Build Your Own Oracle Infrastructure: Part 11 – Oracle RAC Database: Create, Test & Administer.

We’re now ready to create an Oracle RAC database.
It’s mostly quite similar to creating a single instance Oracle database.
The major differences come with how the various infrastructure components are administered.
We’ll get to that in good time.

Quick links to all the tasks:

Task #1: Create Additional ASM Diskgroups.

So far we have the +CRS ASM Diskgroup which provides storage for the Votedisk, the OCR and the GIMR database (_MGMTDB). Our own RAC database will also use ASM storage, so we’ll need to create a couple more ASM Diskgroups before we create the database.

On racnode1, login as the grid user and fire up the ASM Configuration Assistant (asmca):

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [grid] ? +ASM1
The Oracle base has been set to /u01/app/grid

Set your DISPLAY environment variable so it points back to your workstation:

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ export DISPLAY=<your-workstation-or-IP>:0.0
[grid@racnode1 ~]$ asmca

Click on Create. Enter DATA for the Disk Group Name, select External for the Redundancy level and select ASMDISK02 and ASMDISK03. Then Click OK:

Click OK:

Click Create:

Enter FRA for the Disk Group Name, select External for the Redundancy level and select ASMDISK04 and ASMDISK05. Then click OK:

Click OK in the Disk Group:Creation pop-up window:

Then click Exit to close the ASM Configuration Assistant.

Et voila! Two shiny new ASM Diskgroups ready for our RAC database to use. It will be pleased.

Task #2: Create an Oracle 12c RAC Database.

A quick way to set your oracle environment correctly when no databases currently exist on the server is to edit the /etc/oratab file to include a dummy line:

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ vi /etc/oratab

dummy:/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1:N

Use the standard oraenv script to set your environment, then unset the ORACLE_SID:

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [oracle] ? dummy
The Oracle base has been set to /u01/app/oracle

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ unset ORACLE_SID

You can tell you’re pointing to the correct set of Oracle executables by using the which command:

[oracle@racnode1 database]$ which dbca
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/bin/dbca

Finally, set your DISPLAY variable correctly and fire up the Database Configuration Assistant (dbca):

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ export DISPLAY=<your-workstation-or-IP>:0.0
[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ dbca

Select Create Database, then click Next:

Select Advanced Mode, then click Next:

Use these values to complete the next screen, then click Next:

Field Value
Database Type Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) database
Configuration Type Admin-Managed
Template General Purpose or Transaction Processing

Enter RAC1DB.mynet.com for the Global Database Name and uncheck Create As Container Database. Then Click Next:

Ensure both racnode1 and racnode2 are in the Selected column, then click Next:

Use these values to complete the next screen, then click Next:

Field Value
Run Cluster Verification Utility (CVU) Checks Periodically Checked
Configure Enterprise Manager (EM) Database Express Checked
EM Database Express Port 5500
Register with Enterprise Manager (EM) Cloud Control Checked
OMS Host oraemcc.mynet.com
OMS Port 4903
EM Admin Username SYSMAN
EM Admin Password (referenced here)

Select Use the Same Administrative Password for All Accounts. Enter the SYSDBA password twice then click Next:

Complete the next screen using the values shown in the screen shot, then click Next:

Create a password for the ASMSNMP ASM instance account, then click OK:

Just click Next:

On the Memory tab, select Use Automatic Memory Management and enter 2048 MB for the Memory Size, then click the Character Sets tab:

On the Character Sets tab, select Use Unicode (AL32UTF8) then click Next:

Ensure Create Database is checked, then click Next:

The Prerequisite Checks screen highlights the swap size failure which we can safely ignore. Click Next:

On the Summary screen, click Finish:

The familiar progress bar tells you how things are going:

Eventually you’ll see the Finish screen. Click Close and you’re done.

You now have an Oracle 12c RAC database up and running with 2 instances.
In the next section we’ll run through a series of tests to find out if all is well.

Task #3: Test Oracle 12c GI and RAC Database.

After you build out your cluster and RAC database, it’s important that you test everything is working properly, especially when it will become a production system. Testing really falls into two categories, functionality testing and workload testing. Functionality testing focuses on finding out if the configuration behaves in the way it should. Workload testing focuses on finding out if the configuration can handle the expected workload in terms of response time and throughput.

You can view an outline test plan here. It’s a decent start at putting together a comprehensive test plan, but it does omit three key areas. It does not contain any workload testing, network failure testing or any destructive testing. Let’s get testing and see what happens!

Section #1: Check & Test Clusterware.

The first set of checks and tests focuses on Clusterware. It gets us comfortable with using the various Clusterware administration commands and helps with identifying where certain resources are located.

Test #1B. Check: Resource TARGET and STATE columns.

The crs_stat command is supposed to be deprecated, but still works in 12c.

What we’re looking for here is any line where the Target and State column values are different. The Target value is what the status should be and the State value is what the status actually is. So, a Target value of ONLINE and a State value of OFFLINE could mean one of two things. Either the resource is coming online, but hadn’t quite made it when you ran the command or that resource has a problem and cannot come online. In which case, it would be time to dive into the log files. As we can see from this output, all is well.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ crs_stat -t
Name           Type           Target   State     Host      
------------------------------------------------------------
ora.CRS.dg     ora....up.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.DATA.dg   ora....up.type  ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.FRA.dg     ora....up.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....ER.lsnr ora....er.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....N1.lsnr ora....er.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode2  
ora....N2.lsnr ora....er.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....N3.lsnr ora....er.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.MGMTLSNR   ora....nr.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.asm       ora.asm.type    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.cvu       ora.cvu.type    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.mgmtdb     ora....db.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....network ora....rk.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.oc4j       ora.oc4j.type  ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.ons       ora.ons.type    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.rac1db.db ora....se.type  ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....SM1.asm application    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....E1.lsnr application    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....de1.ons application    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....de1.vip ora....t1.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora....SM2.asm application    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode2  
ora....E2.lsnr application    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode2  
ora....de2.ons application    ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode2  
ora....de2.vip ora....t1.type ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode2  
ora.scan1.vip ora....ip.type  ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode2  
ora.scan2.vip ora....ip.type  ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  
ora.scan3.vip ora....ip.type  ONLINE   ONLINE   racnode1  

This is the preferred CRS resource status check command:

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ crsctl status resource -t
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name          Target State       Server                   State details      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.CRS.dg
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.DATA.dg
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.FRA.dg
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER.lsnr
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.asm
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode1                 Started,STABLE
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode2                 Started,STABLE
ora.net1.network
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.ons
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.LISTENER_SCAN1.lsnr
     1      ONLINE ONLINE          racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN2.lsnr
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN3.lsnr
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 STABLE
ora.MGMTLSNR
   1       ONLINE ONLINE           racnode1                 169.254.182.6 200.20
                                                            0.30.11,STABLE
ora.cvu
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 STABLE
ora.mgmtdb
     1      ONLINE ONLINE          racnode1                 Open,STABLE
ora.oc4j
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 STABLE
ora.rac1db.db
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 Open,STABLE
     2       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode2                 Open,STABLE
ora.racnode1.vip
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 STABLE
ora.racnode2.vip
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan1.vip
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan2.vip
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 STABLE
ora.scan3.vip
     1       ONLINE ONLINE         racnode1                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Test #1C. Check: Cluster Verification.

The 3 main services are online on all nodes. Good news.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ crsctl check cluster -all
**************************************************************
racnode1:
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online
**************************************************************
racnode2:
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online
**************************************************************

Test #1D. Check: CRS Verification.

Similar to Test 1C, this output shows the HA services are all OK too.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ crsctl check crs
CRS-4638: Oracle High Availability Services is online
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl check crs
CRS-4638: Oracle High Availability Services is online
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online

Test #1E. Check: CTSS.

Remember we’re not using NTP for server time synchronization, so Oracle’s CTSS should be doing the work for us which it seems to be.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ crsctl check ctss
CRS-4701: The Cluster Time Synchronization Service is in Active mode.
CRS-4702: Offset (in msec): 0

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl check ctss
CRS-4701: The Cluster Time Synchronization Service is in Active mode.
CRS-4702: Offset (in msec): 0

Test #1F. Check: DNS.

Remember we configured DNS on the OEM Cloud Control server (oraemcc.mynet.com, 200.200.10.16). It seems to be working for both RAC nodes.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ crsctl query dns -servers
CRS-10018: the following configuration was found on the system:
CRS-10019: There are 1 domains in search order. They are: mynet.com
CRS-10022: There are 1 name servers. They are: 200.200.10.16
CRS-10020: number of retry attempts for name lookup is: 4
CRS-10021: timeout for each name lookup is: 5

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl query dns -servers
CRS-10018: the following configuration was found on the system:
CRS-10019: There are 1 domains in search order. They are: mynet.com
CRS-10022: There are 1 name servers. They are: 200.200.10.16
CRS-10020: number of retry attempts for name lookup is: 4
CRS-10021: timeout for each name lookup is: 5

Test #1G. Check: Votedisk(s).

The Votedisk seems fine, but best practice says we should have more than just one and an odd number of them. We might want to fix this later.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ crsctl query css votedisk
## STATE   File Universal Id                File Name Disk group
-- -----   -----------------                --------- ---------
1. ONLINE  6623c2c7b3a24fc5bffd28b93c053000 (/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK01) [CRS]
Located 1 voting disk(s).

Test #1H. Check: OCR File(s).

We can have up to 5 OCR files and we currently only have one. We might want to fix that later. Also, to perform the logical corruption check, we need to run this ocrcheck command as root.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cat /etc/oracle/ocr.loc
#Device/file +CRS getting replaced by device +CRS/cluster1/OCRFILE/registry.255.898728137
ocrconfig_loc=+CRS/cluster1/OCRFILE/registry.255.898728137

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ocrcheck -details
Status of Oracle Cluster Registry is as follows :
         Version                  :          4
         Total space (kbytes)     :     409568
         Used space (kbytes)      :       1588
         Available space (kbytes) :     407980
         ID                       : 1641944593
         Device/File Name         : +CRS/cluster1/OCRFILE/registry.255.898728137
                                    Device/File integrity check succeeded
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured

         Cluster registry integrity check succeeded
         Logical corruption check bypassed due to non-privileged user
[root@racnode1 ~]# /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/bin/ocrcheck -details
Status of Oracle Cluster Registry is as follows :
         Version                  :          4
         Total space (kbytes)     :     409568
         Used space (kbytes)      :       1588
         Available space (kbytes) :     407980
         ID                       : 1641944593
         Device/File Name         : +CRS/cluster1/OCRFILE/registry.255.898728137
                                    Device/File integrity check succeeded
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured

         Cluster registry integrity check succeeded
         Logical corruption check succeeded

Test #1I. Check: OCR Backups.

The OCR is backed up automatically every 4 hours. If the cluster has been up and running long enough you can see the backup files. Running this command on any node should produce the same output.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ocrconfig -showbackup
racnode1     2016/01/27 10:15:35   /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/cluster1/backup00.ocr  0
racnode1     2016/01/27 06:14:48   /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/cluster1/backup01.ocr  0
racnode1     2016/01/27 02:14:11   /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/cluster1/backup02.ocr  0
racnode1     2016/01/26 18:13:01   /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/cluster1/day.ocr  0
racnode1     2016/01/15 04:31:01   /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/cluster1/week.ocr 0
PROT-25: Manual backups for the Oracle Cluster Registry are not available

Test #1J. Check: OLR.

The OLR plays in important role in starting the cluster if the OCR is stored in ASM. Better make sure each node’s OLR is alive and well.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cat /etc/oracle/olr.loc
olrconfig_loc=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode1.olr
crs_home=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ocrcheck -local -config
Oracle Local Registry configuration is :
Device/File Name         : /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode1.olr

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ls -l /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode1.olr
-rw------- 1 root oinstall 503484416 Feb  6 14:22 /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode1.olr

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ cat /etc/oracle/olr.loc
olrconfig_loc=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode2.olr
crs_home=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ ocrcheck -local -config
Oracle Local Registry configuration is :
         Device/File Name         : /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode2.olr

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ ls -l /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode2.olr
-rw------- 1 root oinstall 503484416 Feb  6 18:24 /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cdata/racnode2.olr

Test #1K. Check: GPnP.

The Grid Plug ‘n’ Play profile is an XML file which also plays an important role in cluster startup. It contains important node configuration information including the storage location of some GI resources, the node’s networking configuration and so on. Make sure it’s where it ought to be and eye ball its contents to make sure they appear accurate. They should be as they’re maintained by the GPnP daemon (gpnpd.bin).

