iSelfSchooling - Step by step Oracle RAC installation

This document will provide the reader with step-by-step instructions on how to install a cluster, install Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) and start a cluster database on Sun Cluster v3. For additional explanation or information on any of these steps, please see the references listed at the end of this document.

For a two node cluster the following would be a minimum recommended hardware list.

· For Sun[™] servers, Sun or third-party storage products, Cluster interconnects, Public networks, Switch options, Memory, Swap & CPU requirements consult the operating system or hardware vendor. Sun's interconnect, RSM, is now supported in v9.2.0.2 with patch number 2454989.

· /globaldevices - a 100Mb file system that will be used by the scinstall(1M) utility for global devices.

· Volume manager - a 10Mb partition for volume manager use on a slice at the end of the disk (slice 7). If your cluster uses VERITAS Volume Manager (VxVM) and you intend to encapsulate the root disk, you need two unused slices available for use by VxVM.

As with any other system running the Solaris Operating System (SPARC) environment, you can configure the root (/), /var, /usr, and /opt directories as separate file systems, or you can include all the directories in the root (/) file system. The following describes the software contents of the root (/), /var, /usr, and /opt directories in a Sun Cluster configuration. Consider this information when you plan your partitioning scheme.

root (/) - The Sun Cluster software itself occupies less than 40 Mbytes of space in the root (/) file system. For best results, you need to configure ample additional space and inode capacity for the creation of both block special devices and character special devices used by VxVM software, especially if a large number of shared disks are in the cluster. Therefore, add at least 100 Mbytes to the amount of space you would normally allocate for your root (/) filesystem.

/var - The Sun Cluster software occupies a negligible amount of space in the /var file system at installation time. However, you need to set aside ample space for log files. Also, more messages might be logged on a clustered node than would be found on a typical standalone server. Therefore, allow at least 100 Mbytes for the /var file system.

/usr - Sun Cluster software occupies less than 25 Mbytes of space in the /usr file system. VxVM software require less than 15 Mbytes.

/opt - Sun Cluster framework software uses less than 2 Mbytes in the /opt file system. However, each Sun Cluster data service might use between 1 Mbyte and 5 Mbytes. VxVM software can use over 40 Mbytes if all of its packages and tools are installed. In addition, most database and applications software is installed in the /opt file system. If you use Sun Management Center software to monitor the cluster, you need an additional 25 Mbytes of space on each node to support the Sun Management Center agent and Sun Cluster module packages.

Slice	Contents	Allocation (in Mbytes)	Description
0	/	1168	441 Mbytes for Solaris Operating System (SPARC) environment software. 100 Mbytes extra for root (/). 100 Mbytes extra for /var. 25 Mbytes for Sun Cluster software. 55 Mbytes for volume manager software. 1 Mbyte for Sun Cluster HA for NFS software. 25 Mbytes for the Sun Management Center agent and Sun Cluster module agent packages. 421 Mbytes (the remaining free space on the disk) for possible future use by database and application software.
1	swap	750	Minimum size when physical memory is less than 750 Mbytes.
2	overlap	2028	The entire disk.
3	/globaldevices	100	The Sun Cluster software later assigns this slice a different mount point and mounts it as a cluster file system.
4	unused	-	Available as a free slice for encapsulating the root disk under VxVM
5	unused	-
6	unused	-
7	volume manager	10	Used by VxVM for installation after you free the slice.

· For Solaris Operating System (SPARC)[™], Sun Cluster, Volume Manager and File System support consult the operating system vendor. Sun Cluster have scalable services with Global File Systems (GFS) based around the Proxy File Systems (PXFS). PXFS allows file access locations transparent and is Sun's implementation of Cluster File Systems. Currently, Sun is not supporting anything relating to GFS for RAC. Check with Sun for updates on this status.

Some patches, such as those for Veritas Volume Manager cannot be installed until after the volume management software installation is completed. Before installing any patches, always do the following:-

Specific Solaris Operating System (SPARC) patches maybe required and it is recommended that the latest Solaris Operating System (SPARC) release, Sun's recommended patch clusters and Sun Cluster updates are applied. Current Sun Cluster updates include release 11/00, update one 07/01, update two 12/01 and update three 05/02. To determine which patches have been installed, enter the following commands:

For the latest Sun Cluster 3.0 required patches see SunSolve document id 24617 Sun Cluster 3.0 Early Notifier.

Follow the procedures for an initial installation of a StorEdge disk enclosures or arrays, prior to installing the Solaris Operating System (SPARC) operating environment and Sun Cluster software. Perform this procedure in conjunction with the procedures in the Sun Cluster 3.0 Software Installation Guide and your server hardware manual. Multihost storage in clusters uses the multi-initiator capability of the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) specification. For conceptual information on multi-initiator capability, see the Sun Cluster 3.0 Concepts document.

The following procedures are needed for installing cluster hardware during an initial cluster installation, before Sun Cluster software is installed. Separate procedures need to be followed for installing Ethernet-based interconnect hardware, PCI-SCI-based interconnect hardware, and public network hardware (see Sun's current installation notes).

