Chapter 9. Virtualizing RAC 12c (DB Clouds) on Oracle VM—Grid Infrastructure

Cloud computing promises to usher in a new era for the corporate IT universe. Every day, we hear that the cloud within the typical IT organization is inevitable and bound to happen, if not already present in some form; it is reasonable to conclude that cloud computing is only a matter of when, not if.

The cloud computing winds of change have been blowing for quite a few years now, recently picking up momentum at Oracle Corporation—almost every key Oracle product focuses on cloud computing as a paradigm. This focus is evident in the “c” (for “cloud”) that is appended to the current release number of Oracle products. Real Application Clusters (RAC) is no exception to Oracle’s turn toward cloud computing.

Virtualization is the foundation of cloud computing because it is widely implemented today. What is virtualization, and what part does it play in the cloud universe? This chapter and the next insights, recommendations, and a step-by-step guide on setting up virtualized RACs, with an emphasis on virtualization, cloud computing, Oracle Virtual Machine (OVM) for x86, and Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c (EM12c). These virtualized RACs can then be utilized within the framework of database as a service (DBaaS) for rapid and easy deployment as database cloud services.

The overlap between the material in this and other chapters is intended to reiterate important concepts as well as to present the topics in the proper context.

Following is a summary of topics presented in this chapter:

• Building Oracle database clouds: The necessary ingredients

• What is virtualization?

• What are virtual machine (VM) monitors (hypervisors)?

• Types of hypervisors

• Types of virtualization

• Oracle VM for x86—360 degrees

• Xen—Synopsis and overview

• Oracle VM—Overview and architecture

• Oracle VM templates—Synopsis and overview

• Oracle VM 3.x—A brief introduction

• Setting up virtualized Oracle RAC clusters using Oracle VM: Alternative approaches

• Set up, install, and configure 12c virtualized RAC clusters: Step-by-step setup and configuration

This chapter guides you, step by step, through installing, setting up, and configuring a virtualized RAC 12c using OVM for x86. The next chapter takes a similar approach, with one major difference—the underlying virtualization technology (hypervisor) is Oracle VirtualBox instead of OVM for x86. This information gives you the choice of using either virtualization technology or both technologies to set up virtualized Oracle RAC 12c database clouds. An overview of cloud computing and the role and relevance of virtualization from the perspective of cloud computing are also covered in both chapters. All respective versions of the hypervisors used are the latest and greatest at the time of the publication of this book.

Database Clouds Based on RAC—The Necessary Ingredients

Cloud computing can be described as “fill-in-the-blank as a service”: for example, infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and database as a service. A more detailed overview of cloud computing, its various flavors, paradigms, prevalent trends, and a whole lot more are presented in the next chapter.

How do we plan for, set up, build, and configure Oracle database clouds? The short answer is OVM for x86, EM12c, and RAC. Together they make up the true database cloud solution from Oracle, especially if you are planning your own private database clouds behind your corporate firewalls. OVM for x86 is used interchangeably with OVM in this chapter and the next.

An overview of virtualization is presented in this chapter with a follow-up section on cloud computing in the next chapter.

Virtualization—360 Degrees

Virtualization is the opposite of a physical entity in the IT universe. Here are some salient features and key points about virtualization:

• Virtualization is the foundation stone in the cloud computing era.

• Virtualization is an inevitability waiting to happen in the IT universe, one that you just can’t avoid: the sooner you embrace it, the better off you are.

• Virtualization can be summarized as an abstraction layer.

• Virtualization has proved to be a game-changer, resulting in unprecedented server utilization.

• Virtualization enables agile availability of resources to the end user, thereby shaving considerable time from the IT provisioning life cycle.

• Virtualization in the modern day can be characterized as the gateway and roadmap to secure and elastic corporate IT scalability.

• Virtualization implies a fantastic alternative to physical reality—the possibilities are endless.

• The alternative to virtualization consists of physical hosts with a lot of useless spare capacity, resulting in many resources being underutilized.

• Although Oracle database administrators (DBAs) were slow to uptake virtualizing their databases, the trend has finally gained momentum and reached critical mass.

What Are VM Monitors (Hypervisors)?

A VM monitor, also known as a hypervisor, enables OS kernels to run and coexist as guests, thereby enabling virtualization at the OS level. Hypervisors are responsible for allocation and coordination of CPU, memory, I/O, peripheral resources, and so on, to the guest VMs.

Types of Hypervisors

There are two types of hypervisor:

• Type 1: This type is known as a native, or more commonly, bare-metal hypervisor. It installs on bare-metal hardware and does not require an OS on which to be installed. Examples are VMware ESX/vSphere, Microsoft HyperV, Xen, and OVM. Bare-metal hypervisors are enterprise-grade hypervisors that enable cloud computing as it is widely known and understood today.

• Type 2: This type is known as a hosted hypervisor and is installed on an already existing OS on the system: examples are OVM VirtualBox, VMware Server, and VMware Workstation. Hosted hypervisors are mostly utilized for personal use, for example, learning new technologies and colocating various OS families on your laptop.

Here are some key points and salient features about hypervisors:

• A hypervisor is at the lowest level of the stack from a technology standpoint.

• A hypervisor enables agility and rapid deployment of resources within the IT space.

• Hypervisors result in increased efficiency by merit of elastic resource consolidation.

Following are some benefits and advantages of implementing hypervisors:

• Increased resource utilization

• Fault tolerance and high availability

• Isolation and multitenant support

• Support for a wide range of popular OS families

Types of Virtualization

There are three types of virtualization prevalent in the industry today (the first two categories are explained in the following sections, as they are relevant to this chapter):

• Paravirtualization

• Hardware-assisted/full virtualization

• Partial virtualization

What Is Paravirtualization?

In paravirtualization, guest VMs use a special hypercall application binary interface (ABI) in a modified OS for performance and simplicity. The modified OS communicates with the hypervisor, and tasks are relocated from the virtual domain to the host domain.

OVM implements this type of virtualization. The Oracle/Red Hat Enterprise Linux family of paravirtualized guests are supported with OVM as paravirtualized guests.

Paravirtualization is generally relatively faster than hardware virtualization. This is not to imply that either type of virtualization is either slow or not fast enough.

What Is Hardware-Assisted/Full Virtualization?

Hardware-assisted virtualization is also known as full or native virtualization and requires CPU support.

This type of virtualization enables unmodified guest OS kernels to run within a simulated hardware infrastructure but generally is relatively slower than paravirtualization.

Microsoft Windows and Oracle Solaris families of hardware/full virtualized guests are supported with paravirtualized drivers on OVM.

OVM for x86—360 Degrees

OVM for x86 is a type1 hypervisor based on Xen, the de facto nth-generation open-source hypervisor. Xen is a mainstream technology, widely used by dominant cloud computing providers such as Amazon and Rackspace, as well as by Oracle’s own public cloud. OVM provides both server virtualization and management components. OVM 3.x is based on Xen 4.x and has been significantly enhanced to be an industrial-grade product capable of configuring, administering, managing, and supporting thousands of servers hosting both Oracle and non-Oracle applications. Some of the advances in this relatively new version include dynamic resource scheduling (DRS), high availability–enabled server pools (clusters), and dynamic power management. OVM is augmented with the Virtual Assembly Builder and Template Builder components, which combine to form a complete virtualization picture within the OVM family.

Following are some of the key points about OVM’s capabilities and some of its advantages. However, as with any technology, OVM has its fair share of nuances, most of which can be taken care of by proper configuration and by following implementation best practices.

• Server load-balancing

• Centralized network and storage management

• Physical to virtual (P2V) and virtual to virtual (V2V) conversion

• Web services API

• Support for Windows, Linux, and Solaris as guest OS families

• Agility and fast deployment with OVM templates and Oracle Virtual Assembly Builder

• Web-based GUI management

• OVM zones—multiple server and storage pools

• High availability and live migration with OVM server pools

• Running mixed heterogeneous workloads within a single consolidated machine

• Very fast—delivers near-native performance

• Simple and easy installation—low learning curve

Another nice point is that OVM is free—you pay only for affordable, low-cost support.

Xen—Synopsis and Overview

Xen originated at Cambridge University and is the leading open-source, industry-standard hypervisor. Ian Pratt founded XenSource, the company behind Xen, which was later acquired by Citrix in 2007. Xen 4.x is the latest version as well as the underlying version for OVM 3.x.

