2 Installing Oracle Database 12c with Oracle Real Application Clusters

This chapter describes phase two of the installation procedures for installing Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) with Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC). Phase one is the completion of the Oracle Clusterware installation, as described in Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide.

If a Windows Domain User is used as Oracle Home User, then both the user id and password should be specified during installation. For installations using Built-in Account as Oracle Home User, no user id or password for Oracle Home User is needed during the installation.

See Also:

  • Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows for additional information, such as how to open compressed installation files, and other information about setting up files for installation

  • During installation, click Help to find explanations of options and prompts for each installation screen, and click Details to see the log file.

2.1 Selecting a Security Notification Contact

During installation, you are asked in the Configure Security Updates screen to provide a security contact.

Oracle issues security alerts as needed for vulnerability fixes that are determined to be too critical to wait for distribution in the next Critical Patch Update.

  1. Optional: Provide security contact information in one of the following forms:

    • An email address to receive security information for your installation.

    • A My Oracle Support email address or account name to receive security information for your installation, and to enroll your system for Security Updates. You can receive information about alerts through My Oracle Support.

    The information collected by Security Updates is limited to configuration information. The data collected does not include personally identifiable information (except a local contact name in case of transmission problems). You may still use all licensed Oracle functionality if you decline to enable Security Updates

    If you provide your My Oracle Support credentials, then Security Updates automatically gathers configuration information regarding your installed Oracle products and uploads it to Oracle's support systems. You can access the information it collects through your My Oracle Support account, and review health check recommendations, patch recommendations and other recommendations for your system in addition to security alerts.

  2. Optional: To choose not to receive security notifications, leave all fields in the Configure Security Updates screen blank.

    You can choose not to provide this information, but Oracle strongly recommends that you configure a security notification contact.

  3. Click Next to continue.

See Also:

The Oracle Security Policies page, which is available from the following URL: http://www.oracle.com/us/support/assurance/fixing-policies/index.html

2.2 Selecting an Installation Option

You must choose one of the installation options for installing the software.

  1. On the Select Installation Option page, select one of the following options:

    • Create and Configure a Database: Provides you with the option to create a database using a preconfigured database template designed for particular system load demands, such as an online transaction processing (OLTP) database, or a decision support or data warehouse database.

    • Install database software only: Installs Oracle Database software; you must complete the database configuration after the installation completes using the installed utilities.

    • Upgrade an existing database: Upgrades an existing database.

  2. Optional: If you are installing Oracle Database software, then Oracle recommends that you use a preconfigured database option, or select the Advanced option on the Select Configuration page, and configure a custom starter database.

    See "Selecting an Oracle Database Configuration Type" for more information about the different preconfigured database options.

  3. If you have an existing Oracle installation, then write down the version numbers, patches, and other configuration information, and review upgrade procedures for your existing installation.

    Review Oracle Database Upgrade Guide before proceeding with the installation, to decide how you want to proceed.

See Also:

For the most recent updates and best practices about pre-upgrade, post-upgrade steps, compatibility, and interoperability discussions, see "Oracle Upgrade Companion," which is available through Note 1462240.1 on My Oracle Support:

https://support.oracle.com/CSP/main/article?cmd=show&type=NOT&id=1462240.1

2.3 Selecting the Database Type for Oracle Grid Infrastructure Deployments

During installation, Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) detects if you have Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a cluster installed. If you do, then you must specify the type of database you plan to create.

  • Determine which type of database you plan to create after installing the software:

    • A single-instance database

    • An Oracle RAC database

    • An Oracle RAC One Node database

    If you plan to create databases of different types on this cluster, then choose the most advanced option.

    For example, if you plan to create only single-instance and Oracle RAC One Node databases, then choose the Oracle RAC One Node database option. If you plan to create single-instance databases and Oracle RAC databases, then choose the Oracle RAC database option.

  • If you plan to install Oracle RAC One Node, then you can install the Oracle RAC software on two or more nodes in the cluster.
    An Oracle RAC One Node installation starts an instance on one of the nodes you select as an Oracle RAC One Node pool member. If that instance goes down, then the Oracle RAC One Node instance fails over to another pool member. This feature relocates database instances and connections to other cluster nodes for high availability.

