7.7.1.2 ALTER CELL

Purpose

The ALTER CELL command changes the attributes of the cell.

Syntax

ALTER CELL  {
  SHUTDOWN SERVICES { RS | MS | CELLSRV [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] | ALL [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] |
                      EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  RESTART SERVICES  { RS | MS | CELLSRV [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] | ALL [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] |
                      EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  STARTUP SERVICES  { RS | MS | CELLSRV | ALL | 
                      EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  DISABLE SERVICES  { EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  OFFLINE |
  ONLINE |
  LED {ON | OFF} |
  DONOTSERVICELED {ON | OFF [FORCE]} |  
  VALIDATE { MAIL | SNMP | CONFIGURATION } |
  VALIDATE SYSLOGCONF selector.node |
  CONFIGUREBMC |
  RESTART BMC |
  BBU { DROP FOR REPLACEMENT | REENABLE } |
  attribute_name = attribute_value 
        [, attribute_name = attribute_value]...
  }

Parent topic: ALTER

7.7.1.2.1 ALTER CELL Commands for Managing Services

Syntax

ALTER CELL {
  SHUTDOWN SERVICES { RS | MS | CELLSRV [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] | ALL [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] |
                      EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  RESTART SERVICES  { RS | MS | CELLSRV [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] | ALL [IGNORE REDUNDANCY] |
                      EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  STARTUP SERVICES  { RS | MS | CELLSRV | ALL | 
                      EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  DISABLE SERVICES  { EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD } |
  OFFLINE |
  ONLINE |
}

Usage Notes

The following table lists the arguments and options for the ALTER CELL commands that perform service management operations:

Argument Description

SHUTDOWN SERVICES { RS | MS }

Shuts down the Restart Server (RS) or Management Server (MS) service.

SHUTDOWN SERVICES CELLSRV [IGNORE REDUNDANCY]

Shuts down the Cell Server (CELLSRV) service.

If you include IGNORE REDUNDANCY, then the service is immediately stopped without waiting on the redundancy checks from Oracle ASM or Exascale.

SHUTDOWN SERVICES { EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD }

Shuts down the specified Exascale service.

SHUTDOWN SERVICES ALL [IGNORE REDUNDANCY]

Shuts down RS, MS, CELLSRV, and all enabled Exascale services.

If you include IGNORE REDUNDANCY, then CELLSRV is immediately stopped without waiting on the redundancy checks from Oracle ASM or Exascale.

RESTART SERVICES { RS | MS }

Stops and then restarts the Restart Server (RS) or Management Server (MS) service.

RESTART SERVICES CELLSRV [IGNORE REDUNDANCY]

Stops and then restarts the Cell Server (CELLSRV) service.

If you include IGNORE REDUNDANCY, then the service is stopped without waiting on the redundancy checks from Oracle ASM or Exascale.

RESTART SERVICES { EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD }

Stops and then restarts the specified Exascale service.

RESTART SERVICES ALL [IGNORE REDUNDANCY]

Stops and then restarts RS, MS, CELLSRV, and all enabled Exascale services.

If you include IGNORE REDUNDANCY, then the Cell Server service is stopped without waiting on the redundancy checks from Oracle ASM or Exascale.

STARTUP SERVICES { RS | MS | CELLSERV | ALL | EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD }}

Starts the specified service or ALL services.

A service can be an Exadata service (CELLSRV, MS, RS) or an Exascale service (EGS, SYSEDS, USREDS, ERS, BSM, BSW, IFD).

ALL includes RS, MS, CELLSRV, and enabled Exascale services.

To enable a disabled Exascale service, you must start it specifically by name.

DISABLE SERVICES { EGS | USREDS | SYSEDS | ERS | BSM | BSW | IFD }

Shuts down and disables the specified Exascale service.

A disabled service is prevented from automatically restarting and is not included in ALTER CELL operations on ALL services.

To enable a disabled service, you must start it specifically by name.

OFFLINE

Gracefully deactivates grid disks and pool disks, and takes services offline, ensuring that storage and service redundancy remain intact. Then, shuts down all Exadata and Exascale software services.

This option is available starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 25.2.0.

ONLINE

Starts all software services on the cell, reactivates grid disks and pool disks, and rejoins the Exascale cluster if necessary.

This option is available starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 25.2.0.

The following are additional usage notes for the ALTER CELL commands that perform service management:

  • When shutting down the Cell Server service (CELLSRV), the system first verifies that the operation can proceed without compromising storage and service redundancy. If it is safe to proceed, the grid disks and pool disks are deactivated and CELLSRV goes offline. Otherwise, if it is not safe to proceed, the services stay unchanged and an error is displayed.

    Note:

    Redundancy checks for CELLSRV with Exascale storage are first introduced in Oracle Exadata System Software version 25.2.2 (September 2025). In earlier versions, you must manually confirm that it is safe to shut down CELLSRV on any cell in an Exascale cluster.

  • The IGNORE REDUNDANCY option bypasses redundancy checks and performs the requested operation immediately. Use this option with extreme caution. Shutting down CELLSRV without redundancy checks may cause an Oracle ASM disk group or Exascale storage pool to go offline.

  • The Restart Server (RS) service must be running before you can start other services individually. To restart RS, run ALTER CELL STARTUP SERVICES RS or ALTER CELL RESTART SERVICES RS. Or, you can restart all services by running ALTER CELL STARTUP SERVICES ALL.

  • For details about Exascale services, see:

Parent topic: ALTER CELL

7.7.1.2.2 ALTER CELL Commands for Managing Exadata Storage Server Hardware

Syntax

ALTER CELL {
    RESTART BMC
  | LED {ON | OFF}
  | DONOTSERVICELED {ON | OFF [FORCE]}
  | CONFIGUREBMC
  | BBU { DROP FOR REPLACEMENT | REENABLE }
  | attribute_name = attribute_value [, attribute_name = attribute_value]...
  }

Usage Notes

The following table lists the arguments and options for the ALTER CELL commands that perform Exadata storage server hardware management operations:

Argument Options Description

RESTART BMC

none

Restarts the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC).

