Step-By-Step Installation of RAC with RAW Datafiles on Windows 2000



Step-By-Step Installation of RAC with RAW Datafiles on Windows 2000

Purpose

This document will provide the reader with step-by-step instructions on how to install and configure an Oracle9i Real Application Clusters (RAC) database using RAW Datafiles on a Windows 2000 cluster.  Based on Service Request volume, this note will outline the installation of 9i Release 2 for a Windows 2000 cluster.  The instructions for NT or 2003 should be similar; however the navigation within the OS may differ (i.e., Disk Management is Disk Administrator in NT).  The basic principles, especially with the pre-install cluster configuration should be the same.

Note:  If you wish to use Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS) for the datafiles instead of RAW Datafiles, please see Note 178882.1.  

The Oracle Clusterware is available for download from Metalink under Patch 3483924 WINDOWS CFS AND CLUSTERWARE PATCH FOR 9.2.0.5.  You will need to stage this to a local drive on one of the nodes in the cluster.  Instructions on installation follow.

Note:  Microsoft Cluster Software (MSCS) is not required for RAC databases as the Oracle Clusterware provides the clustering.  However, the Oracle Clusterware can coexist with MSCS as long as the quorum and shared disks are partitioned and mutually exclusive.  

Disclaimer:  If there are any errors or issues prior to section 2, please contact your cluster hardware vendor's support.  

The information contained here is as accurate as possible at the time of writing.

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1. Configure the Cluster Hardware

1.1 Minimal Hardware List / System Requirements

1.2 Install the Shared Disk Array

1.3 Install Cluster Interconnect and Public Network Hardware

1.4 Check the Temp and Tmp Directories Defined Within Windows

1.5 Check Access to Other Nodes Within Windows

1.6 Perform a Final Clustercheck

2.  Install and Configure the Cluster Software with RAW Datafiles

2.1 Prepare the Logical Drives in Windows

2.2 Run Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard 

2.3 Install the 22018 OUI

2.4 Install the RDBMS Software into the Oracle Home

2.5 Install the 9205 RDBMS Patch

2.6 Patch the Remaining Clusterware

2.7 Fix the CM Service Priority

3.  Create a RAC Database Using Oracle Database Configuration Assistant 

4.  Using SRVCTL for the Administration and Maintenance of a RAC Database

5.  References

 

1. Configure the Cluster Hardware 

1.1  Minimal Hardware List / System Requirements

Certified cluster configurations are listed in Note 184875.1  How To Check The Certification Matrix for Real Application Clusters.  Note that there are different configurations for Windows NT and 2000.  Please consult this listing for specific Hardware/Software/Variance information provided by your Cluster vendor.  In general, each node will require the following:

1.1.1.     Hardware:

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->External shared hard disks
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Certified hardware configurations

1.1.2.      Software: 

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• Oracle Operating System Dependent (OSD) clusterware layer 

1.1.3.      RAM: 

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• 256 MB minimum for each instance running on that node

The above information is contained within the Oracle9i Database Installation Guide for Windows.  See the section ?Oracle9i Database System Requirements? for additional information on hardware/system sizing for other options of the RDBMS.  

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1.2  Install Shared Disk Array

Follow the procedures provided by your Cluster vendor.  Verify that all nodes can view the shared partitions within the Disk Manager in Windows 2000 and that they are numbered the same. You may have to refresh the view or restart Disk Manager if it is open on other nodes during reconfiguration.

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1.3  Install Cluster Interconnect and Public Network Hardware

Follow the procedures provided by your Cluster vendor.  In general, you will setup the following Hostname and IP information before running the Cluster setup:

1.3.1.      Setup the External and Internal Network Interface Cards (NIC): 

• <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->Within the Network settings of Windows, create at least two entries for the NICs you have installed. 
• <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->When assigning the Bindings of the NICs within the Windows Networking Properties, ensure that the Public IP is listed at the top for all settings.  The Private NIC(s) should be listed below the public NIC settings.  You can verify this at the command prompt by running the command ipconfig /all to verify that the public IP address is listed first. 
• <!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->It is strongly recommended that a network switch is used for the interconnect between nodes rather than a crossover cable.  Most cluster hardware vendors will have this as a requirement due to known NIC problems when there is loss of electrical connectivity.  This can cause hanging issues with various services on node reboot.  Please see Note 213416.1  RAC: Troubleshooting Windows NT/2000 Service Hangs for more information. 

