Backing up file systems on Oracle Exadata compute can be a daunting task if you are unaware of the prerequisites and best practices. To help you backup your file systems effectively and with least discrepancies, we are bringing you this interesting step-by-step guide on how to back up your file system using Oracle Exadata Sanpshot Based Backup of Compute Node to NFS Share

It is very important to take file system backup on Oracle Exadata compute nodes before we make any major changes to the operating system or critical software. On Oracle Exadata Compute nodes / (root) and /u01 file systems contains the operating system and GI/DB software respectively. These are the most critical file systems on Oracle Exadata computes.

By default, the / (root) and /u01 file system are sized 30GB and 100GB respectively.

Scenarios in which we must take file system backup are:

– Operating System Patching or Upgrade
– Grid Infrastructure Patching or Upgrade
– Database Patching or Upgrade
– Operating System configuration changes
– Increasing/decreasing file system size

In this article, we will demonstrate how to backup file system on Oracle Exadata Compute nodes running Linux Operating System to external storage NFS Share.

Environment Details

Exadata Model	X4-2 Half Rack HP 4 TB
Exadata Components	4 – Compute nodes, 7 – Storage cells & 2 – IB switches
Exadata Storage cells	DBM01CEL01 – DBM01CEL07
Exadata Compute nodes	DBM01DB01 – DBM01DB04
Exadata Software Version	19.2.3.0
Exadata DB Version	11.2.0.4.180717

Prerequisites

– Root user access on Compute nodes
– NFS mount with sufficient storage to storing file system backup

Current root and /u01 file system sizes

[root@ip01db01 ~]# df -h / /u01

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbSys1 59G 39G 18G 70% /

/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbOra1 197G 171G 17G 92% /u01

NFS share details

10.10.10.1:/nfs/backup/

1. As root user, log in to the Exadata Compute node you wish to backup

[root@ip01db01 ~]# id root

uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root),1(bin),2(daemon),3(sys),4(adm),6(disk),10(wheel)

2. Create a mount point to mount NFS share

[root@dm01db01 ~]# mkdir -p /mnt/backup

[root@dm01db01 ~]# mount -t nfs -o rw,intr,soft,proto=tcp,nolock 10.10.10.1:/nfs/backup/ /mnt/backup

3. Determine the file system type extension root and u01 file system

[root@ip01db01 ~]# mount -l

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)

proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)

devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,size=131804372k,nr_inodes=32951093,mode=755)

securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)

tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,size=264225792k)

/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbSys1 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered) [DBSYS]

/dev/mapper/VGExaDb-LVDbOra1 on /u01 type ext3 (rw,nodev,relatime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered) [DBORA]

/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext3 (rw,nodev,relatime,errors=continue,barrier=1,data=ordered) [BOOT]

4. Note down the file system type for root and /u01: ext3. Take a snapshot-based of the root and u01 directories, Label the snapshot and Mount the snapshot

[root@dm01db01 ~]# lvcreate -L5G -s -n root_snap /dev/VGExaDb/LVDbSys1

Logical volume “root_snap” created.

[root@dm01db01 ~]# lvcreate -L5G -s -n u01_snap /dev/VGExaDb/LVDbOra1

Logical volume “u01_snap” created.

[root@dm01db01 ~]# e2label /dev/VGExaDb/root_snap DBSYS_SNAP

[root@dm01db01 ~]# e2label /dev/VGExaDb/u01_snap DBORA_SNAP

[root@dm01db01 ~]# mkdir -p /mnt/snap/root

[root@dm01db01 ~]# mkdir -p /mnt/snap/u01

[root@dm01db01 ~]# mount /dev/VGExaDb/root_snap /mnt/snap/root -t ext3

[root@dm01db01 ~]# mount /dev/VGExaDb/u01_snap /mnt/snap/u01 -t ext3

[root@dm01db01 ~]# df -h /mnt/snap/root

[root@dm01db01 ~]# df -h /mnt/snap/u01

5. Change to the directory for the backup and Create the backup file

[root@dm01db01 ~]# cd /mnt/backup

[root@dm01db01 ~]# tar -pjcvf /mnt/backup/mybackup.tar.bz2 * /boot –exclude /mnt/backup/mybackup.tar.bz2 > /tmp/backup_tar.stdout 2> /tmp/backup_tar.stderr

