Cluster Server 7.4 Agent for Oracle Installation and Configuration Guide - Linux

Last Published:
Product(s): InfoScale & Storage Foundation (7.4)
Platform: Linux
  1. Introducing the Cluster Server agent for Oracle
    1. About the Cluster Server agent for Oracle
      1.  
        About the agent for Oracle ASM
    2.  
      Supported software for VCS agent for Oracle
    3.  
      Changes introduced in the 7.4 release
    4. How the agent makes Oracle highly available
      1.  
        How the Oracle and Netlsnr agents support intelligent resource monitoring
      2.  
        How the agent makes Oracle ASM instance highly available
      3.  
        How the agent supports container database (CDB) and pluggable database (PDB) in Oracle 12C
    5. About Cluster Server agent functions for Oracle
      1. Oracle agent functions
        1.  
          Startup and shutdown options for the Oracle agent
        2.  
          Startup and shutdown options for the pluggable database (PDB)
        3.  
          Recommended startup modes for pluggable database (PDB) based on container database (CDB) startup modes
        4.  
          Monitor options for the Oracle agent in traditional database and container database
        5.  
          Monitor for the pluggable database
        6.  
          How the agent handles Oracle error codes during detail monitoring
        7.  
          Info entry point for Cluster Server agent for Oracle
        8.  
          Action entry point for Cluster Server agent for Oracle
        9. How the Oracle agent supports health check monitoring
          1.  
            Generating the executable required for Oracle health check monitoring
          2.  
            Considerations to run the build_oraapi.sh script
          3.  
            Building the Oracle agent executable using the build_oraapi.sh script
      2.  
        Netlsnr agent functions
      3. ASMInst agent functions
        1.  
          ASMInst agent Startup options
        2.  
          ASMInst agent Shutdown options
        3.  
          Monitor options for the ASMInst agent
      4.  
        ASMDG agent functions
    6.  
      Typical Oracle configuration in a VCS cluster
    7.  
      About setting up Oracle in a VCS cluster
  2. Installing and configuring Oracle
    1.  
      About installing Oracle in a VCS environment
    2.  
      Before you install Oracle in a VCS environment
    3. About VCS requirements for installing Oracle
      1.  
        Location of the $ORACLE_HOME
      2.  
        Failing over Oracle after a VCS node failure during hot backup
    4. About Oracle installation tasks for VCS
      1.  
        Installation tasks for $ORACLE_HOME on shared disks
      2.  
        Installation tasks for $ORACLE_HOME on local disks
      3.  
        Installation tasks for Oracle using ASM
    5. Installing ASM binaries for Oracle 11gR2 or 12c in a VCS environment
      1.  
        Configuring VCS to support Oracle Restart function
    6. Configuring Oracle ASM on the first node of the cluster
      1.  
        Enabling the clustering daemon for ASM-managed database
      2.  
        Enabling Oracle Cluster Synchronization Service daemon to start automatically
    7.  
      Configuring and starting up ASM on remaining nodes for 11gR2 or 12c
    8. Installing Oracle binaries on the first node of the cluster
      1.  
        Disabling the clustering daemon for Oracle 10g or later
    9.  
      Configuring the Oracle database
    10.  
      Copying the $ORACLE_BASE/admin/SID directory
    11.  
      Copying the Oracle ASM initialization parameter file
    12.  
      Verifying access to the Oracle database
  3. Installing and removing the agent for Oracle
    1.  
      Before you install or upgrade the agent for Oracle
    2.  
      Installing the VCS agent for Oracle software
    3. Upgrading the VCS agent for Oracle
      1.  
        Upgrading VCS agent for Oracle to use with VCS 7.4
    4.  
      Disabling the Cluster Server agent for Oracle
    5.  
      Removing the Cluster Server agent for Oracle
  4. Configuring VCS service groups for Oracle
    1.  
      About configuring a service group for Oracle
    2. Configuring Oracle instances in VCS
      1.  
        Configuring a single Oracle instance in VCS
      2.  
        Configuring multiple Oracle instances (single listener) in VCS
      3.  
        Configuring multiple Oracle instances (multiple listeners) in VCS
      4.  
        Configuring an Oracle instance with shared server support in VCS
    3. Before you configure the VCS service group for Oracle
      1.  
        Importing the type definition files for Cluster Server agent for Oracle
    4. Configuring the VCS service group for Oracle
      1.  
        Configuring the VCS service group for Oracle using Cluster Manager (Java console)
      2. Configuring the VCS service group for Oracle using the command-line
        1.  
          Encrypting Oracle database user and listener passwords
    5. Setting up detail monitoring for VCS agents for Oracle
      1. Setting up detail monitoring for Oracle
        1.  
          Enabling and disabling detail monitoring for Oracle resource
      2.  
        Setting up detail monitoring for Netlsnr
    6. Enabling and disabling intelligent resource monitoring for agents manually
      1.  
        Administering the AMF kernel driver
  5. Configuring VCS service groups for Oracle using the Veritas High Availability Configuration wizard
    1.  
      Typical VCS cluster configuration in a virtual environment
    2.  
      About configuring application monitoring using the High Availability solution for VMware
