Tuesday, July 30, 2019

How to find out if your standby database lags behind the primary database


Applicable to Oracle 12.2.

Use the view V$DATAGUARD_STATS, which will only return results when executed on a standby database:
set lines 200
col source_db_unique_name format a20
col value format a20
SELECT source_db_unique_name,name,value,unit,time_computed,datum_time
 FROM v$dataguard_stats
 WHERE name like '%lag'
 ;

The columns explained, as stated in the documentation:
* APPLY LAG - how much does the data in a standby database lag behind the data in the primary database, due to delays in propagating and applying redo to the standby database.
* TRANSPORT LAG - how much the transport of redo to the standby database lag behind the generation of redo on the primary database.
Note what will happen to the value in this column if there are more than one redo log gap: the transport lag is calculated "as if no redo has been received after the beginning of the earliest redo gap".
Both of these columns are of type INTERVAL DAY TO SECOND, so in my case I am facing a 7 days, 11 hours and 7 minutes lag.

* TIME_COMPUTED - Local time at the standby database when the metric was computed
* DATUM_TIME - Local time at the standby database when the datum used to compute the metric was received. Note that the APPLY LAG and TRANSPORT LAG metrics are computed based on data that is periodically received from the primary database. An unchanging value in this column across multiple queries indicates that the standby database is not receiving data from the primary database.

SOURCE_DB_UNIQUE_NAME NAME VALUE UNIT TIME_COMPUTED DATUM_TIME
proddb01 transport lag +07 11:07:37 day(2) to second(0) interval 07/30/2019 08:39:01 07/30/2019 08:32:55
proddb01 apply lag +07 11:07:37 day(2) to second(0) interval 07/30/2019 08:39:01 07/30/2019 08:32:55

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

What to remember when adding temporary tablespaces on primary databases



Are temporary tablespaces automatically replicated to the standby databases?

No, they are not.
This is documentet in Oracle support note 834174.1 "Temporary Datafile created in Primary is missing in the Standby Database"

The setting of STANDBY_FILE_MANAGEMENT has no impact on temporary tablespaces and temporary files, because no redo is generated.

Unfortunately, this fact is not mentioned in the matrix listed in the documentation under the headline "Primary Database Changes That Require Manual Intervention at a Physical Standby"

From my own experience, here is what I did at a time when the primary database ran short on temporary space, and a new tablespace had to be created immediately:

Add temporary tablespace to the primary database:
CREATE  BIGFILE  TEMPORARY  TABLESPACE TMP 
TEMPFILE '/u02/oradata/proddb01/tmp.dbf' SIZE 1024M AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 128M MAXSIZE 1T 
EXTENT MANAGEMENT LOCAL UNIFORM SIZE 1M;

Check the situation on the standby database:
SQL> SELECT TABLESPACE_NAME , bigfile,status FROM DBA_TABLESPACES WHERE CONTENTS = 'TEMPORARY';

TABLESPACE_NAME                BIG STATUS
------------------------------ --- ---------
TEMP                           NO  ONLINE
TMP                            YES ONLINE

The temporary tablespace name is registred in the standby data dictionary, but there is no tempfile attached.

In order to add a tempfile to the standby database, it must be opened in READ ONLY mode.
Since my standby database is an active standby, it is already opened in READ ONLY mode:
SQL> select open_mode from v$database;

OPEN_MODE
--------------------
READ ONLY WITH APPLY

Add the tempfile:
alter tablespace tmp add tempfile '/u02/oradata/proddb01/tmp.dbf' size 1024M autoextend on next 128M maxsize 1T;

Tablespace altered.

Recheck the situation in the standby database:
SQL>  select ts#,name,status,enabled from v$tempfile;

       TS# NAME                                               STATUS  ENABLED
---------- -------------------------------------------------- ------- ----------
         3 /u02/oradata/proddb01/temp01.dbf                     ONLINE  READ WRITE
        31 /u02/oradata/proddb01/tmp.dbf                        ONLINE  READ WRITE

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

How to use dbms_stats.report_col_usage



set long 10000
select dbms_stats.report_col_usage('SALES', 'ORDERS') from dual;
exit

Output could look something like this:
DBMS_STATS.REPORT_COL_USAGE('SALES','ORDERS')
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEGEND:
.......