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cd /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/gpnp/racnode1/profiles/peer
[grid@racnode1 peer]$ ls -l
-rw-r--r-- 1 grid oinstall 1908 Dec 17 22:44 profile.old
-rw-r--r-- 1 grid oinstall 1850 Dec 17 22:36 profile_orig.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 grid oinstall 1908 Dec 17 22:44 profile.xml

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ cd /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/gpnp/racnode2/profiles/peer
[grid@racnode2 peer]$ ls -l
-rw-r--r-- 1 grid oinstall 1850 Dec 17 23:05 profile_orig.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 grid oinstall 1908 Dec 17 23:05 profile.xml

Test #1L. Check: SCAN VIPs.

The SCAN Listeners each need a VIP on which to operate. These commands show use they’re up and running and open for business.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl status scan
SCAN VIP scan1 is enabled
SCAN VIP scan1 is running on node racnode2
SCAN VIP scan2 is enabled
SCAN VIP scan2 is running on node racnode2
SCAN VIP scan3 is enabled
SCAN VIP scan3 is running on node racnode1

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl config scan
SCAN name: cluster1-scan.mynet.com, Network: 1
Subnet IPv4: 200.200.10.0/255.255.255.0/eth0, static
Subnet IPv6: 
SCAN 0 IPv4 VIP: 200.200.10.122
SCAN VIP is enabled.
SCAN VIP is individually enabled on nodes: 
SCAN VIP is individually disabled on nodes: 
SCAN 1 IPv4 VIP: 200.200.10.120
SCAN VIP is enabled.
SCAN VIP is individually enabled on nodes: 
SCAN VIP is individually disabled on nodes: 
SCAN 2 IPv4 VIP: 200.200.10.121
SCAN VIP is enabled.
SCAN VIP is individually enabled on nodes: 
SCAN VIP is individually disabled on nodes: 

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep SCAN
grid      7739     1  0 Jan26 ?        00:00:41 /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/bin/tnslsnr 
   LISTENER_SCAN3 -no_crs_notify -inherit

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep SCAN
grid     16190     1  0 Jan26 ?        00:00:43 /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/bin/tnslsnr 
   LISTENER_SCAN1 -no_crs_notify -inherit
grid      7736     1  0 Jan26 ?        00:00:41 /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/bin/tnslsnr 
   LISTENER_SCAN2 -no_crs_notify -inherit

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ping 200.200.10.120
PING 200.200.10.120 (200.200.10.120) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.120: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.288 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.120: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.152 ms
--- 192.168.0.120 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1362ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.152/0.220/0.288/0.068 ms

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ping 200.200.10.121
PING 200.200.10.121 (200.200.10.121) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.121: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.072 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.121: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.028 ms
--- 192.168.0.121 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1311ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.028/0.050/0.072/0.022 ms

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ping 200.200.10.122
PING 200.200.10.122 (200.200.10.122) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.0.122: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.310 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.122: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.186 ms
--- 192.168.0.122 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1314ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.186/0.248/0.310/0.062 ms

Test #1M. Check: Node VIPs.

To avoid a lengthy TCP timeout in the event of a node failure, its VIP needs to failover to a surviving node. For it to do that, it needs to be enabled and pingable.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl status vip -node racnode1
VIP racnode1-vip.mynet.com is enabled
VIP racnode1-vip.mynet.com is running on node: racnode1

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl status vip -node racnode2
VIP racnode2-vip.mynet.com is enabled
VIP racnode2-vip.mynet.com is running on node: racnode2

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ping racnode1-vip.mynet.com
PING racnode1-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.111) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from racnode1-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.111): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.024 ms
64 bytes from racnode1-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.111): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.031 ms
64 bytes from racnode1-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.111): icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.026 ms
--- racnode1-vip.mynet.com ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2441ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.024/0.027/0.031/0.003 ms

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ping racnode2-vip.mynet.com
PING racnode2-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.112) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from racnode2-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.112): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.308 ms
64 bytes from racnode2-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.112): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.174 ms
64 bytes from racnode2-vip.mynet.com (200.200.10.112): icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.163 ms
--- racnode2-vip.mynet.com ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2513ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.163/0.215/0.308/0.065 ms

Test #1N. Check: Nodeapps.

Nodeapps comprise a node’s VIP, network and ONS daemon. Check to see if they’re all up and running.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl status nodeapps
VIP racnode1-vip.mynet.com is enabled
VIP racnode1-vip.mynet.com is running on node: racnode1
VIP racnode2-vip.mynet.com is enabled
VIP racnode2-vip.mynet.com is running on node: racnode2
Network is enabled
Network is running on node: racnode1
Network is running on node: racnode2
ONS is enabled
ONS daemon is running on node: racnode1
ONS daemon is running on node: racnode2

Test #1O. Check: Node Participation.

You might think you know which nodes make up your cluster, but does the cluster agree? In our case, yes it does!

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ olsnodes -n -i -s -t -a
racnode1        1       racnode1-vip.mynet.com        Active  Hub     Unpinned
racnode2        2       racnode2-vip.mynet.com        Active  Hub     Unpinned

Section #2: Check & Test ASM.

ASM has become the de facto storage standard for Oracle databases, so we’d better check the clustered version is healthy.

Test #2B. Check: ASM Instances.

Ensure the ASM instances are up, running and can accept logins.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl status asm
ASM is running on racnode2,racnode1

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysasm
SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.2.0 Production on Sat Feb 6 17:14:59 2016
Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
Connected to:
Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.2.0 - 64bit Production
With the Real Application Clusters and Automatic Storage Management options
SQL>

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ asmcmd
ASMCMD> ls -l
State    Type    Rebal  Name
MOUNTED  EXTERN  N      CRS/
MOUNTED  EXTERN  N      DATA/
MOUNTED  EXTERN  N      FRA/

Test #2C. Check:  ASM Diskgroups.

Next, check that all the ASM Diskgroups are OK.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ echo "select name from v\$asm_diskgroup;" | sqlplus -s / as sysasm

NAME
------------------------------
FRA
DATA
CRS

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ for dg in FRA DATA CRS
> do
> srvctl status diskgroup -diskgroup ${dg} -detail
> done
Disk Group FRA is running on racnode2,racnode1
Disk Group FRA is enabled
Disk Group DATA is running on racnode2,racnode1
Disk Group DATA is enabled
Disk Group CRS is running on racnode2,racnode1
Disk Group CRS is enabled

Test #2D. Check: ASM Diskgroup Metadata.

Check the ASM Diskgroup metadata is present and correct. No error messages means it is.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysasm

SQL> alter diskgroup crs check all;
Diskgroup altered.

SQL> alter diskgroup data check all;
Diskgroup altered.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ asmcmd
ASMCMD> chkdg FRA
Diskgroup altered.

Test #2E. Check: ASM Disks.

Ensure all the ASM Disks you have configured are visible.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysasm

SQL> select dg.name DG,
            d.name Disk,
            decode(d.GROUP_NUMBER,
                   0,'Unallocated',
                   'In Use') State,
            d.path
     from   v$asm_disk d
            left outer join
            v$asm_diskgroup dg
            on dg.group_number = d.group_number
     order by
            dg.name,
            d.path;

DG         DISK       STATE       PATH
---------- ---------- ----------- ------------------------------
CRS        CRS_0000   In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK01
DATA       DATA_0000  In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK02
DATA       DATA_0001  In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK03
DATA       DATA_0002  In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK06
FRA        FRA_0000   In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK04
FRA        FRA_0001   In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK05
                      Unallocated /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK07
                      Unallocated /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK08
                      Unallocated /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK09
                      Unallocated /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK10

ASMCMD> lsdsk --discovery
Path
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK01
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK02
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK03
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK04
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK05
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK06
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK07
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK08
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK09
/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK10

Test #2F. Check: ASM Clients.

Verify what is connected to each ASM instance.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysasm

SQL> select dg.NAME,
            c.INSTANCE_NAME,
            c.DB_NAME,
            c.CLUSTER_NAME,
            c.STATUS
     from   v$asm_client c,
            v$asm_diskgroup dg
     where  c.GROUP_NUMBER = dg.GROUP_NUMBER
     order by
            c.DB_NAME;

NAME       INSTANCE_N  DB_NAME  CLUSTER_NAME STATUS
---------- ----------  -------- ------------ ------------
DATA       +ASM1       +ASM     cluster1     CONNECTED
CRS        +ASM1       +ASM     cluster1     CONNECTED
FRA        RAC1DB1     RAC1DB   cluster1     CONNECTED
DATA       RAC1DB1     RAC1DB   cluster1     CONNECTED
CRS        -MGMTDB     _mgmtdb  cluster1     CONNECTED
[grid@racnode2 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysasm

NAME       INSTANCE_N  DB_NAME  CLUSTER_NAME STATUS
---------- ----------  -------- ------------ ------------
CRS        +ASM2       +ASM     cluster1     CONNECTED
DATA       +ASM2       +ASM     cluster1     CONNECTED
DATA       RAC1DB2     RAC1DB   cluster1     CONNECTED
FRA        RAC1DB2     RAC1DB   cluster1     CONNECTED

Section #3: Check & Test Databases & Instances.

Test #3C. Check: User RAC Database & Instance.

Confirm where the database instances are running.

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl status database -d RAC1DB
Instance RAC1DB1 is running on node racnode1
Instance RAC1DB2 is running on node racnode2

Test #3D. Check: User RAC Database DBVERIFY.

For the sake of brevity, we’ll run the DBVERIFY executable (dbv) for only one datafile.

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> select name from v$datafile;

NAME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/system.258.898779945
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/sysaux.257.898779761
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/undotbs1.260.898780207
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/undotbs2.265.898783783
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/users.259.898780201

[oracle@racnode1 scripts]$ cat dbv_parfile.txt
FILE='+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/users.259.898780201'
LOGFILE='users_datafile.out'
FEEDBACK=10
USERID=system/<removed>

[oracle@racnode1 scripts]$ dbv parfile=dbv_parfile.txt
DBVERIFY: Release 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on Mon Feb 15 11:54:52 2016
Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.
[oracle@racnode1 scripts]$ cat users_datafile.out
DBVERIFY: Release 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on Mon Feb 15 11:54:52 2016
Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.

DBVERIFY - Verification starting : FILE = +DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/users.259.898780201
DBVERIFY - Verification complete

Total Pages Examined         : 640
Total Pages Processed (Data) : 30
Total Pages Failing   (Data) : 0
Total Pages Processed (Index): 5
Total Pages Failing   (Index): 0
Total Pages Processed (Other): 588
Total Pages Processed (Seg)  : 0
Total Pages Failing   (Seg)  : 0
Total Pages Empty            : 17
Total Pages Marked Corrupt   : 0
Total Pages Influx           : 0
Total Pages Encrypted        : 0
Highest block SCN            : 0 (0.0)

Test #3H. Test: Restart User RAC Database.

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl stop database -d RAC1DB

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl status resource -t
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name           Target  State        Server                   State details       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.CRS.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.DATA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.FRA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER.lsnr
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.asm
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Started,STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 Started,STABLE
ora.net1.network
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.ons
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.LISTENER_SCAN1.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN2.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN3.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.MGMTLSNR
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 169.254.182.6 200.20
                                                             0.30.11,STABLE
ora.cvu
      1        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               STABLE
ora.mgmtdb
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Open,STABLE
ora.oc4j
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.rac1db.db
      1        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               Instance Shutdown,ST
                                                             ABLE
      2        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               Instance Shutdown,ST
                                                             ABLE
ora.racnode1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.racnode2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan3.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl start database -d RAC1DB

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl status resource -t
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name           Target  State        Server                   State details       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.CRS.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.DATA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.FRA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER.lsnr
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.asm
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Started,STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 Started,STABLE
ora.net1.network
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.ons
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.LISTENER_SCAN1.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN2.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN3.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.MGMTLSNR
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 169.254.182.6 200.20
                                                             0.30.11,STABLE
ora.cvu
      1        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               STABLE
ora.mgmtdb
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Open,STABLE
ora.oc4j
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.rac1db.db
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Open,STABLE
      2        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 Open,STABLE
ora.racnode1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.racnode2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan3.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Test #3I. Test: Planned User Instance Shutdown.

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl stop instance -d RAC1DB -i RAC1DB2

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl status resource -t
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name           Target  State        Server                   State details       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.CRS.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.DATA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.FRA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER.lsnr
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.asm
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Started,STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 Started,STABLE
ora.net1.network
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.ons
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.LISTENER_SCAN1.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN2.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN3.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.MGMTLSNR
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 169.254.182.6 200.20
                                                             0.30.11,STABLE
ora.cvu
      1        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               STABLE
ora.mgmtdb
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Open,STABLE
ora.oc4j
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.rac1db.db
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Open,STABLE
      2        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               Instance Shutdown,ST
                                                             ABLE
ora.racnode1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.racnode2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan3.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Test #3J. Test: User Session TAF.

