Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Forum

On 24th August, I spoke as one of the two Oracle speakers in the Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Forum, a large event held at St. Regis hotel, Singapore. My co-speaker was Peter Yu. We introduced a lot of people to the new capabilities of Enterprise Manager 11g, such as the Sun Ops Center, Business Transaction management, and Real User Experience Insight (RUEI). The attendees were astonished as to what is possible in Enterprise Manager today. Here are a few photos of the event.

Seminar on Consolidation on Grid Computing

Friends,

I am conducting this seminar on behalf of Oracle Platinum Partner S&I Systems on 13th August in Singapore. The topic is "Consolidation on Grid Computing". Please register if you like to attend by clicking on the link below:

http://www.si-asia.com/marketing/OracleSeriesII_SeminarTwo_2010/

We are covering interesting topics. Overview:

• Traditional Computing Infrastructure VS Grid Computing Infrastructure
  
• Consolidation on Oracle Database Grid
  
• How Oracle Grid and RAC help to reduce costs
  
• Oracle 11g Release 2 features for Grid
  
• Consolidation with Instance Caging and Server Pools
  
• Server hardware consolidation
  
• RAC One Node the business-friendly feature new in 11g Release 2
  
• Omotion Live Migration

Regards,

Porus.

Reconfiguring Database Control using EMCA

Someone asked me a question. He wanted to restore a database to a new host. The database included the Enterprise Manager Repository. Using RMAN, he restored the database to the new host, but was unable to start Enterprise Manager on the new host.

My answer:

I presume you are talking of Enterprise Manager Database Control and its repository, and not Grid Control.

Since you have restored the database to a new server, you must manually configure database control using EMCA. This is because available ports etc may be different on different servers and Oracle cant use the same settings, also the Database control configuration files are actually sitting outside the db in the oracle home. So when you copy the database, you are not copying the home and that info is lost, so you must reconfigure database control on the new host.

Please refer to the Oracle documentation at :
http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/B283...ca.htm#BABDEHCE

This will tell you how to use EMCA to config database control. You may need to deconfig first to clear up any existing repository.

Final 2009 seminar on Oracle Performance Options, Products and Enterprise Manager Packs

This Friday, I conducted another interesting seminar which was S&I System's last Oracle seminar for the year. The topic was Oracle Performance Options, Products and Enterprise Manager Packs.

These were the topics I covered. The clients were introduced to many new Oracle concepts for the first time.

• Partitioning Option, and improvements in 11gR2
• Parallel Query Option, and improvements in 11gR2
• Advanced Compression Option (11g), and Hybrid Columnar Compression in 11gR2
• Active Data Guard (11g)
• In-memory Database Cache (Times-Ten), and it's Grid in 11gR2
• Enterprise Manager Diagnostics and Tuning Packs
  

The following Enterprise Manager packs were also demonstrated in live demos:

• Service Level Management Pack
• Configuration Management Pack
• Diagnostics and Tuning Packs
• Remedy Connector
  

I also demo'ed the new Enterprise Manager feature of SQL Monitoring of long-running SQL in 11g databases, which suitably impressed the attendees.

A number of clients immediately expressed interest in using the Service Level Management and Configuration Management packs for their hundreds of database targets, and discussed Grid Control architecture for such large systems.

The 2009 list of successful Oracle seminars conducted by S&I Systems can be seen on:

http://www.si-asia.com/marketing/oracleworkshops2009/

Customer Webcast: Mass Patching of Oracle Databases with Enterprise Manager

This is an interesting webcast from Oracle for Customers:

Mass Patching of Oracle Databases with Enterprise Manager

Date: Wednesday 7 October 2009
Time: 08:00 a.m. to 09:00 a.m. (PST8PDT)

Description:
http://conference.oracle.com/imtapp/app/conf_enrollment.uix?mID=159112088&mConfKey=grid

Please register for this.

Third Workshop on Grid Provisioning and Patch Automation

I just conducted a successful third workshop in the Oracle Office at Singapore
on Grid Provisioning and Patch Automation. There were a lot of attendees.
Many who could not attend are asking for repeat seminars.

In the workshop, I introduced the clients to sophisticated Oracle Grid
technology, including RAC, Weblogic server clusters, the Coherence
in-memory data grid, ASM, Oracle Enterprise Linux and Oracle VM.
I interested a lot of attendees in Oracle VM pools with Enterprise Linux
as a future platform for the Grid. I explained the various Enterprise
Manager Packs, especially the Configuration Management Pack and
the Provisioning and Patch Automation Pack.