The Xen hypervisor is the virtualization base of Amazon EC2, the market leader in the cloud computing IaaS service model. Oracle is part of the Xen Advisory Board and contributes to its development. Other members of the Xen Advisory Board include Citrix, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Novell, Oracle, and Red Hat.

OVM—Overview and Architecture

OVM is made up of two components:

• OVM Server, the Xen-based open source hypervisor component

• OVM Manager, the Java-based thin-client GUI management component

OVM Server

OVM server is the actual hypervisor component based on Xen. It installs on bare-metal x86 hardware and does not require a preinstalled OS.

OVM boots a small 64-bit domain called DOM0, which is used for assigning, distributing, and coordinating CPU, I/O, and other resources. Guest VMs are created and configured as in DOMus.

OVM Manager

Based on WebLogic server, OVM Manager is a Java-based management server component with a Web-based UI. It utilizes Oracle Database as a management repository and comes prepackaged with a free XE version of Oracle Database, which can be converted to all other flavors of the Oracle Database server family.

Recently, with OVM 3.2.x, MySQL is now also supported as a repository database option. OVM agent processes are used on each OVM server for communication and management purposes. OVM uses server pools (or clusters) to group virtualization resources: each server pool encompasses one or more OVM servers.

What Are OVM Templates?

OVM templates, or Golden Images, are factory-packaged, preinstalled, and preconfigured images of preconfigured VMs containing software products that are complete with built-in best practices and are ready to go. They provide reusability and full-stack implementation. All major Oracle products—for example, Oracle Database server, Fusion Middleware, Enterprise Linux, and RAC—are available as OVM templates.

OVM templates are the vehicles to significant reduction of installation and configuration costs in the IT landscape.

Methods of Creating OVM Templates

The following methods can be employed/deployed to create OVM templates:

• P2V conversion

• Create VM templates from existing VM images

• Create VM templates from just enough operating system (JeOS)

OVM Builder

OVM Assembly Builder gives you the capability of a structured process for appliance consolidation into cohesive and reusable assemblies by rapidly creating and configuring full-stack topologies and provisioning them onto virtualized appliances.

OVM Builder is used for creating dedicated VMs called software appliances and facilitates deployment of the entire application as a single, automatically configured unit. This tool can facilitate the building of private clouds significantly by building VM assemblies and deploying OVM templates.

OVM 3.x—A Brief Introduction

OVM 3.x, the latest release, takes scalability to a whole new level. With tons of new features, OVM 3.3 is based on Xen 4.x.

Being highly scalable, this latest version of OVM includes many enhancements:

• A feature-rich Web-based UI, improved backup and recovery capability

• Simplified VM deployment, administration, and management with 64-bit DOM0

• Application-driven virtualization, up to 128 virtual CPUs, and 1 TB memory per guest VM

• Jobs-based VM operations

• Dynamic resource management

• Dynamic power management

• Comprehensive network and storage management

• Multiple-template cloning in a single step

• Over 100 factory-packaged best-practices built into OVM templates

• A centralized configuration and management solution in the form of OVM Manager.

In other words, 3.x is truly an enterprise-grade, groundbreaking release. OVM 3.x is completely and fully managed by a browser-based UI provided by OVM Manager.

If you haven’t already embarked on this journey, now is a great time to upgrade and migrate your OVM infrastructures from 2.x to 3.x.

OVM 3.x: High Availability–Enabled OVM Ecosystem

OVM provides broad-based high availability across the virtualization ecosystem in the form of high availability–enabled server pools (or clusters) on shared storage.

Salient features include:

• Live migration of guest VMs

• Automatic failover/restart of guest VMs in case of server failure

• Oracle Cluster File System 2 (OCFS2)—high availability on a cluster file system

• Server pool load balancing—using a best-fit algorithm, places guest VMs on the most appropriately loaded VM server

• Clustered OVM Manager

Virtualized RAC Using OVM Templates—Approach 1

This approach is the easiest and fastest way to set up your own virtualized RAC database clusters as part of virtualized Oracle RAC database clouds. Simply download the OVM for x86 templates for RAC, install them, and in less than an hour, you have your own virtualized RAC up and running. This methodology is truly revolutionary and illustrates the beauty and power of agile provisioning of complex infrastructures and applications in cloud environments using virtualized templates.

While this approach is not covered in complete detail, the main utility used to set up, configure, and deploy a virtualized RAC from OVM templates, DeployCluster, is presented in the following section.

Use DeployCluster to Configure and Deploy the Virtualized RAC

This section walks you through using the DeployCluster tool to rapidly configure and deploy a virtualized RAC database cluster. Listing 9.1 shows the example run.

Listing 9.1. DeployCluster Tool

---

[root@bsfmgr01 deploycluster]# ./deploycluster.py -u admin -p password -M bsfracovm1,bsfracovm2 -N bsfrac64.ini
Oracle RAC OneCommand (v1.1.2) for Oracle VM - deploy cluster -
    (c) 2011-2012 Oracle Corporation
 (com: 26700:v1.1.0, lib: 126247:v1.1.0, var: 1200:v1.1.2) - v2.6.6 -
    bsfmgr01.bsflocal.com (x86_64)
Invoked as root at Sat Sep 22 20:10:04 2012  (size: 37600, mtime: Sun Aug  5 12:37:58 2012)
Using: ./deploycluster.py -u admin -p **** -M bsfracovm1,bsfracovm2 -N bsfrac64.ini

INFO: Attempting to connect to Oracle VM Manager...

INFO: Oracle VM Client  (3.1.1.399) protocol (1.8) CONNECTED (tcp) to
      Oracle VM Manager (3.1.1.305) protocol (1.8) IP (192.168.1.51) UUID
(0004fb0000010000da73c3bcce15ca2e)

INFO: Inspecting /home/oracle/ovm3/deploycluster/bsfrac64.ini for number of nodes defined....
INFO: Detected 2 nodes in: /home/oracle/ovm3/deploycluster/bsfrac64.ini
INFO: Located a total of (2) VMs;
      2 VMs with a simple name of: ['bsfracovm1', 'bsfracovm2']
INFO: Verifying all (2) VMs are in Running state
INFO: VM with a simple name of "bsfracovm1" is in Running state...
INFO: VM with a simple name of "bsfracovm2" is in Running state...
INFO: Detected that all (2) VMs specified on command have (5) common shared disks
between them (ASM_MIN_DISKS=5)

INFO: The (2) VMs passed basic sanity checks and in Running state, sending cluster details
as follows:
      netconfig.ini (Network setup): /home/oracle/ovm3/deploycluster/bsfrac64.ini
      buildcluster: yes
INFO: Starting to send cluster details to all (2) VM(s).....
INFO: Sending to VM with a simple name of "bsfracovm1"....
INFO: Sending to VM with a simple name of "bsfracovm2"......
INFO: Cluster details sent to (2) VMs...
      Check log (default location /u01/racovm/buildcluster.log) on build VM (bsfracovm1)...
INFO: deploycluster.py completed successfully at 20:10:19 in 15.7 seconds (00m:15s)
Logfile at: /home/oracle/ovm3/deploycluster/deploycluster2.log

---

Figure 9.1 and Figure 9.2 each show parts of a sample run of the DeployCluster tool. On your monitor display, INFO: (Figure 9.1) and [ OK ] (Figure 9.2) should be green: all green means all good to go!

Figure 9.1. An example run of the DeployCluster tool for setting up RAC using Oracle VM for x86 templates

Figure 9.2. DeployCluster tool: Configuring and setting up RAC using Oracle VM for x86 templates

Set Up and Configure a Virtualized RAC Database Cloud—Approach 2

This section takes you through an alternative, step-by-step approach to setting up your own virtualized RAC 12c in OVM for x86.

