Using EM Support Workbench 981 Gathering Additional Diagnostic Information On the Problem Details screen, under the Investigate and Resolve section, you have various options. On the Self Service tab, you have links available to gather more information about the problem. If you prefer self-service, you can run more checks on the database, diagnose the current problem, or resolve the issue by running the SQL Repair Advisor (if the error is caused by a SQL Statement). The following are your options on the Self Service tab: Assess Damage ÛN Run Checkers: Run the database health check again to find more issues. ÛN Database Instance Health: Show the database health screen, which shows the num- ÛN ber of incidents and problems by hour for the last 24 hours. Diagnose ÛN Alert Log: Shows the alert log entries related to the incident. ÛN Related Problems Across Topology: Shows any other incidents that may be related ÛN to the current problem. Diagnostic Dumps for Last Incident: Shows the dump and trace files associated ÛN with the incident. Go to Metalink and Research: Metalink is Oracle’s support site, where you can ÛN search and find solutions to the issue. Resolve: ÛN SQL Repair Advisor: Since the problem is caused by a SQL statement, you can run ÛN the SQL Repair Advisor to fix the SQL issue. You can use the tools under Diagnose to gather more information about the incident and problem. If you have identified the SQL causing the problem and you find an issue with the SQL, you can resolve the problem by yourself. You may also get an answer by searching Oracle’s support website, Metalink. Contacting Metalink is discussed later in the chapter. After self-service, if you could not resolve the problem or could not find more informa- tion about the problem of symptoms, you can contact Oracle Support. EM Support Work- bench makes contacting Oracle Support easy without having to remember the URL or phone number and gathers all the information that would be of help to the support analyst. Let’s go through the next steps of Support Workbench to contact Oracle Support for a reso- lution to the example problem. Creating a Service Request If you cannot identify or resolve the issue yourself, the next logical step is to contact Oracle Support for help. On the Problem Details page shown in Figure 17.13, click the Oracle Sup- port tab under the Investigate and Resolve section. Figure 17.14 shows the Oracle Support tab. 95127c17.indd 981 2/17/09 3:10:41 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 982 Chapter 17 N Moving Data and Using EM Tools FigUrE 17.14 Contacting the Oracle Support section of Support Workbench The Create a Service Request with Metalink link takes you to the Metalink login page, where you can log in and enter a service request. The URL for Metalink is https:// metalink.oracle.com . Once the service request (SR) is created, you can use the Edit button on the Problem Details screen to update the SR number. After you create the SR, the next step is to send relevant trace and dump files to Oracle for analysis. Support Workbench provides a packaging service to make this task easier for the DBA. Oracle Support Services (OSS) is a 24/7 operation providing support to all Oracle cus- tomers throughout the world. The primary method of contacting OSS is using the web page at https://metalink.oracle.com. You have to register for an account first and provide information such as the customer service identifier (CSI) number, your contact information, so on. Once you log in to Metalink, you can find a wealth of information, including the following: Searches for known issues ÛN Forum to discuss various issues ÛN Opening an SR ÛN Patches and updates ÛN Product certification ÛN Bug information ÛN Knowledge Base articles ÛN User documentation ÛN Electronic technical reference documents ÛN The Metalink forums enable you to interact with other customers to share ideas and provide solutions. You can download patches and patch documentation. 95127c17.indd 982 2/17/09 3:10:41 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Using EM Support Workbench 983 See Metalink note 166650.1, “Global Customer Support Working Effectively with Support,” for more information on using the Oracle Support Services. Packaging Diagnostic Data You can invoke packaging in two ways. On the Support Workbench page, you can select the problem and click the Package button. This gives you the option to create a quick pack- age or a custom package. A quick package gathers information for a single problem with all the default options. With a custom package, you have the option to edit the package contents, remove any sensitive data, and add more traces and test cases. Another option to invoke packages is from the Problem Details screen, where you can invoke quick packaging for the problem. You can also optionally upload the packaged information to Oracle under