LED

ON

OFF

LED ON and LED OFF operations turn on and off the Fault-Service Required LED.

You can manually light the LED to indicate that a cell requires maintenance. The LED also turns on automatically if a component fails.

DONOTSERVICELED

ON

OFF

Turns the Do Not Service LED on and off. This LED is available with Oracle Exadata Database Machine X7 and later models.

CONFIGUREBMC

none

Configures the BMC for hardware alerts to the local cell so that Management Server (MS) can pick up the alerts.

BBU

DROP FOR REPLACEMENT

REENABLE

BBU DROP FOR REPLACEMENT drops the hard disk controller battery-backed unit (BBU).

BBU REENABLE re-enables the BBU.

The following are additional usage notes for the ALTER CELL commands that perform storage server hardware management:

  • The ALTER CELL BBU DROP FOR REPLACEMENT command is run prior to replacement of a hard disk controller battery. The command changes the caching policy from writeback to writethrough, and turns on the locator LED. The new battery is enabled automatically.

  • The ALTER CELL BBU REENABLE command is run when a battery is removed and then the same battery is re-inserted. The command changes the caching policy from writethrough to writeback, and turns off the locator LED.

Attributes Related to Hardware Management

  • The bbuLearnCycleTime attribute is used to set the start time for the battery learn cycle. After the learn cycle has completed, the attribute reverts to its default quarterly cycle.

  • The bbuLearnSchedule attribute is used to set the next battery learn cycle. The following parameters are used with the bbuLearnSchedule attribute:

    • month: Values are 1 through 12. The month entered must be within the current month and the next three months. For example, if the bbuLearnSchedule attribute is set in February, then the months could be February, March, April or May.
    • week: Values are 1 through 5. The value 1 represents the first week of the month, 2 represents the second week, and so on. The week value must be specified when specifying month and day.
    • day: Values are 1 through 7. The value 1 represents Sunday, 2 represents Monday, and so on. The day value must be specified when specifying month and week.
    • date: Values are 1 through 31. The values represent the days of the month. The default date is 17.
    • hour: Values are 0 through 23. The value 0 represents 12:00 a.m., 1 represents 1:00 a.m., and so on.
    • minute: Values are 0 to 59. The values represent the minutes in an hour.
    • second: Values are 0 to 59. The values represent the seconds in a minute.

  • The ALTER CELL eighthRack=true command enables or disables an Eighth Rack configuration on Oracle Exadata Database Machine X3-2 Quarter Racks or later. The options are true to enable the Eighth Rack configuration, and false to disable the Eighth Rack configuration. The ALTER CELL eighthRack=true command requires that there are no cell disks because enabling the Eighth Rack configures only half of the hard disks and flash capacity. After using this command you must restart Cell Server (CELLSRV) to make the new changes effective and prevent unexpected results.

Examples

Example 7-3 Setting the Cell LED Off and On

This example shows how to set the Fault-Service Required LED on and off for the cell. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL LED OFF
CellCLI> ALTER CELL LED ON

Example 7-4 Setting the Battery Learn Cycle

This example shows how to schedule for the battery learn cycle. In this example, the command sets the battery learn cycle to occur January 17 3:00:59, and then the following learn cycles are April 17 3:00:59, July 17 3:00:59, and October 17 3:00:59. The default setting is "MONTH 1 DATE 17 HOUR 2 MINUTE 0."

CellCLI> ALTER CELL bbuLearnSchedule = "MONTH 1 HOUR 3 SECOND 59"

Parent topic: ALTER CELL

7.7.1.2.3 ALTER CELL Commands for Configuration Validation

Syntax

ALTER CELL {
    VALIDATE { MAIL | SNMP | CONFIGURATION }
  | VALIDATE SYSLOGCONF selector.node
  }

Usage Notes

The following table lists the arguments and options for the ALTER CELL commands that perform configuration validation operations:

Argument Description

VALIDATE MAIL

The VALIDATE MAIL operation sends a test message using the e-mail attributes configured for the cell.

VALIDATE SNMP

The VALIDATE SNMP operation sends a test message using the SNMP attributes configured for the cell. The VALIDATE SNMP TYPE=ASR operation validates Oracle ASR on Oracle Exadata Storage Server.

VALIDATE CONFIGURATION

The VALIDATE CONFIGURATION operation validates the configuration. When the validation is complete and correct, the system responds with Cell cell_name successfully altered. If there is a problem, then the system responds with an error message.

VALIDATE SYSLOGCONF facility.priority

The VALIDATE SYSLOGCONF facility.priority sends a test message for the specified facility and priority.

Usage Notes

For more information about SYSLOG configuration, see SYSLOG Attributes.

Examples

Example 7-5 shows how to validate the e-mail setup on a cell.

Example 7-6 shows how to validate the Oracle ASR e-mail setup on a cell.

Example 7-7 shows how to validate the SNMP setup on a cell.

Example 7-8 shows how to validate the configuration on a cell.

Example 7-9 shows a sample error message when configuration on a cell is incorrect.

Example 7-5 Validating E-mail on a Cell

CellCLI> ALTER CELL VALIDATE MAIL

Example 7-6 Validating Oracle ASR E-mail on a Cell 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL VALIDATE SNMP type=asr

Example 7-7 Validating SNMP on a Cell

CellCLI> ALTER CELL VALIDATE SNMP

Example 7-8 Validating Configuration on a Cell

CellCLI> ALTER CELL VALIDATE CONFIGURATION

Cell CD_01_cell01 successfully altered

Example 7-9 Checking an Incorrect Configuration on a Cell

CellCLI> ALTER CELL VALIDATE CONFIGURATION

CELL-02827: Cell configuration check for hardware and firmware encountered the
following issues:

ILOM check has detected the following issue(s):
    Attribute Name : ILOMVersion
    Required       : 3.0.6.10.a r49240
    Found          : 3.0.6.10.a r49385

Parent topic: ALTER CELL

7.7.1.2.4 ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

Syntax

ALTER CELL
    attribute_name = attribute_value 
        [, attribute_name = attribute_value]...

