately. A buffer may also be busy locally when a session has already initiated a cache fusion operation and is waiting for its completion when another session on the same node is trying to read or modify the same data. High service times for blocks exchanged in the global cache may exacerbate the contention, which can be caused by frequent concurrent read and write accesses to the same data.

The gc current block busy and gc cr block busy wait events indicate that the local instance that is making the request did not immediately receive a current or consistent read block. The term busy in these events' names indicates that the sending of the block was delayed on a remote instance. For example, a block cannot be shipped immediately if Oracle Database has not yet written the redo for the block's changes to a log file.

In comparison to block busy wait events, a gc buffer busy event indicates that Oracle Database cannot immediately grant access to data that is stored in the local buffer cache. This is because a global operation on the buffer is pending and the operation has not yet completed. In other words, the buffer is busy and all other processes that are attempting to access the local buffer must wait to complete.

The existence of gc buffer busy events also means that there is block contention that is resulting in multiple requests for access to the local block. Oracle Database must queue these requests. The length of time that Oracle Database needs to process the queue depends on the remaining service time for the block. The service time is affected by the processing time that any network latency adds, the processing time on the remote and local instances, and the length of the wait queue.

The average wait time and the total wait time should be considered when being alerted to performance issues where these particular waits have a high impact. Usually, either interconnect or load issues or SQL execution against a large shared working set can be found to be the root cause.

Load-Related Wait Events

The main wait events for load-related waits are:

gc current block congested

gc cr block congested

The load-related wait events indicate that a delay in processing has occurred in the GCS, which is usually caused by high load, CPU saturation and would have to be solved by additional CPUs, load-balancing, off loading processing to different times or a new cluster node.For the events mentioned, the wait time encompasses the entire round trip from the time a session starts to wait after initiating a block request until the block arrives.

A Server Control Utility Reference

This appendix includes a complete reference for the Server Control Utility (SRVCTL).

See Also:

Chapter 3, "Administering Database Instances and Cluster Databases" for more information about using SRVCTL to manage an Oracle RAC database

This appendix includes the following topics:

Using SRVCTL

Overview of SRVCTL

Operational Notes for SRVCTL

Additional Topics on SRVCTL

Deprecated Subprograms or Commands

SRVCTL Command Reference

Using SRVCTL

This section includes topics that relate to using the SRVCTL utility.

Overview of SRVCTL

Operational Notes for SRVCTL

Additional Topics on SRVCTL

Overview of SRVCTL

Use SRVCTL to manage configuration information. You can use SRVCTL commands to add, remove, start, stop, modify, enable, and disable a number of entities, such as databases, instances, listeners, SCAN listeners, services, grid naming service (GNS), and Oracle ASM.

Some SRVCTL operations modify the configuration data stored in the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR). SRVCTL performs other operations, such as starting and stopping instances, by sending requests to the Oracle Clusterware process (CRSD), which then starts or stops the Oracle Clusterware resources.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Operational Notes for SRVCTL

SRVCTL is installed on each node by default.

This section discusses the following topics:

Usage Information

Character Set and Case Sensitivity of Object Values

Summary of Tasks for Which SRVCTL Is Used

Using SRVCTL Help

Privileges and Security

Usage Information

To use SRVCTL, log in to the operating system of a node and enter the SRVCTL command and its options in case-sensitive syntax as described in "SRVCTL Command Reference".

Guidelines for using SRVCTL are:

Only use the version of SRVCTL that is provided with Oracle Database 11g on Oracle RAC databases that are created or upgraded for Oracle Database 11g. The version of SRVCTL must be the same as the version of the object (listeners, Oracle ASM instances, Oracle RAC databases and their instances, and services) being managed. To ensure the versions are the same release, issue SRVCTL commands from the Oracle home of the database or object you are managing.

SRVCTL does not support concurrent executions of commands on the same object. Therefore, run only one SRVCTL command at a time for each database, service, or other object.

Using Comma-Delimited Lists

When specifying a comma-delimited list as part of a SRVCTL command, there should not be any spaces between the items in the list. For example:

srvctl add database -g serverpool1,serverpool3

When you specify a comma-delimited list in a Windows environment, you must enclose the list in double quotation marks (""). You can enclose a comma-delimited list in double quotation marks in a Linux or UNIX environment but they will be ignored.

Specifying a Continuation of Command Line Entries

If you are entering a SRVCTL command, and you want to continue the input on a new line, then you can use the operating system continuation character. In Linux, this is the backslash (\) symbol.

SRVCTL Command Feedback

A SRVCTL command that produces no output is a successful command. Not all SRVCTL commands return a message when it completes, successfully. However, if a SRVCTL command fails, then it always returns an error message.

Character Set and Case Sensitivity of Object Values

SRVCTL interacts with many different types of objects. The character set and name length limitations, and whether or not the object name is case sensitive, can vary between object types.

Table A-1 String Restrictions for SRVCTL Object Names

Object Type
Character Set Limitations
Case Sensitive?
Maximum Length

db_domain

Alpha-numeric characters, underscore (_), and number sign (#)

128 characters

db_unique_name

Alpha-numeric characters, underscore (_), number sign (#), and dollar sign ($); the first 8 characters must be unique because those characters are used to form instance names for policy-managed databases

No

30 characters but the first 8 characters must be unique relative to any other database in the same cluster

diskgroup_name

Naming disk groups have the same limitations as naming other database objects.

See Also: Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for more information about database object naming rules

No (all names are converted to uppercase)

instance_name

Alpha-numeric characters

Depends on the platform

15 characters

listener_name

node_name

No

scan_name

The first character must be an alphabetic character

No

server_pool

Alpha-numeric characters, underscore (_), number sign (#), period (.), and dollar sign ($); the name cannot begin with a period, contain single quotation marks (''), nor can the name be "Generic" or "Free" because those two names are reserved for the built-in server pools

250 characters

service_name

250 characters

volume_name

Alphanumeric characters; dashes (-) are not allowed and the first character must be an alphabetic character.

No

11 characters

Summary of Tasks for Which SRVCTL Is Used

SRVCTL is used to manage databases, instances, cluster databases, cluster database instances, Oracle ASM instance and disk groups, services, listeners, or other clusterware resources.

Cluster Database Configuration Tasks

Add, modify, and delete cluster database configuration information.

Add an instance or a service to, and delete an instance or service from the configuration of a cluster database.

Move instances and services in a cluster database configuration and modify service configurations.

Set and unset the environment for an instance or service in a cluster database configuration.

Set and unset the environment for an entire cluster database in a cluster database configuration.

General Cluster Database Administration Tasks

Start and stop cluster databases

Start and stop cluster database instances

Start, stop, and relocate cluster database services

Obtain statuses of cluster databases, cluster database instances, or cluster database services

Node-Level Tasks

Adding and deleting node level applications, server pools, and VIPs

Setting and unsetting the environment for node-level applications

Administering disk groups

Administering server pools

Administering node applications

Administering Oracle ASM instances

Starting and stopping a group of programs that includes virtual IP addresses (VIPs), listeners, and Oracle Notification Services

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for information

Using SRVCTL Help

To see help for all SRVCTL commands, from the command line enter:

srvctl -h

To see the command syntax and a list of options for each SRVCTL command, from the command line enter:

srvctl command (or verb) object (or noun) -h

To see the SRVCTL version number enter:

$ srvctl -V

Privileges and Security

To use SRVCTL to change your Oracle RAC database configuration, log in to the operating system as the software owner of the home that you want to manage.

For example, if different users installed Oracle Database and the Grid Infrastructure, then log in as the database software owner (for example, ora_db) to manage databases and log in as the Grid Infrastructure software owner (for example, ora_asm) to manage the Oracle ASM instances.

Users who are members of the OSDBA operating system group can start and stop the database. To stop and start an Oracle ASM instance, you must be a member of the OSASM operating system group.

To create or register objects such as listeners, Oracle Notification Services, and services, you must be logged in to the operating system as the software owner of the Oracle home. The objects you create or register for that Oracle home will run under the user account of the owner of the Oracle home. Databases run as the database installation owner of the home from which they run.

To perform srvctl add operations on any object, you must be logged in as the Oracle account owner of the home on which the object runs.

For some SRVCTL commands, on Linux and UNIX systems, you must be logged in as root, and on Windows systems, you must be logged in as a user with Administrator privileges to run them. In this appendix, those commands are preceded by the root prompt (#) in the command examples.

Additional Topics on SRVCTL

Difference between Using SRVCTL and CRSCTL

Use SRVCTL to manage Oracle-supplied resources such as listener, instances, disk groups, and networks, and CRSCTL for managing Oracle Clusterware and its resources.

Note:

Oracle strongly discourages directly manipulating Oracle-supplied resources (resources whose names begin with ora) using CRSCTL. This could adversely impact the cluster configuration.

Stopping Active SRVCTL Commands

Although you may be able to cancel running SRVCTL commands by pressing the Control-C keys, you may corrupt your configuration data by doing this.

You are strongly advised not to attempt to terminate SRVCTL in this manner.

Deprecated Subprograms or Commands

The following command options have been deprecated for Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2):

Table A-2 Deprecated Commands and Options for SRVCTL

Command
Deprecated Options

srvctl add asm

-n node_name

-i instance_name

-o Oracle_home

-p spfile

srvctl add database

-A {name | IP_address}/netmask

srvctl add listener

-n node_name

srvctl config database

-t

srvctl config listener

-n node_name

srvctl config nodeapps

-n node_name

-l

srvctl config asm

-i instance_name

srvctl disable nodeapps

-n node_name

srvctl enable asm

-i instance_name

srvctl enable nodeapps

-n node_name

srvctl getenv instance

-d db_unique_name

-i instance_name

-t "name=val_list"

srvctl getenv nodeapps

-n node_name

srvctl getenv service

-d db_unique_name

-s service_name

-t "name=val_list"

srvctl modify asm

-o Oracle_home

srvctl modify instance

-s asm_inst_name

-r

srvctl remove asm

-n node_name

-i instance_name

srvctl remove listener

-n node_name

srvctl remove nodeapps

-n "node_name_list"

srvctl setenv instance

-d db_unique_name

-i instance_name

-t "name=val_list"

-T "name=val"

srvctl setenv nodeapps

-n node_name

srvctl setenv service

-d db_unique_name

-s service_name

-t "name=val_list"

-T "name=val"

srvctl start asm

-i instance_name

srvctl status instance

-S level

srvctl status nodeapps

-n node_name

srvctl stop asm

-i instance_name

srvctl unsetenv instance

-d db_unique_name

-i instance_name

-t "name=val_list"

srvctl unsetenv nodeapps

-n node_name

srvctl unsetenv service

-d db_unique_name

-s service_name

-t "name=val_list"

SRVCTL Command Reference

SRVCTL Command Syntax and Options

SRVCTL commands, object names, and options are case sensitive. Database, instance, listener, and service names are case insensitive and case preserving. You cannot create listener names that differ only in case, such as LISTENER and listener. SRVCTL uses the following command syntax:

srvctl command object [options]

In SRVCTL syntax:

command is a verb such as start, stop, or remove

object is the target or object on which SRVCTL performs the command, such as database or instance. You can also use object abbreviations.

options extend the use of a preceding command combination to include additional parameters for the command. For example, the -i option indicates that a comma-delimited list of preferred instance names follows; sometimes the -i option only permits one value and not a list of names. The -n option indicates that a node name or a comma-delimited list of node names follows. Do not use spaces between the items in a comma-delimited list.

Note:

If specifying a comma-delimited list in Windows, then you must enclose the list within double quotation marks ("").

Table A-3 Summary of SRVCTL Commands

Command
Description

add

Adds node applications, databases, database instances, Grid Naming Service (GNS), listeners, single client access names (SCANs), Oracle ASM instances, server pools, services, or virtual IPs (VIPs).

config

Lists the configuration for GNS, the node applications, database, Oracle ASM instance, or service.

convert

Converts a database either to or from an Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node (Oracle RAC One Node) database.

disable

Disables the database, database instance, GNS, Oracle ASM instance, or service.

downgrade

Downgrades the database configuration after you manually downgrade the database.

enable

Enables the database, database instance, GNS, Oracle ASM instance, or service.

getenv

Displays the environment variable in the configuration for the node applications, database, VIP, listener or Oracle ASM.

modify

Modifies the node applications, database, database instance, GNS, or service configuration.

relocate

Relocates GNS, OC4J, SCANs, Oracle RAC One Node databases, servers, and VIPs from one node to another.

remove

Removes the node applications, database, database instance, GNS, Oracle ASM instance, or service.

setenv

Sets the environment variable in the configuration for the node applications, database, VIP, listener or Oracle ASM.

start

Starts the node applications, database, database instance, GNS, Oracle ASM instance, or service.

status

Displays the status of the node applications, database, database instance, GNS, Oracle ASM instance, or service.

stop

Stops the node applications, database, database instance, GNS, Oracle ASM instance, or service.

unsetenv

Unsets the environment variable in the configuration for the node applications, database, VIP, listener or Oracle ASM.

upgrade

Upgrades the configuration to the version of the software on which it is running.

SRVCTL Objects Summary

Table A-4 lists the keywords that can be used for the object portion of SRVCTL commands. You can use either the full name or the abbreviation for each object keyword. The Purpose column describes the object and the actions that can be performed on that object.

Table A-4 Object Keywords and Abbreviations

Object
Keyword
Purpose

Cluster Verification Utility

cvu

To add, modify, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, relocate, obtain the status of, and remove CVU resources.

Database

database

To add, modify, manage environment variables for, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, and obtain the status of databases, and also to upgrade, downgrade, and remove database configuration information about databases.

Disk Group

diskgroup

To add, modify, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, obtain the status of, and remove Oracle ASM disk groups

File system

filesystem

To add, modify, list the configuration of, enable, disable, stop, start, obtain the status of, and remove disk devices for Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS).

Grid Naming Service (GNS)

gns

To add, modify, list the configuration of, enable, disable, stop, start, obtain the status of, and remove a GNS daemon.

Home directory (for patching)

home

To start, stop, and obtain the status of all clusterware resources related to a Home directory.f

Instance

instance

To add, modify, enable, disable, start, stop, obtain the status of, and remove database instances.

Listener

listener

To add, modify, manage environment variables for, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, obtain the status of, and remove listeners.

Network

network

To add, modify, list the configuration of, and remove a non-default Network.

Note: The node applications object, and the config and modify commands also manage the default network.

Node applications

nodeapps

To add, modify, manage environment variables for, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, obtain the status of, and remove node applications.

Oracle Automatic Storage Management

asm

To add, modify, manage environment variables for, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, obtain the status of, and remove Oracle ASM instances.

Oracle Grid Foundation OC4J container

oc4j

To add, modify, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, relocate, obtain the status of, and remove OC4J instances

Oracle Notification Service

ons

To add, configure, enable, start, obtain the status of, stop, disable, and remove Oracle Notification Service instances for Oracle Restart

Single client access name (SCAN)

scan

To add, list the configuration of, modify, enable, disable, start, stop, relocate, obtain the status of, and remove SCAN VIPs

SCAN listener

scan_listener

To add, list the configuration of, modify, enable, disable, start, stop, relocate, obtain the status of, and remove SCAN listeners

Server pool

srvpool

To add, modify, list the configuration of, obtain the status of, and remove server pools

Service

service

To add, modify, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, obtain the status of, relocate, and remove services

Virtual IP

VIP

To add, manage environment variables for, list the configuration of, enable, disable, start, stop, obtain the status of, and remove a VIP

add

The srvctl add command adds the configuration and the Oracle Clusterware applications to OCR for the cluster database, named instances, named services, or for the named nodes. To perform srvctl add operations, you must be logged in as the database administrator and be the Oracle account owner on Linux and UNIX systems, or you must be logged on as a user with Administrator privileges on Windows systems.

When adding an instance, the name that you specify with -i must match the ORACLE_SID parameter. The database name given with -d db_unique_name must match the DB_UNIQUE_NAME initialization parameter setting. If DB_UNIQUE_NAME is unspecified, then match the DB_NAME initialization parameter setting. The default setting for DB_UNIQUE_NAME uses the setting for DB_NAME. Also, the domain name given with -m db_domain must match the DB_DOMAIN setting.

Table A-5 srvctl add Summary

Command
Description

srvctl add asm

Adds Oracle ASM instances

srvctl add cvu

Adds the Cluster Verification Utility resource to an Oracle Clusterware configuration

srvctl add database

Adds a database and configuration

srvctl add filesystem

Adds a volume to Oracle ACFS

srvctl add gns

Adds the Grid Naming Service (GNS) to a cluster

srvctl add instance

Adds one or more instance and configuration

srvctl add listener

Adds a listener to the node

srvctl add network

Adds a DHCP or static network

srvctl add nodeapps

Adds node applications

srvctl add oc4j

Adds OC4J instances

srvctl add ons

Adds Oracle Notification Service daemons

srvctl add scan

Adds SCAN VIPs

srvctl add scan_listener

Adds SCAN listeners

srvctl add service

Adds services

srvctl add srvpool

Adds a server pool to a cluster

srvctl add vip

Adds a VIP to a node

srvctl add asm

Adds a record for an Oracle ASM instance to the entire cluster. This command needs to be run only one time from the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl add asm [-l listener_name]

This command has only one option, -l, which calls for the name of a listener. If you do not specify this option, then the listener name defaults to LISTENER.

Example

To add a clusterware resource for Oracle ASM on every node in the cluster, use the following command:

srvctl add asm

srvctl add cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command adds the Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) to an Oracle Clusterware configuration.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl add cvu [-t check_interval_in_minutes]

Table A-6 srvctl add cvu Options

Option
Description

-t check_interval_in_minutes

By default, CVU runs once every 6 hours and verifies the health of cluster. The shortest interval you can specify for CVU check is 10 minutes.

Examples

An example of this command to add CVU with a check interval of 6 hours is:

$ srvctl add cvu -t 360

srvctl add database

Adds a database configuration to your cluster database configuration.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add database command with the following syntax:

srvctl add database -d db_unique_name -o oracle_home
     [-x node_name] [-m domain_name] [-p spfile]
     [-c  {RACONENODE | RAC | SINGLE} [-e server_list] [-i instance_name] [-w timeout]]
     [-r {PRIMARY | PHYSICAL_STANDBY | LOGICAL_STANDBY | SNAPSHOT_STANDBY}]
     [-s start_options] [-t stop_options] [-n db_name -j "acfs_path_list"]
     [-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL | NORESTART}] [-g server_pool_list] [-a disk_group_list]

Table A-7 srvctl add database Options

Syntax
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database.

-o oracle_home

The path for the Oracle database home directory.

-x node_name

Node name on which you want to register a noncluster Oracle database.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware and can be used with the -g option to create a policy-managed, noncluster database.

-m db_domain

The domain for the database

Note: You must use this option if you set the DB_DOMAIN initialization parameter set for the database.

-p spfile

The path name of the database server parameter file.

-c {RACONENODE | RAC | SINGLE}

(version 11.2.0.2 or higher) The type of database you are adding: Oracle RAC One Node, Oracle RAC, or single instance. The default is RAC unless you specify the -x node_name option, and the -c option defaults to SINGLE.

-e server_list

(version 11.2.0.2 or higher) List candidate servers for Oracle RAC One Node databases.

Notes: You can use this option only with administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases. If your Oracle RAC One Node database is policy managed, you cannot use this option.

-i instance_name

(version 11.2.0.2 or higher) Instance name prefix for Oracle RAC One Node databases. The default value for this option is the first 12 characters of the global unique name of the database.

Notes: You can use this option only with administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases. If your Oracle RAC One Node database is policy managed, you cannot use this option.

-w timeout

(version 11.2.0.2 or higher) Online database relocation timeout, in minutes, for Oracle RAC One Node databases. The default is 30.

-r {PRIMARY | PHYSICAL_STANDBY |
 LOGICAL_STANDBY |
 SNAPSHOT_STANDBY}

The role of the database in an Oracle Data Guard configuration. The default is PRIMARY.

See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration for more information about database roles

-s start_options

Startup options for the database, such as OPEN, MOUNT, and NOMOUNT. The default value is OPEN.

Note: For multi-word startup options, such as read only and read write, separate the words with a space and enclose in single quotation marks (''). For example, 'read only'.

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about startup options

-t stop_options

Stop options for the database, such as NORMAL, TRANSACTIONAL, IMMEDIATE, and ABORT

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about shutdown options

-n db_name

The name of the database, if it is different from the unique name given by the -d option

-j "acfs_path_list"

A single Oracle ACFS path or a comma-delimited list of Oracle ACFS paths enclosed in double quotation marks ("") where the database's dependency is set.

Use this option to create dependencies on Oracle ACFS file systems other than ORACLE_HOME, such as for when the database uses ORACLE_BASE on a file system that is different from the ORACLE_HOME file system.

-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL |
 NORESTART}

Management policy for the database.

AUTOMATIC (default): The database is automatically restored to its previous running condition (started or stopped) upon restart of the database host computer.

MANUAL: The database is never automatically restarted upon restart of the database host computer. A MANUAL setting does not prevent Oracle Clusterware from monitoring the database while it is running and restarting it if a failure occurs.

NORESTART: Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.3), you can use the NORESTART value. Similar to the MANUAL setting, the database is never automatically restarted upon restart of the database host computer. A NORESTART setting, however, never restarts the database even if a failure occurs.

-g "server_pool_list"

Comma-delimited list of server pool names used to control database placement. If you do not specify this option, then it defaults to the Generic server pool.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware and cannot be used with the -x option.

-a "disk_group_list"

Comma-delimited list of Oracle ASM disk groups if database uses Oracle ASM storage

Examples

An example of this command to add a policy-managed database is:

srvctl add database -d crm -o /u01/oracle/product/112/mydb -m foo.com
     -p +diskgroup1/crm/spfilecrm.ora -r PHYSICAL_STANDBY -s MOUNT -t NORMAL
     -n database2 -y MANUAL -g svrpool1,svrpool2 -a "diskgroup1,diskgroup2"

An example of this command to add an administrator-managed database is:

srvctl add database -d crm -o /u01/oracle/product/112/mydb -m foo.com

srvctl add filesystem

Adds a disk device to Oracle ACFS. This command needs to be run only one time from the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home.

An Oracle ACFS file system resource is typically created for use with application resource dependency lists. For example, if an Oracle ACFS file system is configured for use as an Oracle Database home, then a resource created for the file system can be included in the resource dependency list of the Oracle Database application. This will cause the file system and stack to be automatically mounted as a result of the start action of the database application.

Note:

To manage Oracle ACFS on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ACFS.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl add filesystem -d volume_device -v volume_name -g diskgroup_name
                      [-m mountpoint_path] [-u user_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-8 srvctl add filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device

The volume device path.

-v volume_name

The name of the volume.

-g diskgroup_name

The name of the Oracle ACFS disk group to which the device should be added.

-m mountpoint_path

The mount point path name for the disk device. This must be an absolute path.

-u user_name

The name of the user authorized to mount and unmount the filesystem.

Example

An example of this command is the following:

srvctl add filesystem -d /dev/asm/d1volume1-295 -v VOLUME1 -d RAC_DATA \
  -m /oracle/cluster1/acfs1

srvctl add gns

Use this command to add the Grid Naming Service (GNS) to a cluster when you are using a DHCP public network.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl add gns -i ip_address -d domain

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-9 srvctl add gns Options

Option
Description

-i ip_address

The Virtual IP (VIP) address on which GNS is to listen for DNS requests

-d domain

The network subdomain that is used for Forward DNS Lookup of cluster IP addresses

Example

An example of this command is:

srvctl add gns -i 192.168.16.17 -d cluster.mycompany.com

srvctl add instance

Adds a configuration for an instance to your cluster database configuration.

You can only use this command for administrator-managed databases. If you have a policy-managed database, then use the srvctl modify srvpool command to add an instance to increase either the maximum size, minimum size, or both, of the server pool used by the database.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl add instance -d db_unique_name -i instance_name -n node_name

Notes:

This command increments the CARDINALITY resource attribute.

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

If you attempt to use this command on an Oracle RAC One Node database, then the command returns an error stating you must convert the database to Oracle RAC.

Table A-10 srvctl add instance Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

The unique name of the database you are adding the instance to

-i instance_name

The name of the instance you are adding

-n node_name

The name of the node on which you are creating the instance

Examples

Examples of this command are:

$ srvctl add instance -d crm -i  crm01 -n gm01
$ srvctl add instance -d crm -i  crm02 -n gm02
$ srvctl add instance -d crm -i  crm03 -n gm03

srvctl add listener

Adds a listener to every node in a cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl add listener [-l listener_name] [-o Oracle_home]
    [-p "[TCP:]port_list[/IPC:key][/NMP:pipe_name][/TCPS:s_port][/SDP:port]"]
    [-k network_number] [-s]

Table A-11 srvctl add listener Options

Option
Description

-l listener_name

Specify a listener name.

