Oracle Source Management

General

A source host is a server that hosts the source databases. A test data environment(TDE) includes definition of Golden Image (GI) to one source database. This section describes how to create and manage a Test Data Environment.

A Golden Image (GI) refers to a pre-configured dataset of a database environment. This dataset encapsulates a snapshot of the database including its schema and data. It serves as a master copy from which multiple instances of the database (VDB) can be rapidly deployed, ensuring consistency, reliability, and quick scalability across different environments.

Supported types of Golden Images for Oracle database

Each type of Golden Image for Oracle databases serves a specific set of needs, from real-time replication to disaster recovery and cloud-based management. The choice of GI should align with the operational objectives and the specific environment, whether it’s on-premises or cloud-based like AWS RDS.

RMAN Golden Image (RMAN GI)

An RMAN GI is a backup-based image created using Oracle’s native tool Recovery Manager (RMAN). It includes all critical components of the database, such as data files, control files, and archived redo logs, captured at a specific point in time.

RMAN Standby Golden Image (RMAN Standby GI)

This GI is a variant of the RMAN GI, specifically designed for setting up Oracle standby databases. While it also uses RMAN, it includes additional elements necessary for creating and managing a standby database environment, such as standby redo logs and specific configurations for data guard.

Live Golden Image (Live GI)

A Live GI is a real-time replica of a database, mirroring its current state including data and configurations. It requires that the live database is running on a virtual volume provided by Accelario Virtualization.

Pay attention that the updates/refresh of this replica should be done by the user. Accelario Virtualization is not responsible for that.

RDS AWS RMAN Golden Image

The RDS AWS RMAN GI is exclusively for Oracle databases hosted on Amazon RDS. It combines the features of RMAN with optimizations for AWS cloud infrastructure.

Sources(TDE) management

On the navigation bar, click Sources.

The Source Hosts view is displayed, listing all source hosts that have been added to the system

You can quickly locate a source host by typing its letters on the Search bar. The list updates promptly.

Add a source host

To add a source host, see Install source agent

The source host maybe Linux or AIX only.

Modify, see details or delete a source host

To modify, see details or delete a source host, see Manage source agent

Create a test data environment(TDE)

On the navigation bar, click Sources.

The Source Management window appears.

Select the required agent
Click the (+) sign in the right panel
Select DB type.
Enter a Name and an optional description.
Now , choose the GI type

RMAN GI

Create an RMAN GI

Enter the TDE details
- Golden Image Type - RMAN GI
- Source Host - choose the source host that was installed earlier
- Force creation - if selected then ignore other GI refresh jobs
- Use compression - enables RMAN compression
- Enable creation of VDB from any point in time - if selected then a VDB can be created from any point in time, if not selected then a VDB can be created from a snapshot only
  - Retention days - how much time to allow the creation of VDB from any point in time
- Snapshot policy
  - Activate snapshots - select if you want automatic snapshots of the GI to be created
  - Repeat every - choose snapshot frequency
  - Start from - when to start creating snapshots
  - Snapshot retention period - how many days to keep the snapshots, they will be deleted automatically afterwards (if no dependent objects exist)
The application runs an automatic discovery of all running Oracle databases and presents them in a list. More details on how discovery works
You may choose from the above list or enter the details manually
Source DB parameters:
User - any user with DBA privilege
Password - password for the above user
VDB password - a new password that will be applied to the above user on each VDB
Port - listener port (filled automatically if chosen from discovery list)
Service - service name of the database
Parallel Processes No. - number of parallel processes for the RMAN jobs
OS user - OS user that runs the database instance
ORA Sid - the Oracle SID of the database
ORA Home Dir - the ORACLE_HOME directory
Use Pluggable Database(s) - if selected then it allows to choose specific pluggable databases (PDB) only, if not selected then the whole database is included
Refresh Immediately - if selected then the first refresh (initial load) will be executed immediately, if not selected then only the configuration of GI will be created, but no refresh will be done, it should be initiated later manually.
Test Connection - verifies the connection to the database

Ignore some errors when building GI

When GI is built, Accelario Virtualization checks automatically all the logs and searches for errors. The errors have a known template: ORA-99999, RMAN-99999, etc... If any error is found the GI process is accounted to be failed. However, it is possible to configure some errors to be ignored. In order to do it:

Goto GI agent directory on the source server
Edit file gi-agent-excluded-error-codes.properties
Add error code - one per line.
Restart the GI agent

Open the VDB Management window.
Select the TDE. If “Refresh Immediately” option was not selected, then click
Create RMAN GI here.