· If not already installed, install host adapters in your cluster nodes. For the procedure on installing host adapters, see the documentation that shipped with your host adapters and node hardware. Install the transport cables (and optionally, transport junctions), depending on how many nodes are in your cluster:

· A cluster with only two nodes can use a point-to-point connection, requiring no cluster transport junctions. Use a point-to-point (crossover) Ethernet cable if you are connecting 100BaseT or TPE ports of a node directly to ports on another node. Gigabit Ethernet uses the standard fiber optic cable for both point-to-point and switch configurations.

Note: If you use a transport junction in a two-node cluster, you can add additional nodes to the cluster without bringing the cluster offline to reconfigure the transport path.

· A cluster with more than two nodes requires two cluster transport junctions. These transport junctions are Ethernet-based switches (customer-supplied).

You install the cluster software and configure the interconnect after you have installed all other hardware.

The Sun Cluster v3 host system (node) installation process is completed in several major steps. The general process is:-

You can use two methods to install the Sun Cluster v3 software on the cluster nodes:-

· automatic Jumpstart installation (requires a pre-existing Solaris Operating System (SPARC) JumpStart server)

This note assumes an interactive installation of Sun Cluster v3 with update 2. The Sun Cluster installation program, scinstall, is located on the Sun Cluster v3 CD in the /cdrom/suncluster_3_0_u2/SunCluster_3.0/Tools directory. When you start the program without any options, it prompts you for cluster configuration information that is stored for use later in the process. Although the Sun Cluster software can be installed on all nodes in parallel, you can complete the installation on the first node and then run scinstall on all other nodes in parallel. The additional nodes get some basic information from the first, or sponsoring node, that was configured.

*** Main Menu ***

Please select from one of the following (*) options:

* 1) Establish a new cluster using this machine as the first node
* 2) Add this machine as a node in an established cluster
3) Configure a cluster to be JumpStarted from this install server
4) Add support for new data services to this cluster node
5) Print release information for this cluster node

* ?) Help with menu options
* q) Quit

Option: 1

*** Establishing a New Cluster ***
...
Do you want to continue (yes/no) [yes]? yes

When prompted whether to continue to install Sun Cluster software packages, type yes.

>>> Software Package Installation <<<

Installation of the Sun Cluster framework software packages will take a few minutes to complete.

Is it okay to continue (yes/no) [yes]? yes

** Installing SunCluster 3.0 **
SUNWscr.....done
...Hit ENTER to continue:

>>> Cluster Name <<<
...
What is the name of the cluster you want to establish? clustername

>>> Check <<<

This step runs sccheck(1M) to verify that certain basic hardware and
software pre-configuration requirements have been met. If sccheck(1M)
detects potential problems with configuring this machine as a cluster
node, a list of warnings is printed.

Hit ENTER to continue:

>>> Cluster Nodes <<<
...
Node name: node2
Node name (Ctrl-D to finish): <Control-D>

This is the complete list of nodes:
...
Is it correct (yes/no) [yes]?

By default, Sun Cluster software permits a node to connect to the cluster only if the node is physically connected to the private interconnect and if the node name was specified. However, the node actually communicates with the sponsoring node over the public network, since the private interconnect is not yet fully configured. DES authentication provides an additional level of security at installation time by enabling the sponsoring node to more reliably authenticate nodes that attempt to contact it to update the cluster configuration.

If you choose to use DES authentication for additional security, you must configure all necessary encryption keys before any node can join the cluster. See the keyserv(1M) and publickey(4) man pages for details.

>>> Authenticating Requests to Add Nodes <<<
...
Do you need to use DES authentication (yes/no) [no]?

>>> Network Address for the Cluster Transport <<<
...
Is it okay to accept the default network address (yes/no) [yes]?
Is it okay to accept the default netmask (yes/no) [yes]?

Note: You cannot change the private network address after the cluster is successfully formed.

If this is a two-node cluster, specify whether you intend to use transport junctions.

>>> Point-to-Point Cables <<<
...
Does this two-node cluster use transport junctions (yes/no) [yes]?

Tip - You can specify that the cluster uses transport junctions, regardless of whether the nodes are directly connected to each other. If you specify that the cluster uses transport junctions, you can more easily add new nodes to the cluster in the future.

If this cluster has three or more nodes, you must use transport junctions. Press Return to continue to the next screen.

>>> Point-to-Point Cables <<<
...
Since this is not a two-node cluster, you will be asked to configure two transport junctions.
Hit ENTER to continue:

If yes, specify names for the transport junctions. You can use the default names switchN or create your own names.

>>> Cluster Transport Junctions <<<
...
What is the name of the first junction in the cluster [switch1]?
What is the name of the second junction in the cluster [switch2]?

>>> Cluster Transport Adapters and Cables <<<
...
What is the name of the first cluster transport adapter (help) [adapter]?

Name of the junction to which "adapter" is connected [switch1]?
Use the default port name for the "adapter" connection (yes/no) [yes]?

Hit ENTER to continue:

Note: If your configuration uses SCI adapters, do not accept the default when you are prompted for the adapter connection (the port name). Instead, provide the port name (0, 1, 2, or 3) found on the Dolphin switch itself, to which the node is physically cabled. The following example shows the prompts and responses for declining the default port name and specifying the Dolphin switch port name 0.

