This chapter explains how you can mass-deploy Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Real Application Cluster (Oracle RAC) for clustered environments in an unattended, repeatable, and reliable manner. In particular, this chapter covers the following:
Cloning an Existing Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC
Provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC Using Certified Gold Images
Provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC Using Installation Binaries
Note:
Before you run the Deployment Procedure as outlined in this chapter to provision an Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC for a clustered environment, Oracle strongly recommends you to check the prerequisites to ensure that you meet all the necessary requirements for provisioning an Oracle Grid Infrastructure. To do so, simulate the Deployment Procedure as described in Chapter 4, "Simulating Database Provisioning Deployment Procedures to Check Prerequisites", and resolve all operational conflicts and issues beforehand.Note:
To view an online demonstration of this feature, access the following URL:This section helps you get started with this chapter by providing an overview of the steps involved in provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC for clustered environments. Consider this section to be a documentation map to understand the sequence of actions you must perform to successfully provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC. Click the reference links provided against the steps to reach the relevant sections that provide more information.
Table 7-1 Getting Started with Provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC for Clustered Environments
| Step | Description | Reference Links |
|---|---|---|
|
Step 1 |
Understanding the Deployment Procedure Understand the Deployment Procedure that is offered by Enterprise Manager Grid Control for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC for clustered environments. Know how the Deployment Procedure functions, what use cases it covers, and so on. |
To learn about the Deployment Procedure, see Deployment Procedure. |
|
Step 2 |
Knowing About the Supported Releases Know what releases of Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC can be provisioned by the Deployment Procedure. |
To learn about the releases supported by the Deployment Procedure, see Supported Releases. |
|
Step 3 |
Selecting the Use Case This chapter covers a few use cases for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC. Select the use case that best matches your requirement. |
|
|
Step 4 |
Meeting the Prerequisites Before you run any Deployment Procedure, you must meet the prerequisites, such as setting up of the provisioning environment, applying mandatory patches, setting up of Oracle Software Library. |
|
|
Step 5 |
Running the Deployment Procedure Run the Deployment Procedure to successfully provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC. |
|
Oracle RAC enables you to create a cluster of Oracle Databases so that they operate as a single entity. In order to create a cluster, Oracle RAC uses Oracle Clusterware, which is a part of Oracle Grid Infrastrcuture.
Oracle Grid Infrastrcuture provides the infrastructure for an enterprise grid architecture, and for a cluster, it offers Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM).
Enterprise Manager Grid Control provides the following Deployment Procedure for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC for clustered environments:
Oracle Grid Infrastructure / RAC Provisioning
Using this Deployment Procedure, you can deploy Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC software using certified gold images, live reference installations, and installation media.
Using this Deployment Procedure, you can provision the following release of Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC for clustered environments:
Oracle Grid Infrastructure 11g Release 2 (11.2)
Oracle Real Application Clusters 11g Release 2 (11.2)
This section describes how you can clone an existing Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation.
In particular, this section covers the following:
Before running the Deployment Procedure, meet the following prerequisites:
Ensure that you meet the prerequisites described in the following sections:
Compare the configuration of the source and target hosts and ensure that they have the same configuration. If the configurations are different, then contact your system administrator and fix the inconsistencies before running the Deployment Procedure.
To compare the configuration of the hosts, in Grid Control, click Targets and then Hosts. On the Hosts page, click the name of the source host to access its Home page, and then click the Configuration tab. On the Configuration page, click Compare Configuration and select the target host.
Meet the hardware, software, and network requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation on the target hosts. For information about the hardware, software, and network requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation, refer to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2).
Details of the following groups should be specified in the Deployment Procedure. If these groups do not exist, then the Deployment Procedure automatically creates them. However, if these have to be created on NIS, then you must create them manually before running the Deployment Procedure. For information about creating these operating system groups, refer to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2).
ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER) group
ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group
Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
Database Operator (OSOPER) group
If you want to store the cluster configuration details in a file and use that while running the deployment procedure, then create a cluster configuration file.
If you want to use a response file to provision the database, then edit the dbca.rsp file available on the installation medium, and store it either in the Software Library or in a location accessible from the target hosts.
If you want to use a custom template to create a structure for the database, then create a template (a .dbt file), and store it either in the Software Library or in a location accessible from the target hosts.
Ensure that you use an operating system user that has the privileges to run the Deployment Procedure, and that can switch to root user and run all commands on the target hosts. For example, commands such as mkdir, ls, and so on.
If you do not have the privileges to do so, that is, if you are using a locked account, then request your administrator (a designer) to either customize the Deployment Procedure to run it as another user or ignore the steps that require special privileges.
For example, user account A might have the root privileges, but you might use user account B to run the Deployment Procedure. In this case, you can switch from user account B to A by customizing the Deployment Procedure.
For information about customization, see Chapter 31, "Customizing Steps to Run as Another User".
Note:
If you are using a locked account, then ensure that the SSH setup for the locked user is done prior to using the Deployment procedure.Ensure that you use an operating system user that has write permission on the following locations:
Staging areas where software binaries can be stored.
Oracle base directory for Grid Infrastructure where diagnostic data files related to Grid Infrastructure can be stored.
Oracle base directory for database where diagnostic data files related to database can be stored.
Grid Infrastructure software directory where Grid Infrastructure software can be provisioned.
Database software location where database software can be provisioned Working directory where cloning-related files can be staged.
Ensure that the operating system groups you specify for the following groups already exist on the hosts you select for provisioning. The operating system users of these groups automatically get the respective privileges.
ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER) group
ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group
Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
Database Operator (OSOPER) group
Note:
When using Oracle ASM, you need to ensure that the RAC database user is a member of the ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group.To clone an existing Oracle Grid Infrastructure an Oracle RAC from a reference host, follow these steps:
In Grid Control, click Deployments.
On the Deployment page, from the Deployment Procedure Manager section, click RAC Provisioning Procedures.
On the Deployment Procedure Manager page, from the procedures table, select Oracle Grid Infrastructure / RAC Provisioning and click Schedule Deployment.
On the Select Provisioning Profile page, select Use an existing Provisioning Profile if you already have the configuration information captured in a file. Otherwise, select Do Not Use Provisioning Profile.
Note:
If you select a prosivioning profile, the configuration information captured in the file are automatically displayed on the screens of the deployment procedure. For example, information about the software installation locations as stored in the file are displayed on the Software Locations screen of the deployment procedure. You can choose to retain the default values as they are displayed or modify them to according to your preference. The instructions outlined in this procedure are written assuming a configuration component is not being used.Click Next.
On the Select Source and Destination page, in the Select Source section, do the following:
Select Existing Installation.
For Select Cluster Database, click the torch icon and select the Oracle home of an existing cluster database you want to clone. Once the cluster database is selected, Enterprise Manager Grid Control displays the details of the cluster and its associated member nodes.
In the Reference Host Options section, select the reference host you want to use for cloning the Oracle home, and validate the default location of the working directory where cloning-related files can be staged. You can either use the default location or specify another location of your choice.
In the Select Destination Hosts section, click Add to search and select the destination hosts on which you want to provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database.
If you have a cluster configuration file that lists the destination hosts, then click Import from File and select that file. After selecting the destination hosts, if you want to remove one or more hosts from the list, then select the host name and click the remove icon.
Click Next.
On the Specify OS Credentials and Schedule page, in the Reference Host Credentials section, specify the operating system credentials of the reference host you selected for cloning.
Select Use Preferred Credentials if you want to use the preferred credentials stored in the Management Repository. Credentials here refer to operating system credentials.
Otherwise, select Override Preferred Credentials if you want to override the preferred credentials and use another set of credentials for this operation.
From the Host Credentials list, select Same for all Oracle Homes if you want to use the same path across hosts. Otherwise, select Different for each Oracle Home if you want to use different paths for each host.
Note:
If this environment is secure and has locked accounts, then make sure that the credentials you specify here have the necessary privileges to switch to the locked account for performing the provisioning operation.Also ensure that the deployment procedure has been customized to support locked environments. For information about customizing deployment procedures for locked accounts, see Chapter 31, "Customizing Deployment Procedures".
In the Target Hosts Credentials section, specify the operating system credentials of the destination hosts you selected for this deployment procedure. As described in the previous step, select the appropriate options. If you want to provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure using one user and Oracle Database using another user, then specify different credentials.
In the OS Group Details section, specify the ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group, ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER), ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group, Database Administrator (OSDBA) group, and Database Operator (OSOPER) group you want to use for operating system authentication. These groups must already exist.
Note:
This section appears only if the source you selected is on a UNIX platform.In the Schedule section, if you want to run the procedure immediately, then retain the default selection, that is, One Time (Immediately). If you want to run the procedure later, then select One Time (Later) and provide time zone, start date, and start time details.
There may be occasions when the Management Agent on that target host is down and as a result, Oracle Management Service is unable to start the deployment job. To handle such eventualities, you can specify a grace period. You can specify until when Oracle Management Service should continue to attempt to restart the deployment job if at all it stops for some reason. The default grace period is indefinite. If you want to have a defninte period, then select End After and specify the end time, in hours and minutes, when it should terminate.
Note:
If the deployment job does not start within a specified time frame, then Oracle Management Service marks the job "skipped".Click Next.
On the Specify Software Locations page, specify the locations where the software binaries of Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC can be placed, that is, the $ORACLE_HOME location. In particular, specify the following:
For Oracle Base for Grid Infrastructure, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the diagnostic and administrative logs, and other logs associated with Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) and Oracle Clusterware can be stored. This location is different from the Oracle home directory where the Grid Infrastructure software will be installed.
If the user (operating system credentials) used for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure is the same as the one used for provisioning the database, then you can specify a common Oracle base location for them. Otherwise, ensure that this Oracle base location is different from the Oracle base location for the database.
The Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines recommend that you use a path similar to <user_home>/app/<user>. For example, /home/john/app/john.
For Software Location for Grid Infrastructure, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the Grid Infrastructure software can be provisioned. This is the Oracle home directory for Grid Infrastructure. Do not select a location that is a subdirectory of the Oracle Base for Grid Infrastructure or database.
Ensure that the directory path you provide meets the requirements described in Requirements for Grid Infrastructure Software Location Path.
For Oracle Base for Database, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the diagnostic and administrative logs, and other logs associated with the database can be stored. This location is used for storing only the dump files and is different from the Oracle home directory where the database software will be installed.
If the user (operating system credentials) used for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure is the same as the one used for provisioning the database, then you can specify a common Oracle base location for them. Otherwise, ensure that this Oracle base location is different from the Oracle base location for the database.
For Software Location for Database, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the database software can be provisioned. This is the Oracle home directory for the database.
Oracle recommends you to select a location that is a subdirectory of the Oracle Base for the database.
For Working Directory, click the torch icon and select a directory on the destination host where the files related to cloning can be staged temporarily. Ensure that you have approvimately 7 GB of space for this directory.
