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Test Workloads with Oracle Real Application Testing

Oracle Real Application Testing is an extremely cost-effective and easy-to-use proactive performance management solution that enables businesses to fully assess the outcome of a system change in test or production.

Parent topic: Develop

About Oracle Real Application Testing

You can use Oracle Real Application Testing to capture a workload on the production system and replay it on a test system with the exact timing, concurrency, and transaction characteristics of the original workload.

  • Real Application Testing enables you to test the effects of a system change on a workload without affecting the production system.

  • Real Application Testing captures the workload on a production system and simulates the same workload on a test system.

  • This provides an accurate method to test the impact of a variety of system changes.

You can use Oracle Database Replay to capture workload from an Autonomous Database instance as well as an on-premises database or any other cloud service database and replay it on Autonomous Database. This enables you to compare workloads between Autonomous Database, on-premises database, or other cloud service database and Autonomous Database.

Real Application Testing enables you to Capture-Replay workload between the following:

Parent topic: Test Workloads with Oracle Real Application Testing

Capture-Replay Workloads between Autonomous Databases

You can Capture and Replay from an Autonomous Database instance into another Autonomous Database instance.

This enables you to compare workloads across different Autonomous Database instances. These Autonomous Database instances may vary at patch levels, database versions, or regions.

The Capture-Replay workflow between Autonomous Databases consists of these steps:

Parent topic: Test Workloads with Oracle Real Application Testing

Subscribe to Information Events on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

You must subscribe to the com.oraclecloud.databaseservice.autonomous.database.information Information events to be notified at the start and completion of the capture and replay. These events also provide the PAR URL to the Object Storage to download the capture file and replay report.

These Information events provide notifications about begin and end times of capture and replay as well as contain a PAR URL to capture and replay reports.

Autonomous Database Information events include the following:

  • WorkloadCaptureBegin: This event is triggered when a workload capture is initiated.
  • WorkloadCaptureEnd: This event is triggered when a workload capture completes successfully and generates a pre-authenticated (PAR) URL to download the capture file.
  • WorkloadReplayBegin: This event is triggered when a workload replay is initiated.
  • WorkloadReplayEnd: This event is triggered when a workload replay completes successfully and generates a pre-authenticated (PAR) URL to download the replay reports.

See Information Events on Autonomous Database for more information.

See Overview of Events for complete information on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure events.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between Autonomous Databases

Capture a Workload

The first step in using Database Replay is to capture the production workload.

When you begin workload capture on the production system, all requests from external clients directed to Oracle Database are tracked and stored in binary files called capture files.

A workload capture results in the creation of two subdirectories, cap and capfiles, which contain the capture files.

The capture files provide all pertinent information about the client request, including transaction details, bind values, and SQL text.

These capture files are platform independent and can be transported to another system.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between Autonomous Databases

Capture a Workload on an Autonomous Database Instance

Run DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.START_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE to initiate workload capture on your Autonomous Database instance.

You can capture a workload in an Autonomous Database instance and replay it in another Autonomous Database instance. You can replay the captured workload on the full or refreshable clone. The capture and replay targets must be in a consistent logical state.

See Cloning and Moving an Autonomous Database for more information.

To initiate a workload capture on your Autonomous Database instance, you must be logged in as the ADMIN user or have the EXECUTE privilege on DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.

Example to initiate a workload capture: 

BEGIN 
   DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.START_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE(
        capture_name => 'test',
        duration     => 60);
   END;
/

This starts the workload capture on your Autonomous Database instance.

The parameters are:

  • capture_name: is the name of the workload capture.

  • duration: is the duration (in minutes) for which you need to capture the workload. This parameter is optional.

See START_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE Procedure for more information.

Note:

You must subscribe to the Information event com.oraclecloud.databaseservice.autonomous.database.information to be notified at the start of START_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE. See Information Events on Autonomous Database for more information.

Parent topic: Capture a Workload

Cancel a Workload Capture on an Autonomous Database Instance

Run DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.CANCEL_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE to cancel the current workload capture on your Autonomous Database instance.

To cancel a workload capture, you must be logged in as the ADMIN user or have the EXECUTE privilege on DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.

Example: 

BEGIN
    DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.CANCEL_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE;
END;
/

This cancels the current workload capture and enables refresh on the refreshable clone.

You can query the DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS view to check the cancel workload status.

See DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS View for more information.

See CANCEL_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE Procedure for more information.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between Autonomous Databases

Finish a Workload Capture on Autonomous Database Instance

Run DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.FINISH_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE to complete the current workload capture on your Autonomous Database instance.

To stop a workload capture on your Autonomous Database instance, you must be logged in as the ADMIN user or have the EXECUTE privilege on DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.

