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If you would like to know more about the iDevelopment.info Newsletter, please email me.
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 Install Oracle Database 11g R2 on Linux using Oracle ASM - (OL5) — (17-January-2012)
The article described in this newsletter is a comprehensive guide for installing Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2) on the Oracle Linux 5 (OL5) operating environment using Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) and Oracle Restart. Oracle ASM provides a virtualization layer between the database and storage so that multiple disks can be treated as a single disk group and disks can be dynamically added or removed while keeping databases online. The example database created in this guide will use Oracle ASM for all physical database file storage (data files, control files, online redo log files, Fast Recovery Area). In previous releases, Oracle ASM was installed as part of the Oracle Database installation. With Oracle Database 11g Release 2, Oracle ASM is part of an Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation, either for a cluster, or for a standalone server. This guide demonstrates how to create a single instance (non-RAC) database using Oracle ASM and therefore will require Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server to be installed before the Oracle Database software. Oracle Restart is another component of Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a Standalone Server that will be used in this guide. Starting with Oracle Database 11g Release 2, the dbstart and dbshut scripts that were used to automate database startup and shutdown in previous Oracle versions are deprecated. Oracle now recommends to configure Oracle Database with the Oracle Restart feature to automatically restart the database, the listener, Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), and other Oracle components after a hardware or software failure or when the database host computer restarts. The full version of this article can be found at the following location. http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Linux/LINUX_22.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Install Oracle Database 11g R2 on Linux - (RHEL 6) — (02-January-2012)
The following article provides a comprehensive overview and describes the steps necessary to install Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2) on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (RHEL6) operating environment. Installing the Oracle Database software is not a difficult task by any means; however, critical prerequisite tasks and key decisions will be discussed during the setup and configuration in this guide that will have a great impact on your installation. http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Linux/LINUX_23.shtml This guide will include instructions for installing and configuring the Linux operating system, installing the Oracle Database software, creating an example database, managing Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control, automatically starting and stopping the instance through reboots, and further enhancing the Oracle environment by installing custom DBA management scripts. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Command History and Auto-Completion for SQL*Plus on Unix/Linux — (29-December-2011)
Oracle sqlplus and rman are popular command-line interfaces that allow for quick and easy access to an Oracle instance. However, unlike most modern command-line tools like MySQL or PostgreSQL, Oracle's sqlplus and rman do not provide persistent command history or auto-completion functionality under Linux and Unix. For example, without command history, making a mistake when typing a long statement in sqlplus often means canceling out and re-entering it all over again. Powerful interfaces like the Unix/Linux bash shell offer auto-completion of the text you are typing (by pressing TAB), access to a history of previous commands (up/down arrows, or CTRL-P/CTRL-N), incremental search on the command history (CTRL-R), moving the cursor and modifying statements within the current line (left/right arrows), and persisting the command history in between invocations. Nearly all these tools use the GNU readline library to provide these capabilities. While not all command-line tools use the GNU readline library (like Oracle's sqlplus and rman), the good news is that these limitations can be easily overcome by using the rlwrap tool written by Hans Lub. The following paper presents examples of how to enhance some of Oracle's command-line utilities like SQL*Plus and RMAN with command history and auto-complete functionality on the Unix/Linux platform. http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/SQL_PLUS/SQLPLUS_8.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Install SQL Server 2008 R2 — (16-March-2011)
The following article provides a comprehensive overview and describes the steps necessary to install a clean version of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 on the Windows Server 2008 operating environment. Installing SQL Server is not a difficult task by any means, however, critical decisions will be discussed during the setup and configuration described in this guide that will have a great impact on your installation. http://www.idevelopment.info/data/SQLServer/DBA_tips/Installation/INSTALL_4.shtml This guide will include instructions for installing the SQL Server Database Engine instance, Analysis Services, Reporting Services, Integration Services, as well as all supplementary sub-features like SQL Server Replication, Full-Text Search, Shared Components, and all of the tools that ship with SQL Server. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Permissions Error Accessing Reporting Services - (SQL Server 2008 R2) — (14-March-2011)
After installing a Reporting Services instance and setting up a native mode default configuration, the next step would be to verify that the Report Server and Report Manager is functioning correctly. The virtual directories to use for the Report Server and Report Manager can be accessed from a Web browser as follows: * SQL Server Default Instance For a default SQL Server instance, use http://ServerName/DirectoryName where ServerName is the host name or DNS name for the machine and DirectoryName is the name of the virtual directory for either the Report Server (ReportServer) or Report Manager (Reports). For example: http://vmwindows1/ReportServer http://vmwindows1/Reports * SQL Server Named Instance For a named SQL Server instance, use http://ServerName/DirectoryName$InstanceName where ServerName is the host name or DNS name for the machine, DirectoryName is the name of the virtual directory for either the Report Server (ReportServer) or Report Manager (Reports), and InstanceName is the SQL Server instance name. For example: http://vmwindows1/ReportServer$WebApps01 http://vmwindows1/Reports$WebApps01 After providing valid credentials, you will most likely receive the following error message when trying to access either the Report Manager or Report Server for the first time: User ' |
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Using RMAN Incremental Backups to Roll Forward a Physical Standby Database (Oracle 10g) — (03-March-2011)
There are several scenarios that can occur in an Oracle Data Guard configuration which renders a physical standby database as either unusable or invalid. For example, an extended network failure can occur between the primary and standby machines which cause the standby database to fall significantly far behind the primary database. If the necessary archived redo log files needed to synchronize the physical standby database with the primary database are no longer available, log gap resolution will be unable to resolve the gap in the redo stream to catch up the standby. Another popular scenario exists when a DML or DDL operation is performed on the primary database using the NOLOGGING or UNRECOVERABLE clause and the FORCE LOGGING database option is not enabled on the primary. If the FORCE LOGGING database option is not enabled, then Oracle will not log the entire operation in the redo log and thus, never send the modified data to the standby database for recovery. While this doesn't necessarily render the entire standby database as unusable, it does invalidate the standby for those tables affected and may require substantial DBA administrative activities to repair. Although you can specify the ALTER DATABASE FORCE LOGGING statement on the primary database to override the NOLOGGING clause and prevent this type of damage to occur in the future, this statement will not repair a standby database that has already been invalidated. In each of the scenarios listed above, one solution would be to simply delete and formally re-create the physical standby database to enter it back into the Data Guard configuration. Depending on the size of the database, rebuilding the standby database could be an expensive operation as it would potentially involve a lot of time and resources making this a nonviable option. The following guide presents a quick and efficient alternative to rebuilding a physical standby database in Oracle Database 10g Release 2 by using RMAN incremental backups to roll forward and resynchronize a physical standby database with the primary database. Using the RMAN BACKUP INCREMENTAL FROM SCN command, you can create an incremental backup on the primary database that starts at the standby database's current SCN, which can then be used to roll the standby database forward in time. Using RMAN Incremental Backups to Roll Forward a Physical Standby Database (Oracle 10g) This guide will provide step-by-step recovery procedures which cover the following three scenarios: o Physical Standby Database Lags Far Behind the Primary Database o Physical Standby Database Has Nologging Changes On a Subset of Datafiles o Physical Standby Database Has Widespread Nologging Changes ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Data Guard Configuration Example, Oracle 10g, Logical Standby — (17-January-2011)
Oracle Data Guard (known as Oracle Standby Database prior to Oracle9i), forms an extension to the Oracle RDBMS and provides organizations with high availability, data protection, and disaster recovery for enterprise databases. Oracle Data Guard provides the DBA with services for creating, maintaining, managing, and monitoring one or more standby databases. The functionality included with Oracle Data Guard enables enterprise data systems to survive both data corruption as well as major disasters. The following article provides instructions for creating and configuring a logical standby database from a primary database using Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) operating in maximum performance protection mode: Data Guard Configuration Example - (Oracle 10g, Logical Standby) It should be noted that several different methods exist to create a logical standby database configuration and that this is just one of those ways. The methods outlined in this guide present a simple approach that should be easy to implement in most situations. In fact, if you break down the essential tasks required to build a logical standby database, you will see that it is essentially nothing more than creating an initial physical standby database, building a dictionary in the redo data for LogMiner, verifying supplemental logging is enabled on both the primary and standby, converting the physical standby database to a logical standby database, putting the logical standby database in managed recovery mode (SQL Apply), and starting remote archiving from the primary database (Redo Transport). Obviously there are a number of smaller steps I am leaving out which will all be discussed in more depth throughout this guide. All configuration parameters related to the Oracle instance and networking will be discussed as well as how to place the standby database in Managed Recovery Mode. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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How to Drop a Datafile from a Tablespace — (07-January-2011)
I have been asked on several occasions about how to drop a datafile from a tablespace. Much of the confusion comes from the "ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE |
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Activating the Standby Database - (Oracle 10g, Physical Standby) — (16-December-2010)
The tasks involved in creating and managing a Data Guard configuration are fairly straightforward. Once the standby database is put into operation, you are happy, your customer is happy, management is happy - everyone is happy with the piece of mind that their data is being replicated to their disaster recovery site. But the time will eventually come where the inevitable will occur and the primary database becomes unavailable. You are now faced with failing over production activities to an available standby database. Other circumstances can also arise where scheduled maintenance needs to occur on the primary database and database operations need to be switched over to the standby database. In either case, the role of the primary database and the standby database will need to be changed. This is known as Role Transition and is the subject of the following article: Activating the Standby Database - (Oracle 10g, Physical Standby) It is assumed that a primary and one physical standby database is already configured in order to perform the role transition steps described in this guide. The examples used in this guide will make use of the Oracle Data Guard configuration described in the article: Data Guard Configuration Example - (Oracle 10g, Physical Standby) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Data Guard Configuration Example, Oracle 10g, Physical Standby — (10-December-2010)
