Verifying the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle Installation

Perform the following verification tests to make sure that you have correctly installed Sun Cluster HA for Oracle.

These sanity checks ensure that all the nodes or zones that run Sun Cluster HA for Oracle can start the Oracle instance and that the other nodes or zones in the configuration can access the Oracle instance. Perform these sanity checks to isolate any problems in starting the Oracle software from Sun Cluster HA for Oracle.

How to Verify the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle Installation

1. Log in as oracle to the node or zone that currently masters the Oracle resource group.

2. Set the environment variables ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME.

3. Confirm that you can start the Oracle instance from this node or zone.

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

   Use the sqlplus command with the user/password variable that is defined in the connect_string property.

   # sqlplus user/passwd@tns_service

5. Shut down the Oracle instance.

   The Sun Cluster software restarts the Oracle instance because the Oracle instance is under Sun Cluster control.

6. Switch the resource group that contains the Oracle database resource to another cluster member.

   # clresourcegroup switch -n node-zone-list resource-group

   -n node-zone-list

   Specifies a comma-separated, ordered list of zones that can master this resource group. The format of each entry in the list is node:zone. In this format, node specifies the name or ID of a node and zone specifies the name of a non-global Solaris zone. To specify the global zone, or to specify a node without non-global zones, specify only node.

   The order in this list determines the order in which the nodes or zones are considered primary during failover. This list is optional. If you omit this list, the global zone of each cluster node can master the resource group.

   resource-group

   Specifies the name of the resource group that you are switching.

7. Log in as oracle to the node or zone that now contains the resource group.

8. Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 to confirm interactions with the Oracle instance.

Oracle Clients

Clients must always refer to the database by using the network resource, not the physical hostname. The network resource is an IP address that can move between physical nodes during failover. The physical hostname is a machine name.

For example, in the tnsnames.ora file, you must specify the network resource as the host on which the database instance is running. The network resource is a logical hostname or a shared address. 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.

Location of Sun Cluster HA for Oracle Log Files

Each instance of the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle data service maintains log files in subdirectories of the /var/opt/SUNWscor directory.

• The /var/opt/SUNWscor/oracle_server directory contains log files for the Oracle server.

• The /var/opt/SUNWscor/oracle_listener directory contains log files for the Oracle listener.

These files contain information about actions that the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle data service performs. Refer to these files to obtain diagnostic information for troubleshooting your configuration or to monitor the behavior of the Sun Cluster HA for Oracle data service.