[oracle@oraemcc ~]$ cat $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora
RAC1DB =
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = cluster1-scan.mynet.com)(PORT = 1521))
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = RAC1DB.mynet.com)
      (FAILOVER_MODE = 
        (TYPE=SESSION)
        (METHOD=BASIC)
        (RETRIES=10)
        (DELAY=10)
      )
    )
  )
[oracle@oraemcc ~]$ sqlplus system@rac1db

SQL> select instance_name from v$instance;

INSTANCE_NAME
----------------
RAC1DB1

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl stop instance -d RAC1DB -i RAC1DB1

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl status resource -t
...
ora.rac1db.db
      1        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               Instance Shutdown,ST
                                                             ABLE
      2        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 Open,STABLE
...
SQL> select instance_name from v$instance;
select instance_name from v$instance
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-25408: can not safely replay call
SQL> /

INSTANCE_NAME
----------------
RAC1DB2

Section #4: Test System & Cluster.

Test #4C. Test: Cluster Restart.

[root@racnode1 ~]# cd /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/bin
[root@racnode1 ~]# ./crsctl stop cluster -all

The output from this command is quite verbose, but it can be viewed here.

[root@racnode1 bin]# ./crsctl check cluster -all
**************************************************************
racnode1:
CRS-4535: Cannot communicate with Cluster Ready Services
CRS-4530: Communications failure contacting Cluster Synchronization Services daemon
CRS-4534: Cannot communicate with Event Manager
**************************************************************
racnode2:
CRS-4535: Cannot communicate with Cluster Ready Services
CRS-4530: Communications failure contacting Cluster Synchronization Services daemon
CRS-4534: Cannot communicate with Event Manager
**************************************************************

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl status resource -t
CRS-4535: Cannot communicate with Cluster Ready Services
CRS-4000: Command Status failed, or completed with errors.

[root@racnode1 bin]# ./crsctl start cluster -all

The output from the start cluster command is also a little verbose. It can be viewed here.

Note, despite the cluster having been shutdown and re-started, the instance RAC1DB1 on racnode1 remained shutdown. This is because that instance was shutdown in Test 3J. Re-starting the cluster does NOT automatically re-start cluster resources which had been previously shutdown. This is expected behavior.

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl status resource -t
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name           Target  State        Server                   State details       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.CRS.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.DATA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.FRA.dg
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER.lsnr
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.asm
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Started,STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 Started,STABLE
ora.net1.network
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.ons
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
               ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.LISTENER_SCAN1.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN2.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.LISTENER_SCAN3.lsnr
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.MGMTLSNR
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 169.254.182.6 192.16
                                                             8.2.11,STABLE
ora.cvu
      1        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               STABLE
ora.mgmtdb
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 Open,STABLE
ora.oc4j
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.rac1db.db
      1        OFFLINE OFFLINE                               Instance Shutdown,ST
                                                             ABLE
      2        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 Open,STABLE

ora.racnode1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
ora.racnode2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode2                 STABLE
ora.scan3.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       racnode1                 STABLE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section #5: Health Checks & ORAchk.

Test #5A. Check: Cluster Health Check..

There is a -html option for the cluvfy command which writes its output in HTML format to this location by default:

/u01/app/grid/crsdata/@global/cvu/report/html/cvucheckreport.html

The HTML version is very useful because some of the references it contains are hyperlinks to Oracle’s technical support documentation. How convenient is that?

Note, running the cluvfy command with the -html option will overwrite any existing cvucheckreport.html file.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cluvfy comp healthcheck -collect cluster -bestpractice > cluster_hc.txt

An example of this command’s output can be viewed here. Looks like we got busted for not using Jumbo Frames!

Test #5B. Check: RAC Database Health Check..

There is a -html option for the cluvfy command which writes its output in HTML format to this location by default:

/u01/app/grid/crsdata/@global/cvu/report/html/cvucheckreport.html

The HTML version is very useful because some of the references it contains are hyperlinks to Oracle’s technical support documentation.

Note, running the cluvfy command with the -html option will overwrite any existing cvucheckreport.html file.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cluvfy comp healthcheck -collect database -bestpractice > database_hc.txt

An example of this command’s output can be seen here. Looks like a couple of things could do with some attention.

Test #5C. Check: Run ORAchk.

ORAchk is a utility provided by Oracle Support which analyzes your operating system setup, Oracle software installation(s) and configurations and compares them with Oracle best practices, recommendations and available patches. The objective is to identify known problem areas before they cause disruption to database services. ORAchk can only be downloaded via MOS, Doc ID 1268927.2. As the oracle software installation user (usually oracle), you unzip the ORAchk zip file, then run the orachk command with the required parameters. For example:

[oracle@racnode1 ORAchk]$ ./orachk -a -o verbose

The great thing about ORAchk is it only analyzes the things it needs to or you want it to. It’s output is saved to a time stamped directory, the main component being a large HTML report file. When opened in a browser, the report shows an overall System Health Score out of 100. For each component checked, the report provides individual test feedback in the form of a Pass, Fail, Warning or Info message. You can view the details of each test which provides recommendations and even links to technical support documentation which show how to fix the problem. In some cases, the details contain actual SQL code which will fix the problem.

The not so great thing about ORAchk is that it is very fussy and as a result does not always generate correct or accurate results. For example, some perfectly valid unalias commands in the .bash_profile of the grid user caused ORAchk to fail multiple tests and even time out running others. Code timing out is especially problematic to the extent there are two environment variables you can set to allow a longer timeout periods. These are documented in the User Guide. The values I have used which (mostly) worked are:

RAT_ROOT_TIMEOUT=800
RAT_TIMEOUT=280

Suffice it to say, ORAchk isn’t perfect but is still worth trying. Just make sure you verify its results.

Task #4: Common Administration Tasks.

This task will see us perform a few corrective actions based upon the output of the health checks and ORAchk. We’ll also complete some admin which includes some of the things you’d typically do to a cluster and RAC database. We having fun yet? 🙂

We have 9 common tasks to complete. Links below:

Task #4.1: Enable Archiving for the RAC Database.

ORAchk highlighted our RAC database is not running in archivelog mode. So let’s fix that.

Task #4.1a: Review Parameters.

The normal parameters used to control the archiving of the Online Redo Logs have no effect when using ASM and a Fast Recovery Area. The parameters which do matter are these:

SQL> show parameter db_recovery_file_dest

NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE
------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------
db_recovery_file_dest                string      +FRA
db_recovery_file_dest_size           big integer 4785M

The parameter db_recovery_file_dest effectively trumps the traditional log_archive_dest_1 parameter and ensures the archived Online Redo Logs are stored in the Fast Recovery Area. In our case, that happens to be implemented as an ASM Diskgroup called +FRA. Also, the traditional parameter log_archive_format, which defaults to %t_%s_%r.dbf, has no effect since the archived Online Redo Log file names will follow the OMF standard naming convention.

Task #4.1b: Shutdown the RAC Database.

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl stop database -d RAC1DB

Task #4.1c: Start One Instance.

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [RAC1DB1] ? 
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/oracle

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysdba
SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.2.0 Production on Tue Feb 16 21:02:46 2016
Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to an idle instance.

SQL> startup mount
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 2147483648 bytes
Fixed Size                  2926472 bytes
Variable Size            1275070584 bytes
Database Buffers          855638016 bytes
Redo Buffers               13848576 bytes
Database mounted.

Task #4.1d: Enable Archiving & Shutdown the Instance.

SQL> alter database archivelog;
Database altered.

SQL> shutdown immediate 
ORA-01109: database not open

Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> exit

Task #4.1e: Restart the RAC Database.

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl start database -d RAC1DB

Task #4.1f: Verify Archivelog Mode & Generate Archived Online Redo Logs.

From racnode1 (Thread #1 – RAC1DB1):

SQL> archive log list
Database log mode              Archive Mode
Automatic archival             Enabled
Archive destination            USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST
Oldest online log sequence     316
Next log sequence to archive   317
Current log sequence           317

SQL> alter system switch logfile;
System altered.

SQL> select name from v$archived_log;

NAME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+FRA/RAC1DB/ARCHIVELOG/2016_02_16/thread_1_seq_317.261.903993279

From racnode2 (Thread #2 – RAC1DB2):

SQL> archive log list
Database log mode              Archive Mode
Automatic archival             Enabled
Archive destination            USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST
Oldest online log sequence     265
Next log sequence to archive   265
Current log sequence           266

SQL> alter system switch logfile;
System altered.

SQL> select name from v$archived_log;

NAME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+FRA/RAC1DB/ARCHIVELOG/2016_02_16/thread_1_seq_317.261.903993279
+FRA/RAC1DB/ARCHIVELOG/2016_02_16/thread_2_seq_265.262.903993427

We can also see the archived Online Redo Logs via ASMCMD:

ASMCMD> pwd
+FRA/RAC1DB/ARCHIVELOG/2016_02_16

ASMCMD> ls -l
Type        Redund  Striped  Time             Sys  Name
ARCHIVELOG  UNPROT  COARSE   FEB 16 21:00:00  Y    thread_1_seq_317.261.903993279
ARCHIVELOG  UNPROT  COARSE   FEB 16 21:00:00  Y    thread_2_seq_265.262.903993427

Task #4.2: Add an Additional OCR File.

We can have up to 5 OCR files and the fact Oracle allows for that suggests we ought to have more than just one. So let’s fix that.

Task #4.2a: Review Current OCR Configuration.

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ ocrcheck 
Status of Oracle Cluster Registry is as follows :
         Version                  :          4
         Total space (kbytes)     :     409568
         Used space (kbytes)      :       1588
         Available space (kbytes) :     407980
         ID                       : 1641944593
         Device/File Name         :       +CRS
                                    Device/File integrity check succeeded
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
         Cluster registry integrity check succeeded
         Logical corruption check bypassed due to non-privileged user

So, we know we have just one OCR file located in the +CRS ASM Diskgroup. Let’s take a look at that file using ASMCMD:

ASMCMD> pwd
+crs/cluster1/OCRFILE

ASMCMD> ls -l
Type     Redund  Striped  Time             Sys  Name
OCRFILE  UNPROT  COARSE   FEB 16 22:00:00  Y    REGISTRY.255.898728137

Task #4.2b: Add an OCR Location.

I created an additional ASM Diskgroup called CRS2. The ocrconfig command must be run as root.

[root@racnode1 ~]# . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [root] ? +ASM1
The Oracle base has been set to /u01/app/grid

[root@racnode1 ~]# ocrconfig -add +CRS2

Note, initial attempts to run this command repeatedly generated PROT-16 and PROC-23 errors. CRS was running fine on both nodes, the CRS log file contained no errors and the ASM instance alert log did not tell me anything of interest. A reboot of both nodes made this problem go away. Go figure. YMMV.

Task #4.2c: Review Updated OCR Configuration.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ocrcheck
Status of Oracle Cluster Registry is as follows :
         Version                  :          4
         Total space (kbytes)     :     409568
         Used space (kbytes)      :       1604
         Available space (kbytes) :     407964
         ID                       : 1641944593
         Device/File Name         :       +CRS
                                    Device/File integrity check succeeded
         Device/File Name         :      +CRS2
                                    Device/File integrity check succeeded
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
                                    Device/File not configured
         Cluster registry integrity check succeeded
         Logical corruption check bypassed due to non-privileged user

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cat /etc/oracle/ocr.loc
#Device/file  getting replaced by device +CRS2/cluster1/OCRFILE/REGISTRY.255.904309547 
ocrconfig_loc=+CRS/cluster1/OCRFILE/registry.255.898728137
ocrmirrorconfig_loc=+CRS2/cluster1/OCRFILE/REGISTRY.255.904309547

ASMCMD> pwd
+crs2/cluster1/OCRFILE

ASMCMD> ls -l
Type     Redund  Striped  Time             Sys  Name
OCRFILE  UNPROT  COARSE   FEB 20 14:00:00  Y    REGISTRY.255.904309547

Task #4.3: Add an Additional Votedisk.

Oracle best practice dictates we should have an odd number of Votedisks. Yes, I know 1 is an odd number but we should probably have more than one. Let’s fix that.

Task #4.3a: Review Current Votedisk Configuration.

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl query css votedisk
##  STATE    File Universal Id                File Name Disk group
--  -----    -----------------                --------- ---------
 1. ONLINE   6623c2c7b3a24fc5bffd28b93c053000 (/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK01) [CRS]
Located 1 voting disk(s).

Note, there is currently only ONE Votedisk because it resides in the +CRS ASM Diskgroup which is configured with external redundancy and a single ASM Disk. Hence, only ONE Votedisk.

Task #4.3b: Add Additional Votedisks.

Since we’re using ASM to store the Votedisk, we can’t just add more Votedisks to other ASM Diskgroups. It doesn’t work that way. Instead,the Votedisk redundancy (i.e. the number of Votedisks you have) is dependent upon the redundancy level of the ASM Diskgroup where the Votedisk(s) are stored. However, there is a mismatch between ASM Diskgroup redundancy and Oracle Clusterware Votedisk redundancy.

