Quick Start Guide for Oracle on Solaris SPARC

This quick start guide, which is excerpted from the larger User Guide, is intended to provide you with a quick overview of working with Oracle database objects in the Delphix Engine.  It does not cover advanced configuration options including Oracle RAC, Linking to Standby, or Best Practices for Performance.  It assumes that you are working in a Lab/Dev setting, and attempting to quickly test Delphix functionality. It assumes you will use the VMware Hypervisor.

Overview

In this guide, we will walk through deploying a Delphix Engine, configuring Oracle Source and Target environments on Solaris SPARC servers, creating a dSource, and provisioning a VDB.

The following diagram describes the Delphix topology for Oracle environments. It illustrates the recommended ports to be open from Delphix to remote services, to the Delphix Engine, and to the Source and Target Environments.

For this Quick Start Guide, you can ignore the following components: XPP/Validated Sync Host, Replicated Engine, and Masking Engine.

Deploy OVA on VMWare

Use the Delphix-supplied OVA file to install the Delphix Engine. The OVA file is configured with many of the minimum system requirements and deploys to one 300GB hard disk (150GB on versions 5.1.2 and earlier) with 8 vCPUs and 64GB RAM. The underlying storage for the install is assumed to be redundant SAN storage.

1. Download the OVA file from https://download.delphix.com. You will need a support login from your sales team or a welcome letter.
   
   1. Navigate to "Virtual Appliance" and download the appropriate OVA. If you unsure, use the HWv8_Standard type.
2. Login using the vSphere client to the vSphere server (or vCenter Server) where you want to install the Delphix Engine.
3. In the vSphere Client, click File.
4. Select Deploy OVA Template.
5. Browse to the OVA file.
6. Click Next.
7. Select a hostname for the Delphix Engine.
   This hostname will also be used in configuring the Delphix Engine network. 
8. Select the data center where the Delphix Engine will be located.
9. Select the cluster and the ESX host.
10. Select one (1) data store for the Delphix OS.  This datastore can be thin-provisioned and must have enough free space to accommodate the 300GB comprising the Delphix operating system.
11. Select four (4) or more data stores for Database Storage for the Delphix Engine.  The Delphix Engine will stripe all of the Database Storage across these VMDKs, so for optimal I/O performance each VMDK must be equal in size and be configured Thick Provisioned - Eager Zeroed.  Additionally, these VMDKs should be distributed as evenly as possible across all four SCSI I/O controllers, as described in Reconfiguring Controllers.
12. Select the virtual network you want to use.
    If using multiple physical NICs for link aggregation, you must use vSphere NIC teaming. Do not add multiple virtual NICs to the Delphix Engine itself. The Delphix Engine should use a single virtual network. For more information, see Optimal Network Architecture for the Delphix Engine.
13. Click Finish.
    The installation will begin and the Delphix Engine will be created in the location you specified
    

Setup Network Access to Delphix Engine

1. Power on the Delphix Engine and open the Console.
2. Wait for the Delphix Management Service and Delphix Boot Service to come online.  
   This might take up to 10 minutes during the first boot. Wait for the large orange box to turn green.
3. Press any key to access the sysadmin console. 
4. Enter  sysadmin@SYSTEM  for the username and sysadmin for the password.

5. You will be presented with a description of available network settings and instructions for editing.
    

   Delphix Engine Network Setup
   
   To access the system setup through the browser, the system must first be configured for networking in your
   environment. From here, you can configure the primary interface, DNS, hostname, and default route. When DHCP is
   configured, all other properties are derived from DHCP settings.
   
   To see the current settings, run "get." To change a property, run "set <property>=<value>." To commit your changes,
   run "commit." To exit this setup and return to the standard CLI, run "discard."
   
       defaultRoute    IP address of the gateway for the default route -- for example, "1.2.3.4."
   
       dhcp            Boolean value indicating whether DHCP should be used for the primary interface. Setting this value
                       to "true" will cause all other properties (address, hostname, and DNS) to be derived from the DHCP
                       response
   
       dnsDomain       DNS Domain -- for example, "delphix.com"
   
       dnsServers      DNS server(s) as a list of IP addresses -- for example, "1.2.3.4,5.6.7.8."
   
       hostname        Canonical system hostname, used in alert and other logs -- for example, "myserver"
   
       primaryAddress  Static address for the primary interface in CIDR notation -- for example, "1.2.3.4/22"
   
   Current settings:
   
       defaultRoute: 192.168.1.1
       dhcp: false
       dnsDomain: example.com
       dnsServers: 192.168.1.1
       hostname: Delphix
       primaryAddress: 192.168.1.100/24

6. Configure the hostname. If you are using DHCP, you can skip this step.

   delphix network setup update *> set hostname=<hostname>

   Use the same hostname you entered during the server installation.

