cmd /c "odbcconf.exe /a {configdsn ""Oracle in OraClient11g_home1"" ""DSN=helloworld|SERVER=DB01""}"

Create a helloworld data source connecting to your DB01 tns alias in your OraClient11g_home1 Oracle Home.

It is easy to get the Oracle Home key with

Get-itemproperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\ORACLE\*| Select-Object ORACLE_HOME,ORACLE_HOME_KEY

ORACLE_HOME                                       ORACLE_HOME_KEY
-----------                                       ---------------
C:\oracle\product\11.1.0\client_1                 SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_OraClient11g_home1
C:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_1                 SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_OraClient11g_home2

Then we create the connection (as we did in ADO or ODP) :

$conn = New-Object Data.Odbc.OdbcConnection
$conn.ConnectionString= "dsn=helloworld;uid=scott;pwd=tiger;"
$conn.open()
(new-Object Data.Odbc.OdbcCommand("select 'Hello World' from dual",$conn)).ExecuteScalar()
$conn.close()

1. cancel the recovery (set dg_broker_start to false and restart db in mount status if you use dataguard)
2. set the standby file management to manual alter system set standby_file_management=manual
3. move the file with OS commands as you did on the primary
4. rename the file with alter database rename file ‘old’ to ‘new’
5. reenable automatic standby file management and dg broker and restart the recovery (start db in mount status if you use dataguard)

SQL> CREATE TABLE /XXX(x number);
CREATE TABLE /XXX(x number)
             *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00903: invalid table name

SQL> CREATE TABLE "/XXX"(x number);

Table created.

Even in DBMS_STATS you should use double quotes

SQL> exec dbms_stats.gather_table_stats(user,'/XXX')
BEGIN dbms_stats.gather_table_stats(user,'/XXX'); END;

*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-20001: /XXX is an invalid identifier
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_STATS", line 23829
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_STATS", line 23880
ORA-06512: at line 1

SQL> exec dbms_stats.gather_table_stats(user,'"/XXX"')

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

It is also a good practice to not use table name like “/XXX”, “FROM” or “ROWID”. But if you use dynamic SQL, be sure your code does not bug on invalid identifier.

It is pretty seldom that Oracle introduces new reserved words, as it breaks code, so if you do

CREATE TABLE MYTABLE(x number);

Demo :

RMAN> backup as compressed backupset database;
Starting backup at 2013-06-05_13:08:01
...
Finished backup at 2013-06-05_13:13:59

6 minutes for a compressed backup on a NAS with 24 Channels and 100Gb of raw data. Not bad. But look at this !

RMAN> configure compression algorithm 'low';
new RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored
RMAN> backup as compressed backupset database;
Starting backup at 2013-06-05_14:06:09
...
Finished backup at 2013-06-05_14:08:29
RMAN> configure compression algorithm clear;
RMAN configuration parameters are successfully reset to default value

By configuring this magic parameter, it is now more than twice faster ! This is incredible !

Go to your cashier and grab some coins to get this amazing advanced compression option !

Instead of using OEM 10g, you will be using OEM 11g.

The upgrade exam is still using OEM 10g and DB 11gR1 (!) but I did not care installing OEM 10g and I prepared with OEM 11g.

Ref: p_exam_id:11GOCM

The correct method is to use
15 14 15 05 * /tmp/run-my-job

But… I wrote this five years ago. Hmmm ! Not that correct then since it would run every year

Ok, periodically I check for jobs are scheduled to run a specific date only

$ crontab -l|awk '$1!~/#/&&$3*$4'
15 14 15 05 * /tmp/run-my-job

I have 9 more days to remove this before it runs for the fifth time

SQL> DELETE FROM T WHERE C<DATE '2011-01-01';
1'000'000'000 rows deleted 
Elapsed: 23:45:22.01
SQL> commit;

This is perfectly fine. The table remains online, other users are not much affected (maybe they will not even notice the lower IO performance).

It will generate quite a lot of UNDO, and you will need enough space for archivelog and a large undo tablespace and a large undo retention setting (to prevent ORA-01555 snapshot too old).

If your table is like 100G big, you do it during week-end, you have 500Gb Undo and 250G free space in your archive destination, you will be fine. Well. Maybe.

There are workarounds where you create a new table then rename etc… but this is not the scope of this post and you will need to validate your index / foreign keys / online strategy with the application guys.

Another way to decrease runtime pro statement and undo requirement pro statement (but increase overall elapsed time) is to divided it chunks, for instance to delete 100’000’000 rows each night during 10 days.