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1.3.2.      Resolution of External and Internal Hostnames: 

• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->Ensure that the External/Public Hostnames are defined in your Directory Network Services (DNS) and that the correct IP addresses resolve for all nodes in the cluster.
• <!--[if !supportLists]-->Ensure that all External/Public and Internal/Private Hostnames are defined in the HOSTS file on all nodes of the cluster.  This file is located in the WINDOWS_HOME\System32\drivers\etc directory.

For example a two-node cluster may look like: 

135.1.136.52  racnode1

135.1.136.53  racnode2

10.10.10.11    racnode1.san

10.10.10.12    racnode2.san 

NOTE:  Some vendors also require the setup of the LMHOSTS file.  Please check your Vendor specific documentation.

• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->Test your cluster configuration by pinging all hostnames from each node and check for proper names resolution. 

 

1.4  Check the Temp and Tmp Directories Defined within Windows

To install properly across all nodes, the Oracle Universal Installer will need to use the temporary folders defined within Windows.  The TEMP and TMP folders should be the same across all nodes in the cluster.  By default these settings are defined as %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp and %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Tmp in the Environment Settings of My Computer.  It is recommended to explicitly redefine these as WIN_DRIVE:\temp and WIN_DRIVE:\tmp ; for example:   C:\temp and C:\tmp for all nodes.

 

1.5  Check Access to Other Nodes Within Windows

To install and perform administrative tasks, Oracle Corporation recommends using the same local administrative username and password on every node in a cluster, or a domain username with local administrative privileges on all nodes.  All nodes must be in the same domain. 

Ensure that each node has administrative access to all these directories within the Windows environment by running the following at the command prompt: 

NET USE \\host_name\C$

where host_name is the public network name for the other nodes.  If you plan to install the ORACLE_HOME onto another drive location than C, check that administrative share as well. 

For example, if your WIN_HOME is on the C drive and you were installing the ORACLE_HOME onto the E drive of all nodes, you would run the following from a command prompt on node 1 of a four-node cluster:

NET USE \\node2\C$

NET USE \\node3\C$

NET USE \\node4\C$

NET USE \\node2\E$

NET USE \\node3\E$

NET USE \\node4\E$

You would then repeat these commands on all nodes within the cluster.  If the following appears for each command, the privileges are correct:

The command completed successfully. 

If you receive errors, resolve these within the Windows environment before proceeding. 

 

1.6  Perform a Final Clustercheck

Note:  If you have any issues with Clustercheck, please see Note 186130.1  Clustercheck.exe Fails with Windows Error 183 . 

Within a command prompt window, run the clustercheck.exe program located in the staged directory of patch 3483924 under the 3575688\Disk1\preinstall_rac\clustercheck directory.  This tool will prompt for the public and private hostnames and have you verify the IP address resolution.  If that passes, then it will perform a check the health of the shared disk array and other environment variables and permissions necessary for proper cluster installation and operation.  It will create a subdirectory called opsm in the temporary directory specified by your environment settings (WIN_DRIVE:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp by default) and log file called OraInfoCoord.log.  This log will contain any errors encountered in the check.  You should see the following at the bottom of the log file and within the command prompt window when you run the clustercheck.exe program:

      ORACLE CLUSTER CHECK WAS SUCCESSFUL

You must correct any errors that occur before proceeding.  Please contact your Cluster Hardware Vendor if you need assistance.  

NOTE:  If at any time in the installation of the software you do not see all nodes in the cluster within the Cluster Node Selection screen, there is something wrong with your cluster configuration ? you will have to go back and troubleshoot your cluster install.  You can perform clusterware diagnostics by executing the ORACLE_HOME\bin\lsnodes -v command and analyzing its output.  Use Metalink to search for any errors.  Refer to your vendor's clusterware documentation if the output indicates that your clusterware is not properly installed.  Resolve the problem, and then rerun the checks. 

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2.  Install and Configure Cluster Software with RAW Datafiles

This configuration will install the Oracle Home on a local NTFS drive of each node and the Oracle RAW Datafiles on shared Logical Partitions.  

