Yes.... I'm moving my blog again. However, I think it's safe to say that this is a good move. I'm moving Robert Freeman on Oracle to Oracle's blog site here!
Please come on over and check out my Oracle related comments there.
My personal blog is still going to be available here.
Thanks to everyone that's been coming here.... please come on over to my new page and let's talk more Oracle.
Robert
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
I'm curious about your DBA life...
I'd love it if you would that this completely anonymous survey about your life as a DBA. I will be using the results in future talks. I will also post results here.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q695FNP
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q695FNP
I'm Still Learning.... Presenting on things Oracle
I'm in Williamsburg, VA. presenting today. I'm always learning something I think.
I have been terrible about posting stuff here. I need to do better! There is a lot going on in my life right now, and it's Oracle's Q4... so, something just gives sometimes. :)
I've been watching presentations and I noticed more than one presenter do what I used to do, and sometimes find myself doing.
I watched the presenter go through a set of slides ... and the slides were wordy and the presenter was just kind of drilling through the slides. In this person I recognized me and how I sometimes present. I've recognized this before, and I've made efforts to change but this was the first time it really stood out at me that I used to (and kind of do) do things that way.
The other thing was that the presenter was concentrating on features and really forgetting the key thing that people listening want to know, how does this apply to me. Obviously, features are nice to talk about and easy to speak on, but how they apply to you, in your job - that is a completely different thing.
For example, our speaker was talking about product A and it's ability to do new feature b.
The speaker was doing a great job and this is a cool feature, no doubt. However, the real opportunity here was not to just talk about the feature, but wrap that discussion in practical advice. When do you need to use feature b? What is the practical benefit and application of feature b?
Lest I be accused of pointing fingers at any speaker and my comments on the presentation don I want to be clear that I have done this very same thing many times, in many presentations. I try very hard now not to do that, but sometimes I find I still do it. It's hard speaking, and hard figuring out what to cover and what not to cover. My problem is usually I want to cover to many things and I find myself fretting about missing something important. Thus, I produce a firehose presentation.
I'll confess too a feeling that I don't want people to think "Hey Freeman, you left this out!", which is really my own mind telling me that I've done that.
Now, I'm trying to mature myself and my presentations. I'm making myself remove verbiage and I'm trying to slow the pace down a little bit and focus more on a few things and add value through not only talking about those things but providing articulation on what the practical aspects of the feature or product are. We will see how this goes.
My presentation tonight is an experiment, so we shall see how it goes. I'm speaking more about human factors related to database management than something technical. It's totally new, but it's something I've been thinking about.
Stay tuned and I'll share more about my experiences this evening and I'll also do a page on the whole idea I'm presenting - DBA 3.0....
Edit: It has been brought to my attention that I might have offended one or more people with the post in it's origional form. When I was told this I was shocked becuase, to be candid, that was not the idea in the least. I appologize to that person in particular, profusley. If anyone else thought I was being crass, mean or conceited, then I appologize to you as well. I have re-written this post and I hope it's not found to be offensive. The point was more looking at my evolution and not trying to point fingers, at all.
I will say, as an aside, I do wish if someone has a gripe with me that they take it up directly with me. I'm easy enough to find, and very willing to talk to anyone. I know I'm far from perfect (my personal blog is proof enough of that) and am always willing to have a conversation and admit I was wrong, as was the case here.
More soon!
I have been terrible about posting stuff here. I need to do better! There is a lot going on in my life right now, and it's Oracle's Q4... so, something just gives sometimes. :)
I've been watching presentations and I noticed more than one presenter do what I used to do, and sometimes find myself doing.
I watched the presenter go through a set of slides ... and the slides were wordy and the presenter was just kind of drilling through the slides. In this person I recognized me and how I sometimes present. I've recognized this before, and I've made efforts to change but this was the first time it really stood out at me that I used to (and kind of do) do things that way.
