1 Introduction to Enterprise Manager Advanced Configuration

1.2.1.1 About the Oracle Management Service Home Directory

The Oracle Management Service is a J2EE application that is installed and deployed using Oracle Application Server. As a result, when you install the Oracle Management Service, the installation procedure first installs Oracle Application Server. Specifically, the installation procedure installs the Oracle Application Server J2EE and Web Cache installation type, which is used to deploy the Oracle Management Service.

The installation procedure installs the Enterprise Manager components within the Oracle Application Server Home, including:

• The Oracle Management Service

• Optionally, the Oracle Management Repository

Information about the directories that are specific to the Oracle Application Server installation can be found in the Oracle Application Server documentation. For example, the location of the most of the Oracle Application Server configuration and log files are described in the Oracle Application Server documentation.

1.2.1.2 About the Oracle Management Agent Home (AGENT_HOME) Directory

In addition to the Management Service home directory, the installation procedure installs the Oracle Management Agent that is used to gather management data and perform administration tasks for the targets on the Management Service host.

By default, if the Oracle Universal Installer (or the account used to run the Universal Installer) has the proper privileges to write to the install directories, the Management Agent is installed in a separate Oracle home directory at the same level as the Oracle Application Server home directory.

However, if the Oracle Universal Installer does not have the necessary privileges, the Management Agent is installed in a subdirectory of the Oracle Application Server home directory.

1.2.1.3 Summary of the Important Directories in the Management Service Home

Figure 1-1 shows some of the important directories you should be familiar with in a typical Grid Control Console installation. You can use this information as you begin to maintain, troubleshoot, and configure the Oracle Management Service installation.

Figure 1-1 Important Oracle Management Service Installation Directories

Description of "Figure 1-1 Important Oracle Management Service Installation Directories"

Table 1-1 describes in more detail the Management Service directories shown in Figure 1-1. In the table, ORACLE_HOME refers to the Management Service home directory in which the Oracle Management Service is installed and deployed.

1.2.2.1 Summary of the Important Directories in the Management Agent Home

Table 1-2 describes some of the important subdirectories inside the AGENT_HOME directory.

1.2.2.2 Understanding the Management Agent Directory Structure on Windows

When you install the Management Agent on a Windows system, the directory structure of the AGENT_HOME directory is the same as the directory structure for installations on a UNIX system.

For example, if you installed the Management Agent in the E:\oracle\em10gAgent directory of your Windows system, you can locate the emctl command for the Management Agent on a Windows system, by navigating to the following directory:

$PROMPT> E:\oracle\em10gAgent\bin

1.2.6.1 Configuring Database Control During Installation

If you create a database while installing Oracle Database 10g, you have the option of configuring your database so it can be managed by Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Console or by Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Database Control Console.

Figure 1-3 shows the Management Options page, which allows you to select your database management options while installing Oracle Database 10g.

Figure 1-3 Selecting Your Management Options While Installing Oracle Database 10g

Description of "Figure 1-3 Selecting Your Management Options While Installing Oracle Database 10g"

To select Grid Control Console as your management option, the Oracle Management Service must be installed on a network host. In addition, the Oracle Management Agent must be installed on the host where you are installing the database. Otherwise, the Grid Control Console option is unavailable and you must instead choose to manage your database with Database Control.

For most of the Oracle Database 10g installation types, you must choose either Database Control or Grid Control as your management option when you create a database during the installation.

However, if you create a database using one of the following methods, you can choose not to configure Database Control:

• Choosing to create a database during a custom installation

• Choosing the Advanced database configuration option during an Enterprise or Standard Edition installation

• Running Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) after the installation

If you do not configure Database Control during the Oracle Database 10g installation, no hostname_sid directory is created in the resulting Oracle home directory (Figure 1-2).

1.2.6.2 Configuring Database Control with DBCA

The primary method for configuring an existing Oracle Database 10g database so it can be managed with Database Control is to use DBCA. You can use DBCA to create a new database or to reconfigure an existing database.

To use DBCA to reconfigure your database so it can be managed with Database Control:

1. Log into the database host as a member of the administrative group that is authorized to install Oracle software and create and run the database.

2. Start DBCA, as follows:

   • On Windows, select Start, point to Programs, Oracle - home_name, Configuration and Migration Tools, and then select Database Configuration Assistant.

   • On UNIX, change directory to the ORACLE_HOME/bin directory and enter the following command:

     $PROMPT> ./dbca
     
     

   The DBCA Welcome page appears.

