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  • Oracle Database Appliance Bare Metal Setup In A Nutshell

    Introduction


    Deploying an Oracle Database Appliance consists of several basic steps. It is very important to plan the ODA deployment properly before performing the actual steps, this helps you to avoid issues during deployment and save time.




    In this article I will layout the high level steps required to perform a successful ODA deployment.


    Pre-Deployment Steps



    • Gather Network details.

    Fill the ODA Pre-Install Checklist form with details like, Cluster name, Hostname, IP Address etc.
    Allocate IPs and Submit DNS and firewall requests
    Other network details required are, Domain name, DNS, NTP.
    Work with your Network administartor to gather all these details.


    • Oracle Appliance Manager Configurator

    Build the deployment configuration files using the Oracle Appliance Manager Configurator utility in offline mode. This is an optional step which will save time to complete the deployment and perform network validation before deployment.


    Read more on ODA configuration at: 

    http://netsoftmate.blogspot.in/2017/06/oracle-database-appliance-oda.html


    • Download ODA patches

    Download the below patches from MOS note 888888.1
    Read the MOS note carefully before downloading the patches.


    Here I am downloading the patches for ODA Bundle patch version 12.1.0.11



      • OS ISO image (2.1.2.11) – If you want to reimage ODA to latest ODA software version.

    12999313 Oracle Database Appliance 12.1.2.11.0 Bare Metal ISO Image.
    Choose the correct version when downloading the patch.

    • ODA Bundle Patch (26080564) – These patches are required to update the firmware post reimaging ODA


    File name: p26080564_1212110_Linux-x86-64_1of2.zip & p26080564_1212110_Linux-x86-64_2of2.zip

    • End-User Bundle


    12978712 – Oracle Database Appliance 12.1.2.11.0 End User Bundle (GI+RDBMS)
    Choose the correct version when downloading the patch.


    Deployment Steps



    • Receive Oracle Database Appliance delivery at Data Center
    • Unpack Oracle Database Appliance box
    • Read the Manually carefully that comes with ODA box
    • Mount ODA components as per guidelines
    • Connect the Power and Network Cables. Read the ODA Setup poster for your model, for example: Setup Poster X6-2 HA
    • Power On the PSU
    • Power On the Systems. Turn on the power to  Storage shelf first and the power on the ODA Node 0 and Node 1.
    • Configure and Setup Oracle ILOM Configuration.

    ILOM configuration via Serial port (Doc ID 1395445.1)
    How to Setup ILOM (Doc ID 1393191.1)

    • Using OS ISO image perform the complete reimage of both the nodes – Optional
    • Network Configuration –  Configure firstnet

    – Connect to ODA node 0 using ILOM and run firstnet
    – /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli configure firstnet
    – Verify you can ping node 0
    – Repeat the step on ODA node 1

    • Copy and unpack the ODA Bundle Patch (node 0 and 1) and End-user Bundle GI/RDBMS (node 0) patches to ODA under /tmp

    – Copy to /tmp or file system where there is more stapce
    – cd /tmp
    – /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli unpack -package /tmp/filename.zip

    • VNC Configuration and Connection – Optional

    To Deploy ODA you need GUI interface, to do this you make use of VNC server to connect with ODA and open GUI interface. You can also connect to Web ILOM and execute xstart to start VNC

    • Complete the ODA bare metal deployment

    /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli deploy

    • Update the firmware (ILOM, BIOS and so on)

    oakcli update –patch 12.1.2.10.0 –verify
    oakcli update -patch 12.1.2.10.0 –server -local (on both nodes)
    oakcli update -patch 12.1.2.10.0 –storage

    • Update RDBMS homes

    oakcli update -patch  12.1.2.11.0  –database or
    oakcli update -patch  12.1.2.11.0  –database –local


    Post Deployment and Cleanup


    • Validate ODA Deployment

    /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli show version -detail
    crsctl status res -t
    /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli validate -c storagetopology
    oakcli show dbhomes -detail
    oakcli validate -d
    oakcli validate -c OSDiskStorage
    oakcli validate -c SharedStorage
    oakcli validate -c SystemComponents
    oakcli validate -c NetworkComponents
    oakcli validate -c DiskCalibration

    • ODA Redeploy or Cleanup – Optional

    To perform a redeploy for the Oracle Database Appliance is a very simple task and is executed with the cleanupDeploy.pl script


    /opt/oracle/oak/onecmd/cleanupDeploy.pl


    Once this cleanupDeploy.pl script completes, you can rerun the deployment process using the Oracle Appliance Manager utility discussed earlier.


