Dbvisit 4.0.32 Readme.txt Updated 12 September 2007 www.dbvisit.com =============== WHAT IS DBVISIT =============== Dbvisit is a software product that fully automates the Oracle Standby Database solution. Dbvisit provides high availability and peace of mind by ensuring that the standby database is automatically kept up to date with the primary database. Please see http://www.dbvisit.com/include/dbvisit_commands_overview.php for the Dbvisit commands overview. Dbvisit is automatically installed with a 30 day evaluation license and may no be used after 30 days. After 30 days Dbvisit will no longer function. To continue using Dbvisit after 30 days please email sales@dbvisit.com to purchase a licence key. Dbvisit with the evaluation license is fully functional software. ========= WHATS NEW ========= Please see below in section CHANGES ============== INCLUDED FILES ============== Files included in the zip files are: 1) dbvisit40.tar. This file contains the Dbvisit executables. It is in a Unix/Linux tar (Tape archive) format. This file should be copied or ftp'ed to the Lunix or Unix server that you want to install Dbvisit on and placed in the directory that Dbvisit will be installed in (/usr/local/dbvisit). To extract the executables (untar), the following command can be used: On Unix/Linux: tar xvf dbvisit40.tar 2) Dbvisit_UserGuide4.0.pdf. This is the Dbvisit Installation and User Guide in Acrobat Reader format. If you do not have Acrobat reader please download from http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html. A html version of the user manual is also available: http://www.dbvisit.com/docs/Dbvisit_UserGuide4.0.htm. 3) READEME.txt. This file. ======================================== IBM AIX - Special note: ======================================== Please sure the ARG_MAX setting is set to the correct value. 1) Check the ARG_MAX value setting with command: $ getconf ARG_MAX 2) If the value is less than 1048576, run the following command as root user: $ chdev -l sys0 -a ncargs=256 ======================================== NEW INSTALLATIONS ======================================== For a new install please see the Dbvisit User Guide. (Dbvisit_UserGuide4.0.pdf) For a quick installation guide please see: http://www.dbvisit.com/include/quick_install.php ======================================== UPGRADING INSTRUCTIONS FOR VERSION 4 ======================================== You do not need to re-configure Dbvisit. Replacing the Dbvsiit executables is sufficient. Make a copy of the current Dbvisit executables for rollback purposes. Existing license keys are automatically applied to the latest software. This only needs to be done on the PRODUCTION SERVER. ----------------- 1) Unzip the dbvisit40_.zip file to a directory on your local PC if you have not done so already. (where is the Operating System - linux, hpux, aix, solaris etc) 2) Copy or ftp the dbvisit40.tar file to your dbvisit directory (ie /usr/local/dbvisit) ON YOUR PRODUCTION SERVER ONLY. 3) Stop the automatic Dbvisit schedule in cron or other scheduling software that is used. 4) Make a backup copy of the current dbv.env file with the command: cp dbv.env dbv.env.bck 5) Untar the dbvisit40.tar file with the command: tar xvf dbvisit40.tar This will replace all executables and files except your database configuration file(s) will stay the same. 6) Ensure all Dbvisit files are executable with the command: chmod 750 * ----------------------------------------------- >>>> If you HAVE changed the default settings >>>> in dbv.env then follow these instructions: ----------------------------------------------- Edit the dbv.env file and ensure the variables are set the same as in original the dbv.env.bck The variables that need to be checked are listed below. The default settings are: TMP=/usr/tmp BINDIR=/usr/local/dbvisit SUCCESSMAIL=Y SLEEP=5 REMOVE_TEMP_FILES=N PATH=/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/sbin CKSUM=/usr/bin/cksum CHMOD=/bin/chmod LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/openwin/lib:/usr/dt/lib ----------------------------------------------- <<<< End of changes if you have changed <<<< the default settings in dbv.env ----------------------------------------------- 7) Run Dbvisit manually to ensure that everything is functioning correctly. Note that Dbvisit will automatically be installed on the standby server the first time Dbvisit is run. Dbvisit must be run manually for each database that has Dbvisit installed. 