Adding Oracle Data Guard Broker Managed Databases to a Database Pool

You can manage Oracle Data Guard broker configurations as single units in database pools to support role-based global services, and consistent additions and removals.

When you include an Oracle Data Guard broker configuration in a Global Data Services configuration, you manage the broker configuration as one unit. Only an entire Oracle Data Guard broker configuration can be added to (or deleted from) a database pool. A configuration cannot span multiple pools. An attempt to add or remove an individual database to or from a pool that belongs to a broker configuration results in an error.

The only way to add a database to the pool is to add the database to the broker configuration (using the DGMGRL utility). Adding a database to the broker configuration causes its automatic addition to the database pool to which this configuration belongs. Removing a database from a broker configuration causes its removal from the pool that contains the configuration. This is the only way to remove a database from a pool that contains a broker configuration.

Note:

Only add a database to a GDS pool if its Oracle release, release update (RU), or recommended release update (RUR) and and datapatch level exactly match all existing database members. Never mix newer or older database binaries. If this is done, then it can cause errors and unstable services. Also, do not add or remove databases from the pool during rolling patching or upgrades - onboard at the matched version first, verify services, then perform rolling patching.

Also, note the following limitations:

The set of databases in a database pool can be either:
The set of databases that belong to a single broker configuration
- A set of databases that belong to no broker configuration
You can add a broker configuration only to an empty database pool and, if a pool already contains a broker configuration, then, to add a database to a database pool, you must add the database to the broker configuration contained in the database pool.
Role-based global services are supported only for database pools that contain a broker configuration.