The following hardware and software were used for setting up the OVM server pool for this example:

• OVM Manager and EM12c:

• (Qty: 1) 64-bit Intel x86 machine with 8 GB RAM

• OVM servers for server pool:

• (Qty: 3) 64-bit Intel x86 machines with 16 GB RAM each

• Shared storage:

• (Qty: 1) 64-bit Intel x86 machine with 8 GB RAM:

• Openfiler with 1 TB disk space available on iSCSI

Roadmap to a Virtualized RAC 12c Cluster: High-Level Steps

Following are the high-level steps to build your own virtualized RAC–based database cloud:

1. Set up and configure the required hardware and software for an OVM server pool on shared storage.

2. Prepare and plan—Do your homework.

3. Install and set up grid infrastructure.

4. Install and set up non-shared database home(s).

5. Create a RAC database.

6. Configure and set up the RAC database as a monitored target in EM12c.

All of the preceding steps are detailed, elaborated on, and/or executed in the following sections of this chapter and the next one, with several alternative options presented for some of the involved steps.

While all of the following steps apply equally to corporate environments, they are written in such a way that you can set up a virtualized database cloud environment in your home, thereby learning how to install, set up, configure, and monitor RAC with minimal hardware.

OVM: Prerequisites, Preparation, and Planning

Ensure that the following virtual infrastructure is available and ready for deployment in a brand-new RAC setup.

Step 9.1—Set Up a Server Pool in OVM for x86

This chapter assumes that you already have a basic server pool in OVM for x86 complete with OVM Manager 3.x and EM12c release 2 set up, configured, and ready to go for deploying an Oracle RAC 12c cluster (the hardware/software configuration used in this chapter and the next one is outlined in the preceding section). In case you need help with this process, be assured that this is a simple and easy process with a minimum, low, and intuitive learning curve if you follow the appropriate OVM for x86 installation and setup documentation manuals.

The following sections detail the steps involved in configuring OVM for RAC 12c.

Step 9.2—Configure Network Time Protocol

Press the Push to All Servers button for Network Time Protocol (NTP).

Step 9.3—Create the Required Network for RAC 12c

Continue with the following steps:

1. Choose OVM Manager → Networking → Networks → Create (+) Button.

2. Select the Create a Hybrid Network with Bonds/Ports and VLANS option.

3. Enter the name and description of the OVM network. Select the Virtual Machine option.

4. Select the relevant ports.

5. Select the relevant VLAN segments.

6. Select the appropriate IP addressing scheme. Enter the IP addresses, net masks, and bonding options if applicable.

As shown in Figure 9.3, the new OVM network has been successfully created and is ready to be deployed and used.

Figure 9.3. Oracle VM 3.x: Dedicated network for Oracle RAC 12c

Step 9.4—Create the Required Shared Virtual Disks for the GRID1 ASM Disk Group

To create the disks, follow these steps:

1. Choose OVM Manager → Repositories → Select OVS Repository → Virtual Disks → Create (+) Button:

2. Create a virtual disk with the following options:

• Size: 15 GB

• Allocation type: Sparse allocation

• Shareable: Yes

3. Repeat the preceding process for all five GRID1 Automatic Storage Management (ASM) disks.

As shown in Figure 9.4, all of the virtualized shareable ASM disks for the GRID1 disk groups have been created and are now ready for use.

Figure 9.4. Oracle VM 3.x: Virtualized disks for GRID1 ASM disk group for RAC 12c

Step 9.5, Approach 1

Step 9.5, Approach 1, is illustrated in the following substeps.

Step 9.5, Approach 1a—Create the VM for RAC Server Node 1 from Scratch Using an ISO Boot Image to Install OEL 6.x

To create the Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL) 6.x VM for RAC using an ISO boot image, follow these steps (as shown in Figure 9.5):

1. Choose OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Create Virtual Machine Button.

2. Select the Create a New VM option.

3. As shown in Figure 9.5, select and enter the following options for the RAC-Node-01 VM:

• Server pool

• Server pool repository

• VM description

• High Availability: Unchecked

• Operating system: Oracle Linux 6

• Domain type: Xen PVM

• Start policy: Start on best server

• Memory (MB): 2,048 (minimum required is 4,096. However, in cases where you are short on physical memory and are building the RAC for learning purposes, this can suffice)

• Max memory (MB): 8,192

• Processors: 2

• Max processors: 4

• Priority: 50

• Processor cap %: 100

Figure 9.5. Oracle VM 3.x: Creating a VM for RAC-Node-01

4. Select Network and then press the Add VNIC button twice to create two virtual network interface cards (VNICs) for the RAC-Node-01 VM (see Figure 9.6).

Figure 9.6. Oracle VM 3.x: Specifying virtual network interface cards for the public and private cluster interconnect networks required for the RAC

5. Choose Next to move on to Setup Networks and Arrange Disks.

6. Select and enter the following options for the VM disks (see Figure 9.7):

• CD/DVD

• Virtual disk—Press the Create (+) button.

Figure 9.7. Oracle VM 3.x: Specifying virtualized disk/optical media for RAC-Node-01

7. Select the imported ISO for Linux 6.x.

8. Select and enter the following options:

• Repository

• Virtual disk name

• Description

• Shareable: Unchecked

• Size: 25GB

• Allocation type: sparse allocation

9. Select the ISO for OEL 6.x (see Figure 9.8).

Figure 9.8. Oracle VM 3.x: Specify the ISO for Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.x 64-bit x86

10. As shown in Figure 9.9, repeat the preceding process to add/select the following disks:

• ISODATA1 ASM disk group:

• Qty: 6

• Individual disk size: 50GB

• RECO1 ASM disk group:

• Qty: 1

• Individual disk size: 50GB

Select the Disk boot option. Press the Finish button to create the RAC-Node-01 VM.

Figure 9.9. Oracle VM 3.x: Guest VM for RAC-Node-01

Step 9.5, Approach 1b—Import the OEL 6.x x86-64 ISO into the OVM Repository

To import the OEL 6.x x86-64 ISO image into the OVM repository, follow these steps:

1. Go to OVM Manager → Repositories → Select OVM Repository → ISOs → Import ISO Button.

2. Select and enter the following (see Figure 9.10):

• Server

• ISO download location: ftp://oracle:[email protected]/software/OEL63_x86_64/V33411-01.iso (Replace the IP address, username, and password with your own.)

Figure 9.10. Oracle VM 3.x: Specify the FTP location for the OEL 6.x 64-bit x86 VM template

Note that the status of the import process shows as In Progress, with a message showing Download Virtual CDROM....

Monitor the progress of the ISO import process in an SSH session to one of the Oracle VM servers (OVS) to which the OVS repository is connected.

[root@bsfovs03 ISOs]# pwd
/OVS/Repositories/0004fb0000030000d0cb473db1b6a1ae/ISOs
[root@bsfovs03 ISOs]# ls -l
total 276480
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 282066944 Feb 24 12:57 0004fb0000150000ba1fd09b4e2bd98c.iso

Keep checking periodically after brief intervals to monitor the progress of the ISO import process.

[root@bsfovs03 ISOs]# pwd
/OVS/Repositories/0004fb0000030000d0cb473db1b6a1ae/ISOs

[root@bsfovs03 ISOs]# ls -l
total 2890752
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2959081472 Feb 24 13:04 0004fb0000150000ba1fd09b4e2bd98c.iso

At this point, the OEL 6.x ISO has been successfully imported (see Figure 9.11). Start up the VM, boot it from the OEL 6.x ISO, and go through the steps of setting up and installing Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.x.

Figure 9.11. Oracle VM 3.x: Imported ISO for Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.x 64-bit x86 is now ready for use as a bootable virtual CD/DVD drive

Step 9.5, Approach 2

Step 9.5, Approach 2, is illustrated in the following sub-steps.

Step 9.5, Approach 2a—Create the VM for RAC Server Node 1 Using an OVM OEL 6.x Template

To create the VM for RAC Server Node using an OVM OEL 6.x template, follow these steps:

1. Download the OEL 6.x OVM 3.x template from https://edelivery.oracle.com/linux.

2. Unzip the ISO and make it available via FTP.

3. Go to OVM Manager → Repositories → Select OVM Repository → Assemblies → Import VM Assembly Button (see Figure 9.12). Enter the following:

• Server

• VM assembly download location

Note that the status of the VM assembly import process shows as In Progress with a message showing “Downloading Assembly...” and then another one showing “Unpacking Template....”

Figure 9.12. Oracle VM 3.x: Specify the FTP location of the Oracle VM assembly for Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.x 64-bit x86

Monitor the progress of the VM assembly import process within an SSH session to one of the OVS servers to which the OVS repository is connected.