the service request number. Figure 17.15 shows the Quick Packaging screen. FigUrE 17.15 Quick Packaging screen On this screen, you have the option to upload the created package to Oracle Support. If you want Support Workbench to upload the information, provide your Metalink username and password along with the CSI number. If you have not created an SR yet, you have the option to create a new SR from this screen. Enter the SR number for uploading diagnostic information for an existing SR. 95127c17.indd 983 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 984 Chapter 17 N Moving Data and Using EM Tools If you choose custom packaging, the screen will look like Figure 17.16. Here Oracle will show you all the incidents to report and the files that are being packaged. You can exclude the files you do not want to send. Also, you have the option to add more incidents to the same package. FigUrE 17.16 Customize Package screen In the Packaging Tasks section, you have the option to add more problems or exclude problems. You can also edit the files you sent to Oracle. Once you have added all the neces- sary files, click the Finish Contents Preparation link. You will see a confirmation screen with all the files you choose to include in the packaging and an option to generate the upload file. After the file is generated, the Send to Oracle button will be enabled, and you can use it to send the information to Oracle. Configuring Incident Packaging You can customize the package-retention and -configuration rules by using the Incident Packaging Configuration link in the Related Links section of the Support Workbench screen. Figure 17.17 shows the default retention and packaging settings. 95127c17.indd 984 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Using EM Support Workbench 985 FigUrE 17.17 Incident packaging configuration Click the Edit button to change the defaults. You can change the following values: Incident Metadata Retention Period Information such as the incident ID, time, and prob- lem are known as the metadata. The default is to keep this information for 365 days. Incident Files Retention Period Specify how long you want to keep the files (data) related to an incident; the default is 30 days. Cutoff Age for Incident Inclusion Include the incidents that are not older than the value specified here in days. Leading Incidents Count and Trailing Incidents Count If a problem has several incidents, the packaging by default includes only three incidents from the time it started occurring and three incidents from the latest occurrence. Correlation Time Proximity Specify the interval in minutes that should be treated as “happened at the same time” for related incidents. The default is 90 minutes. Time Window for Package Content This is the time in minutes to include incidents in the package; the default is 24 minutes. Tracking and Closing the Incident You can track the progress of the incident by adding comments to the activity log. The activ- ity log is available on the Problem Details screen as well as on the packaging screens. The Activity Log tab shows the system-generated operations that have occurred on the problem 95127c17.indd 985 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 986 Chapter 17 N Moving Data and Using EM Tools so far. This tab enables you to add your own comments while investigating the problem. Figure 17.18 shows the Activity Log tab. FigUrE 17.18 Problem activity log You can add an entry using the Add Comment button. If the problem is related to an Oracle bug, you can add the bug number on the Problem Details screen by clicking the Edit button (shown earlier in Figure 17.13). As you saw on the Self Service tab of the Problem Details screen, the Oracle advisors that can help you repair critical errors are the SQL Repair Advisor and the Data Recovery Advisor. When you have a resolution for the issue, you can close the incident by clicking the Close button on the Support Workbench screen or by clicking the Close the Problem link on the Problem Details screen. By default closed incidents are not shown on the Problem Details screen. All incidents (open and closed) are purged after 30 days. You can disable the incident purging on the Incident Details page. You can get to the Inci- dent Details page by clicking the incident ID on the Problem Details screen (shown earlier in Figure 17.13). Click the Disable Purging button to disable the purging of the incident. In the next section, you will learn how Enterprise Manager can help DBAs manage patches. Using EM to Manage Patches As a DBA, you have several reasons to download and apply patches. In Oracle 11g, Oracle has made the patch research and application easier by integrating OSS with Enterprise Manager. Oracle Corporation releases the following types of patches for its database product: Patch release A patch release is a major patch that changes