Using an Amazon installation of Oracle Enterprise Manager
Grid Control Release 5 with the Provisioning and Patch
Automation pack - thanks to one of my friends who loaned me
this Amazon installation - I was able to successfully demonstrate
patching of twelve 10g databases with 5 patches, showing the
power of Grid Automation. The clients were suitably impressed
by the technology capabilities of Grid Control. At the same time
I told them about Oracle’s support of the Cloud.

I also successfully demonstrated a RAC Rolling Patch upgrade
of a two node RAC cluster, again using the Provisioning and
Patch Automation Pack on Oracle demonstration servers.

The DBA attendees asked for:

Ability to backup the db before the patch is applied – this feature is coming
Ability to rollback patches using Grid Control – this feature is coming
Ability to use PBRUN etc for security – which is already there
Ability to do offline download of patches – already there
Ability to keep a log of all changes done via the Grid Control console
Ability to do in Grid Control 10g what can be done in Database Control 11g eg. REPLAY

I have given this feedback to Oracle development.

Future workshops can be seen on:
http://www.si-asia.com/marketing/oracleworkshops2009/

Interesting questions on Grid Control Patching Automation

In a recent Grid Control Webinar, I heard some interesting questions
by clients that were answered by the Grid Control patching automation
expert in Oracle, Hari, who also writes on this EM Blog. The configuration
question was answered by another Grid expert, Shahid.

I am sharing these answers with you.

Question: Can rollback of patches be done using Grid Control?

Answer: As a part of the procedure, there are validate steps if the patch is
rightly applied or not. Rollback is not available Out-of-box for now, but
you could insert the step into the framework using the metalink note
info - :577557.1

Question: May I know that how frequently Grid Control gathers
configuration changes?

Answer: It is upto you. The interval is configurable. e.g. in the compliance
scenario you would want to gather changes at real time while for standard
application configuration it may be done once or twice a day.

Question: How do I get the details on how to use sudo etc. for patching?

Answer: See the Administrator's guide for provisioning and patching.

Second Workshop showed Grid Control creating and managing Dataguard

We just conducted a highly successful second workshop in
the Oracle Office at Singapore. A number of large banks attended
besides other large corporates in Singapore. We had Solution
Architects, Lead Engineers, Database Engineers, Database
Managers , Asst Vice Presidents, IT Directors, and EVPs.

We explained the disaster recovery options from Oracle, introducing
the attendees to powerful Oracle products such as Normal Dataguard,
Active Dataguard, RAC, Streams, Oracle Transparent Gateways,
Replication, Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) and the newly acquired
Oracle Golden Gate software.

The Enterprise Manager Grid Control interface was used to demonstrate
the management and performance monitoring of the Data Guard configuration,
as well as the command line interface of Data Guard “dgmgrl” for the switchover.
The power of Enterprise Manager Grid Control was emphasized for setting
up and managing Oracle Data Guard, as also the Provisioning Pack
to clone Oracle software and databases.

The attendees were excited about the Oracle technology explained
and showcased, and mentioned it was an “excellent” or “great” seminar.

Future workshops can be ssen on:
http://www.si-asia.com/marketing/oracleworkshops2009/

POC: Customized Patch Reports for Grid Control

This is part of the Grid Control POC we recently arranged for a large client.


As per the earlier post on the issue of patch reports, the supplied out-of-box
reports show the patch, bugs fixed, installation time, Host, Home directory
and Platform. The reports do not show the databases, the reason being that
the patch is actually at the Oracle Home level and not at the database level.
If you wish to add in the database name, it is possible to modify the report by
creating a copy and then modifying the Sql statement. For example the
above report is from this statement that can be modified:


SELECT distinct
patch as PATCH,
bugs as BUGS,
installation_time as TIMESTAMP,
host as HOST,
home_location as HOME_DIRECTORY,
platform as PLATFORM
from mgmt$applied_patches patch,
mgmt$em_homes_platform home,
mgmt$target tgt
where home.HOME_ID = patch.CONTAINER_GUID
and patch.target_guid = tgt.target_guid
and patch.installation_time>MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_START_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)
and patch.installation_time<= MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_END_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)

You can join this to MGMT$target_components which would have the same home as the mgmt$applied_patches home,
and then select the targets that are databases in this home.