    3.  
      Getting ready to configure VCS service groups using the wizard
    4.  
      Before configuring application monitoring
    5.  
      Launching the High Availability Configuration wizard
    6.  
      Configuring the agent to monitor Oracle
    7. Understanding service group configurations
      1.  
        Resource dependency
      2.  
        Service group dependency
      3.  
        Infrastructure service groups
    8. Understanding configuration scenarios
      1.  
        Configuring a single instance/multiple instances in VCS
      2.  
        Configuring multiple Oracle instances in VCS using multiple runs of the wizard
      3.  
        Configuring multiple applications
    9.  
      High Availability Configuration wizard limitations
    10. Troubleshooting
      1.  
        High Availability Configuration wizard displays blank panels
      2.  
        The High Availability Configuration wizard displays the 'hadiscover is not recognized as an internal or external command' error
      3.  
        Running the 'hastop - all' command detaches virtual disks
      4.  
        Log files
    11. Sample configurations
      1.  
        Sample VCS configuration file for single Oracle instance (VxVM)
      2.  
        Sample VCS configuration file for single Oracle instance (LVM)
  6. Administering VCS service groups for Oracle
    1.  
      About administering VCS service groups
    2.  
      Bringing the service group online
    3.  
      Taking the service group offline
    4.  
      Switching the service group
    5.  
      Modifying the service group configuration
  7. Pluggable database (PDB) migration
    1.  
      Migrating Pluggable Databases (PDB) between Container Databases (CDB)
  8. Troubleshooting Cluster Server agent for Oracle
    1.  
      About troubleshooting Cluster Server agent for Oracle
    2.  
      Error messages common to the Oracle and Netlsnr agents
    3.  
      Error messages specific to the Oracle agent
    4.  
      Error messages specific to the Netlsnr agent
    5.  
      Error messages specific to the ASMInst agent
    6.  
      Error messages specific to the ASMDG agent
    7.  
      Troubleshooting issues specific to Oracle in a VCS environment
    8. Verifying the Oracle health check binaries and intentional offline for an instance of Oracle
      1.  
        Verifying the intentional offline behavior of the VCS Oracle agent
    9.  
      Disabling IMF for a PDB resource
  9. Appendix A. Resource type definitions
    1.  
      About the resource type and attribute definitions
    2. Resource type definition for the Oracle agent
      1.  
        Resource Type Definition for systemD Support
      2.  
        Attribute definition for the Oracle agent
      3.  
        About the Sid attribute in a policy managed database
      4. Using systemD attributes for Oracle application service
        1.  
          Adding key-value pairs to SystemDAttrList attribute
        2.  
          Customizing the Oracle service unit file with systemD attributes
      5.  
        Configuring HugePages for Oracle on Linux
    3. Resource type definition for the Netlsnr agent
      1.  
        Attribute definition for the Netlsnr agent
    4. Resource type definition for the ASMInst agent
      1.  
        Resource type definition for the ASMInst agent to support systemD
      2.  
        Attribute definition for the ASMInst agent
    5. Resource type definition for the ASMDG agent
      1.  
        Attribute definition for the ASMDG agent
  10. Appendix B. Sample configurations
    1.  
      About the sample configurations for Oracle enterprise agent
    2. Sample single Oracle instance configuration
      1.  
        Sample VCS configuration file for single Oracle instance
    3. Sample multiple Oracle instances (single listener) configuration
      1.  
        Sample VCS configuration file for multiple Oracle instances (single listener)
    4. Sample multiple instance (multiple listeners) configuration
      1.  
        Sample VCS configuration file for multiple Oracle instances (multiple listeners)
    5. Sample Oracle configuration with shared server support
      1.  
        Sample VCS configuration file for Oracle instance configured with shared server support
    6. Sample Oracle ASM configurations
      1. Sample configuration for ASM disks as raw disks
        1.  
          Sample VCS configuration file for ASM-managed Oracle instance
      2. Sample configuration for ASM disks as VxVM volumes
        1.  
          Sample VCS configuration file for ASM disks as VxVM disks
      3. Sample configuration for ASM disks as CVM volumes
        1.  
          Sample VCS configuration file for ASM that uses CVM volumes
    7.  
      Sample configuration of Oracle pluggable database (PDB) resource in main.cf
    8.  
      Sample configuration of migratable Oracle pluggable database (PDB) resource in main.cf
    9.  
      Sample Configuration of Oracle supported by systemD
    10.  
      Sample configuration of ASMInst supported by systemD
  11. Appendix C. Best practices
    1.  
      Best practices for multiple Oracle instance configurations in a VCS environment
  12. Appendix D. Using the SPFILE in a VCS cluster for Oracle
    1.  
      About the Oracle initialization parameter files
    2.  
      Starting an Oracle instance
    3.  
      Using the SPFILE in a VCS cluster
  13. Appendix E. OHASD in a single instance database environment
    1.  
      About OHASD in a single instance database environment
    2.  
      Configuring the Application agent to make OHASD highly available