Example to stop a workload capture on your Autonomous Database instance: 

BEGIN
    DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.FINISH_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE;
END;
/

To run this procedure you must be logged in as the ADMIN user or have the EXECUTE privilege on DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.

You can query the DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS view to check the status of a completed workload capture. See DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS View for more information.

You can query the ID, NAME, START_TIME, and END_TIME columns of the DBA_WORKLOAD_CAPTURES view to retrieve the details of your workload capture. See DBA_WORKLOAD_CAPTURES for more information.

The workload capture file is uploaded to the Object Store as a zip file.

Note:

You must subscribe to the Information event com.oraclecloud.databaseservice.autonomous.database.information to be notified about the completion of FINISH_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE as well as the Object Storage link to download the capture file. This PAR URL is contained in the captureDownloadURL field of the event and is valid for 7 days from the date of generation. See Information Events on Autonomous Database for more information.

See FINISH_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE Procedure for more information.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between Autonomous Databases

Prepare a Workload Replay

Provide steps to prepare the refreshable clone for a replay.

Perform the following steps to prepare for a workload replay:

  • Refresh the refreshable clone to the capture start timestamp.

    You can find the capture start timestamp by querying the DBA_WORKLOAD_CAPTURES view. See DBA_WORKLOAD_CAPTURES for more information.

  • Manually disconnect the refreshable clone.

  • Optionally, you can also make changes to the refreshable clone. For example, changing parameter values, turning certain features on/off to see the impact on the replay.

Note:

This step is not applicable when you are replaying the workload on a full clone.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between Autonomous Databases

Replay a Workload on an Autonomous Database Instance

After you complete a workload capture, you can replay it on a test system. Oracle replays the actions recorded during workload capture, with the same timing, concurrency, and transaction dependencies of the production system.

Run DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.REPLAY_WORKLOAD to initiate workload replay on your database.

  • To replay the captured workload:

    • You must be logged in as the ADMIN user or have the EXECUTE privilege on DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.

    • Provision a refreshable or full clone of the Autonomous Database instance on which you need to capture the workload.

    • If the replay target is a refreshable clone, you should refresh it to the capture start time and then disconnect it.

      You can retrieve the capture start time by querying the START_TIME column from the DBA_WORKLOAD_CAPTURES view on the Autonomous Database instance where the workload was captured. See DBA_WORKLOAD_CAPTURES for more information.

    • Replay the workload capture.

Example to replay a workload on a refreshable clone : 

BEGIN 
  DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.REPLAY_WORKLOAD(
      capture_name => 'CAP_TEST1');
END;
/

This example downloads the capture files from the Object Storage, replays the captured workload, and uploads a replay report after a replay.

The CAPTURE_NAME parameter specifies the name of the workload capture. This parameter is mandatory.

Example to replay a workload on a full clone : 

BEGIN 
  DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.REPLAY_WORKLOAD(
       capture_name                => 'CAP_TEST1',        
       capture_source_tenancy_ocid => 'OCID1.TENANCY.REGION1..ID1',         
       capture_source_db_name      => 'ADWFINANCE');
END;
/

Note:

If there are multiple captures with the same capture name, REPLAY_WORKLOAD uses the latest capture. Oracle recommends that you use a unique capture name for each capture to prevent confusion on which capture you are replaying.

This example downloads the capture files from the Object Storage, replays the captured workload, and uploads a replay report after a replay.

The CAPTURE_NAME parameter specifies the name of the workload capture. This parameter is mandatory.

The CAPTURE_SOURCE_TENANCY_OCID parameter specifies the source tenancy OCID of the workload capture. This parameter is mandatory when running the workload capture in a full clone.

The CAPTURE_SOURCE_DB_NAME parameter specifies the source database name of the workload capture. This parameter is mandatory when running the workload capture in a full clone.

You can query the DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS view to check the workload replay status.

See DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS View for more information.

Note:

You must subscribe to the Information event com.oraclecloud.databaseservice.autonomous.database.information to be notified about the start and completion of the REPLAY_WORKLOAD, as well as the Object Storage link to download the replay reports.

The PAR URL is contained in the replayDownloadURL field of the event and is valid for 7 days from the date of generation. The PAR URL points to a zip file that contains a replay report in HTML and an AWR report. See Information Events on Autonomous Database for more information.

See REPLAY_WORKLOAD Procedure for more information.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between Autonomous Databases

Capture-Replay Workloads between non-Autonomous and Autonomous Databases

You can Capture and Replay from a non-Autonomous Database instance into an Autonomous Database.

This enables you to compare workloads between an on-prem database or other cloud service database and an Autonomous Database instance.

