Configuring an Oracle RAC database server

This topic describes how to configure an Application Server to communicate with the Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) database server and for supporting Fast Application Notification (FAN) offered by the Oracle RAC database.

Configuring the Application Server for communication with Oracle RAC database server

For TrueSight Server Automation to work in conjunction with an Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) database server, the Application Server must be configured to communicate with the database. The installation program can configure the Application Server. However, you can manually configure the Application Server to communicate with the database, as described in this procedure.

1. Start the Application Server Administration console, as described in Starting-the-Application-Server-Administration-console.
2. Specify a connection string for the RAC database. Use the following format:
   set database connectionstring "jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION = <descriptors> )"
   The connection string must include:
   • An ADDRESS descriptor for each computer in the Oracle RAC cluster. Each ADDRESS descriptor must contain a HOST descriptor that specifies the full name of the computer.

   • A SERVICE_NAME descriptor that specifies the alias used for connecting to the database. (The Oracle database administrator can provide this information.)
     For example:

     set database connectionstring "jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraracdb1-vip.ora1.bmc.com)(PORT = 1521)) (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraracdb2-vip.ora1.bmc.com)(PORT = 1521)) (LOAD_BALANCE = yes) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVER = DEDICATED) (SERVICE_NAME = oraracserv) (FAILOVER_MODE = (TYPE = SELECT) (METHOD = BASIC) (RETRIES = 180) (DELAY = 1000))))"

     If you have Single Client Access Name (SCAN) set up on Oracle 11g R2 or later, you can provide only the RAC cluster alias instead of listing the individual nodes, as shown in the following example:

     set database connectionstring "jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = racdb-vip.ora1.bmc.com)(PORT = 1521)) (LOAD_BALANCE = yes) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVER = DEDICATED) (SERVICE_NAME = oraracserv) (FAILOVER_MODE = (TYPE = SELECT) (METHOD = BASIC) (RETRIES = 180) (DELAY = 1000))))"

     racdb-vip.oral.bmc.com specifies the name of the cluster alias.

3. To specify the user ID and password for the database, enter the following two commands:
   set database userid <id> set database password ******
   where <id> is the user name that the database requires to authenticate your connection and ******** is the password assigned to that user ID.
4. To specify the driver class for the database, enter the following:
   set database driverclass oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver
5. Restart the Application Server.

Configuring the Oracle Cluster and Application Servers for FAN support

FAN is a high availability notification mechanism that Oracle RAC uses to notify the TrueSight Server Automation Application Servers about service-level information, including status changes such as NODE UP or NODE DOWN events.

In the Oracle RAC environment, whenever a node goes down or there is network issue between nodes, FAN events are generated. In the Application Server connection pool, these events are captured and the connections to those DOWN nodes are marked as broken and those connections are returned to the available pool.

To generate FAN events and to capture those events, you need to configurate Oracle cluster and Application Servers.

To configure Oracle cluster

1. Log on to Oracle Cluster as an Oracle (UNIX) user.
2. Enter the following command to add the database service to the Oracle Cluster:
   srvctl add service -db <dababaseName> -service <serviceName> -preferred <instanceName> -available <serviceID> -failovermethod BASIC -failovertype SELECT -failoverretry 180 -failoverdelay 5 -clbgoal LONG
   For example:
   srvctl add service -db ORA19Cl -service ORCL_TEST1 -preferred ORA19Cl1 -available ORA19Cl2 -failovermethod BASIC -failovertype SELECT -failoverretry 180 -failoverdelay 5 -clbgoal LONG
3. Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory and open the tnanames.ora file with a text editor.
4. Add the database service name to the file, as shown in the following example:
   ORCL_TEST1 =(DESCRIPTION =
   (CONNECT_TIMEOUT=90)(RETRY_COUNT=20)(RETRY_DELAY=3)(TRANSPORT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=3)
   (ADDRESS_LIST =
   (LOAD_BALANCE=on)
   ( ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST=pun-domqa1.abc.com(PORT=1521)))
   (CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME = ORCL_TEST1)))
5. Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/opmn/conf directory.
6. Open the ons.config file with a text editor.
7. Set the value of nodes parameter to the database node name and port number, as shown in the following example:
   nodes=pune-domqa1:6200,pune-domqa2:6200,pune-domqa5:62006200 indicates the port that ONS binds to on all interfaces to talk to other ONS daemons.(% style="color: rgb(23,43,77);" %)

To configure an Application Server

1. Ensure that the Oracle client or Oracle Database engine is installed on the Application Server.
2. Ensure that environment variable, ORACLE_HOME is defined and accessible on the Application Server.
3. Configure the ONS daemon:
   1. Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/opmn/conf directory.
   2. Open the ons.config file with a text editor.
   3. Set the value of nodes parameter to the database node name and port number, as shown in the following example:
      nodes=pune-domqa1:6200,pune-domqa2:6200,pune-domqa5:6200
      6200 indicates the port that ONS binds to on all interfaces to talk to other ONS daemons.               
   4. Save the file.
4. Start the ON daemon by using the following command: onsctl start
5. Ensure that the database connection string includes the following attributes: 'SERVICE_NAME' and 'LOAD_BALANCE = yes'.
6. Copy the ons.jar file from the /data1/oracle/product/<dbClientVersion>/client/opmn/lib/ons.jar directory on the Oracle Client to the <INSTALL_DIR>/NSH/br/stdlib on the Application Server.