This chapter is intended for database administrators to use in consultation with system and storage administrators to coordinate the installation and plan the tasks for Oracle Clusterware, in preparation for completing an installation of Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC). This chapter contains the following topics:
This chapter contains the following topics:
Confirming Cluster Readiness for Oracle RAC Installation with CVU
About Installing Oracle Database 12c on Systems with Existing Databases
This section provides a list of tasks that Oracle recommends you complete before starting Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC installation. Whether your location is a data center with a large project team of system administrators, storage administrators, network administrators, database administrators, and third-party hardware and software vendors, or you are a project team of one, planning is important to help ensure that your installation proceeds smoothly.
It is beyond the scope of this documentation set to advise how to determine hardware sizing or capacity planning for your installation. With Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC, you can add nodes and instances as needed in response to testing, or in response to increased workloads.
Review and complete the following steps as part of your installation plan:
Installing Oracle RAC consists of the following steps:
Prepare servers (system, users and groups, network, and storage administration), as described in Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for your platform. These tasks include the following:
Install the operating system and install the operating system packages and patches to the required version.
Create the required users and software homes.
Set up the domain name forwarding for Grid Naming Service (GNS) if you plan to deploy GNS or Multi-Cluster GNS, and set up the network addresses in the DNS and on the server as needed.
Set up the required storage.
(Optional) Stage all of the software on one node for installation (the "local node").
Install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster, which includes Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM (system and storage administration):
Note:
You must have Oracle Grid Infrastructure installed successfully before you attempt to install Oracle RAC.
Install Oracle RAC (database administration):
Install Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node.
Complete the postinstallation configuration of the Oracle RAC database.
Before you decide whether you want to install Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1), log on to My Oracle Support:
You must register online before using My Oracle Support.
To access certifications for your installation for your platform:
Log on to My Oracle Support.
Click the Certifications tab. If you do not see a tab titled Certifications, then click More and select Certifications from the list.
In the Certification Search frame, select Oracle Real Application Clusters, select the release number, and select your operating system platform on which you intend to install. When you have completed your selections, click Search to generate a product certification list for your installation.
Refer to Oracle.com (http://www.oracle.com) for additional resources about planning for specific implementation scenarios, best practices, and other information that can help you with your installation plan. In particular, refer to the Oracle Real Application Clusters pages on the Oracle Technology Network:
Oracle Technology Network (OTN) contains white papers about deployment options, capacity planning, best practices on various NFS platforms, and extended clusters deployments, which are not addressed in this guide. You can review available papers at the following website:
http://www.oracle.com/goto/rac
In particular, check the Oracle RAC Technologies Certification Matrix for your platform:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/options/clustering/tech-generic-windows-new-166584.html
Before installing Oracle RAC, review the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for your operating system platform to confirm that all cluster member nodes are configured with the required users, and that the system, storage, and network administrators have completed any other tasks required for an Oracle RAC installation.
Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide also contains most tasks requiring Administrator privileges or storage administrator privileges that must be completed before starting an Oracle RAC installation.
In addition, review the Release Notes and My Oracle Support (https://support.oracle.com) to ensure that you have the most current information about system requirements and other information that can affect your installation. The small amount of time that this review takes can save a much greater amount of time required to track down causes of installation errors later. Also, verify that you have the most current version of this document; Oracle documentation is updated after the initial release and posted to the following website:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html
Oracle recommends that you install a web browser on at least one of your cluster nodes, both to enable Oracle Enterprise Manager and Oracle Application Express, and to access online documentation as needed. Online documentation is available in PDF and HTML formats.
See Also:
Oracle Database Concepts for an overview of Oracle Database
Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide for additional information about Oracle Clusterware or Oracle RAC configuration and deployment
Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for server and storage configuration information for Oracle RAC
Oracle issues security alerts as needed for vulnerability fixes that are determined to be too critical to wait for distribution in the next Critical Patch Update.
During installation, you are asked in the Configure Security Updates screen to provide a security contact. Select one of the following options:
Provide an email address to receive security information for your installation.
Provide a My Oracle Support email address or account name to receive security information for your installation, and to enroll your system for Security Updates. You can receive information about alerts through My Oracle Support.
You can choose not to provide this information, but Oracle strongly recommends that you configure a security notification contact.
The information collected by Security Updates is limited to configuration information. The data collected does not include personally identifiable information (except a local contact name in case of transmission problems). You may still use all licensed Oracle functionality if you decline to enable Security Updates.To choose not to receive security notifications, leave all fields in the Configure Security Updates screen blank, and click Next to continue.