Redundancy Level Minimum # of ASM Disks # of Clusterware Votedisk Files
External 1 1
Normal 2 3
High 3 5

What this means is, if you create an ASM Diskgroup with NORMAL redundancy and 2 ASM Disks, trying to create Votedisks in that ASM Diskgroup would fail. This is because NORMAL redundancy for Votedisks would need 3 ASM Disks, not 2. Using a NORMAL redundancy ASM Diskgroup with 3 ASM Disks could contain Votedisks as all 3 disks would be used to store Votedisks.

To further make the point, I created a 4 disk NORMAL redundancy ASM Diskgroup called DATA2:

SQL> select dg.name,
            dg.type Redundancy,
            d.name,
            d.path
     from   v$asm_disk d,
            v$asm_diskgroup dg
     where  dg.group_number = d.group_number
     and    dg.name = 'DATA2'
     order by
            d.name;

NAME       REDUNDANCY NAME       PATH
---------- ---------- ---------- ------------------------------
DATA2      NORMAL     DATA2_0000 /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK08
DATA2      NORMAL     DATA2_0001 /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK09
DATA2      NORMAL     DATA2_0002 /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK10
DATA2      NORMAL     DATA2_0003 /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK06

Now we’ll move the Votedisk from the +CRS ASM Diskgroup to the +DATA2 ASM Diskgroup:

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl replace votedisk +DATA2
Successful addition of voting disk fd93674940d24f72bfcf07b3e1ac6d14.
Successful addition of voting disk fc9912809b3f4f3fbf64add0b80b34e4.
Successful addition of voting disk 5e840512f2904f41bfbc5dd468b4051b.
Successful deletion of voting disk 6623c2c7b3a24fc5bffd28b93c053000.
Successfully replaced voting disk group with +DATA2.
CRS-4266: Voting file(s) successfully replaced

Task #4.3c: Review Updated Votedisk Configuration.

As you can see, the NORMAL redundancy setting of the ASM Diskgroup created 3 Votedisks:

[grid@racnode2 ~]$ crsctl query css votedisk
##  STATE    File Universal Id                File Name Disk group
--  -----    -----------------                --------- ---------
 1. ONLINE   fd93674940d24f72bfcf07b3e1ac6d14 (/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK08) [DATA2]
 2. ONLINE   fc9912809b3f4f3fbf64add0b80b34e4 (/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK09) [DATA2]
 3. ONLINE   5e840512f2904f41bfbc5dd468b4051b (/dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK10) [DATA2]
Located 3 voting disk(s).

Note, only 3 of the 4 ASM Disks in the +DATA2 ASM Diskgroup are used for Votedisks.

Task #4.4: Implement oswatcher.

ORAchk highlighted our RAC nodes are not running oswatcher. Let’s fix that.

The oswatcher utility available via Oracle Support, Doc ID 301137.1. It  captures and analyzes performance data from the underlying operating system. The capture aspect is documented in MOS Doc ID 1531223.1 and the analyze aspect is documented in MOS Doc ID 461053.1.

Task #4.4a: Download.

Within MOS, navigate to Doc ID 301137.1, then click the OSWatcher Download link. This will take you to the OSWatcher Download section of the document. There you’ll see another link called:

Click here to download OSWatcher for Solaris, Linux and HP-UX. (AIX users see link below)

Click that link and you’ll be prompted to download a file called oswbb733.tar (where the 733 means version 7.3.3). Once this file is downloaded, copy it to an appropriate location on ALL the nodes in your cluster.

Task #4.4b: Install.

Installing OSWatcher is simply a case of untarring the tar file, then changing the file permissions:

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ cd ./media/oswatcher

[oracle@racnode1 OSWatcher]$ tar -xvf oswbb733.tar

[oracle@racnode1 oswatcher]$ ls -l
drwxr-xr-x 4 oracle oinstall    4096 Feb 27  2015 oswbb
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 6318080 Feb 21 15:10 oswbb733.tar

[oracle@racnode1 oswatcher]$ cd oswbb
[oracle@racnode1 oswbb]$ chmod 744 *
[oracle@racnode1 oswbb]$ ls -l
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall     67 Jan 15  2014 call_du.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall     68 Oct  7  2013 call_sar.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall     71 Jan  7  2014 call_uptime.sh
drwxr--r-- 4 oracle oinstall   4096 Sep  8  2014 docs
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    626 Jan 15  2014 Example_extras.txt
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall   1864 Oct  7  2013 Exampleprivate.net
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    772 May  8  2014 ifconfigsub.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    743 Oct  7  2013 iosub.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall   1486 Jan  8  2014 ltop.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    542 Oct  7  2013 mpsub.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    740 Oct  7  2013 nfssub.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall   5062 Sep 17  2014 OSWatcherFM.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall  35108 Feb 27  2015 OSWatcher.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 233897 Feb 27  2015 oswbba.jar
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    414 Oct  7  2013 oswib.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    435 Jan  8  2014 oswnet.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    825 Oct  7  2013 oswrds.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    524 Oct  7  2013 oswsub.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall   1445 Oct 17  2013 psmemsub.sh
drwxr--r-- 2 oracle oinstall   4096 May  2  2014 src
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall   2574 Feb 26  2015 startOSWbb.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    558 Apr 17  2014 stopOSWbb.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    746 Nov  6  2013 tarupfiles.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall   4219 Nov  6  2013 tar_up_partial_archive.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall    545 Feb 23  2015 vmsub.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 oracle oinstall   1486 Feb 26  2015 xtop.sh

User guides and README files are in the docs subdirectory.

Task #4.4c: Configure.

OSWatcher basically runs a series of OS monitoring commands at a predetermined frequency, stores the output of those commands for a predetermined amount of time in a predetermined location.

The defaults are a frequency of 30 seconds with output data kept for the last 48 hours in an archive directory where you untarred the software. These can all be customized.

In addition, Oracle Support recommends you use OSWatcher to monitor Grid Infrastructure’s private interconnect networks. This is done by creating a special file called private.net with the appropriate entries:

[oracle@racnode1 oswbb]$ cat private.net
######################################################################
#Linux Example
######################################################################
echo "zzz ***"`date`
traceroute -r -F racnode1-priv
traceroute -r -F racnode2-priv
######################################################################
# DO NOT DELETE THE FOLLOWING LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
######################################################################
rm locks/lock.file

Task #4.4d: Run OSWatcher.

The script which starts OSWatcher is called startOSWbb.sh. It can take up to 4 parameters:

Parameter Position Meaning
1 Sample Frequency (Seconds)
2 Archive History (Hours)
3 OS Compression Utility to Use
4 Archive Directory Path

For example, to capture stats once per minute, keep those stats for 12 hours, use gzip to compress the archive  data and store the archive data in /nas1/OSWATCHER/racnode1, use this command:

[oracle@racnode1 oswbb]$ ./startOSWbb.sh 60 12 gzip /nas1/OSWATCHER/racnode1
Info...Zip option IS specified. 
Info...OSW will use gzip to compress files.

Testing for discovery of OS Utilities...
VMSTAT found on your system.
IOSTAT found on your system.
MPSTAT found on your system.
IFCONFIG found on your system.
NETSTAT found on your system.
TOP found on your system.
Warning... /proc/slabinfo not found on your system.

Testing for discovery of OS CPU COUNT
oswbb is looking for the CPU COUNT on your system
CPU COUNT will be used by oswbba to automatically look for cpu problems

CPU COUNT found on your system.
CPU COUNT = 1

Discovery completed.

Starting OSWatcher v7.3.3  on Sun Feb 21 17:32:10 CST 2016
With SnapshotInterval = 60
With ArchiveInterval = 12

OSWatcher - Written by Carl Davis, Center of Expertise,
Oracle Corporation
For questions on install/usage please go to MOS (Note:301137.1)
If you need further assistance or have comments or enhancement
requests you can email me Carl.Davis@Oracle.com

Data is stored in directory: /nas1/OSWATCHER/racnode1

Starting Data Collection...

Once OSWatcher is underway, it will echo heartbeat information to your screen at the frequency you specified (in our case every 60 seconds):

oswbb heartbeat:Sun Feb 21 17:40:16 CST 2016

It’s OK to log out of the session which initiated OSWatcher. The processes continue to run in the background:

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep OSW
oracle   27722     1  0 17:31 ?        00:00:00 /bin/sh ./OSWatcher.sh 60 12 gzip 
 /nas1/OSWATCHER/racnode1
oracle   27906 27722  0 17:32 ?        00:00:00 /bin/sh ./OSWatcherFM.sh 12 
 /nas1/OSWATCHER/racnode1

Task #4.4e: Analyze.

Analyzing the OSWatcher data might be a topic of a future update. You can’t have everything all in one go.

Task #4.5: Check I/O Calibration.

The RAC Database Health Check reported this failure:

Verification Check       : FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS
Verification Description : Checks FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS parameter
Verification Result      : WARNING
Verification Summary     : Check for FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS failed
Additional Details       : FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS=setall supports both direct I/O and
                           asynchronus I/O which helps to achieve optimal performance
                           with database data files

Database(Instance) Status  Expected Value                 Actual Value
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rac1db             FAILED  filesystemio_options = SETALL  filesystemio_options = none

We know our RAC database is using ASM for its storage which should optimize I/O for us. One of the prerequisites of running Oracle’s I/O Calibration is to ensure asynchronous I/O is enabled for all the database datafiles, so let’s check that now:

SQL> SELECT NAME,
            ASYNCH_IO
     FROM   V$DATAFILE F,
            V$IOSTAT_FILE I
     WHERE  F.FILE#=I.FILE_NO
     AND    FILETYPE_NAME='Data File';

NAME                                               ASYNCH_IO
-------------------------------------------------- ---------
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/system.258.898779945         ASYNC_ON
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/sysaux.257.898779761         ASYNC_ON
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/undotbs1.260.898780207       ASYNC_ON
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/undotbs2.265.898783783       ASYNC_ON
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/users.259.898780201          ASYNC_ON

Asynchronous I/O seems to be in play. We know all these files are in the +DATA ASM Diskgroup, which contains 2 ASM Disks:

SQL> select dg.name DG,
             d.name Disk,
             decode(d.GROUP_NUMBER,
                    0,'Unallocated',
                    'In Use') State,
             d.path
      from   v$asm_disk d left outer join v$asm_diskgroup dg
      on     dg.group_number = d.group_number
      order by
             dg.name,
             d.path;

DG         DISK         STATE       PATH
---------- ------------ ----------- ------------------------------
CRS        CRS_0000     In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK01
CRS2       CRS2_0000    In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK07
DATA       DATA_0000    In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK02
DATA       DATA_0001    In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK03
DATA2      DATA2_0003   In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK06
DATA2      DATA2_0000   In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK08
DATA2      DATA2_0001   In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK09
DATA2      DATA2_0002   In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK10
FRA        FRA_0000     In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK04
FRA        FRA_0001     In Use      /dev/oracleasm/disks/ASMDISK05

I/O calibration is discussed in the Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide and can be reviewed here. Let’s run the calibration code multiple times to see what results we get with FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS set to NONE and SETALL. Here’s the calibration code:

SET SERVEROUTPUT ON
DECLARE
  lat  INTEGER;
  iops INTEGER;
  mbps INTEGER;
BEGIN
-- DBMS_RESOURCE_MANAGER.CALIBRATE_IO (<DISKS>, <MAX_LATENCY>, iops, mbps, lat);
   DBMS_RESOURCE_MANAGER.CALIBRATE_IO (2, 10, iops, mbps, lat);
 
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('max_iops = ' || iops);
  DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE ('latency  = ' || lat);
  dbms_output.put_line ('max_mbps = ' || mbps);
end;
/

Having run the code multiple times with FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS set to NONE, let’s change it to SETALL. It’s not a dynamic parameter so we’ll need to bounce the database:

SQL> show parameter filesystemio_options           
NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE
------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------
filesystemio_options                 string      none

SQL> alter system set filesystemio_options = SETALL scope=spfile;
System altered.

[oracle@racnode1 racnode1]$ srvctl stop database -d RAC1DB
[oracle@racnode1 racnode1]$ srvctl start database -d RAC1DB
[oracle@racnode1 racnode1]$ srvctl status database -d RAC1DB
Instance RAC1DB1 is running on node racnode1
Instance RAC1DB2 is running on node racnode2

SQL> show parameter filesystemio_options
NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE
------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------
filesystemio_options                 string      SETALL

These are the results averaged for multiple runs of the code:

FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS Max IOPS Latency Max MBPS
NONE 9,631 9.67 105.67
SETALL 9,796 8 105.67

As you can see, the Max IOPS improved slightly with SETALL which also performed with slightly lower latency. That said, the two sets of results are so close that it makes little difference. However, things didn’t get worse by setting FILESYSTEMIO_OPTIONS to SETALL, so let’s call that a win. Sort of.

