11 Adding and Deleting Oracle RAC from Nodes on Windows Systems

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Add Database Instances to Target Nodes

To add a database instance to a target node using DBCA in interactive mode, perform the following steps:

1. Ensure that your existing nodes have the Oracle home environment variable set correctly.

2. Start DBCA by entering dbca at the system prompt from the Oracle_home\bin directory on an existing node.

   DBCA performs certain CVU checks while running. However, you can also run CVU from the command line to perform various verifications.

   See Also:

   Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about CVU

3. On the Database Operations page, select Instance Management, click Next, and DBCA displays the Instance Management page.

4. Select Add Instance and click Next. DBCA displays the List of Cluster Databases page that shows the databases and their current status, such as ACTIVE or INACTIVE.

5. From the List of Cluster Databases page, select the active Oracle RAC database to which you want to add an instance. Click Next and DBCA displays the List of Cluster Database Instances page showing the names of the existing instances for the Oracle RAC database that you selected.

6. Click Next to add a new instance and DBCA displays the Adding an Instance page.

7. On the Adding an Instance page, enter the instance name in the field at the top of this page if the instance name that DBCA provides does not match your existing instance naming scheme. Then select the new node name from the list.

   Note:

   If you installed the Oracle home with the Oracle Home User option, then DBCA prompts you for that password on this page.

8. Review the information on the Summary Page and click Finish to initiate instance addition operation. DBCA displays a progress dialog showing DBCA performing the instance addition operation.

Creating the OraMTS Service for Microsoft Transaction Server

Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server (OraMTS) permit Oracle databases to be used as resource managers in Microsoft application-coordinated transactions. OraMTS acts as a proxy for the Oracle database to the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC). As a result, OraMTS provides client-side connection pooling and allows client components that leverage Oracle to participate in promotable and distributed transactions. In addition, OraMTS can operate with Oracle databases running on any operating system, given that the services themselves are run on Windows.

On releases earlier than Oracle Database 12c, the OraMTS service was created as part of a software-only installation. Starting with Oracle Database 12c, you must use a configuration tool to create this service.

Create the OraMTS service after adding a node or performing a software-only installation for Oracle RAC, as follows:

1. Open a command window.

2. Change directories to %ORACLE_HOME%\bin.

3. Run the OraMTSCtl utility to create the OraMTS Service, where host_name is a list of nodes on which the service should be created:

   C:\..bin> oramtsctl.exe -new -host host_name
   

   See Also:

   Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server Developer's Guide for Microsoft Windows for more information about OraMTS, which allows Oracle databases to be used as resource managers in distributed transactions

Using DBCA in Interactive Mode to Delete Instances from Nodes

To delete an instance using DBCA in interactive mode, perform the following steps:

1. Verify there is a current backup of OCR.

   Run the ocrconfig -showbackup command to ensure there is a valid backup.

2. Start DBCA.

   Start DBCA on a node other than the node that hosts the instance that you want to delete. The database and the instance that you plan to delete should continue to be started and running during this step.

3. On the DBCA Operations page, select Instance Management, click Next, and DBCA displays the Instance Management page.

4. On the Instance Management page, select Delete Instance, click Next, and DBCA displays the List of Cluster Databases page.

5. Select an Oracle RAC database from which to delete an instance. Click Next and DBCA displays the List of Cluster Database Instances page. The List of Cluster Database Instances page shows the instances that are associated with the Oracle RAC database that you selected and the status of each instance.

6. On the List of Cluster Databases page, select the Oracle RAC database from which to delete the instance, as follows:

   1. On the List of Cluster Database Instances page, DBCA displays the instances that are associated with the Oracle RAC database that you selected and the status of each instance. Select the cluster database from which you will delete the instance. Click Finish.

   2. Click OK on the Confirmation dialog to proceed to delete the instance.

   3. Click OK on the next Confirmation dialog to delete the instance and related Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) directory structure.

      DBCA displays a progress dialog showing that DBCA is deleting the instance. During this operation, DBCA removes the instance and the instance's Oracle Net configuration.

      Click No and exit DBCA or click Yes to perform another operation. If you click Yes, then DBCA displays the Operations page.

7. Verify that the dropped instance's redo thread has been removed using SQL*Plus to query the V$LOG view from an existing instance. If the redo thread is not disabled, then disable the thread. For example:

   SQL> ALTER DATABASE DISABLE THREAD 2;
   

8. Verify that the instance has been removed from OCR by running the following command, where db_unique_name is the name of the database:

   srvctl config database -db db_unique_name
   

9. If you are deleting more than one node, then repeat these steps to delete the instances from all the nodes that you are going to delete.