Oracle Data Guard (known as Oracle Standby Database prior to Oracle9i), forms an extension to the Oracle RDBMS and provides organizations with high availability, data protection, and disaster recovery for enterprise databases. Oracle Data Guard provides the DBA with services for creating, maintaining, managing, and monitoring one or more standby databases. The functionality included with Oracle Data Guard enables enterprise data systems to survive both data corruption as well as major disasters. The following article provides instructions for creating and configuring a physical standby database from a primary database using Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) operating in maximum performance protection mode: Data Guard Configuration Example - (Oracle 10g, Physical Standby) It should be noted that several different methods exist to create a physical standby database configuration and that this is just one of those ways. The methods outlined in this guide present a simple approach that should be easy to implement in most situations. In fact, if you break down the essential tasks required to build a standby database, you will see that it is essentially nothing more than taking a backup of the primary database, creating a standby controlfile, transferring the files to the standby host, mounting the standby database, putting the standby database in managed recovery mode (Redo Apply), and starting remote archiving from the primary database (Redo Transport). Obviously there are a number of smaller steps I am leaving out which will all be discussed in more depth throughout this guide. All configuration parameters related to the Oracle instance and networking will be discussed as well as how to place the standby database in Managed Recovery Mode. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Using the Oracle ASM Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) on Linux — (28-November-2010)
Introduced with Oracle ASM 11g release 2, Oracle ASM Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) is a general purpose cluster file system implemented as part of Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM). Oracle ACFS extends the Oracle ASM architecture and is used to support many types of files which are typically maintained outside of the Oracle database. For example Oracle ACFS can be used to store BFILEs, database trace files, executables, report files and even general purpose files like image, text, video, and audio files. In addition, Oracle ACFS can be used as a shared file system for Oracle home binaries. The features included with Oracle ACFS allow users to create, mount, and manage ACFS using familiar Linux commands. Oracle ACFS provides support for snapshots and the ability to dynamically resize existing file system online using Oracle ASM Dynamic Volume Manager (ADVM). Oracle ACFS leverages Oracle ASM functionality that enables: * Oracle ACFS dynamic file system resizing * Maximized performance through direct access to Oracle ASM disk group storage * Balanced distribution of Oracle ACFS across Oracle ASM disk group storage for increased I/O parallelism * Data reliability through Oracle ASM mirroring protection mechanisms My recent article on using the Oracle ASM Cluster File System provides a hands on approach to creating and managing ACFS and ADVM on the Linux operating system using the following methods: * ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) * Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) * Command Line / SQL / ASMCMD A full discussion on the different Oracle ACFS components will also be presented as well as snapshots, file system recovery, and management techniques. Using the Oracle ASM Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) on Linux ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle RAC 11g Release 2 running on CentOS using iSCSI — (08-November-2010)
Oracle RAC 11g release 2 allows DBA's to configure a clustered database solution with superior fault tolerance, load balancing, and scalability. However, DBA's who want to become more familiar with the features and benefits of database clustering will find the costs of configuring even a small RAC cluster costing in the range of US$10,000 to US$20,000. This cost would not even include the heart of a production RAC configuration, the shared storage. In most cases, this would be a Storage Area Network (SAN), which generally start at US$10,000. Unfortunately, for many shops, the price of the hardware required for a typical RAC configuration exceeds most training budgets. For those who want to become familiar with Oracle RAC 11g without a major cash outlay, the following guide provides a low-cost alternative to configuring an Oracle RAC 11g release 2 system using commercial off-the-shelf components and downloadable software at an estimated cost of US$2,800. This guide provides detailed instructions on how to build a two-node Oracle RAC system using low cost hardware and freely available software. A network storage server will be built using Openfiler 2.3 (Final) and iSCSI technology which will be used for all shared storage requirements. Powered by rPath Linux, Openfiler is a free browser-based network storage management utility that delivers file-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) and block-based Storage Area Networking (SAN) in a single framework. Openfiler supports CIFS, NFS, HTTP/DAV, FTP, however, I will only be making use of its iSCSI capabilities to implement an inexpensive SAN for the shared storage component required by Oracle RAC 11g. The new article can be found at: Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 11g R2 on Linux - (RHEL 5.5) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Flushing the Oracle Data Buffer Cache During Performance Testing — (23-September-2010)
A common question among developers is how to flush the Oracle data buffer cache. During performance testing, it is important to replicate a real-world production environment as closely as possible; especially when it involves reducing physical I/O (disk reads). Developers need the ability to test the effects of changing execution paths without getting accidental benefits from the buffered data in the database buffer cache. Having the ability to flush the data buffer cache is essential throughout this phase of the SQL tuning process. The following note provides several methods used to flush the Oracle data buffer cache depending on the release of Oracle. Flushing the Oracle Data Buffer Cache During Performance Testing ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Connect to SQL Server 2008 from Linux using Perl DBI — (19-September-2010)
If you are a system administrator or DBA, you know the importance of scripting. For many administrators, the choice is Perl. Given the fact that Perl is open source, available on almost all O/S platforms and extremely modular, many popular modules have been developed to extend the language. DBAs for example, have enjoyed the ease of scripting database functions using the "Database independent interface for Perl" or better known as DBI. The DBI is a database access module for the Perl programming language. It defines a set of methods, variables, and conventions that provide a consistent database interface, independent of the actual database being used. The following article describes how to access Microsoft SQL Server 2008 from a Linux server using the Perl DBD::Sybase driver module (this is the Sybase driver for the Perl DBI) combined with FreeTDS. FreeTDS is a set of libraries for Unix and Linux that allows your programs to natively talk to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Sybase databases. Connect to SQL Server 2008 from Linux using Perl DBI ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Install AdventureWorks Sample Databases on SQL Server 2008 R2 — (19-September-2010)
To facilitate the new SQL Server articles and scripts on the iDevelopment.info website, all of the examples are based on the AdventureWorks 2008R2 sample databases. These sample databases are part of the "AdventureWorks Community Sample Databases". The following sample databases are available as part of the AdventureWorks Community Sample Databases for SQL Server 2008 R2: * AdventureWorks OLTP 2008R2 * AdventureWorks Data Warehouse 2008R2 * AdventureWorks LT 2008R2 Starting with SQL Server 2005, the sample databases are not installed by default due to security concerns. Users are now required to download and manually install the sample databases after successfully setting up SQL Server. The following article presents the steps required to download and install all sample database found in the AdventureWorks Community Sample Databases package for SQL Server 2008 R2. Install AdventureWorks Sample Databases - (SQL Server 2008 R2) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Using UTL_HTTP and an Oracle Wallet to Establish a Secure URL Connection (SSL) — (13-September-2010)
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Differences in df and du on Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS2) and Orphan Files — (18-August-2010)
Recently, it was noticed that the "df" and "du" commands were displaying different results from several nodes on two OCFS2 file systems. The cluster file systems were being used as shared storage for an Oracle RAC 10g configuration (Clusterware shared files and the Flash Recovery Area). Researching this problem yielded a bug with the OCFS2 kernel driver (1.4.2-1) that was apparently leaving deleted files in the orphan directory (the //orphan_dir name space in OCFS2) after being deleted from the disk. When an object (file and/or directory) is deleted from an OCFS2 cluster file system, the file system unlinks the object entry from the existing directory and links it as an entry against that cluster node's orphan directory (the //orphan_dir name space in OCFS2). When the object is eventually no longer used across the cluster, the file system frees it's inode including all disk space associated with it. It was determined that orphan files on the OCFS2 cluster file system were responsible for the significant difference between the df and du commands. OCFS2 was leaving some deleted files in the orphan directory (the //orphan_dir name space in OCFS2) after being deleted. The following article highlights the steps involved in troubleshooting disk space usage on an OCFS2 cluster file system and how to resolve the discrepancy between the df and du commands. Differences in df and du on Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS2) and Orphan Files ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Upgrading OCFS2 - Version 1.4 — (18-August-2010)
An article describing the steps necessary to upgrade an installation of Oracle Cluster File System 2 (OCFS2) 1.4 on the Linux platform. More specifically, the OCFS2 kernel driver will be upgraded from version 1.4.4-1 to the latest release which at the time of this writing is 1.4.7-1. In addition, the OCFS2 Tools and Console will be upgraded from version 1.4.3-1 to version 1.4.4-1. For the purpose of this article, a single OCFS2 file system is configured on a two node Oracle RAC 10g environment to support a shared file system required by Oracle Clusterware (the Oracle cluster registry file and the voting disk). The full article can be found at: Upgrading OCFS2 - 1.4 ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Resolve Duplicate CRS Cluster Name in EM Grid Control - (Grid Control 10g) — (11-August-2010)
During the installation of Oracle Clusterware, you are asked to specify a name for the cluster. If you're like me, you may opt to keep the CRS Cluster Name set to its default value of "crs". Even when configuring a second or third Oracle RAC within an organization, we many times simply leave the cluster name for the new clusters set to their default value of crs. Although I believe it is bad practice to configure multiple Oracle RAC clusters with the same CRS cluster name, it doesn't necessarily cause any conflicts given these clusters don't interact with each other. The clustered databases work independently from each other without incident. That is, until you register multiple clustered databases with the same CRS cluster name in Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control! An issue can arise when multiple Oracle RAC clusters with the same CRS cluster name are registered as targets in EM Grid Control. While not causing a problem with the cluster itself, it does cause EM Grid Control to think both clusters are the same. The following article will explain the steps used to change the EM cluster target name(s) in Grid Control from their default name of "crs" to avoid conflict with other cluster targets. In this article, a new EM cluster target name will be created in EM Grid Control for two Oracle RAC database environments that were registered in EM Grid Control with the same EM cluster target name. Resolve Duplicate CRS Cluster Name in EM Grid Control - (Grid Control 10g) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Donating to iDevelopment.info — (10-December-2009)
Since 1998, iDevelopment.info has seen tremendous growth in both content and user base. What started out as a few articles on Oracle has expanded to a vast array of programming examples and guides for SQL Server, MySQL, and Linux. Over the past year, the average daily user visits to the site has increased from 1,620 (JAN 2009) to 2,061 (NOV 2009). The success of this site has always hinged on direct involvement from the user community in the way of comments, suggestions, and the gracious donations from users who have benefited. Those donations go directly to funding hardware and software purchases which are used in creating guides as well as the cost of hosting the site (which had to be upgraded recently to support an increase of user bandwidth). iDevelopment.info will remain a free site with a clear goal of providing solutions to Database Administration and Software Development. If you would like to make a donation to support the ongoing efforts and future of the site, please use the "Make a Donation" button from the home page: http://www.idevelopment.info/This will direct you to the PayPal account I have setup for funding the site. Thank you for your continued support. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Two Free Oracle Whitepapers — (10-December-2009)