SQL> DELETE FROM T WHERE C<DATE '2011-01-01' AND ROWNUM<=100000000;
100'000'000 rows deleted 
Elapsed: 04:11:15.31
SQL> commit;

Or if you want to delete in much smaller chunks to accomodate your tiny undo tablespace, you could try

BEGIN
  LOOP
    DELETE FROM T WHERE C<DATE '2011-01-01' AND ROWNUM <= 1000;
    EXIT WHEN SQL%ROWCOUNT = 0;
    COMMIT;
   END LOOP;
END;
/

This will run longer than a single transaction, but it is quite usefull if your undo tablespace is too small. Also if you abort it (CTRL-C or kill session), you will not lose all progresses (but you lose on integrity/atomicity) and your KILL SESSION will not last for ever. With a single transaction, your session may be marked as killed for hours/days…

SQL> select message from v$session_longops where target='SCOTT.EMP';

MESSAGE
------------------------------------------------------------
Table Scan:  SCOTT.EMP: 7377612 out of 629683 Blocks done

The total work is the Oracle estimation :

SQL> select blocks from dba_tables where table_name='EMP';

    BLOCKS
----------
    629683

This may differ quite a lot from the segment size, for instance if the table is not very often analyzed :

SQL> select blocks, sysdate, last_analyzed from dba_tables where table_name='EMP';

    BLOCKS SYSDATE             LAST_ANALYZED
---------- ------------------- -------------------
    629683 2013-04-21_09:21:47 2007-10-13_21:40:58

SQL> select blocks from dba_segments where segment_name='EMP';

    BLOCKS
----------
   7749888

I have customized my very long ops query to deal with very long waits.

col target for a20
set lin 150 pages 40000 termout off
alter session set nls_currency='%';
col PCT_DONE for 990.00L jus r
col time_remaining for 999999

select
  lo.target,lo.sofar,seg.blocks,
  lo.ELAPSED_SECONDS*seg.blocks/lo.sofar-lo.ELAPSED_SECONDS TIME_REMAINING,
  100*lo.sofar/seg.blocks PCT_DONE
from
  dba_segments seg,
  v$session_longops lo
where
  lo.units='Blocks'
  and lo.totalwork>0 and (lo.time_remaining>0 or lo.time_remaining is null)
  and regexp_substr(lo.target,'[^.]+') = seg.owner
  and regexp_substr(lo.target,'[^.]+$') = seg.segment_name
/

Let’s do it for real, let’s dive into the .xls file format and learn how to generate dynamic excel from Unix!

1) create one time your excel file manually. With graphs, colors, sounds, up to you. Or Word, Powerpoint or whatever (minimum MS Office 2007)

2) save as excel 2007 or later format (.xlsx)
this is called the Office Open XML format. It is neither OpenOffice nor OpenSource. It is XML and license restriction may apply.

3) transfer the excel file to your favorite platform

4) unzip the excel file (yes, you read it correctly, unzip the .xlsx file)

$ unzip /tmp/DynamicExcel.xlsx
Archive:  /tmp/DynamicExcel.xlsx
  inflating: [Content_Types].xml
  inflating: _rels/.rels
  inflating: xl/_rels/workbook.xml.rels
  inflating: xl/workbook.xml
  inflating: xl/styles.xml
  inflating: xl/worksheets/sheet2.xml
  inflating: xl/worksheets/_rels/sheet1.xml.rels
  inflating: xl/worksheets/_rels/sheet2.xml.rels
  inflating: xl/drawings/_rels/drawing1.xml.rels
  inflating: xl/theme/theme1.xml
  inflating: xl/worksheets/sheet1.xml
  inflating: xl/drawings/drawing2.xml
  inflating: xl/charts/chart1.xml
  inflating: xl/drawings/drawing1.xml
  inflating: xl/sharedStrings.xml
  inflating: docProps/core.xml
  inflating: docProps/app.xml

5) now substitute the data with some script output (for instance select * from v$backup_redologs). Here I am substituing all datas from row r=2

cd xl/worksheets

tr -d '\r' < sheet1.xml | sed 's,<row r="2".*,,' > head
sqlplus -s -L / as sysdba <<'EOF' > body
set feed off pages 0 lin 2000 longc 2000 long 2000
SELECT XMLELEMENT (
          "row",
          xmlattributes ((rownum+1) AS "r",
                         '1:2' AS "spans",
                         '0.2' AS "x14ac:dyDescent"),
          XMLELEMENT ("c",
                      xmlattributes ('A' || (rownum+1) AS "r", '1' AS "s"),
                      XMLELEMENT ("v", d-date '1899-12-30')),
          XMLELEMENT ("c",
                      xmlattributes ('B' || (rownum+1) AS "r", '2' AS "s"),
                      XMLELEMENT ("v", c)))
          x
  FROM (  SELECT TRUNC (next_time, 'DD') d, COUNT (*) c
            FROM v$backup_redolog
           WHERE next_time BETWEEN TRUNC (SYSDATE - 90)
                               AND TRUNC (SYSDATE) - 1 / 86400
        GROUP BY TRUNC (next_time, 'DD')
        ORDER BY 1);
EOF
tr -d '\r' < sheet1.xml | sed -n 's,.*</sheetData>,</sheetData>,p' > tail
cat head body tail | tr -d '\n' > sheet1.xml
rm head body tail

