OCM 11g upgrade

Last Friday I went to Munich for THE upgrade exam. I have a few recommendations based on my preparation.

DISCLAIMER: no recommendation is based on the exam

Check you have a similar environment. You will get 11gR1 database and 10g entreprise manager. Personnaly I did my preparation on 11gR2 and 11g/12c em, I did not find useful to prepare on some oldish version. You should have some Linux / Unix around. It does not really matter if you use AIX, HPUX, Solaris or Linux.

I bought myself a keyboard with German Layout (the one with ß, Ä and Ö) to gain speed

Read each topic carefully and get proficiency:
– Database:
I know the meaning of the initialisation parameters. In need, I can quickly check one in the Reference
I am familiar with the sql syntax and have read the SQL Reference more than once

– Network configuration :
I know how to configure sqlnet.ora, tnsnames.ora and listener.ora without looking at the documentation.
I have carefully tested all possible parameters in Net Service Guide

– ADR :
I know how to set up the ADR location in the database and network.
I know how to use the command line utility, documented in utilities -> adrci

– RMAN :
I know how to configure RMAN with the configure statement. I am efficient in doing backups and restores
I have read the RMAN Reference carefully.

– Dataguard :
I am confident with the dgmgrl utility and with oem to configure and monitor dataguard.
I have read the Dataguard Broker Guide

– Materialized view
I have read and tested the examples in the Datawarehouse Guide -> Materialized views

– Secure Lob
I have played with lobs as basicfile and securefiles to check the differences and new features. I have read the secure files guide

– Streams
Streams is a very complex product. I have attended last year a five days course in Paris to only realise it is utterly tricky to maintain and debug, it case of errors.
I know where to look at if the capture, propagation or apply fail. Mostly in alert log, but also in the DBA views. I know how to restart the different processes. I am confident with both the OEM and PL/SQL Packages DBMS_STREAMS_*.
I have read the Streams Concept and Streams Replication Administration

– Resource manager
I know both the GUI and command line. I have read Admin guide -> Resource Manager

– Advisors and baselines
A very valuable resource to read is the 2 Days Perf Guide. It may sound strange to prepare an OCM exam with a 2-Days guide, but it is an awesome lecture.
To get deeper and learn the API usage, read Performance Tuning -> Optimizing SQL Statements

– Replay a capture workload
I learnt both the PL/SQL and EM usage in the Real Application Testing User Guide

Almost all the other topics are self explanatory and almost trivial once you know the syntax by heart…

I spent over one year preparing this exam and if you browse my recent posts, you will find detailled example that somehow relate to miscellaneous findings
Check mount option in linux
Transport tablespace over db links
Fast start failover
On star transformation
my first ADR package

For those of my readers who are on this way, good luck!

PS: no, I do not know the result yet…

November 10, 2011November 11, 2011

TNSNAMES and Active Directory

It is highly probable you already have MS AD in your company. Probably you use a local tnsnames.ora. Apart from setting a Oracle Internet Directory or Oracle Virtual Directory, there is one more option that you may want to consider : AD.

Ok, here is a bit of a road map :

– Schema Extension :
extending the schema is irreversible and you will have to test this properly and explain why you need this (remove the need of distributing a tnsnames, central administration) to your Microsoft Admin friends. To extend the schema, use Oracle Network Configuration Assistant. The step-by-step guide is there

– Anonymous or authenticated bind
prior to 11g, you needed to allow anonymous bind on the AD server. Your Security Admin friends will probably prefer the 11g approach of setting NAMES.LDAP_AUTHENTICATE_BIND to true. If you set NAMES.LDAP_AUTHENTICATE_BIND to true, the Oracle clients will use your windows credentials to do the tnsnames resolution.

For sql developer, use Connection Type=TNS, Connect Identifier=DB01. connection type=Ldap does not work with authenticated bind

– Import the tnsnames and / or create new entries
all done with Net Manager and pretty intuitively. Except that you will use “Directory –> Export Net Service Names” to import the tnsnames in AD

– Configure the clients
sqlnet.ora
NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH= (LDAP)
NAMES.LDAP_AUTHENTICATE_BIND=1

ldap.ora
DEFAULT_ADMIN_CONTEXT = “DC=example,DC=com”
DIRECTORY_SERVER_TYPE = AD

– test it!
tnsping first


C:\> tnsping db01

TNS Ping Utility for 64-bit Windows: Version 11.2.0.2.0 - Production on 10-NOV-2011 14:42:16

Copyright (c) 1997, 2010, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:
C:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_3\network\admin\sqlnet.ora

Used LDAP adapter to resolve the alias
Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(Host=srv01)(Port=1521)))(CONNECT
_DATA=(SID=DB01)))
OK (20 msec)

I wrote a simple java program to check the connection :


import java.sql.*;
import oracle.jdbc.pool.*;
public class HelloWorld {
  public  static void main(String[] args) throws SQLException {
    OracleDataSource ods = new OracleDataSource();
    ods.setDriverType("oci");
    ods.setTNSEntryName("DB01");
    ods.setUser("scott");
    ods.setPassword("tiger");
    ResultSet res = ods.
      getConnection().
        prepareCall("select 'Hello World' txt from dual").
          executeQuery();
    res.next();
    System.out.println(res.getString("TXT"));
  }
}


C:\> set PATH=C:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_3\bin
C:\> javac -classpath .;C:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_3\jdbc\lib\ojdbc6.jar HelloWorld.java
C:\> java -classpath .;C:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_3\jdbc\lib\ojdbc6.jar -Doracle.net.tns_admin=C:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_3\network\admin HelloWorld
Hello World

If you get and issue with ocijdbc11, you either do not have the *ocijdbc11* driver in your PATH / LD_LIBRARY_PATH / LIBPATH or the use the wrong driver. For instance if you compile with java 32bits, you cannot use the oci 64 bit.

If you use a jdbc thin ldap resolution and have no anonymous bind, it will return an error


import java.sql.*;
public class HelloWorld {
  public  static void main(String[] args) throws SQLException {
    DriverManager.registerDriver(new oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver());
    ResultSet res = DriverManager.
      getConnection("jdbc:oracle:thin:@ldap://example.com:389/db01,cn=OracleContext", "scott", "tiger").
      prepareCall("select 'Hello World' txt from dual").
      executeQuery();
    res.next();
    System.out.println(res.getString("TXT"));
  }
}


C:\>java -classpath .;C:\oracle\product\11.2.0\client_3\jdbc\lib\ojdbc6.jar HelloWorld
Exception in thread "main" java.sql.SQLException: I/O-Fehler: JNDI Package failure avax.naming.NamingException: [LDAP:error code 1 - 000004DC: LdapErr: DSID-0C0906DC, comment: In order to perform this operation a successful bind must be completed on the connection., data 0, v1db0 ]; remaining name 'cn=db01,cn=OracleContext'
        at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CConnection.logon(T4CConnection.java:419)
        at oracle.jdbc.driver.PhysicalConnection.<init>(PhysicalConnection.java:536)
        at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CConnection.<init>(T4CConnection.java:228)
        at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CDriverExtension.getConnection(T4CDriverExtension.java:32)
        at oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver.connect(OracleDriver.java:521)
        at java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(DriverManager.java:525)
        at java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(DriverManager.java:171)
        at HelloWorld.main(HelloWorld.java:5)

As the error message says, the ldap server requires a bind

Let’s try to bind


import java.sql.*;
import java.util.*;
import oracle.jdbc.pool.*;
public class HelloWorld {
  public  static void main(String[] args) throws SQLException {
    OracleDataSource ods = new OracleDataSource();
    ods.setDriverType("thin");
    Properties prop = new Properties();
    prop.put("java.naming.security.authentication", "simple");
    prop.put("java.naming.security.principal","CN=Laurent Schneider,CN=Users,DC=example,DC=com");
    prop.put("java.naming.security.credentials", "my_ad_pw");
 
    ods.setConnectionProperties(prop);

    ods.setURL("jdbc:oracle:thin:@ldap://w2k8.local:389/db01,cn=OracleContext,DC=example,DC=com");
    ods.setUser("scott");
    ods.setPassword("tiger");
    ResultSet res = ods.
      getConnection().
        prepareCall("select 'Hello World' txt from dual").
          executeQuery();
    res.next();
    System.out.println(res.getString("TXT"));
  }
}

This works!