6. Monitor the /tmp/backup_tar.stderr file for errors. Errors such as failing to tar open sockets can be ignored.

7. Unmount the snapshots and remove the snapshots for the root and /01 directories.

[root@dm01db01 ~]# cd /

[root@dm01db01 /]# umount /mnt/snap/u01

[root@dm01db01 /]# umount /mnt/snap/root

[root@dm01db01 /]# df -h /mnt/snap/u01

[root@dm01db01 /]# df -h /mnt/snap/root

[root@dm01db01 /]# ls -l /mnt/snap

[root@dm01db01 /]# rm -rf /mnt/snap

[root@dm01db01 /]# lvremove /dev/VGExaDb/u01_snap

Do you really want to remove active logical volume u01_snap? [y/n]: y

Logical volume “u01_snap” successfully removed

[root@dm01db01 /]# lvremove /dev/VGExaDb/root_snap

Do you really want to remove active logical volume root_snap? [y/n]: y

Logical volume “root_snap” successfully removed

8. Unmount the NFS share

[root@dm01db01 /] umount /mnt/backup

Repeat the above steps on the remaining compute nodes to backup root & u01 file system

We hope this article helps you smoothly backup your file system on Oracle Exadata Compute node running Oracle Linux using NFS Share. Stay tuned for more step-by-step guides on implementing and using Oracle Database Systems exclusively on Netsoftmate

Netsoftmate provides the best standard services when it comes to Oracle databases management, covering all comples database products. Sign-up for a free 30 minutes call by clicking on the link below –

Click here and fill the contact us form for a free 30 minutes consultation

Oracle DBCS : Restart An Oracle Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

By Netsoftmate on

February 9, 2018

- Uncategorized

You made some configuration changes to the Oracle Cloud Compute Node and it requires a restart/reboot take affect.

In this article we will demonstrate how to restart a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment.

Steps to Restart a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment.

Method 1:

Open a web browser and enter the URL you received in the Welcome email to login to Oracle Cloud Account

Enter your username and password

On the home page, Click “Menu” under “Database” Cloud Service as shown below

Click “Open Service Console”

On the this page, Click “Menu” as shown

Click “Restart” from the list

Click “OK” to confirm

A message displays that the restart request is accepted. Click on Instance name “NSM-DBaaS”

We can see that the status has changed to “Service Maintenance..”

We can now see that the status has changed to Ready”. This completed the restart process

Method 2

Open PuTTY session on your desktop and enter Compute Node IP address

On the left pane, expand “SSH” and select “Auth”. On the right pane, click on “Browse” button. Select the Private Key that matches the Public Key for your Deployment. Click “Open”

Wait for few minutes and execute steps 1 and 2 above.

Switch to oracle user and start the databsae if it not started already

Verify the database status. This completed the restart process

Conclusion

In this article we have learned how to restart a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment.

Oracle DBCS : Start An Oracle Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

By Netsoftmate on

February 7, 2018

- Uncategorized

You want to start a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment after completing your maintenance work. When you start a database deployment, you can access it again and can perform any management operations.

Starting a database deployment is very simple and it is similar to powering on a computer or laptop.

When database deployment is started, its CPU and RAM are allocated. As a result, it consumes OCPU and memory resources and so metering and billing of these resources are started.

In this article we will demonstrate how to start a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment.

Steps to Start a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment.

Open a web browser and enter the URL you received in the Welcome email to login to Oracle Cloud Account

Enter your username and password

On the home page, Click “Menu” under “Database” Cloud Service as shown below

Click “Open Service Console”

On the this page, Click “Menu” as shown

Click “Start” from the list

Click “OK” to confirm

A message displays that the start request is accepted

We can see that the status has changed to “Service Maintenance”. Click on Instance name “NSM-DBaaS”

We can see that the status is still under “Service Maintenance..”