Task #4.6: Apply a Patch (22191349).

ORAchk recommended applying the Grid Infrastructure Patch Set Update 12.1.0.2.160119 (JAN2016). There are multiple steps involved, so let’s get started.

Note, this is a rolling patch. It can be applied to a running system. Clusterware will be shutdown and patched as you apply the patch one node at a time.

Task #4.6a: Update opatch.

To apply this patch, the opatch utility must be version 12.1.0.1.7 or later. So let’s check the version in the GI and database $ORACLE_HOME directories:

[grid@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch version
OPatch Version: 12.1.0.1.3
OPatch succeeded.

[oracle@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch version
OPatch Version: 12.1.0.1.3
OPatch succeeded.

We need to update opatch which is done by downloading the latest version from MOS, patch #6880880.

We’ll update the GI and database $ORACLE_HOME directories on racnode1 first, taking a backup of the original OPatch directories as we go.

[grid@racnode1 grid]$ pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid

[grid@racnode1 grid]$ mv OPatch OPatch_12.1.0.1.3
mv: cannot move `OPatch' to `OPatch_12.1.0.1.3': Permission denied

The directory is owned by root:oinstall and group does not have write permission. Let’s fix that:

[root@racnode1 12.1.0]# pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0

[root@racnode1 12.1.0]# ls -la
drwxr-xr-x 3 root oinstall 4096 Dec 17 18:09 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root oinstall 4096 Dec 17 13:07 ..
drwxr-xr-x 73 root oinstall 4096 Dec 17 22:34 grid

[root@racnode1 12.1.0]# chmod 775 grid

[grid@racnode1 grid]$ mv OPatch OPatch_12.1.0.1.3

Now copy the new opatch zip file into the GI home and unzip it:

[grid@racnode1 grid]$ cp /nas1/PATCHES/6880880/p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip .
[grid@racnode1 grid]$ unzip p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip

Check the new opatch version then remove the zip file:

[grid@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch version
OPatch Version: 12.1.0.1.10
OPatch succeeded.

[grid@racnode1 OPatch]$ cd ..
[grid@racnode1 grid]$ ls -l *.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 grid oinstall 52774823 Feb 29 11:48 p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip

[grid@racnode1 grid]$ rm -f p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip

Note, don’t forget to change the GI $ORACLE_HOME permissions back to 755.

Now update opatch in the database $ORACLE_HOME:

[oracle@racnode1 dbhome_1]$ mv OPatch OPatch_12.1.0.1.3
[oracle@racnode1 dbhome_1]$ cp /nas1/PATCHES/6880880/p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip .
[oracle@racnode1 dbhome_1]$ unzip p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip
[oracle@racnode1 dbhome_1]$ cd OPatch

[oracle@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch version
OPatch Version: 12.1.0.1.10
OPatch succeeded.

[oracle@racnode1 dbhome_1]$ cd ..
[oracle@racnode1 dbhome_1]$ ls -l *.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 52774823 Feb 29 11:59 p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip

[oracle@racnode1 dbhome_1]$ rm -f p6880880_121010_Linux-x86-64.zip

Now repeat the same tasks for the GI and database $ORACLE_HOME directories on racnode2.

Task #4.6b: Create an Oracle Configuration Manager (OCM) Response File.

You must have an OCM response file with file permissions of 775.

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/bin

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ ./emocmrsp -no_banner -output /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp
Provide your email address to be informed of security issues, install and
initiate Oracle Configuration Manager. Easier for you if you use your My
Oracle Support Email address/User Name.
Visit http://www.oracle.com/support/policies.html for details.
Email address/User Name: 
You have not provided an email address for notification of security issues.
Do you wish to remain uninformed of security issues ([Y]es, [N]o) [N]: Y
The OCM configuration response file (/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp) was 
successfully created.

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ cd ..
[grid@racnode1 ocm]$ chmod 775 ocm.rsp
[grid@racnode1 ocm]$ ls -l
drwxr-x--- 2 grid oinstall     4096 Nov 13 14:15 bin
drwxr-x--- 2 grid oinstall     4096 Nov 13 14:15 doc
drwxr-x--- 2 grid oinstall     4096 Nov 13 14:15 lib
-rw-r----- 1 grid oinstall     638 Nov 13 14:15 ocm_platforms.txt
-rwxrwxr-x 1 grid oinstall     621 Feb 29 12:44 ocm.rsp
-rwxr-x--- 1 grid oinstall 42560960 Nov 13 14:15 ocm.zip

Repeat this step for the GI $ORACLE_HOME on racnode2.

Task #4.6c: Check the $ORACLE_HOME Inventories.

On racnode1, we need to check the GI and database $ORACLE_HOME inventories.

[grid@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch lsinventory -detail -oh /u01/app/12.1.0/grid

The output is quite verbose, but can be viewed here.

[oracle@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch lsinventory -detail -oh /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1

Again, the output is quite verbose, but it can be viewed here.

Checking the inventories tells us there are no interim patches applied to either the GI or database $ORACLE_HOME directories.

Task #4.6d: Unzip the Patch.

The patch needs to be unzipped and accessible to all nodes in the cluster. It makes it easier that way. Fortunately I have some NAS storage which is mounted on both RAC nodes.

[grid@racnode1 grid]$ cd /nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid
[grid@racnode1 grid]$ unzip p22191349_121020_Linux-x86-64.zip

Task #4.6e: Check For One-Off Patch Conflicts.

We already know that neither $ORACLE_HOME directories contain any patches at this point, so there can’t be any conflicts by definition. Still, we’ll run the conflict check anyway which must be done as the root user:

[root@racnode1 grid]# pwd
/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid

[root@racnode1 grid]# export PATH=$PATH:/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch
[root@racnode1 grid]# which opatchauto
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto

[root@racnode1 grid]# /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto apply /nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349 -analyze -ocmrf /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp
OPatch Automation Tool
Copyright (c)2014, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
OPatchauto Version : 12.1.0.1.10
OUI Version        : 12.1.0.2.0
Running from       : /u01/app/12.1.0/grid
opatchauto log file: /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/22191349/
opatch_gi_2016-02-29_14-02-15_analyze.log

NOTE: opatchauto is running in ANALYZE mode. There will be no change to your system.

OCM RSP file has been ignored in analyze mode.

Parameter Validation: Successful
Configuration Validation: Successful

Patch Location: /nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349
Grid Infrastructure Patch(es): 21436941 21948341 21948344 21948354
DB Patch(es): 21948344 21948354

Patch Validation: Successful
Grid Infrastructure home: /u01/app/12.1.0/grid
DB home(s): /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1

Analyzing patch(es) on "/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1" ...
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948344" successfully analyzed on 
 "/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1" for apply.
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948354" successfully analyzed on 
 "/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1" for apply.
Analyzing patch(es) on "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid" ...
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21436941" successfully analyzed on 
 "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid" for apply.
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948341" successfully analyzed on 
 "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid" for apply.
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948344" successfully analyzed on 
 "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid" for apply.
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948354" successfully analyzed on 
 "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid" for apply.

SQL changes, if any, are analyzed successfully on the following database(s): RAC1DB

Apply Summary:
Following patch(es) are successfully analyzed:
GI Home: /u01/app/12.1.0/grid: 21436941,21948341,21948344,21948354
DB Home: /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1: 21948344,21948354

opatchauto succeeded.

As we suspected, no conflicts so we can proceed and apply the patch.

Task #4.6f: Apply the Patch.

There are some options for applying the patch. We’ll choose the ‘non-shared GI and database $ORACLE_HOME and ACFS is not configured’ option. Each node has to be patched separately on a running system, i.e. the cluster is up. Let’s patch racnode1 first and enjoy the nightmare together. 🙂

The patch is applied by the root user using this command template:

<GI_HOME>/OPatch/opatchauto apply <UNZIPPED_PATCH_LOCATION>/22191349 -ocmrf <ocm response file>

In our case, that translates into this:

[root@racnode1 ~]# /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto apply /nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349 -ocmrf /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp

This had the effect of installing patches 21948344 and 21948354 into the database $ORACLE_HOME, but it failed to install any patches into the GI $ORACLE_HOME. The reason was there was insufficient disk space. The patch log file contained these messages:

...
[Feb 29, 2016 2:27:40 PM]   Running prerequisite checks...
[Feb 29, 2016 2:27:41 PM]   Space Needed : 8180.049MB
[Feb 29, 2016 2:27:41 PM]   Space Usable : 7786.043MB
[Feb 29, 2016 2:27:41 PM]   Required amount of space(8180.049MB) is not available.
[Feb 29, 2016 2:27:41 PM]   Prerequisite check "CheckSystemSpace" failed.
                            The details are:
                            Required amount of space(8180.049MB) is not available.
...

The /u01 file system did not have the 8 GB of free disk it needed. It would have been nice if the patch conflict command had told me this. Thanks Oracle! As is customary in patch README files, the command to rollback the patch is also documented. However, attempts to rollback the patch also failed because Clusterware wasn’t running and my attempts to re-start it on racnode1 repeatedly failed. A node reboot solved that problem and I tried to rollback the patch for a second time. That failed as well. This time the rollback command reported these errors in the log file:

COMMAND EXECUTION FAILURE :
Using configuration parameter file: /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchautotemp_racnode1/
patchwork/crs/install/crsconfig_params
Oracle Clusterware active version on the cluster is [12.1.0.2.0]. The cluster upgrade 
state is [ROLLING PATCH]. The cluster active patch level is [0].
PROC-28: Oracle Cluster Registry already in current version
CRS-1153: There was an error setting Oracle Clusterware to rolling patch mode.
CRS-4000: Command Start failed, or completed with errors.
2016/02/29 16:01:23 CLSRSC-430: Failed to start rolling patch mode

ERROR:
Died at /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchautotemp_racnode1/patchwork/crs/
install/crspatch.pm line 776.

Clusterware was already in ‘rolling patch mode’, so you’d think trying to set it to that mode wouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong! Unfortunately, this is an unpublished pub. Fortunately, Oracle already knows about this and has a workaround documented in MOS, Doc ID 1943498.1. It boils down to running this command:

[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl stop rollingpatch

This command appears to switch Clusterware back into NORMAL mode, so it can be switched into ROLLING PATCH mode when you attempt to rollback the patch or apply it. The log file also contains this rather useful tidbit of information:

--------------After fixing the cause of failure you have two options shown below:
Run 'opatchauto resume'
or
Manually run the commands listed below
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...

I wasn’t about to trust ‘opatchauto resume’, so I opted for running the 17 fully documented commands in sequential order. Some needed to be run as root, some as oracle and some as grid. Unbelievably, they all worked! We can see the patches which were applied by running opatch lsinventory commands:

[grid@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch lsinventory

The output can be viewed here.

[oracle@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./opatch lsinventory

The output can be viewed here.

Note, opatch stores patch rollback information and files in a sub-directory within each $ORACLE_HOME called .patch_storage. This has the potential to consume a large quantity of disk space and thus reduce the free space available to the filesystem which contains the Oracle code installations. Running out of disk space in this filesystem is bad news. You should NOT just delete/archive the .patch_storage directory, so Oracle recommends one of 3 courses of action in the event disk space becomes an issue:

  1. Increase the size of the filesystem. (I know – genius right? ?)
  2. Use symbolic links and relocate .patch_storage some place else. (This is what I did – worked fine)
  3. Run the command: opatch util cleanup. (Documented in MOS Doc ID 550522.1)

So, with the $ORACLE_HOME directories patched on racnode1, it’s time to attempt applying the patch on racnode2. Yes, I did check I had more than 8 GB of free space in the /u01 filesystem before I started. Thanks for asking. When applying the patch actually works as intended, it looks like this:

[root@racnode2 ~]# . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [+ASM2] ?
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/grid

[root@racnode2 trace]# export PATH=$PATH:/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch
[root@racnode2 trace]# which opatchauto
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto

[root@racnode2 ~]# /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto apply /nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349 -ocmrf /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp

OPatch Automation Tool
Copyright (c)2014, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
OPatchauto Version  : 12.1.0.1.10
OUI Version         : 12.1.0.2.0
Running from        : /u01/app/12.1.0/grid
opatchauto log file : /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/22191349/
                       opatch_gi_2016-03-01_13-17-42_deploy.log

Parameter Validation: Successful
Configuration Validation: Successful

Patch Location: /nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349
Grid Infrastructure Patch(es): 21436941 21948341 21948344 21948354
DB Patch(es): 21948344 21948354

Patch Validation: Successful

Grid Infrastructure home: /u01/app/12.1.0/grid
DB home(s): /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1

Performing prepatch operations on CRS Home... Successful

Applying patch(es) to "/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1" ...
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948344" successfully applied 
 to "/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1".
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948354" successfully applied 
 to "/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1".