Due to various issues, it is recommended to apply the latest patches available for all components:

• The Windows CFS and Clusterware Patch for 9.2.0.5 -- available in Metalink under Patch number 3483924
• The 2.2.0.18.0 Oracle Universal Installer -- available in Metalink under Patch number 2878462
• The 9.2.0.5 RDBMS patchset -- available in Metalink under Patch number 3501955

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The following instructions will incorporate the application of these patches with the installation for a new cluster.  Please review all README instructions before proceeding.   For this set of instructions, you will stage the software to the hard drive of node 1.  For example, the following convention will be used:

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->    <!--[endif]-->Oracle 9i Release 2 (9.2.0.1) EE >> copied from the 3 RDBMS installation CDs

E:\installs\9201\disk1\

E:\installs\9201\disk2\

E:\installs\9201\disk3\

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->   Oracle 9i Patch 9.2.0.5 >> downloaded from Metalink Patch number 3501955

E:\installs\9205\disk1\

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->    Oracle Clusterware patch 9.2.0.5 >> downloaded from Metalink Patch number 3483924

E:\installs\osd9205\

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Note:  For installations with more than 2 nodes:  Due to known OUI issues with the push installation on a 3-or-more node cluster (Bug 2973000), it is recommended to install the 2.2.0.18 version of the OUI so that you can perform a cluster installation of the RDBMS software.  The alternative is to perform individual installs on each node, which would put an installation inventory on each node. 

If you choose to perform individual installs, you should be aware of the following:

1.      The clustersetup would still be run only off of one node, as it does not use OUI.

2.      All instructions below using the OUI would need to be done individually on each node.

3.      All future patch installations would also have to be done individually on each node.

Note:  Sometimes there are patch issues with some non-Oracle services that may be running on the cluster nodes. Typically the Microsoft Service Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) can interact with Oracle software during install.  It is recommended that this service is stopped and set to ?manual? start using ?services.msc? on both nodes.  If, after completing the install, the MSDTC service is required, it can be restarted and set to auto start.

2.1.  Prepare the Logical Drives in Windows

Real Application Clusters requires that all each instance be able to access a set of unformatted devices on a shared disk subsystem.  These shared disks are also referred to as raw devices.  The Oracle instances in Real Application Clusters write data onto the raw devices to update the control file, server parameter file, each datafile, and each redo log file.  All instances in the cluster share these files. 

The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) will create a seed database expecting a particular configuration for a two-node cluster.  For the seed database that will be created by the DBCA, it is recommended you create the Logical Partition at least 1M larger than the desired datafile size.    The following table contains a listing of the tablespaces, minimum datafile size, and expected symbolic link names for Oracle9i Release 2 (9.2.0.1.0): 

Tablespaces	Minimum File Size	Expected File Name
SYSTEM tablespace	400 MB	\\.\db_name_system
USERS tablespace	120 MB	\\.\db_name_users
TEMP tablespace	100 MB	\\.\db_name_temp
UNDOTBS tablespace Thread 1	250 MB	\\.\db_name_undotbs1
UNDOTBS tablespace Thread 2	250 MB	\\.\db_name_undotbs2
CWMLITE tablespace	100 MB	\\.\db_name_cwmlite
EXAMPLE	160 MB	\\.\db_name_example
INDX tablespace	70 MB	\\.\db_name_indx
TOOLS tablespace	12 MB	\\.\db_name_tools
DRSYS tablespace	90 MB	\\.\db_name_drsys
XML tablespace	50 MB	\\.\db_name_xml
ODM tablespace	20 MB	\\.\db_name_odm
First control file	110 MB	\\.\db_name_control1
Second control file	110 MB	\\.\db_name_control2
Redo Thread 1 Log 1	120 MB	\\.\db_name_redo1_1
Redo Thread 1 Log 2	120 MB	\\.\db_name_redo1_2
Redo Thread 2 Log 1	120 MB	\\.\db_name_redo2_1
Redo Thread 2 Log 2	120 MB	\\.\db_name_redo2_2
spfile	5 MB	\\.\db_name_spfile
srvcfg	100 MB	\\.\srvcfg

Notes on Table:  Automatic Undo Management requires an undo tablespace per instance; therefore, you would require a minimum of 2 tablespaces as described above.  In the sample names listed in the table, the string db_name should be replaced with the actual database name.  The logical partition files within Windows are identified with the ?\\.\? notation and usually do not have an extension in the filename. 

Please see the corresponding Oracle9i Release 1 documentation for the expected files in 9.0.1.0.0 version RDBMS.

Please refer to the section ?Planning Your Logical Drives Configuration? in Appendix B of the Oracle9i Database Installation Guide for Windows for more guidelines on this. 

Note:  Creating a large number of logical partitions may cause a significant increase in the time needed to reboot and start the disk administration tools.  Oracle Corporation recommends you do not create more than 120 logical drives in an extended partition.  Please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for more information:

Q321685 - Disk Management Console does not start with Large# of partitions

Q317633 - Boot process is slow on Windows 2000 with Large # of Partitions.

