Oracle Failsafe
Oracle Failsafe
Oracle Failsafe
This document describes the new features in this release, software errors fixed, software compatibility, hardware compatibility, and notes about installation and deinstallation.
Certification Information New and Changed Features Software Errors Fixed Software Compatibility Hardware Compatibility Installation and Configuration Oracle Services for MSCS Oracle Database Disk Resources Virtual Addresses Oracle Enterprise Manager Integration Documentation Updated for This Release Additional Information About Oracle Fail Safe Documentation Accessibility
2 Certification Information
The latest certification information for Oracle Fail Safe is available on OracleMetaLink at: https://metalink.oracle.com Support for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Oracle Fail Safe is certified on Windows Server 2008 starting with the 3.4.1.1 patch set for 32-bit and 3.4.1.2 for 64-bit. To ensure that only trusted applications run on your computer, Windows Server 2008 provides User Account Control. If you have enabled this security feature, then,
depending on how you have configured it, Oracle Universal Installer prompts you for either your consent or your credentials during the install.
Section B.3, "Tracing Oracle Fail Safe Problems" in Oracle Fail Safe Concepts and Administration Guide for a description of the trace facility
This problem would occur because two different processes were using the same trace file definition, FSS_TRACE_OUTPUT. The Fail Safe Server (FsSvr.exe) is the intended user of the log file, but the file would also be opened and written to by ephemeral Fail Safe surrogate processes (FsSurrogate.exe) that would be invoked by the Microsoft DCOM subsystem. When those processes were invoked they would create a new copy of the trace file, deleting the contents created by the main Fail Safe Server. In this release of Oracle Fail Safe, a new registry entry has been created that enables the surrogate process to have its own trace file specification, eliminating the chance that the surrogate would overwrite trace files. Refer to Section B.3 in Oracle Fail Safe Concepts and Administration Guide for more information on how to utilize this new feature.
See "Software Compatibility" for details about the supported version of each of these resources.
See Also: Chapter 9, Oracle Fail Safe Concepts and Administration Guide for details on configuring Oracle Management Agent for high availability
3.5 Support for Oracle Application Server Components for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit)
Prior to release 3.3.4, to configure Oracle Application Server components for high availability, you had to configure them as generic services. With this release, custom support for configuring Oracle Application Server components is provided. The following components are included:
Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server (OPMN) Application Server Control service The metadata repository, if it is in the Oracle home where Oracle Application Server was installed
See Also: Chapter 10, Oracle Fail Safe Concepts and Administration Guide for details on configuring Oracle Application server components for high availability
4.1 Oracle Services for MSCS Security Setup Fails On Non-English Systems
On systems that do not have English as the default language, if the Microsoft local culture definition did not recognize the string "Self" as representing the current user, then the Oracle Services for MSCS Security Setup tool (FsSecurity.exe) would fail to correctly update the DCOM security settings on the system. When this problem was encountered, a message would be entered into the Windows Application event log with the text:
Failed to look up user account SELF with error: 1332 Unable to add SELF to DCOM access ACL.
The problem was due to the FsSecurity.exe application attempting to use the string "Self" for the generic self user ID. That string may not be meaningful on non-English cultures. This problem can be avoided by temporarily removing the DefaultAccessPermission ACL from the windows registry (HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole), running the MSCS Security Setup tool, and then adding back the DefaultAccessPermission ACL. This operation must only be executed by system administrators that understand the risks of manually editing the Windows registry and know how to backup and recover it. FsSecurity.exe has been changed to build the security identifier (SID) in binary form using predefined constants rather than attempting to use the string "Self". This change allows FsSecurity.exe to be culture independent when adding SIDs to the DCOM DefaultAccessPermission ACL.
A pop-up box would be created that contained no text; only an "X" error image and an "OK" button. No errors would be reported in the Windows application event log and Oracle Fail Safe trace logs would show no errors. This problem was caused by incorrect DCOM security settings; the remote node could not establish a communication link back to the node running the Oracle Fail Safe server and thus could not report any errors to the server and client. Correcting the DCOM Access Permissions using the Microsoft Component Services administrative tool resolved the problem. To determine if there are problems with DCOM follow the instructions in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892500/en-us Oracle Fail Safe has been enhanced to log DCOM errors in the Windows application event log and Oracle Fail Safe trace log.
4.4 Verify Cluster Fails After Installing Oracle Fail Safe Release 3.3.4 and then Reinstalling Release 3.3.3
If Oracle Fail Safe Release 3.3.4 was installed, then deinstalled using the Oracle Universal Installer, and a previous release, such as 3.3.3 was installed, a Verify Cluster operation would fail with errors similar to the following:
FS-10665: Checking DLLs for resource provider ** WARNING : FS-10669: The resource provider DLL D:\ORACLE\OFS333\FS\FSSVR\BIN\ was not found on node NUMBERONE
This problem occurred because the deinstallation neglected to remove new registry entries that were introduced in release 3.3.4. This problem can be resolved by removing the following registry entries from the Windows registry key \HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\OracleFailSafe\Resources:
Oracle10gAgent OracleAS
The product deinstallation procedure for release 3.4.1 has been corrected and will now properly remove those registry keys entries. Also, the Verify Cluster command has been changed to ignore unrecognized resource names in the registry.