the version number of the database. Oracle release numbers have the format 11.1.0.6.0, where 11 is the major release 95127c17.indd 986 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Using EM to Manage Patches 987 number, 1 is the maintenance release number, 0 is the application-server release number, 6 is the component-specific release number, and 0 is the platform-specific release number. When a patch release is applied, the component-specific release number will change. Patch releases go through rigorous regression testing. Patch releases are cumulative, which means the latest patch release will include most interim patches and critical patch updates, as well as lower patch releases. Interim patches Interim patches are one-off patches to fix a specific issue on a platform. The Oracle release numbers do not change when applying interim patches. Interim patches do not go through regression testing. Critical patch updates Critical patch updates (CPUs) include security patches and other patches that depend on the security patches. CPUs are cumulative, which means previ- ous CPUs are included. CPUs go through regression testing, and they do not advance the release numbers. Patch releases are installed using the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI). You can install interim patches and CPUs using the OPatch utility. You can use opatch lsinventory to review all the patches applied to an Oracle Home installation: $ $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory Invoking OPatch 11.1.0.6.0 Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 11.1.0.6.0 Copyright (c) 2007, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved. Oracle Home : /u01/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1 Central Inventory : /u01/app/oraInventory from : /etc/oraInst.loc OPatch version : 11.1.0.6.0 OUI version : 11.1.0.6.0 OUI location : /u01/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/oui Log file location : /u01/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/  cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2008-11-16_23-08-22PM.log Lsinventory Output file location : /u01/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/  lsinv/lsinventory2008-11-16_23-08-22PM.txt Installed Top-level Products (1): Oracle Database 11g 11.1.0.6.0 There are 1 products installed in this Oracle Home. 95127c17.indd 987 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 988 Chapter 17 N Moving Data and Using EM Tools Interim patches (1) : Patch 6529615 : applied on Sun Nov 16 23:08:05 CST 2008 Created on 7 Nov 2008, 04:01:26 hrs US/Pacific Bugs fixed: 6529615 OPatch succeeded. $ To apply a patch using OPatch, first read the README.txt file accompanying each patch for instructions. Most of the patches are installed by using the opatch apply statement, from the patch staging directory. Enterprise Manager can be used to review, download, and apply patches. The patch-management links are in the Database Software Patching section on the Software and Support tab of Database Control, as shown in Figure 17.19. FigUrE 17.19 Database Software Patching links on EM I will discuss each link in the following sections. Using the Patch Advisor The Patch Advisor shows the critical patch updates and the recommended patches for the release of the database on your server. Before you can use the Patch Advisor, you must set up Metalink login credentials and perform Metalink integration with EM. You can do this in two steps: 1. Enter the Metalink username and password. Click the Setup link on the top-right corner of EM Database Control. Click Patching Setup on the left menu, as shown in Figure 17.20. 2. Run the Refresh from Metalink job. Under the Related Links section on the Database Control home page, click the Jobs link to invoke the Job Activity screen. Under the Create drop-down list, choose Refresh from Metalink, and click Go, as shown in Figure 17.21. Click the Patch Advisor link on the screen shown in Figure 17.19. The Patch Advi- sor screen shows critical security patches that need to be applied to ORACLE_HOME and 95127c17.indd 988 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Using EM to Manage Patches 989 recommended patches, as shown in Figure 17.22. Oracle can show the recommended patches based on the features used in the database. Select All from the drop-down box to show all the recommended patches. FigUrE 17.20 Software patching setup in EM FigUrE 17.21 Refresh from Metalink job setup in EM 95127c17.indd 989 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 990 Chapter 17 N Moving Data and Using EM Tools FigUrE 17.22 Patch Advisor screen on EM You can also invoke the patching setup screen by clicking the Patching Setup link in the Related Links section. Viewing the Patch Cache The patch cache is the location on the server where all your patches are downloaded and kept. One advantage of having the patch cache is that you can apply the patch to multiple Oracle Homes from one download. Figure 17.23 shows the Patch Cache screen. FigUrE 17.23 Patch Cache screen in EM You can click the View ReadMe button to read the patch application details, and you can click the Patch button to apply the patch. 