If this option is not specified, the default name of LISTENER is used.

-o oracle_home

Specify an Oracle home for the cluster database.

If you do not include this option, then it uses the Grid home by default.

-p "[TCP:]port_list [/IPC:key]
[/NMP:pipe_name]
[/TCPS:s_port]
[/SDP:port]

Protocol specifications for the listener. port_list is a comma-delimited list of TCP ports or listener endpoints.

-k network_number

The optional network number from which VIPs are obtained. If not specified, the VIPs are obtained from the same default network from which the nodeapps VIP is obtained.

-s

Indicates you want to skip the checking of ports

Example

The following command adds a listener named listener112 that is listening on port 1341 and runs from the /ora/ora112 home directory on every node in the cluster:

$ srvctl add listener -l listener112 -p 1341 -o /ora/ora112

srvctl add network

Adds a DHCP or static network. If your server connects to more than one network, then you can use this command to configure an additional network interface for Oracle RAC, allowing you to create VIPs on multiple public networks. You can also use the LISTENER_NETWORKS database initialization parameter to control client redirects to the appropriate network

Note:

Oracle only supports DHCP-assigned networks for the default network, not for subsequent networks.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add network command with the following syntax:

srvctl add network [-k net_number] -S subnet/netmask[/if1[|if2|...]]
  [-w network_type] [-v]

Table A-12 srvctl add network Options

Option
Description

-k net_number

Specify a network number. The default is 1.

-S subnet/netmask
[/if1[|if2|...]]

Creates a subnet, the type of which you specify with the -w option. If you do not specify any interface names, then the network uses any interface on the given subnet.

-w network_type

Specify the network type: static, dhcp, or mixed.

-v

Verbose output.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl add network -k 3 -S 1.2.3.4/255.255.255.0

srvctl add nodeapps

Adds a node application configuration to the specified node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add nodeapps command with one the following syntax models:

srvctl add nodeapps -n node_name -A {name | ip}/netmask[/if1[|if2|...]]
  [-e em_port] [-l ons_local_port] [-r ons_remote-port]
  [-t host[:port][,host[:port],...]] [-v]

srvctl add nodeapps -S subnet/netmask[/if1[|if2|...]] [-e em_port]
  [-l ons_local_port] [-r ons_remote-port]
  [-t host[:port][,host[:port],...]] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-13 srvctl add nodeapps Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of the node on which you want to create the node application. Node name is optional and unnecessary if you run the command on the local node.

-A {name | ip}
/netmask[/if1
|[if2|...]]

This specification creates a traditional VIP node application on the specified node.

Note: This option must be used for upgrade configurations and new, non-DHCP configurations.

-S subnet/netmask
[/if1 [| if2 |...]]

Creates a DHCP subnet. If you do not specify any interface names, then the VIPs use any interface on the given subnet.

-e em_port

Local port on which Oracle Enterprise Manager listens. The default port is 2016.

-l ons_local_port

The Oracle Notification Service daemon listener port on its node.

If you do not specify this value, the Oracle Notification Service daemon listener port defaults to 6100.

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-r ons_remote_port

The port number for remote Oracle Notification Service daemon connections.

If you do not specify a port number, the default value of 6200 is used for the Oracle Notification Service remote port.

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-t host[:port],
[host[:port],[...]

A list of host:port pairs of remote hosts that are part of the Oracle Notification Service network but are not part of the Oracle Clusterware cluster

Note: If port is not specified for a remote host, then ons_remote_port is used.

-v

Verbose output

Note:

On Linux and UNIX systems, you must be logged in as root and on Windows, you must be logged in as a user with Administrator privileges to run this command.

Example

An example of this command is:

# srvctl add nodeapps -n crmnode1 -A 1.2.3.4/255.255.255.0

srvctl add oc4j

Adds an OC4J instance to all the nodes in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

srvctl add oc4j [-v]

This command has only one option, -v, which displays verbose output.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

srvctl add oc4j

srvctl add ons

Adds an Oracle Notification Service daemon to an Oracle Restart configuration.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Restart.

Syntax and options

srvctl add ons [-l ons_local_port] [-r ons_remote_port]
    [-t host[:port][,host[:port]][...]] [-v]

Table A-14 srvctl add ons Options

Option
Description

-l ons_local_port

The Oracle Notification Service daemon listening port for local client connections

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-r ons_remote_port

The Oracle Notification Service daemon listening port for connections from remote hosts

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-t host[:port][,host[:port]][...]

A list of comma-delimited host:port pairs of remote hosts that are part of the Oracle Notification Service network but are not part of the Oracle Clusterware cluster

Note: If port is not specified for a remote host, then ons_remote_port is used.

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl add ons -l 6200

srvctl add scan

Adds Oracle Clusterware resources for the given SCAN. This command creates the same number of SCAN VIP resources as the number of IP addresses that SCAN resolves to, or 3 when network_number identifies a DHCP network and Oracle GNS configuration.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl add scan -n scan_name [-k network_number]
  [-S subnet/netmask[/if1[|if2|...]]]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-15 srvctl add scan Options

Option
Description

-n scan_name

A fully qualified host name, which includes the domain name.

-k network_number

The optional network number from which SCAN VIPs are obtained. If not specified, the SCAN VIPs are obtained from the same default network from which the nodeapps VIP is obtained.

-S subnet/netmask
[/if1 [|if2|...]]

Creates the network_number. This option must be specified when network_number does not exist.

Example

An example of this command is:

# srvctl add scan -n scan.mycluster.example.com

srvctl add scan_listener

Adds Oracle Clusterware resources to the SCAN listeners. The number of SCAN listener resources created is the number of SCAN VIP resources.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl add scan_listener [-l lsnr_name_prefix] [-s]
  [-p "[TCP:]port_list[/IPC:key][/NMP:pipe_name][/TCPS:s_port] [/SDP:port]"]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-16 srvctl add scan_listener Options

Option
Description

-l lsnr_name_prefix

The SCAN listener name prefix.

-s

Use the -s option to skip checking of the ports.

-p "[TCP:]port_list
[/IPC:key][/NMP:pipe_name]
[/TCPS:s_port]
[/SDP:port]"

Protocol specifications for the listener. port_list is a comma-delimited list of TCP ports or listener endpoints.

If this option is not specified, then the default TCP port of 1521 is used.

Example

An example of this command is:

# srvctl add scan_listener -l myscanlistener

srvctl add service

Adds services to a database and assigns them to instances. If you have multiple instances of a cluster database on the same node, then always use only one instance on that node for all of the services that node manages.

Note:

The srvctl add service command does not accept placement options for Oracle RAC One Node databases.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add service command to create a service, using the first of the following syntax models, or to update an existing service, using the second syntax model:

srvctl add service -d db_unique_name -s service_name {-r "preferred_list"
   [-a "available_list"] [-P {BASIC | NONE | PRECONNECT}] | -g server_pool
   [-c {UNIFORM | SINGLETON]} [-k network_number]
   [-l [PRIMARY | PHYSICAL_STANDBY | LOGICAL_STANDBY | SNAPSHOT_STANDBY]
   [-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL}] [-q {TRUE | FALSE}] [-x {TRUE | FALSE}]
   [-j {SHORT | LONG}][-B {NONE | SERVICE_TIME | THROUGHPUT}]
   [-e {NONE | SESSION | SELECT}] [-m {NONE | BASIC}] [-z failover_retries]
   [-w failover_delay]

srvctl add service -d db_unique_name -s service_name
   -u {-r preferred_list | -a available_list} [-f]

Table A-17 lists and describes all the srvctl add service options and whether they can be used when adding a service to a noncluster or Oracle RAC database.

Table A-17 srvctl add service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database.

-s service_name

The service_name.service_domain should be unique within the cluster unless you want to spread connections across multiple databases that offer the same service. If you do specify the service domain as part of the service name (such as sales.foo.com), then the DB_DOMAIN database attribute is appended to the service name.

-r preferred_list

A list of preferred instances on which the service runs when the database is administrator managed.

The list of preferred instances must be mutually exclusive with the list of available instances.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle RAC and only for administrator-managed databases.

-a available_list

A list of available instances to which the service fails over when the database is administrator managed.

The list of available instances must be mutually exclusive with the list of preferred instances.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle RAC and only for administrator-managed databases.

-P {BASIC | NONE | PRECONNECT}

TAF policy specification (for administrator-managed databases only).

Notes:

You can only use PRECONNECT when you specify the -r and -a options.

For administrator-managed databases, you cannot set the client-side TAF policy to PRECONNECT.

-g server_pool

The name of a server pool used when the database is policy managed.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle RAC and only for policy-managed databases.

-c {UNIFORM | SINGLETON}

The cardinality of the service, either UNIFORM (offered on all instances in the server pool) or SINGLETON (runs on only one instance at a time).

Notes:

This option is available only with Oracle RAC and only for policy-managed databases.

For policy-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases, all services must be SINGLETON.

-k network_number

Use this option to determine on which network this service is offered. The service is configured to depend on VIPs from the specified network.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle RAC and Oracle RAC One Node database configurations.

-l {[PRIMARY] |
[PHYSICAL_STANDBY] |
[LOGICAL_STANDBY] |
[SNAPSHOT_STANDBY]}

The service role.

You use this option to indicate that the service should only be automatically started when the Oracle Data Guard database role matches one of the specified service roles.

See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration for more information about database roles

-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL}

Service management policy.

If AUTOMATIC (the default), then the service is automatically started upon restart of the database, either by a planned restart (with SRVCTL) or after a failure. Automatic restart is also subject to the service role, however (the -l option).

If MANUAL, then the service is never automatically restarted upon planned restart of the database (with SRVCTL). A MANUAL setting does not prevent Oracle Clusterware from monitoring the service when it is running and restarting it if a failure occurs.

Note: Using CRSCTL to stop and start the Oracle Clusterware restarts the service in the same way that a failure does.

-x {TRUE | FALSE}

Indicates whether or not Distributed Transaction Processing should be enabled for this service. This service will either be a singleton service in a policy-managed database or a preferred service on a single node in an administrator-managed database.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle RAC.

-j {SHORT | LONG}

Assign a connection load balancing goal to the service: SHORT if using an integrated connection pool, LONG for long running connections that you want balanced by the number of sessions per node for the service

-B {NONE | SERVICE_TIME | THROUGHPUT}

Goal for the Load Balancing Advisory.

-e {NONE | SESSION | SELECT}

Failover type.

-m {NONE | BASIC}

Failover method.

If the failover type (-e) is set to a value other than NONE, then you should choose BASIC for this option.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle RAC.

-z failover_retries

The number of failover retry attempts.

-w failover_delay

The time delay between failover attempts.

-u

Add a new preferred or available instance to an existing service configuration.

-f

Force the add operation even though a listener is not configured for the network.

Examples

Use this example syntax to add the gl.example.com service to the my_rac database with AQ HA notifications enabled, a failover method of BASIC, a Connection Load Balancing Goal of LONG, a failover type of SELECT, and 180 failover retries with a delay of 5:

srvctl add service -d my_rac -s gl.example.com -m BASIC -e SELECT \
-z 180 -w 5 -j LONG

Use this example syntax to add a named service to a database with preferred instances in list one and available instances in list two, using preconnect failover for the available instances:

srvctl add service -d crm -s sales -r crm01,crm02 -a crm03 -P PRECONNECT

srvctl add srvpool

Caution:

By default, any named user may create a server pool. To restrict the operating system users that have this privilege, Oracle strongly recommends that you add specific users to the CRS Administrators list.

See Also:

Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about adding users to the CRS Administrators list

Adds a server pool that is configured to host Oracle databases to a cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add srvpool command with the following syntax:

srvctl add srvpool -g server_pool [-i importance] [-l min_size] [-u max_size]
     [-n node_list] [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-18 srvctl add srvpool Options

Option
Description

-g server_pool

The name of the server pool.

-i importance

The importance of the server pool (default is 0).

-l min_size

The minimum size of the server pool (default is 0).

-u max_size

The maximum size of the server pool. The default value is -1, which indicates that the size is unlimited.

-n node_names

A comma-separated list of candidate node names. The server pool will only include nodes on the candidate list, but not all nodes on the candidate list will necessarily be in the server pool.

-f

Add the server pool, even if requires stopping resources in other server pools.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl add srvpool -g SP1 -i 1 -l 3 -u 7 -n mynode1,mynode2

srvctl add vip

Adds a VIP to a node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl add vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl add vip -n node_name -A {name|ip}/netmask[/if1[if2|...]]
     [-k network_number] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-19 srvctl add vip Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of the node on which you are adding the VIP

-A {name|ip}/netmask
[/if1[|if2|...]]

This specification creates a traditional VIP node application on the specified node

-k network_number

The optional network number from which VIPs are obtained.

If not specified, the VIPs are obtained from the same default network from which the nodeapps VIP is obtained.

-v

Verbose output

Note:

You cannot have multiple VIPs on the same net number (subnet or interface pair) on the same node.

Example

An example of this command is:

# srvctl add vip -n node7 -A 192.168.16.17/255.255.255.0 -k 2

The preceding example creates a network number, 2, for the VIP just added. You can specify the network number after the -k option in other SRVCTL commands.

config

The srvctl config command displays the configuration stored in the Oracle Clusterware resource attributes.

Note:

If you disabled an object for which you are trying to obtain configuration information using the srvctl disable object -n node_name command, then bear in mind that using the srvctl disable object -n node_name command on a per-node basis in your cluster to disable an object throughout the cluster is not the same as globally disabling an object using the srvctl disable object command without the -n option. In the former case, the srvctl config object command may report that the object is still enabled.

See Also:

"disable" for more information about the srvctl disable command

Table A-20 srvctl config Summary

Command
Description

srvctl config asm

Displays the configuration for the Oracle ASM instances on the node

srvctl config cvu

Displays the time interval between CVU checks

srvctl config database

Displays the configuration information of the cluster database

srvctl config filesystem

Displays the configuration information for an ACFS volume

srvctl config gns

Displays the GNS configuration

srvctl config listener

Displays a list of configured listeners that are registered with Oracle Clusterware on a given node

srvctl config nodeapps

Displays the configuration information for the node applications

srvctl config oc4j

Displays the configuration of the OC4J instance

srvctl config ons

Displays configuration information for Oracle Notification Service

srvctl config scan

Displays the configuration information for SCAN VIPs

srvctl config scan_listener

Displays the configuration information for SCAN listeners

srvctl config service

Displays the configuration information for the services

srvctl config srvpool

Displays configuration information for a specific server pool

srvctl config vip

Displays the configuration information for the VIP

srvctl config asm

Displays the configuration for all Oracle ASM instances.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl config asm [-a]

Table A-21 srvctl config asm Options

Option
Description

-a

Print detailed configuration information

Example

An example of this command is:

srvctl config asm -a

srvctl config cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command displays the time interval, in minutes, between CVU checks.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl config cvu

This command has no options.

Examples

The srvctl config cvu command returns output similar to the following:

CVU is configured to run once every 360 minutes

srvctl config database

Displays the configuration for an Oracle RAC database or lists all configured databases that are registered with Oracle Clusterware.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config database command with the following syntax:

srvctl config database [-d db_unique_name] [-a]

Table A-22 srvctl config database Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility displays the configuration of all database resources.

-a

Print detailed configuration information

Examples

To list the configuration of all databases, use the following example:

srvctl config database -d myDB

The following is example output from the srvctl config database command:

$ srvctl config database -d myDB
Database unique name: myDB
Database name:
Oracle home: /scott_st2/oracle
Oracle user: scott
Spfile:
Domain:
Start options: open
Stop options: immediate
Database role: PRIMARY
Management policy: AUTOMATIC
Server pools: myDB
Database instances:
Disk Groups:
Services: scottsvc1
Type: RACOneNode
Online relocation timeout: 30
Instance name prefix: myDB
Candidate servers: node1 node2
Database is administrator managed

The preceding sample output shows the database type as RACOneNode, an Oracle RAC One Node database. Other potential types are RAC and SingleInstance. The Online relocation timeout, Instance name prefix, and Candidate servers fields only apply to Oracle RAC One Node databases and do not display for the other two database types. Similarly, the Database instances field is empty because the database type is RACOneNode.

srvctl config filesystem

Displays the configuration for an Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) device.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl config filesystem -d volume_device_path

Table A-23 srvctl config filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_path

The path name of a device that an Oracle ACFS volume uses.

Examples

The following example shows how to retrieve the configuration for an Oracle ACFS file system:

srvctl config filesystem -d /dev/asm/d1volume293

srvctl config gns

Displays the configuration for GNS.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl config gns [-a] [-d] [-k] [-m] [-n node_name] [-p] [-s] [-V]
[-q name] [-l] [-v]

Note:

This option is available only for Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-24 srvctl config gns Options

Option
Description

-a

Print detailed configuration information.

-d

Display the subdomain served by GNS.

-k

Display network on which GNS is listening.

-m

Display the port on which the GNS daemon is listening for multicast requests.

-n node_name

Display the configuration information for GNS on the specified node.

-p

Display the port that the GNS daemon uses to communicate with the DNS server.

-s

Display the status of GNS.

-V

Display the version of GNS.

-q name

Query GNS for the records belonging to a name.

-l

List all records in GNS.

-v

Verbose output.

srvctl config listener

Displays a list of configured listeners that are registered with Oracle Clusterware or displays detailed configuration information for a specific listener.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl config listener [-l listener_name] [-a]

Table A-25 srvctl config listener Options

Option
Description

-l listener_name

Listener name.

If you do not specify this option, then the name of the listener defaults to LISTENER.

-a

Print detailed configuration information.

Example

An example of this command is:

srvctl config listener

srvctl config nodeapps

Displays the VIP configuration for each node in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config nodeapps command with the following syntax:

srvctl config nodeapps [-a] [-g] [-s]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-26 srvctl config nodeapps Option

Option
Description

-a

Displays the VIP address configuration

-g

Displays the GSD configuration

-s

Displays the Oracle Notification Service configuration

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl config nodeapps -a -g -s

srvctl config oc4j

Displays configuration information for the OC4J instance.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

srvctl config oc4j

srvctl config ons

Displays configuration information for the Oracle Notification Service daemon.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

srvctl config ons

srvctl config scan

Displays the configuration information for all SCAN VIPs, by default, or a specific SCAN VIP identified by ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl config scan [-i ordinal_number]

The only option available for this command is -i ordinal_number, which identifies any one of the three SCAN VIPs, and can take a range of values from 1 to 3.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl config scan -i 1

srvctl config scan_listener

Displays the configuration information for all SCAN listeners, by default, or a specific listener identified by ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl config scan_listener [-i ordinal_number]

The only option available for this command is -i ordinal_number, which identifies any one of the three SCAN VIPs, and can take a range of values from 1 to 3.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl config scan_listener -i 1

srvctl config service

Displays the configuration for a service.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config service command with the following syntax:

srvctl config service -d db_unique_name [-s service_name]

Table A-27 srvctl config service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name

Service name.

If this option is not specified, then the configuration information for all services configured for the database are displayed.

Examples

An example output of this command is for a policy-managed database is:

$ srvctl config service -d mjkpdb -s mjkpsvc1
Service name: mjkpsvc1
Service is enabled
Server pool: mjksrvpool1
Cardinality: SINGLETON
Disconnect: false
Service role: PRIMARY
Management policy: AUTOMATIC
DTP transaction: false
AQ HA notifications: false
Failover type: NONE
Failover method: NONE
TAF failover retries: 0
TAF failover delay: 0
Connection Load Balancing Goal: LONG
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: NONE
TAF policy specification: NONE
Service is enabled on nodes:
Service is disabled on nodes:
Edition: "my Edition"

An example output of this command is for an administrator-managed database is:

$ srvctl config service -d mjkdb -s mjksvc1
Service name: mjksvc1
Service is enabled
Server pool: mjkdb
Cardinality: 1
Disconnect: false
Service role: PRIMARY
Management policy: AUTOMATIC
DTP transaction: false
AQ HA notifications: false
Failover type: NONE
Failover method: NONE
TAF failover retries: 0
TAF failover delay: 0
Connection Load Balancing Goal: LONG
Runtime Load Balancing Goal: NONE
TAF policy specification: NONE
Preferred instances: mjkdb_1
Available instances:
Edition: "my Edition"

Service configuration for administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases displays the one instance as preferred.

Note:

The srvctl config service command shows exactly the string value you specified for the edition using the srvctl add | modify service command. If you specified the edition in upper case, then srvctl config service displays upper case. If it is surrounded by double quotation marks (""), then the command displays the double quotation marks. Otherwise, the command displays an empty string.

srvctl config srvpool

Displays configuration information including name, minimum size, maximum size, importance, and a list of server names, if applicable, for a specific server pool in a cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config srvpool command with the following syntax:

srvctl config srvpool [-g server_pool]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl config srvpool -g dbpool

srvctl config vip

Displays all VIPs on all networks in the cluster except for user VIPs.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl config vip command with one of the following syntax models:

srvctl config vip -n node_name

srvctl config vip -i vip_name

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-28 srvctl config vip Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

-i vip_name

The VIP name

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl config vip -n crmnode1

convert

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), the srvctl convert command converts a database either to or from an Oracle RAC One Node database.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl convert database command with one of the following syntax models:

srvctl convert database -d db_unique_name -c RACONENODE [-i instance_name] [-w timeout]

srvctl convert database -d db_unique_name -c RAC [-n node_name]

Table A-29 srvctl convert database Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database.

Note: If you specify a noncluster database, then command returns an error instructing you to use rconfig to convert the noncluster database to Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node.

-c RACONENODE | RAC

The type of database to which you are converting, either Oracle RAC One Node or Oracle RAC.

Note: If there is an ongoing or failed online database relocation, then the command returns an error instructing you to first complete or abort the online database relocation and then rerun the command.

-i instance_name

Instance name prefix for Oracle RAC One Node databases. The default value for this option is the first 12 characters of the global unique name of the database.

Notes:

You can use this option only when converting from an Oracle RAC database to an Oracle RAC One Node database.

In order for the converted instance to come online, you must restart the database using the srvctl stop/start database commands.

-w timeout

Online database relocation timeout, in minutes, for Oracle RAC One Node databases. The default is 30.

-n node_name

Name of the node for administrator-managed Oracle RAC database. The default is the first candidate.

Note: If you do not specify a node name or you specify a node name where the database is not running, then the command returns an error instructing you specify the correct node.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl convert database -d myDB -c RACONENODE -i instance_name

disable

Disables a specified object (cluster database, database instance, Oracle ASM instance, or service). Use the srvctl disable command when you must shut down an object for maintenance. The disabled object does not automatically restart.

When you issue the disable command, the object is disabled and unavailable to run under Oracle Clusterware for automatic startup, failover, or restart. Additionally, you cannot run the srvctl start command on a disabled object until you first re-enable the object. If you specify -i instance_name or -n node_name, then SRVCTL only disables the object on the specified instance or node.

If you do not specify -i instance_name or -n node_name, then the disable action applies to the object that you specified, globally, on all nodes in the cluster. Any object you disable globally is also disabled on any nodes you add to the cluster in the future.

Disabling an object globally is not the same as disabling an object locally on each node in the cluster. For example, if you disable a database on several nodes, individually, in a cluster, then, when you run the srvctl start database command, the database starts only on nodes where the database is enabled. If, however, you disable the database globally, then the srvctl start database is rejected because the database is disabled, clusterwide.

Table A-30 srvctl disable Summary

Command
Description

srvctl disable asm

Disables an Oracle ASM proxy resource

srvctl disable cvu

Disables the Cluster Verification Utility

srvctl disable database

Disables the cluster database

srvctl disable diskgroup

Disables a disk group on a number of specified nodes

srvctl disable filesystem

Disables an Oracle ACFS volume

srvctl disable gns

Disables GNS

srvctl disable instance

Disables an instance

srvctl disable listener

Disables a listener

srvctl disable nodeapps

Disables a node application and GSD

srvctl disable oc4j

Disables OC4J instances

srvctl disable ons

Disables the Oracle Notification Service daemon

srvctl disable scan

Disables SCAN VIPs

srvctl disable scan_listener

Disables SCAN listeners

srvctl disable service

Disables a service

srvctl disable vip

Disables a VIP

srvctl disable asm

Disables the Oracle ASM proxy resource. Oracle ASM will restart if it contains Oracle Clusterware data or if the node restarts and it was running before the node failed. The srvctl disable asm command also prevents the srvctl start asm command from starting Oracle ASM instances.

Disabling the Oracle ASM proxy resource prevents the databases and disk groups from starting because they depend on the Oracle ASM proxy resource.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Oracle ASM is part of the Oracle Clusterware stack and when OCR and voting disks are stored on Oracle ASM, then Oracle ASM starts when OHASD starts the Oracle Clusterware stack. The srvctl disable asm command does not prevent the Oracle ASM instance managed by OHASD from starting. Oracle ASM, therefore, starts as needed by the Oracle Clusterware stack.