    Conclusion

    In this article we have learned the steps required to perform an Oracle Database Appliance Bare Metal Deployment. It is very important to consider the deployment steps carefully to avoid issues. ODA deployment is simple and very easy to perform.

  • Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) Bare Metal Deployment

    Introduction


    ODA Congigurator can be run in offline or online mode.


    Offline: Use the standalone ODA configurator to create an offline deployment plan and validate your network settings before the actual deployment. You can download the ODA configurator for offline deployment at:


    http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/database-appliance/overview/oda-configurator-1928685.html


    Online: You can configure your system at the time of deployment. In that case, you can use the online ODA Configurator which is part of the base Oracle Database Appliance software.


    In this article I will demonstrate how to perform a Bare Metal Deployment online.


    Before starting the Deployment, make sure the following tasks were completed:
    • ODA cabling is completed
    • ODA is Powered up
    • Gather the Network Information
    • Assign IP address to ILOM
    • Reimage ODA nodes – Optional
    • Configure initial network
    • Copy ODA software and unpack
    • Update firmware


    Steps to perform a Bare Metal ODA Deployment

    • Connect to first node of ODA using VNC (or you can also use Web ILOM)
    • Start ODA Deployment using the “oakcli deploy” command.
    oakcli command is located under /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli
    • On the welcome screen click next
    • On Configuration Type screen, you have options to choose from:
    Typical
    Custom
    SAP Application


    Here I am selecting “Custom” as it will give more flexibility to provide more information.

    Click Next


    Note: If you have create a configuration file already in offline mode. Use the Browse button to select it now.

    • On System Information screen, enter the following details:
    “System Name”
    This will be your prefix for Hostname, Interface, SCAN name and ILOM


    “Region” and “Timezone”

    Select appropriate


    “Database Backup Location” 

    You have “Internal” and “External” option. If you choose “Internal” the space will be used from DATA and RECO disk groups. Oracle will internally size DATA and RECO ASM disk group to 40% and 60% respectively.


    “Root password”

    Enter root password and confirm root password.


    “Disk Group Redundancy”

    Select HIGH or Normal


    “Accelerator Disk Group”

    select REDO or FLASH


    Click Next

    • On Generic Network screen, enter:
    Enter “Domain name” to be used
    Check the box if no DNS Server available.
    If you are using DNS and NTP server enter thier IPs.


    Click Next

    • On Public Network Screen:
    Enter the Node0 and Node1 IP, VIPs, SCAN IPs, Netmask and Gateway IP.
    Select bond0 for interface. This is the only choice.
    Enter ILOM IPs for ILOM0 and ILOM1, Netmask and Gateway IP


    Click Next

    • On Other Network Screen, enter:
    Enter the IPs for for Node0 and Node1 for net1, else click next to continue.


    Click Next

    • On Database Information screen, enter:
    If you don’t want to create an intial database uncheck the box and click next


    If you wish to create an initial database, check the box and fill the required information.

    “Database name”
    Name for the database to be created


    “Is Container Database”

    Choose true if you want to create a container database else false to create a regular (non-container database)


    “Database Type”

    Choose from OLTP, DSS or In-Memory.


    “Database Class”

    Choose from the 10 different database template that comes with ODA


    “Database Deployment”

    Choose from RAC, RAC One Node or Enter Edition (Standalone)


    “Database Files on Flash Storage”

    If you wish to store database in Flash disk select true


    Click Next

    • On Database Information Screen, Select:
    Database Language, Block Size, Characterset, Territory and National Character set.


