6 Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server

6.1.1 Checking Hardware and Memory Configuration

Run the following commands to check your current system information:

1. To determine the size of the configured swap space, enter the following command:

   # grep SwapTotal /proc/meminfo
   

   If necessary, see your operating system documentation for information about configuring additional swap space.

2. To determine the available RAM and swap space, enter the following command:

   # free
   

3. To determine the amount of free disk space on the system, enter one of the following commands:

   # df -h
   

4. To determine the amount of space available in the /tmp directory, enter one of the following commands:

   # df -h /tmp
   

5. To determine the physical RAM size, enter the following command:

   # grep MemTotal /proc/meminfo
   

   If the size of the physical RAM installed in the system is less than the required size, then install more memory before you continue.

6.1.2 Server Memory Minimum Requirements

Ensure that your system meets the following memory requirements for installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server:

At least 4 GB of RAM for Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server including installations where you plan to install Oracle Database.

The following table describes the relationship between installed RAM and the configured swap space recommendation:

6.1.3 Server Storage Minimum Requirements

Ensure that your system meets the following minimum disk space requirements for installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure on a standalone server:

• For Linux x86-64: At least 6.9 GB of disk space

• For IBM: Linux on System z: 3.8 GB of disk space

• At least 1 GB of space in the /tmp directory.

  If there is less than 1 GB of free space in the /tmp directory, then complete one of the following steps:

  • Delete unnecessary files from the /tmp directory to meet the disk space requirement.

  • Set the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables to specify a temporary directory when setting the oracle user's environment.

    See Also:

    "Configuring Oracle Software Owner Environment" for more information about setting TMP and TMPDIR

  • Extend the file system that contains the /tmp directory.

6.1.4 Environment Requirements for Oracle Grid Infrastructure Software Owner

Complete the following tasks to set the Oracle Restart software owner user's environment:

• Review the information in "Logging In to the System as root" and "Configuring Oracle Software Owner Environment".

• Ensure that you set the path to the Oracle base directory. Oracle recommends that you create the Oracle Restart home and the Oracle Database home under the same Oracle base directory. For example:

  # ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle; 
  # export ORACLE_BASE
  

• Set the Oracle Restart software owner user default file mode creation mask (umask) to 022 in the shell startup file. Setting the mask to 022 ensures that the user performing the software installation creates files with 644 permissions.

• Set ulimit settings for file descriptors and processes for the Oracle Restart installation software owner.

• Set the DISPLAY environment variable in preparation for installation.

If you plan to install Oracle Database, then you must meet additional preinstallation requirements. See Chapter 4, " Oracle Database Preinstallation Tasks".

6.2.1 About Oracle ACFS and Oracle ADVM

Oracle ACFS extends Oracle ASM technology to support all of your application data in both single instance and cluster configurations. Oracle ADVM provides volume management services and a standard disk device driver interface to clients. Oracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System communicates with Oracle ASM through the Oracle Automatic Storage Management Dynamic Volume Manager interface.

6.2.2 Oracle ACFS and Oracle ADVM Support on Linux

Oracle ACFS and Oracle ADVM are supported on Oracle Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux. Table 6-2 lists the platforms and kernel versions that support Oracle ACFS and Oracle ADVM.

6.2.3 Restrictions and Guidelines for Oracle ACFS

Oracle Restart does not support root-based Oracle Clusterware resources. For this reason, the following restrictions apply if you run Oracle ACFS on an Oracle Restart configuration:

• Oracle Restart does not support Oracle ACFS resources on all platforms.

• Starting with Oracle Database 12c, Oracle Restart configurations do not support the Oracle ACFS registry.

• You must manually load Oracle ACFS drivers after a system restart.

• You must manually mount an Oracle ACFS file system, and unmount it after the Oracle ASM instance has finished running.

• Creating Oracle datafiles on an Oracle ACFS file system is not supported in Oracle Restart configurations.

To enable Oracle ACFS on Oracle Restart see "Enabling Oracle ACFS on Oracle Restart Configurations".

Note the following general restrictions and guidelines also about Oracle ACFS:

• Oracle ACFS can be used as an option only when Oracle ASM is configured.