8) If SYNCH_DBVISIT_INSTALL=N is set in the Dbvisit Database Configuration (DDC) file (DDC file has format dbv_.env) then Dbvisit will NOT transfer the upgraded Dbvisit software to the standby server. In this case copy over the Dbvisit installation to the standby server with the command: dbvisit –c oracle_database Where oracle_database is the name of the database. This command is run on the primary server. 9) Reschedule dbvisit in cron or other scheduling software. 10) Remove dbv.bck with command: rm dbv.env.bck 11)Note that Dbvisit will email on successful completion each time Dbvisit is scheduled. This can be changed to only email when Dbvisit encounters an error or when a threshold has been exceeded, by editing file dbv.env and changing: SUCCESSMAIL=N ======================================== UPGRADING INSTRUCTIONS FROM VERSION 3 ======================================== For upgrading instructions for Dbvisit version 3 please see the Dbvisit User Guide. (Dbvisit_UserGuide4.0.pdf) ======================================== CONTACT INFORMATION ======================================== Web: http://www.dbvisit.com Email: info@dbvisit.com Support: support@dbvisit.com Dbvisit is a product of Avisit Solutions Limited. Dbvisit is a registered trademark of Avisit Solutions Limited. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Copyright Avisit Solutiuons Limited 2000-2007 ======================================== CHANGES ======================================== 4.0.32 (12 September 2007) 1) Fix issue to return correct exit code when Dbvisit errors. Previously Dbvisit would always return with exit code 0, eventhough Dbvisit would error. 2) Allow for +RMAN ASM configuration. 3) Add check for ORA-01124 cannot recover data file 1 - file is in use or recovery 4) Allow for +RMAN ASM configuration for RAC. 4.0.31 (25 July 2007) 1) Improve method to detect if a previous instance of Dbvisit is running. In some cases Dbvisit did not detect a previous instance of Dbvisit still running. 4.0.30 (9 July 2007) 1) Improve AMM (Archive Management Module) processing to include double check that the (archive) log has been transferred to the standby server before deleting. 4.0.29 (25 June 2007) 1) Fix issue with message "argument list too long" in some cases. 2) Allow for different pre and post scripts per database. The defaults are DBV_POST_PROC="dbv_post_processing.sh" and DBV_PRE_PROC="dbv_pre_processing.sh". By setting the DBV_POST_PROC and DBV_PRE_PROC to different scripts in the dbv_.env, these will then be called for the specific database. 4.0.28 (6 June 2007) 1) Change the default FLASH_ARCHIVE_LOG_FORMAT in dbv.env. In some cases Dbvisit would not be able to find the archive log file in the flash_recovery_area, if THREAD is turned on. This has now been fixed with the change. 2) Added option TRANSFER_RETRIES. This determines the number of failed attemps of transferring the log files and comparing the checksum before raising an alert. Previously Dbvisit would alert after the first failed attempt of transferring and comparing the checksums. 3) Test for combination of ORA-01547, ORA-01196 and ORA-01110 and do not raise error. This happens when oracle database file is inconsistent due to a failed media recovery session. In most cases this may be acceptable as continued recovery will resolve this issue. When ALERT_ON_WARNING=Y, then Dbvisit will raise an error. Default ALERT_ON_WARNING is set to N. 4) Allow for ASM and OMF combination. 