[root@bsfovs03 11941bfbbc]# pwd
/OVS/Repositories/0004fb0000030000d0cb473db1b6a1ae/Assemblies/11941bfbbc

[root@bsfovs03 11941bfbbc]# ls -l
total 617472
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root      3896 Feb 24 15:20 imports
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 631541760 Oct 10 16:17 package.ova
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root      3896 Feb 24 15:21 unpacked

Keep checking periodically after brief intervals.

As shown in Figure 9.13, the OVM assembly for OEL 6.3 x86-64 has been imported successfully and is now ready for use.

Figure 9.13. Oracle VM 3.x: Oracle VM assembly for Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.x 64-bit x86

Step 9.5, Approach 2b—Create the OEL 6.3 x86-64-PVM OVM Template from the Newly Created Assembly into the OVM Repository

To create the OEL 6.3 x86-64-PVM OVM template from the newly created assembly into the OVM repository,

1. Choose OVM Manager → Repositories → Select OVM Repository → VM Assemblies → Select VM Assembly → Create VM template.

2. Enter and select the following (see Figure 9.14):

• Assembly VMs

• VM template name

• Description

Figure 9.14. The VM template name and description

3. As shown in Figure 9.15, the OEL 6.3 x86_64 OVM template has been successfully created and is now ready for deployment.

Figure 9.15. The OEL 6.3 x86_64 OVM template

Step 9.5, Approach 2c—Edit the Newly Created OEL 6.3 x86-64-PVM OVM Template

To edit the newly created OEL 6.3 x86-64-PVM OVM template, follow these steps:

1. Choose OVM Manager → Repositories → VM Templates → Select VM Template → Edit.

2. Modify the following options as shown in the following screens:

• Max memory (MB): 8,192

• Memory (MB): 4,096

• Max processors: 8

• Processors: 4

• Enable High Availability: Unchecked (OVM HA is incompatible with Oracle RAC)

• Networks: Add/specify the appropriate network(s)

• Boot order: Disk

• Virtual disks:

• Add virtual disk for Oracle software binaries: 25GB

Step 9.5, Approach 2d—Create Clone Customizer for the RAC Node OVM Template

To create a clone customizer for the RAC node OVM template, follow these steps:

1. Choose OVM Manager → Repositories → VM Templates → Select VM Template.

2. Press the Create Clone Customizer button.

3. Specify the name and description of the new clone customizer for the RAC 12c cluster node VMs.

4. Modify the Clone Type to Thin Clone (see Figure 9.16). This is a fast and efficient way to create new VM clone machines.

Figure 9.16. Oracle VM 3.x: Specify the virtual disks for RAC-Node-01

5. Specify the network settings for the clone customizer (if any custom modifications are required).

Step 9.5, Approach 2e—Create the RAC-Node-01 VM from the VM Template Using the Advanced Clone Customizer Method

To create the RAC-Node-01 VM from the VM template using the Advanced Clone Customizer method do the following:

1. Go to OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Create Virtual Machine.

2. Select the Clone from an existing VM Template option (see Figure 9.17). Enter and select the following options:

• Clone count: 1

• Repository: Select OVS repository

• VM template: Select the OEL 6.3 x86_64 template

• Server pool: Select the appropriate server pool

• Description

Figure 9.17. Cloning from the existing template

3. Press the Finish button to create the RAC-Node-01 VM. The finished product is shown in Figure 9.18.

Figure 9.18. The VM for RAC-Node-01 created from the Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.x 64-bit x86 template

Step 9.6—Edit the Newly Created VM for RAC-Node-01

To edit the VM for RAC-Node-01 follow these steps:

1. Choose OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Select Virtual Machine → Edit Virtual Machine.

2. Modify the following options as shown in the configuration tab (Figure 9.19):

• Operating system: Oracle Linux 6

• Max memory (MB): 8,192

• Max processors: 8

• Networks: Specify the appropriate network(s)

• High Availability: Unchecked (OVM HA is incompatible with Oracle RAC)

• Boot order: Disk

• Start policy: Start on best server

• Virtual disks:

• System (virtual disk): Add another disk for Oracle binaries: 25GB

• GRID1 ASM disk group:
Qty: 6 Disks
Individual disk size: 15G

• DATA1 ASM disk group:
Qty: 6 Disks
Individual disk size: 50G

• RECO1 ASM disk group:
Qty: 1 Disk
Individual disk size: 50G

Figure 9.19. Configure the newly created VM

3. On the Network tab, add two VNICs (see Figure 9.20), one each for the public and private cluster interconnects.

Figure 9.20. Add the required VNICs

4. Finally, on the Disks tab, attach the shared virtualized disks for the ASM disk groups (see Figure 9.21).

Figure 9.21. Oracle VM 3.x: Attach the shared virtualized disks for the GRID1, DATA1, and RECO1 ASM disk groups

Step 9.7—Start Up the RAC-Node-01 VM

To start up the RAC-Node-01 VM, follow these steps:

1. Go to OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Select Virtual Machine → Start Virtual Machine.

2. Press the Launch Console button to start the VNC console window (see Figure 9.22).

Figure 9.22. Oracle VM 3.x: Boot RAC node—First-boot interview/configuration process

3. Configure the various options in the new VM in the first-boot interview process:

• System hostname: For example, bsfrac01.bsflocal.com (12c RAC-Node-01)

• Specify VNIC device: For example, ETH0

• Boot protocol (static/DHCP): Static

• Activate VNIC on boot: YES

• IP address of the interface: For example, 192.168.2.41 (for the public network: ensure that this is an unused IP address. If you have DNS server(s), register the IP address/hostname with it)

• Netmask: For example, 255.255.255.0

• IP address of gateway: For example, 192.168.2.1

• IP addresses of DNS servers(s): For example, 255.255.255.0

• OS root password: *******

Set Up and Configure RAC-Node-01

The following sections explain how to set up and configure Node 01 for RAC 12c.

Step 9.8—Set the Network Configuration of the Private Cluster Interconnect VNIC

To set the network configuration of the private cluster interconnect VNIC, issue the following commands:

[root@bsfrac01 network-scripts]# pwd
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
[root@bsfrac01 network-scripts]# cp ifcfg-eth0 ifcfg-eth1
[root@bsfrac01 network-scripts]# vi ifcfg-eth1
You have new mail in /var/spool/mail/root
[root@bsfrac01 network-scripts]# cat ifcfg-eth1
DNS1=192.168.2.1
GATEWAY=192.168.2.1
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
IPADDR=192.168.3.40
BOOTPROTO=static
ONBOOT=yes
NM_CONTROLLED=no
DEVICE=eth1

Step 9.9—Modify /etc/hosts File to Include the Relevant Entries for RAC 12c

To modify the /etc/hosts file to include the relevant entries for RAC 12c, open the fie and edit it, as in the following:

[root@bsfrac01 network-scripts]# vi /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost localhost4
::1 localhost6.localdomain6 localhost6

# PUBLIC IP Addresses of 12c RAC Cluster
192.168.2.40            bsfrac01        bsfrac01.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.41            bsfrac02        bsfrac02.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.42            bsfrac03        bsfrac03.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.43            bsfrac04        bsfrac04.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.44            bsfrac05        bsfrac05.bsflocal.com

# SCAN IP Addresses of 12c RAC Cluster
192.168.2.70            bsfrac-scan    bsfrac-scan.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.71            bsfrac-scan    bsfrac-scan.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.72            bsfrac-scan    bsfrac-scan.bsflocal.com

# Virtual IP Addresses of 12c RAC Cluster
192.168.2.60            bsfrac-vip01   bsfrac-priv01.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.61            bsfrac-vip02   bsfrac-priv02.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.62            bsfrac-vip03   bsfrac-priv03.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.63            bsfrac-vip04   bsfrac-priv04.bsflocal.com
192.168.2.64            bsfrac-vip05   bsfrac-priv05.bsflocal.com

# Private Cluster Interconnect IP Addresses of 12c RAC Cluster
192.168.3.40            bsfrac-priv01   bsfrac-priv01.bsflocal.com
192.168.3.41            bsfrac-priv02   bsfrac-priv02.bsflocal.com
192.168.3.42            bsfrac-priv03   bsfrac-priv03.bsflocal.com
192.168.3.43            bsfrac-priv04   bsfrac-priv04.bsflocal.com
192.168.3.44            bsfrac-priv05   bsfrac-priv05.bsflocal.com

Step 9.10—Check for Space Requirements

Ensure that enough TMP space is available to support RAC12c:

[root@bsfracvx1 ~]# df -h /tmp
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/vg_bsfracvx1-lv_root
                       26G  5.3G   20G  22% /

Step 9.11—Disable the Linux Software Firewall

Next, disable the Linux software firewall.