The srvctl disable asm command prevents the Oracle ASM Oracle Clusterware proxy resource, and any resources that depend on it, from starting. So, the command prevents Oracle Clusterware-managed objects, such as databases, disk groups, and file systems that depend on Oracle ASM, from starting. For example, the srvctl start database | diskgroup | filesystem command fails to start any of those objects on nodes where the Oracle ASM Oracle Clusterware proxy resource is disabled. The command also prevents the srvctl start asm command from starting Oracle ASM on remote nodes.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable asm [-n node_name]

Table A-31 srvctl disable asm Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable asm -n crmnode1

srvctl disable cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command disables the Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) for Oracle Clusterware management, if enabled.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable cvu [-n node_name]

You can specify a particular node on which to disable CVU.

Table A-32 srvctl disable cvu Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Examples

An example of this command to disable CVU on a single node of a cluster is:

$ srvctl disable cvu -n crmnode1

srvctl disable database

Disables a database. If the database is a cluster database, then its instances are also disabled.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable database command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable database -d db_unique_name [-n node_name]

Table A-33 srvctl disable database Options

Option
Description

-d database_name

Database name

-n node_name

Disables the database from running on the named node

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable database -d mydb1

srvctl disable diskgroup

Disables a specific disk group on a number of specified nodes.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable diskgroup command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable diskgroup -g diskgroup_name [-n node_list]

Table A-34 srvctl disable diskgroup Options

Option
Description

-g diskgroup_name

The Oracle ASM disk group name

-n node_list

Comma-delimited list of node names on which to disable the disk group

This option is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable diskgroup -g diskgroup1 -n mynode1, mynode2

srvctl disable filesystem

Disables an Oracle ACFS volume.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable filesystem -d volume_device_name

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-35 srvctl disable filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_name

Name of the Oracle ACFS volume

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable filesystem -d /dev/asm/d1volume293

srvctl disable gns

Disables GNS for a specific node, or all available nodes in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable gns [-n node_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-36 srvctl disable gns Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Name of a node in the cluster

If you do not specify this option, then SRVCTL disables GNS for the entire cluster.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable gns -n crm7

srvctl disable instance

Disables an instance. If the instance that you disable with this command is the last enabled instance, then this operation also disables the database.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable instance -d db_unique_name -i instance_name_list

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

If you run this command on an Oracle RAC One Node database, then the command returns an error instructing you to use the database noun, instead.

Table A-37 srvctl disable instance Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-i instance_name_list

Comma-delimited list of instance names

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable instance -d crm -i "crm1,crm3"

srvctl disable listener

Disables a listener resource.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable listener [-l listener_name] [-n node_name]

Table A-38 srvctl disable listener Options

Option
Description

-l listener_name

Name of a listener resource. If you do not specify this option, the name of the listener defaults to LISTENER.

-n node_name

Name of a cluster node on which the listener you want to disable is running.

This option is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable listener -l listener_crm -n node5

srvctl disable nodeapps

Disables node applications on all nodes in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable nodeapps command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable nodeapps [-g] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-39 srvctl disable nodeapps Options

Option
Description

-g

Disables GSD

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable nodeapps -g -v

srvctl disable oc4j

Disables the OC4J instance on all nodes or on a specific node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable oc4j [-n node_name] [-v]

Table A-40 srvctl disable oc4j Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of a node in the cluster

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable oc4j -n crm3

srvctl disable ons

Disables the Oracle Notification Service daemon for Oracle Restart installations.

srvctl disable ons [-v]

The only option for this command is -v, which indicates that verbose output should be displayed.

srvctl disable scan

Disables all SCAN VIPs, by default, or a specific SCAN VIP identified by ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable scan [-i ordinal_number]

The only option available for this command is -i ordinal_number, which represents which identifies any one of the three SCAN VIPs, and can take a range of values from 1 to 3.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable scan -i 1

srvctl disable scan_listener

Disables all SCAN listeners, by default, or a specific listener identified by ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable scan_listener [-i ordinal_number]

The only option available for this command is -i ordinal_number, which identifies any one of the three SCAN listeners, and can take a range of values from 1 to 3.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable scan_listener -i 1

srvctl disable service

Disables a service. Disabling an entire service affects all of the instances, disabling each one. When the entire service is already disabled, a srvctl disable service operation on the entire service affects all of the instances and disables them; it just returns an error. This means that you cannot always use the entire set of service operations to manipulate the service indicators for each instance.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable service command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable service -d db_unique_name
      -s "service_name_list" [-i instance_name | -n node_name]

If you do not specify either the -i instance_name or -n node_name options, then the command disables the service on all nodes.

Table A-41 srvctl disable service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s "service_name_list"

Comma-delimited list of service names, or a single service name

-i instance_name

The name of the instance that you want to disable the service for.

Note: Use this option with administrator-managed databases

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

-n node_name

The name of the node on which to disable the service

Note: Use this option with policy-managed databases

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

Examples

The following example globally disables two services for the CRM database:

$ srvctl disable service -d crm -s "crm,marketing"

The following example disables a service for the CRM database that is running on the CRM1 instance, resulting in the service still being available for the database, but on one less instance:

$ srvctl disable service -d crm -s crm -i crm1

srvctl disable vip

Disables a specific VIP.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl disable vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl disable vip -i vip_name [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-42 srvctl disable vip Options

Option
Description

-i vip_name

The VIP name

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl disable vip -i vip1 -v

downgrade

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), you can use the downgrade command to downgrade the database configuration after you manually downgrade the database.

srvctl downgrade database

The srvctl downgrade database command downgrades the configuration of a database and its services from its current version to the specified lower version.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl downgrade database command as follows:

srvctl downgrade database -d db_unique_name -o Oracle_home -t to_version

Table A-43 srvctl downgrade database Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-o Oracle_home

The path to the ORACLE_HOME

-t to_version

The version to which to downgrade

enable

The srvctl enable command enables the specified object so that it can run under Oracle Clusterware for automatic startup, failover, or restart. The Oracle Clusterware application supporting the object may be up or down to use this function. The default value is enable. If the object is already enabled, then the command is ignored. Enabled objects can be started, and disabled objects cannot be started.

Table A-44 srvctl enable Summary

Command
Description

srvctl enable asm

Enables an Oracle ASM instance

srvctl enable cvu

Enables the Cluster Verification Utility

srvctl enable database

Enables the database resource

srvctl enable diskgroup

Enables a specified disk group on a number of specified nodes

srvctl enable filesystem

Enables an Oracle ACFS volume

srvctl enable gns

Enables GNS

srvctl enable instance

Enables the instance

srvctl enable listener

Enables a listener

srvctl enable nodeapps

Enables node applications and GSD

srvctl enable oc4j

Enables OC4J instances

srvctl enable ons

Enables the Oracle Notification Service daemon

srvctl enable scan

Enables SCAN VIPs

srvctl enable scan_listener

Enables SCAN listeners

srvctl enable service

Enables a service

srvctl enable vip

Enables a VIP

srvctl enable asm

Enables an Oracle ASM instance.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable asm [-n node_name]

Table A-45 srvctl enable asm Option

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable asm -n crmnode1

srvctl enable cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command enables the Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) for Oracle Clusterware management if disabled.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable cvu [-n node_name]

You can specify a particular node on which to enable CVU.

Table A-46 srvctl enable cvu Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Examples

An example of this command to enable CVU on a single node of a cluster is:

$ srvctl enable cvu -n crmnode1

srvctl enable database

Enables a cluster database and its instances.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable database command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable database -d db_unique_name [-n node_name]

Table A-47 srvctl enable database Options

Option
Description

-d database_name

Database name

-n node_name

The name of the node for which the database resource should be enabled

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable database -d mydb1

srvctl enable diskgroup

Enables a specific disk group on a number of specified nodes.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable diskgroup command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable diskgroup -g diskgroup_name [-n node_list]

Table A-48 srvctl enable diskgroup Options

Option
Description

-g diskgroup_name

The Oracle ASM disk group name

-n node_list

Comma-delimited list of node names on which to enable the disk group

This option is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable diskgroup -g diskgroup1 -n mynode1,mynode2

srvctl enable filesystem

Enables an Oracle ACFS volume.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable filesystem -d volume_device_name

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-49 srvctl enable filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_name

Device name of the Oracle ACFS volume

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable filesystem  -d /dev/asm/d1volume293

srvctl enable gns

Enables GNS on all nodes or a specific node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable gns [-n node_name]

Note:

This command is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-50 srvctl enable gns Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Name of the node on which to enable GNS.

If this option is not specified, then GNS is enabled on all nodes in the cluster.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable gns

srvctl enable instance

Enables an instance for an Oracle RAC database. If you use this command to enable all instances, then the database is also enabled.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable instance -d db_unique_name -i instance_name_list

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

If you run this command on an Oracle RAC One Node database, then the command returns an error instructing you to use the database noun, instead.

Table A-51 srvctl enable instance Option

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-i instance_name_list

Comma-delimited list of instance names.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable instance  -d crm -i "crm1,crm2"

srvctl enable listener

Enables a listener resource.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable listener [-l listener_name] [-n node_name]

Table A-52 srvctl enable listener Options

Option
Description

-l listener_name

Name of a listener resource. If you do not specify this option, the name of the listener defaults to LISTENER

-n node_name

Name of a cluster node

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable listener -l listener_crm -n node5

srvctl enable nodeapps

Enables the node applications on all nodes in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable nodeapps command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable nodeapps [-g] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-53 srvctl enable nodeapps Options

Option
Description

-g

Enables GSD

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable nodeapps -g -v

srvctl enable oc4j

Enables the OC4J instance on all nodes or on a specific node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable oc4j [-n node_name] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-54 srvctl enable oc4j Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of a node in the cluster

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable oc4j -n crm3

srvctl enable ons

Enables the Oracle Notification Service daemon.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Restart.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable ons command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable ons [-v]

The only option for this command is -v, which indicates that verbose output should be displayed.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable ons

srvctl enable scan

Enables all SCAN VIPs, by default, or a specific SCAN VIP identified by its ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable scan [-i ordinal_number]

The only option available for this command is -i ordinal_number, which identifies any one of the three SCAN VIPs, and takes a range of values from 1 to 3.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable scan -i 1

srvctl enable scan_listener

Enables all SCAN listeners, by default, or a specific listener identified by its ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable scan_listener [-i ordinal_number]

The only option available for this command is -i ordinal_number, which identifies any one of the three SCAN listeners, and takes a range of values from 1 to 3.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable scan_listener -i 1

srvctl enable service

Enables a service for Oracle Clusterware. Enabling an entire service also affects the enabling of the service over all of the instances by enabling the service at each one. When the entire service is already enabled, an srvctl enable service operation does not affect all of the instances and enable them. Instead, this operation returns an error. Therefore, you cannot always use the entire set of service operations to manipulate the service indicators for each instance.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable service command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable service -d db_unique_name -s "service_name_list"
     [-i instance_name | -n node_name]

Table A-55 srvctl enable service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name_list

Comma-delimited list of service names

-i instance_name

Name of the database instance where you want the service to run

Use this option for administrator-managed databases

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

-n node_name

Name of the node where you want the service to run

Use this option for policy-managed databases

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

Examples

The following example globally enables a service:

$ srvctl enable service -d crm -s crm

The following example enables a service to use a preferred instance:

$srvctl enable service -d crm -s crm -i crm1

srvctl enable vip

Enables a specific VIP.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl enable vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl enable vip -i vip_name [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-56 srvctl enable vip Options

Option
Description

-i vip_name

The VIP name

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl enable vip -i crm1-vip -v

getenv

Gets and displays values for the environment variables from the configuration file. Use SRVCTL with the setenv, getenv, and unsetenv verbs to administer the environment configurations for databases, instances, services, and node applications.

Table A-57 srvctl getenv Summary

Command
Description

srvctl getenv asm

Gets the Oracle ASM environment values

srvctl getenv database

Gets the database environment values

srvctl getenv listener

Gets the listener environment values

srvctl getenv nodeapps

Gets the node application environment values

srvctl getenv vip

Gets the service environment values

srvctl getenv asm

Displays the values for environment variables associated with Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl getenv asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl getenv asm [-t "name_list"]

Table A-58 srvctl getenv asm Options

Options
Description

-t "name_list"

Comma-delimited list of the names of environment variables.

If this option is not specified, then the values of all environment variables associated with Oracle ASM are displayed.

Example

The following example displays the current values for all the environment variables used by Oracle ASM:

$ srvctl getenv asm

srvctl getenv database

Displays the values for environment variables associated with a database.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl getenv database command with the following syntax:

srvctl getenv database -d db_unique_name [-t "name_list"]

Table A-59 srvctl getenv database Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-t "name_list"

Comma-delimited list of the names of environment variables

If this option is not specified, then the values of all environment variables associated with the database are displayed.

Example

The following example gets the environment configuration for the CRM database:

$ srvctl getenv database -d crm

srvctl getenv listener

Gets the environment variables for the specified listener.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl getenv listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl getenv listener [-l listener_name] [-t "name_list"]

Table A-60 srvctl getenv listener Options

Options
Description

-l listener_name

Listener name

If this option is not specified, the name of the listener defaults to LISTENER

-t "name_list"

Comma-delimited list of the names of environment variables

If this option is not specified, then the values of all environment variables associated with the listener are displayed.

Example

The following example lists all environment variables for the default listener:

$ srvctl getenv listener

srvctl getenv nodeapps

Gets the environment variables for the node application configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl getenv nodeapps command with the following syntax:

srvctl getenv nodeapps [-a] [-g] [-s] [-t "name_list"] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-61 srvctl getenv nodeapps Options

Options
Description

-a

Displays the VIP address configuration

-g

Displays the GSD configuration

-s

Displays the Oracle Notification Service configuration

-t "name_list"

Comma-delimited list of the names of environment variables

If this option is not specified, then the values of all environment variables associated with the nodeapps are displayed.

-v

Verbose output

Example

The following example lists all environment variables for the node applications:

$ srvctl getenv nodeapps -a

srvctl getenv vip

Gets the environment variables for the specified VIP.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl getenv vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl getenv vip -i vip_name [-t "name_list"] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-62 srvctl getenv vip Options

Options
Description

-i vip_name

The name of the VIP

-t "name_list"

Comma-delimited list of the names of environment variables

If this option is not specified, then the values of all environment variables associated with the VIP are displayed.

-v

Verbose output

Example

The following example lists all environment variables for the specified VIP:

$ srvctl getenv vip -i node1-vip

modify

Enables you to modify the instance configuration without removing and adding Oracle Clusterware resources. Using modify preserves the environment in the OCR configuration that would otherwise need to be re-entered. The configuration description is modified in the OCR configuration, and a new Oracle Clusterware profile is generated and registered. The change takes effect when the application is next restarted.

Table A-63 srvctl modify Summary

Command
Description

srvctl modify asm

Modifies the configuration for Oracle ASM

srvctl modify cvu

Modifies the check interval of the Cluster Verification Utility

srvctl modify database

Modifies the configuration for a database

srvctl modify filesystem

Modifies the user authorized to mount and unmount the Oracle ACFS volume

srvctl modify gns

Modifies the GNS configuration

srvctl modify instance

Modifies the configuration for an instance

srvctl modify listener

Modifies the listener configuration on a node

srvctl modify network

Modifies the configuration for a node application

srvctl modify nodeapps

Modifies the configuration for a node application

srvctl modify oc4j

Modifies the RMI port for an OC4J instance

srvctl modify ons

Modifies the network configuration for the Oracle Notification Service daemon

srvctl modify scan

Modifies the SCAN VIP configuration to match that of a specific SCAN VIP

srvctl modify scan_listener

Updates the SCAN listener configuration to match that of the current SCAN VIP configuration

srvctl modify service

Modifies the configuration for a service

srvctl modify srvpool

Modifies a specific server pool

srvctl modify asm

Modify the listener used by Oracle ASM, the disk group discovery string used by Oracle ASM, or the SPFILE used by Oracle ASM for a noncluster database or a cluster database.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify asm [-n node_name] [-l listener_name]
     [-d asm_diskstring] [-p spfile_path_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-64 srvctl modify asm Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

-l listener_name

The listener name with which Oracle ASM registers

-d asm_diskstring

The new Oracle ASM disk group discovery string

-p spfile_path_name

The path name of the new spfile to be used by Oracle ASM

Example

An example of this command to modify the configuration of Oracle ASM is:

$ srvctl modify asm -l lsnr1

srvctl modify cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command modifies the check interval for CVU in an Oracle Clusterware configuration.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify cvu [-t check_interval_in_minutes]

Table A-65 srvctl modify cvu Options

Option
Description

-t check_interval_in_minutes

By default, CVU runs once every 360 minutes (six hours) and verifies the health of cluster. The shortest interval you can specify for CVU check is 10 minutes.

Examples

An example of this command to modify CVU to a check interval of 4 hours is:

$ srvctl modify cvu -t 240

srvctl modify database

Modifies the configuration for a database.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify database command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify database -d db_unique_name [-n db_name]
     [-o oracle_home] [-u user_name] [-m db_domain] [-p spfile]
     [-r {PRIMARY | PHYSICAL_STANDBY | LOGICAL_STANDBY | SNAPSHOT_STANDBY}]
     [-s start_options] [-t stop_options] [-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL | NORESTART}]
     [-g "server_pool_list"] [{-a "diskgroup_list" | -z}]
     [-e server_list] [-w timeout] [-j "acfs_path_list"]

Table A-66 srvctl modify database Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-n db_name

Name of the database (as specified by the DB_NAME initialization parameter), if it is different from the database unique name specified with the -d option

-o oracle_home

Path for the Oracle home for the database

-u user_name

The name of the user that owns the Oracle home directory

Note: If you specify the -u option, you must run this command in privileged mode.

-m db_domain

Domain for the database

Note: If the database has the initialization parameter DB_DOMAIN set, then you must specify this option.

-p spfile

Path name of the server parameter file for the database

-r role [PRIMARY |
 PHYSICAL_STANDBY |
 LOGICAL_STANDBY |
 SNAPSHOT_STANDBY]

Role of the database in an Oracle Data Guard configuration (PRIMARY, PHYSICAL_STANDBY, LOGICAL_STANDBY, or SNAPSHOT_STANDBY)

-s start_options

Startup options for the database, such as OPEN, MOUNT, or NOMOUNT

Note: For multi-word startup options, such as read only and read write, separate the words with a space and enclose in single quotation marks (''). For example, 'read only'.

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about startup options

-t stop_options

Stop options for the database, such as NORMAL, TRANSACTIONAL, IMMEDIATE, or ABORT

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about shutdown options

-y [AUTOMATIC |
 MANUAL | NORESTART]

Management policy for the database resource. Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.3), you can use the NORESTART value.

-g "server_pool_list"

A comma-delimited list of the names of server pools to use for a policy-managed database

Notes:

If the database you are modifying is administrator managed, then this option changes it to be policy managed, in addition to changing all the database's services to run as uniform services in the specified server pool. You can specify only one server pool for converting an administrator-managed database to policy managed.

This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

-a "diskgroup_list"

Comma-delimited list of Oracle ASM disk groups

-z

To remove the database's dependency on Oracle ASM disk groups

-e server_list

List candidate servers for Oracle RAC One Node databases.

Notes: You can use this option only with administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases. If your Oracle RAC One Node database is policy managed, you cannot use this option.

-w timeout

Online database relocation timeout, in minutes, for Oracle RAC One Node databases. The default is 30.

-j "acfs_path_list"

A single Oracle ACFS path or a comma-delimited list of Oracle ACFS paths enclosed in double quotation marks ("") where the database's dependency is set.

Use this option to create dependencies on Oracle ACFS file systems other than ORACLE_HOME, such as for when the database uses ORACLE_BASE on a file system that is different from the ORACLE_HOME file system.

Usage Notes

The srvctl modify database command can convert administrator-managed databases to policy-managed databases. For a running administrator-managed database, if the server list is supplied, then the node where the database is running must be on that list. The instance name prefix cannot be modified after running the srvctl add database command.

You cannot change the management policy from AUTOMATIC (using the -y option) for Oracle RAC One Node databases. Any attempt to do so results in an error message. The same is true for the -x option, which is used to change the node on which a noncluster database runs.

For policy-managed Oracle RAC One Node databases, you can use the -g option to move an Oracle RAC One Node database between server pools but you can only specify one server pool. Specifying a list of server pools returns an error.

Examples

The following example changes the role of a database to a logical standby:

$ srvctl modify database -d crm -r logical_standby

The following example directs the racTest database to use the SYSFILES, LOGS, and OLTP Oracle ASM disk groups.

$ srvctl modify database -d racTest -a "SYSFILES,LOGS,OLTP"

srvctl modify filesystem

Modifies the name of the user that is authorized to mount and unmount the Oracle ACFS volume.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify filesystem -d volume_device_name -u user_name

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-67 srvctl modify filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_name

Device name of the Oracle ACFS volume

-u user_name

Name of the user that is authorized to mount and unmount the Oracle ACFS volume

Examples

The following example changes the authorized user to sysad for the RACVOL1 volume:

$ srvctl modify filesystem -d /dev/asm/racvol1 -u sysad

srvctl modify gns

Modifies the IP address or domain used by GNS

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify gns [-i ip_address] [-d domain]

Table A-68 srvctl modify gns Options

Option
Description

-i ip_address

The IP address for GNS

-d domain

The network domain for GNS

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl modify gns -i 192.000.000.003

srvctl modify instance

For an administrator-managed database, this command modifies the configuration for a database instance from its current node to another node. For a policy-managed database, this command defines an instance name to use when the database runs on the specified node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify instance -d db_unique_name -i instance_name
     {-n node_name | -z}

Notes:

You cannot use this command to rename or relocate a running instance.

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

Table A-69 srvctl modify instance Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-i instance_name

Database instance name

-n node_name

Name of the node on which to run the instance

-z

To remove existing node instance mapping for a policy-managed database

Examples

The following example to changes the configuration of an administrator-managed database, amdb, so that the database instance, amdb1, runs on the specified node, mynode:

$ srvctl modify instance -d amdb -i amdb1 -n mynode

The following example causes the policy-managed database pmdb, when and if it runs on mynode, to use the instance name pmdb1:

$ srvctl modify instance -d pmdb -i pmdb1 -n mynode

The following example removes the directive established by the previous example:

$ srvctl modify instance -d pmdb -i pmdb1 -z

srvctl modify listener

Modifies the listener name, ORACLE_HOME path or the listener endpoints, either for the default listener, or a specific listener, or for all the listeners represented in a given list of listener names, that are registered with Oracle Restart or with Oracle Clusterware on the specified node.

If you want to change the name of a listener, then use the srvctl remove listener and srvctl add listener commands.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify listener [-l listener_name] [-o oracle_home] [-u user_name]
     [-p "[TCP:]port_list[/IPC:key][/NMP:pipe_name][/TCPS:s_port][/SDP:port]"]
     [-k network_number]

Table A-70 srvctl modify listener Options

Option
Description

-l listener_name

The name of the listener.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility uses the name LISTENER.

-o oracle_home

When this option is specified, SRVCTL moves the listener to run from the specified Oracle home.

Note: When using this option, the command should be run as privileged user to enable SRVCTL to update resource ownership corresponding to the new ORACLE_HOME owner

-u user_name

The name of the operating system user who will own the specified Oracle home

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-p "[TCP:]port_list [/IPC:key][/NMP:pipe_name]
[/TCPS:s_port][/SDP:port]"

Protocol specifications for the listener. port_list is comma-delimited list of port numbers.

-k network_number

This option changes the public subnet on which the listener listens.

Note: You should have at least one listener on the default network at all times. Do not use this option to change the network of the only listener that listens on the default network.

Example

The following example changes the TCP ports for the default listener on the node mynode1:

$ srvctl modify listener -n mynode1 -p "TCP:1521,1522"

srvctl modify network

Modifies the subnet for a specified network.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify network command with one of the following syntax models:

srvctl modify network [-k network_number [-S subnet/netmask[/if1[|if2|...]]]
     [-w network_type] [-v]

Table A-71 srvctl modify network Options

Option
Description

-k network_number

Specify a network number. The default is 1.

-S subnet/netmask
[/if1[|if2|...]]

Specifies a subnet number for the public network. The netmask and interfaces specified, if any, change those of the network you are modifying. If you do not specify any interface names, then the VIPs use any interface on the given subnet.

-w network_type

Specify the network type: static, dhcp, or mixed.

-v

Verbose output.

Examples

The following example changes the subnet number, netmask, and interface list:

$ srvctl modify network -S 192.168.2.0/255.255.255.0/eth0

The following example changes the second network to DHCP:

$ srvctl modify network -k 2 -w dhcp

srvctl modify nodeapps

Modifies the configuration for a node application.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify nodeapps command with one of the following syntax models:

srvctl modify nodeapps [-n node_name -A new_vip_address]
[-S subnet/netmask[/if1[|if2|...]] [-u network_type]
     [-e em_port] [-l ons_local_port] [-r ons_remote_port]
     [-t host[:port][,host:port,...]] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-72 srvctl modify nodeapps Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name.