For Additional Installer Parameters, specify any additional parameters you want to run while provisioning the database. You can specify any Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) parameter that can be used in this provisioning operation. For example, -debug.
Click Next.
On the Configure Cluster page, specify a cluster name, a SCAN name, and a SCAN port.
Note:
The default SCAN port is port 1521, but you can specify another port of your choice. The deployment procedure verifies that the SCAN port provided is a valid port number, and is not used for any other purpose. After installation, a TNS listener listens to this port to respond to client connections to the SCAN name.Select Configure GNS and auto-assign with DHCP and specify the GNS subdomain and VIP address if you want virtual host names outside the cluster to have dynamically assigned names.
(Ignore if you selected GNS in the previous step) In the Selected Hosts section, validate the public names and the virtual names of the hosts you selected.
In the Network Interface Configuration section, by default, the network interfaces that have the same name and subnet for the selected destination hosts are automatically detected and displayed. Validate these network interface configuration details.
From the Usage column, select Public to configure the interface as public interface, or Private to configure the interface as private interface. If you want to include additional network interfaces, then click Add Interface and specify the interface name, subnet, subnet mask, and its usage - public or private.
Click Next.
On the Configure Database page, select Create Database if you want to create a simple, starter database as part of this provisioning operation. Specify the global database name for the database and provide its credentials. The credentials are used for SYS, SYSTEM, SYSMAN, and DBSNMP accounts.
In the Configuration Type section, select Admin-Managed or Policy-Managed to indicate the way you want to configure and manage the database. If you select Policy-Managed, then the storage type for this deployment is forced to be ASM.
If you want to configure the starter database, then expand the Advanced Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) Parameters section and provide the following information. Otherwise, go to the next step.
Specify any additional DBCA parameters you want to pass while configuring the database. For example, - characterSet AL32UTF8. To view a list of DBCA parameters that can be specified here, see Appendix D, "Creating Templates for Oracle Database".
In the Oracle Database Response File subsection, select Use Custom Database Response File if you have a custom response file that already has the configuration options enabled.
If you have stored the file as a component in the software library, then select Software Library and click the torch icon to select the component. If you have stored in it in a accessible location on the destination host, then select Destination Hosts and click the torch icon to select the location on the destination host where the file resides.
Note:
From the Software Library or from the location where an existing database is running, only a .dbt template file can be used. However, from the destination host or a shared location, any template file can be used.In the Oracle Database Template File subsection, select Use Custom Database Template File if you want to use the structure of an existing database and have a custom template to structure the new database.
If you have stored the template as a component in the software library, then select Software Library and click the torch icon to select the component. If you have stored in it in a accessible location on the destination host, then select Destination Hosts and click the torch icon to select the location on the destination host where the file resides.
Click Next.
On the Select Storage Type page, select either Automatic Storage Management or Shared File System to indicate the storage type for storing voting disk and Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR). Voting disk and OCR are used by Oracle Clusterware to manage its resources. For more information about these storage options, see Overview of Storage Options.
Note:
If you select Automatic Storage Management as the storage type for Grid Infrastructure, then the option Shared File System is disabled for Oracle RAC.On the Assign Storage Devices page, assign storage devices for storing database files for Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC depending on the storage type you selected in the previous step. To understand the different storage type combinations and to know what information you need to provide for each combination, see Assigning Storage Devices
Click Next.
On the Review page, do the following:
Click Run Prerequisites Only if you want to simulate the deployment procedure to check whether the prerequisites are being met and whether the procedure will run successfully.
Click Save and specify a provisioning profile name and a descriptoin if you want the configuration information to be stored in a file. The file gets created and uploaded to the Software Library. The file also appears for selection on the first page of the wizard when you run this deployment procedure next time.
Review the details you have provided for the deployment procedure and if you are satisfied with the details, then click Finish to run the deployment procedure according to the schedule set. If you want to modify the details, then click Back repeatedly to reach the page where you want to make the changes.
Note:
if the Deployment Procedure fails, then review log files described in Appendix M, "Reviewing Log Files".Note:
If Deployment Procedure failed at the prerequisites stage, then ensure that the latest prerequisites are downloaded from My Oracle Support and uploaded to the Software Library.If your Enterprise Manager Grid Control has connectivity to My Oracle Support, then the latest prerequisites are automatically downloaded every night by a predefined job. However, if your Enterprise Manager Grid Control does not have any connectivity to My Oracle Support or has firewall settings that prevent it from connecting to My Oracle Support, then manually download the prerequisite-specific ZIP files from My Oracle Support and upload them to the Software Library. For more information, see Appendix J, "Manually Downloading Prerequisites from My Oracle Support".
Meet the following requirements while specifying a directory path for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home to deploy the Oracle Grid Infrastructure binaries:
It should be created in a path outside existing Oracle homes
It should not be located in a user home directory
It should be created either as a subdirectory in a path where all files can be owned by root, or in a unique path
Before installation, it should be owned by the installation owner of Oracle Grid Infrastructure (typically, oracle, for a single installation owner for all Oracle software, or grid for role-based Oracle installation owners), and set to 755 permissions
The Assign Storage page of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure / RAC Provisioning deployment procedure enables you to assign storage devices for storing database files for Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC. However, the information about the storage devices you need to provide on this page depends on the storage type. The possible storage type combinations are:
Automatic Storage Management for Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC
Shared File System for Grid Infrastructure and Automatic Storage System for Oracle RAC
The following sections describe what information you need to provide for each of these storage type combinations.