EQ         : Used in single table EQuality predicate
RANGE      : Used in single table RANGE predicate
LIKE       : Used in single table LIKE predicate
NULL       : Used in single table is (not) NULL predicate
EQ_JOIN    : Used in EQuality JOIN predicate
NONEQ_JOIN : Used in NON EQuality JOIN predicate
FILTER     : Used in single table FILTER predicate
JOIN       : Used in JOIN predicate

DBMS_STATS.REPORT_COL_USAGE('SALES','ORDERS')
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROUP_BY   : Used in GROUP BY expression
...............................................................................

###############################################################################

COLUMN USAGE REPORT FOR SALES.ORDERS
.......................................................

1. ORDER_DATE                          : EQ RANGE
2. ORDER_ID                            : EQ
3. ITEM_NAME                           : EQ
###############################################################################

This makes it easy to see which columns could benefit from an index.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

How to solve "FAILED: file csrrsreg.sql on worker " when applying RPC5 to an EBS 12.1.3 installation



During a patching of EBS 12.1.3 to RPC5, I encountered an unexpected problem.

A while into the patching, the patching procedure failed with an error message like this:
Deferred: file csrrsreg.sql on worker  1 for product csr username CSR.               (Deferment number 1 for this job)
 Assigned: file csrrsreg.sql on worker  1 for product csr username CSR.
   FAILED: file csrrsreg.sql on worker  1 for product csr username CSR.
 Deferred: file csrrsreg.sql on worker  1 for product csr username CSR.               (Deferment number 2 for this job)
 Assigned: file csrrsreg.sql on worker  1 for product csr username CSR.
   FAILED: file csrrsreg.sql on worker  1 for product csr username CSR.

ATTENTION: All workers either have failed or are waiting:

           FAILED: file csrrsreg.sql on worker  1.

ATTENTION: Please fix the above failed worker(s) so the manager can continue.

Open another ssh session to the server.

Check the logfile for the worker:
cd $APPL_TOP/admin/$ORACLE_SID/log
ls -la adwork*.log

-rw-r--r-- 1 ebsadm dba 123777231 Jun  5 12:58 adwork001.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 ebsadm dba 115207185 Jun  5 12:58 adwork002.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 ebsadm dba 119484153 Jun  5 12:58 adwork003.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 ebsadm dba 119051681 Jun  5 12:57 adwork004.log

Check the logfile for worker 1:
vi adwork001.log
The content could look something like this:
Creating the XML Schema Directory
CSR Product Top is 

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Registing Rules XML Schema Document
ERROR:
ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: host bind array too small
ORA-06512: at line 1

Your workers are now waiting.
You can see their status by using the utility "adctrl".
Open another ssh session.
Execute adctrl, and answer the questions along the way.
At the end, you'll see a menu like this:

AD Controller Menu
     ---------------------------------------------------

     1.    Show worker status

     2.    Tell worker to restart a failed job

     3.    Tell worker to quit

     4.    Tell manager that a worker failed its job

     5.    Tell manager that a worker acknowledges quit

     6.    Restart a worker on the current machine

     7.    Exit

Enter your choice [1] : 1

        Control
Worker  Code      Context            Filename                    Status
------  --------  -----------------  --------------------------  --------------
     1  Run       AutoPatch R120     csrrsreg.sql                FAILED
     2  Run       AutoPatch R120                                 Wait
     3  Run       AutoPatch R120                                 Wait
     4  Run       AutoPatch R120                                 Wait

The solution to this particular error can be found in the note 1263895.1 "Advanced Scheduler Error:' ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: host bind array too small' In CSRRSREG.sql When Upgrading To 12.1.3".
You need to pull up the file csrrsreg.sql in a text editor and change
dbms_output.put_line('Registering Scheduler Rules XML Schema failed with an error ' || SQLERRM);
to
dbms_output.put_line(SUBSTR(('Registering Scheduler Rules XML Schema failed with an error ' || SQLERRM), 1, 250));

The file is placed in the patch stage area 22644544/csr/patch/115/sql, but it is copied to $APPL_TOP/csr/12.0.0/patch/115/sql during installation.
So I changed the file in both places, in case of a rerun.