We can now see that the status has changed to Ready”

Open PuTTY session on your desktop and enter Compute Node IP address

On the left pane, expand “SSH” and select “Auth”. On the right pane, click on “Browse” button. Select the Private Key that matches the Public Key for your Deployment. Click “Open”

Conclusion

In this article we have learned how to start a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment. Starting a database deployment is very simple and it is similar to powering on a computer or laptop. When database deployment is started, its CPU and RAM are allocated. As a result, it consumes OCPU and memory resources and so metering and billing of these resources are started.

Oracle DBCS : Stop An Oracle Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

By Netsoftmate on

February 6, 2018

- Uncategorized

You want to stop a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment as you are not using it or for some maintenance work. When you stop a database deployment, you can’t access it and can’t perform any management operations other than starting or deleting the Database Deployment.

Stopping a database deployment is very simple and it is similar to powering off a computer or laptop.

It is important to note that when database deployment is stopped, its CPU and RAM are stopped. As a result, it consumes no OCPU or memory resources and so metering and billing of these resources stop. However, all the other resources of the database deployment continue to exist and so continue to be metered and billed, including.

In this article we will demonstrate how to stop a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment.

Steps to Stop a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

Open a web browser and enter the URL you received in the Welcome email to login to Oracle Cloud Account

Enter your username and password

On the home page, Click “Menu” under “Database” Cloud Service as shown below

Click “Open Service Console”

On the this page, Click “Menu” as shown

Click “Stop” from the list

Click “OK” to confirm

A message displays that the stop request is accepted

We can see that the status has changed to “Service Maintenance..”. Click on Instance name “NSM-DBaaS”

We can see that the status is still under “Service Maintenance..”. Under Overview section it says “Stopping service..”

We can now see that the status has changed to “Service Stopped”

Open PuTTY session on your desktop and enter Compute Node IP address

On the left pane, expand “SSH” and select “Auth”. On the right pane, click on “Browse” button. Select the Private Key that matches the Public Key for your Deployment. Click “Open”

Connection timed out. It means that the server is down and not accessible

Conclusion

In this article we have learned how to stop a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment. When database deployment is stopped, its CPU and RAM are stopped. As a result, it consumes no OCPU or memory resources and so metering and billing of these resources stop. However, all the other resources of the database deployment continue to exist and so continue to be metered and billed, including.

Oracle DBCS : Configure and Use VNC (GUI) On Oracle Cloud Compute Node

By Netsoftmate on

February 5, 2018

- Uncategorized

When you create a Database Deployment in Oracle Database Cloud Service, the following tasks are completed for you:

Compute Node Allocated
Storage Allocated
Virtual Machine Image Installed
Set Keys and Privileges
Install and Configure Database
Configure Backup
Configure Tools
Configure Access

Network access to the Compute Node associated with Oracle Database Cloud Service is primarily provided by SSH connections on port 22. By default SSH port 22 is opened to allow access to the tools, utilities and other resources on the Compute Node associated with the Oracle Database Cloud Services. You can use SSH client software such as PuTTY on Windows to establish a secure connection and log in as “opc” or “oracle” user. You can also connect to Compute node using GUI interface, for this you can use VNC.

In this article we will demonstrate how to connect to Compute Node using VNC.

Prerequisites

IP address of Compute Node
TigerVNC Viewer client software
TigerVNC Server package installed on Compute Node

Steps to connect to Oracle Database Cloud Compute Node using VNC on Windows Operating System

Open PuTTY session on your desktop and enter Compute Node IP address

On the left pane, expand “SSH” and select “Auth”. On the right pane, click on “Browse” button. Select the Private Key that matches the Public Key for your Deployment. Click “Open”

Enter login as “opc”. This will connect you to the compute node without password

Switch to root by executing “sudo -s” command. Confirm that you are switched to root by executing “id” command

Verify your Operating System version. Here the OS is OEL and version is 6 with update 8

Navigate to the yum repository directory and open the public yum repository file

In the file look for your operating system version, example ol6_latest and make sure “enabled=1” is set