If you selected Automatic Storage Management as the storage type for Grid Infrastructure as well as Oracle RAC, then do the following:
In the ASM Storage section, the table displays the disk groups that have been automatically discovered by Enterprise Manager Grid Control. In this table, do the following:
Review the details of these disk groups.
If you want to include additional disk group, then click Add Disk Group.
Once you have reviewed the disk groups, select the OCR/voting disk and data files, and specify the ASM credentials.
In the Device Configuration section, select Clear Shared Storage if you want to clear the shared storage, which is selected for the cluster and data storage, before creating and configuring the cluster.
If you selected Shared File System as the storage type for Grid Infrastructure as well as Oracle RAC, then do the following:
Review the details of the shared storage locations provided in the table. If you want to include additional locations, then click Add Storage Location and select another shared storage location. You can search for NFS or OFCS2-based locations.
In the Oracle Grid Infrastructure section, specify the storage location for Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) and voting disks. Select Normal or External to indicate the redundancy level, and specify their locations.
In the Real Application Cluster (RAC) section, specify the locations for storing the database files and recovering the backed up data.
In the Device Configuration section, select Clear Shared Storage if you want to clear the shared storage, which is selected for the cluster and data storage, before creating and configuring the cluster.
Note:
The Deployment Procedure deletes the specified directories or files, that is, oradata directory or OCR file location, and not all the contents of specified storage device.If you selected Shared File System as the storage type for Grid Infrastructure and Automatic Storage Management for Oracle RAC, then do the following:
Rreview the details of the shared storage locations provided in the table. If you want to include additional locations, then click Add Storage Location and select another shared storage location. You can search for NFS or OFCS2-based locations.
In the Oracle Grid Infrastructure section, specify the storage location for Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) and voting disks. Select Normal or External to indicate the redundancy level, and specify their locations.
In the ASM Storage section, the table displays the disk groups that have been automatically discovered by Enterprise Manager Grid Control. In this table, do the following:
Review the details of these disk groups.
If you want to include additional disk group, then click Add Disk Group.
Once you have reviewed the disk groups, select the OCR/voting disk and data files, and specify the ASM credentials.
In the Device Configuration section, select Clear Shared Storage if you want to clear the shared storage, which is selected for the cluster and data storage, before creating and configuring the cluster.
In particular, this section covers the following:
Before running the Deployment Procedure, meet the following prerequisites:
Ensure that you meet the prerequisites described in the following sections:
Meet the hardware, software, and network requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation on the target hosts. For information about the hardware, software, and network requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation, refer to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2).
Ensure that the gold image is available either in the Software Library or in a staging location.
To stage a gold image to the Software Library or to a shared location, see Appendix K, "Staging Gold Image to Software Library or Staging Location".
Details of the following groups should be specified in the Deployment Procedure. If these groups do not exist, then the Deployment Procedure automatically creates them. However, if these have to be created on NIS, then you must create them manually before running the Deployment Procedure. For information about creating these operating system groups, refer to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2).
ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER) group
ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group
Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
Database Operator (OSOPER) group
If you want to store the cluster configuration details in a file and use that while running the deployment procedure, then create a cluster configuration file.
If you want to use a response file to provision the database, then edit the dbca.rsp file available on the installation medium, and store it either in the Software Library or in a location accessible from the target hosts.
To understand how you can upload the response file to the Software Library, see Uploading Database Response File to Oracle Software Library.
If you want to use a custom template to create a structure for the database, then create a template (a .dbt file), and store it either in the Software Library or in a location accessible from the target hosts.
To understand how you can upload the template to the Software Library, see Uploading Database Template File to Oracle Software Library.
Ensure that you use an operating system user that has the privileges to run the Deployment Procedure, and that can switch to root user and run all commands on the target hosts. For example, commands such as mkdir, ls, and so on.
If you do not have the privileges to do so, that is, if you are using a locked account, then request your administrator (a designer) to either customize the Deployment Procedure to run it as another user or ignore the steps that require special privileges.
For example, user account A might have the root privileges, but you might use user account B to run the Deployment Procedure. In this case, you can switch from user account B to A by customizing the Deployment Procedure.
For information about customization, see Chapter 31, "Customizing Steps to Run as Another User".
Note:
If you are using a locked account, then ensure that the SSH setup for the locked user is done prior to using the Deployment procedure.Ensure that you use an operating system user that has write permission on the following locations:
Staging areas where software binaries can be stored.
Oracle base directory for Grid Infrastructure where diagnostic data files related to Grid Infrastructure can be stored.
Oracle base directory for database where diagnostic data files related to database can be stored.
Grid Infrastructure software directory where Grid Infrastructure software can be provisioned.
Database software location where database software can be provisioned Working directory where cloning-related files can be staged.
Ensure that the operating system groups you specify for the following groups already exist on the hosts you select for provisioning. The operating system users of these groups automatically get the respective privileges.
ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER) group
ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group
Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
Database Operator (OSOPER) group
Note:
When using Oracle ASM, you need to ensure that the RAC database user is a member of the ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group.To provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC using certified gold images, follow these steps:
In Grid Control, click Deployments.
On the Deployment page, from the Deployment Procedure Manager section, click RAC Provisioning Procedures.
On the Deployment Procedure Manager page, from the procedures table, select Oracle Grid Infrastructure / RAC Provisioning and click Schedule Deployment.
On the Select Provisioning Profile page, select Use an existing Provisioning Profile if you already have the configuration information captured in a file. Otherwise, select Do Not Use Provisioning Profile.