Applying patch(es) to "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid" ...
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21436941" successfully applied 
 to "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid".
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948341" successfully applied 
 to "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid".
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948344" successfully applied 
 to "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid".
Patch "/nas1/PATCHES/22191349/grid/22191349/21948354" successfully applied 
 to "/u01/app/12.1.0/grid".

Performing postpatch operations on CRS Home... Successful

SQL changes, if any, are applied successfully on the following database(s): RAC1DB

Apply Summary:
Following patch(es) are successfully installed:
GI Home: /u01/app/12.1.0/grid: 21436941,21948341,21948344,21948354
DB Home: /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1: 21948344,21948354

opatchauto succeeded.

Again, running the opatch lsinventory command in each $ORACLE_HOME will verify the patches have been applied.

Task #4.6g: Run datapatch.

The final step involves running a script called datapatch which is located in the OPatch directory under $ORACLE_HOME. The documentation says for a RAC environment, run this from only one node. We’re left to assume we do this after all the nodes have been patched. There are instructions for both a “Standalone DB” and “Single/Multitenant (CDB/PDB) DB”. We know our user RAC database is not a CDB, but the GIMR database (_MGMTDB) is. Since the GI $ORACLE_HOME was patched and that codeset runs the _MGMTDB database, again we have to assume we need to run the datapatch script for that database as well. It would be nice if Oracle’s documentation made that clear.

The RAC1DB instances are already up and running, so we’ll dive straight in and run the datapatch script from racnode1:

[oracle@racnode1 OPatch]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch

[oracle@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./datapatch -verbose
SQL Patching tool version 12.1.0.2.0 on Wed Mar 2 10:16:57 2016
Copyright (c) 2015, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Log file for this invocation: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/
  sqlpatch_2324_2016_03_02_10_16_57/sqlpatch_invocation.log

Connecting to database...OK
Bootstrapping registry and package to current versions...done
Determining current state...done

Current state of SQL patches:
Bundle series PSU:
ID 160119 in the binary registry and ID 160119 in the SQL registry

Adding patches to installation queue and performing prereq checks...
Installation queue:
Nothing to roll back
Nothing to apply

SQL Patching tool complete on Wed Mar 2 10:19:11 2016

Finally, we need to verify everything worked:

SQL> select patch_id, action, status from dba_registry_sqlpatch;

PATCH_ID  ACTION          STATUS
--------- --------------- ---------------
21948354  APPLY           SUCCESS 

Next, we’ll run the datapatch script in the _MGMTDB database. The script requires that all pluggable databases be open, so let’s double check that before we run the script:

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [-MGMTDB] ?
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/grid

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> select name, open_mode from v$pdbs;

NAME                           OPEN_MODE
------------------------------ ----------
PDB$SEED                       READ ONLY
CLUSTER1                       READ WRITE

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch
[grid@racnode1 OPatch]$ pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch

[grid@racnode1 OPatch]$ ./datapatch -verbose
SQL Patching tool version 12.1.0.2.0 on Wed Mar 2 10:48:36 2016
Copyright (c) 2015, Oracle. All rights reserved.
Log file for this invocation: /u01/app/grid/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/
  sqlpatch_14626_2016_03_02_10_48_36/sqlpatch_invocation.log

Connecting to database...OK

Note: Datapatch will only apply or rollback SQL fixes for PDBs
      that are in an open state, no patches will be applied to closed PDBs.
      Please refer to Note: Datapatch: Database 12c Post Patch SQL Automation
      (Doc ID 1585822.1)

Bootstrapping registry and package to current versions...done
Determining current state...done

Current state of SQL patches:
Bundle series PSU:
ID 160119 in the binary registry and ID 160119 in PDB CDB$ROOT, ID 160119 
in PDB PDB$SEED, ID 160119 in PDB CLUSTER1

Adding patches to installation queue and performing prereq checks...

Installation queue:

For the following PDBs: CDB$ROOT PDB$SEED CLUSTER1
   Nothing to roll back
   Nothing to apply

SQL Patching tool complete on Wed Mar 2 10:50:57 2016

Finally, we need to verify everything worked:

SQL> select patch_id, action, status from dba_registry_sqlpatch;

PATCH_ID  ACTION          STATUS
--------  --------------- ---------------
21948354  APPLY           SUCCESS

All appears to be well. Job done!

Task #4.7: Apply a PSU (January 2016 PSU – Patch 22191676).

During the writing of Part 11, the January 2016 PSUs were released by Oracle. These are cumulative and bundle together many patches which were released previously. As always, we read the README file which comes with the patch very carefully to see what we’re getting into.

Note, this is a non-rolling patch and requires downtime to apply it.

The January 2016 PSU contains these patches:

Patch # Description Applicable Homes
21948354 DB PSU 12.1.0.2.160119 Both DB Homes and Grid Home
21948344 OCW PSU 12.1.0.2.160119 Both DB Homes and Grid Home
22139226 OJVM 12.1.0.2.160119 Only DB Homes
21948341 ACFS PSU 12.1.0.2.160119 Only Grid Home
21436941 DBWLM PSU 12.1.0.2.5 Only Grid Home

Since we’ve already applied Patch #22191349, we can check to see if there’s any overlap. These are the results of running opatch lsinventory for the GI and database $ORACLE_HOME directories:

Patch # Applied to Homes
21948354 DB & GI
21948344 DB & GI
21948341 GI
21436941 GI

So there is a significant overlap with only Patch #22139226 adding anything new. We could apply just that one patch or we could test the application of the whole patch to make sure it’s smart enough to skip already applied patches and apply just the one we want (#22139226). So let’s do that. We’ll follow the same approach as before, even though we know some of the ground work has already been done.

Task #4.7a: Update opatch.

We must use opatch version 12.1.0.1.7 or later. We already have version 12.1.0.1.10.

Task #4.7b: Create an Oracle Configuration Manager (OCM) Response File.

Since things have changed, we’ll go ahead and re-generate the ocm.rsp file. Just for fun, I ran the diff command to compare the old ocm.rsp file and the new one and it reported they were different. So we’ll use a new one just to be on the safe side.

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/bin 

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ ./emocmrsp -no_banner -output /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp
Provide your email address to be informed of security issues, install and
initiate Oracle Configuration Manager. Easier for you if you use your My
Oracle Support Email address/User Name.
Visit http://www.oracle.com/support/policies.html for details.
Email address/User Name: <just press Enter here>

You have not provided an email address for notification of security issues.
Do you wish to remain uninformed of security issues ([Y]es, [N]o) [N]:  Y
The OCM configuration response file (/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp) was 
successfully created.

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ cd ..
[grid@racnode1 ocm]$ chmod 775 ocm.rsp

Repeat this step on racnode2.

Task #4.7c: Check the $ORACLE_HOME Inventories.

As before, the point of this step is to generate documentation of what the inventories looked like before the patch was applied. The documentation also says if this command fails, you should contact Oracle Support so presumably a successful run must mean the inventories are healthy.

Task #4.7d: Unzip the Patch.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cd /nas1/PATCHES/22191676/grid
[grid@racnode1 grid]$ unzip p22191676_121020_Linux-x86-64.zip

Task #4.7e: Check For One-Off Patch Conflicts.

This is where the patch software should detect the presence of the existing patches and report that they’ll be skipped. Thus leaving only Patch #22191349 to be applied to the database $ORACLE_HOME. Here’s the command to check for conflicts:

[root@racnode1 ~]# /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto apply /nas1/PATCHES/22191676/grid/22191676 -analyze -ocmrf /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp

So what did this command report? Well, the main opatchauto log file reported this:

...
The following patch(es) are duplicate patches with patches installed in the 
Oracle Home.
 [ 21948354]
You have already installed same patch(es) with same UPI(s) or same version(s).
These patch(es) will be skipped.

Opatchauto skipped installing the above patch in /u01/app/12.1.0/grid
...

The GI $ORACLE_HOME log file (referenced in the main opatchauto log file) reported this:

...
The following patch(es) are duplicate patches with patches installed in the 
Oracle Home.
[ 21436941 21948341 21948344]
You have already installed same patch(es) with same UPI(s) or same version(s).
These patch(es) will be skipped.
...

So, for the GI $ORACLE_HOME,  Patches #21948354, #21948344, #21948341 and #21436941 will all be skipped. This is correct!

The main opatchauto log file also reported this:

...
The following patch(es) are duplicate patches with patches installed in the 
Oracle Home.
 [ 21948354]
You have already installed same patch(es) with same UPI(s) or same version(s).
These patch(es) will be skipped.

Opatchauto skipped installing the above patch in 
 /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1
...

The database $ORACLE_HOME log file (referenced in the main opatchauto log file) reported this:

...
Patches to apply -> [ 21948344 22139226  ]
Duplicate patches to filter -> [ 21948344  ]
The following patches are duplicate and are skipped:
[ 21948344  ]
OPatch found that the following patches are not required.
All of the constituents of the composite patch [ 21948354 ] are already installed 
in the Oracle Home.
...

So, for the database $ORACLE_HOME, Patches #21948354 and 21948344 will be skipped leaving Patch #22139226 to be applied. Again, this is correct!

Task #4.7f: Apply the Patch.

Since we know there are no patches to apply to the GI $ORACLE_HOME, we can choose the option to only apply the patch to the database $ORACLE_HOME. The command template for that is:

opatchauto apply <UNZIPPED_PATCH_LOCATION>/22191676 -oh <oracle_home1_path>,<oracle_home2_path> -ocmrf <ocm response file>

Since we’ll be using the opatchauto command from the database $ORACLE_HOME, we should probably generate an OCM response file there:

[oracle@racnode1 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/ocm/bin

[oracle@racnode1 bin]$ ./emocmrsp -no_banner -output /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp
Provide your email address to be informed of security issues, install and
initiate Oracle Configuration Manager. Easier for you if you use your My
Oracle Support Email address/User Name.
Visit http://www.oracle.com/support/policies.html for details.
Email address/User Name: <just press Enter here>

You have not provided an email address for notification of security issues.
Do you wish to remain uninformed of security issues ([Y]es, [N]o) [N]:  Y
The OCM configuration response file (/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/
 OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp) was successfully created.

[oracle@racnode1 bin]$ cd ..
[oracle@racnode1 ocm]$ chmod 775 ocm.rsp

First, we need to stop the RAC database:

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [RAC1DB1] ? 
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/oracle

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ srvctl stop database -d RAC1DB

Next, stop Clusterware on the remote node (racnode2):

[root@racnode2 ~]# . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [+ASM2] ? 
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/grid

[root@racnode2 ~]# crsctl stop crs

Next, ensure Clusterware is still running on the local node (racnode1):

[root@racnode1 ~]# . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [+ASM1] ? 
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/grid

[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl check crs
CRS-4638: Oracle High Availability Services is online
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online

Next, run the opatchauto command according to the template referenced earlier:

[root@racnode1 ~]# opatchauto apply /nas1/PATCHES/22191676/grid/22191676 -oh /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 -ocmrf /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp

The screen output can be viewed here. Overall, it says Patch #22139226 was applied, but that some SQL was not run because the RAC database was down. The good news is the SQL commands/scripts which were not executed are documented in the log file. All they do is query the existence of the SPFILE, startup an instance in upgrade mode, set CLUSTER_DATABASE=FALSE, run the datapatch script (in the $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch directory), then set CLUSTER_DATABASE=TRUE. We’ll apply the patch to racnode2, then run these SQL commands/scripts.

Following the same sequence of steps for racnode2, first generate a new OCM response file:

[oracle@racnode2 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/ocm/bin

[oracle@racnode2 bin]$ ./emocmrsp -no_banner -output /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp
Provide your email address to be informed of security issues, install and
initiate Oracle Configuration Manager. Easier for you if you use your My
Oracle Support Email address/User Name.
Visit http://www.oracle.com/support/policies.html for details.
Email address/User Name: <just press Enter here>

You have not provided an email address for notification of security issues.
Do you wish to remain uninformed of security issues ([Y]es, [N]o) [N]:  Y
The OCM configuration response file (/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/
  OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp) was successfully created.

[oracle@racnode2 bin]$ cd ..
[oracle@racnode2 ocm]$ chmod 775 ocm.rsp

Next, re-start Clusterware on racnode2:

[root@racnode2 22191676]# . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [+ASM2] ? 
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/grid
[root@racnode2 22191676]# crsctl start crs

After a few moments, check the Clusterware software stack has re-started:

[root@racnode2 22191676]# crsctl check crs
CRS-4638: Oracle High Availability Services is online
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online

Next, shutdown Clusterware on the remote node (racnode1):

[root@racnode1 ~]# . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [RAC1DB1] ? +ASM1
The Oracle base has been changed from /u01/app/oracle to /u01/app/grid

[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl stop crs

Next, set your environment and run the opatchauto command:

[root@racnode2 ~]# . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [root] ? RAC1DB2
The Oracle base has been set to /u01/app/oracle

[root@racnode2 ~]# export PATH=$PATH:$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch
[root@racnode2 ~]# which opatchauto
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/opatchauto

Next, run the opatchauto command:

[root@racnode2 ~]# opatchauto apply /nas1/PATCHES/22191676/grid/22191676 -oh /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 -ocmrf /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/ocm/ocm.rsp

The screen output was the same as the opatchauto run on racnode1 and Patch #22139226 was successfully applied. Now we’ll run the SQL commands which were missed due to the RAC database not being up and running.

