Error: ORA-16831: operation not allowed on this member

When trying to add a standby database to your configuration, I received

DGMGRL>  add database 'cdb_stby1' as connect identifier is 'cdb_stby1';
Error: ORA-16831: operation not allowed on this member

This message means that the database you are trying to add, in this case cdb_stby1, is not ready to become a standby database in your configuration.

It is easy to verify by querying the "database_role" column in the v$database view.

It needs to be opened with a role that is NOT primary, for example, the PHYSICAL STANDBY role

select database_role, open_mode,name from v$database;

DATABASE_ROLE    OPEN_MODE            NAME
---------------- -------------------- ------------------------------
PHYSICAL STANDBY MOUNTED              CDB

If your database is opened with the role PRIMARY, you need to clone it from your target, for example by using RMANs DUPLICATE ... FOR STANDBY FROM ACTIVE DATABASE

How to use autoconfig to create a sample config file for non-cdb to pdb conversions

java -jar autoupgrade.jar -create_sample_file config /tmp/autoconfig_example.txt noncdbtopdb

Lock and expire users

An anonymous PL/SQL block to lock and expire open accounts:

SET VERIFY OFF
connect "SYS"/"&&sysPassword" as SYSDBA
set echo on
spool /oracle/admin/mydb01/scripts/lockAccount.log append
BEGIN
 FOR item IN ( SELECT USERNAME, AUTHENTICATION_TYPE FROM DBA_USERS WHERE ACCOUNT_STATUS IN ('OPEN', 'LOCKED', 'EXPIRED') AND USERNAME NOT IN (
'SYS','SYSTEM') )
 LOOP
IF item.AUTHENTICATION_TYPE='PASSWORD' THEN
  dbms_output.put_line('Locking and Expiring: ' || item.USERNAME);
  execute immediate 'alter user ' ||
         sys.dbms_assert.enquote_name(
         sys.dbms_assert.schema_name(
         item.USERNAME),false) || ' password expire account lock' ;
 ELSE
  dbms_output.put_line('Locking: ' || item.USERNAME);
  execute immediate 'alter user ' ||
         sys.dbms_assert.enquote_name(
         sys.dbms_assert.schema_name(
         item.USERNAME),false) || ' account lock' ;
 END IF;
 END LOOP;
END;
/
spool off

Arguments that can be passed to dbca - usage output

This can certainly come in handy one day...

        -createDatabase - Command to Create a database.
                -responseFile | (-gdbName,-templateName)
                -responseFile - 
                -gdbName 
                -templateName 
                [-useWalletForDBCredentials  Specify true to load database credentials from wallet]
                        -dbCredentialsWalletLocation 
                        [-dbCredentialsWalletPassword ]
                [-characterSet ]
                [-dvConfiguration  Specify true to configure and enable database vault.]
                        -dvUserName 
                        -dvUserPassword 
                        [-dvAccountManagerPassword ]
                        [-dvAccountManagerName ]
                [-datafileDestination ]
                [-datafileJarLocation ]
                [-runCVUChecks ]
                [-sid ]
                [-redoLogFileSize ]
                [-registerWithDirService ]
                        -dirServiceUserName 
                        [-databaseCN ]
                        [-dirServiceCertificatePath ]
                        [-dirServicePassword ]
                        [-dirServiceUser ]
                        [-ldapDirectoryAccessType ]
                        [-useSYSAuthForLDAPAccess ]
                        [-walletPassword ]
                [-systemPassword ]
                [-nodelist ]
                [-oracleHomeUserPassword ]
                [-sysPassword ]
                [-enableArchive  Specify true to enable archive>]
                        [-archiveLogMode ]
                        [-archiveLogDest ]
                [-memoryMgmtType ]
                [-variables ]
                [-listeners ]
                [-olsConfiguration  Specify true to configure and enable Oracle Label Security.]
                        [-configureWithOID This flag configures Oracle Label Security with OID.]
                [-createAsContainerDatabase ]
                        [-pdbName ]
                        [-numberOfPDBs ]
                        [-pdbStorageMAXSizeInMB ]
                        [-pdbStorageMAXTempSizeInMB ]
                        [-useLocalUndoForPDBs   Specify false to disable local undo tablespace for PDBs.]
                        [-pdbAdminPassword ]
                        [-pdbOptions ]
                [-recoveryAreaDestination ]
                        [-recoveryAreaSize ]
                [-createListener ]
                [-useOMF  Specify true to use Oracle-Managed Files.]
                [-memoryPercentage | -totalMemory]
                [-memoryPercentage ]
                [-totalMemory ]
                [-dbOptions ]
                [-sampleSchema ]
                [-variablesFile ]
                [-customScripts ]
                [-databaseType ]
                [-oracleHomeUserName ]
                [-initParams ]
                        [-initParamsEscapeChar ]
                [-policyManaged | -adminManaged]
                [-policyManaged ]
                        -serverPoolName 
                        [-pqPoolName ]
                        [-createServerPool ]
                                [-pqPoolName ]
                                [-forceServerPoolCreation ]
                                [-pqCardinality ]
                                [-cardinality ]
                [-adminManaged ]
                [-nationalCharacterSet ]
                [-storageType < FS | ASM >]
                        -datafileDestination 
                        [-asmsnmpPassword ]
                [-databaseConfigType ]
                        [-RACOneNodeServiceName ]
                [-emConfiguration ]
                        [-dbsnmpPassword ]
                        [-emPassword ]
                        [-emUser ]
                        [-emExpressPort ]
                        [-omsHost ]
                        [-omsPort ]
                        [-emExpressPortAsGlobalPort ]