3. Advance to the Operations page and select Configure Database Options.

4. Advance to the Database page and select the database you want to configure.

5. Advance to the Management Options page (Figure 1-4) and select the following options:

   • Configure the Database with Enterprise Manager

   • Use Database Control for Database Management

6. Optionally, select the options for enabling e-mail notifications and enabling daily backups.

   For more information about Enterprise Manager notifications and daily backups, click Help on the Management Options page.

7. Advance until the Finish button is available.

8. Click Finish to reconfigure the database so it uses Database Control.

   After DBCA reconfigures the database, a new subdirectory appears in the Oracle home. This directory is named using the following format and contains Database Control configuration and state files specific to the database you just configured:

   hostname_sid
   
   

   For example:

   mgmthost1.acme.com_myNewDB
   
   

   Note that for cluster databases, the directories are named nodename_sid.

Figure 1-4 Management Options Page in DBCA

Description of "Figure 1-4 Management Options Page in DBCA"

1.2.6.3 Configuring Database Control with EMCA

When you use DBCA to configure Oracle Database 10g, DBCA provides a graphical user interface to help you select Database Control options and to configure other aspects of your database.

However, if you want to use the operating system command line to configure Database Control, you can use the Enterprise Manager Configuration Assistant (EMCA).

To configure Database Control with EMCA:

1. Set the following environment variables to identify the Oracle home and the system identifier (SID) for the database you want to manage:

   • ORACLE_HOME

   • ORACLE_SID

2. Change directory to the ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.

3. Start EMCA by entering the following command with any of the optional command-line arguments shown in Table 1-3:

   $PROMPT> ./emca 
   
   

   Depending upon the arguments you include on the EMCA command line, EMCA prompts you for the information required to configure Database Control.

   For example, enter the following command to configure Database Control so it will perform automatic daily backups of your database:

   $PROMPT> ./emca -config dbcontrol db -backup
   
   

EMCA commands are of the form:

emca [operation] [mode] [type] [flags] [parameters]

Table 1-3 describes the valid execution operations and modes, and lists the optional parameters in brackets. Table 1-4 discusses the flags and their behavior, while Table 1-5 defines the optional parameters in detail. EMCA parameters are of the form [ -parameterName parameterValue ]. Multiple parameters can be used in combination at the command line.

1.2.6.4 Using an Input File for EMCA Parameters

Instead of answering a series of prompts when you run EMCA, you can use the -respFile argument to specify an input file. The input file you create must be in a format similar to the following example:

PORT=1521
SID=DB
DBSNMP_PWD=xpE234D
SYSMAN_PWD=KDOdk432

After you create an EMCA input file, you can use it on the command line as follows:

$PROMPT> ./emca -config dbcontrol db -respFile input_file_path

For example, to configure the Database Control to perform daily backups and create the Database Control Management Repository, create an input file similar to the one shown in and enter the following command at the operating system prompt:

$PROMPT> ./emca -config dbcontrol db -repos create -backup -respFile input_file_path

PORT=1521
SID=DB
DBSNMP_PWD=dow3l224
SYSMAN_PWD=squN3243
HOST_USER=johnson
HOST_USER_PWD=diTf32of
SYS_PWD=qlKj4352
BACKUP_SCHEDULE=06:30

1.2.6.5 Using EMCA with Real Application Clusters

Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) provides a high availability database environment spanning multiple hosts. Each cluster may be made up of multiple cluster databases, each of which consists of multiple cluster database instances. A cluster database is available as long as one of its instances is available.

Each EMCA command can be used in Real Application Clusters environments; certain commands are only applicable in cluster setups. To indicate that you have a cluster database, use the –cluster flag which is available in almost every EMCA operational mode.

When you use EMCA to configure Database Control for Real Application Clusters, you configure the Database Control for each instance in the cluster. However, by default, the Database Control Console will only start on the local node. On every other node of the cluster, only the Enterprise Manager agent will start. This is because the Database Control Console opens a number of connections to the database. If an instance of the console is running on every host in the cluster, then you may easily exceed the maximum number of permitted open connections on a 32-node or 64-node environment.

To remedy this, the Database Control Console is only started on the local node. On every other node, the commands emctl start dbconsole and emctl stop dbconsole only start and stop the agent. Each of the remote agents will upload their respective data to the console running on the local node, from where you can monitor and manage all the targets in the cluster.