The other thing was that the presenter was concentrating on features and really forgetting the key thing that people listening want to know, how does this apply to me. Obviously, features are nice to talk about and easy to speak on, but how they apply to you, in your job - that is a completely different thing.
For example, our speaker was talking about product A and it's ability to do new feature b.
The speaker was doing a great job and this is a cool feature, no doubt. However, the real opportunity here was not to just talk about the feature, but wrap that discussion in practical advice. When do you need to use feature b? What is the practical benefit and application of feature b?
Lest I be accused of pointing fingers at any speaker and my comments on the presentation don I want to be clear that I have done this very same thing many times, in many presentations. I try very hard now not to do that, but sometimes I find I still do it. It's hard speaking, and hard figuring out what to cover and what not to cover. My problem is usually I want to cover to many things and I find myself fretting about missing something important. Thus, I produce a firehose presentation.
I'll confess too a feeling that I don't want people to think "Hey Freeman, you left this out!", which is really my own mind telling me that I've done that.
Now, I'm trying to mature myself and my presentations. I'm making myself remove verbiage and I'm trying to slow the pace down a little bit and focus more on a few things and add value through not only talking about those things but providing articulation on what the practical aspects of the feature or product are. We will see how this goes.
My presentation tonight is an experiment, so we shall see how it goes. I'm speaking more about human factors related to database management than something technical. It's totally new, but it's something I've been thinking about.
Stay tuned and I'll share more about my experiences this evening and I'll also do a page on the whole idea I'm presenting - DBA 3.0....
Edit: It has been brought to my attention that I might have offended one or more people with the post in it's origional form. When I was told this I was shocked becuase, to be candid, that was not the idea in the least. I appologize to that person in particular, profusley. If anyone else thought I was being crass, mean or conceited, then I appologize to you as well. I have re-written this post and I hope it's not found to be offensive. The point was more looking at my evolution and not trying to point fingers, at all.
I will say, as an aside, I do wish if someone has a gripe with me that they take it up directly with me. I'm easy enough to find, and very willing to talk to anyone. I know I'm far from perfect (my personal blog is proof enough of that) and am always willing to have a conversation and admit I was wrong, as was the case here.
More soon!
Thursday, March 6, 2014
controlfile autobackups default changed in 12c...
Just noticed today that the default for controlfile autobackup has changed in Oracle Database 12c. It now defaults to on. This change does not seem to be reflected in the 12c documentation from what I can see.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Exadata Jan PSU and Exalogic Echo - Also, where did the Infiniband Patches go?
If you are running Exadata and Exalogic together in the same environment, over IB, then you will want to exercise some caution when applying the January Exadata QFSDP, if your on the ECHO release of Exalogic. There is a bug on Exalogic with respect to the IB drivers (and specifically the SDP protocol) that will cause connectivity issues with Exadata. My group has run into a few problems with this already so I thought I'd post a warning here.
See MOS document 1588546.1 for more information on this.
A patch is due out for the Exalogic environment soon to correct this problem. So, until then, if you are running Exadata and Exalogic ECHO, I'd either:
1. Install the patches in the January QFSDP but do NOT install the new IB patch until the fix for Exalogic is released.
2. Wait to apply the January QFSDP until the patch is available and installed on Exalogic.
My preference is probably #2, and I've not yet fully tested option #1 so make sure you do before you implement it.
Also, if you looked at the January QFSDP for Exadata you might have wondered what happened to the Infiniband patch? It used to be contained in the QFSDP payload by itself, but it's missing in the January release. Fear not, true believer! The Infiniband patch (which is new in January - hence the problems above) has now been moved into the Exadata Storage Cell Patch. So, you will want to review the instructions carefully and be aware of this change.
So - go out there and have a great day!
See MOS document 1588546.1 for more information on this.
A patch is due out for the Exalogic environment soon to correct this problem. So, until then, if you are running Exadata and Exalogic ECHO, I'd either:
1. Install the patches in the January QFSDP but do NOT install the new IB patch until the fix for Exalogic is released.
2. Wait to apply the January QFSDP until the patch is available and installed on Exalogic.
My preference is probably #2, and I've not yet fully tested option #1 so make sure you do before you implement it.