How to add a post-creation script to your dbca createDatabase statement

Given that you have saved your responsefile in the oracle user's home directory, use the -customScripts to point out a script that will be run *after* the cdb is ready. I have found this useful in situations where you want a non-default standard that Oracle simply denies you every time you create a new cdb.

dbca -createDatabase -responsefile/home/oracle/${ORACLE_SID}.rsp -customScripts /home/oracle/post_cdb_creation.sql -silent

autoupgrade error TARGET_CDB_COMPATIBILITY

If you are converting your non-cdb to to a pdb using autoupgrade, you might run into this error:

2024-10-10 14:19:51.697 INFO
build.version:24.6.240905
build.hash:0ca273885
build.date:2024/09/05 11:30:40 -0400
build.max_target_version:23
build.MOS_NOTE:2485457.1
build.supported_target_versions:12.2,18,19,21,23
build.type:production
build.MOS_LINK:https://support.oracle.com/epmos/faces/DocumentDisplay?id=2485457.1
build.label:(HEAD, tag: v24.6, origin/stable_devel, stable_devel)
build.hash_date:2024/09/05 11:23:06 -0400

2024-10-10 14:19:51.850 INFO No preupgrade user action defined
2024-10-10 14:20:13.184 INFO Analyzing mydb01, 62 checks will run using 8 threads
2024-10-10 14:20:39.765 INFO File /u01/oracle/cfgtoollogs/autoupgrade/mydb01/mydb01/104/prechecks/mydb01_preupgrade.html not found
2024-10-10 14:20:39.767 INFO File /u01/oracle/cfgtoollogs/autoupgrade/mydb01/mydb01/104/prechecks/mydb01_preupgrade.log not found
2024-10-10 14:20:39.768 INFO File /u01/oracle/cfgtoollogs/autoupgrade/mydb01/mydb01/104/dbupgrade/datapatch_summary.log not found
2024-10-10 14:20:39.805 ERROR The following checks have ERROR severity and no auto fixup is available or
the fixup failed to resolve the issue. Fix them before continuing:
mydb01 TARGET_CDB_COMPATIBILITY
2024-10-10 14:20:39.925 ERROR Dispatcher failed: The following checks have ERROR severity and no auto fixup is available or
the fixup failed to resolve the issue. Fix them before continuing:
mydb01 TARGET_CDB_COMPATIBILITY
oracle.upgrade.autoupgrade.utils.errors.AutoUpgException: The following checks have ERROR severity and no auto fixup is available or
the fixup failed to resolve the issue. Fix them before continuing:
mydb01 TARGET_CDB_COMPATIBILITY
        at oracle.upgrade.autoupgrade.dbchecks.standard.checks.ChecksController.evaluateBlockerChecks(ChecksController.java:310)
        at oracle.upgrade.autoupgrade.dbchecks.standard.checks.ChecksController.executeChecks(ChecksController.java:166)
        at oracle.upgrade.autoupgrade.dispatcher.facade.subsystems.ExecuteChecks.executeStage(ExecuteChecks.java:95)
        at oracle.commons.dispatcher.JobStage.executeStage(JobStage.java:80)
        at oracle.commons.dispatcher.RunJobDefinition.runJob(RunJobDefinition.java:144)
        at oracle.upgrade.autoupgrade.dispatcher.v2.def.RunAutoUpgradeJob.executeDispatcher(RunAutoUpgradeJob.java:62)
        at oracle.upgrade.autoupgrade.dispatcher.AutoUpgDispatcher.run_(AutoUpgDispatcher.java:262)
        at oracle.upgrade.autoupgrade.dispatcher.AutoUpgDispatcher.run(AutoUpgDispatcher.java:245)
        at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
        at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.access$201(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:180)
        at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:293)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:750)

Cause:
The database you are converting to a pluggable database is installed with more options than the cdb you are trying to plug it into.

Solution:
Recreate your cdb so that it has the same options installed as the database you are trying to convert to a pdb.

Check the installed options in both databases like this:

set lines 200 pages 100
col comp_name format a40
col status format a20
SELECT COMP_NAME,COMP_ID,VERSION,STATUS FROM DBA_REGISTRY;

Workaround for ORA-27069 attempt to do I/O beyond the range of the file during RMAN clone from active database

This is the message I received when starting an active database duplication using RMAN:

RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03002: failure of Duplicate Db command at 10/09/2024 10:40:19
RMAN-04014: startup failed: ORA-27069: attempt to do I/O beyond the range of the file

The rman script:

connect target sys/pwd@mydb1
connect auxiliary sys/pwd@mydb2
run{
allocate channel c1 type disk;
allocate channel c2 type disk;
allocate auxiliary channel aux1 type disk;
allocate auxiliary channel aux2 type disk;
configure device type disk parallelism 2;
debug io;
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO mydb2
FROM ACTIVE DATABASE
USING COMPRESSED BACKUPSET;
debug off;
}

Solution:

Usa a pfile to start the auxiliary instance, and *not* an spfile. If you do not have one, log onto the not-yet-mounted instance and create one:

sqlplus / as sysdba
create spfile from pfile;

Set the environment variable export ORA_RMAN_SGA_TARGET to the same (or a little more) as the auxiliary database's total SGA:

export ORA_RMAN_SGA_TARGET=7900

Run the rman script again and it should proceed past the mount-stage and start restoring the files.