    Click Next

    • On ASR Configuration Screen, Select:
    “Configure Internal Oracle ASR”
    If you wish to configure ASR on ODA Server and enert the Proxy server name, port number and MOS credentails


    “Configure External Oracle AS”

    If you wish to configure ASR on a separate server. Enter the ASR Manager Hostname or IP and port number.


    Select SNMP 2 for configuring ASR


    Note: If you don’t select to configure ASR now you can configure ASR post ODA deployment using oakcli commands


    Click Next

    • On CloudFS Information Screen:
    You can choose to configure ACFS file system called /cloudfs.


    Click Next

    • On the summary page:
    Click Save button to save to store the configuration in a text file.


    • Click Install to begin the Deployment
    • Click Show Details button to check the Deployment Log.
    • Click Next
    • Click Close to complete the Deployment


    Conclusion

    In this article we have learned how to Deploy an Oracle Database Appliance Bare Metal setup in online mode. ODA Configurator can be run in offline or online mode. You can use the online ODA Configurator which is part of the base Oracle Database Appliance software. In online mode, You configure the system at the time of deployment. The ODA setup deployment process is very simple and it takes roughly around 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.

  • ODA : Update Firmware On ODA Post Reimage

    Introduction

    In my previous article we have learned how to Reimage an Oracle Database Appliance to 12.1.2.10. It is important to note that the Reimage process doesn’t update the firmware (BIOS, ILOM, Local and Shared HDD) on ODA nodes. The below screen shot show the output post Re-imaging an ODA X4-2. There is nothing wrong with reimage process and it is completely expected as the reimage process doesn’t update the firmware.

    We can see that the ILOM, BIOS, HDD _Local and HDD_Shared are not up-to-date.

    In this article I will demonstrate how to update the firmware post ODA re-imaging.

    Prerequisites

    1. Root user access to ODA ILOM
    2. Download the ODA Bundle Patch using patch 25499210
    The following steps should be followed to update the firmware on ODA post reimaging.
    1. Configure initial network
    2. Copy ODA software
    3. Update firmware
    Configure initial network

    The “oakcli configure firstnet” command is used to configure an initial network on Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) that enables you to copy ODA End User Bundle software to ODA server. oakcli configure firstnet allows you to establish the network interfaces for the Oracle Database Appliance upon first usage. Once you have completed the reimaging of ODA servers, you should log onto the one of the node ILOM console and do the initial configuration of the Oracle Database Appliance network using the command firstnet. The bond0 interface is configured when execute the firstnet utility. Before running firstnet, ensure that you allocated IP addresses and verify that their entries in the DNS have been completed. 

    Steps to Execute firstnet utility

    Connect to the ILOM console using browser or putty to configure the initial IP address for the node you are connected to.

    Once you execute the firstnet utility it will ask you for the IP address, Netmask and Gateway IPs.

    Once the network interfaces have been configured, you need to test them by using the ping command on the node.  Additionally, you can test the network by pinging the configured node from your remote client.

    [root@oak1 ~]# ping 10.10.17.11
    PING 172.16.202.71 (10.10.17.11) 56(84) bytes of data.
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.027 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.008 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.008 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.006 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.005 ms
    — 172.16.202.71 ping statistics —
    5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4544ms
    rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.005/0.010/0.027/0.009 ms
    [root@oak1 ~]# ifconfig
    bond0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F2
              inet addr:10.10.17.11  Bcast:10.10.17.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:12 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:13 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
              RX bytes:762 (762.0 b)  TX bytes:546 (546.0 b)
    bond1     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F4
              UP BROADCAST MASTER MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
    eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 90:E2:BA:81:2B:B4
              inet addr:192.168.16.24  Bcast:192.168.16.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:9000  Metric:1
              RX packets:138257 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:138436 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:11200490 (10.6 MiB)  TX bytes:11134648 (10.6 MiB)
    eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 90:E2:BA:81:2B:B5
              inet addr:192.168.17.24  Bcast:192.168.17.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:9000  Metric:1
              RX packets:138217 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:138434 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:11197894 (10.6 MiB)  TX bytes:11134800 (10.6 MiB)
    eth2      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F2
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:12 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:13 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:762 (762.0 b)  TX bytes:546 (546.0 b)
    eth3      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F2
              UP BROADCAST SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
    eth4      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F4
              UP BROADCAST SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
    eth5      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F4
              UP BROADCAST SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
    lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
              inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
              UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
              RX packets:512371 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:512371 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
              RX bytes:38908072 (37.1 MiB)  TX bytes:38908072 (37.1 MiB)

    Repeat the steps on ODA node 2.