4.0.27 (23 May 2007) 1) Checkpoint logic updated. If CHECKPOINT is set to N, then Checkpoint will not occur if there are logs files to transfer to the standby database. If there are no new log files to transfer to the standby database, then Dbvisit will issue a checkpoint to generate a new log file. This option is useful in RAC processing to limit the amount of logs produces during Dbvisit processing. It is recommended to set CHECKPOINT=N, when RAC is used. 2) Different awk executable can be specified. On some Unix systems, the default awk has line length limitations. By specifying a different awk in dbv.env, this can be overcome. This variable is called AWK and is specified in dbv.env. 3) Added test to check if the Dbvisit logfile contains binary text. In this case, send an alert. 4) Allow for more than 9 redolog groups during Graceful Switchover. Previously when the Database contains more than 9 redologs groups, the controlfile created during Graceful Switchover would have an error. Maximum redolog groups is now 99. 4.0.26 (30 April 2007) 1) Fix issue: "Error with compressing xxx". When adding more than one new datafile at a time to the primary database, Dbvisit would add these files to the standby database and an alert would be generated to notify that the log file has already been compressed. This would not impact standby database processing and only happens when more than one datafile has been added at once. This has now been fixed. 4.0.25 (19 April 2007) 1) Improve RAC takeover logic when node is disabled. 2) Fix issue with obtaining last sequence from standby database when command is run at the same time for multiple instances or databases. 4.0.24 (10 April 2007) 1) RAC Instance takeover - Dbvisit processing can take over Dbvisit processing from another instance ( or node) that is unavailable or has failed. This is completely seemless and automatic. This ensures the standby database is still being kept up to date when a RAC instance is unavailable. New parameters: RAC_TAKEOVER and RAC_TAKEOVER_SID. 2) Fix "Unique constraint" error message issue when checksum does not match between primary and standby logs. 3) Add message to increase SLEEP parameter when Dbvisit errors with return code 423. 4.0.23 (27 March 2007) 1) Include notification and steps to resolve if new datafile cannot be added to standby database due to OMF (Oracle Managed Files). 2) Fix issue when Dbvisit reports log file cannot be compressed when adding datafile. Log file applied is displayed twice. 4.0.22 (27 February 2007) 1) Improve RAC logic for nodes > 2. 2) Improve logic to determine if Dbvisit is still executing from previous run. 3) Fix issue with obtaining Archive log gap when using RAC. 4.0.21 (20 February 2007) 1) Add test to ensure permissions are correct on Dbvisit directory 2) Default flash_archive_log_format may be specified. 3) Override database archive_log_format when flash area is detected. 4) Allow for more archive log format and destination possibilities with flash area. 5) Fix issue in dbv.env which did not allow setting of some variables in database configuration file. 6) Added restart option to dbv_oraStartStop which stops and starts database. 7) Added SEND_HEARTBEAT_TIME24 parameter to specify the time the daily heartbeat email is sent. Previously this email was sent at the start of the day (after midnight). The time is in 24 hour format and should be between 0000 and 2359 hours. See the Dbvisit user manual for more information. 4.0.20 (15 February 2007) 1) Graceful Switchover now displays the file that contains the SQL to add the tempfiles to the database, when graceful switchover fails to complete successfully before step 8. 2) Oracle error ORA-32004: obsolete and/or deprecated parameter(s) specified will not longer cause graceful switchover to fail. 4.0.19 (9 February 2007) 1) Allow for archive logs that have been removed by RMAN. 2) Improvements in the Dbvisit logic to find the archives in the flash recovery area when archive is not longer available in v$archived_log. Extra parameters are included to tune this further. These parameters are in dbv.env and start with FLASH_. 3) Allow for an offset parameter to be specified when requesting the last archive from the standby database (dbvisit -R option). This parameter is called RESYNCH_SEQ_OFFSET and can be found in the dbv.env file. 4) Allow for multiple archive_log_dest. Dbvisit will look in alternative archive_log_dest when archive cannot be found in the first archive log directory. 