Setting up an Oracle database

To use an Oracle database, you must configure the database before you install BMC Helix Service Management. Typically, Oracle database administrators create instances, directories, and groups, and they install the Oracle database and Oracle client before proceeding with the BMC Helix Service Management installation.

BMC Helix Service Management installation supports only a case insensitive Oracle database.

Before you begin

Make sure that you have downloaded the ORACLE_ARSystem-SR_213006HF-DBDUMP.zip file from BMC Electronic Product Distribution (EPD).

To prepare your Oracle database

1. As a database administrator, install at least one instance of the Oracle database.
   You can install it on a remote server that is accessible to sever where you want to install AR System.

   Important

   Make sure that your database is configured to use Unicode.

2. Enable TCP/IP for the database.
3. Confirm connection to your Oracle database.
   Contact your database administrator for more information.

4. Set the AR System data file size to at least 2 GB.

   Important

   For each additional product, add at least 2 GB to the data file size.

5. Make sure that the database parameters listed in the following table are specified:
   
   

   Important

   The following settings and size estimates must be used as a starting point. You should conduct benchmarks in your environment because sizing will vary depending on your workload mix, data volumes, and data composition. 

   Parameter Name	Suggested value
   cursor_space_for_time	False
   db_block_checking	False
   db_file_multiblock_read_count	0 (or do not set)
   LOG_BUFFER	10485760
   OPEN_CURSORS	500
   optimizer_dynamic_sampling	2
   session_cached_cursors	100
   statistics_level	Typical
   timed_statistics	True
   UNDO_RETENTION	14400
   workarea_size_policy	auto
   REDO log files	Three (at least 1 GB each)
   NLS_LENGTH_SEMANTICS	BYTE
   NLS_CHARACTERSET	AL32UTF8

6. To prevent AR System from reaching the size limit of the database, set your tablespaces with the AUTOEXTEND parameter to ON, by executing the following SQL statement as the system user:

   ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE '<OracleHome>/DATABASE/ARSYS' AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 100M MAXSIZE UNLIMITED;

7. Set the tablespace and temporary tablespace to at least the following minimum settings:

   Parameter	Suggested value
   arsys	2000 MB
   artmpf	500 MB

   The tablespace names might be different for your environment.

8. To avoid timeout errors during installation, set the System Global Area (SGA) minimum size to at least 1 GB (small database), 3 GB (medium database), or 6 GB (large database). For Oracle 11g, set the maximum SGA size and enable the database to automatically manage the internal memory structures of the SGA. For example, to change the SGA size to 1 GB, use the alter system set sga_target=1G scope=both command.

9. Verify or set the following environment variables:

   Environment variable	Description
   NLS_LANG (Windows)	Set NLS_LANG as a system environment variable value as per your database character set . For information about NLS_LANG and its usage, see the following notes from Oracle: 144808.1, 227330.1, 260192.1.
   LANG (UNIX)	Specifies globalization settings.
   ORACLE_SID	Set the length of this variable to 8c.

10. Ensure that the Oracle listener is running and is configured correctly for the database.

11. Set the value of the Oracle CLOB option to inrow.

12. (Oracle 12c Release 2 only) Add the following parameters and values to sqlnet.ora:

    Parameter and value	Purpose
    SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES = (NTS)	Required by Oracle 12.2 to enable the AR System server to run on Windows with the database on Windows.
    SQLNET.ALLOWED_LOGON_VERSION_SERVER = 10	Required by Oracle 12.2 to connect the database to AR Systems clients, which contain version 10 of the Oracle client library.

To configure your Oracle database

1. Unzip the ORACLE_ARSystem-SR_213006HF-DBDUMP.zip file that you downloaded from EPD.
   The following database dump files are displayed:
   

   • ORACLE_ARSystem-213006HF-202211181051.dmp

   • ORACLE_SmartReporting-210503HF-202208181627.dmp

2. Download and update the following files:

   File	Description
   Innovation_Suite_schema_tablespace_creation.sql	This file creates users, database schemas, and table spaces required for setting up database configurations for Action Request System and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting.
   Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite	Update this file with the appropriate parameter values.

3. Log in to your database server by using the Oracle user credentials and copy the files to the required path such as /data1/DB_DUMP/ or C:\data1\DB_DUMP.
   
4. Change your directory to the directory path where you copy the Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite and Innovation_Suite_schema_tablespace_creation.sql files.

5. Execute the Innovation_Suite_schema_tablespace_creation.sql file by using the following command:

   sqlplus system/<Password> @Innovation_Suite_schema_tablespace_creation.sql

6. Execute the Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite file.
   
   • On Windows, perform the following steps:
     1. In the database server, rename the Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite file to Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite.bat

     2. Start command prompt, navigate to the directory that contains the Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite.bat file and execute the file by using the following command:

        cmd Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite.bat 

   
   

   • On Linux, in the database server, execute the file as an Oracle user by using the following command:

     sh Data_Population_Script_for_Innovation_Suite

   Make sure that the file is executed successfully.

Considerations for an Oracle 12c or 18c database

If you have an Oracle 12c or 18c database, consider the following:

• Consult your Oracle DB administrator to understand the architectural changes in Oracle 12c and 18c.
• The following options are available when you choose to use the Oracle 12c or 18c database: 
  • If you want to use a non multi-tenant database, you must create a non-Container Database (CDB) database.
  • If you want to use a multi-tenant database, you must create a CDB with Pluggable Database (PDB) inside it.

• If you are using non-CDB, no specific settings are required.
• If you are using the CDB with PDB inside it, perform the following steps before installing BMC Helix Service Management:
  1. Create the PDB.
     For example, you could create a database called REMPDB.

  2. Register the PDB as service to the listener.

     Important

     During installation choose Oracle service name option in the AR System Server User and Database Information panel. 

Cursor sharing

Set the value of cursor_sharing to FORCE.

Configuring Oracle Data Guard

Beginning with the AR System 9.1.02, BMC supports Oracle Data Guard. Oracle Data Guard is a technology that helps in recovering from DB failures across the geographical sites. Clients can failover to the next available database in the Oracle Real Applications Cluster (RAC) setup. For more information, see  Oracle Data Guard .

To configure AR System to support Oracle Data Guard

The following image shows the AR system server with Oracle Data Guard.

Perform the steps to configure AR System to support Oracle Data Guard:

1. On the AR System Server, configure a service that has the same name for the primary and standby database. For example, ORADG.BMC.COM.

2. In the AR System Configuration Generic UI form, set the Oracle-JDBC-URL parameter to the specified syntax:

   Oracle-JDBC-URL: jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION=(LOAD_BALANCE=OFF)(FAILOVER=ON)(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=primarydb_host)(PORT=primarydb_port))(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=standbydb_host)(PORT=standbydb_port)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=ORADG.BMC.COM)(SERVER=DEDICATED)))

   Important

   When you specify the Oracle-JDBC-URL parameter, the AR System server ignores the following parameters:

   • Oracle-Service 
   • Db-Host-Name
   • Db-Server-Port
   • Oracle-SID
   • Db-Custom-Conn-Props
   • SQL-Secure-Connection

3. Save the file.
4. Restart the BMC Helix Innovation Suite platform pod.

When the primary database is down and the standby database does not take over as the primary database, the following error occurs:

ORA-12514, TNS: listener does not currently know of service requested in connect descriptor (ARERR 552).

After your BMC Helix Service Management is installed and you have configured it to support Oracle Data Guard, you can log in as AR Admin to verify the configuration.

Where to go from here