    Copy Patches to ODA
    Once the initial network is configured you can now copy the ODA patch to ODA node 1 under /tmp.



    Update firmware

    The Reimage process doesn’t update the firmware (BIOS, ILOM, Local and Shared HDD). The below screen shows that the firware is not updated on both the nodes.



    Let’s update the firmware on ODA nodes.

    • Copy the patches from node 1 to node 2.
    • Unpack the patches using oakcli command as shown on both the nodes
    • Update the firmware on node 1. At the end of the firmware update the node is rebooted.
    • Once the node 1 comes back, verify the firmware is updated.
    • Update the firmware on node 2. At the end of the firmware update the node is rebooted.
    •  Once the node 2 comes back, verify the firmware is updated.
    • Update the firmware on Shared Storage. Both the ODA nodes rebooted at the end of storage update.
    • Now verify the firmware on both the nodes.


    We can now see that the firware is update on both the nodes.

    Conclusion

     

    Reimaging an Oracle Database Appliance doesn’t update the firmware (BIOS, ILOM, Local and Shared HDD). So we have to download the ODA patches and update the firmware post reimage manually. You must run the update command on both the ODA nodes and once for storage from node 1. It is fairly straight forward to update the firmware.

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  • Reimage Oracle Database Appliance (ODA)

    Re-image Oracle Database Appliance (ODA)

    Oracle Database Appliance comes preinstalled with the most current version of the Base Metal Operating System. It is not be necessary to re-image the ODA operating system. However, if there is a OS corruption or if you want to update the ODA software quickly or a large period of time has passed between ODA shipment and deployment, a latest version of Bare Metal image may have been released.

    You can also reimaging ODA if you want to convert a ODA Virtualized platform back to ODA Bare Metal deployment.

    The command “oakcli show version” is used to display the version that is currently installed, compare the results with the MOS note 888888.1 to know the latest version available. If a latest version is available, download the latest image and re-image the ODA operating system.

    The Bare Metal restore OS reimaging is specific to the node on which the procedure is executed and overwrites the local storage on that node. ODA reimaging does not Patch the firware (BIOS, ILOM, Local HDD and Shared HDD). It only re-image the local disk from an OS perspective. Use the Patch number 12999313 for Bare Metal re-imaging. 

    Note: Patch number 12999313 contains different releases of the Oracle Appliance Kit make sure to select the latest release.

    In this article I have demonstrate how to reimage an Oracle Database Appliance X4-2 to Oracle Appliance Kit version 12.1.2.10.0.

    Prerequisites:

    1. A valid IP address is configured for ILOM
    2. Root user access to ILOM (Default password changeme)
    3. Latest Java software installed on the client (Laptop/Desktop)
    4. Download latest ODA kit using patch number 12999313
    Procedure to Reimage Oracle Database Appliance

    – Open a web browser and enter hostname or IP address of the ILOM

    https://10.10.1.20

     – On the home page Expand Remote Control, Select Redirection, click Launch Remote Console

    – Click Ok
     

    – Java Application is starting
     

    – Click Continue
     

    – Click Run
     

    – We can now see the ILOM console
     

    – Under Devices menu, select CD-ROM Image
     

    – Select the ISO image on your laptop/desktop
     

    – We can see that the ISO image is attached to ILOM
     

    – On left, under Expand Host Management, Select Host Control, Select Next Boot Device as CDROM and click Save
     

    – On left, under Expand Host Management, Select Power Control, Select Power Cycle and Save
     

    – Click OK to confirm  

    – Now the ODA server is restarted
     

    – Reimage process start after the system restart. The Reimage process takes roughly between 1 to 2 hours
     

     – When prompted select the Fiber or Copper cards for Public Interface and enter YES to reboot the server.