Enter a Name.

Click Create.

During the creation of the RMAN GI, the following message appears: Create RMAN GI database is in progress.

After the GI is created, the following message appears: RMAN GI has been created.

The VDB Management window displays the RMAN GI that was created.

Modify an RMAN GI

From the Sources screen, click the change (pencil) icon of TDE
If needed - update Snapshot Policy

If needed - update source database parameters

4. To save your changes, click Modify.

RMAN STANDBY GI

Create an RMAN GI

Enter the TDE details

All the details are the same as RMAN GI, except that “Golden Image Type” is “RMAN STANDBY GI”

The application runs an automatic discovery of all running Oracle databases and presents them in a list. More details on how discovery works
You may choose from the above list or enter the details manually
Source DB parameters are very similar to RMAN GI Source DB parameters
Additional parameters:
SYS password - password of the SYS user
TNS Alias - TNS name to the source database, should be resolvable from the source server, using the configured Oracle home.
Open the VDB Management window.
Select the TDE. If “Refresh Immediately” option was not selected, then click “Create RMAN GI” here.
Enter a Name.
Click Create.

During the creation of the RMAN STANDBY GI, the following message appears: Create RMAN STANDBY GI database is in progress.

After the GI is created, the following message appears: RMAN STANDBY GI has been created.

Modify a RMAN STANDBY GI

From the Sources screen, click the change (pencil) icon of TDE
If needed - update Snapshot Policy

If needed - update source database parameters

4. To save your changes, click Modify.

Live GI

Create LIVE GI

Enter the TDE details:

Golden Image Type - Live GI
Source Host - choose the source host that was installed earlier
Force creation - always select
Snapshot policy

The application runs an automatic discovery of all running Oracle databases and presents them in a list. More details on how discovery works

You may choose from the above list or enter the details manually
Source DB parameters:
User - any user with DBA privilege
Password - password for the above user
VDB password - a new password that will be applied to the above user on each VDB
Port - listener port (filled automatically if chosen from discovery list)
Service - service name of the database
OS user - OS user that runs the database instance
ORA Sid - the Oracle SID of the database
ORA Home Dir - the ORACLE_HOME directory
Pay attention: For this type (Live GI) the database does not exist yet, so you need to enter details of a database that you will create later
Open the VDB Management window.
In the VDB Management window, select a Test Data Environment

Click Create LIVE GI.
Enter Name and Description, click Create.
The creation process is immediate, since only empty directory is created.
The VDB Management window displays the GI that was created.
The GI icon appears on the left.. Click the info icon, next to the GI. It will show the newly created directory on the source server. (The directory was created automatically by Accelario)
You can verify the directory by running df -h command on source server. E.g. :
Create new oracle instance on this directory, so all datafiles, control files, redo, archives , dump and audit will point to this path.
E.g. spfile parameters:
*.audit_file_dest='/main_pool/00000009/adump' *.control_files='/main_pool/00000009/control01.ctl' *.db_create_file_dest='/main_pool/00000009' *.db_create_online_log_dest_1='/main_pool/00000009' *.db_recovery_file_dest='/main_pool/00000009' *.diagnostic_dest='/main_pool/00000009' *.log_archive_dest_1='location=/main_pool/00000009'
The spfile itself should also be placed on the same directory
Once the database is up and running , proceed to activate the GI. Click the Activate icon next to the GI. The Activation verifies that the new database is located fully in the required directory.
Once the activation is completed, a first snapshot is created and you can proceed with VDB creation.

Modify a Live GI

Click the change (pencil) icon of TDE
If needed - update Snapshot Policy

If needed - update source database parameters
To save your changes, click Modify.

AWS RDS RMAN GI

Create AWS RDS RMAN GI

Prepare the environment
Enter the TDE details

Golden Image Type - AWS RDS Oracle
Source Host - choose the source host that was installed earlier, it should have Oracle Database software installed - same version as the RDS database
Force creation - if selected then ignore other GI refresh jobs
Snapshot Policy

Enter AWS parameters

AWS Credentials

The AWS authentication can be either via access key OR via IAM role!