95127c17.indd 990 2/17/09 3:10:42 PM Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. [...]... copies of a database 1012  Glossary Database Control ​ ​ web-based component of the Enterprise Management Framework for A managing Oracle Database 10g Database Control allows you to monitor and administer a single Oracle Database instance or a single Real Application Clusters (RAC) environment database templates ​ ​ ML-based documents that the DBCA creates to store information X about database definitions... logging SQL*Loader is used to load ASCII files to the Oracle database You can invoke Data Pump and SQL*Loader using EM Database Control You can also use external tables to move data You can use the ORACLE_ DATAPUMP access driver to write data into an external table, and you can use the ORACLE_ LOADER access driver to read flat files into Oracle Database EM Database Control infrastructure enhancements include... (ASM) ​ ​ type of storage mechanism that is new in A Oracle 10g Oracle manages the storage definitions of the database within a second database used exclusively by ASM to keep track of the disk allocations for your databases Automatic Memory Management (AMM) ​ ​ mechanism to manage the memory requireA ment automatically by allocating the total memory to Oracle Oracle will manage the SGA and PGA based on demand... documents contain everything the DBCA needs to create a database See also Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) Database Writer (DBWn) ​ ​ he Oracle background process that is responsible for writing T changed data-block buffers from the database buffer cache back to the data files on disk data files ​ ​ he physical database files that store the database s segments, such as tables, T indexes, rollback,... an Oracle database flashback database ​ ​ flashback feature that lets you recover the entire database to a speA cific point in time in the past flashback drop ​ ​ flashback feature that retrieves a table after it has been dropped withA out using other more complicated and disruptive recovery techniques such as point-in-time recovery or flashback database flashback query ​ ​ feature of the Oracle database. .. health of database C Heterogeneous Services ​ ​ he facility that lets you communicate with non -Oracle dataT bases and services host ​ ​ he physical machine on which the Oracle server is located This can be an IP T address or a real name that is resolved via some external naming solution, such as DNS host string ​ ​ he database alias name used to connect to the Oracle database You connect T to the database. .. the correct statement about Oracle Support Services A Support can be contacted using the metalink .oracle. com web page B Anyone can register and search Oracle Support’s Knowledge Base C There is no published phone number to contact OSS D Support analysts are available only during U.S Pacific time zone work hours 16 When using EM Database Control to load data into Oracle Database from a flat file, you... recovery action database ​ ​ collection of control files, data files, and redo logs A database buffer cache ​ ​ he portion of the system global area (SGA) where copies of the T data blocks are cached in memory See also system global area (SGA) Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) ​ ​ A Java-based tool you can use to create Oracle databases The DBCA can store and manage definitions of your databases in... external table access drivers. ​ ORACLE_ DATAPUMP and ORACLE_ LOADER are the  ​ access drivers used with external tables The ORACLE_ DATAPUMP access driver can be used to read and write to an external table The ORACLE_ LOADER access driver is read-only Understand Support Workbench’s capabilities. ​ Support Workbench can identify, diagnose,  ​ and package an incident to contact Oracle Support Services for help... FLASHBACK_SCN parameter only when performing a network import where the source is a database 9 B.  The network_link parameter specifies a database link to the source database 10 B, C.  Oracle Support Workbench can help DBAs diagnose the problem, collect more information and related traces, and dump files into a package to send to Oracle Support for analysis 1002  Chapter 17    Moving Data and Using EM Tools . apply patches. In Oracle 11g, Oracle has made the patch research and application easier by integrating OSS with Enterprise Manager. Oracle Corporation. /u01/app /oracle/ product/11.1.0/db_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/  lsinv/lsinventory2008-11-16_23-08-22PM.txt Installed Top-level Products (1): Oracle Database 11g