Attribute definition for the Oracle agent

Review the description of the Oracle agent attributes. The agent attributes are classified as required, optional, and internal.

Table: Required attributes for Oracle agent lists the required attributes. You must assign values to the required attributes.

Table: Required attributes for Oracle agent

Required attributes

Type and dimension

Definition

Sid

string-scalar

The variable $ORACLE_SID that represents the Oracle instance. The Sid is considered case-sensitive by the Oracle agent and by the Oracle database server.

For a policy managed database, the Sid attribute should be set to Sid prefix.

Owner

string-scalar

The Oracle user who has privileges to start or stop the database instance.

The agent also supports LDAP users as Oracle user.

Home

string-scalar

The $ORACLE_HOME path to Oracle binaries and configuration files. For example, you could specify the path as /opt/ora_home.

Note:

Do not append a slash (/) at the end of the path.

Table: Optional attributes for Oracle agent lists the optional attributes for Oracle agent. You can configure the optional attributes if necessary.

Table: Optional attributes for Oracle agent

Optional Attributes

Type and Dimension

Definition

DBAUser

string-scalar

The database user who has sysdba privileges to start or stop the database.

DBAPword

string-scalar

Encrypted password for DBAUser.

Encrypt passwords only when entering them using the command-line. Passwords must be encrypted using the VCS Encrypt Utility (/opt/VRTSvcs/bin/vcsencrypt).

StartUpOpt

string-scalar

Startup options for the Oracle instance. This attribute can take the following values for traditional database and container database:

  • STARTUP

  • STARTUP_FORCE

  • RESTRICTED

  • RECOVERDB

  • SRVCTLSTART

  • CUSTOM

  • SRVCTLSTART_FORCE

Default is STARTUP_FORCE.

Startup options for the Oracle instance in pluggable database. This attribute can take the following values:

  • STARTUP

  • STARTUP_FORCE

  • RESTRICTED

  • OPEN_RO

ShutDownOpt

string-scalar

Shut down options for the Oracle instance. This attribute can take the following values for traditional database and container database:

  • IMMEDIATE

  • TRANSACTIONAL

  • SRVCTLSTOP

  • CUSTOM

  • SRVCTLSTOP_TRANSACT

  • SRVCTLSTOP_ABORT

  • SRVCTLSTOP_IMMEDIATE

Default is IMMEDIATE.