If you provide your My Oracle Support credentials, then Security Updates automatically gathers configuration information regarding your installed Oracle products and uploads it to Oracle's support systems. You can access the information it collects through your My Oracle Support account, and review health check recommendations, patch recommendations and other recommendations for your system in addition to security alerts.
See Also:
The Oracle Security Policies page, which is available from the following URL:http://www.oracle.com/us/support/assurance/fixing-policies/index.html
During installation, Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) requires you to run scripts with superuser (or Administator) privileges to complete many system configuration tasks.
You can use CVU before running OUI to ensure that your cluster is prepared for an Oracle RAC installation. CVU is incorporated into OUI, so CVU runs when you start an Oracle RAC installation. However, you can use CVU to ensure that any packages or configuration information that is required for Oracle RAC are in place before you begin your Oracle RAC installation.
Oracle provides CVU to perform system checks in preparation for an installation, patch updates, or other system changes.
Using CVU can help system, storage, and database administrators ensure that all system configuration and preinstallation steps are completed, so that installations, updates, or patches complete successfully. You can obtain the latest version of CVU at the following URL:
If you have vendors performing hardware or operating system configuration steps, then ask the vendors to complete the relevant CVU checks of the cluster after they complete their work to ensure that your system is configured correctly. Database administrators should review "Confirming Cluster Readiness for Oracle RAC Installation with CVU" to confirm that their system is prepared for installation before they start an Oracle RAC installation.
If you have an existing Oracle installation, then document version numbers, patches, and other configuration information, and review upgrade procedures for your existing installation. Review the Oracle upgrade documentation before proceeding with installation, to decide how to proceed.
To install Oracle RAC 12c Release 1 (12.1), you must have Oracle Grid Infrastructure (Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM) 12c Release 1 (12.1) installed on your cluster. The Oracle Clusterware version must be equal to or greater than the Oracle RAC version that you plan to install.
For the most current updates and best practices about pre-upgrade, post-upgrade, compatibility, and interoperability discussions, refer to "Oracle Upgrade Companion" for this release. "Oracle Upgrade Companion" is available through Note 1462240.1 on My Oracle Support:
https://support.oracle.com/CSP/main/article?cmd=show&type=NOT&id=1462240.1
For upgrades, note the following:
You can have only one version of Oracle Clusterware running on a cluster at a time. The Oracle Clusterware version must be the most recent release of any software (Oracle Clusterware, Oracle Database, Oracle RAC, and Oracle ASM) running on the cluster. Before upgrading your database to Oracle Database 12c, all nodes in the cluster must be upgraded to Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM 12c Release 1 (12.1).
You can have multiple Oracle homes for Oracle databases on your cluster. However, the Oracle RAC database software in these homes must be from a version that is equal to or before the version of Oracle Clusterware that is installed; you cannot have a version of Oracle Database running on Oracle Clusterware that was released after the version of Oracle Clusterware that you use.
For example:
If your servers use Oracle Grid Infrastructure 12c Release 1 (12.1), then you can have an Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) single-instance database running on one node, and separate Oracle RAC 11g Release 1 or Release 2, or Oracle RAC 12c Release 1 (12.1) databases also running on the cluster.
You cannot have Oracle Grid Infrastructure 11g release 2 (11.2) installed on your cluster, and install Oracle RAC 12c Release 1 (12.1).
You can use Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA) for patch set upgrades with Oracle RAC. You can also use DBUA to upgrade between major point releases of Oracle RAC. For example, you can upgrade from Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) to Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1).
Database upgrade is supported only for the following configurations:
The same Windows User Account is used for the Oracle Home User across all Oracle Homes
The home from which the database is being upgraded has the built-in account (LocalSystem) for the Oracle Home User.
Note that all older releases (Oracle Database 11.2 and earlier) supported the use of only the built-in account for the Oracle Home User.
If you are upgrading an existing Oracle RAC installation, then you must use the same type of Oracle home that you have in your existing installation. For example, if you have a shared Oracle home in your existing installation, then you must upgrade to a shared Oracle home with Oracle RAC 12c Release 1 (12.1).
Similarly, if you have local Oracle homes on cluster nodes, then you must upgrade to local Oracle homes on cluster nodes.
For the Oracle RAC database being upgraded, each cluster member node that hosts an instance of the database must be a member of the upgraded installation. For example, if you have an existing Oracle RAC database running on a three-node cluster, then you must upgrade Oracle RAC on all three nodes. You cannot upgrade only two nodes of the cluster, and then remove the third node and instance in the upgrade.