Next look for operating system base update, example ol6_u8_base and make sure “enabled=1” is set

Verify the file is updated successfully

Install the Tigervnc* package using the yum utility

Type y and hit return

We can see that the package installation completed successfully

Verify that the package is installed using rpm -qa command

Verify if vnc server is running or not as root and oracle user. We can see that vnc server is not running

Let’s start the vnc server as oracle users. Enter a password of your choice and verify. From the ‘ps -ef|grep vnc’ command output note down the port numbers :1 and 5901

Open Tiger VNC Viewer on your desktop/laptop and enter the port :1

Connection failed…. This is because the port 5901 is not opened on the Compute Node. We should open the port 5901 and try again

Follow the procedure below to configure custom Security List and Rules to enable access to specific security applications (VNC application and port range 5901 – 5905) on the compute node.

Open a web browser and enter the URL you received in the Welcome email to login to Oracle Cloud Account

Enter your username and password

On the home page, Click “Menu” under “Compute Classic” Cloud Service as shown below

Click “Open Service Console”

Click on “Network”

Expand “Shared Network”

Click “Security Applications” and then “Create Security Application”

Enter a Security Application Name, Port Type, Port Range Start, Port Range End and a Description and click Create. In our scenario we are enabling access to VNC application on the ports between 5901 and 5905

Make sure the Security Application is created by searching it

Click “Security Lists” and then “Create Security List”

Enter Security List Name and leave Inbound Policy and Outbound Policy to DEFAULT value and click Create

Make sure the Security List is created by searching it

Click “Security Rules” and then “Create Security Rule”

Enter the details as show below:

Name: Any desired meaningful name
Status: Enabled to enable the rule
Security Application: we create above
Source: Security IP List -> public-internet
Destination: select security list created above from drop down
Click Create

Make sure the Security Rule is created by searching it

Click “Instances”

Select your Instance and scroll down

Click “Add Security List”

Select “Security List” create above from the drop down list

Make sure the Security List added to your Instance

Open VNC on your desktop/Laptop and enter the IP address of your Database Deployment

Enter VNC password used at the time of starting VNC server software on the compute node

Enter Oracle user password given at the time of configuring VNC Server to connect to the Compute node

We are now connected to the compute node in GUI interface using VNC

Enjoy working with Compute Node in GUI mode…

Conclusion
In this article we have learned how to connect to Oracle Cloud Compute Node using VNC in GUI Mode. To accomplish this we need to install Operating System packages and create custom Security List and Rules to enable access to specific security applications (VNC application and port range 5901 – to 5905) on the compute node. Oracle Compute Cloud Service networking create resources to provide network access to the compute node.

Oracle DBCS : Installing Operating System Packages or RPMs

By Netsoftmate on

February 1, 2018

- Uncategorized

When you create a database deployment in Oracle Database Cloud Service, a Compute node is created with a virtual machine image installed and the necessary operating system users are created. You can use the opc users to login to the compute node and execute root command by switching to root user. Since you have access to the compute node and root users access you can install the operating system packages based on your business needs.

In this article we will demonstrate how to install operating system packages on a Oracle Cloud Compute Node.

Steps to Install Operating System Packages

Open PuTTY session on your desktop and enter Compute Node IP address

On the left pane, expand “SSH” and select “Auth”. On the right pane, click on “Browse” button. Select the Private Key that matches the Public Key for your Deployment. Click “Open”

Enter login as “opc”. This will connect you to the compute node without password

Switch to root by executing “sudo -s” command. Confirm that you are switched to root by executing “id” command

Verify that the packages you want to install already exist or not. Here I am installing, tigervnc, gedit, firefox, desktop and gnome system monitor packages

Verify your Operating System version. Here the OS is OEL and version is 6 with update 8

Navigate to the yum repository directory and open the public yum repository file

In the file look for your operating system version, example ol6_latest and make sure “enabled=1” is set

Next look for operating system base update, example ol6_u8_base and make sure “enabled=1” is set

Verify the file is updated successfully

Install the package using the yum utility. Here I am installing gedit package

Type y and hit return

We can see that the package installation completed successfully

Verify that the package is installed using rpm -qa command

Let’s install Tigervnc package

Similarly install the required packages and verify that they are installed successfully

Conclusion

In this article we have learned how to install Operating System packages on the Oracle Cloud Compute node.