-A new_vip_address/
netmask

Node level Virtual IP address. The address specified by name or IP must match the subnet number of the default network.

Note: This option must be used for upgrade configurations and new non-DHCP configurations

-S subnet/netmask
[/if1[|if2|...]]

Specifies a subnet number for the public network. The netmask and interfaces specified, if any, change those of the default network. Additionally, if you specify the netmask option, then you need only specify it for the first node on each network.

-u network_type

Specifies the network server type, such as static, dhcp, or mixed.

-e em_port

Local port on which Oracle Enterprise Manager listens. The default port is 2016.

-l ons_local_port

Port on which the Oracle Notification Service daemon listens for local client connections.

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-r ons_remote_port

Port on which the Oracle Notification Service daemon listens for connections from remote hosts.

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-t host:port, [host:port,...]

List of host:port pairs of remote hosts that are part of the Oracle Notification Service network but are not part of the cluster. If you do not specify a port for a remote host, then the utility uses the value you specified for ons_remote_port.

-v

Verbose output.

Example

The following example changes the nodeapps resource on mynode1 to use the application VIP of 100.200.300.40 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 on the network interface eth0:

$ srvctl modify nodeapps -n mynode1 -A 100.200.300.40/255.255.255.0/eth0

srvctl modify oc4j

Modifies the RMI port for the OC4J instances.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify oc4j -p oc4j_rmi_port [-v]

Table A-73 srvctl modify oc4j Options

Option
Description

-p oc4j_rmi_port

The RMI port number used by the OC4J instance

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl modify oc4j -p 5385

srvctl modify ons

Modifies the ports used by the Oracle Notification Service daemon that is registered with Oracle Restart.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify ons command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify ons [-l ons_local_port] [-r ons_remote_port]
     [-t host[:port][,host[:port]][...]] [-v]

Table A-74 srvctl modify ons Options

Option
Description

-l ons_local_port

The Oracle Notification Service daemon listening port for local client connections

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-r ons_remote_port

The Oracle Notification Service daemon listening port for connections from remote hosts

Note: The local port and remote port must each be unique.

-t host[:port]
[,host[:port]][...]]

A list of host:port pairs of remote hosts that are part of the Oracle Notification Service network but are not part of the Oracle Clusterware cluster

Note: If you do not specify port for a remote host, then the utility uses ons_remote_port.

-v

Display verbose output

srvctl modify scan

Modifies the number of SCAN VIPs to the match the number of IP addresses returned by looking up the scan_name you specify in DNS. Presumably the scan_name has not changed, but DNS was changed to add or remove IP addresses, and now you must adjust the Oracle Clusterware resource configuration to match.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify scan -n scan_name

The only option available for this command is -n scan_name, which identifies the SCAN name that resolves to the SCAN VIPs that you want to use.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

Assume your system currently has a SCAN named scan_name1, and it resolves to a single IP address in DNS. If you modify the SCAN scan_name1 in DNS to resolve to three IP addresses, then use the following command to create the additional SCAN VIP resources:

$ srvctl modify scan -n scan_name1

srvctl modify scan_listener

Modifies the SCAN listener to match SCAN VIP's or modifies the SCAN listener endpoints.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify scan_listener {-p [TCP:]port[/IPC:key][/NMP:pipe_name]
     [/TCPS:s_port][/SDP:port] | -u }

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-75 srvctl modify scan_listener Options

Option
Description

-p [TCP:]port[/IPC:key]
[/NMP:pipe_name]
[/TCPS:s_port][/SDP:port]

The new SCAN listener end points

-u

Updates SCAN listener configuration to match the current SCAN VIP configuration. This option adds new resources or removes existing SCAN listener resources to match the SCAN VIP resources.

Example

Assume your system currently has a SCAN named scan_name1, and you recently modified the DNS entry to resolve to three IP addresses instead of one. After running the srvctl modify scan command to create additional SCAN VIP resources, use the following command to create Oracle Clusterware resources for the additional two SCAN listeners to go with the two additional SCAN VIPs:

$ srvctl modify scan_listener -u

srvctl modify service

Moves a service member from one instance to another. Additionally, this command changes which instances are to be the preferred and the available instances for a service. This command supports some online modifications to the service, such as:

Service attributes from DBMS_SERVICE (for example, failover delay, Runtime Load Balancing Goal, and so on) can be changed online but the changes take effect only when the service is next (re)started.

When a service configuration is modified so that a new preferred or available instance is added, the running state of the existing service is not affected. However, the newly added instances will not automatically provide the service, until a srvctl start service command is issued as described.

When there are available instances for the service, and the service configuration is modified so that a preferred or available instance is removed, the running state of the service may change unpredictably:

The service is stopped and then removed on some instances according to the new service configuration.

The service may be running on some instances that are being removed from the service configuration.

These services will be relocated to the next free instance in the new service configuration.

As a result of these considerations, when the online service is being modified, users may experience a brief service outage on some instances even if the instances are not being removed. Or users may experience a brief service outage on instances that are being removed from the service.

Important:

Oracle recommends that you limit configuration changes to the minimum requirement and that you not perform other service operations while the online service modification is in progress.

Syntax and Options

Use one of the following forms of the srvctl modify service command with the specified syntax:

To move a service from one instance to another:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s service_name -i old_instance_name
  -t new_instance_name [-f]

Note:

This form of the command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-76 srvctl modify service Options for Moving a Service

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name

Service name

-i old_instance_name

Old instance name

-t new_instance_name

New instance name

-f

Disconnect all sessions during stop or relocate service operations

To change an available instance to a preferred instance for a service:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s service_name -t edition_name
-i avail_inst_name -r [-f]

Note:

This form of the command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and does not accept placement options for Oracle RAC One Node databases.

Table A-77 srvctl modify service Options for Changing an Available Instance to a Preferred Instance

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name

Service name

-t edition_name

(version 11.2.0.2 or higher) The initial session edition of the service.

When an edition is specified for a service, all subsequent connections that specify the service use this edition as the initial session edition. However, if a session connection specifies a different edition, then the edition specified in the session connection is used for the initial session edition.

SRVCTL does not validate the specified edition name. During connection, the connect user must have USE privilege on the specified edition. If the edition does not exist or if the connect user does not have USE privilege on the specified edition, then SRVCTL returns an error.

-i available_inst_name

Name of the available instance to change

-r

Change instance status to preferred

-f

Disconnect all sessions during stop or relocate service operations

To change the available and preferred status for multiple instances:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s service_name -n -i preferred_list
     [-a available_list] [-f]

Note:

This form of the command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and does not accept placement options for Oracle RAC One Node databases.

Table A-78 srvctl modify service Options for Changing Available and Preferred Status of Multiple Instances

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name

Service name

-n

Uses only the instances named for this service (unnamed instances already assigned to the service are removed)

-i preferred_instance_list

List of preferred instances

-a available_instance_list

List of available instances

-f

Disconnect all sessions during stop or relocate service operations

To modify other service attributes or to modify a service for Oracle Clusterware:

srvctl modify service -d db_unique_name -s service_name
     [-g server_pool] [-c {UNIFORM|SINGLETON}] [-P {BASIC|PRECONNECT|NONE}]
     [-l {[PRIMARY] | [PHYSICAL_STANDBY] | [LOGICAL_STANDBY] | [SNAPSHOT_STANDBY]}
     [-q {TRUE|FALSE}] [-x {TRUE|FALSE}] [-j {SHORT|LONG}]
     [-B {NONE|SERVICE_TIME|THROUGHPUT}] [-e {NONE|SESSION|SELECT}]
     [-m {NONE|BASIC}] [-z failover_retries] [-w failover_delay]
     [-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL}]

Table A-79 srvctl modify service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name

Service name

-g server_pool

The name of a server pool used when the database is policy managed.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle RAC and only for policy-managed databases.

-c {UNIFORM | SINGLETON}

The cardinality of the service, either UNIFORM (offered on all instances in the server pool) or SINGLETON (runs on only one instance at a time)

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-P {BASIC|PRECONNECT|NONE}

TAF failover policy

Note: The PRECONNECT option applies only to administrator-managed databases.

-l {[PRIMARY] | [PHYSICAL
_STANDBY] | [LOGICAL
_STANDBY] | [SNAPSHOT
_STANDBY]}

The database modes for which the service should be started automatically.

-q {TRUE | FALSE}

Indicates whether AQ HA notifications should be enabled (TRUE) for this service

-x {TRUE | FALSE}

Indicates whether or not Distributed Transaction Processing should be enabled for this service

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-j {SHORT | LONG}

Connection Load Balancing Goal

-B {NONE | SERVICE_TIME | THROUGHPUT}

Runtime Load Balancing Goal

-e {NONE | SESSION | SELECT}

Failover type

-m {NONE | BASIC}

Failover method

-z failover_retries

The number of failover retry attempts

-w failover_delay

The time delay between failover attempts

-y {AUTOMATIC | MANUAL}

Service management policy

Examples

An example of moving a service member from one instance to another is:

$ srvctl modify service -d crm -s crm -i crm1 -t crm2

An example of changing an available instance to a preferred instance is:

srvctl modify service -d crm -s crm -i crm1 -r

The following command exchanges a preferred and available instance:

$ srvctl modify service -d crm -s crm -n -i crm1 -a crm2

srvctl modify srvpool

Modifies a server pool in a cluster. If minimum size, maximum size, and importance are numerically increased, then the CRS daemon may attempt to reassign servers to this server pool, if by resizing other server pools have comparatively lower minimum size and importance, to satisfy new sizes of this server pool.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl modify srvpool command with the following syntax:

srvctl modify srvpool -g server_pool [-i importance] [-l min_size]
     [-u max_size] [-n node_name_list] [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-80 srvctl modify srvpool Options

Option
Description

-g server_pool

The name of the server pool to modify,

-i importance

The new importance of the server pool.

-l min_size

The new minimum size of the server pool. The default value is 0.

-u max_size

The new maximum size of the server pool. A value of -1 sets the server pool maximum size to UNLIMITED.

-n node_name_list

A comma-delimited list of candidate server names.

-f

Force the operation even though the utility stops some resource(s).

Example

The following example changes the importance rank to 0, the minimum size to 2, and the maximum size to 4 for the server pool srvpool1 on the nodes mynode3 and mynode4:

$ srvctl modify srvpool -g srvpool1 -i 0 -l 2 -u 4 -n mynode3, mynode4

relocate

The relocate command causes the specified object to run on a different node. The specified object must be running already.

The relocation of the object is temporary until you modify the configuration. The previously described modify command permanently changes the configuration.

Table A-81 srvctl relocate Summary

Command
Description

srvctl relocate cvu

Temporarily relocates the Cluster Verification Utility

srvctl relocate database

Relocates an Oracle RAC One Node database to a different node

srvctl relocate gns

Relocates GNS to a different node

srvctl relocate oc4j

Relocates an OC4J instance to a different node

srvctl relocate scan

Relocates a SCAN VIP from its current hosting server to another server within the cluster

srvctl relocate scan_listener

Relocates a SCAN listener from its current hosting server to another server within the cluster

srvctl relocate server

Relocates named servers to another server pool

srvctl relocate service

Relocates the named service names from one named instance to another named instance

srvctl relocate vip

Relocates a specific VIP from one node to another within the cluster

srvctl relocate cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command temporarily relocates the CVU to another node in a cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate cvu [-n node_name]

Table A-82 srvctl relocate cvu Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Examples

An example of this command to temporarily relocate CVU to another node in a cluster is:

$ srvctl relocate cvu -n crmnode2

srvctl relocate database

Starting with Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.2), the srvctl relocate database command initiates the relocation of an Oracle RAC One Node database from one node to another node. This command also cleans up after a failed relocation.

The srvctl relocate database command can only be used for relocating Oracle RAC One Node databases.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate database command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate database -d db_unique_name {[-n target_node] [-w timeout] | -a
 [-r]} [-v]

Table A-83 srvctl relocate database Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database.

-n target

Target node to which to relocate the Oracle RAC One Node database.

Note: You must supply this option if you are relocating an administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node database.

-w timeout

Online database relocation timeout, in minutes, for Oracle RAC One Node databases. The default is 30.

-a

Abort failed online database relocation.

-r

Removes the target node of a failed online relocation request from the candidate server list of an administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node database.

-v

Verbose output.

Usage Notes

If the Oracle RAC One Node database you want to relocate is not running, then the command returns an error.

If another online database relocation is active for this Oracle RAC One Node database, then the command returns an error.

If an online database relocation for this Oracle RAC One Node database has failed and the target nodes are not the same for either relocation, then the command returns an error instructing you to abort the failed online database relocation and then initiate a new one.

If an online database relocation for this Oracle RAC One Node database has failed and the target nodes are the same (or you do not specify the target), then the command attempts to relocate the database.

Example

The following example relocates an Oracle RAC One Node database named rac1 to a server called node7.

srvctl relocate database -d rac1 -n node7

srvctl relocate gns

Relocates GNS from its current hosting node to another node within the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate gns [-n node_name]

Notes:

On Linux and UNIX systems, you must be logged in as root and on Windows, you must be logged in as a user with Administrator privileges to run this command.

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-84 srvctl relocate gns Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of the node to which you want to move GNS

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl relocate gns -n node1

srvctl relocate oc4j

Relocates an OC4J instance from its current hosting node to another node within the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate oc4j [-n node_name] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-85 srvctl relocate oc4j Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of the node to relocate the OC4J instance to.

-v

Display verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl relocate oc4j -n staih01 -v

srvctl relocate scan

Relocates a specific SCAN VIP from its current hosting node to another node within the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate scan -i ordinal_number [-n node_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-86 srvctl relocate scan Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

An ordinal number that identifies which SCAN VIP you want to relocate. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3.

-n node_name

The name of a single node.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility chooses the node to which the SCAN VIP is relocated.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl relocate scan -i 1 -n node1

srvctl relocate scan_listener

Relocates a specific SCAN listener from its current hosting node to another node within the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate scan_listener -i ordinal_number [-n node_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-87 srvctl relocate scan_listener Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

An ordinal number that identifies which SCAN VIP you want to relocate. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3.

-n node_name

The name of a single node.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility chooses the node to which the SCAN VIP is relocated.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl relocate scan_listener -i 1 -n node3

srvctl relocate server

Relocates servers to a server pool in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate server command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate server -n "server_name_list" -g server_pool_name [-f]

Table A-88 srvctl relocate server Options

Option
Description

-n "server_name_list"

A single server name or a comma-delimited list of server names enclosed in double quotation marks ("") that you want to relocate to a different server pool.

-g server_pool_name

The name of the server pool to which you want to move servers.

-f

Use the -f option to force the relocation of servers even if it means stopping some resources.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl relocate server -n "server1, server2" -g sp3

srvctl relocate service

Relocates the named service names from one named instance to another named instance. The srvctl relocate command works on only one source instance and one target instance at a time, relocating a service from a single source instance to a single target instance. The target instance must be on the preferred or available list for the service.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate service command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate service -d db_unique_name -s service_name
    {-c source_node -n target_node | -i old_instance_name -t new_instance_name}
    [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-89 srvctl relocate service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name

Service name

-c source_node

Name of the node where the service is currently running

-n target_node

Name of node where the service should be relocated

-i old_instance_name

Old instance name

-t new_instance_name

New instance name

-f

Disconnect all sessions during stop or relocate service operations

Example

To temporarily relocate a named service member from crm1 to crm3:

$ srvctl relocate service -d crm -s crm -i crm1 -t crm3

srvctl relocate vip

Relocates a specific VIP from its current hosting node to another node within the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl relocate vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl relocate vip -i vip_name [-n node_name] [-f]

Table A-90 srvctl relocate vip Options

Option
Description

-i vip_name

Specify the name of the VIP you want to relocate.

-n node_name

Specify the name of a single target node to which you want to relocate the VIP.

-f

Specify this option to force the relocation of the VIP.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl relocate vip -i vip1 -n node3

remove

Removes the configuration information for the specified target from Oracle Clusterware. Environment settings for the object are also removed. Using this command does not destroy the specified target.

Use the remove verb to remove the associated resource from the management of Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Restart. Depending on the noun used, you can remove databases, services, nodeapps, Oracle ASM, Oracle Notification Service, and listeners.

If you do not use the force flag (-f), then Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Restart prompts you to confirm whether to proceed. If you use the force (-f) option, then the remove operation proceeds without prompting and continues processing even when it encounters errors. Even when the Oracle Clusterware resources cannot be removed, the OCR configuration is removed, so that the object now appears not to exist, but there are still Oracle Clusterware resources. Use the force flag (-f) option with extreme caution because this could result in an inconsistent OCR.

To use the remove verb, you must first stop the node applications, database, instance, or service for which you are specifying srvctl remove. Oracle recommends that you perform a disable operation before using this command, but this is not required. You must stop the target object before running the srvctl remove command. See the stop command.

Table A-91 srvctl remove Summary

Command
Description

srvctl remove asm

Removes Oracle ASM instances

srvctl remove cvu

Removes the Cluster Verification Utility configured for the cluster

srvctl remove database

Removes a database and configuration

srvctl remove diskgroup

Removes a disk group from the Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Restart configuration

srvctl remove filesystem

Removes the configuration for an Oracle ACFS volume

srvctl remove gns

Removes GNS

srvctl remove instance

Removes instances and configurations of administrator-managed databases

srvctl remove listener

Removes the configuration of the specified listener from Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Restart

srvctl remove nodeapps

Removes node applications

srvctl remove oc4j

Removes the OC4J instance configuration

srvctl remove ons

Removes Oracle Notification Service instances

srvctl remove scan

Removes all Oracle Clusterware resources for all SCAN VIPs

srvctl remove scan_listener

Removes all Oracle Clusterware resources for all SCAN listeners

srvctl remove service

Removes services from the Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Restart configuration

srvctl remove srvpool

Removes a specific server pool

srvctl remove vip

Removes specific VIPs

srvctl remove asm

Removes the Oracle ASM resource.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove asm [-f]

The -f option is the only option you can use with this command and it forcefully removes an Oracle ASM resource.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove asm -f

srvctl remove cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command removes CVU from an Oracle Clusterware configuration.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove cvu [-f]

Use the -f option to remove a running or starting CVU.

Examples

An example of this command to remove CVU is:

$ srvctl remove cvu -f

srvctl remove database

Removes a database configuration.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove database command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove database -d db_unique_name [-f] [-y]

Table A-92 srvctl remove database Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-f

Force remove

-y

Suppress prompts

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove database -d crm

srvctl remove diskgroup

Removes a specific Oracle ASM disk group resource from Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Restart.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove diskgroup command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove diskgroup -g diskgroup_name [-n node_list] [-f]

Table A-93 srvctl remove diskgroup Options

Option
Description

-g diskgroup_name

The Oracle ASM disk group name.

-n node_list

Comma-delimited list of node nodes.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-f

Force remove.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove diskgroup -g DG1 -f

srvctl remove filesystem

Removes a specific Oracle ACFS volume resource.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove filesystem -d volume_device_name [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-94 srvctl remove filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_name

The Oracle ACFS volume device name

-f

Force remove

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove filesystem -d /dev/asm/d1volume293

srvctl remove gns

Removes GNS from the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove gns [-f]

The only option for this command is -f, which indicates GNS should be removed regardless of any errors that might occur.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove gns

srvctl remove instance

Removes the configurations for an instance of an administrator-managed database. To remove the configurations of a policy-managed database, you must shrink the size of the server pool with the srvctl modify srvpool command.

If you use the -f option, then any services running on the instance stop. Oracle recommends that you reconfigure services to not use the instance to be removed as a preferred or available instance before removing the instance.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove instance -d db_unique_name -i instance_name [-f]

Notes:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

If you attempt to use this command on an Oracle RAC One Node database, then the command returns an error stating that cannot remove the instance except by removing the database.

Table A-95 srvctl remove instance Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database.

-i instance_name

Instance name.

-f

Specify this option to skip checking that the instance is not running, and remove it even though it is running. This option also skips checking that the instance has no running services using it, and causes those services to stop before the instance is removed.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove instance -d crm -i crm01

srvctl remove listener

Removes the configuration of the specified listener from Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Restart.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove listener [-l listener_name] [-a] [-f]

Table A-96 srvctl remove listener Options

Options
Description

-l listener_name

Name of the listener that you want to remove.

If you do not specify a listener name, then the listener name defaults to LISTENER.

-a

Removes all listener configurations.

-f

Specify this option to skip checking whether there are other resources that depend on this listener, such as databases, and remove the listener anyway.

Examples

The following command removes the configuration of the listener named lsnr01:

$ srvctl remove listener -l lsnr01

srvctl remove nodeapps

Removes the node application configuration. You must have full administrative privileges to run this command. On Linux and UNIX systems, you must be logged in as root and on Windows systems, you must be logged in as a user with Administrator privileges.

Syntax

Use the srvctl remove nodeapps command as follows:

srvctl remove nodeapps [-f] [-y] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

# srvctl remove nodeapps

Table A-97 srvctl remove nodeapps Options

Options
Description

-f

Force remove

-y

Suppress prompts

-v

Verbose output

srvctl remove oc4j

Removes the OC4J instance from the Oracle Clusterware configuration.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove oc4j [-f] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-98 srvctl remove oc4j Options

Options
Description

-f

Force remove

-v

Verbose output

srvctl remove ons

Removes Oracle Notification Service from the Grid Infrastructure home.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove ons command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove ons [-f] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Restart.

Table A-99 srvctl remove ons Options

Options
Description

-f

Force remove

-v

Verbose output

srvctl remove scan

Removes Oracle Clusterware resources from all SCAN VIPs.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove scan [-f]

The only option available for this command is -f, which removes the SCAN VIPs even though there are SCAN listeners running that are dependent on the SCAN VIPs. SCAN VIPs that are running are not stopped before the resources are removed, which may require manual cleanup.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove scan -f

srvctl remove scan_listener

Removes Oracle Clusterware resources from all SCAN listeners.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove scan_listener [-f]

The only option available for this command is -f, which removes the resource even if the listener(s) is running, without stopping the listener.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove scan_listener -f

srvctl remove service

Removes the configuration for a service.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove service command as follows:

srvctl remove service -d db_unique_name -s service_name [-i instance_name] [-f]

Table A-100 srvctl remove service Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name

Service name

-i instance_name

Instance name

Note: This option is available only for Oracle Clusterware.

-f

Removes the service resource even though the service is running

Examples

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove service -d crm -s sales

The following example removes the services from specific instances:

$ srvctl remove service -d crm -s sales -i crm01,crm02

srvctl remove srvpool

Removes a specific server pool. If there are databases or services that depend upon this server pool, then remove them first so this operation succeeds.

If you successfully remove server_pool, then the CRS daemon may assign its servers to other server pools depending upon their minimum size, maximum size, and importance. The CRS daemon may also return these servers to its Free server pool.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove srvpool command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove srvpool -g server_pool

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove srvpool -g srvpool1

srvctl remove vip

Removes specific VIPs.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl remove vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl remove vip -i "vip_name_list" [-f] [-y] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-101 srvctl remove vip Options

Option
Description

-i "vip_name_list"

A comma-delimited list of VIP names surrounded by double quotation marks ("")

-f

Force remove

-y

Suppress prompts

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl remove vip -i "vip1,vip2,vip3" -f -y -v

setenv

The setenv command sets values for the environment in the configuration file. Use setenv to set environment variables—items such as language or TNS_ADMIN—for Oracle Clusterware that you would typically set in your profile or session when you manage this database or database instance.

The unsetenv command unsets values for the environment in the configuration file.

Table A-102 srvctl setenv Summary

Command
Description

srvctl setenv asm

Administers environment configuration for Oracle ASM

srvctl setenv database

Administers cluster database environment configurations

srvctl setenv listener

Administers listener environment configurations

Note: You cannot use this command to administer SCAN listeners.

srvctl setenv nodeapps

Administers node application environment configurations

srvctl setenv vip

Administers VIP environment configurations

srvctl setenv asm

Administers Oracle ASM environment configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl setenv asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl setenv asm {-t "name=val[,name=val][...]" | -T "name=val"}

Table A-103 srvctl setenv asm Options

Options
Description

-t "name=val[,name=val][...]"

Comma-delimited list of name-value pairs of environment variables

-T "name=val"

Enables single environment variable to be set to a value that contains commas or other special characters

Example

The following example sets the language environment configuration for Oracle ASM:

$ srvctl setenv asm -t LANG=en

srvctl setenv database

Administers cluster database environment configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl setenv database command with the following syntax:

srvctl setenv database -d db_unique_name
     {-t "name=val[,name=val][...]" | -T "name=val"}

Table A-104 srvctl setenv database Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-t "name=val,..."