Two complimentary White Papers that I felt Oracle users might be interested in: 1.) Lowering Your IT Costs with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Discover how Oracle Database 11g Release 2 options and features can help you reduce server and storage costs, improve query performance, and ensure availability during database application upgrades. http://idevelopment.tradepub.com/free/w_orac106 2.) Using Oracle In-Memory Database Cache to Accelerate the Oracle Database Learn how Oracle In-Memory Database Cache significantly reduces response time, while improving overall application throughput, by bringing data closer to the application, and by processing queries in an in-memory database. http://idevelopment.tradepub.com/free/w_orac107 ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Recover Corrupt/Missing Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) with No Backup - (Oracle 10g) — (12-October-2009)
It happens. Not very often, but it can happen. You are faced with a corrupt or missing Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) and have no backup to recover from. So, how can something like this occur? We know that the CRSD process is responsible for creating backup copies of the OCR every 4 hours from the master node in the CRS_home/cdata directory. These backups are meant to be used to recoverthe OCR from a lost or corrupt OCR file using the ocrconfig -restore command, so how is it possible to be in a situation where the OCR needs to be recovered and you have no viable backup? Well, consider a scenario where you add a node to the cluster and before the next backup (before 4 hours) you find the OCR has been corrupted. You may have forgotten to create a logical export of the OCR before adding the new node or worse yet, the logical export you took is also corrupt. In either case, you are left with a corrupt OCR and no recent backup. Talk about a bad day! Another possible scenario could be a shell script that wrongly deletes all available backups. Talk about an even worse day. In the event the OCR is corrupt on one node and all options to recover it have failed, one safe way to re-create the OCR (and consequently the voting disk) is to reinstall the Oracle Clusterware software. In order to accomplish this, a complete outage is required for the entire cluster throughout the duration of the re-install. The Oracle Clusterware software will need to be fully removed, the OCR and voting disks reformatted, all virtual IP addresses (VIPs) de-installed, and a complete reinstall of the Oracle Clusterware software will need to be performed. It should also be noted that any patches that were applied to the original clusterware install will need to be re-applied. As you can see, having a backup of the OCR and voting disk can dramatically simplify the recovery of your system! A second and much more efficient method used to re-create the OCR (and consequently the voting disk as well) is to re-run the root.sh script from the primary node in the cluster. This is described in Doc ID: 399482.1 on the My Oracle Support web site. The procedures actually call for running the rootdelete.sh and rootdeinstall.sh on all nodes in the cluster before running root.sh. In my opinion, this method is quicker and much less intrusive than reinstalling Oracle Clusterware and the one described in the following article: Recover Corrupt/Missing OCR with No Backup - (Oracle 10g) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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OCR File and Voting Disk Administration by Example - (Oracle 10g) — (08-October-2009)
Oracle Clusterware 10g, formerly known as Cluster Ready Services (CRS) is portable cluster software that allows clustering of single servers so that they cooperate as a single system. This infrastructure simplifies the requirement for an Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) database by providing cluster software that is tightly integrated with the Oracle Database. The Oracle Clusterware requires two critical clusterware components: a voting disk to record node membership information and the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) to record cluster configuration information. Both components play an extremely important role in the overall health and availability of the cluster. The following article provides a detailed look at how to administer the OCR and voting disk using illustrative examples and instructions on how to create a robust backup and recovery strategy. It is intended for DBAs, System Administrators, and Support Engineers tasked with supporting an Oracle RAC 10g environment. The examples described in this guide were tested with Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.4) on the Linux x86 platform. OCR File and Voting Disk Administration by Example - (Oracle 10g) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Using FAN with SQL*Plus in Oracle 11g — (27-September-2009)
Starting with Oracle 11g, Fast Application Notification (FAN) can be used with SQL*Plus. With Oracle RAC 11g, you can specify the -F (FAILOVER) option to the sqlplus command. This enabled SQL*Plus to interact with the OCI failover mode in a Real Application Cluster (RAC) environment. In this mode, a service or instance failure is transparently handled with transaction status messages if applicable. For an in-depth working example that describes the Fast Connection Failover (FCF) mechanism, please consult the following JDBC Java application: Oracle Fast Connection Failover Example ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Reclaiming Unused LOB Space in Oracle — (09-September-2009)
Manually reclaiming unused space in a normal Oracle table is a fairly simple process and can be performed online starting with Oracle 10g R1. What if, however, the table contains a LOB column that contains significant unused space? Starting with Oracle 10g R2, Oracle provides a solution that allows users to reclaim LOB space (LOB data and LOB index) and that is the topic of the following recently published article: Reclaiming Unused LOB Space in Oracle ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Adding a Node to an Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 Cluster on Linux - (CentOS 5.3 / iSCSI) — (03-September-2009)
As your organization grows so too does your need for more application and database resources to support the company's IT systems. Oracle RAC 10g provides a scalable framework which allows DBA's to effortlessly extend the database tier to support this increased demand. As the number of users and transactions increase, additional Oracle instances can be added to the Oracle database cluster to distribute the extra load. I recently published an extension to my article "Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux - (CentOS 5.3 / iSCSI)". Contained in this new article are the steps required to add a single node to an already running and configured two-node Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 environment on the CentOS 32-bit (x86) platform. Although this article was written and tested on CentOS 5.3 Linux, it should work unchanged with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 3. The new article can be accessed using the following link: Add a Node to an Existing Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 Cluster on Linux - (CentOS 5.3 / iSCSI) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / iSCSI / CentOS 5.3 — (20-August-2009)
This week I published the latest in a series of articles on how to build an inexpensive Oracle RAC system. This article focuses on Oracle 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.1.0) as well as the latest version of CentOS (version 5.3). As with its predecessor, this article provides detailed instructions on how to build a two-node Oracle RAC system using low cost hardware and freely available software. A network storage server will be built using Openfiler 2.3 (Final) and iSCSI technology which will be used for all shared storage requirements. Powered by rPath Linux, Openfiler is a free browser-based network storage management utility that delivers file-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) and block-based Storage Area Networking (SAN) in a single framework. Openfiler supports CIFS, NFS, HTTP/DAV, FTP, however, I will only be making use of its iSCSI capabilities to implement an inexpensive SAN for the shared storage component required by Oracle RAC 10g. The newly updated Oracle RAC 10g / iSCSI article can be found at: Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux - (CentOS 5.3 / iSCSI) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Installing Grid Control Management Agent (10.2.0.5) — (12-May-2009)
In a follow-up to my recently published article "Installing Grid Control (10.2.0.5) on RHEL 5 with 11g Database Repository", I now provide a supplement to this guide on how to install and configure the Grid Control Management Agent (10.2.0.5). This new article provides one approach (out of several available) used to install and configure the Oracle Management Agent (10.2.0.5) on an Oracle database server node running the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 operating system. This guide assumes you have a working Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Release 5 environment in place and running. The new guide can be found at: Installing Grid Control Management Agent (10.2.0.5) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Example JDBC Class for Oracle — (10-May-2009)
I recently created an example JDBC class that provides a convenient template which demonstrates some of the more helpful JDBC API calls while using an Oracle Database. The methods defined in this class will be used to create a test table in the SCOTT schema named JDBC_EXAMPLE. A set of random values will then be inserted into the new table and then queried back using basic JDBC calls. The random values being used to populate the test table will come from the dictionary view ALL_OBJECTS. This class is useful in demonstrating how to fetch integers, floating-point numbers, strings, and dates from a result set and furthermore, how to manipulate and print the data from the database. The example class also demonstrates how to calculate the run time of queries and DML calls (in milliseconds), format dates, and basic exception handling. The class concludes by dropping the test table and then logging off from the database. This new Java class can be accessed from the "Java Programming Examples" page which includes many other example Java classes. From the left topics menu, select "Programming -> Java" and then from the "Java Programming Examples" page, scroll down to "JDBC -> JDBC Example". You can also use the following URL to access the new Java class directly: JdbcExample.java ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Installing Grid Control (10.2.0.5) on RHEL 5 with 11g Database Repository — (03-May-2009)
Installing and configuring Oracle Enterprise 10g Manager Grid Control has never been a straightforward task. The product itself is an overly complex and fragile web application with a considerable number of bugs. What makes matters worse is that the documentation for installing Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control is truly lacking. For many, the installation will consist of scattered bits and pieces found on My Oracle Support and from performing numerous Google searches. In an attempt to put all of the pieces together to successfully install and configure the latest release of Grid Control (10.2.0.5), I published a step-by-step instruction guide. This guide will walk the reader through setting up the Linux O/S, performing prerequisite tasks, downloading the required software, installing and patching Grid Control, configuring the newly installed Grid Control environment, and finally how to verify the Grid Control components are working properly. The configuration will consist of the following components: * Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Release 5 - (10.2.0.5) * Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 - (CentOS 5.3) * Using an Existing 11g Database for the Management Repository The newly published article can be found at: Installing Grid Control (10.2.0.5) on RHEL 5 with 11g Database Repository ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Applying the Oracle Database 11g Patch Set 1 (11.1.0.7.0) on Linux — (01-May-2009)
Back in January 2008, I published a comprehensive guide for installing Oracle Database 11g R1 on the Linux platform (RHEL 5). I recently updated this article to include a new section on how to download and install the most recent 11g Database Patch Set (11.1.0.7.0). The updated article can be found at: Installing Oracle Database 11g Release 1 on Linux - (RHEL 5) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Cleaning a Tape Drive using Oracle Secure Backup — (26-April-2009)
Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) provides a reliable, centralized tape backup management solution which can be used to protect file system data as well as Oracle Database files. For Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) users, the Oracle Secure Backup SBT interface enables you to use the RMAN to back up and restore Oracle Database files to and from tape. Oracle Secure Backup supports nearly all tape drives and tape libraries in Storage Area Network (SAN) and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) environments. Oracle Secure Backup provides the ability to perform automatic tape drive cleaning as well as the option to manually clean a tape drive. The following article provides a brief overview of the tape cleaning functionality built into OSB. Cleaning a Tape Drive using Oracle Secure Backup Expect more article in the near future on the topic of Oracle Secure Backup. Namely installation and configuration steps in OSB as well as implementing RMAN backup and recovery strategies using the SBT interface of OSB. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter, OCP Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Timing Oracle RMAN Operations — (21-April-2009)