     – Reimage process completed and prompted for login

    – Verify the Oracle Database Appliace Kit Version
     


    We have just completed Reimaging Oracle Database Appliance.

    You should repeat the above steps on the second ODA server.

    The reimaging process can take somewhere between one to two hours. To save time you can run the procedure in parallel on both server.

    Conclusion:

    In this article we have learned how to reimage an Oracle Database Appliance X4-2 to latest version. ILOM allows reimaging of the appliance server nodes via ISO images. In most cases, it is not be necessary to re-image the ODA operating system. There are situations where you reimage system such as corruption, or if you want to update the software to the latest version quickly.




  • Configure VNC On Oracle Database Appliance

    Introduction:


    To Deploy ODA you need GUI interface, to do this you make use of VNC server to connect with ODA and open GUI interface.
    In this article I will demonstrate how to configure VNC on Oracle Database Appliance.

    Configure VNC:

    You can access database servers remotely by using tools such as PuTTY and Virtual Network Computing (VNC) which are freely available for download.
    In most cases, accessing a database server in a command-line mode via PuTTY is enough. Sometimes we may need to access a database server to run GUI-based software. For example, to run runInstaller to install Oracle software or DBCA to create databases. In these cases, VNC a cool tool for running GUI-based sofware.
    VNC allows you to run GUI interface on database server. It allows you to execute programs locally on the server, while only the screen output is sent to the VNC client on your desktop.
    On ODA you can configure VNC in two ways:

    1. startx command
    2. vncserver command
    Using startx command:


    – Login to ILOM as super user (root) and execute startx command


    – VNC screen is displayed



    – Execute “oakcli deploy” to test GUI access



    – Left click and exit to return back to ILOM session


     
    Using vncserver command:


    – Login to database server as Suport user (root), Check if vnc servers is running, Execute vncserver command to start vnc. Enter the root password first time and enter again to verify. Check if vnc server is started and note down the port number.


    – Download VNC-Viewer and Click on VNC-Viewer on desktop



    – ON VNC-Viewer page enter the ODA Node IP or hostname along with VNC server port



    – Click Continue



    – Enter the root password



    – VNC screen is displayed



    – Execute “oakcli deploy” to test GUI access



    – Left click and exit to return back to ILOM session




    Conclusion:
    In this article we have learned about VNC and how to configure VNC on Oracle Database Appliance. Configure VNC is simple and straight forward. VNC comes handy when you want to run GUI-Based applications. To Deploy ODA you need GUI interface, to do this you make use of VNC server to connect with ODA and open GUI interface.

  • Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) and Its Components

    Oracle Database Appliance:

    Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) is a pre-configured, highly available Oracle Database Engineered system. ODA system consists of hardware, software, storage and networking. The hardware configuration is designed to provide redundancy and protection against single points of failures in the system.

    The Oracle Database Appliance saves time and money by simplifying deployment, maintenance, and support of high availability Database solutions.

    ODA consists of two physical servers (Node 0 and Node 1), a storage shelf and optionally an additional storage shelf. The two independent physical servers are interconnected and direct attached to SAS and SSD storage.

    ODA is basically a 2-node RAC cluster database system running Oracle Linux operating (OEL), Oracle Database, Oracle Grid Infrastructure (Clusterware and ASM). All these together provides the Oracle Database high availability running on ODA.

    Picture of ODA X6-2:

    ODA X5-2 HA with optional Storage Expansion


    ODA X6-2 HA 

    Advantages of Oracle Database Appliance:

    Oracle marketed ODA using the tagline “Simple, Reliable and Affordable”.
    – Simple: The ODA deployment made simple and easy to use by using the wizard based deployment.
    – Reliable: The ODA platform provide complete high availability for Database and Application
    – Affordable: With ODA you have the benefit of using Capacity-on-Demand Licensing. Pay for what you use.