The first SQL script just checks for the existence of an SPFILE, so we’ll skip that.

The second SQL script alters the CLUSTER_DATABASE parameter FALSE in the SPFILE:

[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ srvctl start instance -d RAC1DB -n racnode2
[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysdba
SQL> @/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/cfgtoollogs/oplan/dataPatchfileForSetClusterFalse.sql
System altered.

The third SQL script starts up the instance in upgrade mode:

[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ srvctl stop instance -d RAC1DB -n racnode2
[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysdba
Connected to an idle instance.
SQL> @/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/cfgtoollogs/oplan/dataPatchfileForStartupUpgrade.sql
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 2147483648 bytes
Fixed Size                  2926472 bytes
Variable Size            1207961720 bytes
Database Buffers          922746880 bytes
Redo Buffers               13848576 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.

The fourth script runs the datapatch script:

[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ /bin/bash -c 'ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 ORACLE_SID=RAC1DB2 /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/datapatch'
SQL Patching tool version 12.1.0.2.0 on Thu Mar  3 19:30:35 2016
Copyright (c) 2015, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connecting to database...OK
Determining current state...done
Adding patches to installation queue and performing prereq checks...done
Installation queue:
  Nothing to roll back
  The following patches will be applied:
    22139226 (Database PSU 12.1.0.2.160119, Oracle JavaVM Component (Jan2016))

Installing patches...
Patch installation complete.  Total patches installed: 1

Validating logfiles...done
SQL Patching tool complete on Thu Mar  3 19:34:52 2016

The fifth SQL script alters the CLUSTER_DATABASE parameter TRUE in the SPFILE and shuts down the instance:

[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ sqlplus / as sysdba
SQL> @/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/cfgtoollogs/oplan/dataPatchfileForSetClusterTrue.sql

System altered.

Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.

We can now re-start the Clusterware on racnode1:

[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl start crs
CRS-4123: Oracle High Availability Services has been started.

After waiting for a few moments, we can check the status of CRS:

[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl check crs
CRS-4638: Oracle High Availability Services is online
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online

Finally, we can re-start the RAC database:

[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ srvctl start database -d RAC1DB
[oracle@racnode2 ~]$ srvctl status database -d RAC1DB
Instance RAC1DB1 is running on node racnode1
Instance RAC1DB2 is running on node racnode2

Note:

  1. Always read and understand the patch README file before doing anything else.
  2. The README file will not always tell you exactly what to do. Sometimes you have to use common sense and your DBA gene to figure stuff out.
  3. Always test applying a patch to a sandbox or test system for 3 main reasons:
    • To develop your own procedure so running it in production becomes a mechanical process with little to no thinking required.
    • To verify that it actually works.
    • To determine how long it takes so you can schedule an appropriate production outage if necessary.

Task #4.8: Add a Node to the Cluster.

We have a 2 node RAC cluster called cluster1 comprised of servers racnode1 and racnode2. Now let’s expand that cluster to 3 nodes by adding racnode3. After starting up racnode3 using Oracle VM Manager and connecting to the console, there are multiple steps to prepare racnode3 to join the cluster. This mostly involves changes to the OS, networking and shared storage.

Task #4.8a: Install the Cloud Control Management Agent.

Let’s get this out of the way first. Installation instructions for the Management Agent can be found here.

Task #4.8b: Fix the Networking.

Remember that racnode3 is a clone of racnode1, so it’s networking will be identical to racnode1. We need to change that so racnode3 has its own networking setup. An example of how to do that is documented here.

Task #4.8c: Remove IPv6.

If you’re not using IPv6 addressing, its presence on the vNICs will only confuse matters. So it’s best to remove it. Instructions on how to do that can be found here.

Task #4.8d: Fix the Hostname.

When racnode3 powers up, you’ll notice it’s called racnode1. We need to change its identity to racnode3. The procedure to do that is documented here.

Task #4.8e: Edit /etc/hosts.

On racnode3, update the /etc/hosts file so it’s identical to the other RAC nodes. You know it makes sense. A copy of this file can be found here. We will be configuring shared storage on the Openfiler server a little later, so in preparation for that add this entry to the /etc/hosts file on openfiler:

200.200.20.13    racnode3-storage

Task #4.8f: Edit /etc/resolv.conf.

Copy the /etc/resolv.conf file from either of the other 2 RAC nodes. It should contain just these entries:

# Generated by NetworkManager
search mynet.com
nameserver 200.200.10.16

Task #4.8g: Edit /etc/security/limits.conf.

Ensure this file has these entries:

####################################
# for oracle user
####################################
oracle   soft   nofile    8192
oracle   hard   nofile    65536
oracle   soft   nproc     2048
oracle   hard   nproc     16384
oracle   soft   stack     10240
oracle   hard   stack     32768
oracle   soft   core      unlimited
oracle   hard   core      unlimited
oracle   hard   memlock   5500631
####################################
# for grid user
####################################
grid    soft    nofile    8192
grid    hard    nofile    65536
grid    soft    nproc     2048
grid    hard    nproc     16384
grid    soft    stack     10240
grid    hard    stack     32768
grid    soft    core      unlimited
grid    hard    core      unlimited

Task #4.8h: Rename /etc/ntp.conf.

We’re using Oracle’s Cluster Time Synchronization Service rather than NTP to keep time within the cluster. However, the mere presence of this file can cause problems, so we need to rename it. Here are the steps to do that:

[root@racnode3 ~]# ls -l /etc/ntp.conf
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1770 Oct 26 10:38 /etc/ntp.conf

[root@racnode3 ~]# service ntpd status
ntpd is stopped

[root@racnode3 ~]# chkconfig ntpd off
[root@racnode3 ~]# mv /etc/ntp.conf /etc/ntp.conf.ORIG

Task #4.8i: Configure User Equivalency.

User equivalency or passwordless SSH needs to be setup for the racnode3 users oracle and grid. Instructions for configuring SSH can be found here.

Task #4.8j: Configure Shared Storage Within Openfiler.

First, we need to add racnode3-storage to the Network Access Configuration section. Open up the Openfiler management console, click on System, then add the entry for racnode3-storage using these values:

Name Network/Host Netmask Type
racnode3-storage 200.200.20.13 255.255.255.255 Share

The screen should look similar to this:

Next, Click Volumes. The screen should change to this:

Then click iSCSI Targets over on the right hand side. The screen should change to this:

The following procedure should be repeated for iSCSI targets iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01 through iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol10.

Use the Select iSCSI Target pull down menu to select the iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01 (it should already be selected by default), then click the Change button. Click on Network ACL and use the Access pull down menu to select Allow for racnode3-storage.  The screen should look similar to this:

Click the Update button, then click on Target Configuration and select the next iSCS target.

Task #4.8k: Configure Shared Storage at the OS Level.

First, verify the iSCSI client rpm is installed, then configure the iSCSI client to start on boot up of the node:

[root@racnode3 ~]# rpm -qa | grep iscsi
iscsi-initiator-utils-6.2.0.873-14.0.1.el6.x86_64

[root@racnode3 ~]# chkconfig iscsid on
[root@racnode3 ~]# chkconfig iscsi on

Next, discover the iSCSI Targets coming from the openfiler server:

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m discovery -t sendtargets -p openfiler-storage
Starting iscsid:                                           [ OK ]
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol10
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol10
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol09
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol09
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol08
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol08
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol07
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol07
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol06
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol06
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol05
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol05
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol04
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol04
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol03
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol03
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol02
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol02
200.200.20.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01
200.200.10.6:3260,1 iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01

Next, log into each of the iSCSI targets using the openfiler’s storage network address on eth1 (200.200.20.6):

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol02 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol02, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol02, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol03 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol03, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol03, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol04 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol04, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol04, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol05 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol05, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol05, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol06 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol06, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol06, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol07 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol07, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol07, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol08 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol08, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol08, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol09 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol09, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol09, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol10 -p 200.200.20.6 -l
Logging in to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol10, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] (multiple)
Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol10, 
  portal: 200.200.20.6,3260] successful.

Next, configure automatic iSCSI client login:

[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol01 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol02 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol03 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol04 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol05 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol06 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol07 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol08 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol09 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic
[root@racnode3 ~]# iscsiadm -m node -T iqn.2006-01.com.openfiler:c1vg-vol10 -p 200.200.20.6 --op update -n node.startup -v automatic

Task #4.8l: Configure Shared Storage at the ASM Level.

First, check the ASM rpms are installed:

[root@racnode3 ~]# rpm -qa | grep oracleasm
oracleasmlib-2.0.12-1.el6.x86_64
oracleasm-support-2.1.8-1.el6.x86_64

Next, configure Oracle ASM:

[root@racnode3 ~]# oracleasm configure -i
Configuring the Oracle ASM library driver.
This will configure the on-boot properties of the Oracle ASM library
driver. The following questions will determine whether the driver is
loaded on boot and what permissions it will have. The current values
will be shown in brackets ('[]'). Hitting <ENTER> without typing an
answer will keep that current value. Ctrl-C will abort.

Default user to own the driver interface []: grid
Default group to own the driver interface []: asmadmin
Start Oracle ASM library driver on boot (y/n) [n]: y
Scan for Oracle ASM disks on boot (y/n) [y]: y

Writing Oracle ASM library driver configuration: done

Next, initialize Oracle ASM:

[root@racnode1 ~]# oracleasm init
Creating /dev/oracleasm mount point: /dev/oracleasm
Loading module "oracleasm": oracleasm
Configuring "oracleasm" to use device physical block size
Mounting ASMlib driver filesystem: /dev/oracleasm

Finally, instantiate the ASM Disks:

[root@racnode3 ~]# oracleasm scandisks
Reloading disk partitions: done
Cleaning any stale ASM disks...
Scanning system for ASM disks...
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK01"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK02"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK03"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK04"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK05"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK06"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK07"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK08"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK09"
Instantiating disk "ASMDISK10"

Task #4.8m: Run the cluvfy Utility.

As the grid user, run the following cluvfy utility command from the original software installation node (racnode1):

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cluvfy stage -pre nodeadd -n racnode3 -fixup -verbose

The output is very extensive and showed all the tests were passed except one. That being the test for swap space. We can safely ignore that:

Check: Swap space
  Node Name     Available                 Required                  Status
  ------------  ------------------------  ------------------------  ----------
  racnode3      4GB (4194300.0KB)         5.8306GB (6113860.0KB)    failed
  racnode1      4GB (4194300.0KB)         5.8306GB (6113860.0KB)    failed
Result: Swap space check failed

Task #4.8n: Run the GI addnode.sh.

As the grid user on racnode1, set the GI environment and run the addnode.sh script:

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [+ASM1] ? 
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/grid

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/addnode
[grid@racnode1 addnode]$ pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/addnode

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ ./addnode.sh

This invokes the Cluster Add Node GUI:

Click the Add button and enter these values for the Public Hostname and Virtual Hostname:

Click OK, then click Next:

Predictably it complained about swap space:

Click the Ignore All check box, then click Next. Click Yes:

Click Install:

The installation starts and the familiar progress bar is displayed:

After a few minutes, the run root script box appears:

In a root windown on racnode3, run the root.sh script:

[root@racnode3 grid]# ./root.sh

The output can be viewed here.

When the root.sh script has completed, click OK:

Click Close and you’re done. Now let’s check that Grid Infrastructure really is up and running on racnode3.

First, run the post node add option of the cluvfy command:

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ cluvfy stage -post nodeadd -n racnode3

The output should not produce any errors.