7. Configure DNS. If you are using DHCP, you can skip this step.

   delphix network setup update *> set dnsDomain=<domain>
   delphix network setup update *> set dnsServers=<server1-ip>[,<server2-ip>,...]

8. Configure either a static or DHCP address.

   DHCP Configuration

   delphix network setup update *> set dhcp=true

   Static Configuration

   delphix network setup update *> set dhcp=false
   delphix network setup update *> set primaryAddress=<address>/<prefix-len>

   The static IP address must be specified in CIDR notation (for example, 192.168.1.2/24)

9. Configure a default gateway. If you are using DHCP, you can skip this step.

   delphix network setup update *> set defaultRoute=<gateway-ip>
   

10. Commit your changes. Note that you can use the get command prior to committing to verify your desired configuration.

    delphix network setup update *> commit
    Successfully committed network settings. Further setup can be done through the browser at:
    
            http://<address>
    
    Type "exit" to disconnect, or any other commands to continue using the CLI.

11. Check that you can now access the Delphix Engine through a Web browser by navigating to the displayed IP address, or hostname if using DNS.

12. Exit setup.

    delphix> exit
    

Setting Up the Delphix Engine

Once you setup the network access for Delphix Engine, enter Delphix Engine URL in your browser for server setup. 

The welcome screen below will appear for you to begin your Delphix Engine setup.

Delphix Engine Setup Welcome Screen

System Time

Choose your option to setup system time in this section.

For a Quick Start, simply set the time and your timezone. You can change this later.

Network Configuration

The initial out-of-the-box network configuration in the OVA file is set to use a single VMXNET3 network adapter.

You've already configured this in the initial configuration. Delphix supports more advanced configurations, but you can enable those later.

Storage

You should see the data storage VMDKs or RDMs you created during the OVA installation.  Click Next to configure these for data storage.

Serviceability

Choose your options to configure serviceability settings.

For a Quick Start, take the defaults. You can change this later.

Authentication Service

Choose your options to configure authentication services.

For a Quick Start, take the defaults.You can change this later.

Registration

Summary

The final summary tab will enable you to review your configurations for System Time, Network, Storage, Serviceability, and Authentication. 

1. Click the Back button to go back and to change the configuration for any of these server settings.
2. If you are ready to proceed, then click Submit.
3. Click Yes to confirm that you want to save the configuration.
4. Click Setup to acknowledge the successful configuration.
5. There will be a wait of several minutes as the Delphix platform completes configuration.

Source Host Requirements

1. Create an operating system user (delphix_os). This user is easily created by the createDelphixOSUser.sh script.
   
   

   1. Profile and privileges should be the same as the Oracle user (i.e. oracle) on the host. 
      For example, delphix_os should have the same environment variable settings ($PATH, $ORACLE_HOME, etc.), umask, and ulimit settings, as oracle.

      Shortcut: Source the oracle login script from the delphix_os login script.

   2. Group memberships:
      

      1. The primary OS group of the Delphix platform software owner account's (i.e. delphix_os) should be the same as the Oracle software owner account (i.e. oracle).  In most cases, this is an OS group named oinstall.  There are lots of cases where the OS group named dba fills this role, so be sure to check the group membership of the Oracle software owner account.

         Oracle Inventory OS group

         The explanation of which OS group is primary on all Oracle software owner accounts is documented in the "Oracle12c Database Installation Guide" in the chapter on "Configuring Users, Groups, and Environments for Oracle Database", which states explicitly that the OS group for the Oracle Inventory oinstall should be primary.  However, please be aware that not all Oracle installations necessarily follow these guidelines.

         The reason Delphix platform software owner account (i.e. delphix_os) must have membership in the same OS groups as the Oracle software owner (i.e. oracle), specifically in the OSDBA group, is so that the platform can execute the Oracle RMAN executable, which to do so requires connection to the database instance as SYSDBA.

         OS accounts belonging to the OSDBA group can employ "OS authentication" when connecting to an Oracle database instance by specifying either username nor password (i.e. rman target /), thus eliminating the need to store or retrieve a SYSDBA password.