    Few other benefits includes:

    – Saves Time and Money
    – Single Vendor Support
    – High Performance and High Availability
    – End to End Monitoring for all components
    – Reduced Cost
    – Easy management and Supporting

    Why ODA?

    Traditional hardware deployments are complex, they can take from several weeks to months to implement. It depends on the several factors such as hardware procurement, deployment model choose by the organization and hardware & software certification.

    The ODA deployment time is far less than a tranditional hardware deployment as ODA comes pre-configured with hardware and software in just on box. ODA includes Oracle Appliance Manager software to manage and maintain the
    database server, patching/Upgrade ODA stack and troubleshooting.

    H/W components of ODA
     
    ODA consists of:

    – 2 physical servers
    – 1 Storage Shelf
    – Optional additional storage shelf
    – Networking
    – Interconnect

    S/W components of ODA

    The Oracle Database Appliance runs Oracle Database Enterprise Edition, and customers have the choice of running Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) or Oracle RAC One Node.

    • Oracle Enterprise Linux
    • oracle Database Appliance Manager
    • Oracle VM (Optional)
    • Hardware Drivers
    • Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 2 and Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition
    • Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node
    • Oracle Real Application Clusters

    Note: There are changes in ODA X6. Oracle introduced X6-2S, X6-2M and X6-2L which I will cover in a different article.

    Oracle Database Appliance Deployment options:

    You can deploy ODA in one of the following model:

    1. Bare Metal Deployment
    2. Virtualized Platform Deployment

    Conclusion:

    In this article we have learned what is Oracle Database Appliance and different hardware and software components of it. The Oracle Database Appliance saves time and money by simplifying
    deployment, maintenance, and support of high availability Database
    solutions. 

  • Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) Verify Cabling

    Once the ODA cabling is completed, it is very important to verify the cabling connection. Oracle recommends that you run oakcli to validate the cabling before starting the ODA network configuration.

    The following oakcli command is used to validate the cabling:

    # /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli validate -c storagetopology

    If the oakcli validate -c storagetopology command reports any issue, One possible cause is that the cables to all the nodes were not fully connected. verify that the cables to all the nodes are fully connected.  Unplug/plug them back in as needed for verification.

    You should also run it regularly to ensure that disk connectivity has no problems.

    Let’s take a look at an example on how to run the Storage Topology.
    Here in this example I am running the command on ODA X4-2.


    You should run the validate Storage Topology command on both the nodes as follows:




    Conclusion
    oakcli validate -c storagetopology command is used to verify the cabling connection. Make sure the system and storage cabling is correct as per documentation and cables are tightly plugged in. If there any issue double check the physical cabling and use “oakcli validate -c storagetopology” to verify cabling.

  • Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) Cleanup Utility


    Oracle Database Appliance provides a utility called “cleanupDeploy.pl” that is used to:

    • If you encounter deployment issues and wants to cleanup to perform a fresh deployment.
    • If you want to wipe out everything on you ODA
    • If you want to redeploy the ODA base image

    To perform a ODA cleanup we make use of the utility “cleanupDeploy.pl’. It located under /opt/oracle/oak/onecmd directory.

    [root@odanode1 ~]# locate cleanupDeploy.pl
    /opt/oracle/oak/onecmd/cleanupDeploy.pl

    cleanupDeploy.pl utility wipes out everything on your ODA and you can rerun the deployment process again using oakcli utility.


    Execute ODA cleanup utility:

    For Bare-Metal setup execute the utility on first node (node 0) and in Virtualization setup on Dom0.

    Connect to first node on ODA and execute the cleanupDeploy.pl utility as root user.

    [root@odanode1 ~]# cd /opt/oracle/oak/onecmd
    [root@odanode1 ~]# ./cleanupDeploy.pl

    cleanupDeploy.pl utility performs a series of steps as below:

    • SetupSSHroot
    • SetupPrivSSHroot
    • deinstallASR
    • CleanupDBConsolefiles
    • DeinstallGI
    • resetmultipathconf
    • resetstoragenickname
    • deleteudevrulefile
    • DropUsersGroups
    • resetnetwork
    • resetpassword
    • reboot

    At the end of the execution cleanupDeploy.pl both the ODA nodes are rebooted.