Capture-Replay workflow between non-Autonomous and Autonomous Databases consists of these steps:

  • Capture a Workload
    The first step in using Database Replay is to capture the production workload.
  • Replay a Workload on an Autonomous Database Instance
    After you complete a workload capture, you can replay it on a test system. Oracle replays on the test system the actions recorded during workload capture, with the same timing , concurrency, and transaction dependencies of the production system.

Parent topic: Test Workloads with Oracle Real Application Testing

Capture a Workload

The first step in using Database Replay is to capture the production workload.

When you begin workload capture on the production system, all requests from external clients directed to Oracle Database are tracked and stored in binary files called capture files.

A workload capture results in the creation of two subdirectories, cap and capfiles, which contain the capture files.

The capture files provide all pertinent information about the client request, including transaction details, bind values, and SQL text.

These capture files are platform independent and can be transported to another system.

See Workload Capture to capture a workload on an on-premises database.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between non-Autonomous and Autonomous Databases

Replay a Workload on an Autonomous Database Instance

After you complete a workload capture, you can replay it on a test system. Oracle replays on the test system the actions recorded during workload capture, with the same timing , concurrency, and transaction dependencies of the production system.

Run DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.REPLAY_WORKLOAD to initiate workload replay on your database. You must be logged in as the ADMIN user or have the EXECUTE privilege on DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN to run REPLAY_WORKLOAD.

Example to replay on an Autonomous Database instance a workload captured from an on-premises database: 

BEGIN 
   DBMS_CLOUD_ADMIN.REPLAY_WORKLOAD(
      location_uri    => 'https://objectstorage.us-phoenix-1.oraclecloud.com/n/namespace-string/b/bucketname/o',
      credential_name => 'CRED_TEST',   
      synchronization => TRUE,
      process_capture => TRUE);    
END;
/

This downloads the capture files contained in the Object Storage location specified in the location_uri parameter, and replays the workload capture from the capture files. The replay generates and uploads the replay and Automatic Workload Repository reports to the Object Storage location specified in the location_uri parameter.

The credential_name parameter specifies the credential to access the object storage bucket. The credential that you supply must have the write privileges to write into the Object Storage bucket. The write privileges are required to upload the replay report to the bucket.

If you do not specify a credential_name value, then DEFAULT_CREDENTIAL is used.

The synchronization parameter specifies the synchronization method used during workload replay. A TRUE value indicates that the synchronization is SCN based.

The process_capture specifies whether you need to specify process_capture value or not. A TRUE value indicates that the replay includes process_capture.

Note:

You must maintain the same logical state of the capture and replay databases at the start of the capture time.

You can query the DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS view to check the workload replay status.

See DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS View for more information.

Note:

You must subscribe to the Information event com.oraclecloud.databaseservice.autonomous.database.information to be notified about the start and completion of the REPLAY_WORKLOAD as well as the Object Storage link to download the replay reports. This PAR URL is contained in the replayDownloadURL field of the event and is valid for 7 days from the date of generation. See Information Events on Autonomous Database for more information.

In this example, namespace-string is the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure object storage namespace and bucketname is the bucket name. See Understanding Object Storage Namespaces for more information.

See Navigate to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage and Create Bucket for more information on Object Storage.

See Upload Files to Your Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Store Bucket for more information on uploading files to Object Storage.

You don't need to create a credential to access Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Store if you enable resource principal credentials. See Use Resource Principal to Access Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Resources for more information.

See REPLAY_WORKLOAD Procedure for more information.

Parent topic: Capture-Replay Workloads between non-Autonomous and Autonomous Databases

DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS View

The DBA_CAPTURE_REPLAY_STATUS view provides the most recent status for your workload. The values in the view are updated when you execute FINISH_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE, CANCEL_WORKLOAD_CAPTURE or REPLAY_WORKLOAD.
Column Datatype Description
STATE VARCHAR2(32)

Provides the current status for a workload capture or replay.

For a workload capture, status value could be one of these:

  • CAPTURE capture_name STARTED

  • FINISHING CAPTURE

  • UPLOADING CAPTURE FILES

  • CANCELING CAPTURE

  • CANCEL CAPTURE capture_name COMPLETED

  • FINISH CAPTURE capture_name COMPLETED

For a workload replay, status value could be one of these:

  • DOWNLOADING CAPTURE FILES

  • PROCESSING CAPTURE

  • INITIALIZING REPLAY

  • PREPARING REPLAY

  • STARTING REPLAY

  • UPLOADING REPLAY FILES

  • REPLAY replay_name COMPLETED

PROGRESS VARCHAR2(8)

Percentage completed for download or upload.

Parent topic: Test Workloads with Oracle Real Application Testing