Step 10 – Oracle DBCS : Create Additional OS Users On Oracle Cloud Compute Node

By Netsoftmate on

January 16, 2018

- Uncategorized

When a Oracle Database Cloud deployment is created, it creates following 3 OS users:

opc: This user is authorized to login to compute and execute root commands. It can use sudo -s command to switch to root.
root: This user is not authorized to login to the compute node. To perform operations that requires root user access, connect to the compute node as opc user and use the sudo command.
oracle: This user is authorized to login to the compute node and execute user level commands but not root commands.

If you want you can create additional operating system users to login to the compute node. The new user can perform OS standard operations, such as Install, configuring and running applications. You can provide sudo access to this user to execute sudo commands.

In this article we will demonstrate how to create additions OS users and grant the sudo permissions to execute sudo commands.

Steps to create additional OS users on Oracle Cloud Compute Node

Open PuTTY session on your desktop and enter Compute Node IP address

On the left pane, expand “SSH” and select “Auth”. On the right pane, click on “Browse” button. Select the Private Key that matches the Public Key for your Deployment. Click “Open”

Enter login as “opc”. This will connect you to the compute node without password. Switch to root by executing “sudo -s” command. Confirm that you are switched to root by executing “id” command.

Use the “useradd” command to create new user. Here we are creating a new OS user by name “nsmuser”

Now create the “.ssh” directory and “authorized_keys” file as shown below.

Copy the SSH Public key value from your desktop

Paste the SSH public key value to the “authorized_key” file. Save and exit the file

Verify the file is created and the contents of the file

Add the new user to the allowed users list under “sshd_config” file. Open the “sshd_config” file

Add the new user “nsmuser” to the the “Allowusers” line as show below. Save and exit the file

Verify the file is modified

Change the ownership and permissions of “.ssh” directory as show below. Restart the sshd daemon so the changes made to “sshd_config” can take affect.

Add the new user “nsmuser” to the “sudoers” file allow root access. Open the “sudoers” file as shown below

Add the line to the sudoers file as shown below

Verify that the new user is added to the sudoers file

Login to the Compute node using new user created above. Open PuTTY session and enter the Compute Node IP address, select the private key that matches the Public Key for your Deployment

Conclusion

In this article we have learned about cloud database deployment OS users, how to create additional OS user and grant sudoers permissions to execute sudo commands.

Step 9 – Oracle DBCS : Manage Network Security

By Netsoftmate on

January 15, 2018

- Uncategorized

To access network protocols and services on a compute node by using a port other than port 22, require additional configuration:

Enable network access to the port: Use the Oracle Database Cloud Service console to enable access to a port on a compute node.
Create an SSH tunnel to the port: Create SSH tunnel enables you to access a specific compute node port by using an SSH connection as the transport mechanism.

To provide network access to the compute node, the following Oracle Compute Cloud Service networking resources are created:

A permanent IP reservation named ipreservation is created and associated with the Compute Cloud Service instance (VM).
A security list named ora_db is created and associated with the compute node.
The following security applications (port specifications) are created so that they can be used in security rules to enable access to specific ports on the compute node:

ora_dbconsole provides TCP access using port 1158
ora_dbexpress provides TCP access using port 5500
ora_dblistener provides TCP access using the listener port that you specified when you created the database deployment (default 1521)
ora_http provides TCP access using port 80
ora_httpssl provides TCP access using port 443

The following rules are created when a database deployment is created. They are set to disabled by default:

ora_p2_ssh: Controls access to port 22 and this port is used by SSH client to connect to the compute node.
ora_p2_dbconsole: Controls access to port 1158 and this port is used by Enterprise Manager 11g Database Control.
ora_p2_dbexpress: Controls access to port 5500 and this port is used by Enterprise Manager Database Express 12c.
ora_p2_dblistener: Controls access to port 1521 and this port is used by SQL*Net.
ora_p2_http: Controls access to port 80 and this port is used for HTTP connections.
ora_p2_httpssl: Controls access to port 443 and this port is used for HTTPS connections, including Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS), Oracle Application Express (APEX), and Oracle DBaaS Monitor.