    Practical cleanupDeploy.pl session

    • Connect as root user to ODA node 1 and navigate to /opt/oracle/oakcli/onecmd

    [root@odanode1 ~]# cd /opt/oracle/oak/onecmd
    [root@odanode1 ~]# ./cleanupDeploy.pl

    Enter the root password and re-enter again
     

    Conclusion:
    In this article we have learned how to cleanup ODA setup using cleanupDeploy.pl. If you encounter issue on ODA or want to wipe out everything on ODA, this utility comes handy and you can rerun the deployment process again using oakcli utility.



  • Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) Firstnet Utility In Action

    About Firstnet Utility

    The “oakcli configure firstnet” command is used to configure an initial network on Oracle Database Appliance (ODA) that enables you to copy ODA End User Bundle software to ODA server.

    oakcli configure firstnet allows you to establish the network interfaces for the Oracle Database Appliance upon first usage.

    Once you have completed the reimaging of ODA servers, you should log onto the one of the node ILOM console and do the initial configuration of the Oracle Database Appliance network using the command firstnet.

    The bond0 interface is configured when execute the firstnet utility.

    Before running firstnet, ensure that you allocated IP addresses and verify that their entries in the DNS have been completed.

    Execute firstnet utility

    • Connect to the ILOM console using browser or putty to configure the initial IP address for the node you are connected to.


    Default password for root user on ILOM is “changeme”
     
    login as: root
    Using keyboard-interactive authentication.
    Password:
    Oracle(R) Integrated Lights Out Manager

    Version 3.2.4.46.a r101689

    Copyright (c) 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

    Warning: password is set to factory default.

    Hostname: ORACLESP-1113NML13N


    -> 


    (->) This means you are connect to ILOM now.

    •  Start the Serial console by executing the following command. When prompted, enter y and then root and it’s password. Default root password for ODA servers is “welcome1”

    -> start /SP/console
    Are you sure you want to start /SP/console (y/n)? y

    Serial console started.  To stop, type ESC (

    Oracle Linux Server release 6.8
    Kernel 2.6.39-400.290.1.el6uek.x86_64 on an x86_64

    oak1 login: root
    Password:
    Last login: Wed Jun  7 11:32:57 on tty1

    • oakcli used to execute the firstnet utility

    [root@oak1 ~]# locate oakcli
    /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli 

    • Now execute the firstnet utility as follows:

    [root@oak1 ~]# /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli configure firstnet
    Select the Interface to configure the network on (bond0 bond1) [bond0]:
    Configure DHCP on bond0 (yes/no) [no]:
    INFO: You have chosen Static configuration
    Enter the IP address to configure : 10.10.17.11
    Enter the Netmask address to configure : 255.255.255.0
    Enter the Gateway address to configure[10.10.17.1] : 10.10.15.1
    INFO: Plumbing the IPs now
    INFO: Restarting the network
    Shutting down interface bond0:  bonding: bond0: Removing slave eth2.
    bonding: bond0: Warning: the permanent HWaddr of eth2 – 00:10:e0:62:3f:f2 – is still in use by bond0. Set the

    HWaddr of eth2 to a different address to avoid conflicts.
    bonding: bond0: releasing active interface eth2
    bonding: bond0: Removing slave eth3.
    bonding: bond0: releasing backup interface eth3
    [  OK  ]
    Shutting down interface bond1:  bonding: bond1: Removing slave eth4.
    bonding: bond1: Warning: the permanent HWaddr of eth4 – 00:10:e0:62:3f:f4 – is still in use by bond1. Set the

