Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Junio 2018

June 2018

Feature	Description
Cloud tooling update available for deployments hosting Oracle RAC databases	The 18.2.5 update to cloud tooling is available to apply to existing Database Cloud Servicedatabase deployments that host Oracle RAC databases. To apply this update, use the tag 1825 when following the instructions Updating the Cloud Tooling by Using the raccli Utility in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Apr 2018 BP or RU integrated into base image for Oracle RAC databases	The April 2018 BP (Bundle Patch) or RU (Release Update), depending on Oracle Database version, is now integrated into the base image for new Database Cloud Service database deployments that host Oracle RAC databases and Data Guard configurations with Oracle RAC primary and standby databases. When you create such a database deployment, it will already include the BP or RU functionality.

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Mayo 2018

May 2018

Feature	Description
Database deployments on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure now support 16TB storage volumes	Database Cloud Service now supports the 16TB block storage volumes available on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Oracle SQL Developer Web now included in single-instance deployments instead of Oracle DBaaS Monitor	Oracle DBaaS Monitor is being decommissioned in favor of Oracle SQL Developer Web on Database Cloud Service database deployments whose database type is “Single Instance” or “Single Instance with Data Guard Standby”. SQL Developer Web is a new, browser-based application that incorporates features of both Oracle SQL Developer and Oracle DBaaS Monitor. To find out more about it, see Using Oracle SQL Developer Web in Database Cloud Service in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service. When you create a new database deployment, SQL Developer Web is automatically installed. If you have an older database deployment, you can replace DBaaS Monitor with SQL Developer Web by updating your cloud tooling, as described in Updating the Cloud Tooling on Database Cloud Service in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Oracle Application Express 5.1.4 now included in single-instance deployments	Oracle Application Express 5.1.4 is now included by default in new Database Cloud Servicedeployments whose database type is “Single Instance” or “Single Instance with Data Guard Standby”. If you have an older database deployment, you can upgrade to version 5.1.4 by following these instructions in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service: Upgrading from Oracle Application Express 5.1.0 or 5.1.3 to 5.1.4 for Oracle Database 12c and Oracle Database 18c Upgrading from Oracle Application Express 5.1.0 or 5.1.3 to 5.1.4 for Oracle Database 11g
New bkup_api subcommands to simplify administering automatic backups	The bkup_api command has new subcommands that make managing the automatic backups feature much easier: To customize settings of your current configuration, see Customizing the Current Backup Configuration on Database Deployments Hosting Single-Instance Databases. To enable the automatic backups feature or change where automatic backups are stored, see Changing the Backup Configuration on Database Deployments Hosting Single-Instance Databases. To temporarily disable and then re-enable scheduled backups, see Disabling and Re-enabling Scheduled Backups.
Apr 2018 BP, RU and PSU patches available to apply to existing deployments	The April 2018 Bundle Patch (BP), Release Update (RU) and Patch Set Update (PSU) are now available to patch existing Database Cloud Service database deployments. Which of these three patches you apply depends on the database type and Oracle Database version of your deployment. For information about applying database patches, see Applying a Patchin Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Jan 2018 BP or PSU integrated into base image for single-instance databases	The January 2018 BP (Bundle Patch) or PSU (Patch Set Update), depending on Oracle Database version, is now integrated into the base image for new Database Cloud Servicedatabase deployments whose database type is “Single Instance” or “Single Instance with Data Guard Standby”. When you create such a database deployment, it will already include the BP or PSU functionality.

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Abril 2018

April 2018

Feature	Description
Jan 2018 BP or RU integrated into base image for Oracle RAC databases	The January 2018 BP (Bundle Patch) or RU (Release Update), depending on Oracle Database version, is now integrated into the base image for new Database Cloud Servicedatabase deployments that host Oracle RAC databases and Data Guard configurations with Oracle RAC primary and standby databases. When you create such a database deployment, it will already include the BP or RU functionality.