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Free Computer Magazines! — (20-April-2009)
IT Professionals continue to take advantage of receiving popular magazines online. Best of all, it's FREE! The revenue stream for magazine companies come from the ads placed inside the magazine as well as the subscription costs. As the subscriber base grows for a magazine so does the amount they can charge for ads which results in more money for the magazine company. In an effort to increase their subscriber base, magazine companies often give away subscriptions online. To take advantage of this exciting opportunity, please visit the following address to sign up for your free subscriptions today. http://idevelopment.tradepub.com Just a few of the many categories include: --> Information Technology --> IT - Data Management --> IT - Security --> IT - Software & Development --> IT - Storage ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Configuring an iSCSI Initiator on Solaris — (14-April-2009)
iSCSI technology continues to gain strength in the database community. With its low entry cost, simple configuration, and rapidly growing support, many organizations are seeking to take advantage of their high-speed IP backbone over that of a Fibre Channel (FC) network. To gain a better understanding of how an Oracle database server can make use of an iSCSI target for storage, I put together a brief introduction on how to install and configure an iSCSI Target and an iSCSI Initiator on the Solaris platform. The iSCSI Initiator software is a built-in package included with the Solaris 10 Operating System. This article will also include instructions on how to configure an iSCSI Target using Openfiler. The article can be found at: Configuring an iSCSI Initiator on Solaris ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Configuring an iSCSI Initiator on Linux — (07-April-2009)
iSCSI technology continues to gain strength in the database community. With its low entry cost, simple configuration, and rapidly growing support, many organizations are seeking to take advantage of their high-speed IP backbone over that of a Fibre Channel (FC) network. To gain a better understanding of how an Oracle database server can make use of an iSCSI target for storage, I put together a brief introduction on how to install and configure an iSCSI Target and an iSCSI Initiator (Open-iSCSI) on the Linux platform. The Linux Open-iSCSI Initiator is a built-in package included with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 or later. This article will also include instructions on how to configure an iSCSI Target using Openfiler. The article can be found at: Configuring an iSCSI Initiator on Linux Within the next several weeks, I will also publish this same article for configuring the iSCSI Initiator on the Solaris platform. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Snapshot Database - (Producing DBA Reports in HTML) — (18-April-2008)
DBA's rely on Oracle's data dictionary views and dynamic performance views in order to support and better manage their databases. Although these views provide a simple and easy mechanism to query critical information regarding the database, it helps to have a collection of accurate and readily available SQL scripts to query these views. Over the years, I have published a vast array of Oracle DBA scripts that can be used to manage many aspects of the database including space management, performance, backups, security, and session management. Once the scripts have been put in place, they can be easily run from within SQL*Plus while logged in as a DBA user. The following article provides a new approach to SQL scripting that allows the Oracle DBA to collect a wide array of metrics and statistics using a single script. This "Snapshot Database" script will contain a collection of useful queries that run as a whole and produce an eye-catching HTML report. The report will contain critical database information including installed options, storage, performance data, and security. The featured "Snapshot Database" article is available at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Database_Administration/DBA_50.shtml Currently, I have three separate Snapshot Database scripts available for each major Oracle release (8i, 9i, and 10g). The release for Oracle Database 11g will be released soon. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Removing a Node from an Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 Cluster on Linux - (CentOS 4.5 / iSCSI) — (04-March-2008)
Although not as exciting as building an Oracle RAC or adding a new node and instance to a clustered database; removing a node from a clustered environment is just as important to understand for a DBA managing Oracle RAC 10g. While it is true that most of the attention in a clustered database environment is focused on extending the database tier to support increased demand, the exact opposite is just as likely to be encountered where the DBA needs to remove a node from an existing RAC environment. It may be that a server is being underutilized in the database cluster and could be better served in another business unit. Another scenario is a node failure. In this case, a node can be removed from the cluster while the remaining nodes continue to service ongoing requests. I recently published an extension to two of my articles: "Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux - (CentOS 4.5 / iSCSI)" and "Adding a Node to an Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 Cluster on Linux - (CentOS 4.5 / iSCSI)" Contained in this new article are the steps required to remove a single node from an already running and configured three-node Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 environment on the CentOS 32-bit (x86) platform. The node being removed is the third node I added in the second article. Although this article was written and tested on CentOS 4.5 Linux, it should work unchanged with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5. The new article can be accessed using the following link: Removing a Node from an Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 Cluster on Linux - (CentOS 4.5 / iSCSI) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Adding a Node to an Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 Cluster on Linux - (CentOS 4.5 / iSCSI) — (26-February-2008)
As your organization grows so too does your need for more application and database resources to support the company's IT systems. Oracle RAC 10g provides a scalable framework which allows DBA's to effortlessly extend the database tier to support this increased demand. As the number of users and transactions increase, additional Oracle instances can be added to the Oracle database cluster to distribute the extra load. I recently published an extension to my article "Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux - (CentOS 4.5 / iSCSI)". Contained in this new article are the steps required to add a single node to an already running and configured two-node Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 environment on the CentOS 32-bit (x86) platform. Although this article was written and tested on CentOS 4.5 Linux, it should work unchanged with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5. The new article can be accessed using the following link: Adding a Node to an Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 Cluster on Linux - (CentOS 4.5 / iSCSI) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New Oracle Data Pump Scripts — (21-February-2008)
Oracle Database 10g users (and higher) should consider using the new Data Pump utility in place of the original Oracle import/export. The original export utility was deprecated in Oracle Database 10g Release 2, and is no longer supported for general use as of Oracle Database 11g. Going forward, Data Pump export (expdp) will be the sole supported means of exporting data from the database. The original import utility (imp) still ships with Oracle Database 10g and Oracle Database 11g in order to support import of legacy dump files. The original import utility will be supported forever and will provide the means to import dump files from earlier releases (release 5.0 and later) that were created with the original export (exp). Please note that the original export dump files and the new Data Pump dump files are "not" compatible. You cannot read an original Oracle export dump file with Data Pump and vice versa. Neither client can read dump files created by the other. Provided below are links to several shell scripts I wrote for both Unix and Microsoft Windows to perform a logical backup of an Oracle database using the new Data Pump feature as well as the original export utility. Note that Data Pump was first introduced in Oracle 10g which means that the Data Pump scripts will only work with Oracle Database 10g or higher. By default, these scripts perform a full and consistent backup of the database using a dynamically created parameter file that gets written to a temporary directory and run through the export utility using the "parfile" parameter. Unix dpump_backup_full.ksh - (Data Pump) export_backup_full.ksh - (Original Export) Microsoft Windows dpump_backup_full.bat - (Data Pump) export_backup_full.bat - (Original Export) These shell scripts as well as many others are also included in the following Oracle DBA Scripts package: dba_scripts_archive_Oracle.zip - (ZIP format) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Connecting to ASM through the TNS Listener from a Client Desktop — (29-January-2008)
By default, the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) does not configure the TNS listener to accept client requests to an ASM instance running from a different node. Access will be denied for clients like SQL*Plus, Perl DBI:DBD, and JDBC when attempting to connect to an ASM instance from a node other than the node running the ASM instance. When the service is created for an ASM instance, its status is BLOCKED: [oracle@linux1 ~]$ lsnrctl status LISTENER_LINUX1 | grep ASM Service "+ASM" has 1 instance(s). Instance "+ASM1", status BLOCKED, has 1 handler(s) for this service... Service "+ASM_XPT" has 1 instance(s). Instance "+ASM1", status BLOCKED, has 1 handler(s) for this service... This limitation puts restrictions on scripts and other client tools that want to monitor and manage an ASM instance from a different node. Getting around this restriction however is an easy task that involves manually creating a service name for the ASM instance. The following article presents the steps required to access an ASM instance through the TNS listener from a client desktop. The database used in this article is a two-node Oracle RAC 10g clustered database where in fact there will two ASM instances (one ASM instance for each Oracle instance in the cluster). The database version is Oracle 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.3.0) running on CentOS 4.5 (or RHEL 4.5): Connecting to ASM through the TNS Listener from a Client Desktop ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Installing Oracle Database 11g Release 1 on Linux - (RHEL 5) — (17-January-2008)
I recently published a comprehensive article on installing Oracle Database 11g Release 1 on Linux - (CentOS 5.1). This article should also work unchanged with the latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1. Included in the article are detailed instructions for installing and configuring the Linux operating system to host the Oracle Database 11g Release 1 software and database. I also incorporated many tips that go beyond just simply installing the software to help newcomers to Oracle Database 11g better manage their database environment. The new article can be found at: Installing Oracle Database 11g Release 1 on Linux - (RHEL 5) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Installing Oracle Database 10g Release 2 on Linux - (RHEL 5) — (09-January-2008)
I recently published a comprehensive article on installing Oracle Database 10g Release 2 on Linux - (CentOS 5.1). This article should also work unchanged with the latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1. Included in the article are detailed instructions for installing and configuring the Linux operating system to host the Oracle Database 10g Release 2 software and database. I also incorporated many tips that go beyond just simply installing the software to help newcomers to Oracle Database 10g better manage their database environment. The new article can be found at: Installing Oracle Database 10g Release 2 on Linux - (RHEL 5) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle RAC 11g Release 1 / iSCSI / CentOS 5.1 — (03-January-2008)
First, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! This week I published the latest in a series of articles on how to build an inexpensive Oracle RAC system. This article focuses on Oracle's newest release — Oracle 11g Release 1 (11.1.0.6.0) as well as the latest version of CentOS (version 5.1). As with its predecessor, this article provides detailed instructions on how to build a two-node Oracle RAC system using low cost hardware and freely available software. A network storage server will be built using Openfiler and iSCSI technology which will be used for all shared storage requirements. Powered by rPath Linux, Openfiler is a free browser-based network storage management utility that delivers file-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) and block-based Storage Area Networking (SAN) in a single framework. Openfiler supports CIFS, NFS, HTTP/DAV, FTP, however, I will only be making use of its iSCSI capabilities to implement an inexpensive SAN for the shared storage component required by Oracle RAC 11g. The newly updated Oracle RAC 11g / iSCSI article can be found at: Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 11g Release 1 on Linux - (CentOS 5.1 / iSCSI) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / RHEL4 U5 / iSCSI — (08-September-2007)
This newly updated article builds on previous guides on how to build an inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g using commodity hardware. This updated guide provides the following new features: - Installing and configuring the latest CentOS 4 Update 5 operating system - Installing the newest Openfiler 2.2 x86 (respin 2) - improved troubleshooting section - Enabling Archive Logs (ARCHIVELOG MODE) in a RAC Environment - Creating a shared Oracle password file - Installing the latest version of OCFS2 (Release 1.2.5-6) - Downloading and installing a collection of advanced Oracle DBA scripts This most recent guide provides detailed instructions on how to build a two node Oracle10g R2 RAC using iSCSI (powered by Openfiler) for the shared storage device. Powered by rPath Linux, Openfiler is a free browser-based network storage management utility that delivers file-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) and block-based Storage Area Networking (SAN) in a single framework. Openfiler supports CIFS, NFS, HTTP/DAV, FTP, however, I will only be making use of its iSCSI capabilities to implement an inexpensive SAN for the shared storage component required by Oracle10g RAC. The newly updated Oracle RAC 10g / iSCSI article can be found at: Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux - (RHEL 4.5 / iSCSI) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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VMware Workstation 6.0 — (17-July-2007)
VMware Workstation 6.0 has been out for several months now and enjoying great success - (released on 09-MAY-2007). Some of the new feature to VMware Workstation 6.0 include: - Support for Windows Vista - Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 - Support for High-Speed USB 2.0 Devices - Multiple Monitor Support - Increased RAM Support For a full list of features included in this newest release, see the "VMware Workstation 6.0 Release Notes" at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ws6/doc/releasenotes_ws6.html Over the past week, I put together several new articles that provide detailed instructions for installing the VMware Workstation 6.0 software as well as creating virtual machines for Solaris 10 (x86) and CentOS Enterprise Linux 5 (which can also be used for installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5). Installing VMware Workstation 6.0 - (Windows XP) Creating a New Virtual Machine - (CentOS Enterprise Linux 5.0) Creating a New Virtual Machine - (Solaris 10) VMware Workstation 6.0 provides me with a virtual machine that can run the Windows, Linux, or Solaris x86 operating system simultaneously with Windows XP on my laptop. This allows me the flexibility to perform new installs or test new features of the Oracle database while not interrupting my "somewhat" stable Oracle install on the laptop. VMware Workstation 6.0 and a 30 day evaluation key can be obtained directly from the company's website: http://www.vmware.com/ ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Enabling Archive Logs in Oracle RAC 10g — (13-July-2007)
Whether a single instance or clustered database, Oracle writes to its online redolog files in a circular manner. When the current online redolog fills, Oracle will switch to the next one. To facilitate media recovery, Oracle allows the DBA to put the database into "Archive Log Mode" which makes a copy of the online redolog after it fills (and before it gets reused). This is a process known as archiving. While the Database Creation Assistant (DBCA) allows users to configure a new database to be in archive log mode, most DBA's opt to bypass this option. In cases like this where the database is in no archive log mode, it is a simple task to put the database into archive log mode using the following guide: Enabling Archive Logs in a RAC Environment - (Oracle10g) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Free Computer Magazines! — (22-May-2007)
Computer professionals can now take advantage of receiving popular magazines online. Best of all, it's FREE! The revenue stream for magazine companies come from the ads placed inside the magazine as well as the subscription costs. As the subscriber base grows for a magazine so does the amount they can charge for ads which results in more money for the magazine company. In an effort to increase their subscriber base, magazine companies often give away subscriptions online. To take advantage of this exciting new opportunity, please visit http://idevelopment.tradepub.com to sign up for your free subscriptions today. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Erratic Mouse Behavior with Mouse on Linux and Belkin KVM Switch — (12-March-2007)
When using a Belkin KVM switch (and several others), you may notice erratic behavior with the PS/2 mouse when switching back and forth to a Linux machine running Red Hat Linux (and Mandrake 10). The PS/2 mouse will simply go nuts; jumping all around the screen with random button clicks when you try to move it anywhere! Often times, switching to a USB mouse will resolve the problem. The root cause for this erratic behavior with the mouse rests in the fact that the PS/2 specification was not designed to be hot-pluggable. So, why is this a problem? Read on. All PS/2 mice can work in what we will call "Basic PS/2 Mouse Mode" — no scroll wheel and only 2 or three buttons work. This is the default mode when the mouse initially gets power. To activate the scroll wheel and/or any extra buttons, the mouse must receive a special reset code. This switches the mouse to "Advanced Mouse Mode" and changes the mouse data protocol a little. Many KVM switches may stop feeding power to the mouse when switching from one system to another. This causes the mouse to reset to "Basic PS/2 Mouse Mode". The system has no way of detecting that the mouse was reverted back to the basic mode. If the system was in a state where it had detected the mouse with "Advanced" capabilities and had sent it the appropriate reset code, it will expect the mouse to still be in "Advanced" mode and will misinterpret the mouse data (remember the mouse data protocol is different between Advanced and Basic mouse mode). The following article provides several solutions that I have used to resolve this problem. Erratic Mouse Behavior with Mouse on Linux and Belkin KVM Switch ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Connecting Oracle to MySQL using Oracle's Heterogeneous Services — (28-February-2007)
I recently updated an article that provides step by step instructions for installing and configuring Oracle's Heterogeneous Services (Oracle9i Release 2) to connect from an Oracle9i database running on Sun Solaris to MySQL running on a remote Linux machine. The connection will utilize Oracle's Heterogeneous Services ODBC - generic connectivity (HSODBC) on Sun Solaris. This article can be used for Oracle 8i, 9.0.1, and 10g releases running on either Solaris 9 or Solaris 10. Also note that this article has been tested with MySQL 4.0.20-standard running on Red Hat Linux - (Fedora Core 1) as well as MySQL 4.1.20 running on Red Hat Linux 4 Update 4 (actually CentOS 4.4). The newly updated article can be found at: How to Setup HSODBC (Oracle9i on Solaris) to MySQL on Linux ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Update! Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / VMware 5 / RHEL4 U4 — (20-February-2007)
This newly updated article builds on previous guides on how to build an inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g using commodity hardware. This most recent guide provides detailed instructions on how to build a two node Oracle RAC 10g R2 using the latest version of VMware 5 Workstation (release 5.5.3). The cluster will consist of two virtual machines named vmlinux1 and vmlinux2 - each running CentOS 4.4 Enterprise Linux. Both of the virtual machines will "virtualize" all of the required hardware components as required for an Oracle10g two node RAC configuration. For example, each of the virtual machines will be configured with two network interfaces - one for the public network and a second (running on a separate subnet) for the interconnect. With VMware, the process of creating additional hardware components for it to virtualize (i.e. network interfaces) is effortless. For the shared storage component, VMware will be used to virtualize several hard disks to be used for Oracle's physical database files (data, online redo logs, control files, archived redo logs). The new hard drives will be created using VMware on the first virtual node (vmlinux1) while the second virtual node (vmlinux2) will be configured to share them. The newly updated Oracle RAC 10g / VMware 5 article can be found at: Create an Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 using VMware Workstation 5 - (RHEL 4.4) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New! Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / RHEL4 U5 / iSCSI — (15-February-2007)
This newly updated article builds on previous guides on how to build an inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g using commodity hardware. This most recent guide provides detailed instructions on how to build a two node Oracle RAC 10g R2 using iSCSI (powered by Openfiler) for the shared storage device. Powered by rPath Linux, Openfiler is a free browser-based network storage management utility that delivers file-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) and block-based Storage Area Networking (SAN) in a single framework. Openfiler supports CIFS, NFS, HTTP/DAV, FTP, however, I will only be making use of its iSCSI capabilities to implement an inexpensive SAN for the shared storage component required by Oracle RAC 10g. The Oracle RAC 10g / iSCSI article can be found at: Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux - (RHEL 4.5 / iSCSI) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Update! Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / FireWire 800 / RHEL4 U2 — (20-September-2006)
I have received many requests to upgrade my most recent article on installing and configuring Oracle RAC 10g R2 with FireWire to include some of the latest FireWire 800 hardware. This has been completed. Also updated is the ability to use Secure Shell (SSH) for remote access and user equivalence. Please note that this article will mark the last in a series to make use of FireWire technology as the shared storage medium in order to build an inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g system. Future releases of this article will adopt the use of iSCSI; more specifically, building a network storage server using Openfiler. Powered by rPath Linux, Openfiler is a free browser-based network storage management utility that delivers file-based Network Attached Storage (NAS) and block-based Storage Area Networking (SAN) in a single framework. Openfiler supports CIFS, NFS, HTTP/DAV, FTP, however, I will only be making use of its iSCSI capabilities to implement an inexpensive SAN for the shared storage component required by Oracle RAC 10g. The newly updated Oracle RAC 10g / FireWire article can be found at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Oracle10gRAC/CLUSTER_10.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Data Protection Modes - (Oracle9i Release 2) — (05-September-2006)
With the introduction of 9i Release 2, Oracle Data Guard provides the ability to run the standby database in one of the following three mutually exclusive data protection modes: Maximum Protection, Maximum Availability, Maximum Performance. These three new modes replaced the Guaranteed, Instance, Rapid, and Delayed modes of data protection available in Oracle9i Release 1 (9.0.1). Each of the three modes provides a high degree of data protection; however they differ with regards to data availability and performance of the primary database. The DBA needs to carefully take into account the need to protect the data against any loss vs. availability and performance expectations of the primary database. The following article provides complete coverage of the three data protections modes available in Oracle9i Release 2 and can be used when trying to decide on the one that best meets the needs of your business. Also explained in this article is how Log Transport Services works to support these new protection modes as well as the steps necessary to configure the standby database to the desired protection mode. http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Data_Guard/DG_3.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Moving ASM Database Files from one Diskgroup to Another — (21-August-2006)
There are times when it becomes necessary to move ASM database files from one diskgroup to another. As with most tasks that involve file management in ASM, RMAN is the easiest and preferred method as ASM files cannot be accessed through normal operating system interfaces. The typical method is to take the datafile(s) offline and use RMAN to make a copy of them. After the copy, update the data dictionary to reflect the location of the new datafile and then use RMAN to switch the database to use the new copy as the active datafile. Finally recover and bring the datafile(s) back online. The following article details the steps required to move ASM files from one diskgroup to another using RMAN: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Automatic_Storage_Management/ASM_36.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Migrating Databases from non-ASM to ASM and Vice-Versa — (16-August-2006)
Configuring and using Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is a fairly easy and straightforward process. Once the ASM instance is configured on a node and an ASM Disk Group is created, any database that resides on that node can start taking advantage of it. But, what if on the node you just configured ASM on you already have an existing Oracle database which stores its database files using the local file system and now want to relocate the entire database to be stored in ASM? Well, as with most file management tasks that involve ASM, it's RMAN to the rescue! I published the following article that explains the steps necessary to migrate an existing Oracle database stored on the local file system to ASM. This will include all datafiles, tempfiles, online redo logfiles, controlfiles, and all flash recovery area files. The article also contains a follow-up section that explains how the process works in reverse - migrating a database stored in ASM to a local file system. Migrating Databases from non-ASM to ASM and Vice-Versa To learn more about manually configuring ASM, see my article: Manually Creating an ASM Instance ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Dropping a Target Database using RMAN — (14-August-2006)