However, note that if you upgrade a 10g Release 1 cluster database (configured with Database Control) to 10g Release 2, the 10g Release 1 Database Control configuration will be retained. The console will still be started on each individual node. If you wish to modify the configuration, use the following command:

emca -reconfig dbcontrol –cluster –EM_NODE <nodename> -EM_SID_LIST <SID list>

where <nodename> is the public name of the node and <SID list> is a comma-separated list of database system identifiers. This command reconfigures the current Database Control setup and:

1. Starts a Database Control Console on <nodename>, if one has not been started yet.

2. Redirects the agents monitoring the database instances in <SID list> so that they upload their data to the console running on <nodename>. Also, agents monitoring database instances on <nodename> will also upload their data to the local console. Note that if you do not pass -EM_NODE or -EM_SID_LIST at the command line, you will be prompted for them.

-EM_NODE defaults to the local node if not specified when prompted. -EM_SID_LIST defaults to all database instances if not specified.

You may use this command to start the console on more than one node. For instance, on an 8-node cluster with <node1, node2, node3, node4, node5, node6, node7, node8> and database instances <oradb1, oradb2, oradb3, oradb4, oradb5, oradb6, oradb7, oradb8>, you can run the following commands in succession:

$PROMPT> emca -reconfig dbcontrol –cluster –EM_NODE node1 -EM_SID_LIST oradb2,oradb3,oradb4
$PROMPT> emca -reconfig dbcontrol –cluster –EM_NODE node5 -EM_SID_LIST oradb6,oradb7,oradb8

In this scenario, there will be two Database Control consoles running, one on node1 and the other on node5. From either of these consoles, you can manage and monitor all targets in the cluster.

For information on the current cluster configuration, you can run:

emca -displayConfig dbcontrol –cluster

The above command prompts for the database unique name for the cluster database. This will print the current configuration onto the screen, indicating the nodes that have consoles running on them and the consoles where each agent is uploading.

On cluster databases, another common operation is the creation and deletion of database instances. After you create a new instance, you can run EMCA to configure Database Control or central agent management for that instance using the command emca -addInst db. Running EMCA does not create the actual database instance; it only configures Enterprise Manager so that you can manage the instance in a way consistent with the rest of the cluster database instances. When configuring Enterprise Manager for a new instance, run the EMCA command only after you have created the instance. Also, run the command from a node in the cluster that already has Enterprise Manager configured for its associated database instance, as these configuration settings will be propagated to the new instance. Do not run this command from the node on which the new instance was created. Note that this option can be used only in a Real Application Clusters environment, so you do not need to use the -cluster option on the command line.

To deconfigure Enterprise Manager for a specific database instance (typically before the database instance is deleted), use the inverse command, emca -deleteInst db. Running EMCA does not delete the database instance; it only removes the Enterprise Manager configuration so that you will no longer be able to manage the instance with Enterprise Manager. Ensure that you run the EMCA command before you delete the actual cluster database instance. Also, ensure that you run the command from a different node and not from the node on which the database instance will be deleted. Note that this option can be used only in a Real Application Clusters environment, so you do not need to use the -cluster option on the command line.

For more information, see Table 1-3 which describes EMCA command-line operations.

1.2.6.6 Specifying the Ports Used By the Database Control

When you initially install Oracle Database 10g or configure the Database Control with EMCA, the Database Control uses a set of default system ports. For example, by default, you access Database Control using port 1158 in 10g Release 2, as in:

http://host.domain:1158/em

This is the default port assigned to Database Control by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Likewise, the default Database Control Agent port, as assigned by the IANA, is 3938.

To use ports other than the default ports, use the following EMCA command-line arguments when you initially configure the Database Control with EMCA. Alternatively, you can explicitly assign ports after configuring Database Control using the following command:

emca -reconfig ports [-cluster]

The following list summarizes the EMCA command-line arguments that control the standard Database Control port assignments:

• -DBCONTROL_HTTP_PORT <port_number>

  This port number is used in the Database Control Console URL. For example, if you set this port to 5570, you can then display the Database Control Console using the following URL:

  http://host.domain:5570/em
  
  

• -RMI_PORT <port_number>

  This port number is used by the Remote Method Invocation (RMI) system, which is part of the J2EE software required by Database Control.

• -JMS_PORT <port_number>

  This port is used by the OC4J Java Message Service (JMS), which is part of the J2EE software required by Database Control.

• -AGENT_PORT <port_number>

  This port is used by the Database Control Management Agent, which is monitoring and administering the database for the Database Control.

1.2.6.7 EMCA Troubleshooting Tips

The following section describes some troubleshooting tips to consider when using EMCA to configure the Database Control:

• Using EMCA After Changing the Database Listener Port

• Upgrading Database or ASM Instances with 10g Release 2 Grid Control Agents