2 Installing Oracle Database 11g with Oracle Real Application Clusters

2.1 Reviewing Oracle Application Express Requirements

With Oracle Database 11g release, Oracle Application Express is provided as an Oracle Database option, rather than as an Oracle Application option. If you intend to install Oracle Database after installing Oracle Clusterware, and you have an existing Oracle Database installation that you are upgrading, then review the following Oracle Application Express requirements:

• Browser Requirements for Oracle Application Express

• Installing with Existing Oracle HTML Server Installations

• Oracle Text Requirement for Oracle Application Express

• Oracle XML DB Requirement for Oracle Application Express

2.2 Selecting a Configuration Option

This section describes OUI features that you should understand before beginning the Oracle RAC installation process.

On the Select Installation Option page, you are given the following options:

• Create and Configure a Database: Provides you with the option to create a database using a preconfigured database template designed for particular system load demands, such as an online transaction processing (OLTP) database, or a decision support or data warehouse database.

• Install database software only: Installs Oracle Database software; you must complete the database configuration later.

• Upgrade an existing database: Upgrades an existing database.

If you are installing Oracle Database software, then Oracle recommends that you use one of the preconfigured database options, or select the Advanced option on the Select Configuration page, and configure a custom starter database.

2.3 Oracle Database Vault Installation and Configuration

Review the following information if you want to install Oracle Database Vault:

• Oracle Database Vault Requirements

• Oracle Database Vault Accounts

• Multiple Oracle Database Vault Homes

• Starting the Listener with Oracle Database Vault Installations

• Installing Oracle Database Vault

$ORACLE_HOME/bin/lsnrctl start listener_name
$ORACLE_HOME/bin/srvctl start instance -d database_name -i instance_name

2.4 Oracle Database Configuration Type Descriptions

When you run OUI, you can select the Typical or the Advanced Install type.

The Typical install type installs a default configuration of Oracle Database, with basic configuration choices. Oracle recommends that most users select Typical as their installation type.

The Advanced installation type is for customized installations, and should be used only when you have a specific requirement for it, such as requiring different passwords for the SYS, SYSMAN, SYSTEM and DBSNMP accounts, or using a different database character set than is in use on your servers, changing product languages, or other nonstandard configurations.

You can install Oracle RAC One Node on two or more nodes in the cluster. An Oracle RAC One Node installation starts up an instance on one of the nodes you select as an Oracle RAC One Node pool member. If that instance goes down, then the Oracle RAC One Node instance is started up on another pool member using Online Database Relocation. This feature migrates database instances and connections to other cluster nodes for high availability.

2.5 Oracle Configuration Manager Option

During installation, you are prompted to provide information needed to enable Oracle Configuration Manager. This option enables you to associate information about your Oracle RAC configuration with your My Oracle Support (formerly OracleMetalink) account. In the event that you need to place a service request with Oracle Support, that configuration information can help to provide a more rapid resolution to the service issue.

Configuring the OCM tool requires that you have the following information from your service agreement:

• My Oracle Support e-mail address/username

• Password

In addition, you are prompted for server proxy information, if the host system does not have a direct connection to the Internet.

Refer to My Oracle Support (https://support.oracle.com) if you encounter registration failures and are uncertain that the correct country code has been specified. You can find the country associated with your My Oracle Support account by selecting the menu option More, then selecting Settings. In the Settings menu, select Accounts & Privileges.

2.6 Database Security Options

During installation, you are prompted to select database security configuration.The Secure Configuration option configures the database with database auditing options, and password policy and expiration settings.

For new database installations, the default configuration for Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) includes the Secure Configuration option. If you want to disable these enhanced security controls, then you can check the Disable security settings box. Oracle Database is then installed with default options for Oracle Database 10g release 2. After installation, you can change security settings by starting DBCA and modifying security settings. You can enable or disable auditing or password security settings, or revert to a previous security setting.

For database upgrades, the upgraded database retains your existing database security configuration, to ensure compatibility with existing applications. After installation, you can use DBCA to enable or disable the Secure Configuration auditing or password security settings for testing.

To enable or disable secure configuration after installation, you must use command line DBCA options. By design, The DBCA 11g release 2 and later graphic user interface does not have the option to enable or disable secure configuration.

2.7 Changing Administrative Account Database Passwords

All databases include the administrative accounts SYS, SYSTEM, and SYSMAN. Administrative accounts are highly privileged accounts, and are needed only by individuals authorized to perform administrative tasks such as starting and stopping the database, managing database memory and storage, creating and managing database users, and so on.

Passwords for all Oracle system administration accounts except SYS, SYSTEM, SYSMAN, and DBSMP are revoked after installation. You should change the administrative account and DBSMP passwords after installation. You must change the administrative account passwords to a password that is different from the default password.

