| Oracle
® Enterprise Manager Concepts 10g Release 1 (10.1) Part Number B12016-01 |
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View PDF |
| Oracle
® Enterprise Manager Concepts 10g Release 1 (10.1) Part Number B12016-01 |
|
|
View PDF |
In a large enterprise, it can be di fficult to:
Determine the current configuration of the enterprise (the hardware and installed software t hat comprises the enterprise)
Determine changes that need to be made to the enterprise
Make those changes in a controlled and streamlined manner
This chapter explains how Enterprise Manager s implifies the monitoring and management of the deployments in your enterprise in the following sections:
When the Oracle Management Agent is running on a host, you can use Enterprise Manage r to monitor and manage the host and other targets (such as Oracle databases and application servers) that are running on the host. A t periodic intervals, the Management Agent communicates information about the managed targets over HTTPSFoot 1 ; to the host, which uploads that information to the Oracle Management Repository.
Part of the information that is collected fo r a host and uploaded to the Management Repository is host configuration information. The host configuration information collected in cludes information about the hardware and software configurations for the host. Specifically, host configuration information is compr ised of the following categories:
Hardware (including memory, CPU, I/O device, and network interface inf ormation) for the host
Operating system (including installed patches) for the host
Other installed software registered with the operating system on the host. For example , this could include information about Veritas data storage management software installed on the host.
I nstalled Oracle software on the host, including (but not limited to) installed products and th eir components, patch sets, and interim patches applied using OPatch.
By default, the Management Agent on a host aut omatically collects and uploads configuration information for the host every 24 hours.
The Management Ag ent on a host also automatically collects database configuration information for the Oracle databases installed on the host. By defau lt, database configuration information is collected every 12 hours. Database configuration information is comprised of the following categories:
In this chapter, the term "enterprise" is used to refer to the complete set o f hosts and targets for which configuration information is stored in the Management Repository. The term "enterprise configuration" i s used to refer to the configuration information stored in the Management Repository for the set of hosts and targets that comprise y our enterprise.
Because the Management Agent collects the latest configuration information for hosts and managed targets daily , the enterprise configuration stored in the Management Repository provides you with a very current view of your enterprise.
You can use Enterprise Manager to:
View the hardware and soft ware configurations of individual hosts and databases.
Track changes to host configurations.
See a summary view of your enterprise configuration.
Compare the configurations for tw o hosts or two databases.
Search the enterprise configuration to find configurations that meet a set of search criteria that you specify.
Clone Oracle homes and database instances.
Simplify the process of patching Oracle products.
Manage Oracle critical patch advisories
Enterprise Manager enables you to view the configuration information stored in th e Management Repository for an individual host or Oracle database.
To view the configuration i nformation for a host, go to the Host Configuration page for that host.
See Also:
"Viewing a Host Configuration" in the Enterprise Mana ger online helpYou can also save a host configuration to a file for viewing at a later time or including in a comparison. (See "Comparing Host Configurations" for more information about comparisons.) The file that stores the host configuration information is known as a configuration file.
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See Also: "Saving a Host Configuration to a File" in the Enterprise Manager online help |
Enterprise Manager records changes made to host configuration information over time. This history information re cords:
Details of the operation that was performed. For example, if a file system mount is deleted, this is recorded in the history for the host configuration.
The time of the Management Repository refresh op eration that detected the change to the configuration.
When you are viewing a host configuration, you can display th e history for all the categories of the host configuration, or you can drill down to the history for a specific host configuration ca tegory.
Enterprise Manager enables you to view a summary view of your enterprise configuration. T he following enterprise configuration summary views are available:
This summary view shows the different types of host hardware in your enterpr ise configuration and the number of hosts using each hardware type.
From the summary view, you can drill down to a list of hos ts using each hardware type and the operating system running on each of those hosts.
This summary view shows the different types of op erating systems in your enterprise configuration, the number of hosts running each type of operating system, and whether any operatin g system patches were applied to that operating system.
From the summary view, you can drill down to a list of the hosts runni ng each type of operating system. You can also drill down to a list of the operating system patches applied or not applied to the hos ts running each operating system type.
This summary view shows the different versions of Oracle databases and application servers in your enterprise configuration, the number of targets and installations for each version, and whe ther or not any interim patches were applied using OPatch to any of the installations for each version.
From the summary view, you can drill down to a list of the instances for each Oracle database. You can also drill down to a list of the installations (and Oracle home directories) for each Oracle database. Finally, you can drill down to more information about the unique interim patches a pplied using OPatch for each Oracle database.
