2 Server and Network Pre-Installation Tasks

Entering Cluster Verification Utility Commands

Once you have installed Oracle Clusterware, you can use CVU by entering cluvfy commands on the command line. To use CVU before you install Oracle Clusterware, you must run the commands using a command file available on the Oracle Clusterware installation media. Use the following syntax to run a CVU command run from the installation media, where media is the location of the Oracle Clusterware installation media and options is a list of one or more CVU command options:

media\clusterware\cluvfy\runcluvfy.bat options

The value of media depends on where your installation media is located, such as on physical media inserted in a local ROM drive or downloaded onto a local disk drive from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) Web site. The available CVU options are listed in the CVU help system, described in the next section.

The following code example is of a CVU help command, run from a staged copy of the Oracle Clusterware directory downloaded from OTN into a directory called stage on your C: drive:

C:\> stage\clusterware\cluvfy\runcluvfy.bat comp nodereach -n node1,node2 -verbose

By default, when you enter a CVU command, CVU provides a summary of the test and its results. During pre-installation, Oracle recommends that you obtain detailed output by using the -verbose argument with the CVU command as shown in example. When you use the -verbose argument, the command's output includes detailed information about each individual check. Where applicable, the output shows results for each node in a tabular layout.

For a quick test, you can run the following CVU command that you would normally use after you have completed the basic hardware and software configuration:

prompt> media\clusterware\cluvfy\runcluvfy.bat stage –post hwos –n node_list

Use the location of your Oracle Clusterware installation media for the media value and a list of the nodes, separated by commas, in your cluster for node_list. Expect to see many errors if you run this command before you or your system administrator complete the cluster pre-installation steps.

Using Cluster Verification Utility Help

CVU commands have context-sensitive help that shows correct syntax usage based on the command line arguments that you enter.

If you enter an invalid CVU command, then CVU shows the correct usage for that command. For example, if you enter runcluvfy.bat stage -pre dbinst with the appropriate directory prefix, then CVU shows the correct syntax for the database pre-installation checks that CVU performs with the dbinst stage option. The following is a list of context help commands, shown with the normal, post-installation command line syntax:

• cluvfy: CVU displays high-level generic usage text describing the stage and component syntax.

• cluvfy -help: CVU displays detailed CVU command information.

• cluvfy comp -list: CVU displays a list of components that can be checked, and brief descriptions of how each component is checked.

• cluvfy comp -help: CVU displays detailed syntax for each of the valid component checks.

• cluvfy stage -list: CVU displays a list of valid stages.

• cluvfy stage -help: CVU displays detailed syntax for each of the valid stage checks.

Verbose Mode and "Unknown" Output

If you run CVU using the -verbose argument and a CVU command responds with UNKNOWN for a particular node, then this is because CVU cannot determine whether a check passed or failed. The following is a list of possible causes for an "Unknown" response:

• The node is down

• CVU executables are missing in the Oracle Clusterware home or Oracle home directory

  Note:

  For Windows Server 2008, you must have administrator privileges and run commands from an Administrative command prompt to run executables that reside in the Oracle Clusterware home.

• The user account starting CVU does not have privileges to run common operating system executables on the node

• The node is missing an operating system patch, or a required package

• The node has exceeded the maximum number of processes or maximum number of open files, or there is a problem with problem with IPC segments, such as shared memory or semaphores

Web Browser Support

On 32-bit Windows systems, the following Web browsers are supported for iSQL*Plus and Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control:

• Netscape Navigator 7.0 and higher

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0, and higher with service pack 1

• Mozilla version 1.3.1 and higher

On 64-bit Windows systems, Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 and higher is supported for for iSQL*Plus and Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control.

Telnet and Terminal Services Support

This section contains these topics:

• Windows Telnet Services Support

• Windows Terminal Services and Remote Desktop Support

Hard Disk Space Requirements

This section lists space requirements for both the Enterprise and Standard Editions of Oracle Database 10g RAC. Oracle recommends storing Oracle components on NTFS.

The NTFS system requirements listed in this section are more accurate than the hard disk values reported by the Oracle Universal Installer Summary screen. The Summary screen does not include accurate values for disk space, the space required to create a database (over 700 MB), or the size of compressed files that are expanded on the hard drive.

Data files are not placed on NTFS partitions, because they cannot be shared. Data files can be placed on Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS), on raw disks using ASM, or on raw disks.