         Oracle 12c

         For Oracle 12c and later versions of Oracle databases which provide better role separation, the delphix_os user can also use OSBACKUPDBA as its primary group. This is typically the backupdba group on the host.  For more information, please refer to the "Oracle12c Database Installation Guide" in the chapter sub-section on "Extended Oracle Database Groups for Job Role Separation".

      2. If the Oracle OSDBA group (typically dba) is not already the primary OS group of the Delphix software owner account (i.e. delphix_os), then it must be set as a secondary group.

      3. If the Oracle ASM ownership groups (typically asmadmin and asmdba) exist on the host, they should be assigned to the Delphix platform software owner account (i.e. delphix_os) as secondary groups.

         Summary

         An excellent "rule of thumb" to follow is that the setup of OS groups for the Delphix platform software owner account (i.e. delphix_os) should be the same as for the Oracle software owner account (i.e. oracle).

2. There must be a directory on the source host where the Delphix platform Toolkit can be installed, for example: /var/opt/delphix/Toolkit.
   
   1. The delphix_os user and primary OS group (i.e. oinstall) must own the directory.
   2. The directory must have permissions -rwxrwx--- (0770),  but you can also use more permissive settings.
   3. The directory should have 1.5GB of available storage: 400MB for the toolkit and 400MB for the set of logs generated by each client that runs out of the toolkit.
3. The Delphix platform must be able to make an SSH connection to the source host (typically port 22)

Defaults:delphix_os !requiretty
delphix_os ALL=NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/pargs

User_Alias DELPHIX_USER=delphix_os 
 
Cmnd_Alias DELPHIX_CMDS= \
/usr/sbin/mount, \
/usr/sbin/umount, \
/usr/bin/mkdir, \
/usr/bin/rmdir, \
/usr/bin/pargs 

DELPHIX_USER ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: DELPHIX_CMDS

Source Database Requirements

1. Source databases must be in ARCHIVELOG mode to ensure that redo logs are archived.  (Mandatory).  Archive logs are required to make SnapSyncs consistent and provisionable.

2. There must be a database user (delphix_db) created by the createDelphixDBUser.sh  script. This script is part of the HostChecker bundle, and grants SELECT privileges on specific system tables for the user. See the topics  Using HostChecker to Validate Oracle Source and Target Environments for more about using the HostChecker bundle.

   Oracle pluggable databases

   For an Oracle pluggable database, there must be one database user (delphix_db) for the pluggable database and one common database user (c##delphix_db) for its container database. The createDelphixDBUser.sh script can create both users.

3. Enable Block Change Tracking (BCT).  (Highly Recommended).  Without BCT, incremental SnapSyncs must scan the entire database.

   BCT is an Enterprise Edition feature.

   Patch Required

   In order to use BCT in versions 10.2.0.5 and 11.2.0.2 (even for primary databases) Oracle installation should have patch for Oracle Bug 10170431. Without this fix BCT might use too much CPU. See MOS 10170431.8

   If an Oracle installation has already been patched or once the patch is applied, use the CLI to update the repository for this installation so that appliedPatches includes Oracle bug number 10170431, this will let SnapSync know that the bug has been fixed. If the repository does not indicate that Oracle bug 10170431 has been addressed, SnapSync will show a warning about this bug for each SnapSync.

   See Updating repository for Oracle applied patches with the Command Line Interface

   See Linking Oracle Physical Standby Databases for restrictions on enabling BCT on Oracle Physical Standby databases.

   Enter this command to enable BCT:

   alter database enable block change tracking using file '<user specified file>';

   The "USING FILE user_specified_file" clause defines the location of the change tracking file on the OS. This can be omitted by enabling OMF (Oracle-Managed Files).

   
   

4. Enable FORCE LOGGING.  (Highly Recommended). This prevents NOLOGGING operations on Source Databases. Oracle requires FORCE LOGGING for proper management of standby databases. 
   
   Enter this command to enable FORCE LOGGING:

   SQL> ALTER DATABASE force logging;

   If you do not enable FORCE LOGGING and NOLOGGING operations take place, you will get a Fault from the Delphix platform. If you must use NOLOGGING to meet specific performance criteria, take a new snapshot of the source database after doing the NOLOGGING operations to bring the dSource up-to-date before provisioning VDBs. To avoid repeated Faults, you can disable "Diagnose Nologging" on your dSource.