If you have any database data stored on RAW devices, then before you start Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation, you must use RMAN to copy that data to Oracle ASM or to another supported file system.
As with any system change, follow common industry standards for data recovery planning, and back up your existing database before upgrading your software.
See Also:
Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for information about how to prepare for upgrading an existing databaseDuring a Typical installation, you create your database with Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA), and automatic memory management is enabled. If you choose advanced installation, then you can either specify memory allocation manually, or enable automatic memory management.
With automatic memory management, the Oracle RAC instances automatically manage and tune memory for you. With automatic memory management, you choose a memory target, and the instance automatically distributes memory between the system global area (SGA) and the instance program global area (instance PGA). As memory requirements change, the instance dynamically redistributes memory between the SGA and instance PGA.
If you choose not to enable automatic memory management during installation, then you can enable it after installation. Enabling automatic memory management after installation involves a shutdown and restart of the database.
See Also:
Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about automatic memory managementBefore you start an installation on which you want to support languages other than English, review Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide.
Note the following:
Oracle recommends that you use Unicode AL32UTF8 as the database character set.
Unicode is the universal character set that supports most of the currently spoken languages. Unicode also supports many historical scripts (alphabets). Unicode is the native encoding of many technologies, including Java, XML, XHTML, ECMAScript, and LDAP. Unicode is ideally suited for databases connected to the Internet and the global economy.
The locale setting of your operating system session determines the language of the user interface and the globalization behavior for components such as Oracle Universal Installer, Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NETCA), and Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA). The locale setting also determines the globalization behavior of Oracle Database sessions created by a user application through the Oracle JDBC driver, unless overridden by the application.
The character set specified by the NLS_LANG environment variable determines the language of the user interface and the globalization behavior for components such as SQL*Plus, exp, and imp. This variable also sets the language and territory used by the client application and the database. The NLS_LANG environment variable also declares the character set for entering and displaying data by the client application.
The NLS_LANG environment variable should reflect the setting of the operating system character set of the client. For example, if the database character set is AL32UTF8 and the client is running on a Windows operating system, then you should not set the NLS_LANG environment variable to AL32UTF8 because there are no UTF-8 WIN32 clients. Instead, the NLS_LANG setting should reflect the code page of the client. For example, on an English Windows client, the code page is 1252, so an appropriate setting for NLS_LANG is AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8MSWIN1252.
Note:
Oracle Database Installation Guide for your platform contains a more detailed discussion of database character sets used with different languages, and provides more information about installing and configuring Oracle Database globalization support.Oracle Clusterware must be installed successfully as part of an Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster installation before attempting to install Oracle RAC.
To complete installations successfully, ensure that required hardware, network, and operating system preinstallation steps for Oracle software are performed as required. Failure to complete the required preinstallation steps is the most common reason for unsuccessful installations.
Before Oracle Clusterware is installed as part of an Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster installation, you must have completed installing and configuring CPUs, memory, shared storage, local disks, network cards, host bus adapters, interconnects, and any other networking or server hardware. You should also have installed the operating system, and any required packages or third-party software. Review your vendor documentation to complete these tasks, and if relevant, work with your vendor to complete the Oracle preinstallation steps that are listed in this document to confirm that the vendor hardware and software is correctly configured.
Server and network preparation for installation includes the following:
The following summary of server hardware and software configuration requirements and recommendations will enable you to prepare for a successful installation of Oracle RAC:
Each node in a cluster requires the following:
Supported server hardware, including processors and system configuration.
Review the Oracle RAC Technologies Certification Matrix before starting an installation on your current hardware and before purchasing new hardware to ensure that the hardware is supported by Oracle Clusterware with Oracle RAC 12c Release 1 (12.1). You can view the certification matrix on Oracle Technology Network. See Section 1.1.3, "Check Oracle Technology Network."
Also review the preinstallation chapters in Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for more details about the supported configurations.
Note:
You must use the same operating system on each node in the cluster. Oracle strongly recommends that you use the same software configurations on each node of the cluster. Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC do not support heterogeneous platforms (each server must run the same Oracle software binaries) in the same cluster.Operating system updates listed in the system requirements.
For some operating systems, Oracle may require updates, such as service packs and individual patches. If such requirements exist, then they are stated in the Release Notes for a particular release. You can also apply other operating system patches as recommended by Microsoft, if there are no "certification exceptions" listed in the Release Notes. Refer to your operating system vendor for required operating system updates.