6) recreate zip file

$ cd ../..
$ zip -r /tmp/DynamicExcel2.xlsx *
  adding: [Content_Types].xml (deflated 78%)
  adding: docProps/ (stored 0%)
  adding: docProps/core.xml (deflated 51%)
  adding: docProps/app.xml (deflated 53%)
  adding: _rels/ (stored 0%)
  adding: _rels/.rels (deflated 60%)
  adding: xl/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/_rels/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/_rels/workbook.xml.rels (deflated 71%)
  adding: xl/workbook.xml (deflated 42%)
  adding: xl/styles.xml (deflated 56%)
  adding: xl/worksheets/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/worksheets/sheet2.xml (deflated 45%)
  adding: xl/worksheets/_rels/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/worksheets/_rels/sheet1.xml.rels (deflated 39%)
  adding: xl/worksheets/_rels/sheet2.xml.rels (deflated 39%)
  adding: xl/worksheets/sheet1.xml (deflated 81%)
  adding: xl/drawings/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/drawings/_rels/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/drawings/_rels/drawing1.xml.rels (deflated 39%)
  adding: xl/drawings/drawing2.xml (deflated 58%)
  adding: xl/drawings/drawing1.xml (deflated 61%)
  adding: xl/theme/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/theme/theme1.xml (deflated 79%)
  adding: xl/charts/ (stored 0%)
  adding: xl/charts/chart1.xml (deflated 85%)
  adding: xl/sharedStrings.xml (deflated 22%)

7) Check it

DynamicExcel2.xlsx

Remember, NT means New Technology

There is apparently a Home Selector that is a part of the installation software, maybe something like D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_1\bin\selecthome.bat. Sometimes. Not sure

But there is no DEFAULT HOME in the registry.

PS C:\> gci HKLM:\SOFTWARE\ORACLE

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE

Name                           Property
----                           --------
KEY_agent12c1                  ORACLE_HOME       : D:/oracle\core\12.1.0.1.0
                               ORACLE_HOME_NAME  : agent12c1
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME : Oracle - agent12c1
                               NLS_LANG          : AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8MSWIN1252
KEY_oracle_sysman_db_12_1_0_2_ ORACLE_HOME       : D:\oracle\plugins\oracle.sysman.db.discovery.plugin_12.1.0.2.0
0_discovery_Home0              ORACLE_HOME_NAME  : oracle_sysman_db_12_1_0_2_0_discovery_Home0
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME : Oracle - oracle_sysman_db_12_1_0_2_0_discovery_Home0
KEY_oracle_sysman_emas_12_1_0_ ORACLE_HOME       : D:\oracle\plugins\oracle.sysman.emas.discovery.plugin_12.1.0.2.0
2_0_discovery_Home0            ORACLE_HOME_NAME  : oracle_sysman_emas_12_1_0_2_0_discovery_Home0
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME : Oracle - oracle_sysman_emas_12_1_0_2_0_discovery_Home0
KEY_oracle_sysman_oh_12_1_0_1_ ORACLE_HOME       : D:\oracle\plugins\oracle.sysman.oh.agent.plugin_12.1.0.1.0
0_agent_Home0                  ORACLE_HOME_NAME  : oracle_sysman_oh_12_1_0_1_0_agent_Home0
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME : Oracle - oracle_sysman_oh_12_1_0_1_0_agent_Home0
KEY_oracle_sysman_oh_12_1_0_1_ ORACLE_HOME       : D:\oracle\plugins\oracle.sysman.oh.discovery.plugin_12.1.0.1.0
0_discovery_Home0              ORACLE_HOME_NAME  : oracle_sysman_oh_12_1_0_1_0_discovery_Home0
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME : Oracle - oracle_sysman_oh_12_1_0_1_0_discovery_Home0
KEY_OraClient11g_home1         ORACLE_HOME        : D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_1
                               ORACLE_HOME_NAME   : OraClient11g_home1
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME  : Oracle - OraClient11g_home1
                               ORACLE_BUNDLE_NAME : Enterprise
                               NLS_LANG           : AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8MSWIN1252
                               OLEDB              : D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_1\oledb\mesg
                               ORACLE_HOME_KEY    : SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_OraClient11g_home1
                               MSHELP_TOOLS       : D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_1\MSHELP
                               SQLPATH            : D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_1\dbs
KEY_OraGtw11g_home1            ORACLE_HOME        : D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\tg_1
                               ORACLE_HOME_NAME   : OraGtw11g_home1
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME  : Oracle - OraGtw11g_home1
                               NLS_LANG           : AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8MSWIN1252
                               ORACLE_BUNDLE_NAME : Enterprise
                               MSHELP_TOOLS       : D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\tg_1\MSHELP
                               SQLPATH            : D:\oracle\product\11.2.0\tg_1\dbs
                               ORACLE_HOME_KEY    : SOFTWARE\ORACLE\KEY_OraGtw11g_home1
KEY_sbin12c1                   ORACLE_HOME       : D:\oracle\sbin
                               ORACLE_HOME_NAME  : sbin12c1
                               ORACLE_GROUP_NAME : Oracle - sbin12c1
ODP.NET
remexecservicectr              remaining_time : 120000
SYSMAN

How do I set my Oracle Home?

Actually if you enter a command like “lsnrctl start”, the OS will search in the PATH for lsnrctl and determines the Oracle Home name accordingly.

Therefore, the only thing you must do to change your default Oracle Home is to set the PATH environment variable. Only then your LSNRCTL START will find the right binary and right parameter file to start your listener.