Oracle VDB Management

General

Virtual Database (VDB) is a fully functional copy of source database, that requires almost no storage and takes very short time to be created.

The management of VBD’s is done in the Virtual Databases work area. In addition, the same work area allows to perform tasks for a Golden Images(GI) and manage duplicates. It also allows to manage snapshots for all the objects.

Golden Image (GI)

Activate a GI

Live GI needs to be activated before it is allowed to create VDB’s on top of it.

Remove a GI

1. Select a GI in the list.

2. Click Remove Golden Image.

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3. Click Remove to confirm the deletion or Cancel to exit with deleting the volume.

Edit a GI

1. Select the GI in the list.

2. Click Modify volume.

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3. Modify details:

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Name - name of the GI (pay attention - it can be different from the TDE name which is shown in the Sources screen)

4. To save your changes, click Modify. Otherwise, click Cancel.

See information about a GI

1. Select the GI in the list.

2. Click Volume info.

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3. The Info window appears.

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The info window shows the next details:

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Volume info

Name - name of the GI

Description - description of the GI

Created at - created timestamp

Overall execution time - how much time it took to create the GI. Not defined for Live GI..

Storage path - the directory on the source server where the Live GI database should be running

DB Size - total size of the source database

Connection info - for Live GI only

Agent’s name - name of the source agent

The next details may be used to connect directly to the source database:

Host - hostname or IP of the source database

Port - listener port of the source database

Service - Oracle service name of the source database

Username - database user in the source database

Password - password of the above user

PITR Info - for RMAN GI and RMAN Standby GI

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• Archive file location - location of archive logs on the source server

• Archive Retention days - for how many days the archive logs will be kept

• Archive logs start from - timestamp of the first archive log (pay attention that it may be already deleted according to the retention above)

4. To see the last logs, click “Last Logs”. A last log of this GI is displayed

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5. To see the log history, click Log History

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Virtual Database (VDB)

Create VDB

1. On the navigation bar, click Virtual Databases.
   The VDB Management window appears.

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2. Select a Test Data Environment using the list in the header

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3. Select a snapshot from the snapshots list on the right side of the screen.

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4. Click Create VDB.

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5. Enter the VDB parameters:

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7. Enter the Snapshot policy parameters

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   • 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)

8. Enter the Advanced Parameters, if necessary:

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   1. Oracle Parameters - the Oracle parameters(spfile) that are used to start the VDB. If not specified, then the values from GI will be used. In order to add additional parameters use Settings > System > VDBS

   2. VDB startup pre/post scripts - full path to script files on the target server.

      1. Pre OS script - it is a shell script that is executed on the target server before the VDB is started

      2. Post SQL script - it is an SQL script that is executed in the database (VDB) after the VDB is started

      3. Post OS script - it is a shell script that is executed on the target server after the VDB is started

   3. Target database directory - custom directory name that will be used on the target server. This directory will be used to store all the VDB files. It is always under /main_pool root directory. If not specified that a random name will be generated.

   4. Rename datafile - change names of all datafiles , replacing string “From:” with string “To:”
      Example:
      Given “From: mydata”, “To: mystore”
      Then the original datafiles :

      /oradata/orcl/dbf/mydata01.dbf, /oradata/orcl/dbf/mydata02.dbf

      will be renamed in VDB into :

      /main_pool/121212/mystore01.dbf, /main_pool/121212/mystore02.dbf

9. Generate Script - shell script to perform the same action in batch. Make sure to select a “Target DB
   Home” in the first screen.

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10. Click Create VDB. Otherwise, click Cancel to exit without creating a VDB.

11. The VDB Management window displays the VDB that has been created.

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VDB statuses

Icon	Meaning

Icon	Meaning
Open	VDB is in a middle of an operation (starting, stopping, creating snapshot, etc.)
Open	VDB is stopped
Open	VDB is started. Only in this state users can connect to the VDB
Open	VDB has failed to start. Check the log of the VDB to understand the reason why.

Start VDB

VDB can be started automatically when it is created or can be started separately.

1. Select the VDB.

2. Click Start VDB.

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3. Enter the VDB parameters:

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Name - name of the VDB
Description - an optional description
Target DB Home - select the database home that will run the VDB. Pay attention that it also selects the target host, since each DB Home is configured under a specific target host
Ora SID - the ORACLE_SID of the VDB
Parallel processes - number of parallel processes that are used to startup VDB and perform internal recovery (similar to RMAN parallelism)

3. Enter the Advanced Parameters, if necessary - same as in Create VDB

4. Click Start VDB

Ignoring Oracle errors during VDB startup

During the VDB startup, any Oracle error stops the process and fails the startup. These errors may be ORA-, RMAN-, etc… To allow certain errors to be ignored, a special configuration file is used:
dst-agent-excluded-error-codes.properties
This file is located alongside the destination agent JAR file and is read during each VDB startup. Since it is dynamically loaded, changes can be applied without requiring a restart of the application. The structure is a properties file, where:

• key is the error with prefix

• value is free text explanation - for readability only, it is ignored by the application:

Sample:

Stop VDB

1. Select the VDB.

2. Click Stop VDB.

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Force stop VDB

In some case a VDB can be stuck while stopping. It can be forcibly stopped. After a force stop the VDB state is reset, so it can be started again. The force stop option is always available, even for stopped VDB.

1. Select the VDB.

2. Click Force stop VDB.

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Remove VDB

You can remove VDB only when it is stopped.

1. Select the VDB.

2. Click Remove VDB.

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3. Click Remove to confirm the deletion

Pay attention that removing VDB is an irreversible action!

List snapshots

The list of snapshots is displayed on the right pane. The list is updated every time you select GI, VDB or duplicate on the left pane. The snapshots are grouped by day. You can search for a specific snapshot using time filter or free text.

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Create a snapshot

1. Select GI or VDB

2. Click Add snapshot

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3. Enter Name and Description

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4. Click Add

Pay attention that every refresh of GI creates a snapshot of GI automatically

Remove a snapshot

1. Select VDB

2. Select the snapshot.

3. Click Remove snapshot.

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3. Click Remove to confirm the deletion

Recover to the first snapshot

1. Select VDB

2. Click “Recovery to first snapshot”.

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3. Click Recovery to confirm the recovery or Cancel to exit with recovering the snapshot.

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Recover to any snapshot

1. Select VDB

2. Select any snapshot on the right pane.

3. Click Recovery to this snapshot.

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3. Click Recover to confirm the recovery or Cancel to exit with recovering the snapshot.

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Create a duplicate

1. Select VDB

2. Select the snapshot.

3. Click Create duplicate.

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3. Enter a Name and Description of the new duplicate.

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4. Click Create.

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