Note:
If you select a prosivioning profile, the configuration information captured in the file are automatically displayed on the screens of the deployment procedure. For example, information about the software installation locations as stored in the file are displayed on the Software Locations screen of the deployment procedure. You can choose to retain the default values as they are displayed or modify them to according to your preference. The instructions outlined in this procedure are written assuming a configuration component is not being used.Click Next.
On the Select Source and Destination page, in the Select Source section, do one of the following:
If the Gold Image is stored as a component in Oracle Software Library (Software Library), then do the following:
Select Software Library.
Click the torch icon for Grid Infrastructure Component and select the generic component that has the Gold Image of the Grid Infrastructure.
Click the torch icon for RAC Component and select the generic component that has the Gold Image of the RAC database.
Note:
Ensure that you select only components that are in "Ready" status. When you select a component from the software library, Enterprise Manager Grid Control automatically populates the component location.If the Gold Image is stored as an image in a staging location, then do the following:
Select External Staging Server.
Click the torch icon for Select Host and select the host where the Gold Image is stored.
Click the torch icon for GI Stage Location and select the location on the host where the Gold Image for Oracle Grid Infrastructure is available.
Click the torch icon for RAC Stage Location and select the location on the host where the Gold Image for Oracle RAC is available.
In the Select Destination Hosts section, click Add to search and select the destination hosts on which you want to provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database.
If you have a cluster configuration file that lists the destination hosts, then click Import from File and select that file. After selecting the destination hosts, if you want to remove one or more hosts from the list, then select the host name and click the remove icon.
Click Next.
On the Specify OS Credentials and Schedule page, in the Target Hosts Credentials section, specify the operating system credentials of the destination host you selected.
Select Use Preferred Credentials if you want to use the preferred credentials stored in the Management Repository. Credentials here refer to operating system credentials.
Otherwise, select Override Preferred Credentials if you want to override the preferred credentials and use another set of credentials for this operation.
From the Host Credentials list, select Same for all Oracle Homes if you want to use the same path across hosts. Otherwise, select Different for each Oracle Home if you want to use different paths for each host.
Note:
If this environment is secure and has locked accounts, then make sure that the credentials you specify here have the necessary privileges to switch to the locked account for performing the provisioning operation.Also ensure that the deployment procedure has been customized to support locked environments. For information about customizing deployment procedures for locked accounts, see Chapter 31, "Customizing Deployment Procedures".
In the OS Group Details section, specify the ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group, ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER), ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group, Database Administrator (OSDBA) group, and Database Operator (OSOPER) group you want to use for operating system authentication. These groups must already exist.
Note:
This section appears only if the source you selected is for a UNIX platform.In the Schedule section, if you want to run the procedure immediately, then retain the default selection, that is, One Time (Immediately). If you want to run the procedure later, then select One Time (Later) and provide time zone, start date, and start time details.
There may be occasions when the Management Agent on that target host is down and as a result, Oracle Management Service is unable to start the deployment job. To handle such eventualities, you can specify a grace period. You can specify until when Oracle Management Service should continue to attempt to restart the deployment job if at all it stops for some reason. The default grace period is indefinite. If you want to have a defninte period, then select End After and specify the end time, in hours and minutes, when it should terminate.
Note:
If the deployment job does not start within a specified time frame, then Oracle Management Service marks the job "skipped".Click Next.
On the Specify Software Locations page, specify the locations where the software binaries of Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC can be placed, that is, the $ORACLE_HOME location. In particular, specify the following:
For Oracle Base for Grid Infrastructure, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the diagnostic and administrative logs, and other logs associated with Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) and Oracle Clusterware can be stored. This location is different from the Oracle home directory where the Grid Infrastructure software will be installed.
If the user (operating system credentials) used for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure is the same as the one used for provisioning the database, then you can specify a common Oracle base location for them. Otherwise, ensure that this Oracle base location is different from the Oracle base location for the database.
The Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines recommend that you use a path similar to <user_home>/app/<user>. For example, /home/john/app/john.
For Software Location for Grid Infrastructure, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the Grid Infrastructure software can be provisioned. This is the Oracle home directory for Grid Infrastructure.
Ensure that the directory path you provide meets the requirements described in Chapter 7, "Requirements for Grid Infrastructure Software Location Path".
For Oracle Base for Database, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the diagnostic and administrative logs, and other logs associated with the database can be stored. This location is used for storing only the dump files and is different from the Oracle home directory where the database software will be installed.
If the user (operating system credentials) used for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure is the same as the one used for provisioning the database, then you can specify a common Oracle base location for them. Otherwise, ensure that this Oracle base location is different from the Oracle base location for the database.
For Software Location for Database, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the database software can be provisioned. This is the Oracle home directory for the database.
For Working Directory, click the torch icon and select a directory on the destination host where the files related to cloning can be staged temporarily. Ensure that you have approvimately 7 GB of space for this directory.
For Additional Installer Parameters, specify any additional parameters you want to run while provisioning the database. You can specify any Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) parameter that can be used in this provisioning operation. For example, -debug.
Click Next.
On the Configure Cluster page, specify a cluster name, a SCAN name, and a SCAN port.
Select Configure GNS and auto-assign with DHCP and specify the GNS subdomain and VIP address if you want virtual host names outside the cluster to have dynamically assigned names.
(Ignore if you are using GNS) In the Selected Hosts section, validate the public names and the virtual names of the hosts you selected.
In the Network Interface Configuration section, by default, the network interfaces that have the same name and subnet for the selected destination hosts are displayed. Validate these network interface configuration details.