• You can place Oracle database binaries, datafiles, and administrative files (for example, trace files) on Oracle ACFS. Oracle Database homes can be stored on Oracle ACFS only if the database version is Oracle Database 11g Release 2 or higher. Earlier releases of Oracle Database cannot be installed on Oracle ACFS.

• Oracle ACFS provides a general purpose file system for other files.

6.2.4 Enabling Oracle ACFS on Oracle Restart Configurations

To use Oracle ACFS on Oracle Restart configurations, install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server, and then enable root access for Oracle ACFS using the following command:

Log in as root

# cd Grid_home/crs/install
# roothas.sh -lockacfs

6.3.1 Managing Disk Groups for Older Database Versions

Use Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (Oracle ASMCA) to create and modify disk groups when you install earlier Oracle databases on Oracle Grid Infrastructure installations.

Releases prior to Oracle Database 11g Release 2 used Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (Oracle DBCA) to perform administrative tasks on Oracle ASM. Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2), Oracle ASM is installed as part of an Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation. You can no longer use Oracle DBCA to perform administrative tasks on Oracle ASM.

6.3.2 Oracle Automatic Storage Management Installation Considerations

In previous releases, Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) was installed as part of the Oracle Database installation. Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2), Oracle ASM is part of an Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation, either for a cluster, or for a standalone server.

If you want to upgrade an existing Oracle ASM installation, then you must upgrade Oracle ASM by running an Oracle Grid Infrastructure upgrade (upgrades of existing Oracle ASM installations). If you do not have Oracle ASM installed and you want to use Oracle ASM as your storage option, then you must complete an Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server installation before you start your Oracle Database installation.

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Configuration Assistant (Oracle ASMCA) is installed as part of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation. You must run Oracle ASMCA for installing and configuring Oracle ASM instances, disk groups, volumes, and Oracle ACFS. In addition, you can use the ASMCA command-line interface.

6.3.3 Configuring Storage for Oracle Automatic Storage Management

This section contains the following topics that describe how to configure storage for use with Oracle Automatic Storage Management:

• Identifying Storage Requirements for Oracle Automatic Storage Management

• Creating DAS or SAN Disk Partitions for Oracle Automatic Storage Management

6.3.4 About Oracle ASM with Oracle ASM Filter Driver

Starting with Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2), Oracle ASM Filter Driver (Oracle ASMFD) is installed with an Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation.

Oracle Automatic Storage Management Filter Driver (Oracle ASMFD) rejects write I/O requests that are not issued by Oracle software. This filter helps to prevent users with administrative privileges from inadvertently overwriting Oracle ASM disks, thus preventing corruption in Oracle ASM disks and files within the disk group. For disk partitions, the area protected is the area on the disk managed by Oracle ASMFD, assuming the partition table is left untouched by the user.

Oracle ASMFD simplifies the configuration and management of disk devices by eliminating the need to rebind disk devices used with Oracle ASM each time the system is restarted.

6.3.5 Configuring Oracle ASM Disk Groups Manually using Oracle ASMCA

The Oracle Automatic Storage Management Configuration Assistant (Oracle ASMCA) utility creates a new Oracle Automatic Storage Management instance if there is no Oracle ASM instance currently configured on the computer.

After installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server, you can also use Oracle ASMCA to create and configure disk groups, Oracle ADVM and Oracle ACFS.

To create additional disk groups or manually configure Oracle ASM disks, you can run the Oracle ASMCA as follows:

$ cd Grid_home/bin
$ ./asmca

Grid_home is the path to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server home.

6.3.6 Testing the Oracle Automatic Storage Management Installation

After installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server, as described in this chapter, to test the Oracle ASM installation, log in using the asmcmd command-line utility, which lets you manage Oracle ASM disk group files and directories. To do this:

1. Open a shell window, and temporarily set the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME environment variables to specify the appropriate values for the Oracle ASM instance to use.

   For example, if the Oracle ASM SID is named +ASM and the Oracle home is located in the grid subdirectory of the ORACLE_BASE directory, then enter the following commands to create the required settings:

   • Bourne, Bash, or Korn shell:

     $ ORACLE_SID=+ASM
     $ export ORACLE_SID
     $ ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/grid
     $ export ORACLE_HOME
     

   • C shell:

     % setenv ORACLE_SID +ASM
     % setenv ORACLE_HOME /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/grid
     

2. Use ASMCMD to list the disk groups for the Oracle ASM instance:

   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/asmcmd lsdg
   

   ASMCMD connects by default as the SYS user with SYSASM privileges.