Use the default port name for the "adapter" connection (yes/no) [yes]? no
What is the name of the port you want to use? 0

You can configure up to two adapters by using the scinstall command. You can configure additional adapters after Sun Cluster software is installed by using the scsetup utility.

If your cluster uses transport junctions, specify the name of the second transport junction and its port.

Name of the junction to which "adapter" is connected [switch2]?
Use the default port name for the "adapter" connection (yes/no) [yes]?

Hit ENTER to continue:

Note: If your configuration uses SCI adapters, do not accept the default when you are prompted for the adapter port name. Instead, provide the port name (0, 1, 2, or 3) found on the Dolphin switch itself, to which the node is physically cabled. The following example shows the prompts and responses for declining the default port name and specifying the Dolphin switch port name 0.

Use the default port name for the "adapter" connection (yes/no) [yes]? no
What is the name of the port you want to use? 0

>>> Global Devices File System <<<
...
The default is to use /globaldevices.

Is it okay to use this default (yes/no) [yes]?

>>> Automatic Reboot <<<
...
Do you want scinstall to reboot for you (yes/no) [yes]?

Accept or decline the generated scinstall command. The scinstall command generated from your input is displayed for confirmation.

>>> Confirmation <<<

Your responses indicate the following options to scinstall:

scinstall -ik \
...
Are these the options you want to use (yes/no) [yes]?
Do you want to continue with the install (yes/no) [yes]?

If you accept the command and continue the installation, scinstall processing continues. Sun Cluster installation output is logged in the /var/cluster/logs/install/scinstall.log.pid file, where pid is the process ID number of the scinstall instance.

After scinstall returns you to the Main Menu, you can rerun menu option 1 and provide different answers. Your previous session answers display as the defaults.

Install any Sun Cluster software patches. See the Sun Cluster 3.0 Release Notes for the location of patches and installation instructions. Reboot the node to establish the cluster. If you rebooted the node after you installed patches, you do not need to reboot the node a second time.

The first node reboot after Sun Cluster software installation forms the cluster and establishes this node as the first-installed node of the cluster. During the final installation process, the scinstall utility performs the following operations on the first cluster node:-

After you complete the Sun Cluster software installation on the first node, you can run scinstall in parallel on all remaining cluster nodes. The additional nodes are placed in install mode so they do not have a quorum vote. Only the first node has a quorum vote.

As the installation on each new node completes, each node reboots and comes up in install mode without a quorum vote. If you reboot the first node at this point, all the other nodes would panic because they cannot obtain a quorum. You can, however, reboot the second or later nodes freely. They should come up and join the cluster without errors.

Cluster nodes remain in install mode until you use the scsetup command to reset the install mode.

You must perform postinstallation configuration to take the nodes out of install mode and also to establish quorum disk(s).

· Ensure that the first-installed node is successfully installed with Sun Cluster software and that the cluster is established.

· If you are adding a new node to an existing, fully installed cluster, ensure that you have performed the following tasks.

· Start the scinstall utility.
# ./scinstall

*** Main Menu ***

Please select from one of the following (*) options:

* 1) Establish a new cluster using this machine as the first node
* 2) Add this machine as a node in an established cluster
3) Configure a cluster to be JumpStarted from this install server
4) Add support for new data services to this cluster node
5) Print release information for this cluster node

* ?) Help with menu options
* q) Quit

Option: 2

*** Adding a Node to an Established Cluster ***
...
Do you want to continue (yes/no) [yes]? yes

· When prompted whether to continue to install Sun Cluster software packages, type yes.
>>> Software Installation <<<

Installation of the Sun Cluster framework software packages will only
take a few minutes to complete.

Is it okay to continue (yes/no) [yes]? yes

** Installing SunCluster 3.0 **
SUNWscr.....done
...Hit ENTER to continue:

· Specify the name of any existing cluster node, referred to as the sponsoring node.
>>> Sponsoring Node <<<
...
What is the name of the sponsoring node? node1

>>> Cluster Name <<<
...
What is the name of the cluster you want to join? clustername

>>> Check <<<

This step runs sccheck(1M) to verify that certain basic hardware and software pre-configuration requirements have been met. If sccheck(1M) detects potential problems with configuring this machine as a cluster node, a list of warnings is printed.

Hit ENTER to continue:

· Specify whether to use autodiscovery to configure the cluster transport.
>>> Autodiscovery of Cluster Transport <<<

If you are using ethernet adapters as your cluster transport adapters, autodiscovery is the best method for configuring the cluster transport.

Do you want to use autodiscovery (yes/no) [yes]?
...
The following connections were discovered:

node1:adapter switch node2:adapter
node1:adapter switch node2:adapter

Is it okay to add these connections to the configuration (yes/no) [yes]?

· Specify whether this is a two-node cluster.
>>> Point-to-Point Cables <<<
...
Is this a two-node cluster (yes/no) [yes]?

Does this two-node cluster use transport junctions (yes/no) [yes]?

· Did you specify that the cluster will use transport junctions? If yes, specify the transport junctions.
>>> Cluster Transport Junctions <<<
...
What is the name of the first junction in the cluster [switch1]?
What is the name of the second junction in the cluster [switch2]?