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# service iptables status
Table: filter
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination
1    ACCEPT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0           state RELATED,ESTABLISHED
2    ACCEPT     icmp --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0
3    ACCEPT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0
4    ACCEPT     tcp  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0           state NEW tcp dpt:22
5    REJECT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0
reject-with icmp-host-prohibited

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination
1    REJECT     all  --  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0
 reject-with icmp-host-prohibited

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# service iptables off
Usage: iptables {start|stop|restart|condrestart|status|panic|save}
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# service iptables stop
iptables: Flushing firewall rules:                         [  OK  ]
iptables: Setting chains to policy ACCEPT: filter          [  OK  ]
iptables: Unloading modules: c                             [  OK  ]
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# chkconfig iptables off
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# service ip6tables status
Table: filter
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination
1    ACCEPT     all      ::/0                 ::/0                state RELATED,ESTABLISHED
2    ACCEPT     icmpv6    ::/0                 ::/0
3    ACCEPT     all      ::/0                 ::/0
4    ACCEPT     tcp      ::/0                 ::/0                state NEW tcp dpt:22
5    REJECT     all      ::/0                 ::/0
reject-with icmp6-adm-prohibited

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination
1    REJECT     all      ::/0                 ::/0
reject-with icmp6-adm-prohibited

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
num  target     prot opt source               destination

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# service ip6tables stop
ip6tables: Flushing firewall rules:                        [  OK  ]
ip6tables: Setting chains to policy ACCEPT: filter         [  OK  ]
ip6tables: Unloading modules:                              [  OK  ]
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# chkconfig ip6tables off

Step 9.12—Configure and Restart NTPD Client

Edit/configure the /etc/ntp.conf file and restart the Network Time Protocol Daemon (NTPD) server on the RAC node VM.

$ vi /etc/ntp.conf
# Modify the following line to reflect the NTP servers with which the time
# will be synchronized
server 192.168.2.20

Step 9.13—Partition, Format, and Mount /u01 on the 25-GB Local Virtual Hard Disk

To partition, format, and mount /u01 on the 25-GB local virtual hard disk, start by doing the following:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# mkdir /u01
You have new mail in /var/spool/mail/root
[root@bsfrac01 /]# mount /dev/xvdb1 /u01
[root@bsfrac01 /]# df -m
Filesystem           1M-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/xvda2                9985      8087      1392  86% /
tmpfs                     1940         1      1940   1% /dev/shm
/dev/xvda1                  99        50        45  53% /boot
/dev/xvdb1               25195       172     23743   1% /u01

Make the mount point persistent by modifying the /etc/fstab file:

#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Fri Sep  7 08:14:40 2012
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk'
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info
#
LABEL=/                 /                       ext4    defaults        1 1
LABEL=/boot             /boot                   ext4    defaults        1 2
/dev/xvda3              swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
tmpfs                   /dev/shm                tmpfs   defaults        0 0
devpts                  /dev/pts                devpts  gid=5,mode=620  0 0
sysfs                   /sys                    sysfs   defaults        0 0
proc                    /proc                   proc    defaults        0 0
/dev/xvdb1              /u01                    ext4    defaults        0 0

Step 9.14—Disable the SELINUX Option

Disable the SELINUX option by modifying the following file:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# vi  /etc/selinux/config

# This file controls the state of SELinux on the system.
# SELINUX= can take one of these three values:
#     enforcing—SELinux security policy is enforced.
#     permissive—SELinux prints warnings instead of enforcing.
#     disabled—No SELinux policy is loaded.
SELINUX=disabled
# SELINUXTYPE—Can take one of these two values:
#     targeted—Targeted processes are protected,
#     mls—Multilevel security protection.
SELINUXTYPE—Targeted

Step 9.15—Install VSFTPD (FTP Server)

Install VSFTPD (FTP server) by performing the following:

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# yum install vsftpd

Step 9.16—Install X Window System Desktop

Install the X Window System desktop by performing the following steps:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# yum groupinstall "X Window System" desktop
Loaded plugins: security
Setting up Group Process
Package 1:xorg-x11-xauth-1.0.2-7.1.el6.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Package hal-0.5.14-11.el6.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Package 1:dbus-1.2.24-7.0.1.el6_3.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package NetworkManager.x86_64 1:0.8.1-34.el6_3 will be installed
.
.
.
openssh-server                                            x86_64                           5.3p1-84.1.el6
ol6_latest                           298 k
 rhn-check                                                 noarch                           1.0.0-87.0.6.el6
ol6_latest                            60 k
 rhn-client-tools                                          noarch                           1.0.0-87.0.6.el6
ol6_latest                           492 k
 rhn-setup                                                 noarch                           1.0.0-87.0.6.el6
ol6_latest                            96 k

Transaction Summary
=====================================================================================================================================================================================================
Install     265 Package(s)
Upgrade      19 Package(s)

Total download size: 123 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/284): ConsoleKit-x11-0.4.1-3.el6.x86_64.rpm  |  20 kB     00:00
(2/284): DeviceKit-power-014-3.el6.x86_64.rpm   |  90 kB     00:00
.
.
.
Dependency Updated:
  libreport.x86_64 0:2.0.9-5.0.1.el6_3.2                         libreport-cli.x86_64 0:2.0.9-5.0.1.el6_3.2                    libreport-plugin-kerneloops.x86_64 0:2.0.9-5.0.1.el6_3.2
  libreport-plugin-logger.x86_64 0:2.0.9-5.0.1.el6_3.2           libreport-plugin-
mailx.x86_64 0:2.0.9-5.0.1.el6_3.2           libreport-plugin-reportuploader.x86_64 0:2.0.9-
5.0.1.el6_3.2
  libreport-python.x86_64 0:2.0.9-5.0.1.el6_3.2                  nspr.x86_64 0:4.9.2-
0.el6_3.1                                 nss.x86_64 0:3.13.6-2.0.1.el6_3
  nss-sysinit.x86_64 0:3.13.6-2.0.1.el6_3                        nss-tools.x86_64 0:3.13.6-2.0.1.el6_3                         nss-util.x86_64 0:3.13.6-1.el6_3
  openssh.x86_64 0:5.3p1-84.1.el6                                openssh-clients.x86_64
0:5.3p1-84.1.el6                       openssh-server.x86_64 0:5.3p1-84.1.el6
  rhn-check.noarch 0:1.0.0-87.0.6.el6                            rhn-client-tools.noarch
0:1.0.0-87.0.6.el6                    rhn-setup.noarch 0:1.0.0-87.0.6.el6
Complete!

Modify the /etc/inittab file to start with a GUI login and reboot the system:

#id:3:initdefault: # Change Option 3 to 5 as shown in the following lineid:5:initdefault:

Step 9.17—Reboot RAC-Node-01 for All of the Preceding Setups/Configurations to Take Effect

To reboot, issue the following command:

[root@bsfrac01 network-scripts]# shutdown -r

After a successful reboot, you will arrive at the login screen (see Figure 9.23).

Figure 9.23. Oracle VM 3.x: RAC-Node-01—OS/Linux 6.x 64-bit x86 login screen

Step 9.18—Verify the Network Settings after the Node Reboots

To verify the network settings after the reboot, do the following:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# ifconfig -a
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:21:F6:00:00:01
          inet addr:192.168.2.40  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::221:f6ff:fe00:1/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:49103 errors:0 dropped:117 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:12982 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:33876842 (32.3 MiB)  TX bytes:939705 (917.6 KiB)
          Interrupt:57

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:21:F6:00:00:00
          inet addr:192.168.3.40  Bcast:192.168.3.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::221:f6ff:fe00:0/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:25180 errors:0 dropped:117 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:198 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1316336 (1.2 MiB)  TX bytes:12163 (11.8 KiB)
          Interrupt:58

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:16 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:16 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:930 (930.0 b)  TX bytes:930 (930.0 b)

Oracle Software Preinstallation Steps on the RAC-Node-01 VM

Perform the following checks (steps 9.19–9.28) to satisfy the prerequisites for RAC 12c on Node 01.

