13
Configuring Oracle MTS Services for High Availability

13.3.1 Before You Get Started

Before you add an Oracle MTS Service to a group, note the following:

• Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC) must be configured for high availability on all cluster nodes. (If you are using Windows 2000, MS DTC is installed and configured for high availability when you install Windows 2000 on a cluster. If you are using Windows NT, MS DTC is installed and configured for high availability when you install the Windows NT option pack on a cluster.)

  If you are using Windows 2000, the MS DTC resource is automatically added to the Cluster Group. However, the MS DTC resource and the Oracle MTS Service resource must be in the same group. Therefore, you must either manually move the MS DTC resource to the group where you will add the Oracle MTS Service resource, or let Oracle Fail Safe move the MS DTC resource for you.

  After the MS DTC resource has been moved to the new group, make sure all your applications access MS DTC using the virtual address of the new group.

  You can verify that MS DTC has been configured for high availability on all cluster nodes by looking for the MS DTC resource in the tree view under the Cluster Resources folder. You can verify that it has been configured to run on all cluster nodes by moving the group that it contains it to each cluster node.

  (See the Oracle Fail Safe Release Notes for information on supported operating system software versions.)

• Oracle MTS Service software must be installed on a private disk on all cluster nodes.

• An Oracle MTS Service must be created for each database on the cluster that will be involved in distributed transactions.

• Make sure that the Microsoft Management Console with the Oracle Manager for Microsoft Transaction Server is not running on any cluster nodes. The add operation modifies the Oracle MTS Service and must have exclusive access to it. After the add operation is complete, you can restart the Oracle Manager for Microsoft Transaction Server.

13.3.2 Configuration Steps

Oracle Fail Safe Manager automates the steps required to make an Oracle MTS Service highly available with Oracle Fail Safe. In the Add Resource to Group Wizard in Oracle Fail Safe Manager, specify Oracle MTS Service as the resource type.

Table 13-1 provides a quick reference of the tasks needed to configure an Oracle MTS Service for high availability. For step-by-step instructions about any particular task, refer to the Oracle Fail Safe online help. From the Oracle Fail Safe Manager menu bar, choose Help, then "Search for Help on."

Table 13-1 Steps for Configuring an Oracle MTS Service

13.3.3 Configuration Data for an Oracle MTS Service

Oracle Fail Safe Manager provides the Add Resource to Group Wizard to help you configure an Oracle MTS Service for high availability. When you use the Add Resource to Group Wizard, you need the following data:

• Possible owner nodes for the Oracle MTS Service, if the cluster consists of more than two nodes, or if one node is not available in a two-node cluster

• The name of the group containing MS DTC

• The virtual address you want to associate with the Oracle MTS Service (if there is more than one virtual address in the group)

• The Oracle MTS Service name

• The Oracle MTS Service resource name (the name you want Oracle Fail Safe Manager to use to refer to the Oracle MTS Service)

• The connection information for the database associated with the Oracle MTS Service

• The operating system domain user account under which the Oracle MTS Service logs on

The clusterwide operation to add an Oracle MTS Service to a group will fail if any of the following conditions exists:

• The Oracle MTS Service that you specify is not configured correctly. Make sure that the Oracle MTS Service runs as a standalone service before you add it to a group.

• You attempt to add the Oracle MTS Service to a group that does not contain MS DTC.

• The account under which the Oracle MTS Service runs is not a domain account.

• MS DTC and Oracle MTS Service are not installed on every cluster node that is a possible owner node for the concurrent manager.

• The database to which the Oracle MTS Service connects does not exist, the connection information for this database was entered incorrectly in the Add Resource to Group Wizard, or the information for this database in the tnsnames.ora file is incorrect.

If there is an error adding or removing an Oracle MTS Service from a group, check the Windows Event Viewer (Application Log) for error messages from "Oracle Fail Safe."

The following sections describe in detail the data requirements for adding an Oracle MTS Service to a group.

13.3.3.1 Choose Nodes

If you are adding an Oracle MTS Service to a group and the cluster consists of more than two nodes, you are asked to specify which nodes should be possible owners for the Oracle MTS Service by specifying a list of selected nodes, as shown in Figure 13-2. To specify that a particular node should not be a possible owner for the Oracle MTS Service, select the node from the Selected Nodes list and click the left arrow.

Section 2.6.6 describes in detail the concept of the possible owner nodes list.

Figure 13-2 Choose Nodes Wizard Page When All Nodes Are Available

Description of the illustration pn_mts_wiz.gif

If you are adding an Oracle MTS Service to a group and the cluster consists of two or more nodes, but one or more nodes are unavailable, you are also asked to specify which nodes should be possible owners for the Oracle MTS Service. In this case, the wizard page displays which nodes are unavailable and why, as shown in Figure 13-3.