Oracle recommends the following tasks to simplify server installation and maintenance, and to prevent service issues:
Using a time protocol, such as Network Time Protocol (NTP), to ensure that all nodes in the cluster use the same reference time. With Oracle Clusterware 12c Release 1 (12.1), if NTP servers are not provided during Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation, then the Oracle Clusterware installation enables the Cluster Time Synchronization Service (CTSS).
Configuring redundant switches, for all cluster sizes.
Using identical server hardware on each node, to simplify server maintenance.
Avoiding resource contention issues by not installing Oracle RAC on a primary domain controller or backup domain controller.
After you have set up server hardware, review "Checking the Hardware Requirements" in Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide to ensure that your system has enough RAM, that the TEMP environment variable points to a location that has enough available space for the installation, and that your system meets other hardware requirements.
Configure the users and user environments as described in the preinstallation chapters of Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide. These include the following tasks:
Creating operating system users to install Oracle software
Configuring the Oracle software owner user environments
See Also:
Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows for information about creating user groupsTo install the Oracle Real Application Clusters software, you should use a Windows Domain User Account. You can use a Local User to perform the installation provided the user has the same password on all node. The user that performs the software installation is the Oracle Installation User.
During installation, you can specify an Oracle Home user. The Oracle Home User may be the Windows Built-in Account or a Windows Domain User Account. Oracle recommend the use of Windows Domain User Account as Oracle Home User for Oracle RAC homes.
Note:
You must use a Windows Domain user account for the Oracle Home user to install the Oracle RAC software on Oracle ACFS.See Also:
Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows x64 (64-Bit) for more information about the Oracle Installation user and the Oracle Home user and their requirements on Windows platformsDuring installation, the following user groups are created, if they do not already exist, as described in Table 1-1. In the following table, the Homename variable refers to the logical Homename for a software installation, which is of the form OraproductmajorVersionHomenumber. For example, OraDB12cHome1.
Table 1-1 User Groups Created During Oracle RAC Installation
| Operating System Group Name | Related System Privilege | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
|
SYSDBA system privilege for all Oracle Database instances on the server |
A special OSDBA group for the Windows operating system. Members of this group can use operating system authentication to gain SYSDBA privileges for any database installed on the server. |
|
|
SYSOPER system privilege for all Oracle Database instances on the server |
A special OSOPER group for the Windows operating system. Members of this group can use operating system authentication to gain SYSOPER privileges for any database installed on the server; this group is empty on initial creation. You can add users manually to this group after installation. |
|
|
SYSDBA system privilege for Oracle Database instances that run from the Oracle home named |
An OSDBA group for a specific Oracle Home with a name of Homename. Members of this group can use operating system authentication to gain SYSDBA system privilege for any database that runs from the specific Oracle home. If you specified an Oracle Home User during installation, the user is added to this group during installation. |
|
|
SYSOPER system privilege for Oracle Database instances that run from the Oracle home named |
An OSDBA group for the Oracle Home with a name of Homename. Members of this group can use operating system authentication to gain SYSOPER system privilege for any database that runs from the specific Oracle home. This group does not have any members after installation, but you can manually add users to this group after the installation completes. |
|
|
SYSDBA system privilege on the Oracle ASM instance |
The OSDBA group for the Oracle ASM instance. This group grants access for the database to connect to Oracle ASM. During installation, the Oracle Installation Users are configured as members of this group. After you create an Oracle Database, this groups contains the Oracle Home Users of those database homes. |
|
|
SYSBACKUP system privilege for Oracle Database instances that run from the Oracle home named |
OSBACKUPDBA group for a specific Oracle Home with a name of Homename. Members of this group have privileges necessary for performing database backup and recovery tasks on all database instances that run from the specified Oracle Home. |
|
|
SYSDG system privilege for Oracle Database instances that run from the Oracle home named |
OSDGDBA group for a specific Oracle Home with a name of Homename. Members of this group have privileges necessary for performing Data Guard administrative tasks on all database instances that run from the specified Oracle Home. |
|
|
SYSKM system privilege for Oracle Database instances that run from the Oracle home named |
OSKMDBA group for a specific Oracle Home with a name of Homename. Members of this group have privileges necessary for performing encryption key management tasks on all database instances that run from the specified Oracle Home. |
Oracle creates and populates the groups listed in Table 1-1 during installation to ensure proper operation of Oracle products. You can manually add other users to these groups to assign these database privileges to other Windows users.
