Oracle RAC Timezone woes and solution

Recently had a timezone issue with an Oracle 11gR2 RAC cluster. Even though I had set the host time and date, for some reason it did not get propagated to the Oracle RAC configuration.

There are couple of ways to set timezone for an Oracle 11.2 RAC cluster. First is the easy way by using srvctl commands:

srvctl setenv database -d -T =

srvctl setenv database -d racdb -T TZ=US/Eastern

In the first case, if this did not work, we need to edit a configuration file called s_crsconfig_{racnodename}_env.txt located under the $GRID_HOME/crs/install directory.

Here is my example for the edits performed of the above file on both RAC nodes, using first node as sample:

[root@racnode1$ vi /oracle/11.2.0/grid/crs/install/s_crsconfig_racnode1_env.txt

### This file can be used to modify the NLS_LANG environment variable, which determines the charset to be used for messages.

### For example, a new charset can be configured by setting NLS_LANG=JAPANESE_JAPAN.UTF8

### Do not modify this file except to change NLS_LANG, or under the direction of Oracle Support Services

TZ=US/Pacific

NLS_LANG=AMERICAN_AMERICA.AL32UTF8

TNS_ADMIN=

ORACLE_BASE=

Restart the Oracle 11.2 Clusterware services and database and run srvctl to confirm setting changes.

Migrating single instance Oracle 11g database to Oracle 11gR2 RAC and ASM

Recently over the past few years, I've been involved with customer engagements to migrate legacy single instance environmnents to Oracle 11gR2 RAC and ASM. In this post, I will detail out the high level steps on how to perform this for ERP environments with SAP and Oracle.

I will spend a few blog posts on this topic due to the complex nature of migrating from single instance to Oracle RAC.

1. Migrate single instance Oracle non-ASM to Oracle 11gR2 RAC and ASM

2. Migrate single instance Oracle ASM to Oracle 11gR2 RAC.

SAP ECC 7.x now allows you to directly install Oracle ASM in the new Oracle 11gR2 Grid infrastructure environment. This means that you can build and configure your Oracle 11gR2 ASM disks and provision them without having to first migrate with RMAN from single instance Oracle to ASM.

Case 1: Migrate single instance Oracle non-ASM to Oracle 11gR2 RAC and ASM

The steps to migrate Oracle single instance to Oracle 11gR2 RAC are as follows:

1. Install Oracle 11gR2 Grid infrastructure

2. Provision disks for ASM

3. Configure and create ASM instances

4. Use RMAN to transfer non-ASM Oracle database to ASM configuration

5. Install Oracle 11gR2 RAC database software in new ORACLE_HOME

6. Perform cluster infrastructure configuration for public, private, VIP, and SCAN requirements per Oracle 11gR2 documentation

7. Install Oracle 11gR2 RAC grid infrastructure for a cluster

8. Use rconfig to complete the migration to Oracle 11gR2 RAC

Note: for SAP with Oracle RAC, you MUST use Oracle 11.2.0.2 or later release to obtain support from SAP. ASM must use a ACFS fileystem as well.

Case 2: Migrate single instance Oracle ASM to Oracle 11gR2 RAC

The steps for case 2 are as follows for an environment with Oracle single instance and ASM:

1. Install Oracle 11gR2 RAC database software in new ORACLE_HOME

2. Run the rootcrs.pl -deconfig -force script for single instance GRID_HOME with Oracle ASM

3. Install Oracle 11gR2 RAC Grid infrastructure for new GRID_HOME on cluster node hosts

4. Add ASM disks from single instance to cluster services with ASMCA utility

5. Migrate single instance with rconfig scripts

I will add details in future posts as the tasks are very complex and involved. For now, I wanted to give a high level summary since this is not well documented.

First solo flight and my quest to become a private pilot for fun!

This year I started my journey to accomplish a childhood dream of earning my private pilot license to have the freedom and skill to fly aircraft in my free time. This past week I completed my first solo flight successfully at KPAO airport in Palo Alto! It was exciting when my instructor, Gordon Reade at Sundance Flying Club stepped out after signing my logbook to solo and wished me luck before I taxi and took off from Runway 31. After the tower granted me clearance to take off, I lined up and used full throttle to rotate (Vr) at about 55kts in the Cessna 172SP aircraft (837SP) to complete my first solo flight of three takeoffs and landings in the traffic pattern over the bay at KPAO airport. It was fun and best of all I was relaxed and confident in my newly acquired skills. All three landings were smooth on touchdown and my instructor congratulated me on a solo flight well done. Now I look forward to completing my cross country flights and passing my checkride to receive my private pilot license!

