Preparing an Oracle Database for a Siebel Upgrade

This chapter provides initial preparatory information for a Siebel database upgrade on the Oracle Database. This chapter includes the following topics:

Verifying Oracle Database Sort Order for a Siebel Upgrade

Environments: Development, production test, production.

Databases: Oracle only.

The NLS_SORT parameter determines the sort order of query returns. NLS_SORT must be set to BINARY for the development environment upgrade, including the repository merge. It must also be set to BINARY when using Siebel Tools to publish the Siebel Runtime Repository.

This setting is strongly recommended for production test environment upgrades and production upgrades.

To verify that your database is using binary sort order

Run SQL*Plus to connect to the Oracle Database.

Issue the following query:

SQL> SELECT * FROM NLS_DATABASE_PARAMETERS;

In the returned parameters, locate NLS_SORT and verify that its value is BINARY.
- If NLS_SORT has a value of BINARY, then the sort order is binary and no action is required.
- If NLS_SORT is anything other than BINARY, then reset the value to BINARY.

Setting Oracle Database Configuration Parameters for a Siebel Upgrade

Environments: Development, production test, production.

Databases: Oracle only.

This topic provides upgrade-specific settings for the Oracle RDBMS. Use the following strategy to set parameters:

For information about supported Oracle Database versions and any required patches, see the Certifications tab on My Oracle Support. If required, upgrade your Oracle Database and client software to the supported version, using Oracle’s tools and documented procedures.
Set parameters using the recommendations in 781927.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support. (This article was previously published at Siebel Technical Note 582.)
Set additional parameters using the recommendations in Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using. Recommendations are located in the chapter on configuring the RDBMS.
Configure the database and set parameters as indicated in the following topics.
After the upgrade, reset the configuration parameters to the values listed in Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using and in 781927.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support. This document was previously published as Siebel Technical Note 582.

General Configuration

Before upgrading an Oracle Database, complete the following tasks:

Verify that your Oracle clients and Oracle Database server meet the specifications certified for this release.
UNIX only. If you have installed the Oracle 64-bit client on the Siebel Server, then verify that $ORACLE_HOME/lib32 instead of $ORACLE_HOME/lib is included in LIBPATH (AIX), SHLB_PATH (HP-UX), LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Oracle Solaris).
pctincrease. For upgrades, compute a high enough value for pctincrease on tablespaces that contain application tables and indexes so that upgrading does not create large numbers of extents.
pctfree. Rebuild some of your larger tables with a large value for pctfree (30 or higher). Table size depends on which Siebel Business Applications you have deployed. For example, if you are upgrading Siebel Financial Services, then S_ASSET is a large table and S_ADDR_ORG is not used.
You must increase pctfree before the upgrade because many new columns are added to tables during the upgrade. Migrating data into the new columns during the upgrade is likely to cause row chaining, which degrades upgrade performance.
DB_CACHE_SIZE. Set this parameter to a minimum of 394264576.
SORT_AREA_SIZE. Set this parameter to a minimum of 1524288. This significantly reduces the time required to complete a repository merge.
See Siebel Performance Tuning Guide for other parameter settings.
UNDO_MANAGEMENT (Oracle Database 10g and later). Set the UNDO_MANAGEMENT parameter to MANUAL before the repository merge. This turns off Automatic Undo Management (AUM). You can turn AUM back on after the repository merge, as desired. For more information on how AUM affects upgrade, see 477025.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support. This document was previously published as Siebel Alert 848.
Rollback Segments. Verify that you have only one large rollback segment on line that is appropriately sized so that the largest of transactions can be accommodated. Take all other rollback segments off line.

The upgrade might affect some of the largest tables in your implementation of Siebel CRM version 7.x, causing them to grow by as much as 40%.

Customer experience has shown that repository merges involving multiple languages can require a rollback segment as large as 1 GB.

Query Optimizer Settings

For the upgrade, use the query optimizer settings listed in 781927.1 (Article ID) My Oracle Support. This document was previously published as Siebel Technical Note 582 and Siebel Alert 1011.

Verifying Oracle Database Parameters for Multiple Processors in a Siebel Upgrade

Environments: Development, production test, production.

Databases: Oracle only.

If you have multiple processors (CPUs), then verify that the following parameters are set correctly. For information on settings, refer to Oracle Database documentation:

parallel_max_servers. To enable use of multiple processors, this must be set to a number greater than 1.
parallel_min_servers

Verifying the Oracle Database ODBC Definition for a Siebel Upgrade

Environments: Development, production test, production.

Databases: Oracle only.

When you install a Siebel Server, the installer creates the ODBC definition for the Oracle Database you specify.

When you upgrade your production test environment and your production environment, you must manually create an ODBC definition for connecting to your development environment database.

Verifying or Editing an ODBC Definition on Windows

Use the following procedure to verify or edit an ODBC definition on Windows.

To verify or edit an ODBC definition on Windows

Start the registry editor (regedit).

Caution: Editing the registry can adversely affect the operating system. Be sure you understand how to use regedit correctly.
Navigate to the following location:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC_Name.
In this entry, ODBC_Name is the ODBC name for the Oracle Database.

In the data display pane, verify that the following entries are present:

Name	Type	Data
ColumnsAsChar	REG_SZ	1
ColumnSizeAsCharacter	REG_SZ	1

If these entries are not present, then right-click in the data display pane, and choose New, and then String Value to add them.

Step off the ODBC_Name and return to it. Verify that the two new entries are present and correct.
Close the Registry Editor.

Verifying or Editing an ODBC Definition on UNIX

Use the following procedure to verify or edit an ODBC definition on UNIX.

To verify or edit an ODBC definition on UNIX

Navigate to the following file in the Siebel Server installation directory:
```
$SIEBEL_ROOT/sys/.odbc.ini
```
Open the .odbc.ini file and add the following two entries:
Set the ColumnsAsChar value to 1.
Set the ColumnSizeAsCharacter to 1.
Save the file.
Stop and restart any processes that are using this .odbc.ini file.