Access key mode - Use this mode in case you have prepared a dedicated user in AWS and generated access key for it. How to do it.

Access Key ID - This is a unique identifier provided by AWS, for accessing all AWS services. It's used for authentication. Obtain it from the IAM settings in your AWS account.
Secret Access Key - A secret key that pairs with your Access Key ID for request authentication and authorization. This key should be generated when creating a new Access Key ID and kept confidential.

IAM role mode - Use this mode if you have applied an IAM role to the source server. How to do it

Use IAM role - select this checkbox

AWS Backup Details

Backup Directory Name - the Oracle directory on the RDS Oracle instance. e.g.: DATA_PUMP_DIR
Compress Backup (Y/N) - Option to compress backup files, which helps in reducing storage space. Choose Yes to enable compression, reducing backup size, or No to store backups in their original size.

AWS S3 Bucket Parameters

Name - the S3 bucket name that will be used to copy of Oracle backups between RDS and the source server. How to create it
E.g. : rds-ora19

Local Mount Path - The designated path for mounting the S3 bucket on the source server. This allows to access the backups that are stored on the S3 bucket. The path should reference an existing, empty directory.
E.g. : /home/oracle/s3_backups

S3 Bucket Prefix (Subfolder) - Subfolder within the S3 bucket where the RDS backups will be stored. Do not use any slashes.

E.g. : ora19-folder

Enter the connection details to the RDS Oracle database:

User - oracle user to the RDS database, see the required permissions below

Password - password for the above user

Hostname - hostname of the RDS database. Can be found in the RDS console, Connectivity & security tab, Endpoint field

Port - port of the RDS database. Can be found in the same place as the hostname above

Service name - the Oracle SID of the RDS, usually ORCL. Can be found in the RDS console, Configuration tab, DB name field

Test connection - verifies the connection to the database

Make sure that the RDS Oracle user will have the following permissions:

GRANT dba TO acc_rman_user;
GRANT EXECUTE ON RDSADMIN.RDSADMIN_UTIL TO acc_rman_user;
GRANT EXECUTE ON RDSADMIN.RDSADMIN_RMAN_UTIL TO acc_rman_user;
GRANT EXECUTE ON RDSADMIN.RDSADMIN_MASTER_UTIL TO acc_rman_user;
GRANT EXECUTE ON RDSADMIN.RDSADMIN_S3_TASKS TO acc_rman_user;
GRANT EXECUTE ON rdsadmin.rds_file_util TO acc_rman_user;
GRANT READ, WRITE ON DIRECTORY DATA_PUMP_DIR TO acc_rman_user;

Enter details of the staging database on the source server (beware that it is different from the RDS Oracle)

User - not needed, since it is the same user that was used in the connection to RDS database
Password - not needed, since it is the same password that was used in the connection to RDS database
VDB password - a new password that will be applied to the above user on each VDB
Port - listener port of the staging database on the source server
Service - not needed, since it is the same service that was used in the connection to RDS database
Parallel Processes No. - number of parallel processes for the RMAN jobs
OS user - OS user that runs the staging database on the source server
ORA Sid - the Oracle SID of the staging database on the source server
ORA Home Dir - the ORACLE_HOME directory on the source server
Refresh Immediately - if selected then the first refresh (initial load) will be executed immediately, if not selected then only the configuration of GI will be created, but no refresh will be done, it should be initiated later manually.

Open the VDB Management window.
Select the TDE. If “Refresh Immediately” option was not selected, then click “Create AWS RDS Oracle GI”

Test Data Environment (TDE)

See information about a test data environment

Select the test data environment.
Click Test Data Environment Info.

The Info window appears:

The info window shows the next details:

IP-address - IP address of the source host
Name - name of the TDE
Description - description of the TDE
Port - port of the source database
Service - service name of the source database
User - oracle user in the source database
Password - hidden password of the above user
VDB Password - hidden password of the VDB
Version - version the source database
Type - type of the GI
OS User - OS user that runs the source database
DbSID - Oracle SID of the source database
DbHomeDir - Oracle home directory of the source database
DB size - size of the source database

3. To return to the main Source Management work area, click Close.

Remove a test data environment

Select the test data environment.
Click Remove Test Data Environment.

3. Click Remove to confirm the deletion or Cancel to exit with deleting the test data environment.

After the database is removed, the following message appears: Test Data Environment database has been removed.