Then, according to note 1263895.1, run the $APPL_TOP/csr/12.0.0/patch/115/sql/csrrsreg.sql manually.
Open the file first, and read the instructions. You need the passowrds for APPS and CSR, as well as the value for $CSR_TOP.
Run it and supply the parameters as they are requested by the script:
$1 = 'APPS'
$2 = password for APPS
$3 = 'CSR'
$4 = password for CSR
$5 = value for $CSR_TOP
sqlplus /nolog @/u01/app/apps/apps_st/appl/csr/12.0.0/patch/115/sql/csrrsreg.sql

Go back to your session where you are running adctrl.
Restart the worker process:
AD Controller Menu
     ---------------------------------------------------

     1.    Show worker status

     2.    Tell worker to restart a failed job

     3.    Tell worker to quit

     4.    Tell manager that a worker failed its job

     5.    Tell manager that a worker acknowledges quit

     6.    Restart a worker on the current machine

     7.    Exit

Enter your choice [1] : 2

Enter the worker number(s)/range(s) or 'all' for all workers,
or press [Return] to go back to the menu : 1

Status changed to 'Fixed, restart' for worker 1.

You should now check the worker status again:
Review the messages above, then press [Return] to continue.

                    AD Controller Menu
     ---------------------------------------------------

     1.    Show worker status

     2.    Tell worker to restart a failed job

     3.    Tell worker to quit

     4.    Tell manager that a worker failed its job

     5.    Tell manager that a worker acknowledges quit

     6.    Restart a worker on the current machine

     7.    Exit

Enter your choice [1] : 1

        Control
Worker  Code      Context            Filename                    Status
------  --------  -----------------  --------------------------  --------------
     1  Run       AutoPatch R120     pa_inv_exception_rpt_tbl_t  Running
     2  Run       AutoPatch R120     pa_perid_profile_tbl_typ.x  Assigned
     3  Run       AutoPatch R120                                 Wait
     4  Run       AutoPatch R120                                 Wait

Review the messages above, then press [Return] to continue.

Enter your choice [1] : 1


        Control
Worker  Code      Context            Filename                    Status
------  --------  -----------------  --------------------------  --------------
     1  Run       AutoPatch R120     BEN_REP_ACTIONS_TAB.xdf     Running
     2  Run       AutoPatch R120     BEN_REP_ARCHIVE_TAB.xdf     Running
     3  Run       AutoPatch R120     BEN_DPNT_SICVRD_GT_TAB.xdf  Running
     4  Run       AutoPatch R120     BEN_ACA_CBR_TAB.xdf         Running

The workers are proceeding as before.
If you check your initial ssh session where you run the patching, things should move along.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

What is the admsi.pl utility that is used during EBS patching?



Thanks to the blog post by Atul Kumar for explain this.
It's a tool for generating instance-specific patch installation instructions.

This tool was refered to in the beginning of a readme-file for a particular patch. The readme-file stated:
Instructions For Applying This Patch
Execute the following command to generate your instance specific installation
instructions
Source the Applications environment file
Run the Patch Application Assistant by entering "admsi.pl".

A bit further down in the same readme-file:
Apply The Patch
For 12.0.X / 12.1.X / pre-upgrade patches (using adpatch), you must shut down all
Application tier services before performing the tasks in this section. For 12.2.X patches (using adop),
you can perform the tasks in this section without shutting down the Application tier services.

Apply patch [required]
This patch contains the following unified driver file to be applied with
AutoPatch:
u28389569.drv (This is the unified driver)


$ perl $AD_TOP/bin/admsi.pl -patch_top=/software/EBS/28389569
Gathering Information..
Enter the APPS user password:
Logfile for this session is located at admsi.log
Generating installation instructions for patch 28389569..
Updating database....
install_28389569.html generated successfully
install_28389569.txt generated successfully

The generated files will contain the exact patching instructions.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

How to create a new database in PostgreSQL


postgres=# create role music;
CREATE ROLE
postgres=# create database musicdb with owner = music;
CREATE DATABASE
postgres=# 

Documented here

Use can also use the wrapper "createdb" for convenience:
$ createdb -O music musicdb
CREATE DATABASE musicdb OWNER music;

A complete DDL for creating a database may look like this:
CREATE DATABASE memo
    WITH 
    OWNER = mysuperuser
    TEMPLATE = template0
    ENCODING = 'UTF8'
    TABLESPACE = pg_default
    CONNECTION LIMIT = -1;

COMMENT ON DATABASE memo
    IS 'my comment here';

Sunday, May 26, 2019

How to display Linux kernel and version information on debian platforms

Use the lsb (Linux Standard Base) utility:
lsb_release -a
Output:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS
Release: 18.04
Codename: bionic
Replace the -a switch with the -d switch to limit the output to the version only.

or view the file /etc/os-release:
cat /etc/os-release:
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="18.04.1 LTS (Bionic Beaver)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS"
VERSION_ID="18.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=bionic
UBUNTU_CODENAME=bionic