Comma-delimited list of name-value pairs of environment variables

-T "name=val"

Enables single environment variable to be set to a value that contains commas or other special characters

Example

The following example sets the language environment configuration for a cluster database:

$ srvctl setenv database -d crm -t LANG=en

srvctl setenv listener

Administers listener environment configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl setenv listener with the following syntax:

srvctl setenv listener [-l listener_name]
     {-t "name=val[,name=val][...]" | -T "name=val"}

Table A-105 srvctl setenv listener Options

Options
Description

-l listener_name

Name of the listener.

If you do not specify this option, then the listener name defaults to LISTENER.

-t "name=val"

Comma-delimited list of name-value pairs of environment variables.

-T "name=val"

Enables single environment variable to be set to a value that contains commas or other special characters.

Example

The following example sets the language environment configuration for the default listener:

$ srvctl setenv listener -t LANG=en

srvctl setenv nodeapps

Sets the environment variables for the node application configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl setenv nodeapps command as follows:

srvctl setenv nodeapps {-t "name=val[,name=val][...]" | -T "name=val"} [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-106 srvctl setenv nodeapps Options

Options
Description

-t "name=val[,name=val] [...]"

Comma-delimited list of name-value pairs of environment variables

-T "name=val"

Enables single environment variable to be set to a value that contains commas or other special characters

-v

Verbose output

Example

To set an environment variable for a node application:

$ srvctl setenv nodeapps -T "CLASSPATH=/usr/local/jdk/jre/rt.jar" -v

srvctl setenv vip

Administers cluster VIP environment configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl setenv vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl setenv vip -i vip_name {-t "name=val[,name=val,...]" | -T "name=val"}

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-107 srvctl setenv vip Options

Options
Description

-i vip_name

Name of the VIP

-t "name=val,..."

Comma-delimited list of name-value pairs of environment variables

-T "name=val"

Enables single environment variable to be set to a value that contains commas or other special characters

Example

The following example sets the language environment configuration for a cluster VIP:

$ srvctl setenv vip -i crm1-vip -t LANG=en

start

Starts Oracle Restart or Oracle Clusterware enabled, non-running applications for the database, all or named instances, all or named service names, or node-level applications. For the start command, and for other operations that use a connect string, if you do not provide a connect string, SRVCTL uses /as sysdba to perform the operation. To run such operations, the owner of the oracle binary executables must be a member of the OSDBA group, and users running the commands must also be in the OSDBA group.

Table A-108 srvctl start Summary

Command
Description

srvctl start asm

Starts Oracle ASM instances

srvctl start cvu

Starts the Cluster Verification Utility

srvctl start database

Starts the cluster database and its instances

srvctl start diskgroup

Starts a specified disk group on a number of nodes

srvctl start filesystem

Starts the Oracle ACFS volume resource

srvctl start gns

Starts GNS

srvctl start home

Starts Oracle Clusterware-managed or Oracle Restart-managed resources in a specific Oracle home

srvctl start instance

Starts the instance

srvctl start listener

Starts the specified listener or listeners

srvctl start nodeapps

Starts the node applications

srvctl start oc4j

Starts the OC4J instance

srvctl start ons

Starts the Oracle Notification Service daemon for Oracle Restart

srvctl start scan

Starts all SCAN VIPs

srvctl start scan_listener

Starts all SCAN listeners

srvctl start service

Starts the service

srvctl start vip

Starts a VIP

srvctl start asm

Starts an Oracle ASM instance.

Notes:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl start asm [-n node_name] [-o start_options]

Table A-109 srvctl start asm Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-o start_options

Options to startup command, for example OPEN, MOUNT, or NOMOUNT

Note: For multi-word startup options, such as read only and read write, separate the words with a space and enclose in single quotation marks (''). For example, 'read only'.

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about startup options

Examples

An example of this command to start an Oracle ASM instance on a single node of a cluster is:

$ srvctl start asm -n crmnode1

An example to start an Oracle ASM instance on all nodes in the cluster, or for a noncluster database, is:

$ srvctl start asm

srvctl start cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command starts the CVU on one node in a cluster. If you specify a node name, then CVU starts on that node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl start cvu [-n node_name]

Table A-110 srvctl start cvu Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Examples

An example of this command to start CVU on a single node of a cluster is:

$ srvctl start cvu -n crmnode1

srvctl start database

Starts a cluster database and its enabled instances and all listeners on nodes with database instances. You can disable listeners that should not be started.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start database command with the following syntax:

srvctl start database -d db_unique_name [-o start_options] [-n node_name]

Table A-111 srvctl start database Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-o start_options

Options for startup command (for example: OPEN, MOUNT, or NOMOUNT)

Notes:

This command option supports all database startup options.

For multi-word startup options, such as read only and read write, separate the words with a space and enclose in single quotation marks (''). For example, 'read only'.

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about startup options

-n node_name

The name of the node on which you want to start the database

Notes:

This command only applies to Oracle RAC One Node databases.

The node you specify must be in the candidate list for an administrator-managed Oracle RAC One Node database or in the server pool for a policy-managed Oracle RAC One Node database.

If the database is already running on a node than the one you specify, then the command returns an error.

If you do not specify a node, then Oracle Clusterware chooses which node on which to start the Oracle RAC One Node database according to its policies, such as dispersion, number of resources, and order of candidate nodes.

If there is an active online database relocation for the Oracle RAC One Node database you are attempting to start, then both instances will already be running and the command returns an error message saying so (remember that only during an online database relocation are two instances of an Oracle RAC One Node database in existence).

If the online database relocation failed for the Oracle RAC One Node database and you do not specify a node, then the command attempts to start both database instances.

If the online database relocation failed for the Oracle RAC One Node database and you specify a node, then the command attempts to abort the failed relocation and start the instance on that node.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl start database -d crm -o open

srvctl start diskgroup

Starts a specific disk group resource on a number of specified nodes.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start diskgroup command with the following syntax:

srvctl start diskgroup -g diskgroup_name [-n node_list]

Table A-112 srvctl start diskgroup Options

Option
Description

-g diskgroup_name

The Oracle ASM disk group name

-n node_list

Comma-delimited list of node names on which to start the disk group resource

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl start diskgroup -g diskgroup1 -n mynode1,mynode2

srvctl start filesystem

Starts the Oracle ACFS volume resource.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl start filesystem -d volume_device_name [-n node_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-113 srvctl start filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_name

The Oracle ACFS volume device name

-n node_name

The name of the node on which the Oracle ACFS volume resource should be started.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility starts the Oracle ACFS volume resource on all the available nodes in the cluster.

srvctl start gns

Starts GNS on a specific node, or all nodes in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl start gns [-l log_level] [-n node_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-114 srvctl start gns Options

Option
Description

-l log_level

Specify the level of logging with which GNS should run. Log levels vary between 1 (minimal tracing) and 6 (traces everything and is time consuming).

-n node_name

The name of a node in the cluster where you want to start GNS.

srvctl start home

Starts all the Oracle Restart-managed or Oracle Clusterware-managed resources on the specified Oracle home.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start home command with the following syntax:

srvctl start home -o Oracle_home -s state_file [-n node_name]

Table A-115 srvctl start home Options

Option
Description

-o Oracle_home

The path to the Oracle home for which you want to start the Oracle Restart or Oracle Clusterware-managed resources

-s state_file

The path name of the state file you specified when you ran either the srvctl stop home or the srvctl status home command.

-n node_name

The name of the node where the Oracle home resides.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl start -o /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/db_1 -s ~/state.txt

srvctl start instance

Starts instances in the cluster database and all listeners on nodes with database instances. You can disable listeners that should not be started.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl start instance -d db_unique_name {-n node_name -i "instance_name_list"}
     [-o start_options]

In Windows, you must enclose the list of comma-delimited instance names in double quotation marks ("").

Notes:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

If you run this command on an Oracle RAC One Node database, then the command returns an error instructing you to use the database noun, instead.

Table A-116 srvctl start instance Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-n node_name

The name of a single node

Note: Use this option for policy-managed databases.

-i "instance_name_list"

Specify either exactly one instance name or a comma-delimited list of instance names

Note: Use this option for administrator-managed databases.

-o start_options

Options for startup command (for example: OPEN, MOUNT, or NOMOUNT)

Note: For multi-word startup options, such as read only and read write, separate the words with a space and enclose in single quotation marks (''). For example, 'read only'.

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about startup options

Example

An example of starting an instance for a policy-managed database is:

$ srvctl start instance -d crm -n node2

An example of starting an instance for an administrator-managed database is:

$ srvctl start instance -d crm -i "crm2,crm3"

srvctl start listener

Starts the default listener on the specified node_name, or starts all of the listeners represented in a given list of listener names, that are registered with Oracle Clusterware on the given node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl start listener [-n node_name] [-l listener_name_list]

Table A-117 srvctl start listener Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-l listener_name_list

Listener name

If you do not specify this option, then the listener name defaults to LISTENER.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl start listener -n mynode1

srvctl start nodeapps

Starts node-level applications on a node or all nodes in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start nodeapps command with the following syntax:

srvctl start nodeapps [-n node_name] [-g] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-118 srvctl start nodeapps Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

If you do not specify this option, then the utility starts the nodeapps on all active nodes in the cluster.

-g

Starts GSD, only

-v

Verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

srvctl start nodeapps

srvctl start oc4j

Starts the OC4J instance.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl start ocj4 [-v]

There is only one option for this command, -v, which is used to indicate that verbose output should be displayed.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

srvctl start ons

Starts the Oracle Notification Service daemon.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Restart.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start ons command with the following syntax:

srvctl start ons [-v]

There is only one option for this command, -v, which is used to indicate that verbose output should be displayed.

srvctl start scan

Starts all SCAN VIPs, by default, or a specific SCAN VIP, on all nodes or a specific node in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl start scan [-i ordinal_number] [-n node_name]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-119 srvctl start scan Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

An ordinal number that identifies which SCAN VIP you want to start. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility starts all the SCAN VIPs.

-n node_name

The name of a single node.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility starts the SCAN VIPs on all nodes in the cluster.

Example

To start the SCAN VIP identified by the ordinal number 1 on the node1 node, use the following command:

$ srvctl start scan -i 1 -n node1

srvctl start scan_listener

Starts all SCAN listeners, by default, or a specific listener on all nodes or a specific node in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl start scan_listener [-n node_name] [-i ordinal_number]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-120 srvctl start scan_listener Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

An ordinal number that identifies which SCAN Listener you want to start. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility starts all the SCAN listeners.

-n node_name

The name of a single node.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility starts the SCAN listeners on all nodes in the cluster.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl start scan_listener -i 1

srvctl start service

Starts a service or multiple services on the specified instance. The srvctl start service command will fail if you attempt to start a service on an instance if that service is already running on its maximum number of instances, that is, its number of preferred instances. You may move a service or change the status of a service on an instance with the srvctl modify service and srvctl relocate service commands described later in this appendix.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start service command with the following syntax:

srvctl start service -d db_unique_name
            [-s "service_name_list" [-n node_name | -i instance_name]]
            [-o start_options]

Table A-121 srvctl start service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s "service_name_list"

Comma-delimited list of service names.

If you do not include this option, then SRVCTL starts all of the services for the specified database.

-n node_name

The name of the node where the service should be started. Use this option for policy-managed databases.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-i instance_name

The name of the instance for which the service should be started. Use this option for administrator-managed databases.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-o start_options

Options to startup command, such as OPEN, MOUNT, or NOMOUNT

Note: For multi-word startup options, such as read only and read write, separate the words with a space and enclose in single quotation marks (''). For example, 'read only'.

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about startup options

Examples

The following example starts a named service. If the instances that support these services, including available instances that the service uses for failover, are not running but are enabled, then SRVCTL starts them.

$ srvctl start service -d crm -s crm

The following example starts a named service on a specified instance:

$ srvctl start service -d crm -s crm -i crm2

srvctl start vip

Starts a specific VIP or a VIP on a specific node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl start vip {-n node_name | -i vip_name } [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-122 srvctl start vip Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

-i vip_name

The VIP name

-v

Verbose start

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl start vip -i crm1-vip -v

status

Displays the current state of a named database, instances, services, disk group, listener, node application, or other resource managed by Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-123 srvctl status Summary

Command
Description

srvctl status asm

Displays the status of Oracle ASM instances

srvctl status cvu

Displays the status of the Cluster Verification Utility

srvctl status database

Displays the status of a database

srvctl status diskgroup

Displays status of a specific disk group on a number of nodes

srvctl status filesystem

Displays the status of an Oracle ACFS volume

srvctl status gns

Displays the status of GNS

srvctl status home

Displays the status of the resources associated with the specified Oracle home

srvctl status instance

Displays the status of a instance

srvctl status listener

Displays the status of a listener resource

srvctl status nodeapps

Displays the status of node applications

srvctl status oc4j

Determines which node is running the Oracle Database QoS Management server

srvctl status ons

Displays the status of Oracle Notification Service

srvctl status scan

Displays the status of SCAN VIPs

srvctl status scan_listener

Displays the status of SCAN listeners

srvctl status server

Displays the status of servers

srvctl status service

Displays the status of services

srvctl status srvpool

Displays the status of server pools

srvctl status vip

Displays the status of VIPs

srvctl status asm

Displays the status of an Oracle ASM instance.

Note:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use the SRVCTL binary in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use the SRVCTL binary in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl status asm [-n node_name] [-a] [-v]

Table A-124 srvctl status asm Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name. If you do not specify this option, the SRVCTL displays the status of all Oracle ASM instances.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-a

Print detailed status information.

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status asm -n crmnode1 -a

srvctl status cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command displays the current state of CVU on one node in a cluster. If you specify a node name, then the command checks CVU status on that node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl status cvu [-n node_name]

Table A-125 srvctl status cvu Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

Examples

An example of this command to check the status of CVU on a single node of a cluster is:

$ srvctl status cvu -n crmnode1

srvctl status database

Displays the status of instances and their services, and where the instances are running.

If you run this command on an Oracle RAC One Node database, then the output shows the status of any online database relocation (active, failed, or inactive), and the source and destination nodes of the relocation.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status database command with the following syntax:

srvctl status database -d db_unique_name [-f] [-v]

Table A-126 srvctl status database Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-f

Include disabled applications

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status database -d crm -v

srvctl status diskgroup

Displays the status of a specific disk group on a number of specified nodes.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status diskgroup command with the following syntax:

srvctl status diskgroup -g diskgroup_name [-n node_list] [-a] [-v]

Table A-127 srvctl status diskgroup Options

Option
Description

-g diskgroup_name

The Oracle ASM disk group name

-n node_list

Comma-delimited list of node names on which to check status of the disk group

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-a

Display enabled status information of disk group

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status diskgroup -g diskgroup1 -n mynode1,mynode2 -a

srvctl status filesystem

Displays the status of the specified Oracle ACFS volume.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl status filesystem -d volume_device_name [-v]

Table A-128 srvctl status filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_name

The device name of the Oracle ACFS volume

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status filesystem -d /dev/asm/d1volume293

srvctl status gns

Displays the current state of GNS.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl status gns [-n node_name [-v]]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-129 srvctl status gns Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Specify a node on which GNS is running for which you want to display the state

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

srvctl status home

Displays the status of all the Oracle Restart-managed or Oracle Clusterware-managed resources for the specified Oracle home.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status home command with the following syntax:

srvctl status home -o Oracle_home -s state_file [-n node_name]

Table A-130 srvctl status home Options

Option
Description

-o Oracle_home

The path to the Oracle home for which you want to start the Oracle Restart or Oracle Clusterware-managed resources

-s state_file

The path name the text file that holds the state information generated by this command.

-n node_name

The name of the node where the Oracle home resides.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status home -o /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/db_1 -s ~/state.txt

srvctl status instance

Displays the status of instances.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl status instance -d db_unique_name {-n node_name | -i "instance_name_list"}
     [-f] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

Table A-131 srvctl status instance Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-n node_name

Node name

Note: Use this option for policy-managed databases

-i "instance_name_list"

Comma-delimited list of instance names

Note: Use this option for administrator-managed databases

-f

Include disabled applications

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status instance -d crm -i "crm1,crm2" -v

srvctl status listener

Displays the status of listener resources.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl status listener [-l listener_name] [-n node_name [-v]]

Table A-132 srvctl status listener Options

Option
Description

-l listener_name

Name of a listener.

If you do not specify this option, then the listener name defaults to LISTENER

-n node_name

Name of a cluster node.

Note: This option is available only for Oracle Clusterware.

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status listener -n node2

srvctl status nodeapps

Displays the status of node applications.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status nodeapps command with the following syntax:

srvctl status nodeapps

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

srvctl status oc4j

Determines which node is running the Oracle Database QoS Management server.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl status oc4j [-n node_name [-v]]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-133 srvctl status oc4j Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Specify a node on which the Oracle Database QoS Management server is running for which you want to display the state

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

srvctl status ons

Displays the current state of the Oracle Notification Service daemon.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Restart.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status ons command with the following syntax:

srvctl status ons

srvctl status scan

Displays the status for all SCAN VIPs, by default, or a specific SCAN VIP.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl status scan [-i ordinal_number [-v]]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-134 srvctl status scan Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

Specify an ordinal number that identifies a specific SCAN VIP. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3. If you do not specify this option, then the utility displays the status of all SCAN VIPs in the cluster.

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status scan -i 1

srvctl status scan_listener

Displays the status for all SCAN listeners, by default, or a specific listener.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl status scan_listener [-i ordinal_number [-v]]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-135 srvctl status scan_listener Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

Specify an ordinal number that identifies a specific SCAN VIP. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3. If you do not specify this option, then the utility displays the status of all SCAN VIPs in the cluster.

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status scan_listener -i 1

srvctl status server

Displays the current state of named servers.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status server command with the following syntax:

srvctl status server -n "server_name_list" [-a]

Table A-136 srvctl status server Options

Option
Description

-n "server_name_list"

Comma-delimited list of server names.

-a

Print detailed status information.

Example

The following example displays the status of a named server:

$ srvctl status server -n server11 -a

srvctl status service

Displays the status of a service.

For Oracle RAC One Node databases, if there is an online database relocation in process, then the srvctl status service command displays the source and destination nodes and the status of the relocation, whether it is active or failed.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status service command with the following syntax:

srvctl status service -d db_unique_name [-s "service_name_list"] [-f] [-v]

Table A-137 srvctl status service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s "service_name_list"

Comma-delimited list of service names.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility lists the status of all the services for the specified database.

-f

Include disabled applications

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

The following example displays the status of a named service globally across the clustered database:

$ srvctl status service -d crm -s crm -v

srvctl status srvpool

Displays all server pool names and number of servers (and names of servers if you specify the -a option) that are currently assigned to each server pool, if you do not specify the -g option. When you specify the -g option, the command displays the preceding information for the specified server pool.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status srvpool command with the following syntax:

srvctl status srvpool [-g server_pool] [-a]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-138 srvctl status srvpool Options

Option
Description

-g server_pool

Name of the server pool

-a

Print detailed status information

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status srvpool -g srvpool1 -a

srvctl status vip

Displays status for a specific VIP or a VIP on a specific node.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl status vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl status vip {-n node_name | -i vip_name} [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-139 srvctl status vip Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

-i vip_name

The VIP name

-v

Displays INTERNAL_STATE, which indicates actions in progress by Oracle Clusterware, such as starting, stopping, or cleaning. If the internal state is STABLE, then the -v option displays nothing because this is the normal state. Additionally, the -v option displays STATE_DETAILS, which may indicate additional information provided by the resource about why it is in its current state.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl status vip -i node1-vip

stop

Stops the Oracle Clusterware applications for the database, all or named instances, all or named service names, listeners, or node level application resources. Only the Oracle Clusterware applications that are starting or running are stopped. Objects running outside of Oracle Clusterware are not stopped.

You should disable an object that you intend to remain stopped after you issue a srvctl stop command. See the srvctl disable command starting with srvctl disable database.

Notes:

If the object is stopped and is not disabled, then it can restart as a result of another planned operation. The object does not restart as a result of a failure. Oracle recommends that you disable any object that should remain stopped after you issue a stop command.

When you use the -f (force) flag to stop dependent applications, as well as the object, then those dependent applications do not restart when the object is later restarted or after the node fails. You must restart the dependent applications, manually, except for services with AUTOMATIC management policy when a database is stopped.

Table A-140 srvctl stop Summary

Command
Description

srvctl stop asm

Stops Oracle ASM instances

srvctl stop cvu

Stops the Cluster Verification Utility resource

srvctl stop database

Stops the cluster database

srvctl stop diskgroup

Stops a specific disk group on a specified number of nodes

srvctl stop filesystem

Stops the Oracle ACFS volume resource

srvctl stop gns

Stops GNS

srvctl stop home

Stops the resources for the specified Oracle home

srvctl stop instance

Stops the instance

srvctl stop listener

Stops the specified listener or listeners

srvctl stop nodeapps

Stops the node-level applications

srvctl stop oc4j

Stops the OC4J instance

srvctl stop ons

Stops Oracle Notification Service

srvctl stop scan

Stops all SCAN VIPs

srvctl stop scan_listener

Stops all SCAN listeners

srvctl stop service

Stops the service

srvctl stop vip

Stops VIP resources

srvctl stop asm

Stops an Oracle ASM instance.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop asm command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop asm [-n node_name] [-o stop_options] [-f]

Notes:

To manage Oracle ASM on Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installations, use SRVCTL in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home for a cluster (Grid home). If you have Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installed, then you cannot use SRVCTL in the database home to manage Oracle ASM.

You cannot use this command when OCR is stored in Oracle ASM because it will not stop Oracle ASM. To stop Oracle ASM you must shut down Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-141 srvctl stop asm Option

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of the node on which to stop the Oracle ASM instance.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility stops the Oracle ASM instance on every active node in the cluster.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-o stop_options

Options for shutdown command, such as NORMAL, TRANSACTIONAL, IMMEDIATE, or ABORT

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about shutdown options

-f

Use this option to stop disk groups, file systems and databases that depend on Oracle ASM

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop asm -n crmnode1 -i +asm1

srvctl stop cvu

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), this command stops the Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) that is either in the running or starting state.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop cvu command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop cvu [-f]

The -f option is the only option you can use with this command. The -f option forces CVU to stop.

Examples

An example of this command to stop CVU:

$ srvctl stop cvu

srvctl stop database

Stops a database, its instances, and its services. When the database later restarts, services with AUTOMATIC management start automatically but services with MANUAL management policy must be started manually.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop database command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop database -d db_unique_name [-o stop_options] [-f]

Table A-142 srvctl stop database Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database.

-o stop_options

Use this option to specify shutdown command options, such as NORMAL, TRANSACTIONAL, IMMEDIATE, or ABORT

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about shutdown options

-f

This option stops the database, its instances, its services, and any resources that depend on those services

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop database -d crm -o NORMAL

srvctl stop diskgroup

Stops a specific disk group resource on a number of specified nodes.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop diskgroup command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop diskgroup -g diskgroup_name [-n node_list] [-f]

Table A-143 srvctl stop diskgroup Options

Option
Description

-g diskgroup_name

The Oracle ASM disk group name

-n node_list

Comma-delimited list of node names on which to stop the disk group

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-f

This option does not stop the databases that depend on the disk group you are stopping, but instead performs a forceful dismount that may cause those databases to fail

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop diskgroup -g diskgroup1 -n mynode1,mynode2 -f

srvctl stop filesystem

Stops the Oracle ACFS volume resource.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop filesystem command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop filesystem -d volume_device_name [-n node_name] [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-144 srvctl stop filesystem Options

Option
Description

-d volume_device_name

The Oracle ACFS volume device name

-n node_name

The name of a node

If you do not specify this option, then the utility stops the volume resource on all active nodes in the cluster.

-f

This option stops the file system and also stops any databases or other resources that depend on this file system.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop filesystem -d /dev/asm/d1volume293 -f

srvctl stop gns

Stops GNS for the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop gns command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop gns [-n node_name [-v] [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-145 srvctl stop gns Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of a node on which GNS is running

-v

Verbose output

-f

Force stop

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop gns

srvctl stop home

Stops all the Oracle Restart-managed or Oracle Clusterware-managed resources on the specified Oracle home.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop home command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop home -o Oracle_home -s state_file [-t stop_options]
                 [-n node_name] [-f]

Table A-146 srvctl stop home Options

Option
Description

-o Oracle_home

The path to the Oracle home for which you want to start the Oracle Restart or Oracle Clusterware-managed resources

-s state_file

The path name where you want the state file to be written.