Also, if you looked at the January QFSDP for Exadata you might have wondered what happened to the Infiniband patch? It used to be contained in the QFSDP payload by itself, but it's missing in the January release. Fear not, true believer! The Infiniband patch (which is new in January - hence the problems above) has now been moved into the Exadata Storage Cell Patch. So, you will want to review the instructions carefully and be aware of this change.
So - go out there and have a great day!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Oracle Migration - Poll results and DBUA in Oracle Database 12c.
In an earlier blog post some time ago I did a survey on how you migrated your last database. I asked if you used the DBUA, manual upgrades and a handful of other methods. The results, though not a huge representative sample, were interesting. If you would like to fill out the survey you can find it here.
The results seem to imply that people prefer to use manual upgrades. I've been among those folks, but with Oracle Database 12c, I'm starting to like the DBUA.
The DBUA shipped with Oracle Database 12c, has many new features and is worth looking at as you start your upgrade planning to move your databases to Oracle Database 12c. New features such as being able to roll back a failed upgrade and then restart the upgrade after you have fixed whatever the problem is that caused the failure, are really nice to have. The ability to run the upgrade prerequisite script and then correct many of the problems that it detects from DBUA is also a very welcome feature. You can also update the timezone data, recompile objects and even re-run statistics from the DBUA. All in all, the DBUA is worth a second look!
Here are the current results for the poll.
Interesting...!
The results seem to imply that people prefer to use manual upgrades. I've been among those folks, but with Oracle Database 12c, I'm starting to like the DBUA.
The DBUA shipped with Oracle Database 12c, has many new features and is worth looking at as you start your upgrade planning to move your databases to Oracle Database 12c. New features such as being able to roll back a failed upgrade and then restart the upgrade after you have fixed whatever the problem is that caused the failure, are really nice to have. The ability to run the upgrade prerequisite script and then correct many of the problems that it detects from DBUA is also a very welcome feature. You can also update the timezone data, recompile objects and even re-run statistics from the DBUA. All in all, the DBUA is worth a second look!
Here are the current results for the poll.
Interesting...!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The January QFSDP is out - also some issues to be aware of.
My apologies for being away. I've been enjoying the Christmas season, traveling, working and such things and being sick. I'm healing up, So, now it's time to get caught up and post more regularly.I've also got to get my 12c OCP book done for Sybex. I'm so far behind on that one.
I have some additional errata to post on the 12c New Features book soon. Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback. Writing a book is time consuming and it's easy to miss a dot in a product version as one person has pointed out to me....
As I've done several Exadata patches now, I've developed a checklist that I use and keep up to date (as much as I can). It pulls in the various tasks from the read me's and adds additional tasks that I think are important. I'm going to be updating this spreadsheet for the January QFSDP and then testing it. I may release some version of the checklist to the public domain, but I need to make sure our friends at Oracle Legal are fine with that. So, keep an eye out for that if you would find it helpful.
Note that this issue also appears to impact Super cluster according to note 1452277.1./
The second issue to be aware of is EX13. This impacts Exadata when you are doing rolling upgrades. The basic text of the issue reads as follows:
One or more cells is using version 11.2.3.3.0 combined with 11.2.3.2.x or 11.2.3.1.x, running database version 11.2.0.2 or 11.2.0.3. Bug 17854520 - Running cell version 11.2.3.3.0 combined with 11.2.3.2.x or 11.2.3.1.x (e.g. during rolling cell patching or rack expansion) using Oracle Database 11.2.0.3 or 11.2.0.2 without patch 17854520 installed can cause database hang or crash
Fixed in Oracle Database 11.2.0.4 and 12.1.0.1.
Before creating the mixed cell version configuration, install the fix for bug 17854520 in 11.2.0.3 and 11.2.0.2 database homes.