September 5, 2011September 5, 2011

how to run UTL_TCP, UTL_SMTP and the like in 11g

After we upgrade a db to 11g someone complained about an ORA-24248: XML DB extensible security not installed

I thought, it should be easy to revert to 10g mechanism. Probably wrong after reading Marco :
The default behavior for access control to network utility packages has been changed to disallow network operations to all nonprivileged users. This default behavior is different from, and is incompatible with, previous versions of Oracle Database.

I do not want to install XDB to send mail. Sounds like an overkill…

Ok, as an hard core dba I created a wrapper in the sys schema, something you probably should not do !

ex:
10g


SQL> conn scott/tiger
Connected.
SQL> select utl_inaddr.GET_HOST_ADDRESS('localhost') from dual;
UTL_INADDR.GET_HOST_ADDRESS('LOCALHOST')
--------------------------------------------------
127.0.0.1

after upgrade
11g


SQL> conn scott/tiger
Connected.
SQL> select utl_inaddr.GET_HOST_ADDRESS('localhost') from dual;
select utl_inaddr.GET_HOST_ADDRESS('localhost') from dual
       *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-24248: XML DB extensible security not installed
ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 19
ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 40
ORA-06512: at line 1

My workaround to “disable” Fine-Grained Access to External Network Services


SQL> conn / as sysdba
SQL> create or replace function my_utl_inaddr_GET_HOST_ADDRESS(HOST VARCHAR2) return VARCHAR2 is begin return utl_inaddr.GET_HOST_ADDRESS; end;
  2  /

Function created.

SQL> grant execute on my_utl_inaddr_GET_HOST_ADDRESS to scott;

Grant succeeded.
SQL> conn scott/tiger
Connected.
SQL> select sys.my_utl_inaddr_GET_HOST_ADDRESS('localhost') from dual;
SYS.MY_UTL_INADDR_GET_HOST_ADDRESS('LOCALHOST')
--------------------------------------------------
127.0.0.1

If you want to use the recommended way of granting access to utl_tcp and the like, check note 453756.1

July 25, 2011July 25, 2011

The reasons why I always avoid to shutdown abort

It is a common practice to always shutdown abort the database before restarting and shutting in down immediate. This is because sometimes SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE takes ages. For instance due to a huge transaction to be rollback.

I do not like it. At all.

First, chance exists that you won’t be able to start the database anymore. I have not heard or meet anyone who had this issue since Oracle7, but I still believe it.

Second, shutdown abort is very useful if something goes seriously wrong. But if something goes wrong, you may want to find out what it is.

Third, you may hit more bugs than if you do close normal. And you may get less help from support if this is due to an abusive shutdown abort. YMMV

Ok, small demo to preach to the converted
disclaimer: this demo is not innocent, do not try this on your database

SQL> create flashback archive fa tablespace ts retention 1 day;

Flashback archive created.

SQL> create table t(x number primary key);

Table created.

SQL> alter table t flashback archive fa;

Table altered.

SQL> insert into t values (1);

1 row created.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

SQL> select * from DBA_SEGMENTS where tablespace_name='TS';

no rows selected

I have created a flashback archive table, and the committed transaction is not written down to the flashback tablespace yet.


SQL> shutdown abort
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> startup 
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area  417546240 bytes
Fixed Size                  2227072 bytes
Variable Size             234882176 bytes
Database Buffers          171966464 bytes
Redo Buffers                8470528 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.


SQL> sho parameter undo_tablespace
NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE
------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------
undo_tablespace                      string      UNDO1
SQL> create undo tablespace undo2 datafile '/u02/oradata/@/undo2_01.dbf' size 10m reuse;

Tablespace created.

SQL> alter system set undo_tablespace=undo2;

System altered.

SQL> shutdown immediate
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> startup
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area  417546240 bytes
Fixed Size                  2227072 bytes
Variable Size             234882176 bytes
Database Buffers          171966464 bytes
Redo Buffers                8470528 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.

I have switched undo tablespace. So far so good. But remember the flashback archive did not write to the flashback tablespace before shutdown abort.


SQL> drop tablespace undo1 including contents and datafiles;
drop tablespace undo1 including contents and datafiles
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-01548: active rollback segment '_SYSSMU1_3544069484$' found, terminate dropping tablespace

You see… I cannot drop my old undo tablespace.

Q.E.D.

March 14, 2011

my first ADR package

You got an internal error and want to create a zip of all relevant files.

First, let’s generate an internal error. I found a quick way to generate an ora-600 or an ora-700 (which is a harmless ora-600 in 11g, read 737878.1) on oradeblog

SQL> oradebug unit_test dbke_test dde_flow_kge_soft foo bar baz
Statement processed.

Now start the command line interface, and set the ORACLE HOME

$ adrcli
adrci> show home
ADR Homes: 
diag/tnslsnr/precision/listener
diag/tnslsnr/localhost/listener
diag/rdbms/lsc02/LSC02
diag/rdbms/lsc03/LSC03
diag/rdbms/lsc01/LSC01
adrci> set homepath diag/rdbms/lsc02/LSC02
adrci> show home
ADR Homes: 
diag/rdbms/lsc02/LSC02

Check the incidents :

adrci> show incident

ADR Home = /u01/app/oracle/diag/rdbms/lsc02/LSC02:
*************************************************************************
INCIDENT_ID          PROBLEM_KEY       CREATE_TIME                              
-------------------- ----------------- --------------------------------- 
53065                ORA 700 [foo]     2011-03-14 18:20:24 +01:00       
1 rows fetched

Create the package metadata :


adrci> IPS CREATE PACKAGE INCIDENT 53065
Created package 1 based on incident id 53065, correlation level typical
adrci> ips SHOW PACKAGE 1
DETAILS FOR PACKAGE 1:
   PACKAGE_ID             1
   PACKAGE_NAME           ORA700foo_20110314182607
   PACKAGE_DESCRIPTION    
   DRIVING_PROBLEM        1
   DRIVING_PROBLEM_KEY    ORA 700 [foo]
   DRIVING_INCIDENT       53065
   DRIVING_INCIDENT_TIME  2011-03-14 18:20:24.304000 +01:00
   STATUS                 New (0)
   CORRELATION_LEVEL      Typical (2)
   PROBLEMS               1 main problems, 0 correlated problems
   INCIDENTS              1 main incidents, 0 correlated incidents
   INCLUDED_FILES         4
   SEQUENCES              Last 0, last full 0, last base 0
   UNPACKED               FALSE
   CREATE_TIME            2011-03-14 18:26:07.566961 +01:00
   UPDATE_TIME            2011-03-14 18:26:07.620324 +01:00
   BEGIN_TIME             N/A
   END_TIME               N/A
   FLAGS                  0

