Cloning an Oracle 11gR2 Database from an Existing Oracle 11gR2 Database using The Traditional Cold Backup Technique

Requirement: To clone an existing test database for the application team on the same database server with a planned downtime window for the test database.

Solution: The test database can be cloned by using the traditional cold backup technique, which is as follows -

1. Collect metadata (information about the control file trace, data files, temp files and online redo log files) about the test database using SQL*Plus.
2. Create a pfile for the new database, which will be cloned from the existing test database.
3. Perform a clean shutdown of the test database on the database server.
4. Perform an image copy of the test database files to the corresponding new locations.
5. Startup the new database in NOMOUNT mode.
6. Create the control file of the new database.
7. Open the new database using the RESETLOGS option.
8. Create the tempfile(s) of the new database.
9. Create the spfile of the new database, and bounce the new database.
10. Create the listener entry and TNS entry for the new database, and register the database with the listener.
11. Add the database instance entry to the oratab file.
12. Startup the existing test database on the database server.

Kindly note that the above technique cannot be used in a production environment unless an outage window has been agreed with the customer. In a production environment, we generally use the RMAN Active Duplication technique to clone a database, which is mostly in ARCHIVELOG mode.

Total Duration: 1-2 Hour(s)

Moving an Oracle 11.2.0.4.0 Enterprise Edition Standalone Database from a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 Node to an Oracle Solaris 11.1 Node Using an Oracle RMAN Full Database Backup

Scene: There is a requirement to move an existing Oracle Enterprise Edition database from a server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 to a server running Oracle Solaris 11.1 because of the myriad benefits that Oracle Solaris 11.1 offers over Red Hat Enteprise Linux 6.0.

Solution: One can accomplish the above by using RMAN - Oracle's proprietary backup and recovery manager, which provides database backup, restore, and recovery capabilities addressing high availability and disaster recovery concerns.

In my tutorial below, I will demonstrate to you how to use Oracle RMAN to move an enterprise edition database from one node to another by using the backup, restore and recovery capabilities provided by this fantastic software.

Time Duration: 4-5 hours

Remote Physical Data Guard Implementation on Oracle Solaris 10 x64 using Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3

Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3 makes data guard implementation a very simple process, carrying it out automatically in minutes, instead of having to carry it out manually in hours! Moreover, a number of data guard configurations can be deployed simultaneously through a user interface, simply, by entering the necessary information and by clicking a few buttons.

A primary production database may have a number of standby databases ready for a failover in case if it crashes. Standby databases may also be created for switchover operations that are performed to carry out maintenance operations on the primary production database.

Depending on the requirements, standby databases can be either physical or logical.

For more information on physical and logical standby databases, kindly visit the following link:
http://www.dba-oracle.com/t_difference_logical_physical_standby_database.htm

In my tutorial below, I will demonstrate to you how to remotely deploy a physical data guard configuration on Oracle Solaris x64 through Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3.

Time Duration: 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the degree of parallelism.

Performing a Text-based Base Installation of Oracle Solaris 11.1 x86-64 Cloud Operating System in VMware Player 6.0 on Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit

Oracle Solaris 11.1 is the industry's first cloud operating system for enterprises. With over 7+ years of development, 2700 projects, 400 unique innovations and roughly 750+ customers, Oracle Solaris 11.1 becomes one of the world's best data center/cloud operating systems. It can run on any system, provide high service, high availability and can secure mission critical applications. You do not have to install and administer packages any more, pay no license fees, have no restrictions, or any extra costs, and more importantly, involve no more 3 hour maintenance windows.

Oracle Solaris 11.1 also supports full operating system, network and storage virtualization with Solaris containers called Zones, virtual NICs and the industry's most advanced ZFS file system format.

In my tutorial below, I will demonstrate to you how to install a base version of Oracle Solaris 11.1 x86-64 in VMware Player 6.0 using the simple text-based installer -
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Time Duration: Around 30 Minutes.

Configuring Privilege Delegation in Redhat Enterprise Linux Server 6.0 x86-64, Oracle Solaris 10 x64 and OEM Cloud Control 12c Release 3

In order to provide root privileges to an ordinary user, we need to delegate them to the user. 'sudo' command can be used to accomplish this, but is, by default, not configured for ordinary users such as 'oracle'.

In my tutorial below, I will demonstrate to you how to configure the 'sudo' command for ordinary users such as 'oracle'. I will subsequently demonstrate how to configure privilege delegation in Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3 too.

Time Duration: 30 Minutes

Deploying Oracle Management Agent 12c Remotely on Oracle Solaris 10 x64 using Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3

A great feature of Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3 is that it allows you to remotely deploy the Oracle Management Agent 12c to targets running various operating systems such as Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Oracle Solaris, HP-UX, Microsoft Windows Server and IBM AIX, as long as you can communicate with the Secure Shell (SSH) ports of the remote targets.

Such a feature can be really helpful in a data center environment, where you may have a myriad targets mostly located in the data center, or perhaps may be even spread across multiple geographically disparate data centers, as it can help to automate the deployment of the management agents across all targets.

In my tutorial below, I will demonstrate to you how to remotely deploy an Oracle Management Agent 12c onto an Oracle Solaris 10 x64 target present in the local area network of the Redhat Enterprise Linux Server 6.0 x86-64, using OEM Cloud Control 12c R3.

Time Duration: 30 to 60 minutes (45 minutes on an average!)

Configuring a New Enterprise Manager System in OEM Cloud Control 12c Release 3 (12.1.0.3.0) on Redhat Enterprise Linux Server 6.0 x86-64

Configuring a new enterprise manager system in Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3 on Redhat Enterprise Linux Server 6.0 x86-64 is another tedious task that needs some careful planning and neat execution. It is also a very time consuming process that will require your attention initially, but once you let the configuration process initiate, it will occur on its own and will allow you to get some relief too.

The process also requires many prerequisites such as creating an Oracle Management Repository database and then installing Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 3, but the benefits of setting up the enterprise manager system in your data center are obviously surplus!

In my tutorial below, I will demonstrate to you how to configure a new enterprise manager system in Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c R3 on Redhat Enterprise Linux Server 6.0 x86-64.

Time Duration: 3 to 3.5 hours (3.25 hours on an average without prerequisites!)

The time duration with the prerequisites is around 5 to 6 hours.