See Also:

2.4 Choosing the Cluster Database Management Type

When creating an Oracle RAC database, you can choose one of two types of databases to create.

  • A policy-managed database: The database instances are automatically managed based on server pools for effective resource utilization.

  • An administrator-managed database: The database instances are tied to specific servers in the cluster.

See Also:

Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about server pools and the different cluster database management types

2.5 Selecting an Installation Type

When you run Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) to install Oracle RAC, you can select the Typical or the Advanced installation type.

The Typical installation type installs a default configuration of Oracle Database, with basic configuration choices. Oracle recommends that most users select Typical as their installation type.

The Advanced installation type is for customized installations, and is necessary only when you have a specific requirement for it, such as adding specific components to your installation, requiring different passwords for the SYS, SYSTEM and DBSNMP accounts, using a different database character set than is in use on your servers, changing product languages, or other nonstandard configurations.

If you plan to use any of the following options during installation, then you should choose the Advanced Installation Type.

2.5.1 Preconfigured Database Types Supplied with Oracle Database

The General Purpose and Transaction Processing type and the Data Warehouse type use preconfigured database templates optimized for each type of database.

During installation, OUI starts Oracle Net Configuration Assistant (NETCA) and DBCA, and installs the preconfigured database without further input. During database installation, OUI displays a progress indicator.

DBCA processing for these two configuration types creates a starter database, and configures the Oracle network services.

2.5.2 Using Advanced Database Configuration

You use the Advanced Database Configuration option when you have special requirements for your Oracle Database.

Advanced configuration options available using this installation type include Oracle RAC, Automatic Storage Management, backup and recovery configuration, integration with Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control, more fine-grained memory tuning, and other options.

2.5.3 About Installing Oracle Database with Other Languages

To use languages other than the default (English), either for the database or for applications running on the database, you must use the Advanced Installation method.

Tip:

By default, Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) configures the character set of a new database based on the language of the operating system.

See Also:

2.6 Selecting an Oracle Database Configuration Type

When you choose the Advanced Installation option in OUI, then you can select the General Purpose/Transaction Processing, Data Warehouse, or Advanced database configuration type.

If you choose the Typical Installation Option, then the database configuration type defaults to General Purpose/Transaction Processing.

If you select Advanced configuration, then you can use Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) to create the database as described in "Creating Oracle RAC Databases with DBCA". Oracle recommends that you use DBCA to create your database.

2.7 Selecting a Database Name

The database name is comprised of various strings and must contain only permitted characters.

The database name input field sets the following Oracle initialization parameter values:

  • DB_NAME

  • DB_UNIQUE_NAME

  • DB_DOMAIN

In Oracle RAC environments, the database name (DB_UNIQUE_NAME) portion is a string of no more than 30 characters that can contain alphanumeric, underscore (_), dollar ($), and pound (#) characters, but must begin with an alphabetic character. No other special characters are permitted in a database name. The DB_NAME parameter for a database is set to the first 8 characters of the database name.

The ___domain portion of the global database name (DB_DOMAIN) can be no more than 128 characters. Domain names using underscores (_) are not allowed. The values for DB_UNIQUE_NAME.DB_DOMAIN in its entirety must be unique within the enterprise.

Database Name and ORACLE_SID

The Oracle Service Identifier (SID) prefix is the first 8 characters of the database name. The SID prefix can contain only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9. The SID prefix cannot contain operating system special characters, so if you use special characters in the first 8 characters of the database name, then these special characters are omitted in the SID prefix. There is a single SID prefix for every database. The SID prefix for a database must be unique within the cluster.

For an Oracle RAC database, each instance has a unique identifier, ORACLE_SID, which consists of the SID prefix and an instance number. The ORACLE_SID for Oracle RAC database instances is generated differently, depending on how you choose to manage the database. If you select a policy-managed database, then Oracle generates the SID in the format name_#, where name is the first eight alphanumeric characters of DB_UNIQUE_NAME, and # is the instance number. If you select an administator-managed database, then DBCA generates the default SID for the instance names, using the format name#, where name is the first eight alphanumeric characters of DB_UNIQUE_NAME, and # is the instance number. However, during installation or database creation you can specify a nondefault value for the SID; the instance number is automatically added to the end of this string for each instance.