Starting with Oracle10g Release 1, Oracle provides a method to completely drop a database with one simple RMAN statement - "DROP DATABASE". The only pre-requisite is that the database be mounted in exclusive mode with restricted sessions enabled. For a detailed discussion on how to fully drop an Oracle10g database using RMAN, please see my article entitled: Drop a Target Database using RMAN ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle Application Express 2.2 Now Available — (11-August-2006)
Oracle has just recently released its newest version of Oracle Application Express - Release 2.2. Details for installing and configuring this newest release as well as getting started with managing APEX workspaces can be found at: Installing Oracle Application Express 2.2 Managing Workspaces Release 2.2 New Features ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Duplicate a Database in Flash Recovery Area using ASM to non-ASM Host using RMAN — (08-August-2006)
Your current backup and recovery strategy makes use of RMAN and creates its backupsets (backup pieces) in the Flash Recovery Area using ASM. Everything is working fine until one day you need to have access to these backup pieces from a regular non-ASM file system. The question then becomes, how do I restore backupsets (backup pieces) that are currently in ASM to my non-ASM file system? This is a common question when the DBA wants to use the RMAN backupsets to duplicate or copy a database to another host on a non-ASM file system. It also provides a means to test the integrity of your backups on another host! The quick answer is to use the BACKUP BACKUPSET (and BACKUP ARCHIVELOG if necessary) RMAN statement to copy backupsets (backup pieces) out of ASM to the local non-ASM file system. Using this method, you are essentially utilizing RMAN to create another copy of the backupset(s) to the local file system that you want to use for creating a duplicate database on a host that does not have ASM in use. This second copy of the backupset(s) will be on the local file system where you can then FTP them to another host and use to duplicate the database. I put together a detailed step-by-step approach to duplicate a database in ASM to a non-ASM system. The article can be found at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Automatic_Storage_Management/ASM_30.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Getting Started with Oracle Application Express 2.0 — (03-August-2006)
Oracle Application Express (APEX), formerly known as HTML DB, is a rapid web application development tool for the Oracle database. It provides programmers and even non-programmers with a fast and secure application development framework for developing and deploying professional applications using only a web browser. Oracle Application Express consists of several components: - A web browser - Oracle HTTP Server (or Oracle Application Server) - mod_plsql (included with the Oracle HTTP Server) - Oracle Application Express engine - Oracle Database - (Oracle9i Release 2 or higher) For anyone wanting to take advantage of Oracle Application Express, I have several articles available to get you started. Please check back as I plan on providing much more with regards to Oracle Application Express administration and development as well as installation guides for newer releases. Oracle Application Express - Links Installing Oracle Application Express 2.0 ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Archiving to an Archival Standby Database — (26-July-2006)
Introduced in Oracle9i R1, DBAs can now configure a database (for example, a primary database) to send its archived redo log files to an Oracle instance at a remote location which is only responsible for accepting and storing the archived redo log files. This remote location can serve as a repository (or backup) of nothing more than archived redo logs. This remote location is known as an Archival Standby Database and is nothing more than an Oracle instance with a controlfile and no physical database associated with it. The controlfile can be a standby controlfile of the source database or a controlfile of another database. The following article describes the steps necessary to configure a database to archive its redo log files to a remote archival standby database: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Data_Guard/DG_7.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Creating / Recreating Database Control Repository in Oracle10g — (25-July-2006)
The command-line tool emca (Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant) ships with both Oracle10g R1 and Oracle10g R2 and is used to manage the Oracle Enterprise Manager environment. The emca tool that ships with each release of Oracle, however, uses a different set of options and parameters. With both utilities, simply typing "emca" at the command-line will provide the usage and a description of all options. I put together two short articles that provide examples on how to use emca in both Oracle10g R1 and Oracle10g R2 to create, drop, and recreate an Oracle Database Control environment: How to Recreate the Database Control Repository - (Oracle10g R1) How to Recreate the Database Control Repository - (Oracle10g R2) ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Log Gap Detection and Resolution (Oracle9i R2) — (22-July-2006)
Oracle Data Guard 9i R2 provides several services that can assist the DBA in automatically detecting and resolving archive redo log gaps within a physical standby database configuration. This can include the automatic heartbeat that is performed by the primary database or by log apply services on the physical standby database using FAL_CLIENT and FAL_SERVER. The article "Log Gap Detection and Resolution" provides insight into how archive redo log gap detection and resolution is handled by the Oracle database server and can be found at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Data_Guard/DG_5.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Date Arithmetic in Oracle - Expressing Time with Fractions — (14-June-2006)
Anyone who has had to work with scheduling jobs in Oracle knows the frustration of having to deal with calculating a job's next date and internal using Oracles date arithmetic. This month I have made several updates to an already popular article that demonstrates the basics of representing time using Oracle's date math along with many useful examples. Although many of the examples are based on scheduling tasks to maintain and manage Statspack, they can be expanded to support any type of scheduled job. The newly updated article can be found at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/SQL/SQL_4.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Determining uptime of Server in Windows — (15-May-2006)
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Resizing Temporary Tablespaces in Oracle — (18-January-2006)
In many database configurations, the DBA will choose to allow their temporary tablespace (actually the tempfile(s) for the temporary tablespace) to autoextend. A runaway query or sort can easily chew up valuable space on the disk as the tempfiles(s) extends to accommodate the request for space. If the increase in size of the temporary tablespace (the tempfiles) gets exceedingly large because of a particular anomaly, the DBA will often want to resize the temporary tablespace to a more reasonable size in order to reclaim that extra space. The following article "Resizing Temporary Tablespace" provides the DBA with two methods for reclaiming the space used by excessive tempfiles and to get your temporary tablespace back to its original (or another reasonable) size. The article is located at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Tablespaces/TBS_3.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Update! Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / VMware 5 / RHEL4 U2 — (09-January-2006)
Several requests have been sent to upgrade my most recent article on installing and configuring Oracle RAC 10g R2 with VMware to include the latest 5.5 and 5.5.1 releases or VMware Workstation. I recently completed testing and the new article has been modified to now work with VMware Workstation 5.0, 5.5 and 5.5.1. The modified article can be found at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/VMware_Workstation_50/VMWARE_31.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / VMware 5.0 / RHEL4 U2 — (02-January-2006)
Over the past few years, I have been writing about solutions that allow Oracle DBA's to install and configure Oracle RAC using inexpensive hardware. One of the more popular solutions I have used in the past was to deploy FireWire technology as the shared storage component of the RAC cluster. This allows the Oracle DBA to experience the benefits of RAC for testing, learning, and development purposes without incurring the high cost of the requirement hardware. This month I present a similar solution that makes use of a single computer and VMware 5.0. Two virtual machines will be created on a single host computer. The shared storage will be created by configuring VMware to virtualize several hard disks. By making a few modifications to each of the virtual machine's configuration files, VMware will allow one or more disks to be shared as required by Oracle RAC. The article entitled "Create an Oracle RAC 10g using VMware Workstation 5.0 - (CentOS Enterprise Linux 4.2)" can be found at: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/VMware_Workstation_50/VMWARE_31.shtml Over the next several weeks, I will be verifying this installation with the latest VMware 5.5. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Update! - Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / FireWire / RHEL4 U2 — (20-December-2005)
In October, I released the article "Building an Inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux - (RHEL 4.2)". When this article was originally published, it was required to download and install both a new Linux kernel, (e.g. the Oracle Technet Supplied 2.6.9-11.0.0.10.3.EL #1 Linux kernel), and the supporting FireWire modules. As of November 2005, oss.oracle.com now provides compiled FireWire modules for the 2.6.9-22.EL and 2.6.9-22.0.1.EL Linux kernels. Installing a new Linux kernel is no longer required. You will only need to install and configure the supporting FireWire modules! For access to the updated article, please navigate to: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Oracle10gRAC/CLUSTER_10.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle Programming with Perl DBI / DBD — (21-November-2005)
For anyone considering writing Perl to access an Oracle database, the following article should provide useful to anyone wishing to install and configure DBI and DBD:Oracle on the UNIX platform: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Programming/PROGRAMMING_2.shtml Complete instructions for downloading, installing and configuring DBI / DBD:Oracle are include along with a sample Perl script that includes many of the common interfaces used to access the Oracle database. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Connecting to SQL Server 2000 from Linux using Perl DBI — (11-November-2005)
DBAs and system administrator have long relied on scripting to automate complex and tedious tasks. For most administrators, the choice is Perl. Given the fact that Perl is open source, available on almost all O/S platforms and extremely modular, many popular modules have been developed to extend the language. DBAs for example, have enjoyed the ease of scripting database functions using the "Database independent interface for Perl" or better known as DBI. Using DBI to access popular database like Oracle and MySQL is straightforward. Simply install the corresponding DBD database driver module for your database (i.e. Oracle, MySQL) and write your scripts to the DBI interface. But what about Microsoft SQL Server 2000? If you were to take a quick glance at the available DBD modules at CPAN.org, you will notice that one does not exist for SQL Server! This is not a problem if your scripts are already running on a Windows platform. You can simply use DBD::ADO. But what about us Linux users? Well, this is where the DBD::Sybase driver module and FreeTDS come in. I provide a detailed explanation and steps to use in order to access Microsoft SQL Server 2000 from the Linux platform using Perl DBI. For access to the article, please navigate to: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/MSSQL/DBA_tips/Programming/PROG_2.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle Announces Free Database - (Oracle Database 10g XE) — (02-November-2005)
(*) Introduction Oracle recently announced Oracle 10g Express Edition (XE) - a small footprint database that's free to download, develop, deploy, and distribute. The latest Oracle Press Release can be found at: http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2005_oct/103105_databasexe_finalsite.html (*) Download Oracle Database XE is currently in beta and is available for both Linux x86 and Windows. http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/database/xe/index.html (*) Support Users can register with Oracle Technology Network (OTN) to receive free access to an online support forum hosted and monitored by Oracle experts. Tom Kyte provides users advice, best practices, and troubleshooting information for Oracle Database XE. Forum registration is possible only by downloading and installing Oracle Database XE (currently in Beta release; production release scheduled for late 2005). After installation, click on the "Registration" link from the Database homepage. (*) Further Reading You can read much more about Oracle Database 10g Express Edition by visiting: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe/index.html ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 / FireWire / RHEL4 U2 — (06-October-2005)
