This chapter provides an overview of Oracle Configuration Manager, as well as instructions for using the service on a system running an Oracle Solaris release.
Oracle Configuration Manager is used to collect configuration information for a system and upload it to the Oracle repository. The collector of this information can be configured as a central collector, which gathers information for all products on the server, or to gather information in separate collection sites. See About the Oracle Configuration Manager Central Collector for more information.
Customer support representatives can use this information to provide better service. Some of the benefits of using Oracle Configuration Manager are as follows:
Reduces time for the resolution of support issues
Provides proactive problem avoidance
Improves access to best practices and the Oracle knowledge base
Improves understanding of customer business needs and provides consistent responses and services
Oracle Configuration Manager can be run in one of two modes: connected or disconnected. The disconnected mode is needed only if your system does not have a connection to the Internet, and you cannot configure an Oracle Support Hub. In this mode, you can manually collect configuration information and upload the information to Oracle by way of a service request.
In the connected mode, Oracle Configuration Manager can be run in several network configurations as follows:
Systems can be directly connected to the Internet.
Systems can be connected to the Internet through a proxy server.
Systems do not have direct access to the Internet, but they do have access to an intranet proxy server, which in turn has an Internet connection through an Oracle Support Hub.
Systems do not have direct access to the Internet, but they do have access to an Oracle Support Hub, which in turn is connected to the Internet through a proxy server.
For more information about setting up and configuring Oracle Configuration Manager, see the Oracle Configuration Manager Installation and Administration Guide. The rest of this document focuses on the Oracle Solaris tasks that are associated with Oracle Configuration Manager.
During an Oracle Solaris 11 installation, the software attempts to set up an anonymous connection to the Oracle repository. If successful, this connection allows the installation process to proceed without prompting for any information. Ideally, you should change the registration or the network configuration after the system is fully installed. Data loaded anonymously is not tied to any organization. If the software could not connect to the Oracle repository, you can register your system manually, then enable the Oracle Configuration Manager service.
The Oracle Configuration Manager collector installed as part of the Oracle Solaris operating system is configured and designated as a central collector. To reap the benefits of an Oracle Configuration Manager collector, such as a personalized support experience, quicker resolution of support issues, and proactive problem avoidance, the configuration data for each Oracle installation must be collected and uploaded. This is normally the task of the collector installed in the Oracle home. However, sometimes the collector in Oracle homes might not have been configured or is left disconnected. The purpose of the central collector is to collect those Oracle homes and upload them under its own My Oracle Support (MOS) credentials. Here are the characteristics of a central collector:
A central collector collects:
The Oracle home in which it resides
Oracle homes on the host that do not have a configured collector
Oracle homes where the collector is in disconnect mode
Oracle homes where the collector has authenticated registration
If a collector in an Oracle home is configured using ORACLE_CONFIG_HOME designation, the central collector will not collect that home.
Using the root role, you can designate a collector installation to be a central collector by specifying the –c option in the setupCCR and configCCR commands. Subsequent configCCR commands without the –c option relinquish the central collector designation from the collector. Running the setupCCR and configCCR commands with the –c option designates the collector as a central collector. The collector installed as part of the Oracle Solaris operating system is installed using root permissions, hence it operates as the central collector for the host.
The Oracle Universal Installer central inventory is the source from which the central collector obtains the set of candidate Oracle homes to be collected. The central inventory is searched by the installer as described in the documentation. The default location for the installer central inventory pointer for the Oracle Solaris operating system is /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc. If you choose to place an Oracle installation inventory in a different location, then the central inventory can not find and collect it.
In this release, beyond the configuration information from the Oracle Solaris OS, only Oracle database and Oracle Fusion Middleware based products that use Oracle WebLogic are collected by the central collector.
All configuration data collected by the central collector from Oracle homes is uploaded using the My Oracle Support credentials of the central collector.
The following task map includes several procedures that are associated with using Oracle Configuration Manager on an Oracle Solaris system.
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