Oracle ACFS Tagging

Oracle ACFS tagging assigns a common naming attribute to a group of files. Oracle ACFS Replication can use this tag to select files with a unique tag name for replication to a different remote cluster site. The tagging option avoids having to replicate an entire Oracle ACFS file system.

Oracle ACFS implements tagging with Extended Attributes. Some editing tools and backup utilities do not retain the Extended Attributes of the original file by default; you must set a specific switch. The following list describes the necessary requirements and switch settings for some common utilities to ensure Oracle ACFS tag names are preserved on the original file.

  • The cp command requires flags to preserve tag names.

    Install the coreutils library (version coreutils-5.97-23.el5_4.1.src.rpm or coreutils-5.97-23.el5_4.2.x86_64.rpm or later) on Linux to install versions of the cp command that supports Extended Attribute preservation with the --preserve=xattr switch and the mv command that supports Extended Attribute preservation without any switches.

    cp does not preserve tag names assigned to symbolic link files.

    The cp switches required to preserve tag names on files and directories are:

    • Linux: --preserve=xattr

    • Solaris: -@

    • AIX: -U

    • Windows: no switch necessary

  • The cpio file transfer utility requires flags to preserve tag names.

    The cpio switches required to preserve tag names on files and directories are:

    • Linux: cpio does not preserve tag names

    • Solaris: -@ is required to preserve or restore tag names for files and directories, but does not preserve tag names for symbolic link files

    • AIX: -U is required to preserve or restore tag names for files and directories, but does not preserve tag names for symbolic link files

    • Windows: not available

  • emacs requires that the backup-by-copying option is set to a non-nil value to preserve tag names on the original file name rather than a backup copy. This option must be added to the .emacs file.

  • The pax file transfer utility requires flags to preserve tag names.

    The pax switches required to preserve tag names on files and directories are:

    • Linux: pax does not preserve tag names

    • Solaris: -@ is required to preserve or restore tag names for files and directories, but does not preserve tag names for symbolic link files

    • AIX: -U is required to preserve or restore tag names for files and directories, but does not preserve tag names for symbolic link files

    • Windows: not available

  • The rsync file transfer utility requires flags to preserve tag names.

    The rsync switches required to preserve tag names on files and directories are:

    • Linux: -X -l are required to preserve tag names for files and directories, but these switches do not preserve tag names for symbolic link files

    • Solaris: rsync does not preserve tag names

    • AIX: not available

    • Windows: not available

  • The tar backup utility can have flags set on the command line to preserve tag names on a file. However, tar does not retain the tag names assigned to symbolic link files.

    The tar backup utility on Windows currently provides no support to retain tag names as no switch exists to save Extended Attributes.

    The tar switches required to preserve tag names on files and directories are:

    • Linux: --xattrs

    • Solaris: -@

    • AIX: -U

    • Windows: tar does not preserve tag names

  • The vim or vi editors require the set bkc=yes option in the .vimrc (Linux) or _vimrc (Windows) file to make a backup copy of a file and overwrite the original. This preserves tag names on the original file.

To use Oracle ACFS tagging functionality on Linux, the disk group compatibility attributes for ASM and ADVM must be set to 11.2.0.2 or higher. To use Oracle ACFS tagging functionality on Windows, the disk group compatibility attributes for ASM and ADVM must be set to 11.2.0.3 or higher. To use Oracle ACFS tagging functionality on Solaris or AIX, the disk group compatibility attributes for ASM and ADVM must be set to 12.1 or higher. For information about disk group compatibility, refer to "Disk Group Compatibility".

To configure tagging and manage tagged Oracle ACFS file systems, use the acfsutil tag command-line functions described in "Tagging Oracle ACFS File Systems" and "Oracle ACFS Command-Line Tools for Tagging". For information about Oracle ACFS tagging application programming interfaces (APIs), refer to "Oracle ACFS Tagging Generic Application Programming Interface".