   If the Oracle ASM instance is not running, start the instance with the following command:

   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/asmcmd startup
   

6.3.7 Upgrading Existing Oracle Automatic Storage Management Instances

If you have an Oracle ASM installation from an earlier release installed on your server, or in an existing Oracle Restart installation, you can use Oracle Automatic Storage Management Configuration Assistant (Oracle ASMCA) to upgrade the existing Oracle ASM instance to 12c, and subsequently configure disk groups, Oracle ASM volumes and Oracle ASM file systems.

During the installation, if you use Oracle ASM, and Oracle ASMCA detects that there is a prior Oracle ASM version installed in another Oracle ASM home, then after installing the Oracle ASM 12c binaries, you can start Oracle ASMCA to upgrade the existing Oracle ASM instance.

6.4.1 Installing the Software Binaries

1. Run the runInstaller command from the relevant directory on the Oracle Database 12c installation media or download directory.

2. Complete a software-only installation of Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server.

3. Run the orainstRoot.sh script if prompted.

4. Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) prompts you to run the root.sh script.

5. root.sh then prompts you to run roothas.pl. See "Configuring the Software Binaries" for information about running roothas.pl and configuring Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server after performing a software-only installation.

6. Verify that the server meets the installation requirements using the command runcluvfy.sh stage -pre hacfg. Ensure that you complete all storage and server preinstallation requirements.

6.4.2 Configuring the Software Binaries

To configure and activate a software-only Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server installation for Oracle Restart, complete the following tasks:

1. Log in as the root user and run the roothas.pl script from Grid_home using the following syntax:

   Grid_home/perl/bin/perl -I Grid_home/perl/lib -I Grid_home/crs/install 
   Grid_home/crs/install/roothas.pl
   

   For example, if your Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server home is u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/grid, then run the following script:

   # /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/grid/perl/bin/perl -I /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/grid/perl/lib -I /u01/app/oracle/product
   /12.1.0/grid/crs/install /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/grid/crs/install/roothas.pl
   

2. Change the directory to Grid_home/oui/bin, where Grid_home is the path of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server home.

3. Log in as the Oracle Restart software owner user and enter the following command:

   ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=Grid_home -defaultHomeName CLUSTER_NODES= CRS=TRUE
   

   For example:

   $ ./runInstaller -updateNodeList ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/grid
   -defaultHomeName CLUSTER_NODES= CRS=TRUE
   

4. Use the SRVCTL utility along with Oracle Network Configuration Assistant and Oracle ASMCA to add the listener, the Oracle ASM instance, and all Oracle ASM disk groups to the Oracle Restart configuration.

   See Also:

   • Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide to configure a listener using Oracle Network Configuration Assistant

   • Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide to create and add disk groups, and configure Oracle ASM using Oracle ASMCA

   • Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to create and add an ASM instance using SRVCTL

6.5.1 Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server with a New Database Installation

Perform the following steps to install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server and then create a database that is managed by Oracle Restart. First install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server, which installs Oracle Restart and Oracle ASM, then configure Oracle ASM with at least one disk group, and then install Oracle Database that stores database files in Oracle ASM disk groups. Click the help button on the Oracle Universal Installer page for page level assistance.

You may have to shut down existing Oracle processes before you proceed with the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server installation. See "Stopping Existing Oracle Processes" for more information.

To install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server with a new database installation:

1. Start Oracle Universal Installer as the Oracle Restart software owner user. Complete one of the following steps depending on the location of the installation files:

   • If the installation files are on installation media, enter commands similar to the following, where directory_path is the path of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server directory on the installation media:

     $ /directory_path/runInstaller
     

     Note:

     You must install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server from the Oracle Grid Infrastructure media.

   • If the installation files are on the hard disk, change the directory to the path of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server (clusterware) directory and enter the following command:

     $ ./runInstaller
     

   Note:

   Start Oracle Universal Installer from the terminal session where you logged in as the Oracle Restart software owner user and set the user's environment.

   If Oracle Universal Installer is not displayed, see "X Window Display Errors" and "Remote Terminal Installation Error" for information about troubleshooting.