1. Log in to Windows as member of the Local Administrators Group on node 1.
2. Right click on My Computer and choose Manage.  In the Computer Management console tree, select Disk Management.
3. To create the Extended Partitions, right-click the unallocated region of a basic disk, and choose Create Partition.  (Dynamic disks are not supported)
4. In the Create Partition wizard, choose Next > Extended Partition.
5. Choose Extended Partition. Choose Next.
6. Choose the maximum amount of space and click Next.
7. A summary screen will come up.  Choose Finish.
8. Repeat steps 3-7 until all Extended Partitions are complete.
9. To create the Logical Partitions, right-click again on the Extended Partition (it should be green) and choose Create Logical Drive.
10. Follow the instructions in the wizard, choosing the amount of space necessary for the Logical Drive.  Remember that you will need at least 1MB larger than the datafile to hold the header information.  Choose not to assign any drive letters and no format.  Choose Finish.
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until all logical drives have been completed.  For the seed database shown above, a minimum of 20 logical drives are needed.
12. Reboot all nodes in the cluster and verify all logical drives are accessible from the other node's Disk Management.  Unassign any drive letters that may have been allocated.

Note:  If the Disk Management window is open during any disk management modifications, you need to close and open the window to view any changes you applied.

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2.2.  Run Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard 

For 3-or-more nodes:  Since the OUI is not used, you can run this only on node 1 and the software will be correctly transferred to the other nodes in the cluster.

1. Download Patch number 3483924 Windows CFS and Clusterware Patch for 9.2.0.5.  
2. Expand the patch into the staged directory, such as E:\installs\osd9205 .  This will create another subdirectory such as E:\installs\osd9205\3575688 (the number 3575688 refers to an internal tracking number for the patch). This clusterware patch contains a full clustersetup release.
3. Within a command prompt window, navigate to the E:\installs\osd9205\3575688\preinstall_rac\clustersetup directory in the staged directory.  Launch the Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard by typing clustersetup at the command line.  
4. The Cluster Wizard program should launch with a Welcome page.  Click Next.
5. The first time the Wizard is run, the only option will be to Create a cluster.  Click Next.
6. Choose "Use private network for interconnect" and click Next. 
7. The Network Configuration page appears.  Enter the cluster name.  Then enter the public hostnames for all nodes.  The private hostnames will be automatically entered as public_name.san.  Accept the default or change as appropriate for your cluster configuration.  Click Next.
8. The Cluster File System Options page appears.  Choose No CFS.  Click Next.
9. The Disk Configuration screen appears.  Click on the Create Oracle Symbolic Links button.
10. The Oracle Object Link Manager window appears:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->From the Symbolic Link column, select an empty row.  The cursor starts blinking.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->Type in the desired datafile link name and hit Enter to save.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->Repeat steps 1 and 2 to assign all symbolic link names required (as outlined in the table in section 2.1)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->Click on the Apply button to commit the changes.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->When the progress bar at the bottom of the screen stops moving, choose Close.

11. From the Disk Configuration screen, assign the Voting disk to the logical drive you labeled as srvcfg in the previous step by highlighting the corresponding partition.  Choose Next.
12. The VIA Detection screen appears stating whether Virtual Interface Architecture (VIA) hardware was detected.  Choose yes or no depending on your configuration.  Please contact your cluster hardware vendor if you are unsure. Click Next.
13. The Install Location screen appears.  It will default to the WIN_HOME\system32\osd9i directory.  Accept the default and click Finish.
14. The Cluster Setup window will appear.  This will show the progress with installing the cluster files and creating the cluster services on all nodes.  If no errors occur, the Oracle Cluster Setup Wizard application will complete and close automatically. 
15. Check the Clusterware setup. You should have an OCFS drives visible from both nodes.  

Also, the following 2 services should be running on all nodes in the cluster: 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->Oracle Object Service 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->OracleCMService9i 

Note:  If the cluster setup doesn't run properly, check for errors in the log files under WIN_HOME\system32\osd9i .  If any hardware or OS configuration changes are made, it is recommended to remove and reinstall the cluster software (Deinstallation is not available at this time).  Please see Note 230290.1  WIN RAC: How to Remove a Failed OCFS Install for more information on this procedure -- it would be the same except you will not have an ocfs.sys file for a "No CFS" installation.

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.3    <!--[endif]-->Install the 22018 OUI

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->Download the 2.2.0.18 version of the OUI from Patch number 2878462.  Unzip into a staged directory such as E:\oui22018. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->Navigate within a command prompt window to E:\oui22018\Disk1\install\win32. Run setup.exe and the OUI Welcome screen appears.  Click Next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->The Cluster Node Selection screen appears.  Highlight all nodes and click Next.  For individual installs:  choose the local node only.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.      <!--[endif]-->Ensure the correct source path is being used.  In the Destination field, enter the Oracle Home for the desired Oracle Home for the database, such as C:\oracle\ora92.  

