4 Maintaining Oracle Exadata System Software

This section explains how to maintain Oracle Exadata System Software.

Caution:

All operations in this chapter must be performed with extreme caution and only after you have ensured you have complete backups of the data. If not, then you may experience irrecoverable data loss.

• Understanding Oracle Exadata System Software Release Numbering
  The Oracle Exadata System Software release number is related to the Oracle Database release number.
• Understanding Automated Cell Maintenance
  The Management Server (MS) includes a file deletion policy based on the date.
• Recommendations for Changing the Exadata Storage Server Network Address
  Review the following advice before changing the fundamental configuration of a storage server, such as changing the IP address, host name, or RDMA Network Fabric address.
• Using the ipconf Utility
  The ipconf utility is used to set and change the following parameters on Oracle Exadata servers.
• Oracle Exadata System Software Validation Tests and Utilities
  You can use a variety of commands and utilities to validate the Oracle Exadata System Software and hardware configurations.
• Locating Serial Numbers for System Components
  You may need to provide the serial numbers for the system components when contacting Oracle Support Services.
• Diagnostic and Repair Utilities
  Oracle Exadata System Software includes utilities for diagnostics and repair of Oracle Exadata Storage Server.
• System Diagnostics Data Gathering with sosreports and Oracle ExaWatcher
  You can use the sosreport utility and Oracle ExaWatcher to diagnose problems with your system.
• Host Console Support
  The storage servers and database servers of Oracle Exadata are configured to provide host console access.
• Oracle Linux Kernel Crash Core Files
  The storage servers and database servers of Oracle Exadata are configured to generate Oracle Linux kernel crash core files in the /var/crash directory, when the Oracle Linux operating system malfunctions or crashes.
• Monitoring syslog Messages Remotely
  By default, storage server syslog messages are written to local log files.