5) Allow for the use of %R in the log_archive_format. 6) Documentation changes: Added a section on how to test Dbvisit to the Dbvisit user guide (Dbvisit_UserGuide4.0.pdf). 4.0.18 (5 February 2007) 1) Fix issue in 10g with obtaining standby database archive log sequence after resetlogs. 2) Allow for log_archive_format to contain special characters normally not recognized. 4.0.17 (30 January 2007) 1) Add trace file name in successmail. 2) Unset SQLPATH. 3) Use alternate method to determine if there are archives generated during the graceful switchover. 4.0.16 (23 January 2007) 1) Add support for Veritas cluster server. 2) Add check for ORA-00325: archived log for thread xxx, wrong thread # x in header. 3) Allow for log_archive_format to specify .dbf whereas Oracle creates the archives with .arc filename. Oracle ignores the .dbf extension and creates the archive with .arc extension. This only happens in Oracle 10g. 4) Truncate Database name to 8 characters in the create controlfile for graceful switchover. 5) Allow for db_recovery_file_dest as a log archive destination. Only applies to 10g. 6) Reset archive log destination to flash_recovery_area (flash recovery area) when log_archive_format = USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST. 7) Add trace file name in error message (to send to Dbvisit support). 8) Fix in recover database during graceful switchover when Dbvisit does not detect new archives but Oracle still requires them. 4.0.15 (5 December 2006) 1) Fix issue with Archive Management log maintenance when this log reaches > 10,000 lines. Dbvisit processing or graceful switchover processing is not affected. 4.0.14 (27 November 2006) 1) Allow use of batch unique key number for Graceful Switchover processing. Example: dbv_oraStartStop switchover 4665 where 4665 is the unique KEY required for Graceful switchover. 2) Add variables NUM_ARCHSOURCE_TO_KEEP and NUM_ARCHDEST_TO_KEEP to Dbvisit Archive Management Module. Specifies how many Archive log file to keep on the server. Log file greater than this number will be removed (oldest first). To disable this setting, set to 0. To add to existing Database environment file add the following lines to dbv_.env: NUM_ARCHSOURCE_TO_KEEP=50; export NUM_ARCHSOURCE_TO_KEEP NUM_ARCHDEST_TO_KEEP=30; export NUM_ARCHDEST_TO_KEEP This will keep 50 archive log files on the primary server and 30 archive log files on the standby server. 3) Removed unnecessary support variables in dbv.env. 4) Update the Dbvisit help file. 4.0.13 (10 November 2006) 1) Improved alorithm for detecting if a file is compressed or not when using flash recovery area 2) Improved alorithm for detecting if a file is compressed or not when using flash recovery area 4.0.12 (1 November 2006) 1) Allow use of LOCATION=USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST for LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST when using Dbvisit Archive Log Management module. 2) Changed error message from uncompress to compress when error is detected during compression of log file. 3) Add variable ALT_ARCH_LOCATION if a different default archive_log_dest is to be used. 4) Execute grant on DBMS_LOCK no longer needed for dbvisit Oracle user. 5) Using autorecovery option during Graceful switchover when recovering new primary database when archives have been found that need applying. 6) Updated Dbvisit_UserGuide4.0.pdf. 4.0.11 (3 October 2006) 1) Graceful Switchover fix when LEAVE_COMPRESS_SOURCE=N 4.0.10 (2 October 2006) 1) Ensure Graceful Switchover completes successfully when no new archives are found. 4.0.09 (27 September 2006) 1) Graceful Switchover fix with recover database when no new archive log files found during switchover. 2) Extended and added alternate roll forward scenarios in Graceful Switchover feedback. 4.0.08 (26 September 2006) 1) New functionality: Dbvisit supports archive redo logs in Oracle ASM filesystem (only 10gR2). Currently Graceful Switchover not available when using ASM. 2) New functionality: Dbvisit will notify if the current archive log file is not available for the standby database but the next one is present. 