SRVCTL Changes for Oracle Clusterware 19c

Oracle Clusterware 19c includes changes to the server control utility (SRVCTL), including syntax changes to existing commands, and commands to manage Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM).

SRVCTL is one of the tools you use to manage Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) and Oracle Clusterware.

Zero-Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching

Zero-downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure patching enables patching of Oracle Grid Infrastructure without interrupting database operations. Patches are applied out-of-place and in a rolling fashion, with one node being patched at a time, while the database instances on this node remain operational. Zero-downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure patching supports Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) databases on clusters with two or more nodes.

Zero-downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure patching increases database availability by enabling you to perform a rolling patch of Oracle Grid Infrastructure without interrupting database operations on the node you are patching, and without impacting capacity or performance on those database instances.

Rapid Home Provisioning Name Change

In this release, the feature previously known as Rapid Home Provisioning is renamed to Fleet Patching and Provisioning. There are no changes to the functionality, and the RHPCTL utility remains the tool you use to manage Fleet Patching and Provisioning operations.

Automated PDB Patching and Relocation

You can patch individual pluggable databases in a consolidated Oracle Multitenant environment, thus enabling bug fixes to be patched only on specific pluggable databases, rather than across the entire container database. Fine-grained single-instance pluggable database patching reduces possible risks incurred in widespread adoption of changes (such as bug fixes) and reduces the impact of making those changes only where they are necessary.

Zero-Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching Using Fleet Patching and Provisioning

Zero-downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure patching enables the application of one-off Oracle Grid Infrastructure patches without affecting the Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database instances. Use Fleet Patching and Provisioning to apply patches, one at a time, to each node in the cluster. This functionality is available for all Oracle RAC clusters with two or more nodes but, currently, applies only to one-off patches (not release updates or release update revisions).

Using Fleet Patching and Provisioning to apply one-off Oracle Grid Infrastructure patches with zero database instance downtime reduces the impact on users and interruptions of service from the Oracle RAC database instances to nil. With prior database releases, you must shut down the database instance before applying an Oracle Grid Infrastructure patch, clearly impacting enterprise operations.

Automated Transaction Draining for Oracle Grid Infrastructure Upgrades

Automated transaction draining for Oracle Grid Infrastructure upgrades provides automatic draining of transactions against the database instances, one node at a time, according to the database service configurations. Transaction draining capabilities are an integral part of the database service design and are now automatically integrated into the application of rolling Oracle Grid Infrastructure patches.

Automated and coordinated draining of database transactions during rolling patching, using Fleet Patching and Provisioning, reduces the impact of patching operations. Once user transactions are drained, patching operations for a particular node on a cluster can be completed, after which the instance and services are restarted, locally, and new connections are established. The connections, prior to the patching operation, roll on to the next node in the cluster.

Oracle Restart Patching and Upgrading

Use Fleet Patching and Provisioning to patch and upgrade Oracle Restart. In previous releases, Oracle Restart environments required patching and upgrade operations to be done by the user, often involving manual intervention. Fleet Patching and Provisioning automates these procedures.

Using Fleet Patching and Provisioning to patch and upgrade Oracle Restart automates and standardizes the processes that are implemented in Oracle RAC database installations. This also reduces operational demands and risks, especially for larger numbers of Oracle Restart deployments.

Support the Specification of TLS Ciphers Using CRSCTL

Enhancements to the CRSCTL utility add support for the specification of Transport Layer Security (TLS) ciphers.

Secure Cluster Communication

Secure Cluster Communication protects the cluster interconnect from common security threats when used together with Single Network Support. Secure Cluster Communication includes message digest mechanisms, protection against fuzzing, and uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to provide privacy and data integrity between the cluster members.

The increased security for the cluster interconnect is invoked automatically as part of a new Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c deployment or an upgrade to Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c. Database administrators or cluster administrators do not need to make any configuration changes for this feature.

Resupport of Direct File Placement for OCR and Voting Disks

Starting with Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c, the desupport for direct OCR and voting disk file placement on shared file systems is rescinded for Oracle Standalone Clusters. For Oracle Domain Services Clusters the requirement to place OCR and voting files in Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) on top on files hosted on shared file systems and used as ASM disks remains.

In Oracle Grid Infrastructure 12c Release 2 (12.2), Oracle announced that it would no longer support the placement of the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Oracle Cluster Registry (OCR) and voting files directly on a shared file system. This desupport is now rescinded. Starting with Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c (19.3), with Oracle Standalone Clusters, you can again place OCR and voting disk files directly on shared file systems.

Optional Install for the Grid Infrastructure Management Repository

Starting with Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c, the Grid Infrastructure Management Repository (GIMR) is optional for new installations of Oracle Standalone Cluster. Oracle Domain Services Clusters still require the installation of a GIMR as a service component.

The data contained in the GIMR is the basis for preventative diagnostics based on applied Machine Learning and can help to increase the availability of Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) databases. Having an optional installation for the GIMR allows for more flexible storage space management and faster deployment, especially during the installation of test and development systems.

Cross-Cluster Dependency Proxies

Shared Single-Client Access Names

A shared single-client access name (SCAN) enables the sharing of one set of SCAN virtual IPs (VIPs) and listeners (referred to as the SCAN setup) on a dedicated cluster in a data center with other clusters to avoid the deployment of one SCAN setup per cluster. This feature not only reduces the number of SCAN-related DNS entries, but also the number of VIPs that must be deployed for a cluster configuration. 

A shared SCAN simplifies the deployment and management of groups of clusters in the data center by providing a shared SCAN setup that can be used by multiple systems at the same time.

Node VIPs Optional

Zero-Downtime Database Upgrade

REST API for Rapid Home Provisioning and Maintenance

This release of Oracle Clusterware provides the most common Rapid Home Provisioning workflows as REST API calls.

Engineered Systems Support

Use Rapid Home Provisioning to patch Oracle Exadata infrastructure. In addition to patching Oracle Database and Oracle Grid Infrastructure software homes, you can now patch the software for the database nodes, storage cells, and InfiniBand switches in an Oracle Exadata environment. Integration of Oracle Exadata components support into Rapid Home Provisioning enables management and tracking of maintenance for these components through the centralized inventory of the Rapid Home Provisioning service.

Dry-Run Command Validation

Configuration Drift Reporting and Resolution

Rapid Home Provisioning maintains standardized deployments across the database estate.

Authentication Plug-In

Rapid Home Provisioning integrates authentication with the mechanisms in use at a data center.

Command Scheduler and Bulk Operations

Using Rapid Home Provisioning, you can schedule and bundle automated tasks that are essential for maintenance of a large database estate. You can schedule such tasks as provisioning software homes, switching to a new home, and scaling a cluster. Also, you can add a list of clients to a command, facilitating large-scale operations.

Local Switch Home for Applying Updates

Rapid Home Provisioning automatons for updating Oracle Database and Oracle Grid Infrastructure homes can be run in a local mode, with no Rapid Home Provisioning Server or Client in the architecture.

These automatons feature the same user interface, outcome, and many of the command line options as the server and client modes. This provides for a consistent, standardized maintenance approach across environments that are constructed with a central Rapid Home Provisioning Server and those environments that do not employ the Rapid Home Provisioning Server.

Using the gridSetup Utility to Manage Oracle Clusterware

Gold image-based installation, using the gridSetup utility (gridSetup.sh or gridSetup.bat), replaces using Oracle Universal Installer for installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure. You can also use gridSetup-based management to perform Oracle Clusterware management tasks such as cloning, add-node and delete-node operations, and downgrade using the gridSetup utility.