SELECT distinct
patch as PATCH,
installation_time as TIMESTAMP,
host as HOST,
tgtcomp.target_name,
tgtcomp.target_type,
patch.home_location as HOME_DIRECTORY,
patch.home_name as HOME_NAME,
platform as PLATFORM
from mgmt$applied_patches patch,
mgmt$em_homes_platform home,
mgmt$target tgt,
mgmt$target_components tgtcomp
where home.HOME_ID = patch.CONTAINER_GUID
and patch.target_guid = tgt.target_guid
and tgtcomp.home_name = patch.home_name
and tgtcomp.target_type = 'oracle_database'
and patch.installation_time>MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_START_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)
and patch.installation_time<= MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_END_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)


This is just an example of the customization that is possible.


How do we know what info is in the Grid Control Repository? We recommend using the new Sql Developer
Data Modelling utility from Oracle. This is downloadable from the Oracle Technical Network (OTN) and currently
installs as a stand-alone utility, but will be incorporated into a new release of Sql Developer in the not-too-distant
future. ( Sql Developer keeps getting better and better, just like Grid Control ! )


The Data Modelling utility allows reverese engineering of an existing Oracle Database, you can access
this via the menu. Select File>Import>Data Dictionary. In this way, you can import form Oracle 9,10
and 11, MS SQL Server 2000 and 2005, DB2/390 7 and 8, DB2/UDB 7 and 8.


Use this to reverse engineer the SYSMAN schema in the Grid Control repository, especially the MGMT$ views.
Then you can understand what info is available.


As a test of the customization:

After applying database patch 7210195 via Grid Control to our FINPRD1 and FINDW1 database home,
we created a Grid Control customized report "Applied Interim Patches (Customized - Database Level)".


The Sql used in this report is:


SELECT distinct
patch as "Applied Interim Patch",
installation_time as "Time Applied",
tgtcomp.target_name as "Database Target Name",
patch.home_location as "Oracle Home Directory",
patch.home_name as "Oracle Home Name",
host as Host
from mgmt$applied_patches patch,
mgmt$em_homes_platform home,
mgmt$target tgt,
mgmt$target_components tgtcomp
where home.HOME_ID = patch.CONTAINER_GUID
and patch.target_guid = tgt.target_guid
and tgtcomp.home_name = patch.home_name
and tgtcomp.target_type = 'oracle_database'
and patch.installation_time>MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_START_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)
and patch.installation_time<= MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_END_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)
order by installation_time desc


As you can see, we have changed the headings of the field columns in the report, and we also changed the styled text in the
Report definition from “INSTR_APPLIED_PATCHES_ALL_HOSTS” to the customized line:


“The report shows the interim patches applied on Oracle Databases across all the hosts
in the last 31 days. Use the time period selector to view the interim patches applied within a time-period. Thanks.”


We also created a Report: "Applied Interim Patches (Customized - Database Level and Select which Database)" that does the above and also allows you to select which database.


The Sql statement for this is:


SELECT distinct
patch as "Applied Interim Patch",
installation_time as "Time Applied",
tgtcomp.target_name as "Database Target Name",
patch.home_location as "Oracle Home Directory",
patch.home_name as "Oracle Home Name",
host as Host
from mgmt$applied_patches patch,
mgmt$em_homes_platform home,
mgmt$target tgt,
mgmt$target_components tgtcomp
where home.HOME_ID = patch.CONTAINER_GUID
and patch.target_guid = tgt.target_guid
and tgtcomp.home_name = patch.home_name
and tgtcomp.target_type = 'oracle_database'
and tgtcomp.target_guid = ??EMIP_BIND_TARGET_GUID??
and patch.installation_time>MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_START_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)
and patch.installation_time<= MGMT_VIEW_UTIL.ADJUST_TZ(??EMIP_BIND_END_DATE??,??EMIP_BIND_TIMEZONE_REGION??,tgt.TIMEZONE_REGION)
order by installation_time desc


The line which selects the database target selected is “and tgtcomp.target_guid = ??EMIP_BIND_TARGET_GUID??”


Regards,


Porus Homi Havewala
(Oracle ACE Director)
Principal Consultant,
S & I Systems Pte Ltd.

