VIP Address Fun

During a recent RAC install, we were given an IP address for our VIP to be created at install. However, the IP address we got from network was a "private" address and not a "public" address. During the Clusterware install the vipca failed complaining that the interface is not public. As per RFC 1918 networks in the following ranges are considered private. For more details please review http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1918

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix

Here is another link: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1918.html

When the vipca silent installation fails because of the address range, you have to run it manually or issue the command:

$ORA_CRS_HOME/bin/srvctl add nodeapps -n crmnode1 -o /ora/ora10 -A 1.2.3.4/255.255.255.0/lan0

See Note 316583.1 VIPCA FAILS COMPLAINING THAT INTERFACE IS NOT PUBLIC for more information.

Just follow the instructions in the note and you will be fine. However, when I first followed the instructions of the note, I couldn't get the add nodeapps for the VIP to work. Turns out the note did not have the correct syntax. I pointed it out to Oracle Support and the author of the note updated the syntax. So, it is always good to verify syntax from a separate source if you have problems with Oracle documents.

Also, the cluvfy will indicate the following:

WARNING:
Could not find a suitable set of interfaces for VIPs.
Result: Node connectivity check failed.

Even though everything is OK, you are just using a non-standard private VIP.

Legacy Import Tricks

This blog entry is for those unfortunate to be stuck with the old legacy exp/imp instead of the expdp/impdp (Datapump).

We are importing a ton of data and here are some import tricks that are documented in Oracle MetaLink doc id 93763.1. The ones I'm listing here only apply to imports from direct exports. We had already done the other things in the note.

1. Increase the BUFFER size of the import
2. Create some huge redo log files to minimize the LGWR switches.

It was amazing. This MetaLink note actually works :-)

Cluvfy Open File Descriptors Failed

If your Cluvfy OS check fails for the following:

Check: Hard resource limit for "open file descriptors"
Node Name Available Required Comment
------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ----------
coronet 4096 65536 failed
vail 4096 65536 failed
Result: Hard resource limit check failed for "open file descriptors".

Increase these kernel parameters in HP-UX ia64:

nfile=131072
maxfiles_lim=65536

Use kctune nfile and kctune maxfiles_lim to verify the correct values after the UNIX administrator corrects them.

More HP-UX ia64 VIP Fun

Here is a tip which will save you a headache if you are installing Clusterware on a new server.
Before you begin a new Clusterware install, make sure when you receive your servers from the UNIX admins that the VIPs are not already configured and active. However, you should have the host and IP for the Virtual IP in the domain server and local hosts file.

Do netstat -inw at a UNIX prompt to see the interfaces. You should not see the VIP interface.

If it is configured or active, you can unplumb it if it is NOT aggregated (e.g. APA):

ifconfig lan0:1 unplumb
or if it is APA:
ifconfig lan900:1 0.0.0.0

By setting the IP address to 0.0.0.0 it disables the secondary interface.
/etc/rc.config.d/netconf file has the interfaces which are started at boot up. They can be commented out to remove an interface following a reboot.