Step 9.19—Check Space Requirement on /tmp

To check that the space requirement has been met, do the following (10 GB is recommended):

[oracle@bsfrac01 Database]$ df -h /tmp
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/xvda2            9.8G  7.9G  1.4G  86% /

Step 9.20—Create the Required and Relevant OS Groups

Issue these commands to create the OS groups:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54327 asmadmin
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54328 asmoper
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54329 asmadmin
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54324 asmdba
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54324 backupdba
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54325 dgdba
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54326 kmdba
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54321 oinstall
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54322 dba
[root@bsfrac01 /]# groupadd -g 54323 oper

Step 9.21—Create the Oracle and Grid OS Users as the Oracle DB HOME Software Owners and Grid Infrastructure HOME Software Owners and Set Their Initial Passwords

To create the oracle and grid OS users as the Oracle DB HOME Software Owners and Grid Infrastructure HOME Software owners, respectively, and set their initial passwords, issue these commands:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# useradd -u 54321 -g oinstall -G dba,asmdba oracle
[root@bsfrac01 /]# useradd -u 54322 -g oinstall -G asmadmin,asmdba grid

[root@bsfrac01 /]# passwd grid
Changing password for user grid.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

[root@bsfrac01 /]# passwd oracle
Changing password for user oracle.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

Step 9.22—Create the Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) Directory Structure for RAC 12c

As the root OS user, run the following commands:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# mkdir -p  /u01/app/12.1.0/grid
[root@bsfrac01 /]# mkdir -p /u01/app/grid
[root@bsfrac01 /]# mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle
[root@bsfrac01 /]# chown -R grid:oinstall /u01
[root@bsfrac01 /]# chown oracle:oinstall /u01/app/oracle
[root@bsfrac01 /]# chmod -R 775 /u01/

Step 9.23—Observe/Verify the Required and Relevant Permissions of the Created OFA Directory Structure

Check the required and relevant permissions set for the OFA directory structure:

[root@bsfrac01 oracle]# ls -l /u01
total 4
drwxrwxr-x 5 grid oinstall 4096 Feb 25 23:29 app
[root@bsfrac01 oracle]# ls -l /u01/app/
total 12
drwxrwxr-x 3 grid   oinstall 4096 Feb 25 23:29 12.1.0
drwxrwxr-x 2 grid   oinstall 4096 Feb 25 23:29 grid
drwxrwxr-x 2 oracle oinstall 4096 Feb 25 23:29 oracle

Step 9.24—Set Up and Configure the NTPD

Configure the NTPD:

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# service ntpd start
Shutting down ntpd:                                        [  OK  ]
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# chkconfig ntpd on

Step 9.25—Turn Off and Unconfigure the Avahi daemon

Do the following to turn off and unconfigure the Avahi daemon:

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# service avahi-daemon stop
Shutting down Avahi daemon:                                [  OK  ]
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# chkconfig avahi-daemon off

Step 9.26—Install Packages/Options for Linux Kernel

Within OEL, using the GUI software installer (see Figure 9.24) or using the rpm command-line utility, ensure that the following packages for OEL 6.x x86_64 are installed with greater-than/equal-to versions. Additionally, download and install ancillary packages to aid with the performance of the RAC.

Figure 9.24. Oracle VM 3.x: RAC-Node-01—OS/Linux 6.x 64-bit x86 custom package/rpm installation

glibc-2.12-1.7.el6 (i686)
glibc-2.12-1.7.el6 (x86_64)
glibc-devel-2.12-1.7.el6 (x86_64)
glibc-devel-2.12-1.7.el6.i686
libstdc++-4.4.4-13.el6 (x86_64)
libstdc++-4.4.4-13.el6.i686
libstdc++-devel-4.4.4-13.el6 (x86_64)
libstdc++-devel-4.4.4-13.el6.i686
gcc-4.4.4-13.el6 (x86_64)
gcc-c++-4.4.4-13.el6 (x86_64)
ksh
make-3.81-19.el6
sysstat-9.0.4-11.el6 (x86_64)
libgcc-4.4.4-13.el6 (i686)
libgcc-4.4.4-13.el6 (x86_64)
libaio-0.3.107-10.el6 (x86_64)
libaio-0.3.107-10.el6.i686
libaio-devel-0.3.107-10.el6 (x86_64)
libaio-devel-0.3.107-10.el6.i686
binutils-2.20.51.0.2-5.11.el6 (x86_64)
compat-libcap1-1.10-1 (x86_64)
compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-69.el6 (x86_64)
compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-69.el6.i686

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa glibc*
glibc-common-2.12-1.80.el6_3.5.x86_64
glibc-devel-2.12-1.80.el6_3.5.x86_64
glibc-2.12-1.80.el6_3.5.x86_64
glibc-headers-2.12-1.80.el6_3.5.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa libstdc++*
libstdc++-4.4.6-4.el6.x86_64
libstdc++-devel-4.4.6-4.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa gcc*
gcc-c++-4.4.6-4.el6.x86_64
gcc-4.4.6-4.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa ksh*
ksh-20100621-16.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa make*
make-3.81-20.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa sysstat*
sysstat-9.0.4-20.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa libgcc*
libgcc-4.4.6-4.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa libgcc*
libgcc-4.4.6-4.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa libaio*
libaio-devel-0.3.107-10.el6.x86_64
libaio-0.3.107-10.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa binutils*
binutils-2.20.51.0.2-5.34.el6.x86_64
[root@bsfrac01 ~]# rpm -qa compat-lib*
compat-libcap1-1.10-1.x86_64
compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-69.el6.x86_64

Step 9.27—Create Primary Partitions for All the GRID1, DATA1, and RECO1 ASM Disk Groups

Next, create primary partitions for all the GRID1, DATA1, and RECO1 ASM disk groups:

[root@bsfrac01 ~]# fdisk /dev/xvdc
device contains neither a valid DOS partition table, nor Sun, SGI, or OSF disklabel.
Building a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0x6a917f21.
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
After that, of course, the previous content won't be recoverable.

Command (m for help): n
Command action
   e   extended
   p   primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-6527, default 1):

Using default value 1

Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (1-6527, default 6527):

Using default value 6527

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Step 9.28—Verify the Partition Structures for the Underlying Disks in the GRID1, DATA1, and RECO1 ASM Disk Groups

Verify the partition structures for the underlying disks:

[root@bsfrac01 /]# fdisk –l

Step 9.29—Configure ASM Library on RAC-Node-01

Configure the ASM library by performing the following steps:

[root@bsfrac01 dev]# /etc/init.d/oracleasm configure
Configuring the Oracle ASM library driver.

This will configure the on-boot properties of the Oracle ASM library
driver. The following questions will determine whether the driver is
loaded on boot and what permissions it will have. The current values
will be shown in brackets ('[]'). Hitting <ENTER> without typing an
answer will keep that current value. Ctrl+C will abort.

Default user to own the driver interface []: oracle
Default group to own the driver interface []: asmdba
Start Oracle ASM library driver on boot (y/n) [n]: y
Scan for Oracle ASM disks on boot (y/n) [y]: y
Writing Oracle ASM library driver configuration: done
Initializing the Oracle ASMLib driver:                     [  OK  ]
Scanning the system for Oracle ASMLib disks:               [  OK  ]

[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk GRID1DISK01 /dev/xvdc1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk GRID1DISK02 /dev/xvdd1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk GRID1DISK03 /dev/xvde1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk GRID1DISK04 /dev/xvdf1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk GRID1DISK05 /dev/xvdg1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk DATA1DISK01 /dev/xvdh1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk DATA1DISK02 /dev/xvdi1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk DATA1DISK03 /dev/xvdj1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk DATA1DISK04 /dev/xvdk1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk DATA1DISK05 /dev/xvdl1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk DATA1DISK06 /dev/xvdm1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done
[root@bsfrac01 dev]# oracleasm createdisk RECO1DISK06 /dev/xvdn1
Writing disk header: done
Instantiating disk: done

[root@bsfrac01 dev]# /etc/init.d/oracleasm listdisks
DATA1DISK01
DATA1DISK02
DATA1DISK03
DATA1DISK04
DATA1DISK05
DATA1DISK06
GRID1DISK01
GRID1DISK02
GRID1DISK03
GRID1DISK04
GRID1DISK05
RECO1DISK06

Step 9.30—Download and Stage the Oracle Software Binaries

Download, unzip, and stage the Oracle software grid and database software binaries:

[oracle@bsfrac01 Database]$ unzip -q linuxx64_database_12.1BETA_130131_1of2.zip

Repeat the unzip process for all the software binary zip files, and verify the unzipped and staged directory structure.