Usage Notes

The attributes that can be changed using the ALTER CELL command are shown as modifiable in Example 7-96 or described below.

Parent topic: ALTER CELL

7.7.1.2.4.1 Caching Attributes

Flash Cache Mode

The flashCacheMode attribute is used to display and set the current value for flash cache. The values are writethrough (the default) or writeback. Note the following about the flashCacheMode attribute:

  • If the attribute is modified from writeback to writethrough and there is existing flash cache, then an error is displayed. The flash cache must be flushed and dropped before changing the attribute to writethrough.

  • If the attribute is to be modified from writethrough to writeback, then flash cache must be dropped before modifying the attribute.

  • Write back caching can be disabled on the grid disks that do not need caching, such as the grid disks in the RECO disk group. This allows other objects to use the cache space.

    See Also:

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.2 Alert Notification Attributes

Configuring Alert Notifications

To set up the cell to send notifications about alerts, you can configure the following cell attributes:

  • mailServer: Fully qualified domain name of the email relay server used to send alert notifications. This attribute only requires specification in cases where DNS returns an unreachable or invalid mail exchange (MX) record for the email server specified in smtpToAddr.
  • smtpPort: Email server port used to send alert notifications
  • smtpUseSSL: Specification to use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption for alert notifications.
  • smtpFrom: User name that appears in the From: header of the alert notifications
  • smtpFromAddr: Email address that appears in the From: header of the alert notifications. This email address is not authenticated with the email server.
  • smtpToAddr: Address to which email is sent. It can be a comma-delimited list in quotation marks to allow multiple subscribers to alerts.
  • snmpSubscriber: List of hosts that subscribe to the SNMP alert notifications
  • snmpUser: Defines users who receives SNMP alerts
  • snmpEngineID: An identifier used by the SNMP managers to subscribe to alerts from the storage cells
  • notificationMethod: Notification method for alerts
  • notificationPolicy: Indicator for severity alerts to be sent to subscribers
  • emailFormat: File format for email messages
  • emailSubscriber: List of names that subscribe to the alert notifications

Usage Notes

  • mailServer

    The mailServer attribute identifies the email relay server used to send alert notifications. When you modify the mailServer attribute value, the Exadata Management Server (MS) automatically configures and restarts the sendmail service. You can clear the mailServer attribute and remove the email relay server from the sendmail configuration by setting mailServer to an empty string enclosed by quotation marks (mailServer='').

  • smtpPort

    The smtpPort attribute can be reset to the default value by setting it to an empty string enclosed by quotation marks (smtpPort='').

  • smtpUseSSL

    The smtpUseSSL attribute enables Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption on the email notifications when the attribute is set to true.

  • smtpToAddr

    The smtpToAddr attribute can be used to set a list of comma-delimited email addresses that are the recipients of the alert notification. The list must be enclosed in quotation marks.

  • snmpSubscriber

    The snmpSubscriber attribute can be set to a list of SNMP targets to which the SNMP alert notification is sent. The targets are specified as follows: 

    snmpSubscriber[-|+]=(
  (host=host[,port=port][,type=subscriber_type][,community=community][,snmpuser=snmp_user_name][,fromIP="ip"][,asrmPort="ASRManager_port"])
[,(host=host[,port=port][,type=subscriber_type][,community=community][,snmpuser=snmp_user_name][,fromIP="ip"][,asrmPort="ASRManager_port"])] ...)

    The snmpSubscriber attribute uses the following values:

    • The host must be specified as either a host name or an IP address. Enclose the host name or IP address in quotation marks if it contains non-alphanumeric characters.

    • The default value for port is 162. This value is optional.

    • The valid type values are v1, ASR, v3, and v3ASR.

      • Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 24.1.0, you must specify the type value.

        Previously, setting the type is optional, and the default value is v1.

      • The type=v3 and type=v3ASR options use SNMP V3. SNMP V3 is considered more secure than earlier SNMP versions, and should be used where possible.

      • The snmpSubscriber with type=ASR or type=v3ASR should only be configured to point to Oracle ASR Manager.

      • The type=ASR and type=v3ASR options set the Oracle ASR destination for Oracle Exadata Storage Server, and its ILOM. Removing all snmpSubscriber entries with type=ASR and type=v3ASR from the SNMP subscriber list disables the Oracle ASR trap mechanism for Oracle Exadata Storage Server and its ILOM.

      • For the v3ASR type, the user must be defined with authProtocol=SHA, and privProtocol=AES. These are the only protocols supported by Oracle ASR Manager. Setting the snmpSubscriber as type v3ASR also sets the ILOM properties and rules for traps sent by ILOM.

    • Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 24.1.0, you must specify the community value for subscribers with type=v1 or type=ASR. Also, common default values such as public and private are discouraged for security reasons.

      Previously, setting the community is optional, and the default value is public.

    • For subscribers with type=v3 or type=v3ASR, you must specify an SNMP user name (snmpuser=snmp_user_name), which is already configured within the server.

      For example:

      CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpuser.snmpuser1=(authprotocol=SHA,authpassword=*)
...

CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpSubscriber=((host=newhost,port=162,type=v3,snmpuser=snmpuser1))

    • The fromIP field enables you to specify an IP address from which the trap is sent. If this field is not specified, it defaults to the IP address associated with eth0. Use this field if the default IP address is not registered with Oracle ASR Manager. Oracle ASR Manager only processes SNMP traps that are sent from IP addresses that it recognizes.

      The fromIP field is allowed only for SNMP subscribers whose type is either ASR or v3ASR.

      For example:

      CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpSubscriber=((host=asrhost,port=162,community=asrcommunity,fromIP="1.1.1.1",type=ASR))

      The following example returns an error because the type is not ASR or v3ASR. 

      CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpSubscriber=((host=localhost,port=162,community=asrcommunity,fromIP="1.1.1.1",type=v1))
CELL-00068: The fromIP field is only supported for ASR SNMP subscribers.

    • The asrmPort field enables you to specify the port number on an Oracle ASR Manager machine that MS uses to communicate with Oracle ASR Manager. This port must be the same as the HTTP port of Oracle ASR Manager’s HTTP Receiver. You can check this by running asr show_http_receiver on the Oracle ASR Manager machine.

      The asrmPort field is allowed only for SNMP subscribers whose type is either ASR or v3ASR. The default value for this port is 16161.

    By default, ALTER CELL snmpSubscriber=(SNMPtargets) replaces the existing snmpSubscriber value. However, starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 21.2.0, you can add to the existing list of SNMP targets by using snmpSubscriber+=(SNMPtarget). For example: 

    CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpSubscriber+=((host=newhost,port=162,community=snmpcommunity,type=v1))

    Also, starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 22.1, you can remove an entry from the existing list of SNMP targets by using snmpSubscriber-=(SNMPtarget). For example: 

    CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpSubscriber-=((host=myhost,port=162,community=snmpcommunity,type=v1))

    After startup of the Management Server (MS), the snmpSubscriber list entries with type=ASR are added to the ILOM for the CELL. This ensures that when an ILOM is replaced, the entries are set for the new ILOM. If the entries are removed from the ILOM, then they must be manually added to the ILOM using the ALTER CELL ... snmpUser= command.

  • snmpUser

    The snmpUser attribute defines users who receives SNMP alerts. This command can only be run in interactive mode. There are two methods for configuring this attribute. 

    snmpuser=((user_clause1)[,(user_clauseN)]...)

snmpuser.name=(user_clause)

    • If you specify snmpuser, then you must provide a user_clause for every configured user. If you omit a user, then that user will no longer receive SNMP alerts. The ((user_clause1)[,(user_clauseN)]...) string that you provide overwrites the previous string used for the snmpuser attribute.

    • If you specify snmpuser.name, then you must provide a user_clause for only the specified user. This allows you to add, delete, or modify each user individually, without having to supply the entire snmpuser attribute string each time.

    • If you use snmpuser='', then all SNMP users are removed. If you use snmpuser.name='', then only the specified user is removed. You cannot remove an SNMP user while it is still referenced by a V3 SnmpSubscriber.

    Each method uses a user_clause, which has the following general format: 

    ([name=user1,] authProtocol=auth_type, authPassword=*
   [, privProtocol=priv_type, privPassword=*]) 
[,(name=userN, authProtocol=auth_type, authPassword=*
   [, privProtocol=priv_type, privPassword=*] )]...

    If updating a single user using the snmpuser.name notation, do not include the phrase name=user1 in the user_clause.

    • name is the user name.

    • Only * is allowed for the password values in the command. Passwords are not stored or displayed. Secure hash keys are computed and used for trap authentication and encryption.

    • authProtocol specifies the authentication protocol.

      Options include MD5 and SHA. Additionally, Oracle Exadata System Software release 24.1.0 introduces the following SHA2 authentication protocols for SNMP V3 subscribers: SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512.

      The authProtocol must be specified for the snmpUser attribute.

      The system prompts for the authentication password. The authentication password must have 8 to 12 alphanumeric characters.

    • privProtocol is encryption protocol. Options are none, AES, or DES. The default is none when the privProtocol attribute is not specified.

      The system prompts for an encryption password if the encryption protocol is specified. The password is exactly 8 alphanumeric characters, and they are case sensitive.

  • snmpEngineID

    The ALTER CELL snmpEngineID command is used by the SNMP managers to subscribe to alerts from the storage cells. The snmpEngineID parameter can be up to 20 characters. It should be unique for each target within a data center. The default is the cell name. This default is used if the snmpEngineID attribute is not set before the SNMP users are defined.

    Note:

    The engine identifier should not be changed after SNMP users are defined. Any change to an engine identifier causes the user keys to be re-computed, and user passwords must be re-entered.

  • notificationMethod

    The notificationMethod attribute value can be mail, snmp, none, or a combination of mail and snmp, such as notificationMethod='mail,snmp'. The default value is mail.

  • notificationPolicy

    The notificationPolicy attribute value can be none or a combination of critical, warning, or clear, such as notificationPolicy='warning,clear.'

    • The critical value refers to hardware-generated alerts or alerts generated by Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR) or BMC. The critical value also refers to a metric alert when the value exceeds the critical threshold specified in the metric definition.
    • The warning value refers to a metric alert when the value exceeds the warning threshold specified in the metric definition.
    • The clear value refers to a metric alert when the value is below the threshold boundary after having previously exceeded a warning or critical threshold.
    • The maintenance value refers to all hardware-related errors. The hardware errors are reported as "Maintenance" in email message subject lines.

  • emailFormat

    The emailFormat attribute can be html or text. By default, email notifications are sent in HTML format. Change the value to text to receive plain text email notifications.

  • emailSubscriber

    The ALTER CELL emailSubscriber command sets a list of comma-delimited email addresses that are the recipients of alert notifications for specific alert types. The syntax for this command is: 

    ALTER CELL emailSubscriber = ((email="email_address1",                \ 
           alertType="alert_type")                               \
          [, (email="email_address2",alertType="alert_type"), ...])

    • The email address must be a valid email address. The email parameter is mandatory.

    • The alertType parameter specifies the type of alert, and is optional. The alert types are HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, METRIC or ADR. If the alert type is not specified, then the subscription is for all alert types.

    • An empty input string removes the current set of subscribers.

    • The notification policy must be set before alert notifications can be received. The policy applies to all email subscribers. The notification policy for these alerts are the same as for snmpSubscriber alerts.

    To validate that email messages are successfully sent for cell alerts or events, use the ALTER command with the VALIDATE MAIL option. The validation process sends a test email message to the configured recipient. If that test email message is not received, then an email configuration setting is not valid.