Oracle creates other groups during installation, such as ORA_INSTALL, ORA_CLIENT_LISTENERS, ORA_GRID_LISTENERS, and ORA_HOMENAME_SVCSIDS. You should not change the groups, memberships, and ACLs associated with the various operating system groups created by Oracle software.
See Also:
Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about database system privileges
Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information about Oracle ASM system privileges
A Job Role Separation privileges configuration of Oracle ASM is a configuration with groups and users that divide administrative access privileges to the Oracle ASM installation from other administrative privileges users and groups associated with other Oracle installations. Administrative privileges access is granted by membership in separate operating system groups, and installation privileges are granted by using different installation owners for each Oracle installation.
Note:
This configuration is optional, to restrict user access to Oracle software by responsibility areas for different administrator users.You can create new administrative privileges that are more task-specific and less privileged than the SYSDBA and SYSOPER system privileges. These additional privileges support specific administrative privileges tasks required for everyday database operation, such as backing up databases, monitoring Data Guard, or managing encryption keys. Users granted these system privileges are also authenticated through operating system group membership.
See Also:
Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for more information about system privileges and operating systems groups
The Oracle base directory is the location where Oracle software and configuration files installed are stored. By default, OUI installs the Oracle Database software binary files by version and Oracle Home Name in a subdirectory of the Oracle base directory. An Oracle base directory can be used for multiple installations of software by a given installation owner. A separate Oracle base directory is created for each Oracle Home user you specify during installing of the Oracle Database software.
The Oracle Home User has complete control over the Oracle base directory. For reasons of security, different Windows User Accounts used as Oracle Home Users for different Oracle home directories are not allowed to share the same Oracle base directory. However, to support Oracle Database upgrade, Oracle supports the sharing of an Oracle base directory between a Built-in Account and a Windows User Account. If you choose to reuse an Oracle base directory from an earlier release of Oracle Database in Oracle Database 12c Release, then the Oracle Home User of the Oracle Database 12c Release has complete control over the Oracle base directory of the earlier release.
The default Oracle base path contains the Oracle Home User name if an Oracle Home User is specified during installation of the Oracle Database software. In a default Windows installation, the Oracle base directory appears as follows, where username is the Oracle Installation user if you choose Windows Built-in Account as the Oracle Home User, or it is the Oracle Home user if one is specified:
DRIVE_LETTER:\app\username
If you have separate Oracle Home Users for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation and the Oracle RAC installation, then you have two Oracle base paths that are in accordance with Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines. For example, if the user grid is the Oracle Home User for the Oracle Grid infrastructure installation and the user oracle is the Oracle Home User for the Oracle Database installation, then you have two Oracle base directories. In the following examples, X: represents a mounted disk:
X:\app\grid—This is the Oracle base for the Grid user (grid in this example), which is the Oracle Home User for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation
X:\app\oracle—This is the Oracle base for the Oracle user (oracle in this example), which is the Oracle Home User for the Oracle Database installation
Caution:
After installing Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) (or later) release with a Windows User Account as Oracle Home User, do not install older versions of Oracle Databases that share the same Oracle Base Directory. During installation of the software for older releases, the ACLs are reset and Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) (or later) services may not be able to access the Oracle Base directory and files.The Oracle home directory is located under the Oracle base directory. For example, in a default Windows installation, if you name the Oracle home directory dbhome_1, it appears in the Oracle base directory as follows, where username is the Oracle Installation user if you do not choose Windows security, or it is the Oracle Home user if one is specified:
DRIVE_LETTER:\app\username\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1
Oracle homes also have a name associated with them, which is automatically assigned by the installer.
Ensure that the paths that you select for Oracle software, such as Oracle home paths and the Oracle base path, use only ASCII characters. Because some Oracle software directory paths use installation user names by default, this ASCII character restriction applies to user names, file names, and directory names.
You must configure each server so it can communicate with the other nodes in the cluster. Also, you should configure one or more nodes to access the internet and support a web browser.
During the installation of Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster, identify the planned use for the global interface for each node, and provide the interface information required for the type of node (Processing Node or Core Node) that you are configuring.
Identify each interface as one of the following:
A Public interface type (used with public IP addresses and virtual IP addresses)
A Private interface type (used with the networks for the interconnect between cluster member nodes)
An ASM interface type (used for communication with Oracle ASM instances on other nodes)
An ASM and Private interface type (used for both the interconnect network between cluster member nodes and communication with Oracle ASM instances on other nodes)
A Do not use interface type, which Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC ignores
For example, an interface used as a dedicated interface for a network file system such as NFS should be marked as a Do not use interface type.