By popular demand, I recently posted an update to my article for installing and configuring Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 on Linux using FireWire as the shared storage. This type of configuration allows DBAs to setup an inexpensive Oracle RAC 10g Release 2 environment for testing purposes. (I stress the fact that this configuration is to be used for testing purposes only and is not supported by Oracle, myself, or any of the vendors contained in the article!) The article was written with RHEL4 U2 in mind, but I used CentOS 4.2 as this is a free clone of the actual RHEL4 U2 product (compiled from the actual RHEL source code). I also make use of Oracle Cluster File System Release 2 (OCFS2) and ASMLib 2.0. For access to the article, please navigate to: http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Oracle10gRAC/CLUSTER_10.shtml ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Scripting Email in Windows — (16-September-2005)
If you are a DBA working in a Microsoft Windows environment, it is not uncommon for the need to send (and sometimes) receive email from within your scripts. Many solutions exist for UNIX, but in Windows, your options are limited - until now. Two command-line utilities - "Blat" and "Getmail for Windows" have been available for several years and can really make life easy when the requirement to send (and receive) email exists in Windows. I recently put together two articles that can assist those who need to get familiar with setting up the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server for Windows and another dedicated to getting started with Blat and Getmail for Windows. Configuring SMTP on Windows Sending and Receiving Email in Windows From Scripts ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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August 2005 Update — (04-August-2005)
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May 2005 Update — (24-May-2005)
This newsletter includes the following topics: *) How to Recreate the Database Control Repository - (Oracle10g) *) Adding a Node to an Oracle10g RAC Cluster - (RHEL 3) *) New Statspack SQL Scripts for Oracle10g *) Search and Replace with REPLACE Function ------------------------------------------------------------- How to Recreate the Database Control Repository - (Oracle10g) ------------------------------------------------------------- If you have ever been in the situation where you needed to re-create the EM Database Control Repository, a new article on my site provides a step-by-step approach to achieve this. This article can be located at http://www.idevelopment.info/ and from the Topics menu navigate to "Oracle" -> "DBA Tips" -> "Enterprise Manager" -> "How to Recreate the Database Control Repository - (Oracle10g)". ------------------------------------------------------------- Adding a Node to an Oracle10g RAC Cluster - (RHEL 3) ------------------------------------------------------------- I completed a new article that describes how to add a new node to an existing 10g RAC configuration. This article uses an existing two-node RAC configuration and describes how to add another Linux node (using RHEL 3) to a shared FireWire drive. The article can be located at http://www.idevelopment.info/ and from the Topics menu navigate to "Oracle" -> "DBA Tips" -> "Oracle10g RAC" -> "Adding a Node to an Oracle10g RAC Cluster - (RHEL 3)". ------------------------------------------------------------- New Statspack SQL Scripts for Oracle10g ------------------------------------------------------------- I recently updated all scripts within the Statspack section of the "Oracle DBA Scripts" page to work with Oracle10g. These scripts can be found at http://www.idevelopment.info/ and from the Topics menu navigate to "Oracle" -> "DBA Scripts" -> "Statspack". ------------------------------------------------------------- Search and Replace with REPLACE Function ------------------------------------------------------------- Did you know that is possible to replace string content using the build-in REPLACE function in Oracle? In the following example, I want to replace all occurances of "http://secure." with "https://secure." within the table "company_config": UPDATE company_config SET company_url = REPLACE(company_url, 'http://secure.', 'https://secure.') WHERE company_url like 'http://secure.%'; ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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April 2005 Update — (15-April-2005)
This newsletter includes the following topics: *) New Oracle DBA Scripts *) Killing Runaway Oracle Processes on Windows with OraKill *) Installing Oracle10g on Solaris 9 ------------------------------------------------------------- New Oracle DBA Scripts ------------------------------------------------------------- During the month of March, I introduced several new sections to the Oracle DBA Scripts page. Some of the new sections include "Automatic Storage Management - (ASM)", "Oracle Wait Interface - (OWI)", and "Workspace Manager". Note that the ASM scripts require you be logged into the actual ASM instance (i.e. +ASM). These new sections and many other helpful Oracle DBA scripts can be found by going to http://www.idevelopment.info/ and from the Topics menu navigate to "Oracle" -> "DBA Scripts". Follow the directions in the README.txt for configuring your system. ------------------------------------------------------------- Killing Runaway Oracle Processes on Windows with OraKill ------------------------------------------------------------- A new article on the site provides details on how to kill runaway Oracle processes in Microsoft Windows using the orakill.exe command-line utility. The OraKill utility is included with the Oracle database on all Windows platforms. It allows the DBA to kill an Oracle session directly from an MS-DOS command-line without requiring any login connection to the database. This article can be found on the site by navigating to "Oracle" -> "DBA Tips" -> "Microsoft Windows" or by using the link http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Microsoft_Windows/WINDOWS_1.shtml. ------------------------------------------------------------- Installing Oracle10g on Solaris 9 ------------------------------------------------------------- Another new article to the site that is gathering a lot of attention is a detailed guide on installing Oracle10g on the Solaris 9 Operating Environment. This newest article provides the necessary steps to install and configure Oracle10g using a SCSI disk array (on a single channel with 6 disks) using Automatic Storage Management (ASM). This article can be found on the site by navigating to "Oracle" -> "DBA Tips" -> "Unix" or by using the link http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/Unix/UNIX_32.shtml. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New Windows VBS and Jscript Examples — (23-March-2005)
I added a new section to the site dedicated to scripting examples in the Microsoft Windows environment using VBScript and JScript. With most of the scripts, I provide an implementation in both scripting languages. To access this section of the site, use the Topics menu (left) and navigate to "Programming | Windows Scripting". If you are new to Windows Scripting Host (WSH), take a look at the "Templates" section and view the files "Template.js" and "Template.vbs". ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Build Your Own Oracle RAC 10g Cluster on Linux and FireWire — (14-March-2005)
My latest article featured on OTN documents how to set up and configure an Oracle RAC 10g development cluster for less than US$1,800. This test configuration consists of two nodes (running Linux RHEL 3) with shared access to an IEEE1394 (FireWire) hard drive. All physical database files will be configured with ASM while the two shared files required by CRS (Oracle Cluster Registry and CRS Voting Disk) will be hosted on Oracle Clustered File System (OCFS V1). This guide does not work (yet) for the latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 release (Linux kernel 2.6). Although Oracle's Linux Development Team provides a stable (patched) precompiled 2.6-compatible kernel available for use with FireWire, a stable release of OCFS version 2 (which is required for the 2.6 kernel) is not yet available. When that release becomes available, I will be update this guide to support RHEL4. To access this document, navigate to: http://www.oracle.com/technology/pub/articles/hunter_rac10g.html ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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November 2004 Update — (19-November-2004)
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Improved Oracle Database Scripts Page and Free DDL Wizard Toolkit — (11-October-2004)
This newsletter includes the following topics: *) Improved Oracle Database Scripts Page *) Free DDL Wizard Toolkit *) Oracle9i Data Guard -------------------------------------- Improved Oracle Database Scripts Page -------------------------------------- During the last week, I was able to improve the Oracle Database Scripts page by providing an archived file of all scripts that can be downloaded at one time. This archived file can be unzipped (or un-tar'd for UNIX) to your $ORACLE_HOME directory. After setting a few environment variables, you are then ready to go. To reach to the Oracle Database Scripts page, to go http://www.idevelopment.info/ and from the Topics menu, navigate to "Oracle" -> "DBA Scripts". Follow the directions in the README.txt for configuring your system. -------------------------------------- Free DDL Wizard Toolkit -------------------------------------- DDL Wizard is a tool that can be used by Oracle DBAs and Developers to reverse engineer Oracle export files (dump files) to display and manipulate the DDL CREATE statements contained within them. The tool basically extracts the DDL structure from an export file and runs on a Windows PC. Simply download the self-extracting executable from the site http://www.ddlwizard.com/. At the time of this writing, the current version of the DDL Wizard is 04.01.01 and is around 2.2 MB in size. After downloading the executable (ddlwizard_install040101.exe), simply double-click to start the installation processes. During the install, you will be asked to obtain a license key. This does require you to complete an online form that asks for your Name, Company, E-mail address, and Country. After submitting this information, you will then be given an activation key. At the end of the installation is a quick tutorial that walks you through the basics steps for extracting DDL. -------------------------------------- Oracle9i Data Guard -------------------------------------- A new section has been created within the DBA Tips page to include articles on creating and managing Oracle Data Guard. For now, I have a single article that introduces you to Oracle Data Guard 9i and provides the steps necessary to install and configure a two node configuration. I have several more articles specific to Oracle9i Standby Database, but will soon be adding more about 10g soon after. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle RAC on Linux Installation Update — (31-August-2004)
Since the republication of my article "Building an Inexpensive Oracle9i RAC Configuration on Linux" on Oracle Technology Network (OTN), I have received several messages with suggestions and questions about the use of FireWire technology. I have attempted to answer these messages by updating the article both on OTN and on this website. To view the updated article from this website, use the Topics menu on the left frame and navigate to "Oracle" -> "DBA Tips" and then scroll to the "Linux" section where you will find the article "Building an Inexpensive Oracle9i RAC Configuration on Linux". You can also go to Oracle's OTN website at http://otn.oracle.com. I also updated the installation guide on this website for installing Oracle9i (9.2.0.5.0) on Fedora Core 2. This article can be found in the same section as mentioned above. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle's Heterogeneous Services — (07-August-2004)
I recently started a new section and published an article within the Oracle DBA Tips section for Heterogeneous Services (HS). The article describes, step-by-step, how to configure Oracle's HS to connect from an Oracle database running on Solaris to a MySQL database running on Linux. If you have never used HS in Oracle, it is an excellent technology built into Oracle for accessing and modifying data that may reside in a remote / foreign (non-Oracle) database. From a user's point of view, they can access and modify data in a remote (non-Oracle) database just as if it were a local set of Oracle tables. As time permits, I will continue to expand this section with other configurations as well as advanced features and administration of Oracle's Heterogeneous Services. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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August 2004 Update — (01-August-2004)
Throughout July, I was able to concentrate on several articles dedicated to Unix Administration and Oracle running on Unix. All of these articles are available from the left frame topics menu under "Unix". Included are custom documents for installing Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 on SPARC as well as installing Oracle8i and Oracle9i on Solaris. In the August timeframe, I have several articles planned for configuring Heterogeneous Services, Oracle Streams, and continuing on Oracle9i New Features. On a personal note, I am proud to announce that I will be working for DBA Zone, Inc. (http://www.dbazone.com) starting on August 16, 2004. This is a great move and I look forward to building on the enormous success that the company has already developed. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions for the site. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New Posted Publications — (08-June-2004)