Apply the following guidelines when specifying passwords:

• Passwords must be between 8 and 30 characters long.

• Passwords must not start with a numeral.

• Passwords must not be the same as the user name.

• Passwords must not be Oracle reserved words.

• The SYS account password must not be change_on_install.

• The SYSTEM account password must not be manager.

• The SYSMAN account password must not be sysman.

• The DBSNMP account password must not be dbsnmp.

• To use the same password for all the accounts, that password must not be change_on_install, manager, sysman, or dbsnmp.

• Passwords should have at least 1 alphabetic, 1 numeric, and 1 punctuation character

• Passwords should not be simple or obvious words, such as welcome, account, database, and user.

2.8 Actions of OUI and DBCA During Installation

After installing Oracle Database, OUI runs DBCA to create your database, in accordance with Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines. An installation created following OFA guidelines means that DBCA creates your database files, including the default server parameter file (SPFILE), using standard file naming and file placement practices.

The primary phases of DBCA processing are the following:

• Create the database.

• Configure the Oracle network services, if necessary.

• Start the listeners and database instances.

You can also use DBCA in standalone mode to create or delete a database, or to switch database management from Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control.

Note that with Oracle Database release 11.1 and later releases, service management is no longer performed for Oracle RAC databases using DBCA. Use srvctl, Oracle Enterprise Manager DB Control or Grid Control for all administration and monitoring of services. Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NetCA) is run as part of an Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation".

In Oracle Database 10g and later releases, some database language and territory definition files have been updated to better reflect locale conventions used in associated locales.

If the resulting changes in default NLS parameter values adversely affect your existing applications, then you can revert the changes by installing Oracle9i compatibility definition files. To install Oracle9i files in place of Oracle11g files, you must run OUI from a command line, as described in "Using Oracle Universal Installer to Install Oracle RAC", and use the following statement to set the b_cr9idata variable to true:

./runInstaller oracle.rsf.nlsrtl_rsf:b_cr9idata=true

2.9 Installing Oracle Database with Other Languages

To use languages other than the default (English), either for the database or for applications running on the database, you must use the Advanced Installation type.

2.10 Selecting a Database Name

The database name input field is used to set the following Oracle initialization parameter values:

• DB_NAME

• DB_UNIQUE_NAME

• DB_DOMAIN

In Oracle RAC environments, the database name (DB_UNIQUE_NAME) portion is a string of no more than 30 characters that can contain alphanumeric, underscore (_), dollar ($), and pound (#) characters, but must begin with an alphabetic character. No other special characters are permitted in a database name. The DB_NAME parameter for a database is set to the first 8 characters of the database name.

The domain portion of the global database name (DB_DOMAIN) can be no more than 128 characters. Domain names using underscores (_) are not allowed. The values for DB_UNIQUE_NAME.DB_DOMAIN in its entirety must be unique within the enterprise.

For example, if your database has a global database name of orl$racprod2551.example.com, which you supplied during installation, then the following values are used for initialization parameters:

The SID prefix is the first 8 characters of the database name. The SID prefix can contain only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9. The SID prefix cannot contain operating system special characters, so if you use special characters in the first 8 characters of the database name, then these special characters are omitted in the SID prefix. There is a single SID prefix for every database. The SID prefix for a database must be unique within the cluster.

For an Oracle RAC database, each instance has a unique identifier, ORACLE_SID, which consists of the SID prefix and an instance number. The ORACLE_SID for Oracle RAC database instances is generated differently, depending on how you choose to manage the database. If you select a policy-managed database, then Oracle generates the SID in the format name_#, where name is the first eight alphanumeric characters of DB_UNIQUE_NAME, and # is the instance number. If you select an admin-managed database, then DBCA generates the SID for the instance names in advance, and the SID is in the format name#.

For example, if the DB_UNIQUE_NAME for a database is orl$racprod2551, then the following SID values are used:

2.11 Using Oracle Universal Installer to Install Oracle RAC

To install Oracle Database software with Oracle RAC:

1. Ensure that you can access other nodes with SSH. OUI requires that the user account running the Oracle RAC installation is permitted to set up passwordless SSH. OUI can set this up for you automatically, or your system administrator can set this up for you before installation is started.

2. Open the terminal from which you intend to run OUI, and log in as the user account that you want to own the Oracle Database installation (for example, oracle).

   If you are not able to turn off stty commands, or have other restrictions that would prevent automatic SSH configuration from within OUI, then you must ensure that SSH is configured and enabled before you proceed to start the Installer.

3. Ensure that you have su or sudo credentials, because you will be prompted to run a script as the root user during installation.