-t stop_options

Shutdown options for the database, such as NORMAL, TRANSACTIONAL, IMMEDIATE, or ABORT

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about shutdown options

-n node_name

The name of the node where the Oracle home resides.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-f

Stop the resources even if errors are reported.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop -o /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/db_1 -s ~/state.txt

srvctl stop instance

Stops instances and stops any services running on specified instances, unless you specify the -f option. If you specify -f, then the services fail over to an available instance when the instance stops.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop instance command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop instance -d db_unique_name {[-n node_name]|[-i "instance_name_list"]}
     [-o stop_options] [-f]

In Windows, you must enclose the list of comma-delimited instance names in double quotation marks ("").

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC.

If you run this command on an Oracle RAC One Node database, then the command returns an error instructing you to use the database noun, instead.

Table A-147 srvctl stop instance Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-n node_name

The name of a single node

Note: Use this option for policy-managed databases.

-i "instance_name"

Comma-delimited instance names enclosed in double quotation marks

Note: Use this option for administrator-managed databases.

-o stop_options

Options for shutdown command, such as NORMAL, TRANSACTIONAL LOCAL, IMMEDIATE, or ABORT

See Also: SQL*Plus User's Guide and Reference for more information about shutdown options

-f

This option fails the running services over to another instance.

Example

An example of stopping an instance in a policy-managed database is:

$ srvctl stop instance -d crm -n node1

An example of stopping an instance in an administrator-managed database is:

$ srvctl stop instance -d crm -i crm1

srvctl stop listener

Stops the default listener on the specified node_name, or the listeners represented in a given list of listener names, that are registered with Oracle Clusterware on the given node.

This command can also be used to stop a listener on a noncluster database from the noncluster database home. SRVCTL does not accept the -n option, however, when run from a noncluster database home.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop listener [-n node_name] [-l listener_name_list] [-f]

Table A-148 srvctl stop listener Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

The name of a single node on which a particular listener runs.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-l listener_name

The name of the listener you want to stop.

If you do not specify this option, then the listener name defaults to LISTENER.

-f

Force stop

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop listener -n mynode1

srvctl stop nodeapps

Stops node-level applications on a node in the cluster.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop nodeapps command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop nodeapps [-n node_name] [-g] [-r] [-f] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-149 srvctl stop nodeapps Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

Node name

If you do not specify this option, then the utility stops the nodeapps on all active nodes in the cluster.

-g

Stops GSD, only

-r

Relocate VIP

Note: If you specify this option, then you must also specify the -n node_name option.

-f

Force stop

-v

Display verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop nodeapps

srvctl stop oc4j

Stops the OC4J instance.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop oc4j command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop oc4j [-f] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-150 srvctl stop oc4j Options

Option
Description

-f

Force stop of the SCAN Listener.

-v

Display verbose output

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop oc4j -f -v

srvctl stop ons

Stops the Oracle Notification Service daemon.

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Restart.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop ons command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop ons [-v]

The only option for this command is the -v option, which specifies that verbose output should be displayed.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop ons -v

srvctl stop scan

Stops all SCAN VIPs, by default, or a specific SCAN VIP identified by ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop scan command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop scan [-i ordinal_number] [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-151 srvctl stop scan Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

An ordinal number that identifies which SCAN VIP you want to stop. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility stops all the SCAN VIPs.

-f

Force stop of the SCAN VIP.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop scan -i 1

srvctl stop scan_listener

Stops all SCAN listeners, by default, or a specific listener identified by ordinal_number.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl start scan_listener command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop scan_listener [-i ordinal_number] [-f]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-152 srvctl stop scan_listener Options

Option
Description

-i ordinal_number

An ordinal number that identifies which SCAN listener you want to stop. The range of values you can specify for this option is 1 to 3.

If you do not specify this option, then the utility stops all the SCAN listeners.

-f

Force stop of the SCAN listener.

Example

An example of this command is:

$ srvctl stop scan_listener -i 1

srvctl stop service

Stops one or more services globally across the cluster database, or on the specified instance.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop service command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop service -d db_unique_name [-s "service_name_list"
     [-n node_name | -i instance_name] [-f]

In Windows, you must enclose the list of comma-delimited service names in double quotation marks ("").

Table A-153 srvctl stop service Options

Option
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-s service_name_list

Comma-delimited list of service names enclosed in double quotation marks ("").

If you do not provide a service name list, then SRVCTL stops all services on the database.

-n node_name

The name of the node on which the services should be stopped. Use this option for policy-managed databases.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-i instance_name

The name of the instance for which the services should be stopped. Use this option for administrator-managed databases.

Note: This option is available only with Oracle Clusterware.

-f

Force SRVCTL to stop the service; this causes SRVCTL to disconnect all of the sessions transactionally, requiring the sessions using the service to reconnect and then connect to another instance.

Note: If you do not specify the -f option, then sessions already connected to this service stay connected, but new sessions cannot be established to the service.

Examples

The following example stops a service globally across a cluster database:

$ srvctl stop service -d crm -s crm

The following example stops a service on a specified instance:

$ srvctl stop  service -d crm -s crm -i crm2

srvctl stop vip

Stops a specific VIP or all VIPs on a specific node, including any VIPs that were relocated due to a failover.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl stop vip command with the following syntax:

srvctl stop vip {-n node_name | -i vip_name} [-r] [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-154 srvctl stop vip Options

Option
Description

-n node_name

This option stops all VIPs on a specific node, including failed-over VIPs

-i vip_name

This option stops a specific VIP

-r

Relocate VIP

Note: You must use the -n node_name option with the -r option.

-v

Verbose output

Example

To stop all the VIPs on mynode1, including any failed-over VIPS, use the following command:

$ srvctl stop vip -n mynode1 -v

unsetenv

The unsetenv command unsets values for the environment in the configuration file. It allows users to administer environment configuration for the objects.

Table A-155 srvctl unsetenv Command Summary

Command
Description

srvctl unsetenv asm

Unsets the value for one or more Oracle ASM environment variables

srvctl unsetenv database

Unsets the value for one or more cluster database environment variables

srvctl unsetenv listener

Unsets the value for one or more listener environment variables.

srvctl unsetenv nodeapps

Unsets the value for one or more node application environment variables

srvctl unsetenv vip

Unsets the value for one or more VIP environment variables

srvctl unsetenv asm

Unsets the Oracle ASM environment configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl unsetenv asm command as follows:

srvctl unsetenv asm -t "name_list"

Table A-156 srvctl unsetenv asm Options

Options
Description

-t "name_list"

Comma-delimited list of the names of environment variables enclosed in double quotation marks ("")

Example

The following example unsets the environment configuration for an Oracle ASM environment variable:

$ srvctl unsetenv asm -t CLASSPATH

srvctl unsetenv database

Unsets the cluster database environment configurations.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl unsetenv database command as follows:

srvctl unsetenv database -d db_unique_name -t "name_list"

Table A-157 srvctl unsetenv database Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-t "name_list"

Names of environment variables

Example

The following example unsets the environment configuration for a cluster database environment variable:

$ srvctl unsetenv database -d crm -t CLASSPATH

srvctl unsetenv listener

Unsets the environment configuration for a listener.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl unsetenv listener command as follows:

srvctl unsetenv listener [-l listener_name] -t "name_list"

Table A-158 srvctl unsetenv listener Options

Options
Description

-l listener_name

Name of the listener.

If you do not specify this option, then the name of the listener defaults to LISTENER.

-t "name_list"

Names of environment variables

Example

The following example unsets the environment configuration for the node applications:

$ srvctl unsetenv listener -t "TNS_ADMIN"

srvctl unsetenv nodeapps

Unsets the environment configuration for the node applications.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl unsetenv nodeapps command as follows:

srvctl unsetenv nodeapps -t "name_list" [-v]

Note:

This command is only available with Oracle Clusterware.

Table A-159 srvctl unsetenv nodeapps Options

Options
Description

-t "name_list"

Names and values of environment variables

-v

Display verbose output

Example

The following example unsets the environment configuration for the node applications:

$ srvctl unsetenv nodeapps -t "test_var1,test_var2"

srvctl unsetenv vip

Unsets the environment configuration for the specified cluster VIP.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl unsetenv vip command as follows:

srvctl unsetenv vip -i vip_name -t "name_list" [-v]

Table A-160 srvctl unsetenv vip Options

Options
Description

-i vip_name

Name of the cluster VIP

-t "name_list"

Comma-delimited list of the names of environment variables

-v

Verbose output

Example

The following example unsets the CLASSPATH environment variable for a cluster VIP:

$ srvctl unsetenv vip -i crm2-vip -t CLASSPATH

upgrade

Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2), the upgrade command upgrades the configuration to the version of the software on which it is running.

srvctl upgrade database

The srvctl upgrade database command upgrades the configuration of a database and all of its services to the version of the database home from where this command is run.

Syntax and Options

Use the srvctl upgrade database command as follows:

srvctl upgrade database -d db_unique_name -o Oracle_home

Table A-161 srvctl upgrade database Options

Options
Description

-d db_unique_name

Unique name for the database

-o Oracle_home

The path to the ORACLE_HOME

B Troubleshooting Oracle RAC

This appendix explains how diagnose problems for Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) components using trace and log files. This section includes the following topics:

Where to Find Files for Analyzing Errors

Managing Diagnostic Data in Oracle RAC

Using Instance-Specific Alert Files in Oracle RAC

Enabling Tracing for Java-Based Tools and Utilities in Oracle RAC

Resolving Pending Shutdown Issues

How to Determine If Oracle RAC Instances Are Using the Private Network

Note:

Trace and log files, similar to those generated for Oracle Database with Oracle RAC, are also available for the Oracle Clusterware components. For Oracle Clusterware, Oracle Database stores these under a unified directory log structure.

See the Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about troubleshooting Oracle Clusterware.

Where to Find Files for Analyzing Errors

Oracle Database records information about important events that occur in your Oracle RAC environment in trace files. The trace files for Oracle RAC are the same as those in noncluster Oracle databases. As a best practice, monitor and back up trace files regularly for all instances to preserve their content for future troubleshooting.

Information about ORA-600 errors appear in the alert_SID.log file for each instance where SID is the instance identifier.

The alert log and all trace files for background and server processes are written to the Automatic Diagnostic Repository, the location of which you can specify with the DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter. For example:

diagnostic_dest=/oracle/11.1/diag/rdbms/rac/RAC2/trace

Oracle Database creates a different trace file for each background thread. Oracle RAC background threads use trace files to record database operations and database errors. These trace logs help troubleshoot and also enable Oracle Support to more efficiently debug cluster database configuration problems. The names of trace files are operating system specific, but each file usually includes the name of the process writing the file (such as LGWR and RECO). For Linux, UNIX, and Windows systems, trace files for the background processes are named SID_process name_process identifier.trc.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide and Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about monitoring errors and alerts in trace files

Trace files are also created for user processes if you set the DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter. User process trace file names have the format SID_ora_process_identifier/thread_identifier.trc, where process_identifier is a 5-digit number indicating the process identifier (PID) on Linux and UNIX systems, and thread_identifier is the thread identifier on Windows systems.

Managing Diagnostic Data in Oracle RAC

Problems that span Oracle RAC instances can be the most difficult types of problems to diagnose. For example, you may need to correlate the trace files from across multiple instances, and merge the trace files. Oracle Database 11g includes an advanced fault diagnosability infrastructure for collecting and managing diagnostic data, and uses the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR) file-based repository for storing the database diagnostic data. When you create the ADR base on a shared disk, you can place ADR homes for all instances of the same Oracle RAC database under the same ADR Base. With shared storage:

You can use the ADRCI command-line tool to correlate diagnostics across all instances.

ADRCI is a command-line tool that enables you to view diagnostic data in the ADR and package incident and problem information into a zip file for transmission to Oracle Support. The diagnostic data includes incident and problem descriptions, trace files, dumps, health monitor reports, alert log entries, and so on.

See Also:

Oracle Database Utilities for information about using ADRCI

You can use the Data Recovery Advisor to help diagnose and repair corrupted data blocks, corrupted or missing files, and other data failures.

The Data Recovery Advisor is an Oracle Database infrastructure that automatically diagnoses persistent data failures, presents repair options, and repairs problems at your request.

See Also:

Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information about managing diagnostic data

Using Instance-Specific Alert Files in Oracle RAC

Each instance in an Oracle RAC database has one alert file. The alert file for each instance, alert.SID.log, contains important information about error messages and exceptions that occur during database operations. Information is appended to the alert file each time you start the instance. All process threads can write to the alert file for the instance.

The alert_SID.log file is in the directory specified by the DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter.

Enabling Tracing for Java-Based Tools and Utilities in Oracle RAC

All Java-based tools and utilities that are available in Oracle RAC are called by executing scripts of the same name as the tool or utility. This includes the Cluster Verification Utility (CVU), Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA), the Net Configuration Assistant (NETCA), Server Control Utility (SRVCTL), and the Global Services Daemon (GSD). For example to run DBCA, enter the command dbca.

By default, Oracle Database enables traces for DBCA and the Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA). For the CVU, GSDCTL, and SRVCTL, you can set the SRVM_TRACE environment variable to TRUE to make Oracle Database generate traces. Oracle Database writes traces to log files. For example, Oracle Database writes traces to log files in Oracle home/cfgtoollogs/dbca and Oracle home/cfgtoollogs/dbua for DBCA and DBUA, respectively.

Resolving Pending Shutdown Issues

In some situations a SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE may be pending and Oracle Database will not quickly respond to repeated shutdown requests. This is because Oracle Clusterware may be processing a current shutdown request. In such cases, issue a SHUTDOWN ABORT using SQL*Plus for subsequent shutdown requests.

How to Determine If Oracle RAC Instances Are Using the Private Network

This section describes how to manually determine if Oracle RAC instances are using the private network. However, the best practice for this task is to use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control graphical user interfaces (GUI) to check the interconnect. Also, see the Oracle Database 2 Day + Real Application Clusters Guide for more information about monitoring Oracle RAC using Oracle Enterprise Manager.

With most network protocols, you can issue the oradebug ipc command to see the interconnects that the database is using. For example:

oradebug setmypid
oradebug ipc

These commands dump a trace file to the location specified by the DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter. The output may look similar to the following:

SSKGXPT 0x1a2932c flags SSKGXPT_READPENDING     info for network 0
        socket no 10    IP 172.16.193.1         UDP 43749
        sflags SSKGXPT_WRITESSKGXPT_UP  info for network 1
        socket no 0     IP 0.0.0.0      UDP 0...

In the example, you can see the database is using IP 172.16.193.1 with a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) protocol. Also, you can issue the oradebug tracefile_name command to print the trace location where the output is written.

Additionally, you can query the V$CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS view to see information about the private interconnect. For example:

SQL> SELECT * FROM V$CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS;

NAME  IP_ADDRESS          IS_  SOURCE
----- -------------------------- ---  -------------------------------
eth0  138.2.236.114         NO  Oracle Cluster Repository

Glossary

Automatic Workload Repository (AWR)

A built-in repository that exists in every Oracle database. At regular intervals, Oracle Database makes a snapshot of all of its vital statistics and workload information and stores them in the AWR.

administrator-managed database

A database that you specifically define on which servers it can run, and where services can run within the database.

cache coherency

The synchronization of data in multiple caches so that reading a memory location through any cache will return the most recent data written to that location through any other cache. Sometimes called cache consistency.

Cache Fusion

A diskless cache coherency mechanism in Oracle RAC that provides copies of blocks directly from a holding instance's memory cache to a requesting instance's memory cache.

cardinality

The number of database instances you want running during normal operations.

cluster

Multiple interconnected computers or servers that appear as if they are one server to end users and applications.

cluster file system

A distributed file system that is a cluster of servers that collaborate to provide high performance service to their clients. Cluster file system software deals with distributing requests to storage cluster components.

cluster database

The generic term for a Oracle RAC database.

Cluster Ready Services Daemon (CRSD)

The primary Oracle Clusterware process that performs high availability recovery and management operations, such as maintaining OCR. Also manages application resources and runs as root user (or by a user in the admin group on Mac OS X-based systems) and restarts automatically upon failure.

Cluster Synchronization Services (CSS)

An Oracle Clusterware component that discovers and tracks the membership state of each node by providing a common view of membership across the cluster. CSS also monitors process health, specifically the health of the database instance. The Global Enqueue Service Monitor (LMON), a background process that monitors the health of the cluster database environment and registers and de-registers from CSS. See also, OCSSD.

Cluster Time Synchronization Service

A time synchronization mechanism that ensures that all internal clocks of all nodes in a cluster are synchronized.

Cluster Verification Utility (CVU)

A tool that verifies a wide range of Oracle RAC components such as shared storage devices, networking configurations, system requirements, Oracle Clusterware, groups, and users.

Distributed Transaction Processing (DTP)

The paradigm of distributed transactions, including both XA-type externally coordinated transactions, and distributed-SQL-type (database links in Oracle) internally coordinated transactions.

Event Manager (EVM)

The background process that publishes Oracle Clusterware events. EVM scans the designated callout directory and runs all scripts in that directory when an event occurs.

Event Manager Daemon (EVMD)

A Linux or UNIX event manager daemon that starts the racgevt process to manage callouts.

extended distance cluster

A cluster where the nodes in the cluster are separated by greater distances from two buildings across the street, to across a campus or across a city. For availability reasons, the data needs to be located at both sites, and therefore one needs to look at alternatives for mirroring the storage.

failure group

A failure group is a subset of the disks in a disk group, which could fail at the same time because they share hardware. Failure groups are used to store mirror copies of data.

Fast Application Notification (FAN)

Applications can use FAN to enable rapid failure detection, balancing of connection pools after failures, and re-balancing of connection pools when failed components are repaired. The FAN notification process uses system events that Oracle Database publishes when cluster servers become unreachable or if network interfaces fail.

Fast Connection Failover

Fast Connection Failover provides high availability to FAN integrated clients, such as clients that use JDBC, OCI, or ODP.NET. If you configure the client to use fast connection failover, then the client automatically subscribes to FAN events and can react to database UP and DOWN events. In response, Oracle Database gives the client a connection to an active instance that provides the requested database service.

forced disk write

In Oracle RAC, a particular data block can only be modified by one instance at a time. If one instance modifies a data block that another instance needs, then whether a forced disk write is required depends on the type of request submitted for the block.

General Parallel File System (GPFS)

General Parallel File System (GPFS) is a shared-disk IBM file system product that provides data access from all of the nodes in a homogenous or heterogeneous cluster.

Global Cache Service (GCS)

Process that implement Cache Fusion. It maintains the block mode for blocks in the global role. It is responsible for block transfers between instances. The Global Cache Service employs various background processes such as the Global Cache Service Processes (LMSn) and Global Enqueue Service Daemon (LMD).

Global Cache Service Processes (LMSn)

Processes that manage remote messages. Oracle RAC provides for up to 10 Global Cache Service Processes.

Global Cache Service (GCS) resources

Global resources that coordinate access to data blocks in the buffer caches of multiple Oracle RAC instances to provide cache coherency.

global database name

The full name of the database that uniquely identifies it from any other database. The global database name is of the form database_name.database_domain—for example: OP.US.FOO.COM

global dynamic performance views (GV$)

Dynamic performance views storing information about all open instances in an Oracle RAC cluster. (Not only the local instance.) In contrast, standard dynamic performance views (V$) only store information about the local instance.

Global Enqueue Service (GES)

A service that coordinates enqueues that are shared globally.

Global Enqueue Service Daemon (LMD)

The resource agent process that manages requests for resources to control access to blocks. The LMD process also handles deadlock detection and remote resource requests. Remote resource requests are requests originating from another instance.

Global Enqueue Service Monitor (LMON)

The background LMON process monitors the entire cluster to manage global resources. LMON manages instance deaths and the associated recovery for any failed instance. In particular, LMON handles the part of recovery associated with global resources. LMON-provided services are also known as Cluster Group Services.

Global Services Daemon (GSD)

A component that receives requests from SRVCTL to execute administrative job tasks, such as startup or shutdown. The command is executed locally on each node, and the results are returned to SRVCTL. GSD is installed on the nodes by default.

Grid Infrastructure

The software that provides the infrastructure for an enterprise grid architecture. In a cluster this software includes Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM). For a standalone server, this software includes Oracle Restart and Oracle ASM. Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) combines these infrastructure products into one software installation called the Grid Infrastructure home (Grid_home).

Grid Plug and Play Daemon (GPNPD

This process provides access to the Grid Plug and Play profile, and coordinates updates to the profile among the nodes of the cluster to ensure that all of the nodes node have the most recent profile.

High Availability Cluster Multi-Processing (HACMP)

High Availability Cluster Multi-Processing is an IBM AIX-based high availability cluster software product. HACMP has two major components: high availability (HA) and cluster multi-processing (CMP).

high availability

Systems with redundant components that provide consistent and uninterrupted service, even in the event of hardware or software failures. This involves some degree of redundancy.

instance

For an Oracle RAC database, each node in a cluster usually has one instance of the running Oracle software that references the database. When a database is started, Oracle Database allocates a memory area called the System Global Area (SGA) and starts one or more Oracle Database processes. This combination of the SGA and the Oracle Database processes is called an instance. Each instance has unique Oracle System Identifier (SID), instance name, rollback segments, and thread ID.

instance membership recovery

The method used by Oracle RAC guaranteeing that all cluster members are functional or active. instance membership recovery polls and arbitrates the membership. Any members that do not show a heartbeat by way of the control file or who do not respond to periodic activity inquiry messages are presumed terminated.

instance name

Represents the name of the instance and is used to uniquely identify a specific instance when clusters share common services names. The instance name is identified by the INSTANCE_NAME parameter in the instance initialization file, initsid.ora. The instance name is the same as the Oracle System Identifier (SID).

instance number

A number that associates extents of data blocks with particular instances. The instance number enables you to start up an instance and ensure that it uses the extents allocated to it for inserts and updates. This will ensure that it does not use space allocated for other instances.

interconnect

The communication link between nodes.

Logical Volume Manager (LVM)

A generic term that describes Linux or UNIX subsystems for online disk storage management.

Interprocess Communication (IPC)

A high-speed operating system-dependent transport component. The IPC transfers messages between instances on different nodes. Also referred to as the interconnect.

Master Boot Record (MBR)

A program that executes when a computer starts. Typically, the MBR resides on the first sector of a local hard disk. The program begins the startup process by examining the partition table to determine which partition to use for starting the system. The MBR program then transfers control to the boot sector of the startup partition, which continues the startup process.

metric

The rate of change in a cumulative statistic.

Network Attached Storage (NAS)

Storage that is attached to a server by way of a network.

Network Time Protocol (NTP)

An Internet standard protocol, built on top of TCP/IP, that ensures the accurate synchronization to the millisecond of the computer clock times in a network of computers.

Network Interface Card (NIC)

A card that you insert into a computer to connect the computer to a network.

node

A node is a computer system on which Oracle RAC and Oracle Clusterware software are installed.

Object Link Manager (OLM)

The Oracle interface that maps symbolic links to logical drives and displays them in the OLM graphical user interface.

OCSSD

A Linux or UNIX process that manages the Cluster Synchronization Services (CSS) daemon. Manages cluster node membership and runs as oracle user; failure of this process results in cluster restart.

Oracle Cluster File Systems

Oracle offers two cluster file systems, OCFS for Windows and OCFS2 for Linux. While OCFS for Windows is a proprietary file system, the source for OCFS2 for Linux is available to all under GNUs' General Public License (GPL). The two file systems are not compatible.

Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR)

The Oracle RAC configuration information repository that manages information about the cluster node list and instance-to-node mapping information. OCR also manages information about Oracle Clusterware resource profiles for customized applications.

Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant (EMCA)

A graphical user interface-based configuration assistant that you can use to configure Oracle Enterprise Manager features.

Oracle Grid Naming Service Daemon (GNSD)

The Oracle Grid Naming Service is a gateway between the cluster mDNS and external DNS servers. The gnsd process performs name resolution within the cluster.

Oracle High Availability Services Daemon (OHASD)

This process anchors the lower part of the Oracle Clusterware stack, which consists of processes that facilitate cluster operations.

Oracle Interface Configuration Tool (OIFCFG)

A command-line tool for both noncluster Oracle databases and Oracle RAC databases that enables you to allocate and de-allocate network interfaces to components, direct components to use specific network interfaces, and retrieve component configuration information. The Oracle Universal Installer also uses OIFCFG to identify and display available interfaces.

Oracle Managed Files

A service that automates naming, location, creation, and deletion of database files such as control files, redo log files, data files and others, based on a few initialization parameters. You can use Oracle Managed Files on top of a traditional file system supported by the host operating system, for example, VxFS or ODM. It can simplify many aspects of the database administration by eliminating the need to devise your own policies for such details.

Oracle Notification Service

A publish and subscribe service for communicating information about all FAN events.

Oracle Clusterware

This is clusterware that is provided by Oracle to manage cluster database processing including node membership, group services, global resource management, and high availability functions.

