5 Oracle Database Postinstallation Tasks

5.5.1 Direct NFS Client

With Oracle Database 11g, you can store data files on a supported NFS system. You can configure Oracle Database to access NFS V3 servers directly using an Oracle internal Direct NFS Client. If Oracle Database cannot open an NFS server using Direct NFS Client, then an informational message is logged into the Oracle alert and trace files indicating that Direct NFS Client could not be established.

Management of Oracle data files created with Direct NFS Client should be done according to the guidelines specified in Oracle Database Administrator's Guide. The Oracle files resident on the NFS server that are served by the Direct NFS Client can also be accessed through a third party NFS Client. The volume must be mounted through CIFS or kernel NFS to enable regular windows utilities and commands, such as copy, and so on, access the database files in the remote location. Volumes mounted through CIFS cannot be used for database file storage without configuring Direct NFS Client. The atomic write requirements required for database access are not guaranteed by CIFS protocol. Consequently, CIFS can only be used for operating system level commands, such as copy, move, and so on.

Some NFS file servers require NFS clients to connect using reserved ports. If your filer is running with reserved port checking, then you must disable it for Direct NFS Client to operate. To disable reserved port checking, consult your NFS file server documentation.

Direct NFS Client can consume upto four network paths defined for an NFS server. The Direct NFS Client performs load balancing across all specified paths. If a specified path fails, then Direct NFS Client reissues I/O commands over any remaining paths.

Direct NFS Client requires an NFS server supporting NFS read/write buffers of at least 16384 bytes.

Direct NFS Client issues writes at wtmax granularity to the NFS server. Direct NFS Client does not serve an NFS server with a wtmax less than 16384. Oracle recommends that you use the value 32768.

Use the following views for Direct NFS Client management:

• v$dnfs_servers: Shows a table of servers accessed using Direct NFS Client.

• v$dnfs_files: Shows a table of files currently open using Direct NFS Client.

• v$dnfs_channels: Shows a table of open network paths (or channels) to servers for which Direct NFS Client is providing files.

• v$dnfs_stats: Shows a table of performance statistics for Direct NFS Client.

For NFS servers that restrict port range, you can use the insecure option to enable clients other than root to connect to the NFS server. Alternatively, you can disable Direct NFS Client as described in "Disable Direct NFS Client".

https://support.oracle.com

The following sections elaborate on enabling, disabling, checking the buffer size for a Direct NFS Client:

• Enable Direct NFS Client

• Disable Direct NFS Client

5.5.2 Configuring Oracle Messaging Gateway

Oracle Messaging Gateway, an Oracle Database Advanced Queuing feature, requires additional configuration after you install Oracle Database if you plan to use Oracle Database Advanced Queuing.

5.5.3 Configuring Oracle Administration Assistant for Windows

Oracle Administration Assistant for Windows requires the Microsoft Management Console and HTML Help 1.2 or later to run. Microsoft Management Console (MMC) version 3.0 is available with Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008. Oracle recommends the latest MMC version available.

http://www.microsoft.com/

5.5.4 Configuring Oracle Counters for Windows Performance Monitor

Before using Oracle Counters for Windows Performance Monitor to view Oracle-specific counters, you must specify the system password by running operfcfg.exe, located in the ORACLE_HOME\bin directory. operfcfg.exe prompts for a user name, password, and TNS alias.

For example:

DRIVE_LETTER:\> ORACLE_HOME\bin\operfcfg.exe
Enter user-name: system
Enter password: password
Enter tns-alias: orcl
operfcfg: New registry values have been successfully set.

If you run the following command, then operfcfg.exe does not prompt for a password:

operfcfg.exe -U user_name -D tns_alias

5.5.5 Configuring Oracle Label Security

If you installed Oracle Label Security, you must configure it in a database before you use it. You can configure Oracle Label Security with or without Oracle Internet Directory integration. If you configure Oracle Label Security without Oracle Internet Directory integration, you cannot configure it to use Oracle Internet Directory at a later stage.

