7 Monitoring a Database on Windows

Overview of Database Monitoring Tools

Table 7-1 describes tools that enable you to monitor Oracle Database.

About Event Viewer

Oracle Database for Windows problems and other significant occurrences are recorded as events in an application event log. View and manage these recorded events in Event Viewer.

Using Event Viewer

To access Event Viewer:

1. From the Start menu, select All Programs, then select Administrative Tools, and then select Event Viewer.

   The Event Viewer window appears.

2. Select Windows Logs.

3. Double-click Application to open the Application view window.

Figure 7-1 displays the Application view window, Table 7-2 shows what is recorded in each column, and Table 7-3 interprets icons that appear on the left hand side of the viewer.

Figure 7-1 Application View Window

Description of "Figure 7-1 Application View Window"

Table 7-2 Application View Definitions

Column Name	Definition
Date and Time	Date and time at which event took place
Source	Application that recorded event
Event ID	Unique number assigned to event
Task Category	Classification of event

Table 7-3 Event Viewer Icons

Icon	Event Type	Suggested Action
Exclamation Point in Red Circle	Error	Error identification. Always check these icons.
Lowercase "i" in Blue Circle	Information	Noncritical system events. Check these icons only to track a specific event.
Exclamation Point in Yellow Triangle	Warning	Special events, such as instance termination or services shutdown. Investigate these icons, but they are usually noncritical.

Reading Event Viewer

Oracle Database for Windows events are displayed with a source of Oracle.SID.

Event number 34 specifies an audit trail event. These events are recorded if the parameter AUDIT_TRAIL is set to db (true) or os in the initialization parameter file. Option os enables systemwide auditing and causes audited records to be written to Event Viewer. Option db enables systemwide auditing and causes audited records to be written to the database audit trail (table SYS.AUD$). Some records, however, are written to Event Viewer.

Event numbers other than 34 specify general database activities, such as an instance being started or stopped.

When you double-click an icon in Event Viewer, the Event Properties dialog box appears with more information about the selected event. Figure 7-2, for example, shows details about Event ID 4112. In the General tab, you find a text description of the event. In the Details tab, you can select Friendly View to see the System and Event Data in words or XML View to see the same information in XML format, as shown in Figure 7-3.

Figure 7-2 Event Properties General Tab

Description of "Figure 7-2 Event Properties General Tab"

Figure 7-3 Event Properties Details Tab

Description of "Figure 7-3 Event Properties Details Tab"

See Also:

Microsoft operating system documentation for more information about using Event Viewer

About Trace Files

Oracle Database for Windows background threads use trace files to record occurrences and exceptions of database operations, and errors. Background thread trace files are created and stored in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR) directory specified by the parameter DIAGNOSTIC_DEST in the initialization parameter file.

Oracle Database creates a different trace file for each foreground and background thread. The name of the trace file contains the name of the thread, followed by the extension ".trc". The following are examples of foreground trace file names:

• ops_ora_5804.trc

• ops_ora_4160.trc

The following are examples of background trace file names:

• ops_pmon_1556.trc

• ops_mmon_3768.trc

• ops_lgwr_2356.trc

• ops_dbw0_132.trc

Trace files are also created for user threads and stored in the ADR directory specified by the parameter DIAGNOSTIC_DEST in the initialization parameter file. Trace files for user threads have the form oraxxxxx.trc, where xxxxx is a 5-digit number indicating the Windows thread ID.

About Alert Logs

Alert logs contain important information about error messages and exceptions that occur during database operations. Each Oracle Database for Windows instance has one alert log; information is appended to the file each time you start the instance. All threads can write to the alert log.

For example, when automatic archiving of redo logs is halted because no disk space is available, a message is placed in the alert log. The alert log is the first place to check if something goes wrong with the database and the cause is not immediately obvious.

The alert log is named alert_SID.log and is found in the ADR directory specified by the parameter DIAGNOSTIC_DEST in the initialization parameter file. Alert logs should be deleted or archived periodically.

Viewing Oracle Database Thread Information

To view information about Oracle Database threads using Oracle Administration Assistant for Windows, you must either enable Windows native authentication for the database or run the utility ocfgutil.exe with arguments username and password. The utility stores the user name and password in the following registry location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\OracleOraConfig

When Windows native authentication is not enabled, Oracle Remote Configuration Agent retrieves the user name and password from this registry key to log in to the database.

To view information about Oracle Database threads using Oracle Administration Assistant for Windows:

1. From the Start menu, select All Programs, then select Oracle - HOMENAME, then select Configuration and Migration Tools, and then select Administration Assistant for Windows.

2. Right-click the SID, where SID is a specific instance name, such as orcl.

3. Select Process Information.

   The Process Information dialog box appears, listing name, type, user, thread ID, and CPU usage for each Oracle Database thread.

4. To terminate a thread, select it, and click Kill Thread.