The metadata files (in $ORACLE_BASE/rdbms/db_name/sid/*.ams) are in an Oracle binary format

Create the package zip file :

adrci> IPS GENERATE PACKAGE 1 in /home/lsc/foo
Generated package 1 in file /home/lsc/foo/ORA700foo_20110314182607_COM_1.zip, 
mode complete

This zip file contains all traces and alerts that you may ever need to diagnose/resolve the analysis

adrci>  ips show files package 1
   FILE_ID                1
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incident/incdir_53065
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_ora_14163_i53065.trm
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incident/incdir_53065
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_ora_14163_i53065.trc
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                3
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/trace
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_ora_14163.trc
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                4
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/trace
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_ora_14163.trm
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                5
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/alert
   FILE_NAME              log.xml
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                6
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/trace
   FILE_NAME              alert_LSC02.log
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                7
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/trace
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_diag_5247.trc
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                8
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/trace
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_diag_5247.trm
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                12
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/trace
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_mmon_5265.trc
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                13
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/trace
   FILE_NAME              LSC02_mmon_5265.trm
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2007
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              IPS_CONFIGURATION.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2008
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              IPS_PACKAGE.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2009
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              IPS_PACKAGE_INCIDENT.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2010
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              IPS_PACKAGE_FILE.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2011
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              IPS_PACKAGE_HISTORY.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2012
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              IPS_FILE_METADATA.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2013
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              IPS_FILE_COPY_LOG.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2014
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              DDE_USER_ACTION_DEF.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2015
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              DDE_USER_ACTION_PARAMETER_DEF.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2016
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              DDE_USER_ACTION.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2017
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              DDE_USER_ACTION_PARAMETER.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2018
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              DDE_USER_INCIDENT_TYPE.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2019
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              DDE_USER_INCIDENT_ACTION_MAP.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2020
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              INCIDENT.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2021
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              INCCKEY.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2022
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              INCIDENT_FILE.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2023
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              PROBLEM.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2024
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              HM_RUN.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2025
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export
   FILE_NAME              EM_USER_ACTIVITY.dmp
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2026
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1
   FILE_NAME              config.xml
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2027
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/crs
   FILE_NAME              crsdiag.log
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2028
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1
   FILE_NAME              metadata.xml
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2029
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1
   FILE_NAME              manifest_1_1.xml
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2030
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1
   FILE_NAME              manifest_1_1.html
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

   FILE_ID                2031
   FILE_LOCATION          <ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1
   FILE_NAME              manifest_1_1.txt
   LAST_SEQUENCE          1
   EXCLUDE                Included

Even an html file

Manifest for package 1

Manifest details

Package ID	1
Creation time	2011-03-14 18:26:07.566961 +01:00
Archive time	2011-03-14 18:37:14.499389 +01:00
Sequence	1
Package mode	Complete
Package status	Generating
Package flags	Flags: (No flags set)

Contents summary

Main problems	1
Correlated problems	0
Main incidents	1
Correlated incidents	0

ADR details

Product	rdbms
Target	lsc02
Instance	LSC02
ADR base	/u01/app/oracle
ADR home	/u01/app/oracle/diag/rdbms/lsc02/LSC02

Main problems

Problem ID	Problem key	Incidents included	Incidents total
1	ORA 700 [foo]	1	1

Correlated problems

Problem ID	Problem key	Incidents included	Incidents total

Main incidents

Incident ID	Problem ID	Error Message	Incident time
53065	1	ORA-700 [foo] [bar] [baz]	2011-03-14 18:20:24.304000 +01:00

Correlated incidents

Incident ID	Problem ID	Error Message	Incident time

Files

File name	Location	Size	File time
LSC02_ora_14163_i53065.trm	<ADR_HOME>/incident/incdir_53065	54828	2011-03-14 18:20:26.000000 +01:00
LSC02_ora_14163_i53065.trc	<ADR_HOME>/incident/incdir_53065	2433968	2011-03-14 18:20:26.000000 +01:00
LSC02_ora_14163.trc	<ADR_HOME>/trace	1308	2011-03-14 18:20:26.000000 +01:00
LSC02_ora_14163.trm	<ADR_HOME>/trace	210	2011-03-14 18:20:24.000000 +01:00
log.xml	<ADR_HOME>/alert	885849	2011-03-14 18:20:27.000000 +01:00
alert_LSC02.log	<ADR_HOME>/trace	164969	2011-03-14 18:20:27.000000 +01:00
LSC02_diag_5247.trc	<ADR_HOME>/trace	1287	2011-03-14 18:20:26.000000 +01:00
LSC02_diag_5247.trm	<ADR_HOME>/trace	77	2011-03-14 18:20:26.000000 +01:00
LSC02_mmon_5265.trc	<ADR_HOME>/trace	8703	2011-03-14 18:33:43.000000 +01:00
LSC02_mmon_5265.trm	<ADR_HOME>/trace	838	2011-03-14 18:33:43.000000 +01:00
IPS_CONFIGURATION.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	2818	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
IPS_PACKAGE.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	476	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
IPS_PACKAGE_INCIDENT.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	193	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
IPS_PACKAGE_FILE.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	1126	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00
IPS_PACKAGE_HISTORY.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	280	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
IPS_FILE_METADATA.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	2888	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00
IPS_FILE_COPY_LOG.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	214	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00
DDE_USER_ACTION_DEF.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	908	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
DDE_USER_ACTION_PARAMETER_DEF.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	708	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
DDE_USER_ACTION.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	204	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
DDE_USER_ACTION_PARAMETER.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	198	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
DDE_USER_INCIDENT_TYPE.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	353	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
DDE_USER_INCIDENT_ACTION_MAP.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	166	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
INCIDENT.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	700	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
INCCKEY.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	303	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
INCIDENT_FILE.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	268	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
PROBLEM.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	395	2011-03-14 18:37:13.000000 +01:00
HM_RUN.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	342	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00
EM_USER_ACTIVITY.dmp	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/export	207	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00
config.xml	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1	56180	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00
crsdiag.log	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1/crs	184	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00
metadata.xml	<ADR_HOME>/incpkg/pkg_1/seq_1	556	2011-03-14 18:37:14.000000 +01:00

But did Oracle Support ever asked you for an ADR package? Or do they still ask for RDA

I used to select, zip and send traces files manually, I may consider ADR packages by my next ORA-600 !

March 7, 2011March 7, 2011

List events in session, process or system

There is a new command in 11g to display the current events, which is oradebug eventdump.

For instance :

SQL> alter session set events '10046 trace name context forever,level 12:942 trace name ERRORSTACK level 3';

SQL> oradebug setmypid
Statement processed.
SQL> oradebug eventdump session
sql_trace level=12
942 trace name ERRORSTACK level 3

Read metalink note 436036.1

In 10g and before, the command was oradebug dump events 1 and the list was dumped in a trace file, 11g directly outputs to the console.