Oracle Universal Installer

A tool to install Oracle Clusterware, the Oracle relational database software, and the Oracle RAC software. You can also use the Oracle Universal Installer to launch the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA).

policy-managed database

A database that you define as a cluster resource. Management of the database is defined by how you configure the resource, including on which servers the database can run and how many instances of the database are necessary to support the expected workload.

raw device

A disk drive that does not yet have a file system set up. Raw devices are used for Oracle RAC because they enable the sharing of disks. See also raw partition.

raw partition

A portion of a physical disk that is accessed at the lowest possible level. A raw partition is created when an extended partition is created and logical partitions are assigned to it without any formatting. Once formatting is complete, it is called a cooked partition. See also raw device.

Recovery Manager (RMAN)

An Oracle tool that enables you to back up, copy, restore, and recover data files, control files, and archived redo logs. It is included with the Oracle server and does not require separate installation. You can run RMAN as a command line utility from the operating system (O/S) prompt or use the GUI-based Oracle Enterprise Manager Backup Manager.

result cache

A result cache is an area of memory, either in the SGA or client application memory, that stores the result of a database query or query block for reuse. The cached rows are shared across statements and sessions unless they become stale.

Runtime Connection Load Balancing

Enables Oracle Database to make intelligent service connection decisions based on the connection pool that provides the optimal service for the requested application based on current workloads. The JDBC, ODP.NET, and OCI clients are integrated with the load balancing advisory; you can use any of these client environments to provide runtime connection load balancing.

scalability

The ability to add additional nodes to Oracle RAC applications and achieve markedly improved scale-up and speed-up.

Secure Shell (SSH)

A program for logging into a remote computer over a network. You can use SSH to execute commands on a remote system and to move files from one system to another. SSH uses strong authentication and secure communications over insecure channels.

Server Control Utility (SRVCTL)

Server Management (SRVM) comprises the components required to operate Oracle Enterprise Manager in Oracle RAC. The SRVM components, such as the Intelligent Agent, Global Services Daemon, and SRVCTL, enable you to manage cluster databases running in heterogeneous environments through an open client/server architecture using Oracle Enterprise Manager.

server

A computer system that has no Oracle software installed upon it.

server group

A logical partition of nodes in a cluster into a group that hosts applications, databases, or both. Server groups can be members of other server groups.

service level

A measure of the performance of a system.

services

Entities that you can define in Oracle RAC databases that enable you to group database workloads and route work to the optimal instances that are assigned to offer the service.

shared everything

A database architecture in which all instances share access to all of the data.

single client access name (SCAN)

Oracle Database 11g database clients use SCAN to connect to the database. SCAN can resolve to multiple IP addresses, reflecting multiple listeners in the cluster handling public client connections.

singleton services

Services that run on only one instance at any one time. By defining the Distributed Transaction Property (DTP) property of a service, you can force the service to be a singleton service.

split brain syndrome

Where two or more instances attempt to control a cluster database. In a two-node environment, for example, one instance attempts to manage updates simultaneously while the other instance attempts to manage updates.

system identifier (SID)

The Oracle system identifier (SID) identifies a specific instance of the running Oracle software. For an Oracle RAC database, each node within the cluster has an instance referencing the database.

transparent application failover (TAF)

A runtime failover for high-availability environments, such as Oracle RAC and Oracle RAC Guard, TAF refers to the failover and re-establishment of application-to-service connections. It enables client applications to automatically reconnect to the database if the connection fails, and optionally resume a SELECT statement that was in progress. This reconnect happens automatically from within the Oracle Call Interface library.

voting disk

A file that manages information about node membership.

wallet

A wallet is a data structure used to store and manage security credentials for an individual entity.

Index

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X 

Symbols

$ORACLE_HOME/root.sh script, 8.3

A

abnormal instance termination, 3.2.1

ACMS

Atomic Controlfile to Memory Service, 1.3.4

Active Session History, Oracle RAC, 13.8.1

Active Session History, Top Cluster Events, 13.8.2

Active Session History, Top Remote Instance, 13.8.3

active sessions, 13.8.1

ACTIVE_INSTANCE_COUNT initialization parameter, 3.6

adding nodes to an existing cluster, 9.1

adding Oracle RAC to nodes on Linux and UNIX, 10.1

adding Oracle RAC to nodes on Windows, 11.1

ADDM

global monitoring, 13.7

see Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor

ADDM for Oracle Real Application Clusters mode, 13.7

administering

services, 5.9.1

services with SRVCTL, 5.9.3

administering instances

with Server Management, 3.1

administering Oracle Enterprise Manager jobs, 3.11.3.1

administering services

Oracle Enterprise Manager, 5.9

SRVCTL, 5.9

administrative tools

overview and concepts, 1.6.2

SYSASM privilege, 3.2.3

administrator-managed database instances

adding, 11.1.1

administrator-managed databases, 3.1.1, 5.3.2.6

AVAILABLE instances for services, 5.3.2.6

converting to policy-managed, 3.7

defined, 1.6.1

PREFERRED instances for services, 5.3.2.6

ADRCI

ADR Command-Line Interpreter, B.2

Advanced Queuing

and FAN, 5.5.1

Advisor Central in Oracle Enterprise Manager, 13.7

aggregates

by instances, 13.1.1.3

by services, 13.1.1.3

by waits, 13.1.1.3

alert administration

Oracle Enterprise Manager, 3.11.3.2

alert blackouts

Oracle Enterprise Manager, 3.11.3.3

alert logs, B.3

managing, B.1

ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT statement, 3.1.3.2

ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG statement, 3.1.3.2

INSTANCE option, 3.1.3.2

ALTER SYSTEM CHECKPOINT LOCAL statement, 3.1.3.2

ALTER SYSTEM CHECKPOINT statement

global versus local, 3.1.3.2

specifying an instance, 3.1.3.2

ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION statement

terminating a session on a specific instance, 3.4

ALTER SYSTEM QUIESCE RESTRICTED statement

quiescing a noncluster database, 3.8

ALTER SYSTEM statement

CHECKPOINT clause, 3.1.3.2

ALTER SYSTEM SWITCH LOGFILE statement, 3.1.3.2, 3.1.3.2

applications

consolidating multiple in a single database, 12.1.3

highly available, 12.1

scalability, 12.1.4

spanning XA transactions across Oracle RAC instances, 5.8.1

using pre-created database sessions, 5.7.5

ARCHIVE LOG command

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

ARCHIVE_LAG_TARGET initialization parameter, 3.6.3

archived redo log files

applying in parallel, 7.5.1

file format and destination, 6.8

log sequence number, 6.8

archiver process

monitor, 6.10

archiving mode

changing, 6.2

ASH reports, 13.8.1

asm

SRVCTL object name, A

ASM_PREFERRED_READ_FAILURE_GROUPS initialization parameter, 2.6.4, 3.6

Atomic Controlfile to Memory Service (ACMS), 1.3.4

Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor, 13.9.2, 13.9.3.2, 13.9.5

Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM), 1.6.3

analyzing AWR data, 13.7

DBMS_ADDM PL/SQL package, 13.7

DBMS_ADVISOR PL/SQL package, 13.7

Global ADDM mode, 13.7

Local ADDM mode, 13.7

Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitoring (ADDM), 13.7

Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR), B.2

ADRCI command-line interpreter, B.2

automatic load balancing

configuring RMAN channels for multiple instances, 6.6

AUTOMATIC management policy, 3.2.4

Automatic Performance Diagnostics (AWR)

monitor performance statistics, 13.7

automatic segment space management (ASSM), 12.3.1

tablespace use in Oracle RAC, 12.3.1

automatic undo management

tablespace use in Oracle RAC, 12.3.1

automatic workload management

concepts, 1.4, 5.3.1

description, 5.1

manual rebalancing, 5.2

Automatic Workload Repository, 5.1, 5.2, 5.2, 5.10, 13.9.3.2

Automatic Workload Repository (AWR), 13.7, 13.9

monitoring performance, 5.3.3.3

snapshots, 13.7

AVAILABLE instances

for services, 5.3.2.6

Average Active Sessions chart

performance monitoring, 13.1.1.3

AWR

see Automatic Workload Repository

B

background processes

Oracle RAC, 1.3.4

SMON, 3.2.1, 7.3.1

background thread trace files, B.1

backups

server parameter file, 3.5.3

bandwidth

interconnect, 13.2

best practices

deploying Oracle RAC for high availability, 12.1.2

blackouts

defining, 3.11.3.3

block mode conversions

statistics for, 13.6

blocks

associated with instance, 7.3.1

buffer cache, 1.3.3

instance recovery, 7.3.1

buffer sizes

interprocess communication (IPC)

adjusting for Oracle RAC, 13.3

C

cache coherency, 13.9.3.1

Cache Fusion, 1.3.3, 12.3.5

and e-commerce applications, 12.3.5

overview, 1.6.4

Cache Fusion performance, 13.2

cache fusion transfers, 13.9.4

callouts

how they are run, 5.5.3

capacity

increasing, 12.1.4

cardinality, 3.1.1

catclustdb.sql script, 1.6.3

CATCLUST.SQL script

using to create views for Oracle RAC, 13.5

changing the configuration of all services, 4.3.1

channels

configure one RMAN channel for each Oracle RAC instance, 6.6.2

configuring during crosscheck or restore operations, 6.5

configuring for RMAN, 6.6

chart

Global Cache Block Access Latency, 13.1.1.3

charts

Average Active Sessions, 13.1.1.3

Cluster Host Load Average, 13.1.1.3

Database Throughput, 13.1.1.3

checking the interconnect, B.6

CLB_GOAL_SHORT, 5.5.1

client

application environments and FAN, 5.7

client connections with SCAN, 3.1.1

clients

integrated for FAN events, 5.5.1

JDBC Thin Driver, 5.7.2

JDBC/OCI, 5.7.2.2

client-side

load balancing, 5.4

client-side load balancing, 5.4.1

clone.pl, 8.4

clone.pl script

cloning parameters, 8.3

environment variables, 8.3

cloning, 1.5.3, 8, 8.2

deployment phase, 8.3

log files, 8.4

parameters passed to the clone.pl script, 8.3

preparation phase, 8.2

running $ORACLE_HOME/root.sh script, 8.3

setting ORACLE_BASE, 8.3

setting ORACLE_HOME, 8.3

setting ORACLE_HOME_NAME, 8.3

cloning log files, 8.4

cluster

definition of, 1.1

cluster cache coherency, 13.1.1.2

Cluster Database Performance page

Top Activity drill down menu, 13.1.1.3

cluster file system

archiving parameter settings, 6.9.1.2

archiving scenario, 6.9.1

restore, 7.2.1

storage in Oracle RAC, 2.1

Cluster Host Load Average page

cluster database performance, 13.1.1.3

cluster nodes name

in clone.pl script, 8.3

Cluster Verification Utility

overview and concepts, 1.6.2

CLUSTER_DATABASE initialization parameter, 3.6, 3.6.1

CLUSTER_DATABASE_INSTANCE initialization parameter, 3.6.1

CLUSTER_DATABASE_INSTANCES initialization parameter, 3.6

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS

parameter, 13.3

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS initialization parameter, 3.9.1

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter

examples, 3.9.2, 3.9.2

CLUSTER_NODE_NAME parameter

FAN, and matching database signature, 5.5.5

CLUSTER_NODES parameter

in clone.pl script, 8.3

clustered Oracle ASM

converting a noncluster Oracle ASM, 2.6.5

clusters

consolidating multiple databases in, 12.1.3

clusterware management solution, 1.2

CMAN session pools

and FAN, 5.7.1

cold backups, 3.8

command-line interpreter

ADR Command-Line Interpreter (ADRCI), B.2

committed data

instance failure, 7.3.1

communication protocols

verifying settings for, 13.2

compatibility

Oracle RAC and Oracle Database software, 1.5.1

COMPATIBLE initialization parameter, 3.6.1

configuring channels

during restore or crosscheck operations, 6.5

configuring preferred mirror read disks in extended clusters, 2.6.4

CONNECT command, 3.1.3.2

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

CONNECT SYS

example of, 3.2.3

connecting

to instances, 1.6.2, 3.1.3

connection load balancing

concepts, 1.4

introduction to, 5.1

long method, 5.4.3

short method, 5.4.3

connection pools

and FAN, 5.7.1

consistent blocks, 1.3.3

CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter, 3.6.1

converting a database from Oracle RAC One Node to Oracle RAC, 4.3.2

converting an Oracle RAC database with one instance to Oracle RAC One Node, 4.3.1

corrupted data blocks, B.2

CREATE PFILE

FROM MEMORY clause, 3.5

CREATE PFILE statement, 3.5.3

CREATE SPFILE

FROM MEMORY clause, 3.5

creating

server parameter files, 3.5

services, 5.9.1

SPFILE backups, 3.5.3

crosscheck operations

configuring channels during, 6.5

crosschecking on multiple nodes

RMAN backups, 6.5

CRS Administrator, 3.1.1

CRS resources

management of, 1.2

current blocks, 1.3.3

CVU

See Cluster Verification Utility

D

data dictionary

querying views, 13.5

Data Recovery Advisor, B.2

data security

wallet, 12.3.8.1

data warehouse

deploying applications for in Oracle RAC, 12.3.7

data warehouse systems, 12.3.7

database

creation, 1.5.2

services

singleton, 3.7

uniform, 3.7

SRVCTL object name, A

Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA), 1.5.2

adding and deleting instances in interactive mode

on Windows, 11.1.1.1

adding and deleting instances in silent mode

on Windows, 11.1.1.2

adding instances in interactive mode

on Linux and UNIX, 10.1.2.1

adding instances in silent mode

on Linux and UNIX, 10.1.2.2

cloning Oracle RAC instances, 8.3

creating views for Oracle Real Application Clusters, 13.5

Database Storage page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

deleting instances in interactive mode

on Linux and UNIX, 10.2.1.1

on Windows, 11.2.1.1

deleting instances in silent mode

on Linux and UNIX, 10.2.1.2

on Windows, 11.2.1.2

Instance Management page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

List of Cluster Databases page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

Operations page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

running the catclustdb.sql script, 1.6.3

Welcome page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

database instances

administrator managed

deleting, 10.2.1, 11.2.1

database resource, 3.1.1

Database Resource Manager, 3.8

database role, 3.2.4

database signatures

matching the FAN parameters, 5.5.5

database state, 3.2

Database Storage page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

Database Throughput page

performance monitoring, 13.1.1.3

DATABASE_UNIQUE_NAME parameter

FAN, and matching database signature, 5.5.5

databases

adding

Oracle RAC One Node, 4.2

administrator managed, 3.1.1, 5.3.2.6

consolidating multiple in a cluster, 12.1.3

controlling restarts, 3.10

Oracle RAC One Node

services on, 4.2

policy managed, 3.1.1, 5.3.2.7

scalability, 12.1.4

databases sessions

pre-created, 5.7.5

Datagram Protocol (UDP), 1.3.2

DB_BLOCK_SIZE initialization parameter, 3.6.1

DB_DOMAIN initialization parameter, 3.6.1

DB_FILES initialization parameter, 3.6.1

DB_NAME initialization parameter, 3.6, 3.6.1

DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST initialization parameter, 3.6.1, 7.6

DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE initialization parameter, 3.6.1

DB_UNIQUE_NAME initialization parameter, 3.6.1

DBCA

see Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA)

DDL statements, 12.3.2

default database service, 1.5.2, 3.6, 5.9.1

degree of parallelism (DOP), 12.3.7.1

deleting administrator-managed database instances, 10.2.1, 11.2.1

dependencies

and services, 5.3.3.1

deploying

Oracle Real Application Clusters environments, 1.6.1, 12

design

Oracle Real Application Clusters environments, 1.6.1, 12

diagnosing problems for Oracle RAC, B

diagnosing problems using ADR, B.2

DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter, B.1, B.3

diskgroup

SRVCTL object name, A

DISPATCHERS initialization parameter, 3.6

specifying a service with, 5.9.1

displaying IP addresses

with ifconfig, 3.9.2

with netstat, 3.9.2

distributed SQL transactions, 5.8.1

Distributed Transaction Processing (DTP), 12.3.4

distributed transactions, 12.3.4

directing to a single instance in the cluster, 5.8.2

services in Oracle RAC, 5.8.1

XA transactions span instances, 5.8.1

DML_LOCKS initialization parameter, 3.6.1

DTP Service., 5.8.2

DTP/XA transactions, 5.8.1

dynamic performance views, 13.9

creating, 13.5

GV$, 1.6.3

V$, 1.6.3

dynamic resource allocation

overview, 1.6.4

E

e-commerce

applications in Oracle RAC, 12.3.5

edition

services attribute, 5.3.2.3

ENCRYPTION_WALLET_LOCATION parameter, 12.3.8.1

Enterprise Manager

overview, 1.2

environment variables

passed to the clone.pl script, 8.3

setting with SRVCTL, 3.1.4

evaluating block transfers, 13.6

event notification

enabling, 5.7.5

examples

setting the CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS parameter, 3.9.2

extended distance cluster, 2.6.4

Oracle ASM preferred mirror read, 2.6.4

extended distance clusters

configuring preferred mirror read disks, 2.6.4

external transaction managers

OraMTS, 5.8.1

F

failure

instance, 7.3

multiple node, 7.3.2

node, 7.3.1

failure groups, 2.6.4

FAN events

enabling for JDBC, 5.7.2.2

Fast Application Notification (FAN), 5.5

and high availability events, 5.5.5

callouts definition, 5.5.6

callouts, how to use, 5.5.6

events, enabling for JDBC clients, 5.7.2

events, enabling for ODP.NET, 5.7.6

events, enabling for Oracle Call Interface, 5.7.4

events, enabling ODP.NET clients, 5.7.7

how events are published, 5.5.1

introduction, 5.1

overview, 5.5.1

parameters and matching database signatures, 5.5.5

uses, 5.5.1

Fast Connection Failover (FCF)

enabling JDBC clients, 5.7.2

enabling with thin and thick clients, 5.7.2.2

introduction to, 5.1

fault diagnosability, B.2

FCF

See Fast Connection Failover (FCF)

features, new, Preface

files

archived redo log files, 6.8

redo log, 6.8

filesystem

SRVCTL object name, A

FROM MEMORY clause

on CREATE PFILE or CREATE SPFILE, 3.5

G

GC_SERVER_PROCESSES initialization parameter

specifying the number of LMSn processes, 12.1.3

GCS protocol, 13.9.3.1

GCS_SERVER_PROCESSES initialization parameter, 3.6

Generic server pool, 3.1.1

GES

See global cache and enqueue service (GES)

global cache and enqueue service (GES), 13.9.1

Global Cache Block Access Latency chart

performance monitoring, 13.1.1.3

Global Cache Service (GCS), 1.3.3, 3.6

Global Cache Service Process (LMS), 1.3.4

Global Cache Service Processes (LMSn)

reducing the number of, 12.1.3

specifying the number of, 12.1.3

Global Cache Service statistics, 13.9.1, 13.9.3.1

GLOBAL clause

forcing a checkpoint, 3.1.3.2

Global Enqueue Service (GES), 1.3.3

Global Enqueue Service Daemon (LMD), 1.3.4

Global Enqueue Service Monitor (LMON), 1.3.4

Global Enqueue Service statistics, 13.9.1

global performance data

with ADDM, 13.7

Global Resource Directory (GRD), 1.3.3

Global Transaction Process (GTX0-j), 1.3.4

GLOBAL_TXN_PROCESSES initialization parameter, 5.8.1

goals

and the load balancing advisory, 5.6.1

for load balancing advisory, 5.6.2

Grid Naming Service (GNS)

SRVCTL object name, A

GTX0-j

Global Transaction Process, 1.3.4

GV$, 1.6.3

GV$ view, 13.4

GV$SESSION, 3.4, 3.4

H

hash partitioning

with Oracle RAC, 12.2

high availability

best practices, 12.1.2

for Oracle RAC Databases, 12.1

high availability framework

concepts, 1.4

introduction to, 5.1

home

SRVCTL object name, A

HOST command, 3.1.3.2

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

I

idle wait class, 13.8.1

Implicit Connection Cache, 5.7.2

indexes

sequence-based, 12.2

initdb_name.ora file

DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter, B.1

initialization parameters

cluster database issues regarding, 3.6

CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS, 3.9.1, 13.3

recommendations for using, 3.9.1

identical settings for on all instances, 3.6.3

RECOVERY_PARALLELISM, 7.5.2.1

settings for instances, 3.5

specific to Oracle RAC, 3.6

that must be identical on all instances, 3.6.1

that must be unique on all instances, 3.6.2

INST_ID column, 13.4

installation

introduction, 1.5

Oracle Real Application Clusters, 1.5.2

installations

performing multiple simultaneous cluster, 8

instance

SRVCTL object name, A

instance discovery

Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control, 3.11.1

Instance Enqueue Process (LCK0), 1.3.4

Instance Management page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

INSTANCE NAME initialization parameter, 3.6

INSTANCE option, 3.1.3.2

INSTANCE parameter

FAN, and matching database signature, 5.5.5

instance recovery, 3.2.1

INSTANCE_NAME initialization parameter, 3.6.2

INSTANCE_NUMBER initialization parameter, 3.6.2

INSTANCE_TYPE initialization parameter, 3.6.1

instances

aggregated for service performance, 13.1.1.3

cloning Oracle RAC, 8.3

effect of SQL*Plus commands on, 3.1.3.2

failure, 7.3.2

initialization parameter settings, 3.5

maximum number for Oracle RAC, 1.1

memory structures, 1.3.3

parallel processes, 5.3.3.4

private interconnect usage, B.6

recovery, 3.2.1, 7.3.1

recovery, abnormal shutdown, 3.2.1

recovery, multiple failures, 7.3.2

Server Management, 3.1

shutting down, 3.2.1

starting and stopping, 3.2

terminating session on, 3.4

verifying, 3.3, 3.3

verifying running, 3.3

instances failure

recovery from, 7.3

instead of Statspack, 1.6.3

interconnect

and performance, 13.3

and the Oracle RAC architecture, 1.1

protocols for Oracle Real Application Clusters, 13.2

verifying settings for, 13.2

interconnect bandwidth, 13.2

latency, 13.2

interconnect block transfer rates, 13.6

interconnect settings

verifying, 13.2

interconnects

alternatives to the private network, 3.9

private, B.6

Interconnects page

monitoring clusterware with Oracle Enterprise Manager, 13.1.1

monitoring Oracle Clusterware, 13.1.1.2

interprocess communication (IPC)

buffer sizes

adjusting, 13.3

IPC protocol, 13.2, 13.9.3.1

J

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) clients

Oracle Notification Service usage, 5.1

Java-based tools and utilities

CVU, B.4

DBCA, B.4

DBUA, B.4

enabling tools for tracing, B.4

GSD, B.4

NETCA, B.4

SRVCTL, B.4

JDBC

and FAN, 5.7.1

enabling FAN events for, 5.7.2.2

JDBC clients

enabling for Fast Connection Failover (FCF), 5.7.2

JDBC Thin Driver, 5.7.2

JDBC/OCI, 5.7.2.2

job administration

Oracle Enterprise Manager, 3.11.3.1

K

KILL SESSION clause

on the ALTER SYSTEM statement, 3.4

L

LCK0

Instance Enqueue Process, 1.3.4

level thresholds

services, 5.11

LICENSE_MAX_USERS initialization parameter, 3.6.3

List of Cluster Databases page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

listener

SRVCTL object name, A

listeners

command to add to a node, A

command to remove, A

Oracle Net, 1.2

LMD

Global Enqueue Service Daemon, 1.3.4

LMON Global Enqueue Service Monitor, 1.3.4

LMS

Global Cache Service Process, 1.3.4

LMS processes

reducing the number of, 12.1.3

LMSn processes

reducing the number of, 12.1.3

load balancing, 12.3.5

by services, 1.3.2

OCI runtime connection, 5.7.5

server-side, 5.4

Load Balancing Advisory, 5.3.2.8

load balancing advisory

and FAN events, 5.6.3

concepts, 1.4

configuring your environment for using, 5.6.2

deployment, 5.6.1

description of, 5.6

events and FAN, 5.5.1

introduction to, 5.1

local archiving scenario

RMAN, 6.9.2

Local Area Network (LAN), 1.3.2

LOCAL clause

forcing a checkpoint, 3.1.3.2

local file system

archiving parameter settings, 6.9.2.2

restore, 7.2.2

local instance

shutting down, 3.2.3

starting, 3.2.3

local node name

in clone.pl script, 8.3

LOCAL_NODE parameter

in clone.pl script, 8.3

locally managed tablespaces, 12.3.1

log files

tracing, B.4

log sequence numbers, 6.8

LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT initialization parameter, 3.6.3

LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT parameter, 6.8

M

mass deployment

cloning, 1.5.3, 8, 8.2

media failures

recovery from, 7.4

memory structures

in Oracle RAC, 1.3.3

message request counters, 13.6

migration

application, 12.1.4

missing files, B.2

mission critical systems

considerations for Oracle RAC, 12.1.1

modified data

instance recovery, 7.3.1

monitoring

archiver process, 6.10

overview and concepts, 1.6.3

performance of global cache block access, 13.1.1.3

monitoring host load average, 13.1.1.3

mount all non-running instances of an Oracle RAC database, 3.2.4

multiple cluster interconnects, 3.9

multiple databases in a cluster, 3.9.1

multiple instances

starting from a single SQL*Plus session, 3.2.3

starting from one node, 3.2.3

multiple node failures, 7.3.2

multiple public networks, 1.3.2

multiplexed redo log files, 2.4

N

net service name, 3.1.3

network

SRVCTL object name, A

Network Attached Storage (NAS), 1.3.2

network resources, 1.3.2

NIC bonding, 3.9

node

failure and VIP addresses, 1.3.2

node affinity awareness, 7.3.4

node discovery

Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control, 3.11.1

node evictions, 13.1.1.1

nodeapps

SRVCTL object name, A

nodes

affinity awareness, 7.3.4

failure of, 7.3.1

virtual IP addresses, A, A

noncluster databases

quiescing, 3.8

noncluster Oracle ASM

converting to clustered Oracle ASM, 2.6.5

O

object creation and deletion, 12.3.2

objects

creation of and effect on performance, 12.3.2

srvctl object names and abbreviations, A

OC4J

SRVCTL object name, A

OCFS2, 1.3.1

OCI session pooling, 5.7.5

OCI Session Pools

and FAN, 5.7.1

OCI session pools

optimizing, 5.7.5

runtime connection load balancing, 5.7.5

service metrics, 5.7.5

OCI_EVENTS mode

setup for runtime connection load balancing, 5.7.5

OCI_THREADED mode

setup for runtime connection load balancing, 5.7.5

OCRDUMP utility, 13.3

ODP.NET

and FAN, 5.7.1

and Fast Connection Failover, 5.7.6

load balancing advisory events, 5.7.7

OLTP environments, 12.2

online database relocation

relocation utility, 4.4

online recovery, 7.3.1

online transaction processing (OLTP)

applications in Oracle RAC, 12.3.5

ONS

See Oracle Notification Service

ons

SRVCTL object name, A

Operations page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

optimal execution plans, 12.3.7.1

Oracle ASM

see Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM)

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM)

archiving scenario, 6.9.1

converting noncluster Oracle ASM to clustered Oracle ASM, 2.6.5

installation, 1.5.2

instances

administering with SRVCTL, 2.6.6

Oracle ASM preferred read failure groups, 2.6.4

preferred mirror read disks, 2.6.4

preferred read disks, 3.6

SRVCTL object name, A

storage solution, 2.1

SYSASM privilege, 3.2.3

Oracle Call Interface (OCI)

runtime connection load balancing, 5.7.5

Oracle Call Interface environment

to receive service metrics, 5.7.5

Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS for Windows), 1.3.1

Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR), 3.1.4, 13.3

Oracle Clusterware

cloning, 1.5.3

control policies

AUTOMATIC, 3.10

MANUAL, 3.10

using SRVCTL to display and change, 3.10

controlling database restarts, 3.10

described, 1.2, 1.2

introduction, 1.2

introduction and concepts of, 1

managing Oracle processes, 1.2

Oracle Database

session activity, 13.8.1

Oracle Dynamic Volume Manager

described, Preface

Oracle Enterprise Manager

adding database instances to nodes

on Linux and UNIX, 10.1.2

on Windows, 11.1.1

alert administration, 3.11.3.2

alert blackouts, 3.11.3.3

Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitoring (ADDM), 13.7

Average Active Sessions chart, 13.1.1.3

Cluster Database Home page, 13.1.1.1

Cluster Database page, 13.1.1

Cluster Database Performance page

performance statistics for an Oracle RAC database, 13.1.1.3

configuring to recognize changes in database management, 3.7

Database Throughput charts, 13.1.1.3

deleting database instances from nodes, 10.2.1, 11.2.1

Global Cache Block Access Latency chart, 13.1.1.3

Interconnects page, 13.1.1.2

job administration, 3.11.3.1

monitoring load values for available nodes, 13.1.1.3

overview and concepts, 1.6.2

Top Activity drill down menu, 13.1.1.3

using the Interconnects page to monitor Oracle Clusterware, 13.1.1

using to administer Oracle RAC, 3.1.2

using to administer services, 5.9.2

using to back up the server parameter file, 3.5.3

using to create DTP services, 5.8.4

using to monitor Oracle Clusterware, 13.1.1

using to monitor Oracle RAC, 13.1.1

using to monitor Oracle RAC environments, 1.6.3

using to restore SPFILE, 7.2.3

using to schedule Automatic Workload Repository actions, 5.11

using to set up a fast recovery area, 7.6

using to start or stop a database, 3.2.2

using with RMAN, 6.4

Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control

using emca to reconfigure, 3.7

Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control

instance discovery, 3.11.1

node discovery, 3.11.1

Oracle home

cloning, 1.5.3

defined, 1.5.2

Oracle Interface Configuration (OIFCFG), 13.3

Oracle Managed Files, 3.1.1

Oracle Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA), 12.1.1

Oracle Net

listeners, 1.2

Oracle Net Services

and load balancing, 5.7.1

and services, 5.3.2.9

Oracle Notification Service, 1.2

SRVCTL object name, A

used by FAN, 5.1

Oracle Notification Services

API, 5.5.1

Oracle processes

managed by Oracle Clusterware, 1.2

Oracle RAC

adding administrator-managed database instances, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1

adding policy-managed database instances, 10.1, 11.1

adding to nodes in a cluster on Linux and UNIX, 10.1

adding to nodes in a cluster on Windows, 11.1

background processes

ACMS, 1.3.4

GTX0-j, 1.3.4

LCK0, 1.3.4

LMD, 1.3.4

LMON, 1.3.4

LMS, 1.3.4

RSMN, 1.3.4

benefits of cloning, 8.1

cloning, 1.5.3, 8

size of the binaries, 8.1

converting database from, 4.3

converting database to, 4.3

converting single instance to Oracle RAC One Node, 4.3.1

copying the Oracle RAC home, 8.2

databases

quiescing, 3.8

deploying clone, 8.3

diagnosing performance problems, 13.8.1

diagnosing problems for, B

removing on Windows, 11.2.2

removing the software from Linux and UNIX, 10.2.2

security considerations, 12.3.8

shutting down instances, 3.2.1

software components, 1.3.3

storage options

network file system (NFS), 1.3.1

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), 1.3.1

Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS for Windows), 1.3.1

volume manager, 1.3.1

using a fast recovery area in, 7.6

Oracle RAC background processes

(RMSn), 1.3.4

Oracle RAC One Node, Preface, 4

adding databases, 4.2

converting database from, 4.3

converting database to, 4.3

converting to Oracle RAC, 4.3.2

online database relocation, 4.4

relocating to another node, 4.4

Oracle RAC One Node database

services on, 4.2

Oracle Real Application Clusters

and e-commerce, 12.3.5

installation overview, 1.5.2

overview of administration, 1

Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node, 4

See Oracle RAC One Node

Oracle Streams, 5.3.3.5

Oracle Streams Advanced Queuing

and FAN, 5.5.1

Oracle Universal Installer

database installation, 1.5.2

Oracle Real Application Clusters installation, 1.5.2

ORACLE_BASE environment variable, 8.3

ORACLE_HOME environment variable, 8.3

ORACLE_HOME_NAME environment variable, 8.3

ORACLE_SID parameter, 3.6.2

oradebug ipc command, B.6

OraMTS

external transaction manager, 5.8.1

orapwd file, 3.7

outages

planned, 5.5.4

unplanned, 5.5.3

P

parallel execution, 12.3.7.2

parallel processes, 5.3.3.4

parallel recovery, 7.5.2.1

disabling, 7.5.2

PARALLEL_EXECUTION_MESSAGE_SIZE initialization parameter, 3.6.1

PARALLEL_FORCE_LOCAL initialization parameter, 5.3.3.4

PARALLEL_INSTANCE_GROUPS initialization parameter, 5.3.3.4

parallelism

in Oracle RAC, 12.3.7.2

parallel-aware query optimization, 12.3.7.1

parameter file

overview, 3.5

parameter file search order, 3.5.2

parameters

DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST, 7.6

that must be identical on all instances, 3.6.1

that must be unique on all instances, 3.6.2

password file-based authentication, 4.4

performance, 13.1.1.3

aggregates by services, 13.1.1.3

comprehensive global data, 13.7

monitoring activity by wait events, services, and instances, 13.1.1.3

monitoring database throughput, 13.1.1.3

monitoring global cache block access, 13.1.1.3

monitoring potential problems in the database, 13.1.1.3

primary components affecting, 13.2

service aggregates by instances, 13.1.1.3

service aggregates by waits, 13.1.1.3

using ADDM, 1.6.3

performance evaluation

overview and concepts, 1.6.4

performance statistics, 13.9.5

PFILE

using with Oracle RAC, 3.5

phases

cloning deployment, 8.3

cloning preparation, 8.2

PMON background process, 3.4

policy-managed database instances

adding, 11.1

policy-managed databases, 3.1.1, 3.6.2, 5.3.2.7

defined, 1.6.1

deleting on Linux and UNIX, 10.2.1

deleting on Windows, 11.2.1

PREFERRED instances

for services, 5.3.2.6

preferred read disks

Oracle ASM in an Oracle RAC extended distance cluster, 2.6.4

private interconnect, B.6

determining usage, B.6

private network

alternative interconnect, 3.9

private network IP address, 13.3

processes

managed by Oracle Clusterware, 1.2

parallel, 5.3.3.4

public and private interfaces

shown in Oracle Enterprise Manager, 13.1.1.2

Q

query optimizer, 12.3.7.1

default cost model for, 12.3.7.1

queue tables, 5.3.3.5

quiesce database

in Oracle Real Application Clusters, 3.8

quiesced databases, 3.8

quiescing

noncluster database, 3.8

R

rebalancing

workloads, 5.2

RECOVER command, 3.1.3.2

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

recovery

after SHUTDOWN ABORT, 3.2.1

from multiple node failure, 7.3.2

from single-node failure, 7.3.1

instance, 3.2.1

media failures, 7.4

online, 7.3.1

parallel, 7.5.2.1

RECOVERY_PARALLELISM parameter, 7.5.2.1

redo log files

instance recovery, 7.3.1

log sequence number, 6.8

using, 2.4

redo log groups, 2.4

redo logs

format and destination specifications, 6.8

redo thread, 3.1.1

reducing contention, 12.2

remote Oracle Notification Service subscription, 5.7.2.1

Remote Slave Monitor (RSMN), 1.3.4

REMOTE_LISTENER database parameter, 5.4.1

REMOTE_LOGIN_PASSWORDFILE initialization parameter, 3.6.1

resource contention, 13.1.1.3

Resource Manager

and services, 5.3.3.2

resource manager, 5.2

resource profiles

and service creation, 5.3.3.1

resources

releasing, 7.3.1

resources held by the session, 3.4

restore scenarios

RMAN, 7.2

restore scheme

cluster file system, 7.2.1

local file system, 7.2.2

result cache, 3.6

disabling, 3.6

enabling, 3.6

RESULT_CACHE_MAX_SIZE initialization parameter, 3.6, 3.6.1

RMAN

CONFIGURE command, 6.3

configuring channels, 6.5

configuring channels to use automatic load balancing, 6.6

configuring one channel for each instance, 6.6.2

configuring snapshot control file locations, 6.3

crosschecking on multiple nodes, 6.5

DUPLICATE command, 6.3

local archiving scenario, 6.9.2

restore scenarios, 7.2

using to create SPFILE backups, 3.5.3

RMSn

Oracle RAC Management Processes, 1.3.4

rolling back

instance recovery, 7.3.1

root.sh script

$ORACLE_HOME, 8.3

RSMN

Remote Slave Monitor, 1.3.4

Runtime Connection Load Balancing, 5.3.2.8

runtime connection load balancing

defined, 5.7.5

in OCI session pools, 5.7.5

introduction to, 5.1

S

scalability, 12.3.5

Oracle RAC, 12.1.4

SCAN, 1.2

defined, 1.4

scan

SRVCTL object name, A

scan_listener

SRVCTL object name, A

scripts

$ORACLE_HOME/root.sh, 8.3

security

wallet, 12.3.8.1

sequence-based indexes, 12.2

sequences

log sequence number, 6.8

Server Control Utility

see SRVCTL

Server Management

administration of instances, 3.1

server parameter file

backing up, 3.5.3

server parameter files

creating, 3.5

server pool, 3.1.1

concepts, 1.4

creating for a policy-managed database, 3.7

Generic, 3.1.1

SRVCTL object name, A

servers

relocating from another server pool, 3.7

scalability, 12.1.4

service

SRVCTL object name, A

service level objective

defining for Oracle RAC, 12.1.1

service levels, 12.3.6

service metrics

OCI runtime connection load balancing, 5.7.5

runtime connection load balancing, 5.7.5

SERVICE parameter

FAN, and matching database signature, 5.5.5

SERVICE TIME

load balancing advisory goal, 5.6.2

SERVICE_NAMES initialization parameter, 3.6

setting for services, 3.6, 5.9.1

service-level agreements, 3.4

services, 3.6

activity levels aggregated by instances, 13.1.1.3

activity levels aggregated by services, 13.1.1.3

activity levels aggregated by waits, 13.1.1.3

administering, 5.9.1

administering with Oracle Enterprise Manager, 5.9

administering with SRVCTL, 5.9, 5.9.3

attributes

edition, 5.3.2.3

basic concepts about, 5.3.1

concepts, 1.4

configuring automatic workload management characteristics, 5.3.2

default, 5.3.4

dependencies, 5.3.3.1

enabling event notification, 5.7.5

introduction to, 1.3.2, 5.1

level thresholds, 5.11

management policy

automatic, 5.3.2.4

manual, 5.3.2.4

performance monitored by AWR, 5.3.3.3

SERVICE_NAMES parameter, 3.6, 5.9.1

specifying a service, 5.9.1

using, 5.3.1

services for administrator-managed databases, 3.7

sessions

terminating on a specific instance, 3.4

setting instances, 1.6.2, 3.1.3

shared everything, 1.3.1

shared server configuration, 3.6

SHOW INSTANCE command, 3.1.3.2

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

SHOW PARAMETER command

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

SHOW PARAMETERS command, 3.1.3.2

SHOW SGA command, 3.1.3.2

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

SHUTDOWN ABORT, 3.2.1, B.5

SHUTDOWN command

ABORT option, 3.2.1

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE, B.5

SHUTDOWN TRANSACTIONAL, 3.2.1

shutting down

instances, 3.2.1

shutting down an instance

abnormal shutdown, 3.2.1

shutting down instances, 3.2.1

sidalrt.log file, B.3

single client access name

See SCAN

single client access name (SCAN)

SRVCTL object name, A

single system image, 1.3.3

SMON process

instance recovery, 7.3.1, 7.3.2

recovery after SHUTDOWN ABORT, 3.2.1

snapshot control file, 6.3

configuring locations, 6.3

speed-up for data warehouse systems, 12.3.7.1

SPFILE

backing up, 3.5.3

backups

creating, 3.5.3

changing parameter settings, 3.5

corrupted, 3.5.1

default names, 3.5.2

location, 3.5

naming convention for, 3.5.2

recovering, 3.5.3

restore with Oracle Enterprise Manager, 7.2.3

restore with RMAN, 7.2.3

setting values in, 3.5.1

SPFILE initialization parameter, 3.6, 3.6.3

SQL statements

executing in parallel, 5.3.3.4

instance-specific, 3.1.3.2

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3

changing the prompt, 3.1.3.1, 3.1.3.1

commands

CONNECT, 3.1.3

effect on instances, 3.1.3.2

SRVCTL

add, usage description, A

administering Oracle ASM instances, 2.6.6

administering services with, 5.9.3

cluster database configuration tasks, A

cluster database tasks, A

command syntax, A

commands

add asm, A

add cvu, A, A

add database, A

add filesystem, A

add gns, A

add instance, A

add listener, A

add network, A

add nodeapps, A

add ons, A

add scan, A

add scan_listener, A

add service, A

add srvpool, A

add vip, A

config asm, A, A

config cvu, A

config database, A

config filesystem, A

config gns, A

config nodeapps, A

config oc4j, A

config ons, A

config scan, A

config scan_listener, A

config service, A

config srvpool, A

config vip, A

convert database, A

disable asm, A

disable cvu, A

disable database, A

disable diskgroup, A

disable filesystem, A

disable gns, A

disable instance, A

disable listener, A

disable nodeapps, A

disable oc4j, A

disable ons, A

disable scan, A

disable scan_listener, A

disable service, 5.9.3.3, A

disable vip, A

downgrade database, A

enable asm, A

enable cvu, A

enable database, A

enable diskgroup, A, A

enable filesystem, A

enable instance, A

enable listener, A

enable nodeapps, A

enable oc4j, A

enable ons, A

enable scan, A

enable scan_listener, A

enable service, 5.9.3.3, A

enable vip, A

getenv asm, A

getenv database, A

getenv listener, A

getenv nodeapps, A, A

help, A

modify asm, A

modify cvu, A

modify database, A

modify filesystem, A

modify gns, A

modify instance, A

modify listener, A

modify network, A

modify nodeapps, A

modify oc4j, A

modify ons, A

modify scan, A

modify scan_listener, A

modify service, A

modify srvpool, A

relocate cvu, A

relocate database, A

relocate gns, A

relocate oc4j, A

relocate scan, A

relocate scan_listener, A

relocate server, A

relocate service, A

relocate vip, A

remove asm, A

remove database, A

remove diskgroup, A

remove filesystem, A

remove gns, A

remove instance, A

remove listener, A

remove nodeapps, A

remove oc4j, A

remove ons, A

remove scan, A

remove scan_listener, A

remove service, A

remove srvpool, A

remove vip, A

setenv asm, A

setenv database, A, A

setenv listener, A

setenv nodeapps, A

srvctl setenv, 3.1.4

start asm, A

start cvu, A

start database, 3.2.4, A

start diskgroup, A

start filesystem, A

start gns, A

start home, A

start instance, 3.2.4, A

start listener, A

start nodeapps, A

start oc4j, A

start ons, A

start scan, A

start scan_listener, A

start service, A

start vip, A

status asm, A

status cvu, A

status database, A

status diskgroup, A

status filesystem, A

status gns, A

status home, A

status instance, A

status listener, A

status nodeapps, A

status oc4j, A

status ons, A

status scan, A

status scan_listener, A

status server, A

status service, A

status srvpool, A

status vip, A

stop asm, A

stop cvu, A

stop database, 3.2.4, A

stop diskgroup, A

stop filesystem, A

stop gns, A

stop home, A

stop instance, 3.2.4, A

stop listener, A

stop nodeapps, A

stop oc4j, A

stop ons, A

stop scan, A

stop scan_listener, A

stop service, A

stop vip, A

unsetenv asm, A

unsetenv database, A, A

unsetenv listener, A

unsetenv nodeapps, A

upgrade database, A

concurrent commands, A

config, usage description, A

convert, usage description, A

deprecated commands and options, A

disable, usage description, A

downgrade, usage description, A

enable, usage description, A

enabling event notification, 5.7.5

getenv, usage description, A

modify, usage description, A

node-level tasks, A

object name

database, A

diskgroup, A

filesystem, A

Grid Naming Service (GNS), A

home, A

instance, A

listener, A

network, A

node applications (nodeapps), A

oc4j, A

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), A

Oracle Notification Service, A

scan, A

scan_listener, A

server pool (srvpool), A

service, A

vip, A

object names, A

overview, 3.1.4

overview and concepts, 1.6.2

relocate, usage description, A

remove, usage description, A

setenv, usage description, A

start service command, 5.9.3.2, 5.9.3.2

start, usage description, A

status service command, 5.9.3.5

status, usage description, A

stop or start cluster database, 3.2.4

stop, usage description, A

unsetenv, usage description, A

upgrade, usage description, A

SRVM_TRACE environment variable, B.4

Standard Edition

installing Oracle ASM, 1.5.2

starting administrator-managed databases, 3.2.4

starting policy-managed databases, 3.2.4

STARTUP command

SQL*Plus, 3.1.3.2

statistics

contents of, 13.6

Statspack, 13.9, 13.9.1

usage, 1.6.3

stop database instances, 3.2.4

storage

cluster file system, 2.1

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), 2.6.1

subnet

configuring for virtual IP address, A, A

subnets, 1.3.2

SYS$BACKGROUND service, 5.3.4

SYS$USERS service, 5.3.4

SYSASM privilege, 3.1.3, 3.2.3

SYSAUX tablespace

increasing size when adding nodes, 12.3.3

reducing size when removing nodes, 12.3.3

SYSDBA, 3.1.3

privilege for connecting, 3.1.3

SYSDBA connections to an Oracle ASM instance, 3.1.3

SYSOPER, 3.1.3

SYSOPER privilege

for connecting, 3.1.3

system change, 6.8

System Global Area (SGA), 1.3.3, 13.8.1

size requirements, 1.3.3

T

tablespaces

automatic segment space management (ASSM) in Oracle RAC, 12.3.1

automatic undo management in Oracle RAC, 12.3.1

locally managed, 12.3.1

use in Oracle RAC, 12.3.1

TCP network ports

Windows Firewall considerations, 12.3.8.2

TCP/IP, 1.3.2

terminating a session on a specific instance, 3.4

THREAD initialization parameter, 3.6

threads

multiple application, 5.7.5

THROUGHPUT

load balancing advisory goal, 5.6.2

timed statistics, 13.6

timeout

messages, avoiding, 1.3.2

tnsnames.ora file, 3.6

Top Activity drill down menu

on the Cluster Database Performance page, 13.1.1.3

Top Cluster Events, 13.8.2

Top Cluster Events, ASH report, 13.8.2

Top Remote Instance, 13.8.3

Top Remote Instance, ASH report, 13.8.3

trace files, B.1

managing, B.1

sidalrt.log, B.3

trace files for background processes, B.1

TRACE_ENABLED initialization parameter, 3.6.3

tracing

enabling Java-based tools and utilities, B.4

SRVM_TRACE environment variable, B.4

writing to log files, B.4

transactions

instance failure, 7.3.1

rolling back, 3.4, 7.3.1

waiting for recovery, 7.3.1

Transparent Application Failover

and services, 5.3.2.12

Transparent Data Encryption

specifying the ENCRYPTION_WALLET_LOCATION parameter, 12.3.8.1

with encrypted wallets and obfuscated wallets, 12.3.8.1

tuning

overview, 1.6.4

using ADDM, 1.6.3

U

undo tablespace, 3.1.1

UNDO_MANAGEMENT initialization parameter, 3.6.1

UNDO_RETENTION initialization parameter, 3.6.3

UNDO_TABLESPACE parameter, 3.6.2

Universal Connection Pool

benefits, Preface

User Datagram Protocol (UDP), B.6

user process trace files, B.1

V

V$, 1.6.3

V$ view, 13.4

V$ACTIVE_INSTANCES, 3.3, 3.3

V$CLUSTER_INTERCONNECTS, 13.2, B.6

V$CONFIGURED_INTERCONNECTS, 13.2

vendor clusterware, 1.1

verification

data files, online files, 2.3

verifying interconnect settings, 13.2

versions

compatibility for Oracle RAC and Oracle Database software, 1.5.1

views

creating for Oracle Real Application Clusters, 13.5

dynamic performance

for performance monitoring, 13.4

GV$, 13.4

for performance monitoring, 13.4

GV$SESSION, 3.4, 3.4

instance-specific, 13.4

V$ views, 13.4

VIP

SRVCTL object name, A

Virtual Internet Protocol (VIP) address, 1.2

virtual IP address

requirements, A, A

W

wait events, 13.9, 13.9.1

aggregated for service performance, 13.1.1.3

block-related, 13.9.5.1

contention-related, 13.9.5.3

load-related, 13.9.5.4

message-related, 13.9.5.2

wallet

data security, 12.3.8.1

Welcome page, 10.1.2.1, 11.1.1.1

Windows Firewall, 12.3.8.2

workload management

See automatic workload management

workloads

and services, 5.3.1

See Also automatic workload management

X

XA Transactions, 12.3.4

XA transactions

spanning Oracle RAC instances, 5.8.1

This figure illustrates three nodes. Each node is connected to a node that is attached to a cluster file system. All of the archived log files are on the cluster file system node.

Oracle
Copyright © 2007, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Legal Notices

This illustration shows the Oracle database with Oracle RAC architecture for a partitioned three-node database.

An Oracle RAC database is connected to three instances on different nodes. Each instance is associated with a service: HR, Sales, and Call Center. The instances monitor each other by checking heartbeats. Oracle Net Services provide client access to the Application/Web server tier at the top of the figure.

End of description.

Oracle
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