Examples

Example 7-10 shows how to set the asrmPort field for an snmpSubscriber.

Example 7-11 shows how to set up email notifications for the cell.

Example 7-12 shows how to modify the SNMP user.

Example 7-13 shows how to modify a single SNMP user.

Example 7-14 shows how to specify the type of email alerts. In the example, one subscriber gets hardware and software alerts, and the other subscriber gets ADR alerts.

Example 7-15 shows how to change the format of email messages.

Example 7-16 shows how to unsubscribe from email alerts.

Example 7-17 shows how to reset the notificationPolicy attribute to its default value.

Example 7-10 Setting the asrmPort for an snmpSubscriber

CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpSubscriber=((host=host1,port=162,community=asrcommunity,type=asr,asrmPort=16161))

Example 7-11 Configuring Email Notifications for a Cell

The example includes multiple SNMP subscribers. Note that because host2 is an SNMP v3 subscriber, there is no community specification. Instead, for SNMP v3 subscribers, you must specify an existing SNMP user. See also the following for examples for modifying an SNMP user. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL mailServer='my_mail_relay.example.com',                                  -
                    smtpFromAddr='john.doe@example.com',                                     -
                    smtpFrom='John Doe',                                                     -
                    smtpToAddr='jane.smith@example.com',                                     -
                    snmpSubscriber=((host=host1,port=162,community=snmpcommunity,type=v1),   -
                                    (host=host2,port=162,snmpuser=user2,type=v3)),                          -
                    notificationPolicy='clear',                                              -
                    notificationMethod='mail,snmp'

Example 7-12 Modifying the SNMP User

This example shows SNMP user configuration, where the administrator is prompted to enter the passwords. The example contains one user definition, but the same approach can be expanded to define multiple SNMP users in the same command.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpuser = ((name=ASR, authprotocol=md5, authpassword=*,   \
                    privprotocol=AES, privpassword=*))
snmpUser ASR authpassword: password
Confirm snmpUser ASR authpassword: password
snmpUser ASR privpassword: password
Confirm snmpUser ASR privpassword: password

Example 7-13 Modifying an SNMP User

The following code examples show adding an SNMP user, changing that user's password, and then removing that user.

## adding users individually
CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpuser.user2=(authprotocol=SHA,authpassword=*)

snmpUser user2 authpassword: password
Confirm snmpUser user2 authpassword: password

snmpUser ((name=user1, authProtocol=SHA, privProtocol=AES)) has been replaced with 
((name=user1, authProtocol=SHA, privProtocol=AES),(name=user2, authProtocol=SHA)).
...

## changing a password of an existing user
CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpuser.user2 = (authprotocol=SHA,authpassword=password)

## delete a user individually
CellCLI> ALTER CELL snmpuser.user2=''

snmpUser ((name=user1, authProtocol=SHA, privProtocol=AES),(name=user2, authProtocol=SHA)) has
 been replaced with ((name=user1, authProtocol=SHA, privProtocol=AES)).
...

Example 7-14 Specifying the Type of Email Alert

ALTER CELL emailSubscriber=                                             \
           ((email="email1@example.com",alertType="HARDWARE,SOFTWARE"), \
           (email="email2@example.com",alertType="ADR"))

Example 7-15 Changing the Format of Email Messages

CellCLI> ALTER CELL emailFormat='text'
CellCLI> ALTER CELL emailFormat='html'

Example 7-16 Unsubscribing from Email Alerts

ALTER CELL emailSubscriber=""

Example 7-17 Setting the Default Value for the notificationPolicy Attribute

This example shows how to set the default value for the notificationPolicy attribute. 

CellCLI> alter cell notificationPolicy=""

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.3 Alert Summary Attributes

Configuring Alert Summaries

  • The alertSummaryInterval attribute sets the frequency of the open alerts summary e-mail message. The open alerts e-mail message is an HTML document that provides a concise summary of all open issues on a cell even without access to the cell. Valid options are daily, weekly, biweekly and none.The default value is weekly.

  • The alertSummaryStartTime attribute sets the delivery time for the open alerts summary e-mail message. The command accepts any valid time stamp.

Example 7-18 Setting the Frequency for the Open Alerts Summary E-mail Message

This example shows how to set the frequency for the open alerts summary e-mail message to weekly.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL alertSummaryInterval=weekly

Example 7-19 Setting the Time for Open Alerts Message Delivery

This example shows how to set the delivery time for the open alerts summary e-mail message.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL alertSummaryStartTime="2013-04-23T12:57:00-06:00"

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.4 SYSLOG Attributes

Configuring SYSLOG Attributes: syslogconf and syslogFormat

The syslogconf attribute extends syslog rules for a cell. The attribute can be used to designate that syslog messages be forwarded to a specified management server. On the management server, the forwarded messages are directed to a file, console, or management application, depending on the syslog configuration on the management server. The syntax for configuring this attribute is: 

syslogconf = ('selector @node' [, 'selector @node']... )

In the preceding syntax, selector is the message type, and node is the specified server. Both variables follow syslog.conf standard syntax rules.

  • The facility option for the syslogconf attribute must be one of the following: auth, authpriv, cron, daemon, ftp, kern, lpr, mail, mark, news, security, syslog, user, uucp, local0, local1, local2, local3, local4, local5, local6, local7, none, and *.

  • The priority option for the syslogconf attribute must be one of the following: alert, crit, debug, emerg, err, error, info, notice, panic, warn, warning, none, and * (asterisk).

The ALTER CELL VALIDATE syslogconf selector command sends a test log message. The test message is directed as specified by rules in the /etc/syslog.conf file. If the syslogconf assignment extends the syslog rules, then a test message is forwarded to the specified management servers.

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 19.1.0, you can use the syslogFormat attribute to change the standard format for syslog to any format by setting the value to the desired format string. Setting the syslogFormat attribute to an empty string removes the format change, reverting the syslog format to the default format. If the format string contains a control character, it must be preceded by a backslash when entering the command.