2. In the Select Installation Option screen, select the Install and Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server option to install and configure Oracle Restart and Oracle ASM. Click Next.

3. In the Select Product Languages screen, select one or more languages. Move the languages from the Available Languages list to the Selected Languages list. Click Next.

4. The Create ASM Disk Group screen lists all the Oracle ASM disks.

   Click Change Discovery Path to select any devices to be used by Oracle ASM but are not listed in the screen. In the Change Disk Discovery Path window, enter a string to use to search for devices that Oracle ASM will use. If the disk string is set to ORCL:* or is left empty (""), then the installer discovers these disks. Click OK.

   After you finish selecting the disks to be used by Oracle ASM, click Next.

   Note:

   During installation, disk paths mounted on Oracle ASM and registered on Oracle ASMFD with the string ORCL:* are listed as default database storage candidate disks.

   Consider the following information about disk devices while performing this step:

   • The default Disk Group Name is DATA. You can enter a new name for the disk group, or use the default name.

   • The disk devices must be owned by the user performing the grid installation.

     See Also:

     "Configuring a Permissions File for Disk Devices for Oracle ASM" for information about creating or modifying permissions

   • Check with your system administrator to determine if the disks used by Oracle ASM are mirrored at the storage level. If so, select External for the redundancy. If the disks are not mirrored at the storage level, then select Normal for the redundancy.

     Note:

     For normal redundancy, you require twice as much disk space to hold the same amount of data. For example, if your database is 100 GB, then you require approximately 200 GB of storage.

   • Every Oracle ASM disk is divided into allocation units (AU). An allocation unit is the fundamental unit of allocation within a disk group. You can select the AU Size value from 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 MB, depending on the specific disk group compatibility level. The default value is set to 1 MB.

5. In the Specify ASM Password screen, enter the password required to connect to the Oracle ASM instance. The Oracle ASM instance is managed by a privileged role called SYSASM, which grants full access to Oracle ASM disk groups. Oracle recommends that you create a less privileged user, ASMSNMP, with SYSDBA privileges to monitor the Oracle ASM instance.

   Enter passwords for the SYS and ASMSNMP user accounts. The passwords should be at least eight characters in length and include at least 1 alphabetic, 1 numeric, and 1 of the following three punctuation mark characters: hyphens (-), underscores (_), or number sign (#). No other special characters are allowed in the password field.

   Optionally, you can use the same password for all accounts. However, Oracle recommends that you specify a different password for each account. You must remember the passwords that you specify.

6. The Specify Management Options screen gives you the option to manage Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Automatic Storage Management using Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control. Select Register with Enterprise Manager (EM) Cloud Control and specify the following configuration information:

   • OMS Host: The system name where the Management repository is running.

   • OMS Port: The Oracle Enterprise Manager port number to receive requests from the Management service.

   • EM Admin User Name: The user name to log in to Oracle Enterprise Manager.

   • EM Admin Password: The password to log in to Oracle Enterprise Manager.

7. In the Privileged Operating System Groups screen, select the name of the operating system group you created for the OSDBA group, the OSASM group, and the Oracle ASM operator group OSOPER. If you create only the dba group, then you can use that group for all three privileged groups. If you created a separate asmadmin group, then use that value for the OSASM group. Click Next.

   See Also:

   "Oracle Automatic Storage Management Groups for Job Role Separation"

8. In the Specify Installation Location screen, enter the following information, and click Next:

   • Oracle Base: Enter the location for the Oracle base directory. Do not include spaces in the path.

   • Software Location: Accept the default value or enter the directory path in which you want to install the software.The directory path must not contain spaces.

   See Also:

   • "Identifying Required Software Directories" for information about Oracle base directory and Oracle home directory

   • "Naming Directories" for directory naming conventions

9. The Root Script Execution Configuration screen allows you to select the configuration method to either automatically or manually run the root scripts during the grid infrastructure installation. To run root scripts automatically, select Automatically run configuration scripts and select one of the following options:

   • Use "root" user credential: Provide the root user password.

   • Use Sudo: Provide the program path, username, and password for the sudo program.

   See Also:

   "Determining Root Script Execution Plan"

10. The Create Inventory screen is displayed only if this is the first time you are installing Oracle software on your system.

    Change the path for the Inventory Directory, if required. Select oinstall for the oraInventory Group Name, if required. Click Next.