From the Usage column, select Public to configure the interface as public interface, or Private to configure the interface as private interface. If you want to include additional network interfaces, then click Add Interface and specify the interface name, subnet, subnet mask, and its usage - public or private.
Click Next.
On the Configure Database page, select Create Database if you want to create a simple, starter database as part of this provisioning operation. Specify the global database name for the database and provide its credentials. The credentials are used for SYS, SYSTEM, SYSMAN, and DBSNMP accounts.
In the Configuration Type section, select Admin-Managed or Policy-Managed to indicate the way you want to configure and manage the database. If you select Policy-Managed, then the storage type for this deployment is forced to be ASM.
If you want to configure the starter database, then expand the Advanced Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) Parameters section and provide the following information. Otherwise, go to the next step.
Specify any additional DBCA parameters you want to pass while configuring the database. For example, - characterSet AL32UTF8. To view a list of DBCA parameters that can be specified here, see Appendix D, "Creating Templates for Oracle Database".
In the Oracle Database Response File subsection, select Use Custom Database Response File if you have a custom response file that already has the configuration options enabled.
If you have stored the file as a component in the software library, then select Software Library and click the torch icon to select the component. If you have stored in it in a accessible location on the destination host, then select Destination Hosts and click the torch icon to select the location on the destination host where the file resides.
Note:
From the Software Library or from the location where an existing database is running, only a .dbt template file can be used. However, from the destination host or a shared location, any template file can be used.In the Oracle Database Template File subsection, select Use Custom Database Template File if you want to use the structure of an existing database and have a custom template to structure the new database.
If you have stored the template as a component in the software library, then select Software Library and click the torch icon to select the component. If you have stored in it in a accessible location on the destination host, then select Destination Hosts and click the torch icon to select the location on the destination host where the file resides.
Click Next.
On the Select Storage Type page, select either Automatic Storage Management or Shared File System to indicate the storage type for storing voting disk and Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR). Voting disk and OCR are used by Oracle Clusterware to manage its resources.
Note:
If you select Automatic Storage Management as the storage type for Grid Infrastructure, then the option Shared File System is disabled for Oracle RAC.On the Assign Storage Devices page, assign storage devices for storing database files for Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC depending on the storage type you selected in the previous step. To understand the different storage type combinations and to know what information you need to provide for each combination, see Chapter 7, "Assigning Storage Devices"
Click Next.
On the Review page, do the following:
Click Run Prerequisites Only if you want to simulate the deployment procedure to check whether the prerequisites are being met and whether the procedure will run successfully.
Click Save and specify a provisioning profile name and a descriptoin if you want the configuration information to be stored in a file. The file gets created and uploaded to the Software Library. The file also appears for selection on the first page of the wizard when you run this deployment procedure next time.
Review the details you have provided for the deployment procedure and if you are satisfied with the details, then click Finish to run the deployment procedure according to the schedule set. If you want to modify the details, then click Back repeatedly to reach the page where you want to make the changes.
Note:
if the Deployment Procedure fails, then review log files described in Appendix M, "Reviewing Log Files".Note:
If Deployment Procedure failed at the prerequisites stage, then ensure that the latest prerequisites are downloaded from My Oracle Support and uploaded to the Software Library.If your Enterprise Manager Grid Control has connectivity to My Oracle Support, then the latest prerequisites are automatically downloaded every night by a predefined job. However, if your Enterprise Manager Grid Control does not have any connectivity to My Oracle Support or has firewall settings that prevent it from connecting to My Oracle Support, then manually download the prerequisite-specific ZIP files from My Oracle Support and upload them to the Software Library. For more information, see Appendix J, "Manually Downloading Prerequisites from My Oracle Support".
In particular, this section covers the following:
Before running the Deployment Procedure, meet the following prerequisites:
Ensure that you meet the prerequisites described in the following sections:
Meet the hardware, software, and network requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation on the target hosts. For information about the hardware, software, and network requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation, refer to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2).
Ensure that the installation binaries are archived and uploaded either as a component in the Software Library or as an archived file in a staging location.
To understand how you can download the installation binaries, and archive and uload them to the Software Library or to a shared location, see Appendix L, "Downloading Installation Binaries and Uploading to Software Library or Staging Location"
Details of the following groups should be specified in the Deployment Procedure. If these groups do not exist, then the Deployment Procedure automatically creates them. However, if these have to be created on NIS, then you must create them manually before running the Deployment Procedure. For information about creating these operating system groups, refer to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2).
ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER) group
ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group
Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
Database Operator (OSOPER) group
If you want to store the cluster configuration details in a file and use that while running the deployment procedure, then create a cluster configuration file.
If you want to use a response file to provision the database, then edit the dbca.rsp file available on the installation medium, and store it either in the Software Library or in a location accessible from the target hosts.
To understand how you can upload the response file to the Software Library, see Uploading Database Response File to Oracle Software Library.
If you want to use a custom template to create a structure for the database, then create a template (a .dbt file), and store it either in the Software Library or in a location accessible from the target hosts.
To understand how you can upload the template to the Software Library, see Uploading Database Template File to Oracle Software Library.
Ensure that you use an operating system user that has the privileges to run the Deployment Procedure, and that can switch to root user and run all commands on the target hosts. For example, commands such as mkdir, ls, and so on.
If you do not have the privileges to do so, that is, if you are using a locked account, then request your administrator (a designer) to either customize the Deployment Procedure to run it as another user or ignore the steps that require special privileges.
For example, user account A might have the root privileges, but you might use user account B to run the Deployment Procedure. In this case, you can switch from user account B to A by customizing the Deployment Procedure.