Grid Control Sessions in DBA Round Tables by Oracle OTN

Fellow DBAs,

The Oracle Developer Program team (which is the same as the Oracle Technical Network ie. OTN) is holding an Oracle DBA Round Table in Kuala Lumpur on 25th November and in Singapore on 27 November. Oracle DBA Round Table is a half-day session and the purpose of the round table is to create a sense of community, share experiences and provide DBAs with the opportunity to network with Oracle experts, Oracle ACE/ACE Directors and other DBAs.

As the only Oracle ACE Director in this region, I will be conducting a session at both events on "Patching Databases with Grid Control". The scheduled agenda is as follows:

Kuala Lumpur, 25 November
Time	Activity	Speaker
10.00a.m.	Introduction	Blair Layton
10.15a.m.	Flashback Data Archive	Rajender Singh, Oracle ACE
11.15a.m.	Backup and Recovery with Oracle Database
12.15p.m.	Lunch
1.00p.m.	Patching Oracle Databases via Grid Control	Porus Homi Havewala, Oracle ACE Director, S&I Systems Pte Ltd
2.00p.m.	Customer Presentation
3.00p.m.	Break & General Discussion	Blair Layton
4.00p.m.	Closing Remark	Blair Layton
Singapore, 27 November
Time	Activity	Speaker
10.00a.m.	Introduction	Blair Layton
10.15a.m.	Creating an Ideal Database Infrastructure	Ravishankar Buddha
11.15a.m.	Backup and Recovery with Oracle Database
12.15p.m.	Lunch
1.00p.m.	Patching Oracle Databases via Grid Control	Porus Homi Havewala, Oracle ACE Director, S&I Systems Pte Ltd
2.00p.m.	Customer Presentation - Olam 11g Reference
3.00p.m.	Break & General Discussion	Blair Layton
4.00p.m.	Closing Remark	Blair Layton

The events will be held in the Oracle offices:

Oracle KL address:
Langkawi Room
Level 38 Menara Citibank, 165 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Oracle Singapore address:
Hong Kong Room
6 Temasek Boulevard #18-01 Suntec Tower 4 Singapore 038986

Please let me know if any of you will be attending the round tables in either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, and I will let Oracle know. You can write to oracleacedirector@si-asia.com , thanks.

Free Oracle GRID CONTROL workshops in Singapore

Oracle DBAs / Database Managers / Senior Management,

If you are based in Singapore, please feel free to attend the Oracle GRID CONTROL workshop we will be running at our Office @ 2.30 to 5pm Every Thursday starting 25th Sept. These workshops are totally free. Snacks and drinks will be provided.

S&I Oracle Core Technology Workshop Series

25th Sept : 2 hour session on Grid Control architecture and day to day Database Management using Grid Control

· Explain Grid Control architecture and scalability for multiple target monitioring and management
· Explain Grid Control multiple-level security via target groups, administrators, roles, privileges
· Overview of Grid Control Console and access to target information such as database versions, server configurations, server performance, alerts and patch notifications
· Overview of Database Home Page
· Day to day Database Administration using Grid Control
· Execution of server scripts on multiple hosts or sql scripts on multiple databases

2nd Oct: 2 hour session on Database Performance monitoring and Performance improvement using Grid Control

· Overview of Database Performance page
· Drilldown to specific performance issues and top events
· Generate stress load on the database using Swinggbench and demonstrate ADDM capabilities
· Demonstrate Advisor Central capabilites eg. Sql Tuning Advisor, Sql tuning sets

9th Oct: 2 hour session on Database RMAN Backups using Grid Control

· Overview of Database Maintenance page
· Configure RMAN settings for a database eg. controlfile autobackup, retention policy
· Setup and schedule full RMAN backups for a database
· Setup and schedule incremental RMAN backups for a database
· Setup and schedule image copy refreshes for a database

16th Oct: 2 hour session on Database Patch application using Grid Control

· Overview of Patch Deployments using Grid Control
· Critical patch advisory for databases on Grid Control
· Connect to Metalink and find a patch, download to staging area on oms server,
· After testing, deploy patch on multiple databases in an automated “lights-out” operation

Our office address is curently:

S&I Systems Ptd Ltd
298 Tiong Bahru Road
#12-01/06 Central Plaza
Singapore 168730
http://www.si-asia.com/

Please register (free) by emailing your name, title, company and contact information to
OracleAceDirector@si-asia.com

Look forward to seeing you in the workshop.