· Specify the first cluster interconnect transport adapter.
>>> Cluster Transport Adapters and Cables <<<
...
What is the name of the first cluster transport adapter (help)? adapter

· Specify what the first transport adapter connects to. If the transport adapter uses a transport junction, specify the name of the junction and its port.
Name of the junction to which "adapter" is connected [switch1]?
...
Use the default port name for the "adapter" connection (yes/no) [yes]?
OR
Name of adapter on "node1" to which "adapter" is connected? adapter

· Specify the second cluster interconnect transport adapter.

What is the name of the second cluster transport adapter (help)? adapter

· Specify what the second transport adapter connects to. If the transport adapter uses a transport junction, specify the name of the junction and its port.
Name of the junction to which "adapter" is connected [switch2]?
Use the default port name for the "adapter" connection (yes/no) [yes]?

Hit ENTER to continue:
OR
Name of adapter on "node1" to which "adapter" is connected? adapter

· Specify the global devices file system name.
>>> Global Devices File System <<<
...
The default is to use /globaldevices.

Is it okay to use this default (yes/no) [yes]?

· Do you have any Sun Cluster software patches to install? If not:-
>>> Automatic Reboot <<<
...
Do you want scinstall to reboot for you (yes/no) [yes]?

>>> Confirmation <<<

Your responses indicate the following options to scinstall:

scinstall -i \
...
Are these the options you want to use (yes/no) [yes]?
Do you want to continue with the install (yes/no) [yes]?

· Reboot the node to establish the cluster unless you rebooted the node after you installed patches.

Do not reboot or shut down the first-installed node while any other nodes are being installed, even if you use another node in the cluster as the sponsoring node. Until quorum votes are assigned to the cluster nodes and cluster install mode is disabled, the first-installed node, which established the cluster, is the only node that has a quorum vote. If the cluster is still in install mode, you will cause a system panic because of lost quorum if you reboot or shut down the first-installed node. Cluster nodes remain in install mode until the first time you run the scsetup(1M) command, during the procedure PostInstallation Configuration.

Post-installation can include a number of tasks such as installing a volume manager and or database software. There are other tasks that must be completed first.

Before a new cluster can operate normally, the install mode attribute must be reset on all nodes. You can this in a single step using the scsetup utility. This utility is a menu-driven interface that prompts for quorum device information the first time it is run on a new cluster installation. Once the quorum device is defined, the install mode attribute is reset on all nodes. Use the scconf command as follows to disable or enable install mode:-

This program has detected that the cluster "installmode" attribute is set ...

Please do not proceed if any additional nodes have yet to join the cluster.

Is it okay to continue (yes/no) [yes]? yes

Which global device do you want to use (d<N>) ? dx

Is it okay to proceed with the update (yes/no) [yes]? yes

Do you want to add another quorum disk (yes/no) ? no
Is it okay to reset "installmode" (yes/no) [yes] ? yes

Although it appears that the scsetup utility uses two simple scconf commands to define the quorum device and reset install mode, the process is more complex. The scsetup utility performs numerous verification checks for you. It is recommended that you do not use scconf manually to perform these functions.

When you have completed the Sun Cluster software installation on all nodes, verify the following information:

Each attached system sees the same DID devices but might use a different logical path to access them. You can verify the DID device configuration with the scdidadm command the following scdidadm output demonstrates how a DID device can have a different logical path from each connected node.

1 phys-schost-1:/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d1
2 phys-schost-1:/dev/rdsk/c1t1d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d2
2 phys-schost-2:/dev/rdsk/c1t1d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d2
3 phys-schost-1:/dev/rdsk/c1t2d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d3
3 phys-schost-2:/dev/rdsk/c1t2d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d3
...

The scstat utility displays the current status of various cluster components. You can use it to display the following information:

The following scstat command option displays the cluster membership and quorum vote information.

Cluster configuration information is stored in the CCR on each node. You should verify that the basic CCR values are correct. The scconf -p command displays general cluster information along with detailed information about each node in the cluster.

Checking Status Using the scstat Command

Without any options, the scstat command displays general information for all cluster nodes. You can use options to restrict the status information to a particular type of information and/or to a particular node.

The following command displays the cluster transport status for a single node with gigabit ethernet:-

Endpoint Endpoint Status
-------- -------- ------
Transport path: <node2>:ge1 <node1>:ge1 Path online
Transport path: <node2>:ge0 <node1>:ge0 Path online

Checking Status Using the sccheck Command

The sccheck command verifies that all of the basic global device structure is correct on all nodes. Run the sccheck command after installing and configuring a cluster, as well as after performing any administration procedures that might result in changes to the devices, volume manager, or Sun Cluster configuration.