At this time, I do not see that this is an issue for Supercluster, but please double and tripple check before you start you next upgrade.
Did that one make you shiver? DB23 is a nasty sounding bug. Here is the description:
=============================================================
RMAN incremental backups created with one of the following database patch sets:
Bug 16057129 - Exadata cell optimized incremental backup can miss some blocks if a database file grows larger while the file is being backed up. A missed block can lead to stuck recovery and ORA-600[3020] errors if the incremental backup is used for media recovery.
See Document 16057129.8 for details.
Existing RMAN incremental backups taken without the bug fix in place should be considered invalid and not usable for database recovery, incrementally updating level 0 backups, or standby database creation.
RMAN full backups, level 0 backups that are not part of an incrementally updated backup strategy, and database recovery using archived redo logs are not affected by this issue.
Step 1.Set the following parameter in all databases that use Exadata storage:
Step 2. Create new RMAN backups. Minimally a new RMAN cumulative incremental backup must be taken. In addition, level 0 backups that are part of an incrementally updated backup strategy must be recreated.
Fix availability
Fixed in 12.1.0.1 GIPSU2
Fixed in Patch 16057129 for 12.1.0.1 GIPSU1
Fixed in 11.2.0.4.0
Fixed in 11.2.0.3 BP22
Fixed in Patch 16057129 for 11.2.0.3 BP21
Fixed in Patch 17599908 for 11.2.0.2 BP22
This problem also exists on Supercluster. So you will want to address it theere.
=============================================================
In my mind, this is concerning but not fatal. First, I find it unlikely that data files will extend during an incremental backup that often. It can happen, but it's going to be rare in many cases. Still, this bug is bad enough that I'd suggest you address it immediately if you are using an incremental backup strategy. Once everything is fixed, if you did the cell workaround, don't forget to reverse it out. So often when I come on customer sites,m I find parameter files full of old legacy parametrer settings that never got removed. There was one white paper I saw from Oracle on upgrades. On one upgrade they left legacy parameters in place. In the other upgrade they took them out. The upgrade with the parameters removed performed much faster! Moral of the story, take advantage of upgrades to update /modernize your parameter files.
More later! Thanks for reading! Comments always welcome.
I have some additional errata to post on the 12c New Features book soon. Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback. Writing a book is time consuming and it's easy to miss a dot in a product version as one person has pointed out to me....
January QFSDP Is Out
It's time and the January QFSDP is out now. I've not had the opportunity to look at the patch set in it's totality yet. I'll be doing so in the next few days and I'll post a blog entry on that. I did notice that the 12.x version of the storage cell software does not appear to be in the release. It is available in a separate download. I hope to have time to experiment with both of these in the new future but resources and time are thin. I'll see what I can do. All of this is listed in MOS note 888828.1.A checklist
If you find upgrading Exadata to be a difficult task, with lots of steps and the like, I think you are probably correct. I've had several people tell me how much harder upgrading Oracle was for them now with Exadata. I remind them that they are doing a great deal more than they did before, and the fact that it goes smoothly more often than not is really a testament to the folks doing the Exadata development.As I've done several Exadata patches now, I've developed a checklist that I use and keep up to date (as much as I can). It pulls in the various tasks from the read me's and adds additional tasks that I think are important. I'm going to be updating this spreadsheet for the January QFSDP and then testing it. I may release some version of the checklist to the public domain, but I need to make sure our friends at Oracle Legal are fine with that. So, keep an eye out for that if you would find it helpful.