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.      <!--[endif]-->The Installation Types screen appears where you choose to install both the Software Packager and the OUI 2.2.0.18 or a subset.  Choose Minimum installation (2.2.0.18 OUI only) and click Next. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.      <!--[endif]-->The Summary screen appears.  Check that all nodes are listed.  Click Next and the progress screen will come up.  When the 22018 OUI is installed, click Exit.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.      <!--[endif]-->For individual installs:  Repeat on all nodes.

2.4   Install the RDBMS Software into the Oracle Home

1. Relaunch the OUI and click Next at the Welcome page.
2. The Node Selection screen appears.  Highlight all nodes on to which the Oracle RDBMS software will be installed.  For individual installs:  Select only the local node. Click Next. 
3. Browse so that the Source path location for the products.jar file is correct (E:\installs\9201\disk1\stage\products.jar).  In the Destination section, ensure the same location for your Oracle9i Home as used in previous steps.  Click Next and a bar at the top of the window will show the progress of loading the products list. When it reaches 100%, it will proceed to the next screen.
4. The Available Products screen appears.  Select the Oracle9i Database, and then click Next.
5. The Installation Type screen appears.  Choose the Enterprise Edition.  The selection on this screen refers to the installation operation, not the database configuration.  Click Next.
6. The Database Configuration screen appears.  Choose to perform a Software Only install.  Click Next.
7. Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server window appears. Enter a port number for this service or leave at default value if unsure.  Click Next. 
8. The Summary page appears.  Review the information in the Summary page. Double-check the temporary space available on the drive from which you are installing and then click Install.  

Note:  The OUI will install the Oracle9i software on to the local node, and then copy this information to the other nodes selected and make registry changes.  This will take some time, an hour or more depending on your computing and networking environment.  During the installation process, the OUI does not display all the messages indicating components are being installed on other nodes, so the installation may appear to be hung.  In this case, I/O activity may be the only indication that the process is continuing.  If necessary, check each node?s activity using Task Manager.  You can also check the progress by periodically reviewing the 'Properties' on the Oracle Home directory in Windows Explorer to see if the size is growing.

Note:  There is a known bug with the OUI where it fails to find crlogdr.exe or other files when installing from Disk 3.  These files are located in Disk 1 under the preinstall_rac subdirectory.  See Note 211685.1  RAC WIN: Oracle 9.2 installation halts with error file not found CRLOGDR.EXE for more information.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.      <!--[endif]-->For individual installs:  Repeat the previous steps for all other nodes in the cluster.

Note:  When doing a push installation, check the remote nodes? shortcuts by right clicking on the Start button and choosing Explore All Users.  Browse to the newly created ?Oracle - OraHome? folder by clicking on Programs folder.  Check that the shortcuts exist and work.  If the folders are empty, you can copy the shortcuts from another node or from another folder, verifying that the copied shortcuts work.

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2.5  Install the 9205 RDBMS Patch

The 9205 patchset uses the 10g version of the OUI installer.  Therefore you will have to install the 10g OUI first, then the 9205 patch. 

1. Navigate to E:\installs\9205\disk1 directory and launch the setup executable.  Click Next when the Welcome screen appears. 
2. Ensure the correct source path is being used.  In the Destination field, enter the desired Oracle Home for the database, such as C:\oracle\ora92.  Click Next.
3. The Cluster Node Selection screen appears.  The list of all the cluster nodes should appear and click Next.  For individual installs:  only the local node will be listed. 
4. The Available Products screen appears where you choose to either install the OUI 10.1.0.2.0 or the 9.2.0.5 RDBMS patchset.  Choose OUI and click Next. 

5. The Summary screen appears.  Click Next and the progress screen will come up.  The 10g OUI will be installed.  Click Exit when the OUI install is complete.
6. Relaunch the 10g OUI from the staged directory.  Click Next when the Welcome screen appears. 
7. The File Locations screen appears.  Ensure the Destination is the RDBMS Oracle Home.  Click Next.
8. The Cluster Node Selection screen appears.  Ensure all nodes are listed and click Next.  For individual installs:  ensure the local node is listed.
9. The Available Products screen appears.  Choose the 9205 patchset and click Next.
10. A Summary screen appears.  Click Install.
11. The progress screen appears.  When the progress bar reaches 100%, the OUI will show a screen stating the patch installation was successful.  Click Exit to complete patch install.
12. For individual installs:  Repeat the previous steps for all other nodes in the cluster.
13. When the progress bar reaches 100%, the OUI will show a screen stating whether the patch installation was successful.  Click Exit to complete patch install. 
14. Reboot all nodes in the cluster before proceeding.  Ensure all services start on all nodes.