Oracle application servers
This summary view shows the different versions of Oracle application servers in your enterprise configuration, the number of targets and installations for ea ch version, and whether or not any interim patches were applied using OPatch to any of the installations for each version.
Fro m the summary view, you can drill down to a list of the instances for each Oracle application server version. You can also drill down to a list of the installations (and Oracle home directories) for each Oracle application server version. Finally, you can drill down to more information about the unique interim patches applied using OPatch for each Oracle application server version.
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See Also: "Viewing the Enterpris e Configuration" in the Enterprise Manager online help |
You can use Enterprise Manager to perform comparisons of host configurations or database configurations:
Two host configurations, two configuration files, or a host configuration and a configuration file
Multiple host configurations (compare one host to multiple hosts)
Two database configurations
These configuration comparisons are useful for quickly finding similarities and differences between two host configurations or two database configurations.
Enterprise Manager supports these types of host configuration comparisons:
Two host configurations, two configuration files, or a host configuration and a configuration file
Multiple host configurations (compare one host to multiple hosts)
When host configurations are compa red, all the categories of host configuration information for each host (the categories mentioned in "Understandi ng Host Configuration Information") are included in the comparison. The summary results of the comparison are presented in a tabu lar format. From the summary results, you can drill down to more details about the items compared.
Comparisons of two configur ations, two configuration files, or a host configuration and a configuration file are performed interactively.
Comparisons of multiple host configurations (comparisons that include one to two or more host configurations) must be performed using the Enterprise Manager job system.
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See Also: "About Comparisons" in the Enterprise Manager online help |
When two database configurations are compared, all the categories of database configuration information for e ach database (the categories mentioned in "Understanding Database Configuration Information") are included in the comparison. As with host configuration comparisons, the summary results of the comparison are presented in a tabular format and you can drill down from those summary results to more details about the items compared.
From the summary results for a databas e comparison, you can start a comparison of the host configurations for the hosts on which the databases are running.
Comparis ons of two database configurations are performed interactively.
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See Also: "Comparing Database Configurations" in the Enterprise Manager online help |
In some cases, you may want to search your enterprise configuration to get answers to specific questions about your enterprise. For example, you mig ht want to get answers to enterprise configuration questions such as these:
Which hosts have not had ope rating system patch 105181-05 installed?
Which hosts have an Oracle version 9.0.1.0.0 database installed and in what Oracle home directories are those databases installed?
Enterprise configuration searches query the ente rprise configuration views in the Management Repository to find configuration information that satisfies the specified search criteri a.
Enterprise Manager provides two types of enterprise configuration searches:
Although these searches are predefined, you can modify the search criteria for each s earch. Because you can modify the search criteria, the predefined searches offer you the flexibility to create very specific search q ueries.
After you enter the search criteria for a predefined search, Enterprise Manager creates the SQL query that searches th e enterprise configuration views in the Management Repository.
Enterprise Manager provides the following predefined enterprise configuration searches:
Search Oracle products installed in Oracle homes
Search operating system-registered software installed on hosts
Search patch sets installed in Oracl e homes
Search interim patches installed using OPatch in Oracle homes
S earch initialization parameter settings
Search initialization parameter setting changes
Search tablespaces
Search datafiles
Search recommended settings for databases
Search database feature usage
Search operating system components installed on hosts
Search operating system patches installed on hosts
Search operating system property settings on hosts
Search operating system property c hanges on hosts
Search host operating system and hardware summaries
Sea rch network interface card configurations on hosts
Search file systems on hosts
Search policy library
With a user-defined search, you specify the SQL query that will search the enterprise con figuration views in the Management Repository. If you do not want to create the entire SQL query yourself, you can choose one of the predefined searches, make changes to the search criteria, then click Search Using SQL to display the SQL query that will be executed based on the current search criteria. You can execute the query, view the results, then modify it and execute it aga in until it returns the desired results.
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See Also:< /font> "Searching the Enterprise Configuration" in the Enterprise Manager online help |
You can use the Enterprise Manager job system to clone Oracle home directories. For example, after you have an O racle home in a known state (you have chosen particular install options for it, applied required patches to it, and tested it), you m ay want to clone that Oracle home to one or more hosts. Enterprise Manager provides a Clone Oracle Home tool that steps you through t he Oracle home clone operation.
There are many advantages to cloning an Oracle home.
Saves time. You no longer need to install, then apply, all the same patches to get an Oracle home that looks like the source Oracle home. Also, y ou can clone to multiple hosts and Oracle homes with a single Oracle home cloning job, instead of connecting to each host and running Oracle Universal Installer to install the Oracle home.