You can run the command without any options or direct it to a single node. You can run it from any active cluster member. There is no output from the command unless errors are encountered. Typical sccheck command variations follow (as root):-

During the Sun Cluster software installation, the scinstall utility is copied to the /usr/cluster/bin directory. You can run the scinstall utility with options that display the Sun Cluster revision and/or the names and revision of installed packages. The displayed information is for the local node only. A typical scinstall status output follows:-

$ /usr/cluster/bin/scinstall -pv
SunCluster 3.0
SUNWscr: 3.0.0,REV=2000.10.01.01.00
SUNWscdev: 3.0.0,REV=2000.10.01.01.00
SUNWscu: 3.0.0,REV=2000.10.01.01.00
SUNWscman: 3.0.0,REV=2000.10.01.01.00
SUNWscsal: 3.0.0,REV=2000.10.01.01.00
SUNWscsam: 3.0.0,REV=2000.10.01.01.00
SUNWscvm: 3.0.0,REV=2000.10.01.01.00
SUNWmdm: 4.2.1,REV=2000.08.08.10.01

Starting & Stopping Cluster Nodes

The Sun Cluster software starts automatically during a system boot operation. Use the init command to shut down a single node. You use the scshutdown command to shut down all nodes in the cluster.

Before shutting down a node, you should switch resource groups to the next preferred node and then run init 0 on the node

You can shut down the entire cluster with the scshutdown command from any active cluster node. A typical cluster shutdown example follows:-

# /usr/cluster/bin/scshutdown -y -g 30
Broadcast Message from root on <node 1> ...
The cluster <cluster> will be shutdown in 30 seconds
....
The system is down.
syncing file systems... done
Program terminated
ok

Log Files for Sun Cluster

The log files for Sun Cluster are stored in /var/cluster/logs and /var/cluster/logs/install for installation. Both Solaris Operating System (SPARC) and Sun Cluster software write error messages to the /var/adm/messages file, which over time can fill the /var file system. If a cluster node's /var file system fills up, Sun Cluster might not be able to restart on that node. Additionally, you might not be able to log in to the node.

It is now necessary to install volume management software. Sun Cluster v3 supports two products:-

· VERITAS Volume Manager (VxVM) software v3.0.4+ (32-bit RAC), v3.1.1+ (64-bit RAC) is needed to provide shared disk access and distributed mirroring.

Although Sun's Solstice DiskSuite (SDS), integrated into Solaris Operating System (SPARC) 9 onwards as Solaris Volume Manager (SVM), is supported by Sun Cluster v3, neither SDS or SVM supports cluster wide volume management, it is only for per node basis. Hence these products cannot be used for RAC.

You must configure RAC to use the shared disk architecture of Sun Cluster. In this configuration, a single database is shared among multiple instances of RAC that access the database concurrently. Conflicting access to the same data is controlled by means of the Oracle UNIX Distributed Lock Manager (UDLM). If a process or a node crashes, the UDLM is reconfigured to recover from the failure. In the event of a node failure in an RAC environment, you can configure Oracle clients to reconnect to the surviving server without the use of the IP failover used by Sun Cluster failover data services.

Package SUNWudlm Sun Cluster Support for Oracle Parallel Server UDLM, (opt) on SunCluster v3

Once installed, Oracle's interface with this, the Oracle UDLM, can be installed.

To install Sun Cluster Support for RAC with VxVM, the following Sun Cluster 3 Agents data services packages need to be installed as superuser (see Sun's Sun Cluster 3 Data Services Installation and Configuration Guide):-

# pkgadd -d . SUNWscucm SUNWudlmr SUNWcvmr SUNWcvm (SUNWudlm will also need to be included unless already installed from the step above).

Before rebooting the nodes, you must ensure that you have correctly installed and configured the Oracle UDLM software.

The Oracle Unix Distributed Lock Manager (ORCLudlm also known as the Oracle Node Monitor) must be installed. This may be referred to in the Oracle documentation as the "Parallel Server Patch". To check version information on any previously installed dlm package:

$ pkginfo -l ORCLudlm |grep PSTAMP

OR

$ pkginfo -l ORCLudlm |grep VERSION

You must apply the following steps to all cluster nodes. The Oracle udlm can be found on Disk1 of the Oracle9i server installation CD-ROM, in the directory opspatch or racpatch in later versions. A version of the Oracle udlm may also be found on the Sun Cluster CD set but check the Oracle release for the latest applicable version. The informational files README.udlm & release_notes.334x are located in this directory with version and install information. This is the Oracle udlm package for 7.X.X or later on Solaris Operating System (SPARC) and requires any previous versions to be removed prior to installation.

· Shutdown all existing clients of Oracle Unix Distributed Lock Manager (including all Oracle Parallel Server/RAC instances).

· Reboot the cluster node in non-cluster mode (replace <node name> with your cluster node name):-

cd <CD-ROM mount>/opspatch #(or racpatch in later versions)
cp ORCLudlm.tar.Z /tmp
cd /tmp
uncompress ORCLudlm.tar.Z
tar xvf ORCLudlm.tar

The udlm configuration files in SC2.X and SC3.0 are the following:
SC2.X: /etc/opt/SUNWcluster/conf/<default_cluster_name>.ora_cdb
SC3.0: /etc/opt/SUNWcluster/conf/udlm.conf

The udlm log files in SC2.X and SC3.0 are the following:
SC2.X: /var/opt/SUNWcluster/dlm_<node_name>/logs/dlm.log
SC3.0: /var/cluster/ucmm/dlm_<node_name>/logs/dlm.log

pkgadd will copy a template file, <configuration_file_name>.template, to /etc/opt/SUNWcluster/conf.

