Verifying the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle Installation

Perform the following verification tests to ensure the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle was installed correctly.

These sanity checks ensure that the Oracle instance can be started by all the nodes that run Sun Cluster HA for Oracle and can be accessed by the other nodes in the configuration. Perform these sanity checks to isolate any problems starting Oracle from the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle data service.

How to Verify the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle Installation

1. Log in to the node monitoring the resource group that contains the Oracle resources and set the Oracle environment variables.

   Log in as oracle_id to the node that currently masters the Oracle resource group and set the environment variables ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME.

2. Confirm that you can start the Oracle instance from this node.

3. Confirm that you can connect to the Oracle instance.

   Use the sqlplus command with the tns_service variable defined in the tnsnames.ora file:

   # sqlplus user/passwd@tns_service

4. Shut down the Oracle instance.

   Because the Oracle instance is under Sun Cluster control, Sun Cluster restarts it afterward.

5. Switch the resource group that contains the Oracle database resource to another node in the cluster.

   For example:

   # scswitch -z -g rg-name -h phys-nodename

6. Log in to the node now that contains the resource group and repeat the checks listed in Step 1.

   Log in as oracle_id to the new master node and confirm interactions with the Oracle instance.

Oracle Clients

Clients must always refer to the database by using the logical host name (an IP address that can move between physical nodes during failover), not the physical host name (a machine name).

For example, in the tnsnames.ora file, you must specify the logical host name as the host on which the database instance is running. See "How to Set Up Oracle Database Permissions".

Oracle client-server connections cannot survive a Sun Cluster HA for Oracle switchover. The client application must be prepared to handle disconnection and reconnection or recovery as appropriate. A transaction monitor might simplify the application. Further, Sun Cluster HA for Oracle node recovery time is application dependent.