another paper on Oracle/NT, probably originally from the
OOW 2000 web site.
9.6K
[reformatted in plain MS DOS text]
Paper 143: Oracle8 on NT - Tips and Techniques
Bruce McCartney and Steve Recsky
DBCORP Information Systems Inc.
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to provide the audience with tips and
techniques gained through experiences with Oracle8 on Windows NT. It
is intended for the DBA who is somewhat familiar with Oracle7 or
Oracle8 on the Unix platform, but is not familiar with Windows NT.
As NT becomes a more popular operating system, more and more companies
are considering and deploying database servers on the NT platform.
This paper will outline some of the architectural differences between
NT and Unix, as well as some considerations for implementing system
management, security, and backup and recovery processes. Finally, we
will explore some of the unique NT facilities for monitoring
performance of the database server.
***** Throughout this paper, we will identify specific
tips and techniques to improve your NT installation
with this format.
Oracle Architecture on Windows NT
NT vs. Unix
The Windows NT operating system has a number of distinctive features
that are new to Unix users. While it continues to improve, you can
count on a less stable and more mysterious operating environment for
database serving than Unix. Windows NT still requires frequent
re-boots (install a browser) and locks up more frequently than Unix
- but if steps are taken to ensure Oracle has been configured to work
on NT, Windows NT offers a simple, cost-effective database server
platform.
One of the first decisions the administrator must make is what FILE
SYSTEM to use. Windows NT still supports the FAT (circa 1980) file
systems but a superior choice for Oracle database, log and control
files is the NTFS. This is because NTFS provides a journaled file
system for roll-forward and roll-backward recovery, RAID 0, 1 and 5
supported in the OS, and enhanced auditing support and security
functionality. NTFS will also outperform FAT on larger disk volumes.
For the BOOT partition, it is recommended to use FAT for floppy boot
capability.
***** Use NTFS files system for ORACLE files, FAT for the
boot partition only.
A few of the unique features of NT files systems are file locking,
search paths and lack of symbolic links. Once Oracle acquires a lock
on a database file it is not possible to move that file while the
ORACLE is running. This can make on-line data file moves difficult, as
you must COPY the file using the OCOPY program from Oracle.
***** Make sure you don't allow datafiles to exceed 4GB
Bug:711563.
Starting with release 8.04, it is now possible to install Oracle
software in a multiple ORACLE_HOME structure for minor 'dot' releases
of Oracle. You could previously install an ORACLE_HOME for Oracle 7.2
and Oracle 7.3, but not for 7.3.2 and 7.3.3. This new capability
effects the location of product files, the PATH variable, Service
names, Program Groups and registry entries. The benefit of this is
that it is possible to install patches and maintain certification
levels of Oracle software, if you need to. There are some limitations
for multiple ORACLE_HOME use to be aware of. Oracle Installer checks
to see if the product you are installing exists in another ORACLE_HOME
and forces you to de-install it before continuing. Also, in the case
of 8.05, you can't install OEM 1.6 into and 8.0.4 ORACLE_HOME without
upgrading the database to 8.0.5.
***** If you want to use OEM 1.6 against an 8.0.4 database,
you need to de-install OEM from the 8.0.4 ORACLE_HOME
and install OEM 1.6 into a new 8.0.5 ORACLE_HOME.
Finally, to make multiple ORACLE_HOME work, you need to manipulate the
PATH environment variable. This can be done using the ORACLE_HOME
Selector Icon, using the Control Panel | System Properties, or via the
command line.
The main architectural difference between NT and Unix for Oracle DBAs
is the concept of a [***]Service[***] and [***]Thread[***]. An NT
Service is a program that launches automatically with the start-up of
the server, and runs in the background. A thread is a sub-task
started under a program executing on NT. Oracle8 is started as a
service, and launches multiple threads for its background services
(DBW0, RECO, LGWR etc). It is important to realize that the Oracle
service may be started, but the Oracle instance may be down. This can
happen if the start-up failed for some reason (i.e. invalid INIT.ORA
parameter).