4.5 Oracle Fail Safe Installation Corrupts DCOM ACLs in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2
If a system had an explicit definition for the DCOM (OLE) DefaultAccessPermission ACL, when the "Oracle Services for MSCS Security Setup" tool (FsSecurity.exe) was executed DCOM applications could fail to open windows. The system event log would contain error messages that said, "Invalid value for registry". This problem was due to a new ACL format being introduced in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, which was incompatible with the format being generated by FsSecurity.exe. The problem is described in this Microsoft article: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms693364.aspx This problem can be avoided by temporarily removing the DefaultAccessPermission ACL from the windows registry (HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole), running the MSCS Security Setup tool, and then adding back the DefaultAccessPermission ACL. This operation should only be executed by system administrators that understand the risks of manually editing the Windows registry and know how to backup and recover it. FsSecurity.exe was adding an ACE for user SELF using the old style access rights but the existing ACL contained an ACE that had the new style. In this release, ACLs created by FsSecurity.exe will use the new, post Windows Server 2003 SP2 format.
This problem was caused by changes in the Database Configuration Assistant seed database templates introduced within Oracle Database 10g Release 2. The template files that were shipped in prior Oracle Fail Safe kits were not compatible with the new Database Configuration Assistant. This problem can be worked around by updating the template files in the Oracle Fail Safe template folder. The steps are listed below. This procedure needs to be executed on each node that has Oracle Fail Safe installed.
1.
On each node, edit the sample database template file and update the compatible version element. That is, using a text editor, edit the following file:
OFS_home\fs\fssvr\sample\Oracle_Fail_Safe_Sample_102.dbc
Change the version number in the string to match the new Oracle RDBMS version. For example:
<initParam name="compatible" value="10.2.0.3.0"/> 2.
Preserve an old copy of the OFS sample database DFB template by renaming it. That is, rename this file:
OFS_home\fs\fssvr\sample\Oracle_Fail_Safe_Sample_102.dfb
Then copy the seed database template provided by the new Oracle RDBMS kit to the OFS sample directory. That is, copy this file:
ORACLE_HOME\assistants\dbca\templates\Seed_Database.dfb
After performing the above procedure it should be possible to create a sample database. In this release of Oracle Fail Safe the sample database creation functionality has been revamped as described in Section 3.2.
These errors were caused by incorrect argument passing and insufficient error handling in the database interface module, FsDdbsUpi.c. There is no workaround for these problems. The errors have been corrected in this release.
5 Software Compatibility
This section describes software compatibility for this release of Oracle Fail Safe.
Note:
Oracle Fail Safe does not support Automatic Storage Management. Also, Oracle Fail Safe Server and Oracle Fail Safe Manager are not supported on Windows Vista.
Oracle Fail Safe Manager is compatible with the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Oracle Fail Safe Server is compatible with the software listed in the following table:
Release or Version Oracle9i Release 2 (9.2) Oracle Database 10g Release 1 (10.1) Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1)
Release 9.2.0
Release or Version Release 10.1.0.2 Release 10.1.0.3 Release 10.2 (A Management Agent release for Microsoft Windows only.)
Oracle Fail Safe Manager is compatible with the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Oracle Fail Safe Server is compatible with the software listed in the following table:
Release or Version Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1) Release 10.1.0.2 Release 10.1.0.3 Release 10.2 (A Management Agent release for Microsoft Windows only.)
Software Oracle Database (Standard and Enterprise editions) Oracle Management Agent
6 Hardware Compatibility
Consult your hardware vendor to ensure that the hardware you intend to use with Oracle Fail Safe is certified for use with Microsoft Cluster Server software.
For complete installation and deinstallation instructions, see Oracle Fail Safe Installation Guide.
7.1 MSCS Cluster Administrator Displays Problems with Fail-Safe Resource Types
Sometimes, after completing an Oracle Fail Safe installation, you see problems with the fail-safe resource types (such as databases) in MSCS Cluster Administrator. MSCS Cluster Administrator denotes the problem by displaying an Oslash symbol () over the resource type name. If this occurs, follow these steps:
1. 2.
If you forgot to reboot the cluster nodes after installing Oracle Fail Safe, do so now. Make sure that the PATH environment variable includes the Oracle Services for MSCS path. (In the Command Prompt window, enter PATH.) The Oracle Services for MSCS path (ORACLE_HOME\fs\fssvr\bin) should be included. If it is not included, add it, and then reboot the nodes on which the Oracle Services for MSCS path is missing. Make sure that the Oracle Fail Safe resource DLL, FsResOdbs.dll, is installed in ORACLE_HOME\fs\fssvr\bin. If the resource DLL is not there, reinstall Oracle Fail Safe.
3.
4.