The hard disk requirements for Oracle Database components include 32 MB required to install Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Oracle Universal Installer on the partition where the operating system is installed. If sufficient space is not detected, then installation fails and an error message appears. Table 2-1 lists the hard disk space requirements, including the requirement for the starter database. The starter database requires 720 MB of disk space.

^Footnote 1 Refers to the contents of the admin, flash_recovery_area, and oradata directories in the ORACLE_BASE directory

^Footnote 2 This size can be higher, depending on the installation options selected, such as languages or additional components. If you choose to install Oracle Database and Oracle Real Application Clusters with automated backups enabled, then include at least 2 GB extra for data file disk space.

Network Hardware Requirements

Each node in the cluster must meet the following requirements:

• Each node must have at least two network adapters; one for the public network interface and one for the private network interface (the interconnect).

• The private and public network interface names must be different from each other and cannot contain any multibyte language characters. The names are case-sensitive.

• The private network interface name must be the same on all nodes.

• The public network interface name must be the same on all nodes.

• The public interface on each node must be listed first in the bind order (the order in which network services access the node).

• Oracle supports the TCP/IP protocol for the public and private networks and requires that Windows Media Sensing is disabled by setting the value of the DisableDHCPMediaSense parameter to 1.

IP Address Requirements

Before starting the installation, you must have the following IP addresses available for each node:

• An IP address with an associated network name registered in the domain name service (DNS) for the public interface. If you do not have an available DNS, then record the network name and IP address in the system hosts file, %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

• One virtual IP (VIP) address with an associated network name registered in DNS. If you do not have an available DNS, then record the network name and VIP address in the system hosts file, %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Select an address for your VIP that meets the following requirements:

  • The IP address and network name are currently unused

  • The VIP is on the same subnet as your public interface

  Before installation, ensure that the default gateway can be accessed by a ping command. To find the default gateway, use the route command, as described in your operating system's help utility. After installation, configure clients to use either the VIP address or the network name associated with the VIP. If a node fails, then the node's virtual IP address fails over to another node.

• A private IP address with a host name for each private interface.

  Oracle recommends that you use private network IP addresses for these interfaces (for example: 10.*.*.* or 192.168.*.*). Use the %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file on each node to associate private network names with private IP addresses.

For example, with a two node cluster where each node has one public and one private interface, you might have the configuration shown in the following table for your network interfaces, where the hosts file is %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts:

To enable VIP failover, the configuration shown in the preceding table defines the public and VIP addresses of both nodes on the same subnet, 143.46.43. When a node or interconnect fails, then the associated VIP is relocated to the surviving instance, enabling fast notification of the failure to the clients connecting through that VIP. If the application and client are configured with transparent application failover options, then the client is reconnected to the surviving instance.

Checking Network Requirements

To verify that each node meets the requirements, follow these steps:

1. If necessary, install the network adapters for the public and private networks and configure them with either public or private IP addresses.

2. Register the host names and IP addresses for the public network interfaces in DNS.

3. For each node, register one virtual host name and IP address in DNS.

4. For each private interface on every node, add a line similar to the following to the %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file on all nodes, specifying the private IP address and associated private host name:

   10.0.0.1     rac1-priv
   

If you need to change a network interface name, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, and then Network and Dial-up Connections

2. Right click the icon of the network interface for which you need to change the name

3. Select Rename

4. Enter and save the new name

To ensure that your public interface is first in the bind order, follow these steps:

1. Right-click My Network Places and choose Properties.

2. In the Advanced menu, click Advanced Settings...

3. If the public interface name is not the first name listed under the Adapters and Bindings tab, then select it and click the arrow to move it to the top of list

4. Click OK to save the setting and then exit network setup dialog

To disable Windows Media Sensing for TCP/IP, you must set the value of the DisableDHCPMediaSense parameter to 1 on each node. Because you need to modify the Windows registry to disable Media Sensing, you should first backup the registry and confirm that you can restore it, using the methods described in your Windows documentation. Disable Media Sensing by completing the following steps on each node of your cluster:

1. Backup the Windows registry.

2. Use Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) to view the following key in the registry:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
   

3. Add the following registry value:

   Value Name: DisableDHCPMediaSense
   Data Type: REG_DWORD -Boolean
   Value: 1
   

4. Restart the computer.

Oracle Advanced Security Requirements

Satisfy hardware and software requirements to use authentication support with Oracle components. Some Oracle Advanced Security components can use a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory such as Oracle Internet Directory.

Oracle Enterprise Manager Requirements

All Oracle Enterprise Manager products must be of the same release. Older versions of Enterprise Manager are not supported with the current release.