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Note:  If you don?t get a cluster node selection screen, please see Note 270048.1  Node Selection Screen Does Not Show The Nodenames Installing 9205 (OUI 10g) for the workaround.

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<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.6            <!--[endif]-->Patch the Remaining Clusterware

You will copy all files from the staged clusterware patch directory (E:\installs\osd9205\3575688 in our example).  You may want to rename the extension of the files to keep the original version.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->To patch the GSD from E:\installs\osd9205\3575688\srvm\gsd, copy these files into the following directories:

%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\orasrvm.dll

%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\gsd.exe

%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\gsdservice.exe

%ORACLE_HOME%\jlib\srvm.jar

Install the GSD service by running the following via command line on all nodes:

'gsdservice -install'

To change the service startup click:  Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.  Select OracleGSDService and select Properties from the Action menu and a tabbed Properties page appears.  Select the Log On tab and select 'Log On As' > 'This Account'.  Enter the username and password for an OS user in the Local Administrators and ORA_DBA groups.  Perform this step on each node.  Please see Note 213416.1 for detailed information.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->To patch the DBCA utilities from E:\installs\ocfs9205\3575688\srvm\dbca, copy these files into the following directories: 

%ORACLE_HOME%\assistants\jlib\assistantsCommon.jar

%ORACLE_HOME%\assistants\dbca\jlib\dbca.jar

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->To patch the OLM files from E:\installs\ocfs9205\3575688\Disk1\preinstall_rac\olm, copy these files into both of the following directories:  %ORACLE_HOME%\bin and C:\WINNT\System32\osd9i\olm:

crlogdr.exe

DeleteDisk.exe

ExportSYMLinks.exe

GUIOracleOBJManager.exe

ImportSYMLinks.exe

LetterDelete.exe

LogPartFormat.exe

OracleObjManager.exe

OracleObjService.exe

oraoobjlib.dll

readme.txt

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Reinstall the Oracle Object Service by issuing the following via command line on all nodes in the cluster:

OracleOBJService.exe /remove

OracleOBJService.exe /install

Use the service control panel to start the service or re-boot the nodes.

2.7  Fix the CM Service Priority 

This is an optional step that can be done now or at any time after the install and configuration is complete.  The CM Service requires a small addition to the registry on all nodes to give the service a higher priority within the Windows OS.  Please see Note 255481.1  Changing the Priority of CMSRVR on Windows for the procedure.  After making this registry change, it is important to restart the CMService on all nodes to enable this change.  Again, this is optional and will not effect the install process if you choose to configure this at a later date

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3. Create a RAC Database Using the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant

The Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) will create a database for you.  Oracle Corporation recommends that you use the DBCA to create your database because it takes advantage of Oracle9i features such as the server parameter file and automatic undo management.  The DBCA also enables you to define arbitrary tablespaces as part of the database creation process.  So even if you have datafile requirements that differ from those offered in one of the DBCA templates, use the DBCA.  You can also execute user-specified scripts as part of the database creation process.  The DBCA and the Oracle Net Configuration Assistant also accurately configure your Real Application Clusters environment for various Oracle high availability features and cluster administration tools.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->Launch the Net Configuration Assistant under Program Groups > Oracle Home > Configuration and Migration Tools.  You need to configure a cluster listener on all nodes with the name LISTENERS_<sid_prefix>.  For example, if you name your database MYDB, your listeners will be named LISTENERS_MYDB on all nodes and the tnsnames entries should be LISTENER_MYDB1 and LISTENER_MYDB2 for a two node RAC.  These listeners are specified as parameters in the init.ora for the DBCA database creation.  Exit when finished.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->Edit the dbca.bat file as outlined in Note 232239.1  DBCA Tips and Pitfalls in a Windows RAC Environment under section titled "Trace DBCA During Database Creation".  This will provide a more complete error log if problems arise.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->Open a new command prompt window and change directories to the ORA_HOME\bin directory.  Run DBCA from the command prompt as follows:  