Oracle8 for NT includes the following Services:
OracleServiceSID
This service contains the ORACLE80.EXE program and all of the
associated background processes or threads. By default, when the NT
Service is stopped, all the threads are killed and it is equivalent to
a shutdown abort. The service can be stopped via the Control Panel,
at NET STOP command or by an NT Shutdown.
OracleStartSID
This service is used by Oracle to start the database instance. By
default, it calls the executable STRTDB80.EXE which calls the file
%ORACLE_HOME%\DATABASE\STRTSID.CMD containing the command:
oradim80.exe -startup -sid ORCL -usrpwd passwd -starttype srvc,inst -pfile
c:\orant\database\initorcl.ora
***** If problems occur at startup, check the
%ORACLE_HOME%\RDBMS80\ORADIM80.LOG
OracleTNSListner80
This service is the TNS Listener program for SQL*NET (NET80), it runs
the LISTNER80.EXE program. You can still use the command-line program
LSNRCTL80 to check the status and start/stop the listener if you prefer.
OracleAgent
This service is used be Oracle Enterprise Manager to communicate with
the Enterprise Manager Console.
One thing we have found useful is a couple of freeware utilities that
provides Unix-like functionality on Windows NT. The first is a
command-line sendmail program called BLAT
(http://gepasi.dbs.aber.ac.uk/softw/Blat.html).
***** This utility can be used to email from within CMD
scripts for things like backups and monitoring
scripts.
Another useful utility is called BASH, which is an Unix-like shell
that can be used to run shell scripts on NT
(http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/). BASH is distributed via the
GNU for Win32 project and is able to run most shell scripts and other
Unix utilities.
***** You can use BASH to run your existing Unix shell
scripts without porting them to CMD files.
One thing to be aware of is that Windows NT has a default behavior
that is different from Unix for running scripts. In Unix, if you call
a HOST command on SQL*PLUS, your scripts waits for return before
executing the next HOST command. With NT, your calling script will
continue without waiting and this can cause problems if commands need
to be executed in order. To get around this in your scripts, you can
use the command-line SQLPLUS (PLUS33.EXE) and call the programs with
the following syntax:
SQL> HOST start/wait PROGRAM.EXE
Or
SQL> HOST start CALL PROGRAM.EXE
In Unix, the 'ps' command was used to observe and potentially kill
Oracle processes, in NT this is not possible. In Oracle for NT, we
need to observe the threads within ORACLE80.EXE. To make this easier,
Oracle support published the articles 61674.1 on the Oracle Metalink
web site to [create] a view:
[reformatted from the original]
create or replace view
nt_threads
as
select
Lang_Integer.parseInt(p.spid, 16) "ID_THREAD",
p.background "BACKGROUND",
b.name "NAME",
s.sid "SID",
s.serial# "SERIAL#",
s.username "USERNAME",
s.status "STATUS",
s.osuser "OSUSER",
s.program "PROGRAM"
from
v$process p,
v$bgprocess b,
v$session s
where
s.paddr = p.addr
and
b.paddr(+) = p.addr;
Using this view, you can use the THREAD ID and SERIAL NUMBER to
observe the Oracle processes in Performance Manager (see below).
Starting and stopping Oracle can be accomplished in a number of ways:
1. Stopping the Oracle Service(s)
This method can be done via the Control Panel, the NET STOP command or
by a Windows NT shutdown. By default, this method kills the Oracle
processes, which is equivalent to a "shutdown abort". This method is
not recommended as it causes an automatic recovery to be performed at
the next startup and can occasionally cause other problems.
***** To prevent this behavior, you can change the registry entry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\ORA_%SID%_SHUTDOWN
to TRUE. This will cause a SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE to be issued
when the service is terminated.
2. Using the Oracle Database Instance Manager ORADIM80.EXE
You can use this program to control all aspects of Oracle services.
For example, to shutdown the database use the command:
oradim80.exe -shutdown -sid ORCL -usrpwd passwd -shuttype (srvc,inst) -shutmode I
where shutmode can be a-abort; i-immediate or n-normal.
3. Use SVRMG30
You can use command-line server manager to CONNECT INTERNAL and issue
the shutdown command.
4. Use Oracle Enterprise Manager Instance Manager
Also, you can use OEM Instance Manager to start and shutdown a database
via a GUI.
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