For information about customization, see Chapter 31, "Customizing Steps to Run as Another User".
Note:
If you are using a locked account, then ensure that the SSH setup for the locked user is done prior to using the Deployment procedure.Ensure that you use an operating system user that has write permission on the following locations:
Staging areas where software binaries can be stored.
Oracle base directory for Grid Infrastructure where diagnostic data files related to Grid Infrastructure can be stored.
Oracle base directory for database where diagnostic data files related to database can be stored.
Grid Infrastructure software directory where Grid Infrastructure software can be provisioned.
Database software location where database software can be provisioned Working directory where cloning-related files can be staged.
Ensure that the operating system groups you specify for the following groups already exist on the hosts you select for provisioning. The operating system users of these groups automatically get the respective privileges.
ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER) group
ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group
Database Administrator (OSDBA) group
Database Operator (OSOPER) group
Note:
When using Oracle ASM, you need to ensure that the RAC database user is a member of the ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group.To provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) using the archived software binaries, follow these steps:
In Grid Control, click Deployments.
On the Deployment page, from the Deployment Procedure Manager section, click RAC Provisioning Procedures.
On the Deployment Procedure Manager page, from the procedures table, select Oracle Grid Infrastructure / RAC Provisioning and click Schedule Deployment.
On the Select Provisioning Profile page, select Use an existing Provisioning Profile if you already have the configuration information captured in a file. Otherwise, select Do Not Use Provisioning Profile.
Note:
If you select a prosivioning profile, the configuration information captured in the file are automatically displayed on the screens of the deployment procedure. For example, information about the software installation locations as stored in the file are displayed on the Software Locations screen of the deployment procedure. You can choose to retain the default values as they are displayed or modify them to according to your preference. The instructions outlined in this procedure are written assuming a configuration component is not being used.Click Next.
On the Select Source and Destination page, in the Select Source section, do the following:
If the software binaries are stored as a component in Oracle Software Library (Software Library), then do the following:
Select Software Library.
Click the torch icon for Grid Infrastructure Component and select the generic component that has the archived software binaries of the Grid Infrastructure.
Click the torch icon for RAC Component and select the generic component that has the archived software binaries of the database.
Note:
For information about downloading the installation binaries, and archiving and uploading them to the Software Library, see Appendix L, "Downloading Installation Binaries and Uploading to Software Library or Staging Location". Ensure that you select only components that are in "Ready" status. When you select a component from the software library, Enterprise Manager Grid Control automatically populates the component location.If the software binaries are stored as an archived file in a staging location, then do the following:
Select Stage Location.
Click the torch icon for Select Host and select the host where the archived file is stored.
Click the torch icon for GI Stage Location and select the location on the host where the archived file of the Grid Infrastructure software is available.
Click the torch icon for RAC Stage Location and select the location on the host where the archived file of the database is available.
Note:
For information about downloading the installation binaries, and archiving and uploading them to a shared location, see Appendix L, "Downloading Installation Binaries and Uploading to Software Library or Staging Location".In the Select Destination Hosts section, click Add to search and select the destination hosts on which you want to provision Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC.
If you have a cluster configuration file that lists the destination hosts, then click Import from File and select that file. After selecting the destination hosts, if you want to remove one or more hosts from the list, then select the host name and click the remove icon.
Click Next.
On the Specify OS Credentials and Schedule page, in the Target Hosts Credentials section, specify the operating system credentials of the destination host you selected.
Select Use Preferred Credentials if you want to use the preferred credentials stored in the Management Repository. Credentials here refer to operating system credentials.
Otherwise, select Override Preferred Credentials if you want to override the preferred credentials and use another set of credentials for this operation.
From the Host Credentials list, select Same for all Oracle Homes if you want to use the same path across hosts. Otherwise, select Different for each Oracle Home if you want to use different paths for each host.
Note:
If this environment is secure and has locked accounts, then make sure that the credentials you specify here have the necessary privileges to switch to the locked account for performing the provisioning operation.Also ensure that the deployment procedure has been customized to support locked environments. For information about customizing deployment procedures for locked accounts, see Chapter 31, "Customizing Deployment Procedures".
In the OS Group Details section, specify the ASM Database Administrator (OSDBA) group, ASM Instance Operator (OSOPER), ASM Instance Administrator (OSASM) group, Database Administrator (OSDBA) group, and Database Operator (OSOPER) group you want to use for operating system authentication. These groups must already exist.
Note:
This section appears only if the source you selected is for a UNIX platform.In the Schedule section, if you want to run the procedure immediately, then retain the default selection, that is, One Time (Immediately). If you want to run the procedure later, then select One Time (Later) and provide time zone, start date, and start time details.
There may be occasions when the Management Agent on that target host is down and as a result, Oracle Management Service is unable to start the deployment job. To handle such eventualities, you can specify a grace period. You can specify until when Oracle Management Service should continue to attempt to restart the deployment job if at all it stops for some reason. The default grace period is indefinite. If you want to have a defninte period, then select End After and specify the end time, in hours and minutes, when it should terminate.
Note:
If the deployment job does not start within a specified time frame, then Oracle Management Service marks the job "skipped".Click Next.
On the Specify Software Locations page, specify the locations where the software binaries of Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC can be placed, that is, the $ORACLE_HOME location. In particular, specify the following:
For Oracle Base for Grid Infrastructure, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the diagnostic and administrative logs, and other logs associated with Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) and Oracle Clusterware can be stored. This location is different from the Oracle home directory where the Grid Infrastructure software will be installed.