Step 9.31—Establish a Save Point: Make a Backup Copy of the Ready-to-Go OVM in the Form of an OVM Template

Go to OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Select Oracle VM → Right-click → Clone or Move.

Step 9.32—Remove (Temporarily) the Shared Disks and Clone the Ready-to-Go OVM

Go to OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Select Oracle VM, and click the Edit button.

As shown in Figure 9.25, this action temporarily removes all the shared ASM virtual disks. You need to do this; otherwise, clones of these disks will be created unnecessarily during the ensuing cloning process for all the RAC nodes.

Figure 9.25. Oracle VM 3.x: RAC-Node-01—Local virtual disks after temporarily removing the virtualized shared disks for Automatic Storage Management

Step 9.33—Clone the Other Nodes of the RAC Cluster from the Ready-to-Go Node 01 VM

To clone the other nodes of the RAC, follow these steps:

1. Go to OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Select Oracle VM and right-click. Choose Clone or Move (see Figure 9.26).

Figure 9.26. Oracle VM 3.x: Clone the other RAC nodes from the VM from Node 01

2. Select the Create a clone of this VM option.

3. Select and enter the following options:

• Target server pool

• Description

• Clone to a: VM

• Clone count: Specify the clone count for the RAC nodes

As shown in Figure 9.27, all the nodes for a five-node RAC have been successfully created and are ready for further configuration.

Figure 9.27. Oracle VM 3.x: VMs for all nodes of the RAC have been created and cloned

Step 9.34—Reattach the Shared Disks to the RAC Node OVMs

Next reattach the shared disks to the RAC node OVMs:

1. Go to OVM Manager → Servers and VMs → Select Server Pool → Select Oracle VM, and click the Edit button (see Figure 9.28).

Figure 9.28. Oracle VM 3.x: RAC-Node-01—Reattach the virtualized shared disks for Automatic Storage Management

2. Select the shared disks.

3. Repeat the preceding steps for all the RAC node VMs.

Step 9.35—Start Each Guest VM and Edit the Network Settings

1. Go to System → Preferences → Network Settings → IPv4 Settings.

2. Modify the IP addresses of the eth0 (public) and eth1 (private cluster interconnect) NICs, as shown in Figure 9.29.

Figure 9.29. Oracle VM 3.x: RAC-Node-01—Network configuration for the RAC node VMs

3. Repeat for all of the RAC nodes.

Install and Set Up 12c Grid Infrastructure

As you can see from the preceding sections, setting up and installing Oracle RAC is all about doing an extensive amount of homework in the right way. To summarize the activity covered in the last few sections, ensure that the following virtual infrastructure is available and ready for deployment in a brand-new RAC setup:

• Dedicated virtual network for RAC has been created and configured.

• Virtualized shared ASM disks for the GRID1 ASM disk group are created and ready for use.

• VMs that will constitute the nodes of the RAC 12c have been created, set up, and configured.

• OEL 6.x is set up and configured on RAC-Node-01 using two alternative approaches; installing it from scratch or using the downloadable templates for OVM for x86.

• The VMs for the other nodes of the RAC 12c have been cloned from the RAC-Node-01 VM.

It’s now time to set up Oracle grid infrastructure and get the RAC 12c bird off the ground and in the air.

Step 9.36—In OVM Manager for x86, Start All the VMs for the Oracle RAC 12c Cluster

As shown in Figure 9.30, at this point you want to start the VMs for the RAC 12c cluster.

Figure 9.30. Oracle VM 3.x: Start up the VMs for the RAC 12c cluster

Step 9.37—In the Grid Infrastructure Staging Directory, Run the OUI to Set Up the Grid Infrastructure

Enter the information and make the selections in the Wizard Entry screens of the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI), as shown in Figures 9.31 through 9.45. In some cases, you will need to edit according to the specific needs of your organization.

Figure 9.31. Enter your support credentials.

1. Enter the My Oracle Support (MOS) credentials for support on software updates and patches (see Figure 9.31), or choose to skip them.

2. Select the Install and Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Cluster option (see Figure 9.32).

Figure 9.32. Select Install and Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Cluster.

3. Select the Configure a Flex Cluster option (see Figure 9.33).

Figure 9.33. Select Configure a Flex Cluster.

4. Select the appropriate product language(s).

5. Enter the required information for Single Client Access Name (SCAN) and Grid Naming Service (GNS) (see Figure 9.34).

Figure 9.34. Enter SCAN and GNS information.

6. Enter the relevant information for the RAC 12c nodes, including for HUB and LEAF nodes (see Figure 9.35).

Figure 9.35. Enter HUB and LEAF node information.

7. Enter the required information for establishing and testing SSH connectivity and user equivalence between all the RAC nodes, as in Figure 9.36.

Figure 9.36. Enter credentials for SSH connectivity.

8. Once step 7 is done, the system tests the SSH connectivity between the nodes (see Figure 9.37).

Figure 9.37. Password-less connectivity testing in progress

9. Specify the network interfaces for public, private cluster interconnect, and ASM. The system will validate those as well (see Figure 9.38).

Figure 9.38. The system validates the public and private interfaces across the cluster nodes.

10. Select the Configure Grid Infrastructure Management Repository option (see Figure 9.39).

Figure 9.39. Select the Configure Grid Infrastructure Management Repository option.

11. If you choose No, then the message in Figure 9.40 is displayed.

Figure 9.40. Grid Infrastructure Management Repository is not selected as an option.

12. Specify the ASM disks for the GRID1 ASM disk group with a HIGH redundancy level (see Figure 9.41).

Figure 9.41. Specify the ASM disks for the GRID1 ASM disk group.

13. Enter the passwords for the Oracle SYS and ASMSNMP DB users.

14. Select the Do Not Use Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) option.

15. Specify the OS groups for ASM.

16. Enter the Oracle BASE and HOME locations.

17. Enter the Oracle inventory location (see Figure 9.42).

Figure 9.42. Enter the inventory location.

18. Enter the root OS password or sudo access credentials to automatically run the root.sh configuration scripts (see Figure 9.43).

Figure 9.43. Enter the root password.

19. Generate and run any runfixup.sh scripts to remediate any prerequisite issues (see Figure 9.44).

Figure 9.44. Fix any issues.

20. Press Install to initiate the installation process for grid infrastructure (see Figure 9.45).

Figure 9.45. Initiate the installation process.

The following output will appear in the SSH window:

[oracle@bsfrac01 grid]$ pwd
/u01/app/oracle/software/Ora12c/Grid/grid
[oracle@bsfrac01 grid]$ ./runInstaller
Starting Oracle Universal Installer...

Checking Temp space: must be greater than 120 MB.   Actual 5620 MB    Passed
Checking swap space: must be greater than 150 MB.   Actual 2047 MB    Passed
Checking monitor: must be configured to display at least 256 colors.
Actual 16777216    Passed
Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from
/tmp/OraInstall2013-02-26_01-00-01AM. Please wait ...

The following grid infrastructure processes or daemons should appear on the RAC nodes after setup.

PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
 7619 oracle    20   0 98432 1252  612 S  6.9  0.0  30:33.70 sshd
24066 oracle    20   0  612m  48m  15m S  4.0  1.7  11:10.74 gipcd.bin
24700 oracle    -2   0 1368m  16m  14m S  4.0  0.6  10:20.84 asm_vktm_+asm1
28408 oracle    -2   0 1368m  15m  13m S  4.0  0.5  10:06.05 apx_vktm_+apx1
24336 oracle    RT   0 1157m 182m  80m S  3.6  6.4   9:49.82 ocssd.bin
24805 root      RT   0  788m 101m  71m S  3.6  3.6   8:03.76 osysmond.bin
 7670 oracle    20   0 1580m 227m 6076 S  2.3  8.0  71:35.10 java
23757 root      20   0 1194m  59m  19m S  2.3  2.1   5:36.65 ohasd.bin
24963 root      20   0 1146m  43m  16m S  2.3  1.5   6:24.32 orarootagent.bi
24812 root      20   0 1247m  79m  26m S  1.6  2.8   4:42.22 crsd.bin
24011 oracle    20   0 1150m  34m  17m S  1.3  1.2   1:46.04 oraagent.bin
24454 root      20   0  791m  36m  14m S  1.3  1.3   3:02.20 octssd.bin
25086 oracle    20   0 1754m 151m  19m S  1.3  5.3   2:53.32 java
 3728 oracle    20   0 15180 1256  896 R  1.0  0.0   0:00.08 top
24024 oracle    20   0  667m  38m  15m S  1.0  1.4   3:04.61 evmd.bin
24311 root      RT   0  918m 106m  71m S  0.7  3.7   0:16.43 cssdmonitor
24720 oracle    -2   0 1382m  33m  20m S  0.7  1.2   1:41.75 asm_lms0_+asm1
24864 root      RT   0  849m 160m  71m S  0.7  5.6   1:48.41 ologgerd
   57 root      20   0     0    0    0 S  0.3  0.0   0:12.15 kworker/1:1
24043 oracle    20   0  659m  36m  14m S  0.3  1.3   0:10.50 gpnpd.bin
24655 oracle    20   0 1368m  19m  17m S  0.3  0.7   0:07.28 asm_pmon_+asm1
24710 oracle    20   0 1374m  25m  17m S  0.3  0.9   0:26.34 asm_diag_+asm1
24716 oracle    20   0 1385m  40m  25m S  0.3  1.4   1:11.91 asm_lmon_+asm1
24718 oracle    20   0 1383m  30m  17m S  0.3  1.1   0:42.79 asm_lmd0_+asm1
24951 oracle    20   0 1180m  73m  20m S  0.3  2.6   2:35.66 oraagent.bin
25065 oracle    20   0 1050m 9072 1268 S  0.3  0.3   0:02.38 ons
30490 oracle    20   0 1373m  28m  23m S  0.3  1.0   0:02.43 oracle_30490_+a

Hub Node(s):

2318 gdm       20   0  332m 9924 8924 S 13.9  0.3   0:53.31 gnome-settings-
10097 oracle    -2   0 1368m  15m  13m S  5.3  0.6   7:47.66 apx_vktm_+apx2
 8958 oracle    20   0  602m  47m  15m S  4.6  1.7   9:34.31 gipcd.bin
 9173 root      RT   0  789m 101m  71m S  4.0  3.6   6:32.76 osysmond.bin
 9002 oracle    RT   0 1159m 175m  80m S  3.6  6.1  10:26.57 ocssd.bin
 9506 oracle    -2   0 1368m  16m  14m S  3.6  0.6   8:41.92 asm_vktm_+asm2
 8809 root      20   0 1190m  68m  30m S  2.0  2.4   4:42.47 ohasd.bin
 8909 oracle    20   0 1150m  39m  20m S  1.3  1.4   2:53.17 oraagent.bin
 8922 oracle    20   0  666m  39m  16m S  1.3  1.4   2:41.23 evmd.bin
 9151 root      20   0  725m  36m  14m S  1.3  1.3   2:32.39 octssd.bin
 9281 root      20   0  748m  29m  16m S  1.3  1.0   3:35.72 orarootagent.bi
 9180 root      20   0 1240m  68m  30m S  1.0  2.4   3:15.15 crsd.bin
 9521 oracle    20   0 1379m  33m  23m S  0.7  1.2   0:56.36 asm_dia0_+asm2
 9528 oracle    -2   0 1382m  33m  20m S  0.7  1.2   1:29.06 asm_lms0_+asm2
14933 oracle    20   0 15080 1144  812 R  0.7  0.0   0:03.13 top
 2207 root      20   0  121m  10m 6116 S  0.3  0.4   0:04.20 Xorg
 9347 oracle    20   0 1164m  61m  22m S  0.3  2.1   2:01.56 oraagent.bin
 9516 oracle    20   0 1374m  25m  17m S  0.3  0.9   0:22.80 asm_diag_+asm2
 9523 oracle    20   0 1385m  40m  25m S  0.3  1.4   1:01.14 asm_lmon_+asm2
 9526 oracle    20   0 1383m  30m  17m S  0.3  1.1   0:38.67 asm_lmd0_+asm2
 9532 oracle    20   0 1370m  21m  17m S  0.3  0.8   0:13.08 asm_lmhb_+asm2

Leaf Node(s):

$ ./crs_stat -t -v
 PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
 4085 oracle    20   0  602m  44m  14m S  5.6  1.6   0:17.24 gipcd.bin
 4179 root      RT   0  724m 100m  71m S  4.6  3.5   0:08.74 osysmond.bin
 3940 root      20   0 1191m  60m  29m S  2.6  2.1   0:14.51 ohasd.bin
 4161 root      20   0  725m  28m  13m S  2.0  1.0   0:04.29 octssd.bin
 4188 root      20   0 1202m  55m  27m S  2.0  1.9   0:07.27 crsd.bin
 4051 oracle    20   0  667m  31m  15m S  1.7  1.1   0:05.16 evmd.bin
 4128 oracle    RT   0  987m 127m  79m S  1.3  4.5   0:05.97 ocssdrim.bin
 4470 oracle    20   0 15080 1100  812 R  0.7  0.0   0:00.08 top
 4114 root      RT   0  852m 104m  71m S  0.3  3.7   0:01.12 cssdagent

[oracle@bsfrac01 bin]$ ./crs_stat -t -v
Name           Type           R/RA   F/FT   Target    State     Host
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ora....SM.lsnr ora....er.type 0/5    0/     ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.GRID1.dg   ora....up.type 0/5    0/     ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....ER.lsnr ora....er.type 0/5    0/     ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....AF.lsnr ora....er.type 0/5    0/     OFFLINE   OFFLINE
ora....N1.lsnr ora....er.type 0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac02
ora....N2.lsnr ora....er.type 0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....N3.lsnr ora....er.type 0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac04
ora.MGMTLSNR   ora....nr.type 0/0    0/0    OFFLINE   OFFLINE
ora.asm        ora.asm.type   0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....01.lsnr application    0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....c01.ons application    0/3    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....c01.vip ora....t1.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....02.lsnr application    0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac02
ora....c02.ons application    0/3    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac02
ora....c02.vip ora....t1.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac02
ora....03.lsnr application    0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac03
ora....c03.ons application    0/3    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac03
ora....c03.vip ora....t1.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac03
ora....04.lsnr application    0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac04
ora....c04.ons application    0/3    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac04
ora....c04.vip ora....t1.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac04
ora.cvu        ora.cvu.type   0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.gns        ora.gns.type   0/5    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.gns.vip    ora....ip.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora....network ora....rk.type 0/5    0/     ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.oc4j       ora.oc4j.type  0/1    0/2    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.ons        ora.ons.type   0/3    0/     ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.proxy_advm ora....vm.type 0/5    0/     ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.scan1.vip  ora....ip.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac02
ora.scan2.vip  ora....ip.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac01
ora.scan3.vip  ora....ip.type 0/0    0/0    ONLINE    ONLINE    bsfrac04

Summary

As economies the world over continue to shrink, organizations and entities are looking for new and innovative ways to achieve the next dimension of corporate efficiency. Virtualization is one of the key elements of modern cloud computing, providing the gateway to a cost-effective, agile, and elastic IT environment.

Based on the mainstream open-source Xen hypervisor, OVM along with Oracle RAC and EM12c can be used to formulate, build, and set up end-to-end industry-grade, state-of-the-art virtualized database clouds. If you’re not already on it, now is the perfect time to hop on the virtualization and cloud computing bandwagon.

The methods outlined in this chapter and the next are a perfect avenue to do so. They provide a step-by-step guide for setting up and installing your own RAC 12c environment either at home or in a corporate setting. Please continue reading on to the next chapter to finish the RAC 12c database cloud journey that we started in this one.