dbca > dbca_trace.txt

This will spool the output to a file called dbca_trace.txt in the directory you are in.  You can change this path or filename as desired.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.      <!--[endif]-->The Welcome Page displays with the selection to create a Cluster or Single Instance Database.  Choose Oracle Cluster Database option and select Next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.      <!--[endif]-->The Operations page is displayed. Choose the option Create a Database and click Next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.      <!--[endif]-->The Node Selection page appears.  Select the nodes that you want to configure as part of the RAC database and click Next.  If the OracleGSDService is not running on any of the selected nodes, then the DBCA displays a dialog explaining how to start.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.      <!--[endif]-->The Database Templates page is displayed.  The templates other than New Database include preconfigured datafiles for file systems.  Choose New Database and then click Next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->8.      <!--[endif]-->DBCA now displays the Database Identification page.  Enter the Global Database Name and Oracle System Identifier (SID) Prefix.  The Global Database Name is typically of the form name.domain, for example mydb.us.oracle.com, while the SID prefix along with a number is used to uniquely identify an instance.  For example, SID prefix MYDB would become SIDs MYDB1 and MYDB2 for instances 1 and 2, respectively.  Click Next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.      <!--[endif]-->The Database Options page is displayed.  Select the options you wish to configure.  The Additional database Configurations button displays the option to install Java and interMedia database features.  Check all options you wish and then choose Next.  Note:  If you did not choose New Database from the Database Template page, you will not see this screen. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->10.  <!--[endif]-->The Connection Options screen appears.  Select either the dedicated server or shared server option for the default user connection type.  Note:  If you did not choose New Database from the Database Template page, you will not see this screen.  Click Next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->11.  <!--[endif]-->DBCA now displays the Initialization Parameters page.  This page comprises a number of pages which you navigate through by clicking on the tabs:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->Modify the Memory settings if desired.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->Change the Archivelog mode as necessary.  In general, it is recommended you create your database in Noarchivelog mode, and then after the database is created, alter the database after performing a complete backup.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->DB Sizing will specify your db_block_size, sort_area_size and database character set parameters. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->Under the File Locations tab, the option Create persistent initialization parameter file is selected by default.  The raw device name for the location of the server parameter file (spfile) must be entered.  The button File Location Variables? displays variable information.  Click OK.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->The button All Initialization Parameters? displays the Initialization Parameters dialog box.  This box presents values for all initialization parameters and indicates whether they are to be included in the spfile to be created through the check box, included (Y/N).  Instance specific parameters have an instance value in the instance column.  Complete entries in the All Initialization Parameters page and select Close. 

Note:  There are a few exceptions to what can be altered via this screen. Ensure all entries in the Initialization Parameters page are complete and select Next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->12.  <!--[endif]-->DBCA now displays the Database Storage Window.  This page allows you to enter file names for each tablespace in your database.  The file names are displayed in the Datafiles folder, but are entered by selecting the Tablespaces icon, and then selecting the tablespace object from the expanded tree.  Ensure the database storage information is correctly pointing to the symbolic links specified in the Cluster Setup and click Next. 

Note:  Check the redo log names to ensure they indicate the thread number from which they belong (i.e., \\.\db_name_redo1_1, \\.\db_name_redo1_2, etc.)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->13.  <!--[endif]-->The Creation Options page is displayed.  Ensure that the option Create Database is checked and click Finish.  Check the Create template and save as a script boxes if desired.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->14.  <!--[endif]-->The DBCA Summary window is displayed.  Review this information and then click OK. Once the Summary screen is closed using the OK option, DBCA begins to create the database according to the values specified. 

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

Some Notes on DBCA Database Creation:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->The database creation can take a while, and the progress may seem slow or hung, especially during the creation of the java server components and at the end when the database service is created on the remote nodes and the other threads of redo are created.  You can check the progress by checking Task Manager and seeing the CPU activity, or by checking the alert log for redo log switching.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->During the database creation process, you may see the following error: ORA-29807  specified operator does not exist.  This is a known issue (Bug 2925665).  You can click on the "Ignore" button to continue. Once DBCA has completed database creation, remember to run the 'prvtxml.plb' script from %ORACLE_HOME%\rdbms\admin independently, as the user SYS.  It is also advised to run the 'utlrp.sql' script to ensure that there are no invalid objects in the database.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->It is not uncommon for the DBCA to hang at 95-99%.  This is usually due to a problem with creating and enabling the second thread of redo and then bringing the database up in cluster mode.  Check the alert logs on both nodes for any errors.  If you don't see any errors, open a SQL*Plus session on node 1 and connect as a sysdba user.  Select on the v$thread view to see how many threads are open.  If there is only one, check the redo logs (v$log, v$logfile) to see if the second thread of redo logs are physically present.  If not, run the appropriate scripts manually.  At the present time, this is the postDBCreation.sql script and is located in ORA_HOME\admin\<db_name>\scripts directory.  You can also check the progress of the scripts run by reviewing the logs produced in ORA_HOME\admin\<db_name>\create directory.  