Shut down options for the Oracle instance in pluggable database is IMMEDIATE.

EnvFile

string-scalar

The full path name of the file that is sourced by the entry point scripts. This file contains the environment variables set by the user for the Oracle database server environment such as LD_LIBRARY_PATH, NLS_DATE_FORMAT, and so on.

The syntax for the contents of the file depends on the login shell of Owner. File must be readable by Owner. The file must not contain any prompts for user input.

Pfile

string-scalar

The name of the initialization parameter file with the complete path of the startup profile.

You can also use the server parameter file. Create a one-line text initialization parameter file that contains only the SPFILE parameter. See the Oracle documentation for more information.

Note:

This attribute is applicable only for traditional and container databases.

AutoEndBkup

boolean-scalar

Setting the AutoEndBkup attribute to a non-zero value takes the datafiles in the database out of the backup mode, during Online.

Default = 1

Note:

If a node fails during a hot backup of container database or pluggable database for Oracle 12C, you must set AutoEndBkup attribute of the corresponding CDB resource to 1. When the AutoEndBkup is set to 1 for the CDB, it also ends the backup of both CDB and PDB during Online.

See About VCS requirements for installing Oracle.

MonitorOption

integer-scalar

Monitor options for the Oracle instance. This attribute can take values 0 or 1.

For traditional and container databases:

  • 0 - Process check monitoring (recommended)

  • 1 - Health check monitoring

For pluggable databases:

  • 0 - Basic monitoring

You must set the value of this attribute as 1 to use the intentional offline functionality of the agent.

Default = 0

The agent supports intelligent resource monitoring only for traditional and CDBs when the attribute value is set to 0.

IMF

integer-association

This resource-type level attribute determines whether the Oracle agent must perform intelligent resource monitoring. You can also override the value of this attribute at resource-level.

This attribute includes the following keys:

  • Mode: Define this attribute to enable or disable intelligent resource monitoring.

    Valid values are as follows:

    • 0 - Does not perform intelligent resource monitoring

    • 1 - Performs intelligent resource monitoring for offline resources and performs poll-based monitoring for online resources

    • 2 - Performs intelligent resource monitoring for online resources and performs poll-based monitoring for offline resources

    • 3 - Performs intelligent resource monitoring for both online and for offline resources

    Default: 3

  • MonitorFreq: This key value specifies the frequency at which the agent invokes the monitor agent function. The value of this key is an integer.

    Default: 5

    You can set this key to a non-zero value for cases where the agent requires to perform both poll-based and intelligent resource monitoring. If the value is 0, the agent does not perform poll-based process check monitoring.

    After the resource registers with the AMF kernel driver, the agent calls the monitor agent function as follows:

    • After every (MonitorFreq x MonitorInterval) number of seconds for online resources

    • After every (MonitorFreq x OfflineMonitorInterval) number of seconds for offline resources

  • RegisterRetryLimit: If you enable intelligent resource monitoring, the agent invokes the oracle_imf_register agent function to register the resource with the AMF kernel driver. The value of the RegisterRetryLimit key determines the number of times the agent must retry registration for a resource. If the agent cannot register the resource within the limit that is specified, then intelligent monitoring is disabled until the resource state changes or the value of the Mode key changes.

    Default: 3

Note:

IMF is supported only in traditional and container databases.

See Enabling and disabling intelligent resource monitoring for agents manually.

MonScript

string-scalar

Pathname to the script provided for detail monitoring. The default (basic monitoring) is to monitor the database PIDs only.

Note:

Second-level monitoring is disabled if the value of the attribute MonScript is invalid or is set to an empty string.

The pathname to the supplied detail monitor script is /opt/VRTSagents/ha/bin/Oracle/SqlTest.pl.

MonScript also accepts a pathname relative to /opt/VRTSagents/ha. A relative pathname should start with "./", as in the path ./bin/Oracle/SqlTest.pl.

User

string-scalar

Internal database user. Connects to the database for detail monitoring.

LevelTwoMonitorFreq

integer-scalar

Specifies the frequency at which the agent for this resource type must perform second-level or detailed monitoring. You can also override the value of this attribute at resource-level.