Example 2-1 Database Name and Related Initialization Parameters

If your database has a global database name of orl$racprod2551.example.com which you supplied during installation, then the following values are used for initialization parameters:

Parameter Value

DB_UNIQUE_NAME

orl$racprod2551

DB_DOMAIN

example.com

DB_NAME

orl$racp

Example 2-2 DB_UNIQUE_NAME and Related ORACLE_SID Values

If the DB_UNIQUE_NAME for a database is orl$racprod2551, then the following SID values are used:

Database or Instance Type Value Used for ORACLE_SID

Single-instance Oracle database

orlracpr

Policy-managed Oracle RAC instance

orlracpr_1

Admin-managed Oracle RAC instance

orlracpr1

2.8 Requirements for Database Passwords

To secure your database, use passwords that satisfy the Oracle recommended password requirements, even the passwords for predefined user accounts.

Oracle Database provides a set of predefined user accounts. Create passwords in a secure fashion. If you have default passwords, change these passwords to secure passwords.

You can manage the security for Oracle Database users in various ways:

  • Enforce restrictions on the way that passwords are created

  • Create user profiles

  • Use user resource limits to further secure user accounts

See Also:

2.9 Specify Oracle Home User Name and Password

Starting with Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1), Oracle Database supports the use of an Oracle Home User.

An Oracle Home User is a standard Windows User Account (not an Administrator account), specified during installation, that runs the Windows services required by Oracle Database for the Oracle home.

The Oracle Home User is associated with an Oracle Home and it cannot be changed post installation. Different Oracle Homes on a system can share the same Oracle Home User or use different Oracle Home User names. For Oracle RAC databases, the Windows user account for the Oracle Home must be a ___domain account and it has to be an existing account.

For Administrator-managed databases, you can store the password for the Oracle Home User in a secure wallet in the Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR). If such a wallet exists in the OCR, then Oracle Database administration tools automatically use the password from the wallet and do not require you to enter the password for the Oracle Home User during administrative operations.

For Policy-managed databases, you must store the password for the Oracle Home User in a secure wallet in the OCR. Oracle Database Configuration Assistant automatically creates the wallet (if one does not exist) when a Policy-managed database is created.

See Also:

2.10 Understanding the Actions of OUI and DBCA During Installation

After installing Oracle Database, OUI runs DBCA to create your database, in accordance with Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines.

An installation created following OFA guidelines means that DBCA creates your database files, including the default server parameter file (SPFILE), using standard file naming and file placement practices.

You can also use DBCA in standalone mode to create or delete a database.

See Also:

2.11 Using Oracle Universal Installer to Install Oracle RAC

Oracle Universal Installer is the primary tool you use to install the Oracle RAC software.

  1. Log in to Windows as a user with Administrator privileges.
    If using a different user than the one that installed Oracle Grid Infrastructure, then the installation user must be a member of the ASMDBA and ASMADMIN operating system groups.
  2. Verify that you have Administrator privileges on the other nodes.
    To verify privileges, enter the following command for each node that is a part of the cluster where node_name is the name of the remote node: 
    net use \\node_name\C$
  3. Run the setup.exe command from the base directory of the Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) installation media, and select the database type to install.
  4. Provide information when prompted by OUI.
    If you need assistance during installation, then click Help.
    If you encounter problems during installation, then click Details to examine the log file. The log file is located in the Oracle Inventory directory with a name that includes the time stamp (date_time) of the installation process, as shown in this example: 
    C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs\installActionsdate_time.log

    In the preceding example, the variables date and time represent the date and the time of the log file.

    Caution:

    The Oracle home name and path that you provide during database installation must be different from the home that you used for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure software. DO NOT install the Oracle Database with Oracle RAC software into the same home in which you installed Oracle Grid Infrastructure software.

    Note:

    Because Oracle ASM is part of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home, it cannot be upgraded during an Oracle RAC installation.
  5. When you have completed this second and final phase of the installation, proceed to "Oracle Real Application Clusters Postinstallation Procedures" to perform the postinstallation tasks.