<!--[if !supportLists]-->?         <!--[endif]-->If you have issues with any service hangs, please see Note 213416.1  RAC: Troubleshooting Windows NT/2000 Service Hangs.

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 4.  Use SRVCTL for the Administration and Maintenance of a RAC Database

Once your RAC database is created, you can use the Server Control (SRVCTL) utility to assist in administration and maintenance tasks.   The Global Services Daemon (GSD) receives requests from SRVCTL to execute administrative jobs, such as startup or shutdown.  The task is executed locally on all nodes, and the results are sent back to SRVCTL.  SRVCTL also serves as a single point of control between the Oracle Intelligent Agent and the nodes in the cluster. 

If you have issues with Oracle Agent hangs, please see the following notes:

Note 223554.1  Automatic Startup of the Intelligent Agent Fails in RAC Environment

Note 158295.1  How to Configure EM with 9i Real Application Clusters (RAC)

To see the online command syntax and options for each SRVCTL command, enter:  

srvctl command option -h

Where command option is one of the valid options such as start, stop, or status.  

The following are some examples of tasks you can perform with this utility.  (Please see the corresponding Administration guide for more complete command details.)

o       srvctl start

Use this command to start all instances or a subset of instances in your Real Application Clusters database.  For example, to start all the instances use the syntax:

  srvctl start database -d db_name

Or you can start specific instances using the syntax:

  srvctl start instance -d db_name -i instance_name

This syntax starts the specific instance that you name.  Using srvctl start also starts all listeners associated with an instance.

o       srvctl stop 

Use this command to stop all instances or a subset of instances in your Real Application Clusters database.  For example, to stop all instances use the syntax:

  srvctl stop database -d db_name

Or you can stop specific instances using:

  srvctl stop instance -d db_name -i instance_name

Using srvctl stop also stops all listeners associated with an instance.

o       srvctl status

Use the srvctl status command to determine what instances are running. For example, use the output from the following syntax to identify which instances are running:

  srvctl status instance -d db_name -i instance_name

o       srvctl config

Use the srvctl config command to identify the existing Real Application Clusters databases. You can use two syntaxes for srvctl config.  For example, the following syntax lists all the Real Application Clusters databases in your environment:

  srvctl config

The following syntax lists the instances for the Real Application Clusters database name that you provide:

  srvctl config database -d db_name

The Oracle Enterprise Manager auto-discovery process also uses output from this command to discover the configurations for databases in your Real Application Clusters. 

o       srvctl getenv or get env

Use the srvctl get env command to obtain environment information for either a specific instance or for an entire Real Application Clusters database. For example, the output from the following syntax displays environment information for the entire Real Application Clusters database identified by the name you provide: 

  srvctl getenv database -d db_name

The following syntax displays environment information for a specific instance:

  srvctl getenv instance -d db_name -i instance_name

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 5.   References

The following are references used from the Oracle online documentation for both Release 1 and Release 2:

• Oracle9i Database Installation Guide for Windows
• Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Installation and Configuration
• Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Concepts
• Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Administration
• Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Deployment and Performance
• Oracle9i Release Notes

In addition, the following references were used:

• Oracle9i for Windows 2000 Tips and Techniques:  Best Practices from Oracle Experts  Oracle Press - McGraw-Hill/Osborne (ISBN 0-07-219462-6)

Metalink Notes:

• Note 184875.1  How to Check the Certification Matrix for Real Application Clusters
• Note 213416.1  RAC: Troubleshooting Windows NT/2000 Service Hangs
• Note 183408.1  Raw Devices and Cluster File Systems With Real Application Clusters
• Note 186130.1  Clustercheck.exe fails with Windows error 183
• Note 223554.1  Automatic Startup of the Intelligent Agent Fails in RAC Environment
• Note 158295.1  How to Configure EM with 9i Real Application Clusters (RAC)
• Note 211685.1  RAC WIN: Oracle 9.2 installation halts with error file not found CRLOGDR.EXE
• Note 232239.1  DBCA Tips and Pitfalls in a Windows RAC Environment
• Note 255481.1  Changing the Priority of CMSRVR on Windows
• Note 257689.1  'gsdservice -install' Fails to Create the OracleGSDService
• Note 270048.1  Node Selection Screen Does Not Show The Nodenames Installing 9205 (OUI 10g)