3) Graceful Switchover fix when no new archive log files found during switchover. 4) Extended Graceful Switchover rollback scenarios. 5) Always remove temporary files when Dbvisit has processed. Trace file will not be removed. 4.0.07 (28 August 2006) 1) Improved suggested default choices in dbvisit_setup. 2) Improved error messages when database is not available. 3) Changed version number from 3.2 to current version in dbvisit_setup menu. 4) Fix for hp-ux causing abnormal program termination in dbvisit_setup menu. 4.0.06 (14 August 2006) 1) Automatic graceful switchover functionality added. 2) Improved error messages. 3) Solaris fix when duplicate log files are found. 4) Added test for ORA-00309 when log is from the wrong database. 3.3.18 (13 July 2006) 1) If external backup software is used which prefixes the archive log files after backup, the parameter ARCHLOG_PREFIX can be set so that Dbvisit can recognise the renamed archive log files. 2) Improved error message when ssh is not correctly configured. 3) Improved error message when invalid characters are specified for the Dbvisit Oracle password. 4) Improved error message in the Dbvisit archive management module when LEAVE_COMPRESS=N is specified. 3.3.17 1) Fix in dbv_arch_management module. This triggered an alert when the log file contains more than 10,000 records as it was using scp instead of cp to trim the log file to 10,000 records. 3.3.16 1) Fix "invalid operand" message when specifying the -r option. This did not compromise Dbisit processing, as the -r option was still fully functional. 3.3.15 1) Renamed Dbvisit temporary trace files, so they can be more easily identified. Trace files now include the word "dbvisit" and a timestamp as well as the process id. 2) Archive management module now removes temporary files after processing. 3) Dbvisit will now rename an existing compressed logfile if Dbvisit finds a compressed and an uncompressed log file for the same sequence. Previously Dbvisit would alert and stop processing until the duplicate compressed log file is removed manually. 3.3.14 1) Ensure CKSUM_DESTINATION and CKSUM_SOURCE in are not null in checksum calculation. 3.3.13 1) Array bad substitution error fixed in Solaris. 3.3.12 1) Issue with i++ fixed in Solaris. 3.3.11 1) RAC support added. 3.2.29 1) Added pre and post processing capability. 2) Added possibility to use Thread# when transferring or applying log files 3.2.28 1) Fix licensing issue when reversing process. 2) Add check if SOURCE server equals DESTINATION server. 3.2.27 1) Add more tracing to dbv_arch_management 2) Replace config.guess with latest version 2005-08-03 3) Set Solaris default with df -k command in localpath 3.2.26 1) Added a time delay when copying programs to standby server to resolve poll: protocol failure in circuit setup error. 2) Rename trace file from X.dbvisit_database.trc to X_dbvisit_database.trc. This trace file will no longer be deleted. 3) Add ALERT_ON_WARNING flag to force error alert if special combination of errors are detected which were implemented in 3.2.25 4) Add possibility to not invoke checkpoint if running multiple standby databases. 3.2.25 As described by Oracle, treat special combination of ORA errors as normal behaviour: ORA-01547: warning: RECOVER succeeded but OPEN RESETLOGS would get error below ORA-01194: file 1 needs more recovery to be consistent ORA-01110: data file 1: 'C:ORADATARJAF1SYSTEM01.DBF' 3.2.24 1) Update License Agreement. 2) Fix "confirm Yes/No" issue in Dbvisit setup 3.2.23 Include Dbvisit Archive Management Module as part of evaluation version. 3.2.22 1) Fixed workaround to set linesize 10000 in glogin.sql Dbvisit now sets "clear columns" and "set linesize 10000" in all SQL. 2) Changed default = YES when installing the repository 3.2.21 1) Solaris fix in dbv_oraStartStop 2) Fix to ensure message "integer expression expected" is not displayed when "poll: protocol failure in circuit setup" error in Linux is encountered. 3) Change test of TMP/X.last_archive_remote to include test for non zero file. 4) Changed log message "Log transfer(s) for ORACLE_SID completed" to: "Log transfer(2) to DESTINATION for ORACLE_SID completed"