Figure 13-3 Choose Nodes Wizard Page When Any Node Is Unavailable

Description of the illustration pn_mts_wiz_unavail.gif

13.3.3.2 Oracle MTS Service Virtual Address

A group must contain at least one virtual address before you add an Oracle MTS Service to it. If the group to which you are adding an Oracle MTS Service contains more than one virtual address, you are asked to select which one you would like to associate with the Oracle MTS Service, as shown in Figure 13-4.

Figure 13-4 Oracle MTS Service Virtual Address Wizard Page

Description of the illustration mts_virt_add.gif

13.3.3.3 Oracle MTS Service Identity

The Add Resource to Group Wizard requests the following information about the Oracle MTS Service identity, as shown in Figure 13-5.

• Oracle MTS Service name

  This is the name of an existing Oracle MTS Service on the cluster. The list of names provided are those that have been identified by Oracle Fail Safe as standalone Oracle MTS Services on the cluster.

• Resource name

  This is the name by which you want Oracle Fail Safe Manager to refer to the Oracle MTS Service. This name will appear in the Oracle Fail Safe Manager tree view.

  This name can be the same as the Oracle MTS Service name. If you specify a different name, make sure that it is unique across the cluster.

Figure 13-5 Oracle MTS Service Identity Wizard Page

Description of the illustration mts_id.gif

13.3.3.4 Oracle MTS Service Database

The Add Resource to Group Wizard requests the following information for the database with which the Oracle MTS Service is associated, as shown in Figure 13-6.

• User name

  This is the user name for the database account. You cannot change this field during an Add Resource to Group operation. If you want to change the database account that the Oracle MTS Service uses, do so before or after you run the Add Resource to Group operation.

• Password

  This is the password for the account specified in the User Name field.

• Confirm password

  This is the same password as you entered in the Password field.

• Service name

  This is the service name for the database with which the account is associated. You cannot change this field during an Add Resource to Group operation; an Oracle MTS Service is always created for a specific database.

Figure 13-6 Oracle MTS Service Database Wizard Page

Description of the illustration mts_db.gif

13.3.3.5 Oracle MTS Service Authentication

The Add Resource to Group Wizard requests that you provide authentication information (a password) if the account under which the Oracle MTS Service logs on is a user account. If the account under which the Oracle MTS Service logs on is the system account, you do not enter any data on this page, as shown in Figure 13-7.

• User name

  Displays the name of the account under which the Oracle MTS Service logs on. If the Oracle MTS Service logs on using the system account, then this field contains the string, "LocalSystem." If the Oracle MTS Service logs on using a user account, then this field contains that account name.

• Password

  Displays nothing if the Oracle MTS Service logs on using the system account. Enter the user account password if the Oracle MTS Service logs on using a user account.

• Confirm password

  Displays nothing if the Oracle MTS Service logs on using the system account. Reenter the user account password if the Oracle MTS Service logs on using a user account.

Figure 13-7 Oracle MTS Service Authentication Wizard Page

Description of the illustration mts_auth.gif

13.5.1 Problems Adding an Oracle MTS Service to a Group

To troubleshoot problems when adding a standalone Oracle MTS Service to a group, ensure that:

• The database associated with the Oracle MTS Service is accessible from all cluster nodes that are possible owner nodes for the Oracle MTS Service.

• The account under which the required Oracle MTS Service runs is a system account or is a domain user account.

• The Windows Registry entry for LAST_HOME is set to the highest Oracle home number on your local system.

  If you attempt to add an Oracle MTS Service to a group and the LAST_HOME entry for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/ORACLE/ALL_HOMES is not equal to the highest Oracle home number on your system, then the Add Oracle MTS Service to Group operation will fail and you will receive the following messages:

  FS-10778: The Oracle MTS Service resource provider failed to configure the cluster resource <resource-name>
  
  FS-10618: Failed to change the configuration for Windows service <service-name>
  
  0x424: The specified service does not exist as an installed service
  
  

  For example, if you have HOME0, HOME1, and HOME2 on your system, the value for LAST_HOME must be 2 for the Add Oracle MTS Service to Group operation to work. To fix the problem, change the value of LAST_HOME to match the highest Oracle home number on the local system and rerun the Add Resource to Group Wizard.

13.5.2 Problems Placing a Group Online

If there is a problem placing a group that contains an Oracle MTS Service online, verify the group. When you use the Verify Group command (from the Oracle Fail Safe Manager Troubleshooting menu), Oracle Fail Safe checks the group configuration and attempts to fix any problems that it finds. If the Verify Group command cannot fix the problem, it returns an error message that should help you to resolve the problem manually. If the Verify Group command finds a problem, it will prompt you on how to proceed.

13.5.3 Windows Service for Oracle MTS Service Deleted

If you accidently delete an Oracle MTS Service from a cluster node that is a possible owner node for the Oracle MTS Service, run the Verify Group operation to re-create the Oracle MTS Service.