You configure the network during the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation; you do not perform additional network configuration during an Oracle RAC installation.
The Oracle software is installed on one node in the cluster and then OUI copies the software to the other nodes in the cluster. Verify that each node in your cluster can communicate with the other nodes using the net use command, for example, on node1 you would use the following command:
C:\> net use \\node2\c$ The command completed successfully.
On node2, you would use the following command:
C:\> net use \\node1\c$ The command completed successfully.
You need a web browser to access documentation, to use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Express, and to use Oracle Application Express. Web browsers must support JavaScript and the HTML 4.0 and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 1.0 standards. The following browsers meet these requirements:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0
Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0
Firefox 3.x
Firefox 8.0
Google Chrome
Safari
Oracle Clusterware and Oracle RAC are tested with specific operating system versions, and specific operating system components. Oracle requires that you use the operating system versions and components that are certified for this release.
Oracle recommends that you or your system administrator review the system requirements carefully in Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide before beginning installation, to ensure that your system meets these requirements. If your system does not meet minimum hardware, operating system version, and component requirements, then your installation may fail to complete, or other errors may develop during Oracle Clusterware or Oracle Database run time.
In addition to the standard system requirements configuration, deployment on specific server hardware can include additional operating system configuration steps. Review the preinstallation chapter in Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide, and check the My Oracle Support Certify page to ensure that you are aware of any additional requirements or recommendations for your specific hardware and platform configuration.
For both the Enterprise and Standard Editions of Oracle RAC, the hard disk requirements for Oracle Database components include 32 MB required to install Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and OUI on the disk partition where the operating system is installed. If sufficient space is not detected, then the installation fails and an error message appears.
To install Oracle RAC, you must configure shared storage for the database files and optionally the recovery files. The database fast recovery area must be located on shared storage.
See Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide to review storage options for installation planning. Storage and system administrators can see this chapter to configure storage for database files for an Oracle RAC database.
See Also:
Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information about recovery areasOracle Automatic Storage Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) is a multi-platform, scalable file system, and storage management technology that extends Oracle ASM functionality to support customer files maintained outside of the Oracle Database. Files supported by Oracle ACFS include database and application executable files, trace files, alert logs, application reports, BFILEs, and configuration files.
The Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager (Oracle ADVM) provides volume management services for disks and a standard disk device driver interface to clients (users and applications). File systems and other disk-based applications issue I/O requests to Oracle ADVM volume devices as they would to other storage devices on a vendor operating system. Oracle ADVM extends Oracle ASM by providing a disk driver interface to Oracle ASM storage allocated as Oracle ASM volume files. You can use Oracle ADVM to create virtual disks that contain file systems. These file systems contained on Oracle ASM volumes can support files beyond Oracle database files, such as executable files, report files, trace files, alert logs, and other application data files.
For all installations, you must choose the storage option to use for Oracle RAC database files. You do not have to use the same storage option for each file type.
Use the following guidelines when choosing the storage options to use for each file type. You can choose any combination of the supported shared storage options for each file type if you satisfy all requirements listed for the chosen storage options
Oracle recommends that you choose Oracle ASM as the shared storage option for database and recovery files.
For Standard Edition and Standard Edition 2 (SE2) Oracle RAC installations, Oracle ASM is the only supported shared storage option for database or recovery files.
If you do not have a storage option that provides external file redundancy, then you must configure at least three voting file areas to provide voting file redundancy.
If you intend to use Oracle ASM with Oracle RAC and you did not use Oracle ASM for the Oracle Clusterware files (Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) and voting file), then you must configure one or more Oracle ASM instances with Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) before starting OUI.
If you intend to upgrade an existing Oracle RAC database, then you must ensure that your system meets the following conditions:
OUI and DBCA are run on the node where the Oracle RAC database instance is located.
The Oracle RAC database instance is running on the same nodes that you intend to make members of the new cluster installation. For example, if you have an existing Oracle RAC database running on a three-node cluster, then you must install the upgrade on all three nodes. You cannot upgrade only two nodes of the cluster, removing the third instance in the upgrade.
See Also:
Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for information about how to prepare for upgrading an existing databaseThere are two ways of storing Oracle Database and recovery files:
Note:
When creating a new Oracle RAC database using OUI, storing data files and recovery files directly on raw devices (unformatted partitions) is not supported. Place data files and recovery files on a shared file system or on Oracle ASM.Oracle Automatic Storage Management: Oracle ASM is an integrated, high-performance database file system and disk manager for Oracle Database files. It performs striping and mirroring of database files automatically.