Use Oracle Fail Safe Manager to verify the cluster (on the Troubleshooting menu, select Verify Cluster), then reboot each cluster node, one at a time. The Verify Cluster command automatically verifies registration of Oracle resource DLLs. You may not need to reboot all cluster nodes. After you reboot one node, check MSCS Cluster Administrator to see if the Oslash symbol has been removed from the resource type names. If the Oslash symbol is gone, you do not need to reboot all cluster nodes.
After installing Oracle Services for MSCS, if there are problems opening hyperlinks in an HTML file or problems using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, use the dcomcnfg.exe tool to add the necessary users to the default list of Access permissions. See Microsoft Support articles Q274696 and 892500 for more information.
8.2 Oracle Services for MSCS and Microsoft Cluster Server Can Run Under Different Accounts
When your cluster was first configured and Microsoft Cluster Server was first installed, it was installed under a Microsoft Windows user account. Oracle Services for MSCS runs as a Microsoft Windows service under a domain user account (not the system account) that has Administrator privileges on all cluster nodes. When you install Oracle Services for MSCS, you are instructed to provide a user name and password combination for a user account that has the required privileges. This account does not have to be the same account under which Microsoft Cluster Server was installed. "Is Alive" polling of Oracle Fail Safe resources is performed by Microsoft Cluster Server, not by Oracle Services for MSCS server. For polling to work properly, the account used for the Microsoft Cluster Server must have the necessary privileges to access the resource being polled.
9 Oracle Database
This section includes information about Oracle databases.
If another application appears to have control of the file, you can resolve the problem by restarting the cluster node that owns the disk where the file resides (be sure to move any cluster disks that contain database files back to the node that hosts the database after you restart).
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9.2 Default Oracle Intelligent Agent Is Stopped and Restarted When the Database Is Shut Down
The default Oracle Intelligent Agent incorrectly discovers fail-safe databases on the node where the default Oracle Intelligent Agent is running, and maintains a connection to the database. (The default Oracle Intelligent Agent listens on the node's host address, and therefore should not discover fail-safe databases because they use a virtual address.) Therefore, when a fail-safe database is taken offline in normal or transactional mode using Oracle Fail Safe Manager, Oracle Fail Safe shuts down the default Oracle Intelligent Agent prior to shutting down the database. Oracle Fail Safe restarts the default Oracle Intelligent Agent after the database shutdown operation is complete.
10 Disk Resources
Oracle Fail Safe allows the use of EMC SRDF/CE disks, formerly known as EMC GeoSpan. However, if you attempt to add a resource to a group and an EMC SRDF/CE disk used by the resource is not already in that group, then Oracle Fail Safe returns the error FS-10203 and rolls back the operation. If this occurs, add the resource to the group that already contains the EMC SRDF/CE disk that the resource requires.
11 Virtual Addresses
If an MSCS network name contains trailing spaces and you attempt to have Oracle Fail Safe Manager add a virtual address to a group, the operation fails and the following error is returned:
NT-5045: The cluster network was not found
The workaround to this problem is to rename the network name using MSCS Cluster Administrator to remove the trailing spaces.
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12.2 Oracle Fail Safe Manager Lists Incorrect Oracle Enterprise Manager Agent During Cluster Verification
Oracle Fail Safe Manager lists the 10.2.0.4 Oracle Enterprise Manager Agent incorrectly as 10.1.0.2 Oracle Enterprise Manager Agent during the Verify Cluster process.
Oracle Fail Safe Concepts and Administration Guide Oracle Fail Safe Installation Guide Oracle Fail Safe Error Messages
Oracle Fail Safe Tutorial, which is included with the kit for this release has not been updated. Specific references to release 3.3.3 in the previous list of documents are also applicable to release 3.4.1 with the exception of references to Oracle HTTP Server. Configuring Oracle HTTP Server for high availability is not supported in this release of Oracle Fail Safe. The documentation that comes with the kit is provided in HTML and PDF online formats. Viewing the PDF files requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 or later. You can download the latest version from the Adobe Web site at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
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http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/failsafe.html
Updated software compatibility information, white papers, and so on are posted on the Oracle Technology Network Web site.
Contact your Oracle support representative for technical assistance and additional information, or visit the Oracle Support Services Web site to find out about other available resources.
15 Documentation Accessibility
Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible, with good usability, to the disabled community. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/. Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace. Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites. TTY Access to Oracle Support Services Oracle provides dedicated Text Telephone (TTY) access to Oracle Support Services within the United States of America 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For TTY support, call 800.446.2398. Outside the United States, call +1.407.458.2479.
Oracle Fail Safe Release Notes, Release 3.4.1 for Microsoft Windows E10719-04 Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved. The Programs (which include both the software and documentation) contain proprietary information; they are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are also protected by copyright, patent, and other intellectual and industrial property laws. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of the Programs, except to the extent required to obtain interoperability with other independently created software or as specified by law, is prohibited. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. If you find any problems in the documentation, please report them to us in writing. This document is not warranted to be error-free. Except as may be expressly permitted in your license agreement for these Programs, no part of these Programs may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose. If the Programs are delivered to the United States Government or anyone licensing or using the Programs on behalf of the United States Government, the following notice is applicable: U.S. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS Programs, software, databases, and related documentation and technical data delivered to U.S. Government
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