Note there is no backward compatibility with unsupported tools like oradebug.
In 11g you will get an ORA-76 with dump events

SQL> oradebug setmypid
Statement processed.
SQL> oradebug dump events 1
ORA-00076: dump EVENTS not found
$ oerr ora 76
00076, 00000, "dump %s not found"
// *Cause:  An attempt was made to invoke a dump that does not exist.
// *Action: Type DUMPLIST to see the list of available dumps.

February 7, 2011

EZCONNECT and HOSTNAME resolution methods

EZCONNECT is the easy connect protocol, available in 10g, whenever you want to connect to a database without tnsnames and without ldap.

$ grep -iw directory_path $TNS_ADMIN/sqlnet.ora
names.directory_path=EZCONNECT
$ sqlplus scott/tiger@//srv01:1521/db01

connect to server srv01 on port 1521 for service db01

HOSTNAME was the old-fashion way to connect to a database, where hostname = sid and port = 1521. In this regard EZCONNECT is just an extension of the hostname method.

Typical HOSTNAME usage, that is the same as EZCONNECT with default port 1521.
sqlplus scott/tiger@db01
connect to server db01 on port 1521 for service db01

There is a behavior change between 10g and 11g. In 10g, the default service name defaulted to the DNS alias used to connect. In 11g, the default is null.

$ nslookup db01
Server:  ns001.example.com
Address:  198.0.0.30

Name:    srv01.example.com
Address:  198.0.0.60
Aliases:  db01.example.com

$ nslookup db02
Server:  ns001.example.com
Address:  198.0.0.30

Name:    srv01.example.com
Address:  198.0.0.60
Aliases:  db02.example.com

Both DB01 and DB02 DNS aliases point to the same server.

Let’s try with 10g

$ sqlplus -L scott/tiger@db01.example.com

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on Mon Feb 7 15:46:53 2011

Copyright (c) 1982, 2006, Oracle.  All Rights Reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL> select global_name from global_name;
GLOBAL_NAME
---------------------------------------
DB01.EXAMPLE.COM
SQL> quit
$ sqlplus -L scott/tiger@db02.example.com

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on Mon Feb 7 15:47:33 2011

Copyright (c) 1982, 2006, Oracle.  All Rights Reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL> select global_name from global_name;
GLOBAL_NAME
---------------------------------------
DB02.EXAMPLE.COM

Let’s try with 11g sqlplus

$ sqlplus -L scott/tiger@db01.example.com

SQL*Plus: Release 11.2.0.2.0 Production on Mon Feb 7 15:50:27 2011

Copyright (c) 1982, 2010, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

ERROR:
ORA-12504: TNS:listener was not given the SERVICE_NAME in CONNECT_DATA

SP2-0751: Unable to connect to Oracle.  Exiting SQL*Plus

It no longer works. Period. This is documented as Problem 556996.1 in Metalink.

A 10g tnsping will reveal

$ tnsping db01.example.com:1521

TNS Ping Utility for IBM/AIX RISC System/6000: Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on 07-FEB-2011 15:52:34

Copyright (c) 1997, 2006, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:
/home/lsc/sqlnet.ora

Used HOSTNAME adapter to resolve the alias
Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION=(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=db01.example.com))(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=198.0.0.60)(PORT=1521)))
OK (80 msec)

In 10g the service_name is the connection dns alias used

In contrary, the 11g tnsping service name is null

$ tnsping db01.example.com:1521

TNS Ping Utility for IBM/AIX RISC System/6000: Version 11.2.0.2.0 - Production on 07-FEB-2011 15:56:55

Copyright (c) 1997, 2010, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:
/home/lsc/sqlnet.ora

Used HOSTNAME adapter to resolve the alias
Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION=(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=))(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=198.0.0.60)(PORT=1521)))
OK (10 msec)

The tnsping works, but the service_name is empty.

How to fix this?

1) you specify the SID in easy connect (yes, this is easy!)

$ tnsping db01.example.com:1521/db01.example.com

TNS Ping Utility for IBM/AIX RISC System/6000: Version 11.2.0.2.0 - Production on 07-FEB-2011 15:59:10

Copyright (c) 1997, 2010, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:
/home/lsc/sqlnet.ora

Used HOSTNAME adapter to resolve the alias
Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION=(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=db01.example.com))(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=198.0.0.60)(PORT=1521)))
OK (10 msec)

2) you use 10g, or 10g behavior in 11g with patch 9271246 (available only on a limited number of plateforms, os and db versions),

3) you specify a default service for your listener

$ vi listener.ora
DEFAULT_SERVER_LISTENER=DB01
$ lsnrctl reload
$ sqlplus -L scott/tiger@db01 

Copyright (c) 1982, 2010, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL>

This is a bit confusing as if you are servicing more than one database per listener, all dns aliases will default to the same database. So I would not recommend a default service name if there is more than one service name.

January 10, 2011January 24, 2011

RMAN duplicate does change your DB_NAME !

I had a very serious issue last Friday with errors as weird as ORA-00322: log name of thread num is not current copy. After a clone from Prod to Test, the prod crashed. Both databases are located on the same server (I am not a virtualization fanatic) and clone from prod to test have been done by most of my dba readers.

What did change in 11g ?

Incredibly, in 11g, rman issues the following statement before restore

sql clone "alter system set  db_name = ''PROD'' ...
restore clone primary controlfile...

This is probably related to the capability of cloning a database without connecting to the target database.

At the end of the clone, rman is setting back the db_name to TEST and recreate the TEST controlfile

sql statement: alter system set  db_name = ''TEST'' ...
sql statement: CREATE CONTROLFILE REUSE SET DATABASE "TEST" ...
...
LOGFILE
GROUP 1 ('/.../TEST/redo1.dbf')...

So what’s wrong with this? Howcome could a clone from prod to test screw up the prod db???

Simple, the RMAN job did not complete

1) set new name, restore prod controlfile to test
2) restore issue, for instance ORA-19870: error while restoring backup piece archive1234
3) RMAN-03002: failure of Duplicate Db command

At this point, the complete restore was finished, we restored the missing archivelog, recover and open resetlog.
What happened then???
At this point, remember you still have the prod controlfile (and the prod db_name), so by doing an alter resetlogs, the production redologs will get overwritten without notice !

This is a fairly important change that could really hurt if you are cloning two databases on the same server.

In case you are trying to save a failed database clone, make sure you check db_name and also v$logfile before doing an alter database resetlogs!!!

July 3, 2009November 18, 2009

select from comma-separated list

This is asked over and over in the forums, but why not proposing an 11g solution here 😉

create table t(description varchar2(12) primary key, 
  numbers varchar2(4000));
insert into t(description, numbers) values ('PRIME','2,3,5,7');
insert into t(description, numbers) values ('ODD','1,3,5,7,9');
commit;

DESCRIPTION	NUMBERS
PRIME	2,3,5,7
ODD	1,3,5,7,9

Now I want to unpivot numbers in rows


select description,(column_value).getnumberval()  
from t,xmltable(numbers)

DESCRIPTION	(COLUMN_VALUE).GETNUMBERVAL()
PRIME	2
PRIME	3
PRIME	5
PRIME	7
ODD	1
ODD	3
ODD	5
ODD	7
ODD	9

It is that simple 🙂

Works also with strings :


select (column_value).getstringval() 
from xmltable('"a","b","c"');

(COLUMN_VALUE).GETSTRINGVAL()
a
b
c

April 3, 2009September 8, 2014

Oracle on Mac

I just read a post from Barry Mc Gillin about apex on MacOsX.