· Now that udlm (also referred to as the "Cluster Membership Monitor") is installed, you can start it up by rebooting the cluster node in cluster mode:-

Real Application Clusters requires that all each instance be able to access a set of unformatted devices on a shared disk subsystem. These shared disks are also referred to as raw devices. If your platform supports an Oracle-certified cluster file system, however, you can store the files that Real Application Clusters requires directly on the cluster file system.

The Oracle instances in Real Application Clusters write data onto the raw devices to update the control file, server parameter file, each datafile, and each redo log file. All instances in the cluster share these files.

The Oracle instances in the RAC configuration write information to raw devices defined for:

It is therefore necessary to define raw devices for each of these categories of file. This normally means striping data across a large number of disks in a RAID 0+1 configuration.

The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) will create a seed database expecting the following configuration:-

Note: Automatic Undo Management requires an undo tablespace per instance therefore you would require a minimum of 2 tablespaces as described above. By following the naming convention described in the table above, raw partitions are identified with the database and the raw volume type (the data contained in the raw volume). Raw volume size is also identified using this method.

Note: In the sample names listed in the table, the string db_name should be replaced with the actual database name, thread is the thread number of the instance, and lognumber is the log number within a thread.

On the node from which you run the Oracle Universal Installer, create an ASCII file identifying the raw volume objects as shown above. The DBCA requires that these objects exist during installation and database creation. When creating the ASCII file content for the objects, name them using the format:

When you create the ASCII file, separate the database objects from the paths with equals (=) signs as shown in the example below:-

system=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_system_400m
spfile=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_spfile_5m
users=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_users_120m
temp=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_temp_100m
undotbs1=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_undotbs1_312m
undotbs2=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_undotbs2_312m
example=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_example_160m
cwmlite=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_cwmlite_100m
indx=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_indx_70m
tools=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_tools_12m
drsys=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_drsys_90m
control1=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_controlfile1_110m
control2=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_controlfile2_110m
redo1_1=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_log11_120m
redo1_2=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_log12_120m
redo2_1=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_log21_120m
redo2_2=/dev/vx/rdsk/oracle_dg/db_name_raw_log22_120m

You must specify that Oracle should use this file to determine the raw device volume names by setting the following environment variable where filename is the name of the ASCII file that contains the entries shown in the example above:

After configuring the raw volumes, perform the following steps prior to installation as root user:

· Make sure you have an osdba group defined in the /etc/group file on all nodes of your cluster. To designate an osdba group name and group number and osoper group during installation, these group names must be identical on all nodes of your UNIX cluster that will be part of the Real Application Clusters database. The default UNIX group name for the osdba and osoper groups is dba. A typical entry would therefore look like the following:

# useradd -c "Oracle software owner" -G dba, oinstall -u 101 -m -d /export/home/oracle -s /bin/ksh oracle

· Create a mount point directory on each node to serve as the top of your Oracle software directory structure so that:

· The name of the mount point on each node is identical to that on the initial node

· On the node from which you will run the Oracle Universal Installer, set up user equivalence by adding entries for all nodes in the cluster, including the local node, to the .rhosts file of the oracle account, or the /etc/hosts.equiv file.

· As oracle account user, check for user equivalence for the oracle account by performing a remote login (rlogin) to each node in the cluster.

· As oracle account user, if you are prompted for a password, you have not given the oracle account the same attributes on all nodes. You must correct this because the Oracle Universal Installer cannot use the rcp command to copy Oracle products to the remote node's directories without user equivalence.

Verify operating system kernel parameters are set to appropriate levels: The file /etc/system is read by the operating system kernel at boot time. Check this file for appropriate values for the following parameters.

· Set a local bin directory in the user's PATH, such as /usr/local/bin, or /opt/bin. It is necessary to have execute permissions on this directory.

· Set the DISPLAY variable to point to the system's (from where you will run OUI) IP address, or name, X server, and screen.

· Set a temporary directory path for TMPDIR with at least 20 Mb of free space to which the OUI has write permission.

Establish Oracle environment variables: Set the following Oracle environment variables:

· Verify the existence of the file /opt/SUNWcluster/bin/lkmgr. This is used by the OUI to indicate that the installation is being performed on a cluster.

Note: There is a script InstallPrep.sh available which may be downloaded and run prior to the installation of Oracle Real Application Clusters. This script verifies that the system is configured correctly according to the Installation Guide. The output of the script will report any further tasks that need to be performed before successfully installing Oracle 9.x DataServer (RDBMS). This script performs the following verifications:-

. ./InstallPrep.sh
You are currently logged on as oracle
Is oracle the unix user that will be installing Oracle Software? y or n
y
Enter the unix group that will be used during the installation
Default: dba
dba

Enter Location where you will be installing Oracle
Default: /u01/app/oracle/product/oracle9i
/u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1
Your Operating System is SunOS
Gathering information... Please wait

Checking for a cluster...
SunOS Cluster test
3.x has been detected
Cluster has been detected
You have 2 cluster members configured and 2 are curently up
No cluster warnings detected
Processing kernel parameters... Please wait
Running Kernel Parameter Report...
Check the report for Kernel parameter verification

Completed.