11. The Perform Prerequisite Checks screen checks if the minimum system requirements are met to perform the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server installation. If all the system requirements are met, then you are directed to the Summary screen. If an installation fails, you can review the error.

    If you click Check Again, then you can run the prerequisite check again to see if the minimum requirements are met to carry on with the database installation.

    Click Fix & Check Again, if you want the installer to fix the problem and check the system requirements again.

    Note:

    The Fix & Check Again option generates a script that you must run as the root user. This generated script sets some system parameter values. Oracle recommends that you do not modify the contents of this script. See "Using Installation Fixup Scripts" for more information.

    To get a list of failed requirements, select Show Failed from the list. To get a list of all the prerequisite checks run by Oracle Universal Installer, select Show All. To get a list of the prerequisites checks that are successful, select Show Succeeded.

    Note:

    Oracle recommends that you use caution when selecting the Ignore All option. If you select this option, then Oracle Universal Installer may not confirm that your system can install Oracle Database successfully.

    See Also:

    • "Configuring Servers for Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server"

    • Chapter 4, " Oracle Database Preinstallation Tasks"

12. Review the contents of the Summary screen, and click Install.

    You can click Save Response File to save all the installation steps into a response file. This file can be used for a silent installation.

13. The Install Product screen displays the progress of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server installation.

    If you selected an option to automatically run the root scripts in the Root Script Execution Configuration screen, then Oracle Universal Installer automatically runs the root scripts. Click Next.

    Else, if you did not select the option to automatically run the configuration scripts, then Oracle Universal Installer prompts you to run the root.sh script and, if required, the orainstRoot.sh script as the root user to complete the installation. During this process, the Execute Configuration Scripts window appears. Do not click OK until you run the scripts mentioned in this screen.

    Note:

    The orainstRoot.sh script must be run if this is the first time you are installing Oracle software on your system. However, if you selected an option to automatically run the root scripts, then Oracle Universal Installer automatically runs the oraInstRoot.sh script.

14. The Finish screen displays the installation status. Click Close to end the installation and exit Oracle Universal Installer.

    If you encounter any errors, see the configuration log for information. The path to the configuration log is displayed on the Configuration Assistants window.

15. Oracle ASMCA is installed as part of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server installation. To create additional disk groups, run the Oracle ASMCA utility. For example, you can create another disk group named RECOVERY to store the fast recovery area.

    See Also:

    • "Configuring Oracle ASM Disk Groups Manually using Oracle ASMCA"

    • "Creating a Fast Recovery Area Disk Group"

    Note:

    To verify that the Oracle High Availability Service is installed properly, run ./crsctl check has command from Grid_home/bin directory.

    Grid_home is the path to the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server home. ohasd is a daemon installed with Oracle Grid Infrastructure that starts software services, such as Oracle ASM.

16. Install Oracle Database. See "Installing the Oracle Database Software".

    Note:

    • If a new database is installed after a grid infrastructure installation, then the listener runs from the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server home. Because Oracle ASM is installed as part of Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server, the default listener is created and runs from the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server home. If you perform a database installation, then the database must use the same listener created during the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server installation.

    • If you are using Oracle Restart, then the default listener and any additional listeners must run from the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server home.

    See "Troubleshooting and Deconfiguring Oracle Restart" to deconfigure Oracle Restart without removing installed binaries.

6.5.2 Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server for an Existing Database

Follow the high-level instructions in this section to install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server and configure it for an existing Oracle database. Oracle Restart can only manage existing release 12.1 resources and hence you can install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server only for an existing release 12.1 database. However, Oracle database releases before 12.1 can coexist on the same server without being managed by Oracle Restart.

To install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server for an existing database:

• On the same host computer as the database, use Oracle Universal Installer to install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server, and select Install and Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server as the installation option.

  The Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server components are installed in a separate Oracle home.

  See "Installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server with a New Database Installation" for detailed instructions.

• Go to the Grid home's bin directory.

  Use the srvctl add database command with the -c SINGLE flag to add the database in an Oracle Restart configuration. Also use the srvctl add command to add the listener, the Oracle ASM instance, all Oracle ASM disk groups, and any database services to the Oracle Restart configuration.

  See Also:

  Oracle Database Administrator's Guide