After having being using Vista for one year, I would really welcome a Mac as my next notebook. But what about Oracle Database on Mac OS X?

According to otn, the latest release as of today is a deprecated 10gR1 for the deprecated platform PowerPC.

However, according to metalink, a 10gR2 is planned for the first quarter of 2009 (sic)
Db 10gR2 on MacOS X Intel
And 11g is planned too Db 11gR1 on MacOS X Intel, Schedule to be announced.

September 20, 2008September 20, 2008

11g release 1 patchset 1

I just notice on Sven Blog that 11.1.0.7 is available. I have recently upgraded my connection at home so it took a bit less than half an hour to download this 1.5G patchset

$ wget -O p6890831_111070_Linux-x86-64.zip http://oracle-updates.oracle…
–10:17:40– http://oracle-updates.oracle.com/ARUConnect/p6890831_111070_Linux-x86-64..
Resolving oracle-updates.oracle.com… 87.248.199.23, 87.248.199.24
Connecting to oracle-updates.oracle.com|87.248.199.23|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 1,613,366,248 (1.5G) [application/zip]

100%[==================================>] 1,613,366,248 891.73K/s

10:47:31 (879.89 KB/s) – `p6890831_111070_Linux-x86-64.zip’ saved [1613366248/1613366248]

$ unzip p6890831_111070_Linux-x86-64.zip
$ cd Disk1
$ ./runInstaller
Starting Oracle Universal Installer…
Preparing to launch Oracle Universal Installer from
Oracle Universal Installer, Version 11.1.0.7.0 Production
Copyright (C) 1999, 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

$ su –
root’s password:
# /u00/app/oracle/product/11.1/db_1/root.sh
Running Oracle 11g root.sh script…
# exit
$ sqlplus / as sysdba
SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.7.0 – Production on Sat Sep 20 11:10:35 2008

Copyright (c) 1982, 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Connected to an idle instance.

SQL> startup quiet migrate
ORACLE instance started.
Database mounted.
Database opened.
SQL> set time on
11:42:21 SQL> sho parameter sga_target

NAME TYPE VALUE
———————————— ———– ——————————
sga_target big integer 200M
11:42:25 SQL> alter system set sga_target=300m scope=spfile;

System altered.

11:42:28 SQL> shutdown immediate
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
11:42:43 SQL> startup quiet migrate
ORACLE instance started.
Database mounted.
Database opened.
11:43:01 SQL> @?/rdbms/admin/catupgrd
…
11:54:03 SQL> Rem END catupgrd.sql
11:54:03 SQL> startup
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 313159680 bytes
Fixed Size 2159272 bytes
Variable Size 226495832 bytes
Database Buffers 79691776 bytes
Redo Buffers 4812800 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
11:56:28 SQL> select comp_name,status,version from dba_registry;

COMP_NAME STATUS VERSION
———————————– ——– ———-
Oracle Ultra Search VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle XML Database VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle Text VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle Expression Filter VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle Rules Manager VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle Workspace Manager VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle Database Catalog Views VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle Database Packages and Types VALID 11.1.0.7.0
JServer JAVA Virtual Machine VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle XDK VALID 11.1.0.7.0
Oracle Database Java Packages VALID 11.1.0.7.0

My first try with 200Mb sga target did not succeeded. But with 300Mb sga target it worked fine.

September 19, 2008September 24, 2008

About case sensitivity

SQL is a case insensitive language. That means, you can write any SQL statement in uppercase or lowercase.

SQL> SELECT DUMMY FROM DUAL;
D
-
X

SQL> select dummy from dual;
D
-
X

Some formatters like Toad and some courseware like Skillsoft E-Learning advise to use UPPERCASE for commands and lowercase for tables and columns.


/* Formatted on 2008/09/19 10:00 
(Formatter Plus v4.8.8) */
SELECT dummy
  FROM DUAL;

Well, Toad decided to put DUAL in uppercase. Anyway, this is no authority, define your own guideline and stick to it. If you use TOAD a lot, it is maybe OK to use lowercase for non-keywords.

The column dummy is actually the uppercase “DUMMY” column of “DUAL”. Putting double quotes around a column of table makes it case sensitive, so “DUMMY” is not “dummy”.

SQL> select "dummy" from "dual";
select "dummy" from "dual"
                    *
Error at line 1
ORA-00942: table or view does not exist

SQL> SELECT "DUMMY" FROM "DUAL";
D
-
X

OK, something very bad about Toad formatter is (at least the version I am using) that it considers unquoted password to be case insensitive. Which is wrong. The password, in 11g, is case sensitive, even when not in double quotes. Therefore, be sure to put the right case when creating scripts and do not format your CREATE USER statements with Toad or use double quotes for disambiguation!


SQL> ALTER USER scott IDENTIFIED BY BIG;
User altered.
SQL> connect scott/BIG
Connected.
SQL> /* Formatted on 2008/09/19 10:17 (Formatter Plus v4.8.8) */
SQL> ALTER USER scott IDENTIFIED BY big;
SQL> connect scott/BIG
ERROR:
ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied
Warning: You are no longer connected to ORACLE.

August 22, 2008August 25, 2008

read uncommitted

the default isolation level is READ COMMITTED. It means, a session read the committed data.

Session 1:


SQL> set transaction isolation level read committed;

Transaction set.

Session 2:


SQL> update emp set sal=4000 where ename='SCOTT';

1 row updated.

Session 1:


SQL> select sal from emp where ename='SCOTT';

       SAL
----------
      3000

Session 2:


SQL> commit;
Commit complete.

Session 1:


SQL> select sal from emp where ename='SCOTT';

       SAL
----------
      4000
SQL> update emp set sal=3000 where ename='SCOTT';

1 row updated.

SQL> commit;
Commit complete.

When the session 1 reads the salary of Scott, it gets the value that is committed in the database.

Another isolation level is SERIALIZABLE.

Session 1:


SQL> set transaction isolation level serializable;

Transaction set.

Session 2:


SQL> update emp set sal=5000 where ename='SCOTT';

1 row updated.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

Session 1:


SQL> select sal from emp where ename='SCOTT';

       SAL
----------
      3000

SQL> update emp set sal=sal+1;
update emp set sal=sal+1
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-08177: can't serialize access for this transaction
SQL> roll
Rollback complete.
SQL> select sal from emp where ename='SCOTT';

       SAL
----------
      5000

SQL> update emp set sal=3000 where ename='SCOTT';

1 row updated.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

In session 1, the isolation level of the transaction is set to SERIALIZABLE. Session 2 update the salary of Scott to 5000 and commits. The session 1 therefore does not read committed data and any tentative to change the committed data will fail. Roll[back;] ends the transaction. The session 1 can then read committed data and update the salary to 3000.

Ok, let’s imagine you have to interview an OCM and you want to ask him a very difficult question 😉 :

– Is it possible in Oracle to read uncommitted data from another session?

Let’s try 🙂

Session 1:


SQL> var rc number
SQL> set autop on
SQL> select sal from emp where ename='SCOTT';

       SAL
----------
      3000

SQL> exec :rc:=DBMS_XA.XA_START(DBMS_XA_XID(1), 
  DBMS_XA.TMNOFLAGS)

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

        RC
----------
         0

SQL>
SQL> UPDATE emp SET sal=6000 WHERE ename='SCOTT';

1 row updated.