A supported shared file system: Supported file systems include the following:
Direct Network File Systems (NFS) Client: You can configure Oracle Database to access NFS servers directly using Direct NFS Client. The Direct NFS Client supports using NFSv3, NFSv4 and NFSv4.1 (excluding Parallel NFS) to access the NFS server. Direct NFS Client is an optimized NFS client that provides faster and more scalable access to NFS storage located on NAS storage devices (accessible over TCP/IP). Direct NFS Client is built directly into the database kernel and provides faster performance than what can be provided by the operating system's NFS driver. When accessing NFS servers, Oracle Database bypasses the operating system and generates exactly the requests it needs (no user configuration or tuning required).
See Also:
Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows x64 (64-Bit) for instructions on how to create an Oracle RAC database that uses Direct NFS for storageTable 1-2 shows the storage options supported for storing Oracle Database files and Oracle Database recovery files. Oracle Database files include data files, control files, redo log files, the server parameter file (SPFILE), and the password file.
Table 1-2 Supported Storage Options for Oracle Database and Recovery Files
| Storage Option | File Types Supported | |
|---|---|---|
| Database | Recovery | |
|
Oracle ASM |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Oracle ASM Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) |
Yes (Oracle Database 12c Release 12.1 and later) except on Windows platforms |
Yes (Oracle Database 12c Release 12.1 and later) except on Windows platforms |
|
Direct NFS Client |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Local storage |
No |
No |
|
Shared unformatted partitions |
No |
No |
This section contains additional information about Oracle Clusterware, Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), and Oracle RAC that may be helpful for your installation plan team to read and decide how you want to configure your installation.
This section contains the following topics:
Cluster Nodes and Shared Components of Oracle RAC Installations
Oracle Database 12c Real Application Clusters Release Compatibility
In past releases, Oracle ASM was installed as part of the Oracle Database installation. With Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) and later releases, Oracle ASM is part of an Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation. If you are upgrading an existing Oracle ASM installation, then you must upgrade Oracle ASM by running an Oracle Grid Infrastructure upgrade.
If you did not select Oracle ASM as the storage option for the Oracle Clusterware files, then you must first use Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) on one of the cluster nodes to configure Oracle ASM, create an Oracle ASM instance, and create a disk group to use for your Oracle Database storage.
Oracle Clusterware provides clustering services. Currently, there are no supported clusterware products other than Oracle Clusterware for the Microsoft Windows platforms. If you intend to install Oracle RAC, then you must first install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster, which includes Oracle Clusterware.
For Oracle RAC, you and your system administrator should note that all Oracle RAC database instances share the control file, server parameter file (SPFILE), redo log files, and all data files. These files must be placed on Oracle ASM, and all the cluster database instances on cluster nodes must have access to these files. Each instance also has its own set of redo log files. During failures, shared access to redo log files enables surviving instances to perform recovery.
See Also:
Oracle Automatic Storage Management Administrator's Guide for more information about storage access from cluster nodesAs part of an installation of Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1), time zone files from versions 1 to 12 are installed in the path Oracle_home\oracore\zoneinfo. You can continue to use the current time zone file or upgrade to the latest version. Oracle recommends that you upgrade the server to the latest version of the time zone file. Upgrading to a new version of the time zone file may cause existing TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE (TSTZ) data to become stale. Using the newly provided DBMS_DST PL/SQL package, you can update the TSTZ data transparently, with minimal manual procedures and system downtime.
All instances of an Oracle RAC database must use the same time zone. The Oracle RAC database time zone defaults to the time zone setting of the Grid user, unless an instance is started with SQL*Plus. When you use SQL*Plus, you must be sure to use the same time zone setting for the database instance that is used for Oracle Clusterware. You can change the time zone Oracle Clusterware uses for a database by using the following command, where time_zone is the time zone to which you want to change:
srvctl setenv database -env "TZ=time_zone"
Time zone version files are also installed with Oracle Client installations. You do not have to upgrade Oracle Client time zone files immediately. Upgrades can be done at a time when it is most convenient to the system administrator. However, there could be a small performance penalty when client and server use different time zone versions.
See Also:
Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for information about preparing to upgrade TSTZ data
Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide for information about how to upgrade the time zone file and TSTZ data
Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide for information about performance effects of clients and servers operating with different versions of time zone files
You can install and operate different releases of Oracle Database software on the same computer.