See Example 7-23 for examples of the syntax.

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 19.3.0, you can use the syslogFormat attribute to enable sending syslog in an encrypted format. For the complete configuration steps, refer to Encrypting System Log Information.

Example 7-20 Using the syslogconf Attribute

This example shows how to add a rule using the syslogconf attribute.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogconf=('*.err;authpriv.none @loghost', -
         '*.emerg @loghost')

Example 7-21 Adding and Validating a Rule

This example shows how to add and validate a rule with test message.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogconf=('kern.crit @loghost')
CellCLI> ALTER CELL VALIDATE syslogconf   'kern.crit'

Example 7-22 Removing All syslog.conf Rules

This example shows how to remove the syslog.conf rule. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogconf=''

Example 7-23 Setting the Syslog Format to a Custom String Then Reverting to the Default Format

This example shows how to specify a customized format for syslog.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogformat="%TIMESTAMP:::date-rfc3339% %HOSTNAME%%syslogtag%
%syslogseverity-text%:%msg:::sp-if-no-1st-sp%%msg:::drop-last-lf%\\n"

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogformat="%TIMESTAMP% %HOSTNAME% %msg%\\n"

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogformat=""

Configuring additional log forwarding: syslogInput

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 22.1, the syslogInput attribute enables syslog on the local host (database server or storage server) to forward additional logs to remote log servers.

The syntax for configuring the syslogInput attribute is: 

syslogInput = ('selector @[@]node[:remote_port]' [, 'selector @[@]node[:remote_port]']... )

In the preceding syntax, selector specifies the additional logs being forwarded. The selector value can contain the following entries:

  • audit - Specifies the audit log at /var/log/audit/audit.log.

  • aide - Specifies the Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment (AIDE) log at /var/log/aide/aide.log.

  • yum - Specifies the YUM log at /var/log/yum.log.

Multiple selector entries must be separated by a semicolon (;) character.

Each node is specified using the hostname or IP address preceded by one or two at sign (@) characters. You can include one at sign (@) to use UDP for communications or specify two at sign characters (@@) to use TCP.

By default, the remote system receives communications on port 514, which is the default rsyslogd port. You can specify another port number by appending a colon (:) character and remote port number to the node specification

In the following example, loghost1 is configured to receive audit and AIDE logs using UDP on the default rsyslogd port (514). Also, loghost2 is configured to receive YUM logs using TCP on port 10514. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogInput=('audit;aide @loghost1','yum @@loghost2:10514')

To stop and remove additional log forwarding, set syslogInput to an empty string. For example: 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL syslogInput=''

Configuring the ILOM SYSLOG: ilomSyslogClients

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 21.2.0, the ilomSyslogClients attribute specifies the remote destination to forward syslog messages from the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) service processor (SP).

The ilomSyslogClients attribute accepts a comma-separated list of up to two loghost servers. For each loghost server, you must specify a valid hostname or IP address.

For example:

CellCLI> ALTER CELL ilomSyslogClients="192.0.2.101,192.0.2.201"

Note:

The specified ilomSyslogClients must listen on port 514 to receive the ILOM syslog messages.

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.5 Disk Scrubbing Attributes

Configuring Disk Scrubbing Attributes

Disk scrubbing proactively inspects and repairs hard disks. If a bad sector is detected on a hard disk, Oracle Exadata System Software automatically orchestrates the repair using data from another mirror copy.

Disk scrubbing is a long-running operation. The time required to complete a scrubbing operation depends mainly on disk size and workload. As a guide, allow between 1 and 2 hours for each terabyte of disk capacity to scrub an otherwise idle disk.

On an idle system, disk scrubbing can drive disk utilization to 100%. However, Exadata I/O Resource Management (IORM) throttles disk scrubbing so that user workloads are prioritized and should not be affected by disk scrubbing.

The ALTER CELL hardDiskScrubInterval command activates (or deactivates) automatic scrubbing and sets the scrubbing interval. Valid options are daily, weekly, biweekly, and none. Using the none option stops all active disk scrubbing operations and deactivates automatic scrubbing.

The ALTER CELL hardDiskScrubStartTime command sets the start time for the scrubbing schedule. Valid options are a specific date and time or now.

In the alert log, you may see messages such as Begin scrubbing celldisk and Finished scrubbing celldisk. These are expected informational messages, and no action is necessary.

Example 7-24 Setting the Disk Scrubbing Interval to Weekly

This example shows how to activate automatic weekly disk scrubbing.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL hardDiskScrubInterval=weekly

Example 7-25 Setting the Start Time for Proactive Disk Scrubbing

This example shows how to set a specific start time for disk scrubbing.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL hardDiskScrubStartTime='2013-08-07T21:19:22-07:00'

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.6 Security Certificate Attributes

Configuring CA-Certified Security Certificate Attributes

To set up CA-certified security certificates on the cell for use with ExaCLI, use the following attributes:

Note:

The following attributes can be used only if you are running the ALTER CELL command from ExaCLI.
  • securityPubKey - Specifies the URL to the public key file.
  • securityPrivKey - Specifies the URL to the private key file.
  • securityPrivKeyPW - Specifies the password to use if the private key file is encrypted.

After you upload the CA-certified security certificate, you must restart MS before the new security certificate is visible. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL RESTART SERVICES MS

See Also:

Using a CA-Certified Security Certificate in Oracle Exadata Database Machine Maintenance Guide

Example 7-26 Configuring the Security Keys for a Storage Server

This example shows how to configure the security keys for a storage server, including supplying the password after entering the command.

exacli -e 'ALTER CELL securityPubKey="http://www.example.com/security/newkey.crt",  -
                   securityPrivKey="http://www.example.com/security/newkey.key", -
                   securityPrivKeyPW=*'

password=****************

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.7 Persistence Attributes

Persistent Columnar Cache

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 21.2.0, the columnarCachePersMode attribute controls the persistent columnar cache feature. The valid attribute setting are:

  • on - Enables the persistent columnar cache feature.