SQL> exec :rc:=DBMS_XA.XA_END(DBMS_XA_XID(1), 
  DBMS_XA.TMSUSPEND)

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

        RC
----------
         0

Session 2:


SQL> select sal from emp where ename='SCOTT';

       SAL
----------
      3000

SQL> var sal number
SQL> var rc number
SQL> set autop on
SQL> begin
  :rc:=DBMS_XA.XA_START(DBMS_XA_XID(1),DBMS_XA.TMRESUME);
  SELECT SAL INTO :SAL FROM EMP WHERE ENAME='SCOTT';
  :rc:=DBMS_XA.XA_END(DBMS_XA_XID(1), DBMS_XA.TMSUCCESS);
  :rc:=DBMS_XA.XA_ROLLBACK(DBMS_XA_XID(1));
end;
/

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

       SAL
----------
      6000

        RC
----------
         0

SQL> select sal from emp where ename='SCOTT';

       SAL
----------
      3000

So yes, you can read uncommitted data in a global transaction from another session. But no, the SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ UNCOMMITTED is not supported in Oracle

March 12, 2008May 3, 2008

alter user identified by values in 11g

I wrote about dba_users changes in 11g .

When spooling alter user commands in 11g, it is important to understand the mechanism. Oracle 11g supports both sensitive and insensitive passwords.

When issuing an CREATE/ALTER USER IDENTIFIED BY PASSWORD, both the insensitive and the sensitive hashes are saved.

SQL> create user u identified by u;
User created.
SQL> grant create session to u;
Grant succeeded.
SQL> connect u/U
ERROR:
ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied
Warning: You are no longer connected to ORACLE.
SQL> connect u/u
Connected.

Per default only the proper case works


SQL> alter system set sec_case_sensitive_logon=false;
System altered.
SQL> connect u/U
Connected.
SQL> conn u/u
Connected.

When sec_case_sensitive_logon=false, both uppercase and lowercase passwords work (10g behavior).

When issuing a create user identified by values, you must chose if you want to have both passwords, only the case insensitive or only the case sensitive.


SQL> select password,spare4 from user$ where name='U';

PASSWORD
------------------------------
SPARE4
--------------------------------------------------------------
18FE58AECB6217DB
S:8B1765172812D9F6B62C2A2B1E5FEF203200A44B4B87F9D934DABBB809A4

The hashes are in USER$.


SQL> alter user u identified by values '18FE58AECB6217DB';
User altered.
SQL> alter system set sec_case_sensitive_logon=true;
System altered.
SQL> conn u/u
Connected.
SQL> conn u/U
Connected.

When only the 10g oracle hash is used as a value, the password is case insensitive whatever the setting of sec_case_sensitive_logon is.


SQL> alter user u identified by values 
'S:8B1765172812D9F6B62C2A2B1E5FEF203200A44B4B87F9D934-
DABBB809A4';
User altered.
SQL> alter system set sec_case_sensitive_logon=false;
System altered.
SQL> conn u/u
ERROR:
ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied
Warning: You are no longer connected to ORACLE.
SQL> conn u/U
ERROR:
ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied

When only the 11g oracle hash is used as a value, the password is case sensitive and if the setting of sec_case_sensitive_logon is on false, the login failed as there is no 10g string. This setting is probably the most secure setting as the 10g string is not saved in USER$.


SQL> alter user u identified by values 
'S:8B1765172812D9F6B62C2A2B1E5FEF203200A44B4B87F9D934-
DABBB809A4;18FE58AECB6217DB';
SQL> alter system set sec_case_sensitive_logon=true;
System altered.
SQL> conn u/u
Connected.
SQL> conn u/U
ERROR:
ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied
Warning: You are no longer connected to ORACLE.
SQL> conn / as sysdba
Connected.
SQL> alter system set sec_case_sensitive_logon=false;
System altered.
SQL> conn u/u
Connected.
SQL> conn u/U
Connected.

When using both hashes, switching back and forth to 11g mechanism is possible.

February 4, 2008May 3, 2008

milliseconds in alert log

In Oracle11g the alert log is an XML file. The old style alertSID.log is created out of the log.xml for backward compatibility only. However, some exciting enhancement are not noticable in the old one.

$ tail -3 alert*.log
Mon Feb 04 15:52:38 2008
ALTER SYSTEM SET recyclebin='OFF' SCOPE=SPFILE;
ALTER SYSTEM SET recyclebin='ON' SCOPE=SPFILE;

If I check in the xml file, I get more info about the execution time, which contains milliseconds

$ adrci exec="show alert -term"|tail -4
2008-02-04 15:52:38.366000 +01:00
ALTER SYSTEM SET recyclebin='OFF' SCOPE=SPFILE;
2008-02-04 15:52:42.101000 +01:00
ALTER SYSTEM SET recyclebin='ON' SCOPE=SPFILE;

This timestamp could be really usefull !

There is also a command -tail for adrci, but it outputed the whole log for some unkown reason

January 7, 2008January 28, 2015

11g certification

The 11g OCP certification should be available this year. You can register for the production exam 1Z0-050 New Features on Prometrics and pass the exam on Mon Feb 18th or later, the OCA exams 1Z1-051 SQL Fundamentals and 1Z1-052 Admin I are in beta and the OCP exam 1Z1-053 Admin II is planned for early 2008 (well, the OCA exams are planned for late 2007, so do not rely on this timeframe).
Check the official page :
Oracle Education 11g certification

The 11g OCM is planned for a later date (whatever that means). Well, I am no longer going to wait for the 10g OCM upgrade for 9i OCM… I am not going to do a certification for an older release since 11g exams are available. I will rather do the 11g ocp this year. As I wrote earlier, the 10g OCM was planned for late 2004…

December 5, 2007May 3, 2008

Oracle 11g Hot patching

Online Patching : you can apply or roll back online patches while the RDBMS instance is running

1) download an interim patch for 11g, f.ex. dummy patch 6198642
2) unzip p6198642_111060_LINUX.zip
3) cd 6198642
4) $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch apply -silent -connectString LSC08 -runSql

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       : /opt/oracle/product/11/db_4
Central Inventory : /opt/oracle/oraInventory
   from           : /etc/oraInst.loc
OPatch version    : 11.1.0.6.0
OUI version       : 11.1.0.6.0
OUI location      : /opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/oui
Log file location : /opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/cfgtoollogs/
    opatch/opatch2007-12-05_21-23-42PM.log

RollbackSession rolling back interim patch '6198642' from OH
    '/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4'

Running prerequisite checks...

OPatch detected non-cluster Oracle Home from the inventory 
    and will patch the local system only.

