How to Run Explorer With NFS

Installing Oracle Explorer on multiple servers can be a time-consuming task. To reduce the installation time, install Oracle Explorer on one system and then use NFS mount to share the install directory with other systems.

This section describes the procedure for configuring Oracle Explorer to run over an NFS mount.

1. Create a Oracle Explorer defaults file for the NFS client by performing the following substeps on the NFS server with Oracle Explorer installed:

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   Note –

   Most values in the NFS server's Oracle Explorer defaults file are valid for all servers in the environment.

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   1. Record the NFS client's host name and host ID.

   2. Become superuser.

   3. Go to the Oracle Explorer default directory.

      cd /etc/opt/SUNWexplo/default

   4. Copy and rename the defaults file to associate it with the host (for example, explorer.hostname).

      cp explorer nfs_dir/explorer.hostname

   5. Edit the new explorer.hostname file to reset the following variable (where hostid is the client's hostid):

      EXP_SERIAL_$hostid="Client's serial number"

2. Reference the client's Oracle Explorer defaults file.

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   Note –

   When using the explorer command on an NFS client, you must specify the Oracle Explorer defaults file as input, and you must specify the output directory location. If you do not specify the client's Oracle Explorer defaults file, the NFS server's defaults file is used. If you do not specify the output directory location, an attempt is made to write the output to the NFS server's explorer_install_dir/output directory. The NFS mounted file system might not allow writing over the NFS mount.

   Use the following Oracle Explorer options:

   • Specify the defaults file with -d nfs_client_accessible_dir/explorer.host-name.

   • Specify the directory in which to write the output with -t /var/tmp (which is a local writable directory).

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3. Direct output to a local, writable directory by performing the following substeps on the NFS client:

   1. Become superuser.

   2. Mount the explorer_install_dir directory from the NFS server.

   3. Change directories into the mount point.

   4. Execute the following command to send output to the client's /var/tmp/output directory:

      # explorer -d nfs_dir/explorer.hostname -t /var/tmp

4. Do the following to schedule Oracle Explorer to run on an NFS client using cron:

   1. Verify that the NFS server is available.

   2. Verify that the explorer_install_dir directory is mounted on the NFS server.

   3. Do not send messages to standard output or to standard error.

   4. Redirect to specific files or /dev/null.