5.5.6 Configuring Oracle Database Vault

If you installed Oracle Database Vault, you must register it in a database and create the Database Vault Owner and, optionally, Database Vault Account Manager administrative accounts before you can use it.

5.5.7 Configuring Oracle Net Services

If you have a previous release of Oracle software installed on this system, you can copy information from the Oracle Net tnsnames.ora and listener.ora configuration files from the previous release to the corresponding files for the new release.

Modifying the listener.ora File

If you are upgrading from a previous release of Oracle Database, Oracle recommends that you use the current release of Oracle Net listener instead of the listener from the previous release.

If you have referenced the previous Oracle home directory names in the static listener information, then these directory names must be modified before the listener.ora file can be used in the 11.2 environment.

To use the listener from the current release, you must copy static service information from the listener.ora file from the previous release to the version of that file used by the new release.

For any database instances earlier than release 8.0.3, add static service information to the listener.ora file. Oracle Database releases later than release 8.0.3 do not require static service information.

Modifying the tnsnames.ora File

Unless you are using a central tnsnames.ora file, copy Oracle Net service names and connect descriptors from the previous release tnsnames.ora file to the version of that file used by the new release.

If necessary, you can also add connection information for additional database instances to the new file.

5.5.8 Installing Oracle Text Supplied Knowledge Bases

An Oracle Text knowledge base is a hierarchical tree of concepts used for theme indexing, ABOUT queries, and deriving themes for document services. If you plan to use any of these Oracle Text features, you can install two supplied knowledge bases (English and French) from the Oracle Database Examples media.

5.5.9 Installing the Oracle Text Filtering Component

Oracle Text Filtering Technology requires the Visual C++ libraries included in the Visual C++ Redistributable Package provided by Microsoft. You can download the 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package version of the vcredist_x86.exe file from

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads

5.5.10 Configuring or Reinstalling Oracle XML DB

See Oracle XML DB Developer's Guide for more information about the following tasks:

• Reinstalling Oracle XML DB

• Configuring or customizing the Oracle XML DB tablespace

• Configuring FTP, HTTP/WebDAV port numbers

5.5.11 Configuring PL/SQL External Procedures

Configuring PL/SQL depends on the network configuration files used. In nearly all cases, configuration is automatic. However, if you are using pre-8.0.3 tnsnames.ora and listener.ora files with your 11g Release 2 (11.2) database, you must manually configure them.

5.5.12 Configuring Shared Server Support

The default setup for using Shared Server mode depends on how the software has been installed. If you installed Oracle Database through the Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition, or Personal Edition installation types, then shared support was not configured. If you created your database through Oracle Database Configuration Assistant, then you were offered a choice of shared or dedicated server support.

5.5.13 Setting Credentials for the Job System to Work with Oracle Enterprise Manager

Windows systems require that you set the correct credentials for the Jobs system to work properly in Oracle Enterprise Manager. By default, the Management Agent service is installed as a LocalSystem user. When submitting jobs, such as stopping or starting the database, the operating system user submitting the job must have the Log on as a batch job privilege enabled.

Perform the following steps to establish that privilege for any operating system user who must submit an Oracle Enterprise Manager job.

1. Start the Local Security Policy tool:

   • Windows 2003: From the Start menu, select Administrative Tools, then Local Security Policy.

   • Windows XP: From the Start menu, select Control Panel, Administrative Tools, then Local Security Policy.

   • Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008: From the Start menu, select Programs, Administrative Tools, then Local Security Policy.

2. Under the Security Settings list, expand the list to Local Policies.

3. Under Local Policies, double-click User Rights Assignment.

4. Under Policy, search for the Log on as a batch job policy.

   If the Management Agent service is installed as any other user (that is, not LocalSystem), then, in addition to granting the Log on as a batch job privilege, you must grant the "Windows service" user the following three privileges:

   • Act as part of the operating system

   • Adjust memory quotas for a process

   • Replace a process level token

     The service under the "Windows service" user runs at the operating system level.