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Febrero 2018

February 2018

Feature	Description
Oracle Database 18c now available for database deployments	When you create a Database Cloud Service database deployment, you can now specify Oracle Database 18c as the database release. For information about this release of Oracle Database, see What’s New in Oracle Database 18c. Note: Oracle Database 18c is not available for Hybrid DR deployments or the "Oracle Database Cloud Service - Virtual Image" service level.
Spectre and Meltdown security vulnerabilities	Oracle has released patches related to the Spectre (CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5715) and Meltdown (CVE-2017-5754) security vulnerabilities. Oracle strongly recommends that you apply these patches to existing Oracle Database Cloud Service database deployments created using release 18.1.2 or earlier. See Steps required to patch Spectre and Meltdown security vulnerabilities on existing instances in Known Issues for Oracle Database Cloud Service. Database deployments created using release 18.1.4 or later already contain the patches.
Oct 2017 BP, RU and PSU patches available to apply to existing deployments	The October 2017 Bundle Patch (BP), Release Update (RU) and Patch Set Update (PSU) are now available to patch existing Database Cloud Service database deployments. Which of these three patches you apply depends on the database type and Oracle Database version on your deployment. For information about applying database patches, see Applying a Patch in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service.

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Introducing Oracle Database 18c

Como había comentado en la entrada anterior, ya está disponible para “Oracle Cloud” y “Oracle Exadata Cloud” la versión de Oracle Database 18c. Se trata simplemente de 12.2.0.2 con la nueva modalidad de nomenclatura.

Esta última versión liberada (como así también los futuros “releases” anuales) incorpora características y funcionalidades que la convierten en el componente principal de "Autonomous Database Cloud Services" anunciado por Oracle el año pasado.

Junto con el anuncio de la liberación de 18c se publicó un “Oracle White Paper” donde se analizan más a detalle algunas de las funcionalidades principales de esta versión, y como

estas pueden ayudar a los usuarios a mejorar aspectos críticos como  performance, escalabilidad, confiabilidad y seguridad. Tanto en ambiente transaccionales productivos o de "analytical" como en plataformas de desarrollo de aplicaciones.

Aquí se puede leer y descargar el paper: Introducing OracleDatabase 18c

Oracle Database 18c para Oracle Cloud y Engineered Systems

El viernes 16 de febrero Oracle liberó oficialmente Oracle Database 18c para “Oracle Public Cloud” y “Oracle Engineered Systems”. Esta es la primera versión del producto que incorpora el nuevo modelo de lanzamiento anual, bajo el cual, cada año será liberada una nueva versión junto con sus correspondientes actualizaciones trimestrales. Quien guste, puede encontrar más detalles sobre este cambio en la nota 2285040.1 de Oracle Support o bien en el blog de Mike Dietrich (el gurú del Upgrade).

A no desesperarse que Oracle Database 18c no es ni más ni menos que "Oracle Database 12c Release 2 12.2.0.2,  simplemente se ha cambiado la denominación para reflejar el año en que es lanzado el producto.

La idea de este modelo de lanzamiento anual, es la simplificación del proceso de parchado y/o upgrade introduciendo cambios, más pequeños y con mayor frecuencia, evitando de esta manera los potenciales problemas que acarrea una upgrade monolítico.

Por tal motivo, al tener categoría de parche, queda claro que no vamos a encontrar cambios trasendentales en la nueva 18c. Sin embargo, incorpora muchas pequeñas mejoras incrementales que resultan igualmente muy útiles, y que  en su mayoría están enfocadas en las tres características centrales de Oracle 12.2:

§  Multitenant

§  Database In-Memory

§  Oracle Database Sharding

Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Diciembre 2017

December 2017

Feature	Description
Steps needed to stabilize Linux OS on existing and newly created deployments	Configuration settings of certain Linux OS features on existing and newly created database deployments can cause noticeably slower I/O, system instability and, in certain extreme cases, system hang. Oracle strongly recommends that you correct these settings by following the instructions Steps needed to stabilize Linux OS on existing and newly created deployments in Known Issues for Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Cloud tooling update available for deployments hosting Oracle RAC databases	The 17.3.5.2 update to cloud tooling is available to apply to existing Database Cloud Service database deployments that host Oracle RAC databases. To apply this update, use the tag 17352 when following the instructions Updating the Cloud Tooling by Using the raccli Utility in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Aug 2017 RU patch available for Release 12.2 Oracle RAC databases	The August 2017 Release Update (RU) is now available to patch existing Database Cloud Service database deployments running Oracle Database Release 12.2, and hosting an Oracle RAC database or an Oracle Data Guard configuration of Oracle RAC databases. To apply this update using the raccli utility, use the tag 26645224 when following the instructions Applying a Patch by Using the raccli Utility in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Aug 2017 BP patches available for Release 11.2 and 12.1 Oracle RAC databases	The August 2017 Bundle Patch (BP) is now available to patch existing Database Cloud Service database deployments running Oracle Database Release 11.2 or 12.1, and hosting an Oracle RAC database or an Oracle Data Guard configuration of Oracle RAC databases. To apply this update using the raccli utility, use the tag 26610246 for Oracle Database Release 11.2 or the tag 26381494 for Oracle Database Release 12.1 when following the instructions Applying a Patch by Using the raccli Utility in Administering Oracle Database Cloud Service.

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Estrategia de disaster recovery hibrido "On-Premises/Cloud" con Dataguard

Seguir las prácticas de Oracle’s Maximum Availability Architecture (Oracle MAA) es la mejor manera para proteger y mantener la disponibilidad de los datos cuando utilizamos base de datos Oracle.

Tanto sea el caso que estas están desplegadas en nubes privadas, públicas o hibridas.

Dataguard y Active Dataguard permiten la recuperación de bases de datos ante desastres (disaster recovery), de manera muy rápida, y cuando los objetivos de RTO no se puede alcanzar realizando la restauración desde un backup.

La utilización de este tipo de soluciones implica implementar uno o más réplicas sincronizadas (bases de datos standby) de una base de datos de producción (base de datos primaria) en

ubicaciones físicamente separadas y las cuales  proporcionan  de esta manera alta disponibilidad, protección integral de datos y recuperación ante desastres a bases de datos de misión crítica.

Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Octubre 2017

October 2017

Feature	Description
Aug 2017 RU patch available for Release 12.2 single-instance databases	The August 2017 Release Update (RU) is now available to patch existing Database Cloud Service database deployments running Oracle Database Release 12.2 and hosting a single-instance database or an Oracle Data Guard configuration of single-instance databases, provided that you use a command-line utility to apply the patch. See these topics in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service: For database deployments hosting a single-instance database, see Applying a Patch by Using the dbpatchm Subcommand. For database deployments hosting an Oracle Data Guard configuration of single-instance databases, see Applying a Patch by Using the dbpatchmdg Utility.
Jul 2017 PSU and BP patches available for Release 11.2 and 12.1 single-instance databases	The July 2017 Patch Set Update (PSU) and Bundle Patch (BP) are now available to patch existing Database Cloud Service database deployments running Oracle Database Release 11.2 or 12.1 and hosting a single-instance database or an Oracle Data Guard configuration of single-instance databases, provided that you use a command-line utility to apply the patch. See these topics in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service: For database deployments hosting a single-instance database, see Applying a Patch by Using the dbpatchm Subcommand. For database deployments hosting an Oracle Data Guard configuration of single-instance databases, see Applying a Patch by Using the dbpatchmdg Utility.