  • off - Disables the persistent columnar cache feature.

  • auto - Oracle Exadata System Software decides whether to enable or disable the persistent columnar cache feature. If the columnarCachePersMode attribute is not set, then the auto setting is implied.

    Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 21.2.11, the auto setting enables the persistent columnar cache feature (equivalent to columnarCachePersMode=on). Previously, the auto setting disabled the persistent columnar cache feature (equivalent to columnarCachePersMode=off).

After you alter the columnarCachePersMode attribute, you must restart the cell server to implement the change.

Persistent Storage Index

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 21.2.0, the storageIndexPersMode attribute controls the persistent storage index feature. The valid attribute setting are:

  • on - Enables the persistent storage index feature.

  • off - Disables the persistent storage index feature.

  • auto - Oracle Exadata System Software decides whether to enable or disable the persistent storage index feature. If the storageIndexPersMode attribute is not set, then the auto setting is implied.

    Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 21.2.11, the auto setting enables the persistent storage index feature (equivalent to storageIndexPersMode=on). Previously, the auto setting disabled the persistent storage index feature (equivalent to storageIndexPersMode=off).

After you alter the storageIndexPersMode attribute, you must restart the cell server to implement the change.

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.8 Real-Time Insight Attributes

Commencing with Oracle Exadata System Software 22.1.0, you can use the Real-Time Insight feature to enable real-time monitoring of your Exadata systems.

Fine-Grained Metric Collection

The metricFGCollIntvlInSec attribute controls fine-grained metric collection.

  • To enable fine-grained metric collection, you must set the collection interval to a value between 1 and 60 seconds.

    For example:

    CellCLI> ALTER CELL metricFGCollIntvlInSec=1

    The metricFGCollIntvlInSec setting is related to the automatic upload frequency specified in the metricStreamIntvlInSec attribute. When automatic metric upload and fine-grained collection are both enabled (metricStreamIntvlInSec>0 and metricFGCollIntvlInSec>0), metricStreamIntvlInSec must be between 5 and 30 times metricFGCollIntvlInSec. For example, if metricStreamIntvlInSec=60, then metricFGCollIntvlInSec must be between 2 and 12.

  • To disable fine-grained metric collection on a server, set metricFGCollIntvlInSec=0.

    For example:

    CellCLI> ALTER CELL metricFGCollIntvlInSec=0

    Fine-grained metric collection can be disabled only when automatic metric upload is disabled (metricStreamIntvlInSec=0) or the automatic upload frequency is between 5 and 30 minutes (metricStreamIntvlInSec is between 300 and 1800).

Automatic Metric Upload

The metricStreamIntvlInSec attribute sets the upload interval (in seconds) for automatic uploads to the metric streaming endpoints specified by the metricStreamEndPoint attribute.

  • To enable automatic metric uploads, set the metricStreamIntvlInSec attribute to a non-zero value.

    For example:

    CellCLI> ALTER CELL metricStreamIntvlInSec=25

    The metricStreamIntvlInSec setting is related to the fine-grained collection frequency specified in the metricFGCollIntvlInSec attribute:

    • When automatic metric upload and fine-grained collection are both enabled (metricStreamIntvlInSec>0 and metricFGCollIntvlInSec>0), metricStreamIntvlInSec must be between 5 and 30 times metricFGCollIntvlInSec. For example, if metricFGCollIntvlInSec is set to 5, then metricStreamIntvlInSec must be between 25 and 150.

    • When automatic metric upload is enabled and fine-grained collection is disabled (metricStreamIntvlInSec>0 and metricFGCollIntvlInSec=0), the automatic upload frequency must be between 5 and 30 minutes (metricStreamIntvlInSec must be between 300 and 1800).

  • To disable automatic metric uploads, set metricStreamIntvlInSec=0.

    For example:

    CellCLI> ALTER CELL metricStreamIntvlInSec=0

Metric Upload Endpoints

The metricStreamEndPoint attribute specifies one or more collection endpoints that automatically receive the metric stream. You can set metricStreamEndPoint as follows: 

metricStreamEndPoint[+]=((host="endpoint-URL"[,type="stream-format"][,token="authentication-token"][,{httpProxy|httpsProxy}="proxy-server"])
                          [,(host="endpoint-URL"[,type="stream-format"][,token="authentication-token"][,{httpProxy|httpsProxy}="proxy-server"])]...)

In the metricStreamEndPoint definition:

  • host: Specifies the URL for the collection endpoint. The URL can use HTTP or HTTPS.

  • type: Optionally specifies the format of the stream. Supported values are:

    • json: Provides the stream in a JSON format

    • plaintext: Provides the stream in a plain text format

    The default value is json.

  • token: Optionally specifies the authentication token for the collection endpoint. Consult the metric collection platform for details about generating the token.

  • httpProxy or httpsProxy: Optionally specifies a proxy server to facilitate network connectivity to the collection endpoint. A proxy server is required if a firewall resides between the Exadata system and the collection endpoint.

You can use the optional += operator to add collection endpoints to an existing metricStreamEndPoint definition. Otherwise, the = operator overwrites the previous attribute value.

Metric Tags

The metricStreamTags attribute defines a set of metric tags, which are included in every metric observation generated by the server. These tags can help you to organize and group observations generated by numerous Exadata servers.