Oracle Database Cloud Service uses access rules to provide secure network access to database deployments. You can use the Oracle Database Cloud Service console to perform network access operations such as enabling and disabling access rules and creating new access rules.

You can create an access rule to enable ports not associated with a predefined rule, or to restrict access to ports to only permit connections from specific IP addresses. The security list is used in security rules to enable access to specific security applications (port specifications) on the compute node.

In this article we will demonstrate how to create custom Security List and Rules to enable access to specific security applications (VNC application and port range 5901 – 5905) on the compute node.

Open a web browser and enter the URL you received in the Welcome email to login to Oracle Cloud Account

https://myservices-xxxxx-xxxxxxxxxxef4b21bb7ee3b2cf4123d1.console.oraclecloud.com/mycloud/faces/dashboard.jspx

Enter your username and password

On the home page, Click “Menu” under “Compute Classic” Cloud Service as shown below

Click “Open Service Console”

Click on “Network”

Expand “Shared Network”

Click “Security Applications” and then “Create Security Application”

Enter a Security Application Name, Port Type, Port Range Start, Port Range End and a Description and click Create. In our scenario we are enabling access to VNC application on the ports between 5901 and 5905

Make sure the Security Application is created by searching it

Click “Security Lists” and then “Create Security List”

Enter Security List Name and leave Inbound Policy and Outbound Policy to DEFAULT value and click Create

Make sure the Security List is created by searching it

Click “Security Rules” and then “Create Security Rule”

Enter the details as show below:

Name: Any desired meaningful name

Status: Enabled to enable the rule

Security Application: we create above

Source: Security IP List -> public-internet

Destination: select security list created above from drop down

Click Create

Make sure the Security Rule is created by searching it

Click “Instances”

Select your Instance and scroll down

Click “Add Security List”

Select “Security List” create above from the drop down list

Make sure the Security List added to your Instance

Open VNC on your desktop/Laptop and enter the IP address of your Database Deployment

Enter VNC password used at the time of starting VNC server software on the compute node

Enter Oracle user password to connect to the Compute node

We are now connected to the compute node using VNC

Conclusion

In this article we have learned how to create custom Security List and Rules to enable access to specific security applications (VNC application and port range 5901 – to 5905) on the compute node. Oracle Compute Cloud Service networking create resources to provide network access to the compute node.

Good Contents Are Everywhere, But Here, We Deliver The Best of The Best.Please Hold on!

Home

About

Services

Blog

Contact

Cloud Services, Database Management Services, Oracle Exadata, Training

Step-by-step Guide of Exadata Snapshot Based Backup of Compute Node to NFS Share

Scenarios in which we must take file system backup are:

Environment Details

Prerequisites

Current root and /u01 file system sizes

NFS share details

1. As root user, log in to the Exadata Compute node you wish to backup

2. Create a mount point to mount NFS share

3. Determine the file system type extension root and u01 file system

4. Note down the file system type for root and /u01: ext3. Take a snapshot-based of the root and u01 directories, Label the snapshot and Mount the snapshot

5. Change to the directory for the backup and Create the backup file

6. Monitor the /tmp/backup_tar.stderr file for errors. Errors such as failing to tar open sockets can be ignored.

7. Unmount the snapshots and remove the snapshots for the root and /01 directories.

8. Unmount the NFS share

Repeat the above steps on the remaining compute nodes to backup root & u01 file system

Oracle DBCS : Restart An Oracle Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

Oracle DBCS : Start An Oracle Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

Oracle DBCS : Stop An Oracle Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

Steps to Stop a Database Cloud Service Database Deployment

Oracle DBCS : Configure and Use VNC (GUI) On Oracle Cloud Compute Node

Step 9 – Oracle DBCS : Manage Network Security

ABOUT US

Services

CONTACT US

Follow Us!