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Septiembre 2017

September 2017

Feature	Description
Universal Credits subscription model	Database Cloud Service now supports the Universal Credits subscription model. In the Universal Credits subscription model, you commit to pay a certain amount up front monthly or annually for a bundle of services. Under this model, you can use any combination of the services such as Oracle Database Cloud Service and Oracle Java Cloud Service in your bundle whenever you need them. For information, see Selecting a Payment Plan in Getting Started with Oracle Cloud.
Create database deployments on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure	Database Cloud Service now supports database deployments on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in addition to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Classic. If your account has access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure regions, you can select one of these regions when creating certain types of database deployments. For more information, see About Database Deployments in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service.
QuickStart templates available to create deployments easily	For new customers with a Universal Credits subscription Database Cloud Service provides three QuickStart templates that create database deployments of commonly used configurations. You simply pick a template and give the deployment a name. Database Cloud Service then uses an Oracle Cloud Stack Manager template to provide all the other configuration information. For details, see Creating a QuickStart Database Deployment in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Leverage existing licenses when creating database deployments	For new customers with a Universal Credits subscription Database Cloud Service provides a “Bring your own license” feature you can use when creating database deployments. If you have existing perpetual licenses to Oracle Database, you can use one when creating a database deployment to establish the right to use Oracle Database. Then, your Cloud account will be charged a lesser amount for the new deployment because the right to use Oracle Database is covered by your perpetual license agreement.
Cloud tooling update available for deployments hosting Oracle RAC databases	The 17.3.5 update to cloud tooling is available to apply to existing Database Cloud Servicedatabase deployments that host Oracle RAC databases. To apply this update, use the tag 1735 when following the instructions Updating the Cloud Tooling by Using the raccli Utility in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Linux OS security patching	You can apply Linux OS security patches to compute nodes hosting Database Cloud Service database deployments. See Applying Linux OS Security Patches in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service.

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Notificación via email de operaciones de despliegue en DBCS

En la  contínua evolución que se dá con cada versión de la consola de gestión de "Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS)", siempre encontramos  algunas novedades, cambios importantes o tal vez pequeñas mejoras. En este caso a partir del mes de agosto de 2017 (creo que correspondiendo con la implementación de "Base image 17.3.3"), se incorpora en el Wizard de creación del servicio la posibilidad de ingresar (de manera opcional) una dirección de correo electrónico en la cual se recibirán actualizaciones del estado de las actividades de creación de deployments, que estén en ejecución.
Resulta una opción interesante para operaciones que demoran bastante tiempo, ya que no debemos quedar a la espera de la finalización,  realizando permanentemente un refresh en la pantalla.

En la (figura 1) podemos ver donde nos es solicitado el ingreso de la cuenta de email (Paso 1 del asistente):

 figura 1

Novedades Oracle Database Cloud Service - Agosto 2017

August 2017

Feature	Description
Sparse PDB clones in DBaaS Monitor	(Base image 17.3.3) When you use DBaaS Monitor to clone a pluggable database (PDB), you can now choose to create a sparse clone instead of a full clone. For more information, see "Cloning a Pluggable Database" in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service.
High Performance Block Storage support	If you have a metered subscription and your identity domain is enabled for regions, you can now allocate database block storage on solid state devices. For more information, see the element Use High Performance Storage in "Create Service: Service Page" in Using Oracle Database Cloud Service.
Instructions for upgrading older deployments to Oracle Application Express 5.1	In June 2017, new database deployments of single-instance databases began including Oracle Application Express (APEX) 5.1. Additionally, the installation location of APEX was changed so that you could install other versions of APEX and have different pluggable databases (PDBs) use different versions of APEX. Using Oracle Database Cloud Service now includes instructions for upgrading older database deployments to use APEX 5.1 and the new installation location. See "Using Oracle Application Express in Database Cloud Service".

Fuente: What's New for Oracle Database Cloud Service

Gestionando el listener con dbaascli en DBCS

Dentro de las varias funcionalidades que tiene el utilitario dbaascli incluido en "Cloud Tooling" de DBCS encontramos la posibilidad de gestionar el listener de la base de datos.
Las acciones posibles son:

 + status
 + start
 + stop
 + bounce (restart)

Similares a las del comando lsnrctl (es interesante que al ejecutar el comando dbaascli nos indica la versión del mismo).

Status:

[oracle@server01 ~]$ dbaascli listener status
DBAAS CLI version 1.0.0
Executing command listener status
Starting listener

LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 12.2.0.1.0 - Production on 13-AUG-2017 12:43:45

