This chapter describes how to use the Exalytics Capacity on Demand Utility to configure the number of active core processors on the Exalytics Machine.
Each Exalytics Machine by default is shipped with all core processors enabled. Therefore, the X2-4 and X3-4 machines are shipped with 40 active core processors, and the X4-4 machine is shipped with 60 active core processors.
Depending on the requirements of the applications that you run, you can use the Exalytics Capacity on Demand Utility to configure the Oracle Exalytics operating system to change the number of active core processors on each Exalytics Machine.
This chapter consists of the following sections:
Before you use the Exalytics Capacity on Demand Utility to configure the number of active core processors on an Exalytics Machine, keep the following guidelines in mind:
You can use the Exalytics Capacity on Demand Utility to configure active core processors on a non-virtualized Exalytics Machine only. This utility is not available on an Exalytics Machine configured for virtualization.
Each Exalytics Machine is shipped with all core processors enabled. Decide carefully about initially decreasing the number of active core processors on the Exalytics Machine. Once you decrease the number of active core processors on an Exalytics Machine, you can only increase them and cannot decrease them further.
For example, if you initially decrease the number of active core processors on an X4-4 Exalytics Machine from 60 to 20, you can then only increase the number of active core processors and cannot decrease them further to 16, 12, or 8. Table 6-1 shows the configurations of active core processors on Exalytics Machines.
You can increase the number of active core processors in increments of four only.
Table 6-1 Configurations of Active Core Processors on Exalytics Machines
| System | Minimum Active Core Processors | Maximum Active Core Processors | Number of Core Processors You Can Activate | Increase or Decrease Active Core Processors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Exalytics In-Memory Machine X2-4 |
8 |
40 |
8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40 |
Increase Only |
|
Exalytics In-Memory Machine X3-4 |
8 |
40 |
8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40 |
Increase Only |
|
Exalytics In-Memory Machine X4-4 |
8 |
60 |
8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 60 |
Increase Only |
Before you can configure or change the active core processors on an Exalytics Machine, you must generate a key file. You generate a unique key file each time that you want to change the number of core processors to active. To activate more core processors later, you follow the same procedure to generate a unique key file.
To generate a key file:
Retrieve the serial number of the Exalytics Machine by logging on to the ILOM web interface and if not already selected, in the left pane, select Summary.
Make a note of the serial number. You need in Step 4.
Log in to My Oracle Support at:
Select the Settings tab, and then select Assets.
Click the serial number of the Exalytics Machine.
The Assets Details screen for the serial number is displayed.
For Core Configuration, click Manage Key.
The Manage Cores Configuration Key dialog box is displayed
In the Cores Per Server list, select the number of core processors you want to activate.
Note:
Initially, you can select to activate any number of core processors that are less than the default active core processors. But once you activate the number of core processors that you want, you can only activate core processors greater than this amount. For example, if you initially activate 20 core processors, you cannot later activate core processors less than 20.Click Generate Key to generate the key.
The generated key enables you to configure only the number of active core processors you selected in Step 6.
Click Copy Key to Clipboard.
Create a text file and paste in the key.
Save the text file.
You use the key file that you generated to configure active core processors on an Exalytics Machine.
To configure active core processors on an Exalytics Machine:
Log in to the Exalytics Machine as root user.
Navigate to /opt/exalytics/bin directory.
From the /opt/exalytics/bin directory, enter the following command to configure the number of active core processors:
# python /opt/exalytics/bin/update_cores.py
The following output is displayed:
Please enter the Exalytics Capacity on Demand License key file location (eg. /tmp/file): /tmp/key_file
Enter the location and name of the key file.
For example, if you named the key file key_20 and saved it in a tmp directory, enter the following:
/tmp/key_20
Restart the Exalytics Machine.
Verify that the number of core processors you specified are active by entering the following command as root user:
# echo $((`cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep processor | wc | cut -c 6-7` / 2))
For example, if you activated 36 core processors, the following is displayed
36