Reduces risk of errors. It is more likely that t he cloned home matches the source home, then if you installed then patched a new Oracle home. You would have to remember the settings and patches you used on the original source Oracle home.
You can do the cloning from a Web browser.
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Note: Enterprise M anager can clone any Oracle home that the Oracle Universal Installer recognizes as a clonable home. |
You can also use Enterprise Manager to clone Oracle database instances. For example, after you have configured an instance, tuned it, and tested it, you may want to clone that database instance. Enterprise Manager provides a Clone Database tool that steps you through the Oracle database clone operation.
The Clone Database tool clones a database in stance to an existing Oracle home. If you want to create a new Oracle home to clone the instance to, use the Clone Oracle Home tool t o create a new Oracle home, then use the Clone Database tool to clone the instance to that home.
There are many advantages to cloning an Oracle database instance.
Provides infrastructure for Data Guard management. Data Guard embed s Database Cloning to create a standby database (a clone of the primary database) as part of the Data Guard management process.
Provides a testing environment for database application developers. The cloned database can be used for testi ng and debugging purposes while the original database is kept available.
Provides high availability for the source database while it is cloned. The source database instance is kept up and running during the cloning operations.
Saves time. You do not need to install a new database instance then import the data to create an identical databas e. Also, you can clone the same instance to multiple Oracle homes using the saved working directory without connecting to the source database instance again.
Backs up the whole database and restores it at any time. The saved working dire ctory contains everything needed to restore the target database. You can save the backup on disk and create a new database from it at any time. No existing target database instance is required.
See Also:
"About Cloning" in the Enterprise Manager online help for an overview o f cloning and a pointer to more information about the types of Oracle homes and databases that can be clonedYou can use Enterprise Manager to determine the hosts and Oracle databases in your enterprise con figuration that are not following host and database policy rules. There are different categories of policy rules, such as the configu ration, security, and storage categories. The policy rules are given different priorities, including High, Medium, and Informational. Enterprise Manager compares each host and database in your enterprise with the policy rules and identifies the policy violations for each host and database.
You can view the policy violations for one or more hosts and databases. Then, for each violation, you can choose to fix the problem that caused the violation or set the violation to Ignore (specify that Enterprise Manager not report t he violation in the future).
You can also remove some policy rules from the evaluation process so that your hosts or databases are not checked for compliance with that rule.
By default, policy rule evaluation takes place every 24 hours.
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See Also: "About Policies" in the Enterprise Manager online help for an overview of policies and pointers to more information about viewing and managing policies | <
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Enterprise Manager simplifies the patchin g of Oracle software products.
You can use Enterprise Manager to:
Search the OracleMetaLink Web site for Oracle patches and patch sets.
After providing your OracleMetaLink Web site user name and password c redentials to Enterprise Manager, you can use Enterprise Manager to search the OracleMetaLink Web site for Oracle patches an d patch sets of interest.
Stage a patch to the host or hosts on which it will be installed.
When Enterprise Manager stages a patch, it automatically downloads it from OracleMetaLink to the patch cache in the Management Re pository. Once a patch is in the patch cache, you can use Enterprise Manager to stage or apply it to any accessible host in your ente rprise (any host on which the Management Agent is running). The Enterprise Manager job system is used to stage the patch to the host.
Install a patch on the host or hosts using the Enterprise Manager job system.
The job system pro vides status of the patch application at each host, through Enterprise Manager job status information. With the Enterprise Manager jo b system, you can schedule the patch job to begin immediately or at a specified time. The Enterprise Manager job system with its sche duling features helps you apply Oracle patches in a controlled manner.
See Also:
"About Patching" in the Enterprise Manager online helpYou can use Enterprise Manager to manage Oracle critical patch advisories.
Some Oracle software patches have been identified as critical. To help ensure a secure and reliable configuration, all relevant and current critical patches should be applied to the appropriate Oracle homes in your enterprise.
To promote critical patch appli cation, Enterprise Manager performs an assessment of vulnerabilities by examining your enterprise configuration to determine which Or acle homes have not applied one or more of these critical patches. Enterprise Manager provides a list of critical patch advisories an d the Oracle homes to which the critical patches should be applied.
From the summary of patch advisories, you can navigate to more information about a particular patch and get a list of the Oracle homes to which the patch has not been applied. Then you can la unch the Enterprise Manager Patch tool to simplify the application of the critical patch to those homes.
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See Also: "Managing Critical Patch Advisories" in the Enterprise Manager online help for more information on setting up and managing critical patch advisories |
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