Please shutdown Oracle instances running out of this 
    ORACLE_HOME on the local system.
(Oracle Home = '/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4')

Is the local system ready for patching? [y|n]
Y (auto-answered by -silent)
User Responded with: Y
Backing up files affected by the patch '6198642' for restore. 
    This might take a while...
Execution of 'sh /opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/.patch_storage/
    6198642_May_07_2007_00_50_36/original_patch/custom/
    scripts/pre -rollback 6198642 ':

Return Code = 0

Patching component oracle.rdbms, 11.1.0.6.0...
Copying file to "/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/cpu/CPUDummy2007/
    catcpu.sql"
RollbackSession removing interim patch '6198642' from inventory

---------------------------------------------------------------
This is a dummy patch for testing only
---------------------------------------------------------------
Execution of 'sh /opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/.patch_storage/
    6198642_May_07_2007_00_50_36/original_patch/custom/scripts/
    post -rollback 6198642 ':

Return Code = 0

Running the "apply" sql script "/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/cpu/
    CPUDummy2007/catcpu.sql" with reference to 'patchmd.xml' file 
    for the patch "6198642"...

The local system has been patched and can be restarted.

OPatch succeeded.

OPatch did run the necessary script (catcpu for Dummy2007) on the various instances (LSC08). It needed only one step and 34 seconds on my notebook. This patch is a dummy patch, let’s wait for CPU January to see if it is online applicable 😉

November 30, 2007May 3, 2008

backup bigfile tablespace

One may pretend bigfile tablespace is bad, because you cannot backup/restore in parallel.


SQL> create bigfile tablespace big datafile size 1g;

Tablespace created.

RMAN> configure device type disk parallelism 4;

using target database control file instead of recovery catalog
old RMAN configuration parameters:
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 4 BACKUP TYPE 
  TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET;
new RMAN configuration parameters:
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 4 BACKUP TYPE 
  TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET;
new RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored

RMAN> backup tablespace big section size 100m;

Starting backup at 30.11.2007 07:23:30
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=44 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_2
channel ORA_DISK_2: SID=42 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_3
channel ORA_DISK_3: SID=41 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_4
channel ORA_DISK_4: SID=40 device type=DISK
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007 
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 1 through 12800
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 30.11.2007 07:23:37
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_2: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007 
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 12801 through 25600
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting piece 2 at 30.11.2007 07:23:41
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_3: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007 
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 25601 through 38400
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting piece 3 at 30.11.2007 07:23:45
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_4: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007 
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 38401 through 51200
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting piece 4 at 30.11.2007 07:23:48
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 30.11.2007 07:23:49
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_1_1 
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:12
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007 
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 51201 through 64000
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 5 at 30.11.2007 07:23:53
channel ORA_DISK_2: finished piece 2 at 30.11.2007 07:23:53
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_2_1 
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_2: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:12
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_2: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007 
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 64001 through 76800
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting piece 6 at 30.11.2007 07:23:57
channel ORA_DISK_3: finished piece 3 at 30.11.2007 07:23:57
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_3_1
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_3: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:12
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_3: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 76801 through 89600
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting piece 7 at 30.11.2007 07:24:01
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 5 at 30.11.2007 07:24:01
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_5_1 
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:08
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 89601 through 102400
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 8 at 30.11.2007 07:24:05
channel ORA_DISK_2: finished piece 6 at 30.11.2007 07:24:05
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_6_1 
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_2: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:08
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_2: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 102401 through 115200
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting piece 9 at 30.11.2007 07:24:09
channel ORA_DISK_4: finished piece 4 at 30.11.2007 07:24:09
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_4_1 
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_4: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:21
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_4: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 115201 through 128000
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting piece 10 at 30.11.2007 07:24:13
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 8 at 30.11.2007 07:24:13
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_8_1 
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:08
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007
  name=/oradata/LSC08/datafile/o1_mf_big_3nzbd7h5_.dbf
backing up blocks 128001 through 131072
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 11 at 30.11.2007 07:24:18
channel ORA_DISK_2: finished piece 9 at 30.11.2007 07:24:18
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_9_1
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_2: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:09
channel ORA_DISK_3: finished piece 7 at 30.11.2007 07:24:18
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_7_1
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_3: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:17
channel ORA_DISK_4: finished piece 10 at 30.11.2007 07:24:18
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_10_1
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_4: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:05
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 11 at 30.11.2007 07:24:19
piece handle=/opt/oracle/product/11/db_4/dbs/01j2avjk_11_1
  tag=TAG20071130T072332 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01
Finished backup at 30.11.2007 07:24:19

This works fine 😉

SECTION SIZE requires 11gR1 or later

November 29, 2007May 3, 2008

Create edition

In 2006, I blogged about 11g new features part II. At that time 11g was in alpha or early beta stage.

One of the new feature announced at OpenWorld 2006 was multiversioning. Like you have multiple versions of your packages running at the same time.

Unfortunately, the feature has not been implemented in 11g Release 1.

As you can see, the CREATE EDITION command does not work :

SQL> create edition v1;
create edition v1
       *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00901: invalid CREATE command

SQL> alter session set edition=v1;
ERROR:
ORA-38802: edition does not exist

The error messages ORA-38801 to ORA-38816 refer to EDITIONS.

SQL> select * from dba_editions;
EDITION_NAME PARENT_EDITION_NAME USABLE
------------ ------------------- ------
ORA$BASE                         YES

SQL> alter session set edition=ora$base;

Session altered.

Apparently the feature is implemented, but not ready to be used. Be patient …

September 21, 2007May 3, 2008

Please RTFOM !

Today I opened two SR about flashback archive in 11g. In one of them, I complained that user SCOTT was not allowed to create a flashback archive. In the doc that I downloaded a few weeks ago I read :
Prerequisites
You must have the FLASHBACK ARCHIVE ADMINISTER system privilege to create a flashback data archive. This privilege can be granted only by a user with DBA privileges. In addition, you must have the CREATE TABLESPACE system privilege to create a flashback data archive, as well as sufficient quota on the tablespace in which the historical information will reside.

So as I was getting an ORA-55611, I opened a SR. The support engineer pointed me to the online documentation where I was astonished to read :
Prerequisites
You must have the FLASHBACK ARCHIVE ADMINISTER system privilege to create a flashback data archive. In addition, you must have the CREATE TABLESPACE system privilege to create a flashback data archive, as well as sufficient quota on the tablespace in which the historical information will reside. To designate a flashback data archive as the system default flashback data archive, you must be logged in as SYSDBA.

Well, Read The Fine Online Manual !!!

The second tar is related to long retention (about the age of the earth)


SQL> alter flashback archive fba01 
  modify retention 4106694757 year;

Flashback archive altered.

SQL> select retention_in_days
  from DBA_FLASHBACK_ARCHIVE;
RETENTION_IN_DAYS
-----------------
                1

September 18, 2007May 3, 2008

isNumber in sql

I tried this in 11g
TABLE T

X
123
-1.2e-3
abc


select x, 
  to_number(
    xmlquery('number($X)' 
      passing x as x 
      returning content)) n 
from t;
X                N
------- ----------
123            123
-1.2e-3     -.0012
abc

it is quite a common task to extract numbers from varchar2 and to dig out poor quality data.

select x, to_number(x) from t;
ERROR:
ORA-01722: invalid number

A well-known PL/SQL approach would be to use exception. Ex:


create or replace function f(x varchar2) 
return number is 
begin return to_number(x); 
exception when others then return null; 
end;
/
select x, f(x) n from t;
X                N
------- ----------
123            123
-1.2e-3     -.0012
abc

another approach in plain sql could involve CASE and REGEXP

select x,
case when
regexp_like(x,
‘^-?(&#92+&#92.?|&#92d*&#92.&#92d+)([eE][+-]&#92d+)?$’)
then to_number(x)
end n
from t;
X N
——- ———-
123 123
-1.2e-3 -.0012
abc

September 3, 2007September 8, 2014

Oracle Database 11g: The Top Features for DBAs and Developers

I am always delighted to read the top features by Arup Nanda.