5. If the online redo log files are located on RAW or ASM devices, then the Delphix platform LogSync feature can operate in Archive Only mode only. See the topics Advanced Data Management Settings for Oracle dSources and Linking Oracle Physical Standby Databases for more information.

Target Host Requirements

Deploy Hostchecker to Validate Delphix Requirements

1. Download the appropriate HostChecker tarball for your platform from https://download.delphix.com/. Tarballs follow the naming convention "hostchecker_<OS>_<processor>.tar". For example, if you are validating a linux x86 host you should download the hostchecker_linux_x86.tar tarball. 

2. Create a working directory and extract the HostChecker files from the HostChecker tarball.

   mkdir dlpx-host-checker
   cd dlpx-host-checker/
   tar -xf hostchecker_linux_x86.tar

3. Run the sh script contained within:

   sh hostchecker.sh

   This will extract the JDK included in the tarball (if necessary) and invoke the HostChecker. 

   ora10205@bbdhcp:/home/ora10205/hostchecker-> sh hostchecker.sh
   Extracting the JDK from the tarball jdk-6u45-linux-i586.tar.gz.

   Don't Run as Root

   Do not run the HostChecker as root; this will cause misleading or incorrect results from many of the checks.

4. Select which checks you want to run. 

   Run Tests without the Interface

   You can also run checks without spawning the interface. Enter --help to get a list of arguments you can pass to the HostChecker.

5. As the checks are made, enter the requested arguments.

6. Read the output of the check.  
   The general format is that severity increases as you scroll down the output. First comes informational output, then warnings, then errors.

   Internal Errors

   If you see a message that starts with Internal Error, forward it to Delphix Support immediately. This represents a potential bug in the HostChecker, and not necessarily a problem with your environment.

7. Error or warning messages will explain any possible problems and how to address them. Resolve the issues that the HostChecker describes. Do not be surprised or undo your work if more errors appear the next time you run HostChecker, because the error you just fixed may have been masking other problems.
8. Repeat steps 3 - 7 until all the checks return no errors or warnings.

Adding Oracle Source and Target Environments

Follow the steps below to add both source and target environments for oracle.

1. Login to the Delphix Engine using the  Delphix Admin credentials.
2. Click Manage.
3. Select Environments.
4. Click the Plus icon next to Environments.
5. In the Add Environment dialog, select Unix/Linux.
6. Select Standalone Host or Oracle Cluster, depending on the type of environment you are adding.
7. For standalone Oracle environments enter the Host IP address.
8. For Oracle RAC environments, enter the Node Address and Cluster Home.
9. Enter an optional Name for the environment.
10. Enter the SSH port.
    The default value is 22.
11. Enter a Username for the environment. 
    See Requirements for Oracle Target Hosts and Databases for more information on the required privileges for the environment user.

12. Select a Login Type.
    For Password, enter the password associated with the user in Step 10.

    Using Public Key Authentication

    If you want to use public key encryption for logging into your environment:

    1. Select Public Key for the Login Type.
    2. Click View Public Key.
    3. Copy the public key that is displayed, and append it to the end of your ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file. If this file does not exist, you will need to create it.
       
       1. Run chmod 600 authorized_keys to enable read and write privileges for your user.
       2. Run chmod 755 ~ to make your home directory writable only by your user.

    The public key needs to be added only once per user and per environment.

    You can also add public key authentication to an environment user's profile by using the command line interface, as explained in the topic CLI Cookbook: Setting Up SSH Key Authentication for UNIX Environment Users.

13. For Password Login, click Verify Credentials to test the username and password.
14. Enter a Toolkit Path. 
    The toolkit directory stores scripts used for Delphix Engine operations, and should have a persistent working directory rather than a temporary one. The toolkit directory will have a separate sub-directory for each database instance. The toolkit path must have 0770 permissions and at least 345MB of free space.
15. Click OK.

Linking an Oracle Data Source

Provisioning an Oracle VDB

Next Steps

Congratulations!  You've provisioned your first virtual database!

You should attempt some simple functional tests with your application.  You can connect your app to the VDB using standard TNS/JDBC techniques.  Delphix has already registered the VDB for you on the Target listener.

We suggest the following next steps:

• dropping a table and using the VDB Rewind feature to test recovery of your VDB
• Take a snapshot of your dSource and Refresh your VDB to quickly get fresh production data
• Provision a new VDB from your VDB to test sharing data quickly with other teams
• Mask your new VDB to protect sensitive data.  Provision new VDBs from that Masked VDB to quickly provide safe data to development and QA teams.