You can set the metricStreamTags attribute to a valid JSON string containing tag and value pairs as follows: 

metricStreamTags='{"tag1":"value1"[,"tag2":"value2"]...}'

For example:

CellCLI> ALTER CELL metricStreamTags='{"application":"personnel","department":"HR"}'

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes

7.7.1.2.4.9 Miscellaneous Attributes

Note:

For a complete list of cell attributes, see DESCRIBE CELL.

dbPerfDataSuppress

Use the dbPerfDataSuppress attribute to hide performance output information for specific databases. Specify the databases to mask as a comma-delimited list of names. The performance information for the specified databases is still collected, but is only visible when queried from that database. If you query V$CELL_DB from a different database, then the performance information for the hidden databases appears in the category of OTHER.

diagPackEmailAttach

Use the diagPackEmailAttach attribute to turn on and off adding the diagnostic pack attachment to emails, for example: 

alter cell diagPackEmailAttach=FALSE

See CREATE DIAGPACK for information about diagnostic packs.

diagPackUploadEnabled

Use the diagPackUploadEnabled attribute to enable or disable automatically uploading diagnostic data to a service request using Oracle ASR.

Example 7-27 Enabling/Disabling Auto Diagpack Upload

You can enable or disable this feature by setting the diagPackUploadEnabled attribute on the cell object.

Set the attribute to false to disable this feature, true to enable it. The default is true. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL diagPackUploadEnabled=FALSE

enableSmartStorage

The enableSmartStorage attribute can be set to TRUE to enable the use of Oracle Exadata System Software capabilities such as Smart Scan and Storage Index on Exadata Extended (XT) Storage Server after you have procured the necessary software licenses.

httpsAccess

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 19.1.0, the httpsAccess attribute can be used to specify a list of IP addresses or IP subnet masks that control who can access the RESTful service via HTTPs. The value you specify for httpsAccess overwrites any previous value. You can use the following values for httpsAccess:

  • ALL — to allow access to all hosts (Default)
  • NONE — to disable the HTTPs port completely
  • IP1, IP2,..., IPn — to only allow access to hosts with IP addresses IP1, IP2,..., IPn where IPn is a valid IP address in IPv4, IPv4 subnet, IPv6 or IPv4-embedded IPv6 format. You can specify a maximum of 512 IP addresses for the access control list.

Additionally, instead of a single IP address, you can use the / character to specify a range of IP addresses using a subnet mask. For example the range '192.168.10.0/24' corresponds to hosts having IP addresses from 192.168.10.1 to 192.168.10.255. If you specify an IP address range, you need to enclose the IP address string in quotes.

Example 7-28 Restricting HTTPS Access to the Exadata RESTful Service

This example shows how to configure an access control list for HTTPs access to the Exadata RESTful service. The following command allows HTTPs port access to hosts having IP addresses in the range from 192.168.10.1 to 192.168.10.255.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL httpsAccess="192.168.10.0/24"

interconnectN

The ALTER CELL interconnectN="" command removes the RDMA Network Fabric configuration information for the cell for the specified interface (N).

If the IP address to an RDMA Network Fabric interface is changed, then the command service openibd restart must be run as the root user before the service network restart command.

After changing an IP address, you must restart all services using the ALTER CELL RESTART SERVICES ALL command.

Example 7-29 Setting RDMA Network Fabric Interconnections

This example shows how to set the RDMA Network Fabric interconnections.

For systems that use InfiniBand Network Fabric, use a command such as the following: 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL interconnect1='ib0', interconnect2='ib1'

For systems that use RoCE Network Fabric, use a command such as the following: 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL interconnect1='re0', interconnect2='re1'

After making the updates, restart all services in the storage server:

CellCLI> ALTER CELL RESTART SERVICES ALL

iotimeoutthreshold

Use the iotimeoutthreshold attribute to change the timeout threshold. If cell I/O takes longer than the defined threshold, then the I/O is canceled, and Oracle ASM redirects the I/O to another mirror copy of the data. Any I/Os issued to the last valid mirror copy of the data are not canceled, even if the timeout threshold is exceeded.

The default value for iotimeoutthreshold is 1000s. The command takes a value, such as 5, and a unit. The valid unit is s, for seconds.

Caution:

Setting the timeout threshold too low can negatively impact system performance. Oracle recommends reviewing the Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) reports of peak I/O loads, and setting the threshold value to a value higher than the peak I/O latency with sufficient safety margin.

Example 7-30 Setting the iotimeoutthreshold Value

This example demonstrates how to set the iotimeoutthreshold to 5 seconds. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL iotimeoutthreshold = '5s'

To reset the iotimeoutthreshold to the default value, use the following command: 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL iotimeoutthreshold = ""

listeningInterface

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 24.1.0, the listeningInterface attribute specifies the network interfaces that listen for commands using the Exadata RESTful service. The value you specify for listeningInterface overwrites any previous value. You can use the following values for listeningInterface:

  • ALL: allows access on all network interfaces (Default)
  • NONE: disables access on all network interfaces
  • NET1, NET2, ..., NETn: allows access only through the specified list of network interface names

The listeningInterface attribute complements the httpsAccess attribute. The listeningInterface attribute specifies which network interfaces accept REST requests, while the httpsAccess attribute restricts the source of requests to the Exadata RESTful service.

Example 7-31 Restricting Access to the Exadata RESTful Service

This example shows how to identify a specific network interface on the server that listens for commands using the Exadata RESTful service.

CellCLI> ALTER CELL listeningInterface='bondeth0'

name

The name attribute contains the host name of the storage server, for example, dm01celladm01.

Example 7-32 Altering Cell Name

This example shows the ALTER command with the CELL object. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL name=cell02

traceLevel

The level for which trace messages are written. The default is FINE. The value can be:

  • A valid Java logging level

    • SEVERE
    • WARNING
    • INFO
    • CONFIG
    • FINE
    • FINER
    • FINEST

  • A valid Oracle Diagnostic Logging (ODL) logging level

    • INCIDENT_ERROR:1
    • ERROR:1
    • WARNING:1
    • NOTIFICATION:1
    • NOTIFICATION:16
    • TRACE:1
    • TRACE:16
    • TRACE:32

To reset this attribute to its default value, use a value of "".

Examples

Example 7-33 Setting the traceLevel Value to its Default Value

This example shows how to set the traceLevel value to its default value. 

CellCLI> ALTER CELL traceLevel=""

Parent topic: ALTER CELL Commands for Setting Attributes