5. With each policy, perform the following steps:

   1. Double-click the policy name.

   2. In the Properties dialog box, click Add User or Group.

   3. In the Select Users or Groups dialog box, enter the name of the user (for example, jsmith, administrator, and so on.)

      Note:

      On Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the name of the dialog box is Select Users, Computers, or Groups.

   4. Click Check Names to check that you have entered the name correctly.

   5. Click OK.

6. Click OK to exit the Properties dialog box, then exit Local Security Settings and Administrative Tools.

7. Restart your computer.

If a user exists locally and at the domain level, Windows gives the local user precedence. To use the domain user, qualify the user name with the domain name. For example, to use the user joe in the ACCOUNTS domain specify the user name as ACCOUNTS\joe.

5.5.14 Configuring Oracle Database to Communicate with Oracle Automatic Storage Management

On Windows, Oracle Database installations that use Oracle Automatic Storage Management must use Windows native authentication. By default, Windows native authentication is enabled. To ensure that it is, check the sqlnet.ora file, by default located in ORACLE_HOME\network\admin, and ensure that it has NTS enabled. For example:

sqlnet.authentication_services=(NTS)

5.5.15 Configuring Databases to Use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control

You have the option to configure Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control automatically when creating a new database using Database Control Assistant. This lets you administer your entire database using Enterprise Manager Database Control.

5.5.16 Installing Oracle Database Examples

If you plan to use the following products or features, then download and install the products from the Oracle Database Examples media:

• Oracle Database Examples

• Oracle JDBC Development Drivers

• Oracle Text Knowledge Base

5.6.1 About the Fast Recovery Area and the Fast Recovery Area Disk Group

The fast recovery area is a unified storage location for all Oracle Database files related to recovery. Database administrators can define the DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE_SIZE parameter to the path for the fast recovery area to enable on-disk backups, and rapid recovery of data. Enabling rapid backups for recent data can reduce requests to system administrators to retrieve backup tapes for recovery operations.

When you enable fast recovery in the init.ora file, it writes all RMAN backups, archive logs, control file automatic backups, and database copies to the fast recovery area. RMAN automatically manages files in the fast recovery area by deleting obsolete backups and archive files no longer required for recovery.

Oracle recommends that you create a fast recovery area disk group. Oracle Clusterware files and Oracle Database files can be placed on the same disk group, and you can also place fast recovery files in the same disk group. However, Oracle recommends that you create a separate fast recovery disk group to reduce storage device contention.

The fast recovery area is enabled by setting DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE. The size of the fast recovery area is set with DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE. As a general rule, the larger the fast recovery area, the more useful it becomes. For ease of use, Oracle recommends that you create a fast recovery area disk group on storage devices that can contain at least three days of recovery information. Ideally, the fast recovery area should be large enough to hold a copy of all of your datafiles and control files, the online redo logs, and the archived redo log files needed to recover your database using the datafile backups kept under your retention policy.

Multiple databases can use the same fast recovery area. For example, assume you have created one fast recovery area disk group on disks with 150 GB of storage, shared by three different databases. You can set the size of the fast recovery for each database depending on the importance of each database. For example, if database1 is your least important database, database2 is of greater importance and database3 is of greatest importance, then you can set different DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE settings for each database to meet your retention target for each database: 30 GB for database1, 50 GB for database2, and 70 GB for database3.

5.6.2 Creating the Fast Recovery Area Disk Group

To create a fast recovery file disk group:

1. Navigate to the Grid home bin directory, and start ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA). For example:

   DRIVE_LETTER:\> cd \app\oracle\product\11.2.0\grid\bin
   DRIVE_LETTER:\> asmca
   

2. ASMCA opens at the Disk Groups tab. Click Create to create a disk group.

3. The Create Disk Groups window opens.

   In the Disk Group Name field, enter a descriptive name for the fast recovery area group. For example: FRA.

   In the Redundancy section, select the level of redundancy you want to use.

   In the Select Member Disks field, select eligible disks to be added to the fast recovery area, and click OK.

4. The Diskgroup Creation window opens to inform you when disk group creation is complete. Click OK.

5. Click Exit.