Next, verify racnode3 is a member of the cluster:

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ olsnodes -n -i -s -t -a
racnode1       1       racnode1-vip.mynet.com       Active Hub     Unpinned
racnode2       2       racnode2-vip.mynet.com       Active Hub     Unpinned
racnode3       3       racnode3-vip.mynet.com       Active Hub     Unpinned

Next, check CRS is up and running:

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ crsctl check crs
CRS-4638: Oracle High Availability Services is online
CRS-4537: Cluster Ready Services is online
CRS-4529: Cluster Synchronization Services is online
CRS-4533: Event Manager is online

Next, check the status of the SCAN VIPs:

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ srvctl status scan
SCAN VIP scan1 is enabled
SCAN VIP scan1 is running on node racnode1
SCAN VIP scan2 is enabled
SCAN VIP scan2 is running on node racnode3
SCAN VIP scan3 is enabled
SCAN VIP scan3 is running on node racnode2

Next, check the status of the nodeapps:

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ srvctl status nodeapps
VIP racnode1-vip.mynet.com is enabled
VIP racnode1-vip.mynet.com is running on node: racnode1
VIP racnode2-vip.mynet.com is enabled
VIP racnode2-vip.mynet.com is running on node: racnode2
VIP racnode3-vip.mynet.com is enabled
VIP racnode3-vip.mynet.com is running on node: racnode3
Network is enabled
Network is running on node: racnode1
Network is running on node: racnode2
Network is running on node: racnode3
ONS is enabled
ONS daemon is running on node: racnode1
ONS daemon is running on node: racnode2
ONS daemon is running on node: racnode3

Finally, check the status of ASM:

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ srvctl status asm
ASM is running on racnode2,racnode3,racnode1

Task #4.8o: Run the Database addnode.sh

With racnode3 now officially a member of the cluster, we now need to make it a database server. This is done in two stages. The first is to clone the database software using an existing cluster node, followed by adding a RAC database instance to racnode3.

[oracle@racnode1 addnode]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/addnode

[oracle@racnode1 addnode]$ ./addnode.sh "CLUSTER_NEW_NODES={racnode3}"

Note, a non-domain qualified hostname is sufficient, i.e. racnode3 rather than racnode3.mynet.com.

The addnode script invokes a database installer GUI. Click the checkbox for racnode3:

Click Next:

As usual, it’s complaining about swap space which we know we can ignore. Click the Ignore All checkbox, then click Next:

Click Yes:

On the Summary screen, click Install:

The database $ORACLE_HOME on racnode1 is cloned to racnode3:

Towards the end of the cloning process, you’ll be asked to run a root.sh script on racnode3:

[root@racnode3 dbhome_1]# pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1

[root@racnode3 dbhome_1]# ./root.sh
Performing root user operation.

The following environment variables are set as:
   ORACLE_OWNER= oracle
   ORACLE_HOME= /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1

Enter the full pathname of the local bin directory: [/usr/local/bin]:
The contents of "dbhome" have not changed. No need to overwrite.
The contents of "oraenv" have not changed. No need to overwrite.
The contents of "coraenv" have not changed. No need to overwrite.

Entries will be added to the /etc/oratab file as needed by
Database Configuration Assistant when a database is created
Finished running generic part of root script.

Now product-specific root actions will be performed.

Once the root.sh script completes, return to the GUI, click OK to confirm the completion of the root.sh script, then click Close:

Task #4.8p: Run the Database Configuration Assistant (dbca).

All that’s happened is the Oracle database software has been installed onto racnode3. To extend the RAC database to a third instance, we need to run the Database Configuration Assistant from a node where an instance is already up and running, e.g. racnode1:

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [RAC1DB1] ?
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/oracle

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ which dbca
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/bin/dbca

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ dbca

Select Instance Management, then click Next:

Select Add an Instance, then click Next:

Select RAC1DB, then click Next:

Click Next:

Accept the default instance name of RAC1DB3 and click Next:

On the Summary screen, click Finish:

The GUI does its thing:

Finally, click Close:

We should now have a new instance up and running on racnode3. Let’s find out:

After adding a RAC1DB3 entry to the local /etc/oratab file:

[oracle@racnode3 dbhome_1]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [oracle] ? RAC1DB3
The Oracle base has been set to /u01/app/oracle

[oracle@racnode3 dbhome_1]$ sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> select instance_name from v$instance;

INSTANCE_NAME
----------------
RAC1DB3

We know we’re using ASM, but we had no direct control over where the new instance’s files were created. So let’s make sure they exist in the correct place:

SQL> select lf.member 
     from v$logfile lf
     where lf.group# in 
     (
     select l.group# from v$log l where l.thread# = 3
     );

MEMBER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+DATA/RAC1DB/ONLINELOG/group_6.270.905859405
+FRA/RAC1DB/ONLINELOG/group_6.481.905859405
+DATA/RAC1DB/ONLINELOG/group_5.271.905859405
+FRA/RAC1DB/ONLINELOG/group_5.482.905859407

SQL> select file_name          
     from dba_data_files
     where tablespace_name = 'UNDOTBS3';

FILE_NAME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+DATA/RAC1DB/DATAFILE/undotbs3.269.905859401

Finally, let’s make sure the cluster agrees the RAC1DB3 instance is part of our setup:

[oracle@racnode3 ~]$ srvctl status database -d RAC1DB
Instance RAC1DB1 is running on node racnode1
Instance RAC1DB2 is running on node racnode2
Instance RAC1DB3 is running on node racnode3

And for those of you who are paranoid like myself, let’s just see the process running:

[oracle@racnode3 dbhome_1]$ ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep pmon
oracle   17052     1 0 11:37 ?       00:00:00 ora_pmon_RAC1DB3
grid     23605     1 0 Mar05 ?       00:00:11 asm_pmon_+ASM3

Task #4.9: Delete a Node From the Cluster.

Note, before we dive into deleting the node we just added, there are a few items worth mentioning so we’re all on the same page:

  1. Our RAC database is admin-managed and we will be removing the instance and the Oracle Database software. The procedure is different for a policy-managed database.
  2. Before removing an instance, ensure any services associated with that instance are relocated to other instances.
  3. Ensure the services are configured such that the deleted instance is neither a preferred nor available instance.

Task #4.9a: Run the Database Configuration Assistant (dbca).

From a node other than the one which runs the instance you wish to delete, fire up dbca:

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ . oraenv
ORACLE_SID = [RAC1DB1] ? 
The Oracle base remains unchanged with value /u01/app/oracle

[oracle@racnode1 ~]$ dbca

Select Instance Management, then click Next:

Select Delete an Instance, then click Next:

Select RAC1DB, then click Next:

Select RAC1DB3, then click Next:

Click Finish:

Click OK to proceed:

The familiar progress bar tracks progress, then rather bizarrely a dialog box appears with a red cross, the digit 1 and an OK button. Clicking the OK button closes the dbca. Question is, did the removal of the RAC1DB3 instance succeed? Let’s find out:

The instance isn’t running on racnode3:

[oracle@racnode3 ~]$ ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep pmon
grid     23605     1 0 Mar05 ?       00:00:13 asm_pmon_+ASM3

Let’s check the configuration of the RAC database:

[oracle@racnode3 ~]$ srvctl config database -d RAC1DB
Database unique name: RAC1DB
Database name: RAC1DB
Oracle home: /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1
Oracle user: oracle
Spfile: +DATA/RAC1DB/PARAMETERFILE/spfile.268.898784645
Password file: +DATA/RAC1DB/PASSWORD/pwdrac1db.256.898779707
Domain: mynet.com
Start options: open
Stop options: immediate
Database role: PRIMARY
Management policy: AUTOMATIC
Server pools: 
Disk Groups: FRA,DATA
Mount point paths: 
Services: 
Type: RAC
Start concurrency: 
Stop concurrency: 
OSDBA group: dba
OSOPER group: oper
Database instances: RAC1DB1,RAC1DB2
Configured nodes: racnode1,racnode2
Database is administrator managed

The cluster doesn’t see the RAC1DB3 instance as a known resource:

[oracle@racnode3 ~]$ srvctl status database -d RAC1DB
Instance RAC1DB1 is running on node racnode1
Instance RAC1DB2 is running on node racnode2

The Online Redo Logs allocated to the instance have been deleted from the database:

SQL> select lf.member 
     from v$logfile lf
     where lf.group# in 
     (
     select l.group# from v$log l where l.thread# = 3
     );

no rows selected

Let’s double check thread #3 has really gone:

SQL> select inst_id, group#, thread#, members from gv$log;

   INST_ID     GROUP#    THREAD#    MEMBERS
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
         1          1          1          2
         1          2          1          2
         1          3          2          2
         1          4          2          2
         2          1          1          2
         2          2          1          2
         2          3          2          2
         2          4          2          2

8 rows selected.

The UNDO tablespace has also been removed:

SQL> select tablespace_name 
     from   dba_tablespaces
     where  tablespace_name like 'UNDO%';

TABLESPACE_NAME
------------------------------
UNDOTBS1
UNDOTBS2

Looks like the instance RAC1DB3 has been deleted.

The Oracle Database software is still installed and the racnode3 node is still part of the cluster:

[oracle@racnode3 dbhome_1]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ olsnodes -n -i -s -t -a
racnode1       1       racnode1-vip.mynet.com       Active Hub     Unpinned
racnode2       2       racnode2-vip.mynet.com       Active Hub     Unpinned
racnode3       3       racnode3-vip.mynet.com       Active Hub     Unpinned

Task #4.9b: Deinstall the Oracle Database Software.

To update the Oracle Inventory on racnode3, run this:

[oracle@racnode3 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/oui/bin

[oracle@racnode3 bin]$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 "CLUSTER_NODES={racnode3}" -local
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

Checking swap space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 4044 MB    Passed
The inventory pointer is located at /etc/oraInst.loc
'UpdateNodeList' was successful.

To delete the database $ORACLE_HOME on racnode3, run this:

[oracle@racnode3 deinstall]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/deinstall

[oracle@racnode3 deinstall]$ ./deinstall -local

The output is quite verbose and can be viewed here. There was one failure. The script could not delete the directory /u01/app/oracle because another session was in that directory. Lesson learned! Apart from that, the Oracle Database software was completely removed from racnode3.

Finally, update the Oracle Inventories on the remaining nodes by running this:

[oracle@racnode1 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/oui/bin

[oracle@racnode1 bin]$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 "CLUSTER_NODES={racnode1,racnode2}" LOCAL_NODE=racnode1
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

Checking swap space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 4032 MB    Passed
The inventory pointer is located at /etc/oraInst.loc
'UpdateNodeList' was successful.

The Oracle Database software installation has been deleted, but racnode3 is still seen as part of the cluster:

[oracle@racnode3 oracle]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle

[oracle@racnode3 oracle]$ ls -la
drwxrwxr-x 2 oracle oinstall 4096 Mar  7 21:09 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root   oinstall 4096 Mar  4 10:59 ..

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ olsnodes -n -i -s -t -a
racnode1        1       racnode1-vip.mynet.com        Active  Hub     Unpinned
racnode2        2       racnode2-vip.mynet.com        Active  Hub     Unpinned
racnode3        3       racnode3-vip.mynet.com        Active  Hub     Unpinned

Task #4.9c: Deinstall the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Software.

To update the Oracle Inventory on racnode3, run this:

[grid@racnode3 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/oui/bin

[grid@racnode3 bin]$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid "CLUSTER_NODES={racnode3}" CRS=TRUE -silent -local
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

Checking swap space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 4044 MB    Passed
The inventory pointer is located at /etc/oraInst.loc
'UpdateNodeList' was successful.

To delete the GI $ORACLE_HOME on racnode3, run the following command.

Note, this will shutdown Clusterware and ASM on racnode3 and relocate the LISTENER_SCANn to another node.

[grid@racnode3 ~]$ /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/deinstall/deinstall -local

The output is quite verbose and can be viewed here. In addition, part way through a generated script needs to be run as the root user. Its output can be viewed here.

To update the Oracle Inventories of the remaining nodes, run these commands:

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/12.1.0/grid/oui/bin

[grid@racnode1 bin]$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid "CLUSTER_NODES={racnode1,racnode2}" CRS=TRUE -silent
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

Checking swap space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 4028 MB    Passed
The inventory pointer is located at /etc/oraInst.loc
'UpdateNodeList' was successful.

[oracle@racnode1 bin]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/oui/bin

[oracle@racnode1 bin]$ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 "CLUSTER_NODES={racnode1,racnode2}"
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

Checking swap space: must be greater than 500 MB.   Actual 4028 MB    Passed
The inventory pointer is located at /etc/oraInst.loc
'UpdateNodeList' was successful.

[root@racnode1 ~]# crsctl delete node -n racnode3
CRS-4661: Node racnode3 successfully deleted.

Finally, let’s verify racnode3 is no longer part of the cluster:

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ cluvfy stage -post nodedel -n racnode3 -verbose
Performing post-checks for node removal 

Checking CRS integrity...
The Oracle Clusterware is healthy on node "racnode1"

CRS integrity check passed
Clusterware version consistency passed.

Result: Node removal check passed
Post-check for node removal was successful.

[grid@racnode1 ~]$ olsnodes -n -i -s -t -a
racnode1        1       racnode1-vip.mynet.com        Active  Hub     Unpinned
racnode2        2       racnode2-vip.mynet.com        Active  Hub     Unpinned

So there it is, racnode3 successfully removed from the cluster.

That about wraps it up for Part 11. In Part 12 we tackle Oracle Recovery Manager. You never know, you might want to back something up and restore it again. See you next time.

If you have any comments or questions about this post, please use the Contact form here.