If you have Oracle Clusterware installed and different releases of other Oracle software installed, then the Oracle Clusterware release must be later than or equal to the Oracle Database software release. Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM are both upgraded to 12c Release 1 (12.1) when you perform an Oracle Grid Infrastructure 12c Release 1 (12.1) installation.
If you have an existing Oracle Database home, then you can create a new Oracle Database home and install Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) into the new Oracle home. You should ensure that Oracle Clusterware is in a separate Oracle Grid Infrastructure home (referred to as the Grid home). Oracle Grid Infrastructure installations cannot be installed in the Oracle base directory for Oracle Database.
If you use the Oracle9i release of Oracle RAC, and you want to continue to use that release, then you must run cluster software that is compatible with that release, such as Oracle Cluster Manager.
Note:
To remove third party cluster software after upgrading your database, you must first remove the third party cluster software, and then re-install Oracle Clusterware.If OUI detects an earlier database release, then OUI asks you about your upgrade preferences. You have the option to upgrade an earlier release database with DBUA or to create a new database using DBCA. The information collected during this OUI dialog is passed to DBUA or DBCA after the software is installed.
If OUI detects an earlier Oracle Clusterware release, then you are asked to upgrade the existing Oracle Clusterware installation. Only one Oracle Clusterware version can be active on a server, and a server must be a member of only one cluster.
You cannot install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a standalone server (Oracle Restart) and then install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster. If you have Oracle Restart installed, then you must remove that installation before you can install Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster.
Note:
Do not move Oracle executable files from the directory in which they were installed to another location. To move the executable files to a new location, you must reinstall the software.You can run different releases of Oracle Database and Oracle ASM. For example, you can use Oracle ASM 12c Release 1 (12.1) with an Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) database. Leaf Node
Note:
When using different Oracle ASM and Oracle Database releases, the functionality of each depends on the functionality of the earlier software release. For example, an Oracle Database 11g release 11.2 database using an Oracle ASM 12c Release 1 (12.1) instance is not able to use new features available for Oracle ASM 12c Release 1 (12.1), but instead can use only Oracle ASM 11g release 11.2 features.See Also:
Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide for information about using earlier Oracle Database releases with Oracle Grid Infrastructure
Before you start your Oracle RAC installation, use CVU to ensure that your system is prepared for installing Oracle RAC. If any checks fail, then fix the errors reported, or contact your system or storage administrator to have the cause of the errors addressed.
CVU is available in the Grid home, in the bin directory. For example, if the Grid home is C:\app\12.1.0\grid, then CVU is located in the C:\app\12.1.0\grid\bin directory. To start CVU, navigate to the Grid home bin directory, and use a command similar to the following:
cluvfy.bat stage -pre dbinst -fixup -n nodelist -r release -verbose
In the preceding command, nodelist is a comma-delimited list of node names and release is the version of the Oracle Database software being installed. The -fixup and -verbose flags are optional.
For example, for a two-node cluster with node1 and node2, where you are testing the cluster to prepare to install Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) with Oracle RAC, the following command checks for system readiness:
cluvfy.bat stage -pre dbinst -fixup -n node1,node2 -r 12c -verbose
For more information about CVU commands, run the command cluvfy.bat -help.
See Also:
Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment Guide for detailed information about CVUIf you are planning an installation on a system where you have an existing Oracle RAC or Oracle Database installation, then you must perform additional tasks to prepare your system for installation.
Table 1-3 provides an overview of what you must do if you have an existing Oracle Database installation. Review the table and perform tasks as required.
See Also:
Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for additional information about preparing for and performing upgradesTable 1-3 Overview of System Preparation for Upgrades or Co-existing Databases
| Installation Scenario | What you need to do |
|---|---|
|
Upgrading from Oracle Database 10g release 1 (10.1) to 12c Release 1 (12.1) |
No additional tasks. Refer to "Installing Oracle Database 12c on a System with Oracle Database 10g" |
|
Installing Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) on a system to coexist with Oracle Database 10g release 1 (10.1) |
No additional tasks. Refer to "Installing Oracle Database 12c on a System with Oracle Database 10g" |
If your system has an Oracle Database 10g installation, and you install Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) either to coexist with or to upgrade the Oracle Database 10g installation, then most installation types configure and start a default Oracle Net listener using TCP/IP port 1521 and the IPC key value EXTPROC. One of the following occurs:
During a co-existing installation, Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) automatically migrates the listener and related files from the Oracle Database 10g Oracle home to the Oracle Database 11g Oracle home.
During an upgrade, Oracle Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA) automatically locates the existing Oracle Database10g listener, and migrates the listener to Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1).