   To use the Software Updates option to obtain the most current system requirement updates, critical patch updates, and other recommended updates for installation, use a valid My Oracle Support username and password, or provide the path to a downloaded Software Updates option package when prompted.

4. Start the runInstaller command from the Disk1 on the Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installation media or install binary download area. For example, where the software binary download area is /home/oracle/oraclesw, enter the following commands:

   $ cd /home/oracle/oraclesw/Disk1
   $ ./runInstaller
   

5. Provide information or run scripts as root when prompted by OUI. If you need assistance during installation, click Help. Click Details to see the log file.

   Note:

   You can run the root.sh script simultaneously on all nodes in the cluster for Oracle RAC installations or upgrades.

   If you encounter problems during installation, then examine the OUI actions recorded in the installation log file. The log file is located in the Oracle Inventory directory in the following location:

   OraInventory/logs/installActionsdate_time.log
   

   Caution:

   The Oracle home name and path that you provide during database installation must be different from the home that you used during the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation in phase one. You must not install Oracle Database 11g with Oracle RAC software into the same home in which you installed the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster software.

   Note that because Oracle ASM is part of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home, it cannot be upgraded during an Oracle RAC installation.

When you have completed the second and final phase of the installation, proceed to Chapter 4, "Oracle Real Application Clusters Postinstallation Procedures" to perform the postinstallation tasks.

The following is a list of additional information to note about installation:

• On the Select Database Management Option page, if you have already completed the Grid Control Management Agent installation, then you can select either Grid or Local Database control. Otherwise, only Local Database control for database management is supported for Oracle RAC. When you use the local Database Control, you can choose the e-mail option and enter the outgoing SMTP server name and e-mail address.

  If you perform an installation that does not include Oracle Enterprise Manager (for example, an Advanced Installation software install without Oracle Enterprise Manager, an installation with no Oracle Enterprise Manager configuration, or a database creation with your own scripts), then you can configure Oracle Enterprise Manager later using OUI, DBCA, or the Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant (EMCA) utility.

2.12 Using Oracle Universal Installer to Install Oracle RAC One Node

To install Oracle RAC One Node:

1. Open the terminal from which you intend to run OUI, and log in as the user account that you want to own the Oracle Database installation (for example, oracle).

   If you are not able to turn off stty commands, or have other restrictions that would prevent automatic SSH configuration from within OUI, then you must ensure that SSH is configured and enabled before you proceed to start the Installer.

2. Ensure that you have su or sudo credentials, because you will be prompted to run a script as the root user during installation.

3. Start the runInstaller command from the Disk1 on the Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) installation media or install binary download area. For example, where the software binary download area is /home/oracle/oraclesw, enter the following commands:

   $ cd /home/oracle/oraclesw/Disk1
   $ ./runInstaller
   

4. Select to configure an Oracle RAC One Node database, and select to and install Oracle RAC on all nodes where Oracle RAC One Node will run.

5. Provide information or run scripts as root when prompted by OUI. If you need assistance during installation, click Help. Click Details to see the log file.

   Note:

   You can run the root.sh script simultaneously on all nodes in the cluster for Oracle RAC installations or upgrades.

   If you encounter problems during installation, then examine the OUI actions recorded in the installation log file. The log file is located in the Oracle Inventory directory in the following location:

   OraInventory/logs/installActionsdate_time.log
   

   Caution:

   The Oracle home name and path that you provide during database installation must be different from the home that you used during the Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation in phase one. You must not install Oracle Database 11g with Oracle RAC software into the same home in which you installed the Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster software.

   If you are upgrading a database, then you must use the same type of Oracle home. For example, you should not change from local Oracle homes to a shared Oracle home.

   Note that because Oracle ASM is part of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home, it cannot be upgraded during an Oracle RAC installation.

2.13 Using DBCA to Configure Oracle RAC One Node

If you have selected to install Oracle RAC software only on cluster nodes, you can use Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) to configure Oracle RAC One Node.

After installation, start up DBCA, and on the Welcome page, select Oracle RAC One Node database. DBCA starts on only one node of the set of nodes you select. You can add additional nodes to the cluster later.

Selecting one node deploys Oracle RAC One Node on a single node. Oracle recommends that you select all nodes in the cluster to which you want Oracle RAC One Node to be able to fail over.

If you select less than two nodes, or create server pools with a cardinality of 2 or more, then DBCA posts a warning message that the configuration you select will not support failover of the Oracle RAC One Node instance.

When you create an admin-managed Oracle RAC One Node database, note that while the database is started on only one of the pool of nodes you installed the binaries, all the candidate servers are placed into the Generic server pool. If the servers are not already in Generic or Free, then this may result in stopping resources that are running on candidate servers.

http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/clustering/index.html