He started his 11g series : Oracle Database 11g: The Top Features for DBAs and Developers

There are many partitioning enhancements. The most exciting feature for me is the INTERVAL partitioning. A huge cause of downtime and waste of storage is the range partitioning. In 10g and before, a partitioning by dates required that the partition are defined before values are inserted.

Now we have automatic partition creation 😀


create table t(d date) 
partition by range(d) 
interval(interval '1' month) 
(partition p1 values less than (date '0001-01-01'));

One partition must be created manually, here the partition will contain all dates from 1-JAN-4712BC to 31-DEC-0000 (which is not a legal date by the way)

There is also new syntax to query the partition

SQL> insert into t values (date '2000-01-10');

1 row created.

SQL> insert into t values (date '2000-01-20');

1 row created.

SQL> insert into t values (date '2000-03-30');

1 row created.

SQL> select * from t partition for (date '2000-01-01');
D
-------------------
10.01.2000 00:00:00
20.01.2000 00:00:00

Note the syntax can be used in any form of partitioning. Here in a list-list composite


SQL> create table t(x number, y number) 
  partition by list(x) 
  subpartition by list(y) 
    subpartition template (
      subpartition sp1 values(1),
      subpartition sp2 values(2)) 
  (partition values(1), partition values(2));

Table created.

SQL> insert into t values(1,2); 
1 row created.

SQL> select * from t subpartition for (1,2);
         X          Y
---------- ----------
         1          2

Ok, one more feature Arup introduced is the REF partitioning, where you have a schema with both the parent and child tables partitioned, and you want to partition on a column of the parent table that is not in the child table (as you had bitmap join indexes, you have now ref partitions). Check it on his site.

Finally Arup explained SYSTEM partitioning, which is not inconceivable, but will hardly be used.

Imagine you have a table containing just one single LOB column, and a LOB cannot be used as a partition key.

SQL> create table t(x clob)
  partition by system (
    partition p1, 
    partition p2, 
    partition p3, 
    partition p4);

Table created.

So far this seems fine. So what the problem? You cannot insert in that table!

SQL> insert into t values(1);
insert into t values(1)
            *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-14701: partition-extended name or bind variable
must be used for DMLs on tables partitioned by the
System method

so you must define in which partition you want to add data. For example round robin. Or random. Whatever.


SQL> insert into t partition (P1)  values ('x');

1 row created.

SQL> insert into t partition (P2)  values ('y');

1 row created.

If you want to use bind variable, you can use dataobj_to_partition


SQL> select object_id 
  from user_objects 
  where object_name='T' 
    and subobject_name is not null;
 OBJECT_ID
----------
     55852
     55853
     55854
     55855

SQL> var partition_id number
SQL> exec :partition_id := 55852

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL> insert into t 
  partition (dataobj_to_partition("T",:partition_id))
  values ('x');

1 row created.
SQL> exec :partition_id := 55853

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL> insert into t 
  partition (dataobj_to_partition("T",:partition_id))
  values ('x');

1 row created.

Actually, SYSTEM partitioning is misleading, YOU are responsible for choosing the partition in which you want to insert, not the system

August 31, 2007May 3, 2008

flashback archive table

One of the problem with flashback queries in 10g and before is that you never know if it will works, especially you cannot expect to have flashback queries working for very old tables.

Let’s imagine you want to export your CUSTOMER as of 30/6/2007. No chance in 10g…

Well, with 11g, you can create a flashback archive, and it will save all change until end of retention (many years if you want).

Here it is :

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.
SQL> create tablespace s;

Tablespace created.

SQL> create flashback archive default fba01 tablespace s 
  retention 1 month;

Flashback archive created.

SQL> connect scott/tiger
Connected.
SQL> create table t(x number) flashback archive;

Table created.

SQL> host sleep 10

SQL> insert into t(x) values (1);

1 row created.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

SQL> SELECT dbms_flashback.get_system_change_number FROM dual;
GET_SYSTEM_CHANGE_NUMBER
------------------------
                  337754

SQL> update t set x=2;

1 row updated.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

SQL> select * from t as of scn 337754;
         X
----------
         1

SQL> alter table t no flashback archive;

Table altered.

SQL> drop table t;

Table dropped.

SQL> select FLASHBACK_ARCHIVE_NAME, RETENTION_IN_DAYS,
  STATUS from DBA_FLASHBACK_ARCHIVE;
FLASHBACK_ARCHIVE_NAME RETENTION_IN_DAYS STATUS
---------------------- ----------------- -------
FBA01                                 30 DEFAULT

SQL> connect / as sysdba
Connected.
SQL> drop flashback archive fba01;

Flashback archive dropped.

SQL> drop tablespace s;

Tablespace dropped.

note that a month is 30 days. If you try to create a flashback archive in a non-empty tablespace you may get
ORA-55603: Invalid Flashback Archive command
which is not a very helpful message

August 27, 2007May 3, 2008

errorlogging in 11g

This is a very neat feature in 11g.

I have a script called foo.sql


create table t(x number primary key);
insert into t(x) values (1);
insert into t(x) values (2);
insert into t(x) values (2);
insert into t(x) values (3);
commit;

It is eyes-popping that this script will return an error, but which one?

Let’s errorlog !


SQL>set errorl on
SQL> @foo

Table created.

1 row created.

1 row created.

insert into t(x) values (2)
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-00001: unique constraint (SCOTT.SYS_C004200) violated

1 row created.

Commit complete.

SQL> set errorl off
SQL> select timestamp,script,statement,message from sperrorlog;
TIMESTAMP  SCRIPT  STATEMENT
---------- ------- ---------------------------
MESSAGE
---------------------------------------------------------
11:18:56   foo.sql insert into t(x) values (2)
ORA-00001: unique constraint (SCOTT.SYS_C004200) violated

There is also a huge bonus 😀

You can use it with 9i and 10g databases too! Only the client must be 11g. To download the 11g client only, go to Oracle E-Delivery Website

Even small, this is one of my favorite new features!

August 27, 2007May 3, 2008

the password is not longer displayed in dba_users.password in 11g

By reading Pete Finnigan’s Oracle security weblog today, I discovered that the password is no longer displayed in DBA_USERS in 11g.


select username,password 
from dba_users 
where username='SCOTT';
USERNAME PASSWORD
-------- ------------------------------
SCOTT

select name,password 
from sys.user$ 
where name='SCOTT';
NAME  PASSWORD
----- ------------------------------
SCOTT F894844C34402B67

on the one hand, it is good for the security.

On the other hand, it is a huge change which is not documented (I immediately sent comments to the Security and Reference book authors) and it will make a lot of script failing (scripts that use to change the password to log in and change it back to the original value afterwards).

Protecting the hash is extremely important, check your scripts for 11g compatibility!

OS	Product	Status
SLES-10	11g	Certified
Red Hat Enterprise AS/ES 5	11g	Certified
Red Hat Enterprise AS/ES 4	11g	Certified
Oracle Enterprise Linux 5	11g	Certified
Oracle Enterprise Linux 4	11g	Certified