    Caution:

    After you complete the installation create the database, to install additional Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) products in the database, you must stop all processes running in the Oracle home before you attempt to install the additional products. See "Preparing to Upgrade an Existing Oracle RAC Database" for additional information

2.12 Using Oracle Universal Installer to Install Oracle RAC One Node

Oracle Universal Installer is the primary tool you use to install Oracle RAC One Node software.

  1. Login to Windows as a user with Administrator user privileges.
  2. Run the setup.exe command from the base directory of the Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1) installation media.
  3. Select to configure an Oracle RAC One Node database, and select to install Oracle RAC on all nodes where Oracle RAC One Node will run.
  4. Provide information when prompted by OUI. If you need assistance during installation, then click Help. Click Details to see the log file.
If you encounter problems during installation, then examine the OUI actions recorded in the installation log file. The log file is located in the Oracle Inventory directory with a name that includes the timestamp (date_time) of the install process, as shown in this example: 
C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs\installActionsdate_time.log

Caution:

The Oracle home name and path that you provide during database installation must be different from the home that you used for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure software. DO NOT install the Oracle Database with Oracle RAC software into the same home in which you installed Oracle Grid Infrastructure software.

Note:

Because Oracle ASM is part of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home, it cannot be upgraded during an Oracle RAC installation.

2.13 Installing the Oracle Database Vault Option

Installing and configuring Oracle Database Vault requires actions during and after installation.

2.13.1 Starting the Listener with Oracle Database Vault Installations

You must start the listener and database instance on all Oracle RAC nodes other than the one on which the installation is performed.

  • Use Server Control (SRVCTL) to start and stop the Oracle RAC instances being configured for Oracle Database Vault.
    Do not use SQL*Plus to start and stop Oracle RAC instances.

2.13.2 Configuring Oracle Database Using DBCA

You can configure Oracle Database Vault during or after installation using DBCA.

  1. Install the Oracle RAC Enterprise Edition database and create an Oracle RAC database.
  2. Start DBCA, and select the option Configure Database.
  3. In the component list, select Oracle Label Security and Oracle Database Vault.
  4. Provide the required administrative user accounts and passwords, and proceed with configuration.
  5. After you have finished, you must restart each node to finish the software configuration.

See Also:

Oracle Database Vault Administrator's Guide for information about configuring and using Oracle Database Vault

2.13.3 Perform Postinstallation Configuration for Oracle Database Vault

After you install the Oracle Database Vault option, you may be required to make additional changes to your database.

  1. Refer to Oracle Database Vault Administrator's Guide for required postinstallation steps.
  2. If you use other Oracle Database products, then refer to Oracle Database Vault Administrator's Guide for information about integrating Database Vault with other Oracle products, such as Transparent Data Encryption or Oracle Data Guard.

2.14 Updating Environment Variables on Remote Nodes

Changes made to registry and environment variables are not immediately visible to user sessions on remote notes.

During the installation, the Windows registry and environment variables are modified on each node on which you installed Oracle RAC. The new registry entries and environment variable settings are visible on the node where the installation was performed (the local node). However, the new settings on the remote nodes are not immediately available to your user session. Attempting to run scripts or applications from the newly installed Oracle home can produce errors similar to the following:

  • ORACONFIG.exe - Unable to Locate Component

  • OCI.dll not found

To make the modified environment variables available on the remote nodes, you can do either of the following actions:
  1. Close your current session on the remote nodes (log off) and then log on to the remote nodes to create a new session.
  2. Make the environment variables available to the remote nodes:
    1. From the Start menu, right-click My Computer, then select Properties
      Alternatively, you can enter SYSDM.CPL in the Run window.
    2. Select the Advanced tab.
    3. Click Environment Variables.
      The modified environment variables are now visible.
    4. Click OK to close the System Properties window.

2.15 About Managing Database Services After Installation

You cannot use DBCA to manage database services for Oracle RAC databases.

Use the Server Control Utility (SRVCTL), Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Express, or Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control for all administration and monitoring of database services for an Oracle RAC database.

Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control documentation is available in the Oracle Help Center at the following website: http://docs.oracle.com

See Also: