Viewing and Modifying Initialization Parameters

When you install one of the preconfigured databases provided by Oracle, the initialization parameters are optimized for normal use in the environment that you specified. The steps described in this section will familiarize you with viewing the initial parameter settings for your database and modifying parameters.

To view or modify the initialization parameters for your database:

1. From the Database Home page, click the Administration property page. The Administration home page appears as shown in Figure 5-2.

   Figure 5-2 Database Administration Page

   
   Description of "Figure 5-2 Database Administration Page"
   
   

2. Under Database Configuration, click All Initialization Parameters.

   Enterprise Manager displays the Initialization Parameters page, where you can view the value of each initialization parameter for the database instance. You can use this page to alter initialization parameter values, using the Show SQL, Revert, and Apply buttons.

   There are two property pages shown on the Initialization Parameters page:

   • Current—This page displays all of the initialization parameter values that are currently in memory for the database instance.

     You can use this page to make dynamic changes to parameters in the current running instance. Only parameters marked dynamic can be changed. To do so, enter a new value and click Apply.

   • SPFile—This property page is present when you are using a server parameter file, whose location is displayed a the top of the table. This property page shows parameter settings in the server parameter file.

     Changes to parameter settings in this file are persistent across instance startup and shutdown. To make persistent changes to an initialization parameter, enter the new value and click Apply. You can optionally apply changes to the current running instance by checking Apply changes in SPFile to the current running instance. If you do not check this box, your changes will not take effect until the database is shut down and restarted.

   Parameters marked Basic represent a small subset of all initialization parameters, and are needed to keep the database running smoothly.

   As the number of database users grows and workload increases, you might need to alter some initialization parameters. You can make these changes using the Initialization Parameter page as described, or using one of the advisors provided by Oracle. One such advisor, the memory advisor, is described in "Managing Memory Parameters".