Please review this report and resolve all issues before attempting to install the Oracle Database Software

Follow these procedures to use the Oracle Universal Installer to install the Oracle Enterprise Edition and the Real Application Clusters software. Oracle9i is supplied on multiple CD-ROM disks and the Real Application Clusters software is part of this distribution. During the installation process it is necessary to switch between the CD-ROMS. OUI will manage the switching between CDs.

· A prompt will appear for the Inventory Location (if this is the first time that OUI has been run on this system). This is the base directory into which OUI will install files. The Oracle Inventory definition can be found in the file /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc. Click OK.

· Verify the UNIX group name of the user who controls the installation of the Oracle9i software. If an instruction to run /tmp/orainstRoot.sh appears, the pre-installation steps were not completed successfully. Typically, the /var/opt/oracle directory does not exist or is not writeable by oracle. Run /tmp/orainstRoot.sh to correct this, forcing Oracle Inventory files, and others, to be written to the ORACLE_HOME directory. Once again this screen only appears the first time Oracle9i products are installed on the system. Click Next.

· The File Location window will appear. Do NOT change the Source field. The Destination field defaults to the ORACLE_HOME environment variable. Click Next.

· Select the Products to install. In this example, select the Oracle9i Server then click Next.

· Select the installation type. Choose the Enterprise Edition option. The selection on this screen refers to the installation operation, not the database configuration. The next screen allows for a customized database configuration to be chosen. Click Next.

· Select the configuration type. In this example you choose the Advanced Configuration as this option provides a database that you can customize, and configures the selected server products. Select Customized and click Next.

· Select the other nodes on to which the Oracle RDBMS software will be installed. It is not necessary to select the node on which the OUI is currently running. Click Next.

· Identify the raw partition in to which the Oracle9i Real Application Clusters (RAC) configuration information will be written. It is recommended that this raw partition is a minimum of 100MB in size.

· An option to Upgrade or Migrate an existing database is presented. Do NOT select the radio button. The Oracle Migration utility is not able to upgrade a RAC database, and will error if selected to do so.

· The Summary screen will be presented. Confirm that the RAC database software will be installed and then click Install. The OUI will install the Oracle9i software on to the local node, and then copy this information to the other nodes selected.

· Once Install is selected, the OUI will install the Oracle RAC software on to the local node, and then copy software to the other nodes selected earlier. This will take some time. During the installation process, the OUI does not display messages indicating that components are being installed on other nodes - I/O activity may be the only indication that the process is continuing.

The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) will create a database for you. The DBCA creates your database using the optimal flexible architecture (OFA). This means the DBCA creates your database files, including the default server parameter file, using standard file naming and file placement practices. The primary phases of DBCA processing are:-

· Verify that you correctly configured the shared disks for each tablespace (for non-cluster file system platforms)

Oracle Corporation recommends that you use the DBCA to create your database. This is because the DBCA preconfigured databases optimize your environment to take advantage of Oracle9i features such as the server parameter file and automatic undo management. The DBCA also enables you to define arbitrary tablespaces as part of the database creation process. So even if you have datafile requirements that differ from those offered in one of the DBCA templates, use the DBCA. You can also execute user-specified scripts as part of the database creation process.

The DBCA and the Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NETCA) also accurately configure your Real Application Clusters environment for various Oracle high availability features and cluster administration tools.

Note: Prior to running the DBCA it may be necessary to run the NETCA tool or to manually set up your network files. To run the NETCA tool execute the command netca from the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory. This will configure the necessary listener names and protocol addresses, client naming methods,
Net service names and Directory server usage. Also, it is recommended that the Global Services Daemon (GSD) is started on all nodes prior to running DBCA. To run the GSD execute the command gsd from the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.

· DBCA will launch as part of the installation process, but can be run manually by executing the command dbca from the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory on UNIX platforms. The RAC Welcome Page displays. Choose Oracle Cluster Database option and select Next.

· The Operations page is displayed. Choose the option Create a Database and click Next.

· The Node Selection page appears. Select the nodes that you want to configure as part of the RAC database and click Next. If nodes are missing from the Node Selection then perform clusterware diagnostics by executing the $ORACLE_HOME/bin/lsnodes -v command and analyzing its output. Refer to your vendor's clusterware documentation if the output indicates that your clusterware is not properly installed. Resolve the problem and then restart the DBCA.

· The Database Templates page is displayed. The templates other than New Database include datafiles. Choose New Database and then click Next.

· The Show Details button provides information on the database template selected.

· DBCA now displays the Database Identification page. Enter the Global Database Name and Oracle System Identifier (SID). The Global Database Name is typically of the form name.domain, for example mydb.us.oracle.com while the SID is used to uniquely identify an instance (DBCA should insert a suggested SID, equivalent to name1 where name was entered in the Database Name field). In the RAC case the SID specified will be used as a prefix for the instance number. For example, MYDB, would become MYDB1, MYDB2 for instance 1 and 2 respectively.