Copyright (c) 1991, 2016, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=server01.compute-arpesrv.oraclecloud.internal)(PORT=1521)))
STATUS of the LISTENER
------------------------
Alias                     LISTENER
Version                   TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 12.2.0.1.0 - Production
Start Date                11-JUL-2017 21:52:38
Uptime                    32 days 14 hr. 51 min. 7 sec
Trace Level               off
Security                  ON: Local OS Authentication
SNMP                      OFF
Listener Parameter File   /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/listener.ora
Listener Log File         /u01/app/oracle/diag/tnslsnr/server01/listener/alert/log.xml
Listening Endpoints Summary...
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=server01.compute-arpesrv.oraclecloud.internal)(PORT=1521)))
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=EXTPROC1521)))
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcps)(HOST=server01.compute-arpesrv.oraclecloud.internal)(PORT=5500))(Security=(my_wallet_directory=/u01/app/oracle/admin/ORCL/xdb_wallet))(Presentation=HTTP)(Session=RAW))
Services Summary...
Service "4e82b9d2d3a83428e053a243c40a3a74.arpesrv.oraclecloud.internal" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "ORCL", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "ORCL.arpesrv.oraclecloud.internal" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "ORCL", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "ORCL.arpesrv.oraclecloud.internalXDB" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "ORCL", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "pdb1.arpesrv.oraclecloud.internal" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "ORCL", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
The command completed successfully

Modificando el período de retención de archivos de auditoria en DBCS

El script /var/opt/oracle/cleandb/cleandblogs.pl  es el encargado de automatizar  tareas de archivado y depuración de archivos de diagnóstico y logs en un despliegue de DBCS, entre ellos los archivos generados por auditoria (*.aud) que dependiendo de la configuración y actividad de la base de datos pueden ser muchos. 
Este script corre semanalmente como un crontab y por defecto elimina  los archivos de auditoria (*.aud) que tienen una antiguedad mayor a 14 dias, según podemos verlo en la definición de la documentación correspondiente:
Managing the Log and Diagnostic Files on Database Cloud Service

Tal vez esta cantidad de días nos pueda resultar poca, o tal vez muy elevada.
Vamos a ver como podemos cambiar el período de retencíon de archivos de auditoría.

Como primer paso nos paramos en el directorio cleandb, aqui es donde encontramos el script de depuración y el archivo de configuración:

[oracle@server01 cleandb]$ cd /var/opt/oracle/cleandb

[oracle@server01 cleandb]$ ls -lrt
total 24
-r-xr-xr-x 1 oracle oinstall 19174 Jun  9 22:59 cleandblogs.pl
-r-xr-xr-x 1 oracle oinstall   237 Jun  9 22:59 cleandblogs.cfg

El script realiza la depuración y archivado de diferentes tipos de archivos de la base de datos, veamos el código que nos interesa a nosotros para este caso (*.aud):

[oracle@server01 cleandb]$ cat cleandblogs.pl |grep -i aud
               "AuditRetentionDB"  => 1,
           "select 'adumpDest:'||value from v\$parameter where name = 'audit_file_dest'"];
$log->logprt("Processing audit logs...\n");
PurgeLogFiles("$results{'adumpDest'}/*.aud",$CleanLogs->{AuditRetentionDB});
PurgeLogFiles("$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/audit/*.aud",$CleanLogs->{AuditRetentionDB});

Vemos que el script trabaja con la variable/parámetro AuditRetentionDB.

En el archivo cleandblogs.cfg ,ubicado en el mismo directorio del script, encontramos la definición de la variable: 

Oracle Cloud: EM13c, Unique Database Service Names on DBaaS

Introducción

A continuación vamos a exponer un “issue” con el cual nos encontramos durante el proceso de creación y configuración de una base de datos Oracle DBaaS con EM13c, y describir además la manera en que abordamos el problema para resolverlo.

Primero vamos a comentar que, cuando utilizamos “Oracle Enterprise Manager Self Service” para crear una base de datos en Oracle Cloud, se nos solicita introducirun valor “único” como nombre de servicio. En nuestro caso, realizamos repetidas pruebas durante las cuales fuimos corrigiendo errores y problemas aparecidos durante el proceso de aprovisionamiento(método de prueba y error), esto no obligó a eliminar las solicitudes fallidas luego de cada creación que resultó no satisfactoria.

En un primer momento pensamos que no existía validación alguna sobre el nombre del servicio utilizado, pero posteriormente recibimos un mensaje de error indicando que el nombre del servicio ingresado no era “único”(“non-unique service name”).