I recently added two new nodes to an existing 2-node RAC cluster, bringing the total nodes to 4.
After the installer completed, with more than a few errors along the way I might add, I had ASM running on just 3 nodes….
Continue readingSolving INS-06006: Passwordless SSH connectivity during Oracle 19c RAC install
I was recently installing Oracle 19c RAC on a pair of servers running OEL8 UEK.
During the install of Grid Infrastructure the installer repeatedly failed the verification check stating that:
“[INS-06006] Passwordless SSH connectivity not set up between the following nodes(s)”
It is worth remembering that Oracle offers a relatively simple method to set up passwordless ssh connections between machines, which I had used prior to trying to install RAC:
In the Grid Infrastructure directory there is a script called sshUserSetup.sh
Continue readingPowerstore Protection Policies and protecting Oracle ASM diskgroups
This is a quick post to demonstrate how Protection Policies can be used with Volume Groups to protect Oracle databases on Powerstore.
A Protection Policy is a powerful tool that the Powerstore storage array offers to protect application data, by automatically replicating the data to a second Powerstore which might be across the data center, or across the country. And it can also protect the application data by generating snapshot copies of the data at a pre-determined time, or on a routine schedule.
Such copies can then be set to auto-expire after a given amount of time.
Deleting an Oracle clone based on a Powerstore snapshot
In a few recent posts and videos I’ve walked through creating a thin clone of an Oracle database using a Dell Technologies Powerstore.
In this post, we’ll walk through how to safely delete an Oracle database that was created using a Powerstore snapshot or thin-clone.
Mounting and Opening an Oracle database created with a thin clone snapshot on Powerstore
In my last blog post I created a thin clone of my Swingbench database on my Oracle1 server, and mounted that thin clone to my Oracle2 server.
I also renamed the cloned ASM diskgroups SWINGDATA and FRA, to CLONESWINGDATA and CLONEFRA, as I already had ASM diskgroups with those names on Oracle2 already. As a final step I renamed the individual ASM disks within each of the cloned ASM diskgroups.
In this blog post I am going to mount and open the clone on Oracle2.
Creating a Storage Snapshot of an Oracle database using Dell Powerstore
Storage level snapshot are an incredibly fast and space efficient method to create usable clones of an Oracle database. In this post we’ll create a storage-level snapshot of a Oracle database using a Dell Powerstore storage array. Our database spans two ASM diskgroups, and will be mounted to a second server.
Create ASM diskgroups with Dell Powerstore
I recently got an opportunity to do some testing with a Dell Powerstore 5000T all-flash storage array, so I thought I would share some of the notes I made during my testing, for the benefit of any DBAs who might be using one to deliver ASM disks to their Oracle databases.
This will be part of a series of posts that focus on the management of Oracle and ASM with Powerstore, so consider this post as a foundational topic. Nothing especially earth shattering, but some solid points nonetheless.
Adding a GUI to Oracle Enterprise Linux from the local install media
I’ve made this mistake a few times now.
In my excitement to get a new copy of OEL installed, I manage to forget to select the version with the GUI. I reboot my VM, and am presented with a command-line login.
Of course I could just delete the VM and start over. Or I could follow the instructions available from several sites and blogs that explain a simple yum command to a public repo is all I need to add the missing graphical interface:
$ yum groupinstall "Server with GUI"
But more often than not, I am doing this in a company lab that is more locked down than Ft. Knox. Draconian network security mandates mean no public internet access, and it would be an act of Congress to get that changed.
Oracle Partitioning and Standard Edition
Oracle Partitioning is a great feature.
Large tables can be partitioned into smaller pieces based on data ranges, values or dates, and queries that are designed to respect the partitioning scheme can automatically discount from consideration partitions that do not contain applicable data.
Partitions can be added or removed, moved, made read only, and so on.
That is only a very brief overview of the benefits of partitioning to large database tables, and anyone who had designed a data warehouse will understand why this feature is so powerful.
But it is also very expensive.
Oracle Partitioning is only available as an add-on cost to the already expensive Enterprise Edition license.
But what about if you want to realize some of these benefits without paying for the Partitioning option? Taking this even further could we implement some form of Partitioning with the massively less expensive Standard Edition?
A method to fix a corrupted SPFILE in ASM
So you’ve made some changes to your SPFILE, and since the parameters you want change cannot be made to a running instance, you used the scope=spfile clause.
Now you go to restart your database, and you find the instance won’t start!
[oracle@sio01-mgmt sql]$ srvctl start database -d dbbench PRCR-1079 : Failed to start resource ora.dbbench.db CRS-5017: The resource action "ora.dbbench.db start" encountered the following error: ORA-01078: failure in processing system parameters . For details refer to "(:CLSN00107:)" in "/u01/app/oracle/diag/crs/sio02-mgmt/crs/trace/crsd_oraagent_oracle.trc".
the gruffdba 