Exadata Critical Issues
On another front, you probably want to make a trip to MOS note 1270094.1 which is titled "Exadata Critical Issues". There you will find some new Exadata issues you will want to be aware of. These have to do with some infiniband patching issues which are related to Exalogic, Issues with rolling upgrades, and serious issues with backups.Exadata Infiniband Issues
\If you are running Exadata and Exalogic together, then you will want to be aware of a issue revolving around patching Infiniband.This is critical bug IB4 and is related to bug 16833031. In short, before you go applying patches to Exalogic and Exadata you will want to review this note. I can not verify if Exacheck will pick up on this issue or not. If you get some Exacheck output that does raise this issue, I'd be happy if you could send me a screen dump of the relevant Exacheck message. Just mail me at robertgfreeman@yahoo.com.Note that this issue also appears to impact Super cluster according to note 1452277.1./
EX13 - Rolling Upgrades
The second issue to be aware of is EX13. This impacts Exadata when you are doing rolling upgrades. The basic text of the issue reads as follows:
One or more cells is using version 11.2.3.3.0 combined with 11.2.3.2.x or 11.2.3.1.x, running database version 11.2.0.2 or 11.2.0.3. Bug 17854520 - Running cell version 11.2.3.3.0 combined with 11.2.3.2.x or 11.2.3.1.x (e.g. during rolling cell patching or rack expansion) using Oracle Database 11.2.0.3 or 11.2.0.2 without patch 17854520 installed can cause database hang or crash
Fixed in Oracle Database 11.2.0.4 and 12.1.0.1.
Before creating the mixed cell version configuration, install the fix for bug 17854520 in 11.2.0.3 and 11.2.0.2 database homes.
- Database 11.2.0.3 fixes are available via patch 17854520.
- Database 11.2.0.2 BP22 fix is available via patch 17916298.
At this time, I do not see that this is an issue for Supercluster, but please double and tripple check before you start you next upgrade.
DB23 - Incremental backups not recoveable
Did that one make you shiver? DB23 is a nasty sounding bug. Here is the description:
=============================================================
RMAN incremental backups created with one of the following database patch sets:
- 12.1.0.1 GIPSU1 or earlier
- 11.2.0.3 BP21 or earlier
- any 11.2.0.2
- any 11.2.0.1
Bug 16057129 - Exadata cell optimized incremental backup can miss some blocks if a database file grows larger while the file is being backed up. A missed block can lead to stuck recovery and ORA-600[3020] errors if the incremental backup is used for media recovery.
See Document 16057129.8 for details.
Existing RMAN incremental backups taken without the bug fix in place should be considered invalid and not usable for database recovery, incrementally updating level 0 backups, or standby database creation.
RMAN full backups, level 0 backups that are not part of an incrementally updated backup strategy, and database recovery using archived redo logs are not affected by this issue.
Step 1.Set the following parameter in all databases that use Exadata storage:
_disable_cell_optimized_backups=TRUE
SQL> alter system set "_disable_cell_optimized_backups"=TRUE scope=both;
The parameter specified above may be removed after the fix for bug
16057129 is installed by upgrade or by applying an interim patch. See
below for fix availability.Step 2. Create new RMAN backups. Minimally a new RMAN cumulative incremental backup must be taken. In addition, level 0 backups that are part of an incrementally updated backup strategy must be recreated.
Fix availability
Fixed in 12.1.0.1 GIPSU2
Fixed in Patch 16057129 for 12.1.0.1 GIPSU1
Fixed in 11.2.0.4.0
Fixed in 11.2.0.3 BP22
Fixed in Patch 16057129 for 11.2.0.3 BP21
Fixed in Patch 17599908 for 11.2.0.2 BP22
This problem also exists on Supercluster. So you will want to address it theere.
=============================================================
In my mind, this is concerning but not fatal. First, I find it unlikely that data files will extend during an incremental backup that often. It can happen, but it's going to be rare in many cases. Still, this bug is bad enough that I'd suggest you address it immediately if you are using an incremental backup strategy. Once everything is fixed, if you did the cell workaround, don't forget to reverse it out. So often when I come on customer sites,m I find parameter files full of old legacy parametrer settings that never got removed. There was one white paper I saw from Oracle on upgrades. On one upgrade they left legacy parameters in place. In the other upgrade they took them out. The upgrade with the parameters removed performed much faster! Moral of the story, take advantage of upgrades to update /modernize your parameter files.
More later! Thanks for reading! Comments always welcome.
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