    HWaddr of eth4 to a different address to avoid conflicts.
    bonding: bond1: releasing backup interface eth4
    bonding: bond1: Removing slave eth5.
    bonding: bond1: releasing backup interface eth5
    [  OK  ]
    Shutting down interface eth0:  [  OK  ]
    Shutting down interface eth1:  [  OK  ]
    Shutting down loopback interface:  [  OK  ]
    Bringing up loopback interface:  [  OK  ]
    Bringing up interface bond0:  bonding: bond0: setting mode to active-backup (1).
    bonding: bond0: Setting MII monitoring interval to 100.
    bonding: bond0: Adding slave eth2.
    bonding: bond0: enslaving eth2 as a backup interface with a down link.
    bonding: bond0: Adding slave eth3.
    bonding: bond0: enslaving eth3 as a backup interface with a down link.
    bonding: bond0: Setting eth2 as primary slave.
    Determining if ip address 172.16.202.71 is already in use for device bond0…
    ixgbe 0000:20:00.0: eth2: NIC Link is Up 1 Gbps, Flow Control: RX
    bonding: bond0: link status definitely up for interface eth2, 1000 Mbps full duplex.
    bonding: bond0: making interface eth2 the new active one.
    bonding: bond0: first active interface up!
    [  OK  ]
    Bringing up interface bond1:  bonding: bond1: setting mode to active-backup (1).
    bonding: bond1: Setting MII monitoring interval to 100.
    bonding: bond1: Adding slave eth4.
    bonding: bond1: enslaving eth4 as a backup interface with a down link.
    bonding: bond1: Adding slave eth5.
    bonding: bond1: enslaving eth5 as a backup interface with a down link.
    bonding: bond1: Setting eth4 as primary slave.
    [  OK  ]
    Bringing up interface eth0:  Determining if ip address 192.168.16.24 is already in use for device eth0…
    ixgbe 0000:a0:00.0: eth0: detected SFP+: 3
    ixgbe 0000:a0:00.0: eth0: NIC Link is Up 10 Gbps, Flow Control: RX/TX
    [  OK  ]
    Bringing up interface eth1:  Determining if ip address 192.168.17.24 is already in use for device eth1…
    ixgbe 0000:a0:00.1: eth1: detected SFP+: 4
    ixgbe 0000:a0:00.1: eth1: NIC Link is Up 10 Gbps, Flow Control: RX/TX
    [  OK  ]
    [root@oak1 ~]#

    Once the network interfaces have been configured, you need to test them by using the ping command on the node.

    [root@oak1 ~]# ping 10.10.17.11
    PING 172.16.202.71 (10.10.17.11) 56(84) bytes of data.
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.027 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.008 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.008 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.006 ms
    64 bytes from 10.10.17.11: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.005 ms

    — 172.16.202.71 ping statistics —
    5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4544ms
    rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.005/0.010/0.027/0.009 ms

    [root@oak1 ~]# ifconfig
    bond0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F2
              inet addr:10.10.17.11  Bcast:10.10.17.255  Mask:255.255.255.0              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:12 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:13 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
              RX bytes:762 (762.0 b)  TX bytes:546 (546.0 b)

    bond1     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F4
              UP BROADCAST MASTER MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

    eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 90:E2:BA:81:2B:B4
              inet addr:192.168.16.24  Bcast:192.168.16.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:9000  Metric:1
              RX packets:138257 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:138436 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:11200490 (10.6 MiB)  TX bytes:11134648 (10.6 MiB)

    eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 90:E2:BA:81:2B:B5
              inet addr:192.168.17.24  Bcast:192.168.17.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:9000  Metric:1
              RX packets:138217 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:138434 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:11197894 (10.6 MiB)  TX bytes:11134800 (10.6 MiB)

    eth2      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F2
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:12 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:13 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:762 (762.0 b)  TX bytes:546 (546.0 b)

    eth3      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F2
              UP BROADCAST SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

    eth4      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F4
              UP BROADCAST SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

    eth5      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:E0:62:3F:F4
              UP BROADCAST SLAVE MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

    lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
              inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
              UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
              RX packets:512371 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:512371 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
              RX bytes:38908072 (37.1 MiB)  TX bytes:38908072 (37.1 MiB)


    Conclusion:
    In this short article we have learned about Firstnet utility and have seen to use it to configure initial network to copy software to ODA servers.