NoCOUG Events for April and May 2013

As the new conference director for the Northern California Oracle User Group (NoCOUG), we have many exciting events planned for the Oracle user community. Next week, on April 16th we have a meetup for cloud computing with Oracle technology at the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, CA: http://www.meetup.com/Northern-California-Oracle-Users-Group/events/112651522/?a=me1_grp&rv=me1&_af_eid=112651522&_af=event In May, we have the NoCOUG spring/summer conference planned with events for Big Data and Oracle technology. http://www.technicalconferencesolutions.com/pls/caat/caat_abstract_reports.schedule?conference_id=124 To attend this exciting conference you may sign up below and RSVP: http://www.nocoug.org/rsvp.html So if you are in northern California please come learn the latest greatest things about all things Oracle.

End of 2012

Year in review As we end 2012, in closing I have not posted much due to work and many activities wrapping up the year. My new Oracle R12 EBS book is available and ready for folks to learn the tips and tricks for Oracle R12 Financials from Oracle Press. Each year I pursue a new goal and try to master or improve a skill or ability. This keeps me sharp and motivated and happy. Last year, I learned to scuba dive. Right now, I am learning to fly! My goal by 2013 is to pass my checkride and obtain my private pilot license. I have always had a passion for aviation and aeronautics. I am doing this purely as a hobby and do not want to be a professional pilot. For one, the pay is quite low until one has a decade of experience and two, I like working in technology as a job better than to fly planes for a living. I also will be focused on bring new events to the NoCOUG Oracle User Group in the bay area and northern California for Oracle users who want to learn new developments in database technology from Oracle. Happy Holidays and best wishes to all for a safe, peaceful and prosperous 2013! Cheers, Ben

Quick tip: Cloning Oracle 11gR2 RAC node in Oracle VM 3.0.3

Oracle VM 3.0.3 Server and Manager provide you with the ability to clone virtual machines quickly and easily. However, as of yet, there is not live hot clone facility available. The Oracle RAC VM must be powered off before you perform the clone operation.

There are two options available for cloning within Oracle VM: simple clone and advanced clone. Simple clone takes a quick snapshot of the VM to be copied to the new clone. Advanced provides you with the ability to create a custom clone process based on a menu driven GUI that you can create based on your requirements for cloning VM images.

Upgrading Oracle VM 3.0.3 to latest patchset

Recently I had to upgrade an older version of Oracle VM 3.0 to the latest patch version to resolve some bugs in the initial releases of OVM 3.0. Below are the steps that I followed to perform the upgrade.


1. Download the patchset from Oracle Support (http://support.oracle.com)
2. Unzip the patch to the OVM Manager /tmp directory
3. backup config files for OVM Manager:

. Back up/copy the Oracle VM Manager configuration file located at:
# /u01/app/oracle/ovm-manager-3/.config

4. Mount the ISO image for the upgrade:

# mount -o loop V29654-01.iso /mnt
# cd /mnt
# ls
components runUpgrader.sh upgrade
#

Upgrade OVM 3.x to OVM 3.0.3:

# ./runUpgrader.sh
Oracle VM Manager 3.0.3.126 upgrade util

Oracle VM Manager is running ...

Verifying installation status ...
Read Oracle VM Manager config file ...
Skipping database upgrade for the same product version (3.0.3 to 3.0.3)
Found Oracle VM Manager install files ...
Found Oracle VM Manager upgrader ...
Found Oracle WebLogic Server ...
Found Java ...
Using the following information :
Database Host : localhost
Database SID : XE
Database LSNR : 1521
Oracle VM Schema : ovs
Oracle VM Manager UUID : 0004fb00000100004bd6b7c313170105
Current Build ID : 3.0.3.126
Using /tmp/workdir.hcUHL29831 for backup and export location.
Using /tmp/patchdir.Rvea29832 for patching.
Undeploying previous version of Oracle VM Manager application ...
Undeploying Oracle VM Manager help ...

Note: make sure that OVM Manager is up and running during the upgrade!

Once completed, the version should look like this:




In my next series of posts for OVM 3.0.3, I will discuss how to deploy Oracle 11gR2 RAC environment as well as use the new features for OVM 3.0.3 such as live migration and converting P2V- physical to virtual as well as managing an OVM 3.x environment.