The value indicates the number of monitor cycles after which the agent will monitor Oracle in detail. For example, the value 5 indicates that the agent will monitor Oracle in detail every five online monitor intervals.

If you manually upgraded to the VCS 7.4 agent, and if you had enabled detail monitoring in the previous version, then do the following:

  • Set the value of the LevelTwoMonitorFreq attribute to the same value of that of the DetailMonitor attribute.

Note:

If you set the AutoEndBkup attribute value to 0, then make sure that the LevelTwoMonitorFreq attribute value is 1 for detail monitoring.

Default = 0

Pword

string-scalar

Encrypted password for internal database-user authentication.

Encrypt passwords only when entering them using the command-line. Passwords must be encrypted using the VCS Encrypt Utility (/opt/VRTSvcs/bin/vcsencrypt).

Note:

This attribute is not applicable for PDB resources.

Table

string-scalar

Table for update by User/Pword.

Encoding

string-scalar

Specifies operating system encoding that corresponds to Oracle encoding for the displayed Oracle output.

Default is "".

Note:

This attribute is not applicable for PDB resources.

IntentionalOffline

 

This resource-type level attribute defines how VCS reacts when Oracle is intentionally stopped outside of VCS control.

If you stop Oracle traditional and container database out of VCS control, the agent behavior is as follows:

  • 0 - The Oracle agent registers a fault and initiates the failover of the service group.

  • 1 - The Oracle agent takes the Oracle resource offline when Health check monitoring is enabled.

    If Health check monitoring is not enabled, the agent registers a fault and initiates the failover of the service group.

Note:

If you want to use the intentional offline functionality of the agent, you must set the value of the MonitorOption attribute as 1 to enable Health check monitoring in the CDB.

Note:

If a CDB resource is configured with IntentionalOffline, and the configured CDB is brought down outside the VCS control, then the PDB resources will also report as offline. To enable this functionality, set the IntentionalOffline attribute to 1 for the PDB resource.

See the Cluster Server Administrator’s Guide.

DBName

string-scalar

Set this attribute only when the database is a policy managed RAC database. The value of this attribute must be set to the database unique name.

ManagedBy

string-scalar

Default value for this attribute is ADMIN. In a policy managed RAC database this attribute must be set to POLICY.

PDBName

string-scalar

This attribute must be configured for a PDB. And the value should be set for a PDB database name. For traditional and CDB database, do not set this attribute.

UseSystemD

SLES 12, RHEL 7, and supported RHEL-compatible distributions

Boolean

systemD is a system and service manager for Linux operating systems. It helps manage applications across Linux distributions that support systemD feature.

When Online Entry point is invoked with UseSystemD attribute enabled in SLES 12, RHEL 7, or supported RHEL-compatible distributions, the Oracle resource comes online as a service in system.slice. Without the UseSystemD attribute enabled, a typical online entry point starts the resource in user.slice.

Consideration: Upon a system reboot, if application resource has been started under user.slice, there is a possibility that the processes are not stopped gracefully. This may cause the database to corrupt. This behavior is different for each Oracle application version. Hence, enable UseSystemD attribute for Oracle on you system.

The application process can be viewed as vcs-<resource_name>.service, in /etc/systemd/system.

Set the UseSystemD value to 0 or 1.

SystemDAttrList

SLES 12, RHEL 7, and supported RHEL-compatible distributions

string-scalar

Ensure that UseSystemD is enabled before you set the key-value pairs in the SystemDAttrList attribute. For more information, refer to the Red Hat website to know more about the different limits you can apply to the application.

For example,

# hares -modify oracle SystemDAttrList LimitLOCKS 44433

Where, LimitLOCKS is the key and 44433 is the value for the key.

Table: Internal attributes for Oracle agent lists the internal attribute for Oracle agent. This attribute is for internal use only. Veritas recommends not to modify the value of this attribute.

Table: Internal attributes for Oracle agent

Optional Attributes

Type and Dimension

Definition

AgentDirectory

static-string

Specifies the location of binaries, scripts, and other files related to the Oracle agent.

Default is /opt/VRTSagents/ha/bin/Oracle.