If the user (operating system credentials) used for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure is the same as the one used for provisioning the database, then you can specify a common Oracle base location for them. Otherwise, ensure that this Oracle base location is different from the Oracle base location for the database.
The Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines recommend that you use a path similar to <user_home>/app/<user>. For example, /home/john/app/john.
For Software Location for Grid Infrastructure, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the Grid Infrastructure software can be provisioned. This is the Oracle home directory for Grid Infrastructure.
Ensure that the directory path you provide meets the requirements described in Requirements for Grid Infrastructure Software Location Path.
For Oracle Base for Database, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the diagnostic and administrative logs, and other logs associated with the database can be stored. This location is used for storing only the dump files and is different from the Oracle home directory where the database software will be installed.
If the user (operating system credentials) used for provisioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure is the same as the one used for provisioning the database, then you can specify a common Oracle base location for them. Otherwise, ensure that this Oracle base location is different from the Oracle base location for the database.
For Software Location for Database, click the torch icon and select a location on the destination host where the database software can be provisioned. This is the Oracle home directory for the database.
For Working Directory, click the torch icon and select a directory on the destination host where the files related to cloning can be staged temporarily. Ensure that you have approvimately 7 GB of space for this directory.
For Additional Installer Parameters, specify any additional parameters you want to run while provisioning the database. You can specify any Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) parameter that can be used in this provisioning operation. For example, -debug.
Click Next.
On the Configure Cluster page, specify a cluster name, a SCAN name, and a SCAN port.
Select Configure GNS and auto-assign with DHCP and specify the GNS subdomain and VIP address if you want virtual host names outside the cluster to have dynamically assigned names.
(Ignore if you are using GNS) In the Selected Hosts section, validate the public names and the virtual names of the hosts you selected.
In the Network Interface Configuration section, by default, the network interfaces that have the same name and subnet for the selected destination hosts are displayed. Validate these network interface configuration details.
From the Usage column, select Public to configure the interface as public interface, or Private to configure the interface as private interface. If you want to include additional network interfaces, then click Add Interface and specify the interface name, subnet, subnet mask, and its usage - public or private.
Click Next.
On the Configure Database page, select Create Database if you want to create a simple, starter database as part of this provisioning operation. Specify the global database name for the database and provide its credentials. The credentials are used for SYS, SYSTEM, SYSMAN, and DBSNMP accounts.
In the Configuration Type section, select Admin-Managed or Policy-Managed to indicate the way you want to configure and manage the database. If you select Policy-Managed, then the storage type for this deployment is forced to be ASM.
If you want to configure the starter database, then expand the Advanced Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) Parameters section and provide the following information. Otherwise, go to the next step.
Specify any additional DBCA parameters you want to pass while configuring the database. For example, - characterSet AL32UTF8. To view a list of DBCA parameters that can be specified here, see Appendix D, "Creating Templates for Oracle Database".
In the Oracle Database Response File subsection, select Use Custom Database Response File if you have a custom response file that already has the configuration options enabled.
If you have stored the file as a component in the software library, then select Software Library and click the torch icon to select the component. If you have stored in it in a accessible location on the destination host, then select Destination Hosts and click the torch icon to select the location on the destination host where the file resides.
Note:
From the Software Library or from the location where an existing database is running, only a .dbt template file can be used. However, from the destination host or a shared location, any template file can be used.In the Oracle Database Template File subsection, select Use Custom Database Template File if you want to use the structure of an existing database and have a custom template to structure the new database.
If you have stored the template as a component in the software library, then select Software Library and click the torch icon to select the component. If you have stored in it in a accessible location on the destination host, then select Destination Hosts and click the torch icon to select the location on the destination host where the file resides.
Click Next.
On the Select Storage Type page, select either Automatic Storage Management or Shared File System to indicate the storage type for storing voting disk and Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR). Voting disk and OCR are used by Oracle Clusterware to manage its resources.
Note:
If you select Automatic Storage Management as the storage type for Grid Infrastructure, then the option Shared File System is disabled for Oracle RAC.On the Assign Storage Devices page, assign storage devices for storing database files for Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC depending on the storage type you selected in the previous step. To understand the different storage type combinations and to know what information you need to provide for each combination, see Assigning Storage Devices.
Click Next.
On the Review page, do the following:
Click Run Prerequisites Only if you want to simulate the deployment procedure to check whether the prerequisites are being met and whether the procedure will run successfully.
Click Save and specify a provisioning profile name and a descriptoin if you want the configuration information to be stored in a file. The file gets created and uploaded to the Software Library. The file also appears for selection on the first page of the wizard when you run this deployment procedure next time.
Review the details you have provided for the deployment procedure and if you are satisfied with the details, then click Finish to run the deployment procedure according to the schedule set. If you want to modify the details, then click Back repeatedly to reach the page where you want to make the changes.
Note:
if the Deployment Procedure fails, then review log files described in Appendix M, "Reviewing Log Files".Note:
If Deployment Procedure failed at the prerequisites stage, then ensure that the latest prerequisites are downloaded from My Oracle Support and uploaded to the Software Library.If your Enterprise Manager Grid Control has connectivity to My Oracle Support, then the latest prerequisites are automatically downloaded every night by a predefined job. However, if your Enterprise Manager Grid Control does not have any connectivity to My Oracle Support or has firewall settings that prevent it from connecting to My Oracle Support, then manually download the prerequisite-specific ZIP files from My Oracle Support and upload them to the Software Library. For more information, see Appendix J, "Manually Downloading Prerequisites from My Oracle Support".