This month I have had several re-publications centered on supporting Oracle on Linux: OTN: http://otn.oracle.com/pub/articles/hunter_rac.html SearchOracle.com http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/featuredTopic/0,290042,sid41_gci968437,00.html If you are working with Oracle on Linux, I am hoping that any of these articles provide useful information. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle9i RAC on Linux — (10-May-2004)
I was able to complete the long awaited article entitled "Building an Inexpensive Oracle9i RAC Configuration on Linux". This article provides a comprehensive overview to installing and configuring an Oracle9i RAC system using Red Hat Linux (Fedora Core 1) and using FireWire technology for the shared storage device. I ran into several complications last year when configuring the Linux kernel to recognize the shared storage device (the shared FireWire hard drive) in non-exclusive mode. The problem was with the FireWire drive that I purchased. It did not contain the Oxford 911 chipset, which is one of the requirements in order for the Linux kernel to obtain multiple logins to the disk. I then purchased a drive that I knew contained the proper chipset (Maxtor One Touch 200GB USB 2.0 / Firewire External Hard Drive). To access the article, visit the website site: http://www.idevelopment.info Navigate the topics menu (left frame) to: "Oracle -> DBA Tips -> Oracle9i RAC -> Building an Inexpensive Oracle9i RAC Configuration on Linux" This article will be appearing on otn.oracle.com in the coming months. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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January 2004 Update — (24-January-2004)
I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year. Here is an update as to some of the additions and changes to the www.idevelopment.info website. Several new articles on installing and configuring the Concurrent Versions System (CVS). I have several new articles planned for this section that include on to maintain the CVS Repository along with other helpful tips. To access these articles, navigate from the topic menu to "Programming | Change Management". The Oracle DBA Tips section now includes an Index at the top of the page that allows quick access to all folders. Also within the Oracle DBA Tips section, I added a section on Recovery Manager (for release 9i) that I plan to populated within the next month. To access the Oracle DBA Tips section, navigate to "Oracle | DBA Tips". Lastly, I enhanced the performance of the built in Search Engine for the site. Searches now occur much faster over a broader range of content. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Change Management / IDE Development Solutions — (14-December-2003)
Over the past several weeks, I added several new sub-sections under the Programming section dedicated to "Change Management" and "IDE Development" solutions. Both sections are available under the "Programming" link from the left Topics menu. Included in the "Change Management" section are articles on configuring and managing Oracle Software Configuration Manager (Oracle SCM) and a brief introduction to WinCVS. Within the IDE Development section, two articles are present on working in Oracle JDeveloper and IntelliJ IDEA. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New LDAP Section — (14-December-2003)
Last week, I added a new section to the website dedicated to LDAP technologies. At this time, I have completed only two articles that primarily deal with Oracle's LDAP features: "Oracle Internet Directory (OID) - Version 9.2.0". This includes installing and configuring OID along with configuring Net8 to use an LDAP directory for Name Resolution. Some of the articles to come over the next week will include definitions of LDAP and it's specifications along with others that will detail ways in which to deploy LDAP within your organization. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New UNIX Section — (16-November-2003)
Over the last month, I have added a new section to the website dedicated to Unix technologies. This new section (available from the "Unix" link in the Topics menu) will provide users with insight into general Unix tasks along with specifics on Solaris and Linux. Some topics of interest include installation instructions, using serial consoles, network configuration, configuring RAID using Solstice DiskSuite, and other storage management issues. I also included a section for Oracle DBAs running the Oracle RDBMS in a Unix environment. Have fun with it and let me know if you have anything you would like to add. In my last email, I indicated that I would be working on "Building an Inexpensive Oracle9i RAC Configuration on Linux". This undertaking has brought with it some complications in getting the Linux kernel to recognize the shared storage device (the shared FireWire hard drive) in non-exclusive mode. While I indicate that there is a kernel available (in RPM format) that can be installed, I have been unsuccessful in getting it to work properly. For some reason the first machine to boot still grabs the shared storage device in exclusive mode, which prevents access from the second Linux server. I will be sending a note to the author to see if this could be a hardware issue, or simply a kernel that cannot be used with Red Hat professional edition. (They used Red Hat Advanced Server 2.l) Although this shouldn't be an issue, I have tried just about everything. As soon as I find a solution to this issue, I will be completing the installation portion of the document and sending it out in the next newsletter. Wish me luck! Like always, I have added several new Java modules under the Programming -> Java section. Also fixed a bug in the module "Generate random numbers within a given range" (RandomNumberBounds.java). (Many thanks to Chris Wood for catching this one!) Last but not least, I re-organized the MySQL section to make accessing DBA Tips and Scripts similar to that in the Oracle and SQL Server section. This will be the last Newsletter before Thanksgiving day. With that said, have a great Thanksgiving and expect more to be included on Oracle9i RAC, UNIX, and Java in the very near future. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle9i on RAW using Linux and LVM — (05-October-2003)
Over the last week, I made the following changes: 1.) Under the "Oracle" -> "DBA Tips" -> "Linux" section, I added an article on creating an Oracle9i (9.2.0) database on Linux using RAW devices. This document presents the use of the Logical Volume Manager available on must Linux distributions. The Linux distribution in this example uses Red Hat Professional 8.0. 2.) Added completely new section to the website dedicate to UNIX. The new UNIX is available from the Topics menu frame. Many more articles and links will be available for installing and configuring UNIX systems. 3.) The "Oracle" -> "DBA Scripts" section has been completely updated with several scripts for Oracle9i. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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LOBs / Java Programming — (22-September-2003)
New in the Oracle -> DBA Tips portion of the website is a section dedicated to handling LOBs. Several notes provide and overview of how to maintain LOBs in Oracle then leading to several examples in PL/SQL and Java. You will also find many new sections and examples in the Programming -> Java portion of the website including JDBC, Swing, JNDI, and Patterns. As time permits within the next month, I will be adding many more examples to the JDBC and JNDI sections. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New Hosting Site — (19-September-2003)
During the last several nights, I have been working on moving iDevelopment.info to a more stable hosting site (pair.com). For those attempting to access the site during the past several months already know that it has not been available during most of this period. I will be sending another newsletter within the next several weeks indicating changes and new additions to the site. For now, you will notice many additions to the Programming -> Java and Oracle -> DBA Tips sections. Thank you for your patience during the past several months. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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July 2003 Update — (06-July-2003)
Hello everyone. Hope you are enjoying the beginning of summer. It has been awhile since my last newsletter and several major changes to the content and organization of the website have taken place. As noted in my last newsletter, I will mention again that I continue to make updates to the Oracle -> DBA Tips -> Oracle9i New Features segment. This section should provide useful for those investing time in studying for the Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) exam. You will also find new features and technologies in the Oracle DBA Tips section for: -> Advanced Queuing -> Clustering Technologies -> LOBS -> XMLDB -> Oracle Objects I reorganized the "Programming" section to include a collection of useful Java programming tips along with many others for PL/SQL, Tcl/TK, Perl, and C. One of the portions under Programming I will be spending some additional time on over the summer is the new "Data Structures and Algorithms" section. I will provide meaningful documentation on data structures along with implementations of them in Java and C. Also included will be ways in which to analyze some of the more common algorithms. Not much work has been done on the MySQL section of the website. If anyone can provide any useful scripts or tips for posting to this section, I would greatly appreciate it. As usual, if you have any comments or suggestions regarding the content or layout of the website, please let me know via email (jhunter@idevelopment.info). ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Search Feature Added to Oracle DBA Tips — (03-April-2003)
I recently added a Search Feature to the Oracle DBA Tips section of the site. Also, I am continuing to add many new articles to the Oracle / DBA Tips / Oracle9i New Features section. Many of these new articles will be valuable for DBA's looking to upgrade their OCP from 8i to 9i. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Oracle Default Users — (23-March-2003)
Since my most recent newsletter (only two days ago) I have added two Oracle DBA Tips on how to handle Oracle's default user ids. (ORDSYS, WMSYS, etc.). Simply navigate to "Oracle -> DBA Tips" and look under the "Database Administration" section. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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March 2003 Update — (21-March-2003)
I made significant changes to the organization of the site since my last newsletter update. In particular, I added two new sections (accessible from the Topics menu): -> Programming -> Networking The Programming section includes Programming Languages (Java, C, Perl, etc), Data Structures, ASCII and other Character Encoding References, plus a section for Web Programming. Within the "Programming -> Java" section, I added many new coding hints for dealing with JDBC, Threads, JavaCC, I/O, and Networking. Expect even more concentration in this area within the coming weeks. The Networking section includes references material on TCP/IP, Networking Basics, SNMP, Firewalls and Software, and Inter-Process Communications (IPC). Within the "Oracle -> DBA Tips" section, I am adding a vast amount of information about Oracle9i. The information in this section will be helpful for any DBA looking to upgrade their OCP certification from Oracle8i to Oracle9i. Again, expect even more concentration in this area within the coming weeks. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Added Cryptography Section to Java Programming — (26-January-2003)
I recently added a "Cryptography and Security" label and several code examples to the Java Programming section. From the topics menu, navigate to "Programming" -> "Java Programming", then scroll down the "Cryptography and Security" label. I will continue to expand this section with code examples on digital signatures and encrypting/decrypting files using the DES algorithm. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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January 2003 Update — (11-January-2003)
First, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I made several updates to the Java Programming section that includes "Running External OS Commands" and "Data Type Conversion Examples". From the topics menu, navigate to "Programming" -> "Java Programming". In the Oracle DBA Tips section, I updated a previous article on "Dropping Columns in Oracle8i" under the Database Administration section. In addition, I added a new article on "Deploying Java Servlets and JSPs using the Oracle HTTP Server (8i or higher)" under the "Java" section. From the topics menu, navigate to "Oracle" -> "DBA Tips". ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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New MySQL Section — (17-December-2002)
I recently added a section to www.iDevelopment.info for the MySQL database. This today includes issue related to installation, security, database administration, and MySQL resources. Throughout the next few months (and as time permits), I will be adding much more content to this section of the site. Check it out and let me know of issues, questions, or concerns about MySQL or any other issue related to www.iDevelopment.info. ---------------------------- Jeffrey M. Hunter Sr. Database Administrator jhunter@idevelopment.info http://www.idevelopment.info ---------------------------- |
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Update to website — (25-November-2002)
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