· The Database Options page is displayed. Select the options you wish to configure and then choose Next. Note: If you did not choose New Database from the Database Template page, you will not see this screen.

· The Additional database Configurations button displays additional database features. Make sure both are checked and click OK.

· Select the connection options desired from the Database Connection Options page. Note: If you did not choose New Database from the Database Template page, you will not see this screen. Click Next.

· DBCA now displays the Initialization Parameters page. This page comprises a number of Tab fields. Modify the Memory settings if desired and then select the File Locations tab to update information on the Initialization Parameters filename and location. Then click Next.

· The option Create persistent initialization parameter file is selected by default. If you have a cluster file system, then enter a file system name, otherwise a raw device name for the location of the server parameter file (spfile) must be entered. Then click Next.

· The button File Location Variables… displays variable information. Click OK.

· The button All Initialization Parameters… displays the Initialization Parameters dialog box. This box presents values for all initialization parameters and indicates whether they are to be included in the spfile to be created through the check box, included (Y/N). Instance specific parameters have an instance value in the instance column. Complete entries in the All Initialization Parameters page and select Close. Note: There are a few exceptions to what can be altered via this screen. Ensure all entries in the Initialization Parameters page are complete and select Next.

· DBCA now displays the Database Storage Window. This page allows you to enter file names for each tablespace in your database.

· The file names are displayed in the Datafiles folder, but are entered by selecting the Tablespaces icon, and then selecting the tablespace object from the expanded tree. Any names displayed here can be changed. A configuration file can be used, (pointed to by the environment variable DBCA_RAW_CONFIG). Complete the database storage information and click Next.

· The Database Creation Options page is displayed. Ensure that the option Create Database is checked and click Finish.

· The DBCA Summary window is displayed. Review this information and then click OK.

· Once the Summary screen is closed using the OK option, DBCA begins to create the database according to the values specified.

A new database now exists. It can be accessed via Oracle SQL*PLUS or other applications designed to work with an Oracle RAC database.

Oracle Corporation recommends that you use SRVCTL to administer your Real Application Clusters database environment. SRVCTL manages configuration information that is used by several Oracle tools. For example, Oracle Enterprise Manager and the Intelligent Agent use the configuration information that SRVCTL generates to discover and monitor nodes in your cluster. Before using SRVCTL, ensure that your Global Services Daemon (GSD) is running after you configure your database. To use SRVCTL, you must have already created the configuration information for the database that you want to administer. You must have done this either by using the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA), or by using the srvctl add command as described below.

If this is the first Oracle9i database created on this cluster, then you must initialize the clusterwide SRVM configuration. Firstly, create or edit the file /var/opt/oracle/srvConfig.loc file and add the entry srvconfig_loc=path_name.where the path name is a small cluster-shared raw volume eg

$ vi /var/opt/oracle/srvConfig.loc
srvconfig_loc=/dev/vx/rdsk/datadg/rac_srvconfig_10m

Then execute the following command to initialize this raw volume (Note: This cannot be run while the gsd is running. Prior to 9i Release 2 you will need to kill the .../jre/1.1.8/bin/... process to stop the gsd from running. From 9i Release 2 use the gsdctl stop command):-

The first time you use the SRVCTL Utility to create the configuration, start the Global Services Daemon (GSD) on all nodes so that SRVCTL can access your cluster's configuration information. Then execute the srvctl add command so that Real Application Clusters knows what instances belong to your cluster using the following syntax:-

$ gsd
Successfully started the daemon on the local node.

$ srvctl add db -p db_name -o oracle_home

To display the configuration details for, example, databases racdb1/2, on nodes racnode1/2 with instances racinst1/2 run:-

$ srvctl config
racdb1
racdb2

$ srvctl config -p racdb1
racnode1 racinst1
racnode2 racinst2

$ srvctl config -p racdb1 -n racnode1
racnode1 racinst1

$ srvctl start -p racdb1
Instance successfully started on node: racnode2
Listeners successfully started on node: racnode2
Instance successfully started on node: racnode1
Listeners successfully started on node: racnode1

$ srvctl stop -p racdb2
Instance successfully stopped on node: racnode2
Instance successfully stopped on node: racnode1
Listener successfully stopped on node: racnode2
Listener successfully stopped on node: racnode1

$ srvctl stop -p racdb1 -i racinst2 -s inst
Instance successfully stopped on node: racnode2

$ srvctl stop -p racdb1 -s inst
PRKO-2035 : Instance is already stopped on node: racnode2
Instance successfully stopped on node: racnode1

$ gsdctl start
Successfully started the daemon on the local node.

$ srvctl add database -d db_name -o oracle_home [-m domain_name] [-s spfile]

To display the configuration details for, example, databases racdb1/2, on nodes racnode1/2 with instances racinst1/2 run:-

$ srvctl config
racdb1
racdb2

$ srvctl config -p racdb1 -n racnode1
racnode1 racinst1 /u01/app/oracle/product/9.2.0.1

$ srvctl status database -d racdb1
Instance racinst1 is running on node racnode1
Instance racinst2 is running on node racnode2

For further information on srvctl and gsdctl see the Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Administration manual.

Step-By-Step Installation of RAC on Sun Cluster v3