Oracle 12c新特性---Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP)

RHP: Rapid Home Provisioning Server - Minimum Requirement ( 文件 ID 2126710.1)

How To Setup a Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) Server and Client ( 文件 ID 2097026.1)

RHP（Rapid Home Provisioning）是什麼
隨著IT資訊化的發展。現在資料中心的規模越來越大，對管理員的要求也越來越高。同時，使用者希望快速訪問始終線上的服務，因此對於企業來說，部署和維護必須高效且對業務執行無干擾。為了跟上步伐，必須減少運維複雜性和手動參與的步驟。Oracle RHP (Rapid Home Provisioning) 的解決方案標準化、簡化了軟體分發和管理。自動化和高效率是她的特點，她最小化了對大規模部署的影響。

Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) 代表了一種標準的方法，以統一的方式，在軟體基礎設施的所有體系結構層 (Oracle Database和其他第三方定製軟體) 上進行部署、補丁、升級、遷移等工作，尤其是Oracle叢集、資料庫的部署、升級、補丁、遷移，以及叢集節點的伸縮等操作非常便捷。
 

RHP可以理解成一個獨立的叢集（僅安裝GI即可）。RHP服務是Grid Infrastructure的一部分。Oracle Clusterware會管理RHP的相關元件。這些元件包括RHP Server自身、GNS、一個用於支援HA-NFS的VIP（不論是否使用NFS來儲存workingcopy，都是必須的）和用於儲存workingcopy快照的ASM叢集檔案系統（ACFS）。在日常操作中，透過RHP部署的客戶端或目標端不依賴於RHP服務。因此，即使RHP服務不可用，已經部署的home不會受到影響。

Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) 是一種部署軟體HOME的方法。我們可以從已安裝的HOME中建立Image，並儲存和管理，Oracle稱之為“Gold Image”。DBA可以在這個“Gold Image”上製作副本（workingcopy），然後把這些副本供應到資料中心的所有目標端。

“Gold Image”代表一個Home，無論是Oracle資料庫軟體Home，還是第三方的或自定義軟體Home。“Gold Image”儲存在Oracle自動軟體管理叢集檔案系統 (Oracle ACFS) 中。

RHP的相關後設資料儲存在Grid Infrastructure Management Repository。Management Database MGMTDB在安裝Grid infrastructure時會被建立。

RHP的特點和功能

RHP提供集中的軟體部署和維護。軟體只需要安裝一次，然後儲存在RHP伺服器上，並且從那裡可以隨時向資料中心的任何節點或叢集供應。主要特徵包括：管理現有部署，不需要任何更改、不需要重新配置、也不需要代理或守護程式。 

主要優勢有

流程自動化，減少人工參與的步驟
簡化了資料庫相關的安裝部署、修補和升級
最大限度地減少維護的影響和風險
支援大規模部署

RHP的基本功能

Gold Images集中儲存，包括GI、DB、應用、中介軟體等
支援安裝和配置新的叢集和資料庫
最小化維護視窗
一條命令就能搞定安裝、補丁或升級
內建了還原和從失敗點繼續的能力執行
支援 自定義工作流
提供審計日誌
支援所有部署模型——物理機器、虛擬化、容器、Oracle多租戶

RHP架構圖
RHP (Rapid Home Provisioning) 服務依賴於Grid Infrastructure。她儲存和管理了很多ORACLE_HOME的模板，我們稱之為“Gold Images”。 您可以向資料中心中的任何節點部署基於“Gold Images”的副本（working copy實際上就是基於Gold Image部署的ORACLE HOME）。RHP支援Oracle Home、Oracle Database、Grid Infrastructure、和新叢集（前提是需要作業系統和網路已配置好）的部署，以及GI、DB的升級和遷移等，還支援第三方的軟體。

RHP可以管理其叢集自身，12.2.0.1或更高版本的Rapid Home Provisioning Clients，還可以管理透過RHP Service部署的Oracle Grid Infrastructure 11gR2 (11.2.0.4) 和12cR1 (12.1.0.2) ，稱為Clientless Targets部署。RHP還可以管理在Oracle Restart上執行的單例項資料庫以及沒有叢集軟體的伺服器。總之一句話，只要是11.2.0.4及以上的無論是叢集還是單例項都可以管理，前提是必須透過RHP部署部署。

下面的架構圖描述的是透過RHP Server部署11.2、12.1、12.2、18c target，這些稱為Managed target。還有一些未連線的18c target，這些不是透過RHP Server部署的，稱之為Unmanaged target，不能透過RHP管理。由於這些不是透過RHP Server部署的，所以RHP也無法直接管理。下面會介紹目標端、RHP客戶端，注意這些都不是必須的。

目標端（no RHP Client）
沒有執行Oracle Grid Infrastructure RHP Client的目標稱為Clientless Targets。這些目標不能發起與RHP Service的通訊，只能從RHP Service端進行管理。這些目標可以執行網格基礎設施11.2.0.4/12.1.0.2/12.2.0.1，或者沒有安裝GI，只執行了單例項的Oracle例項資料庫，或者是安裝Oracle Restart等。SSH協議用於RHPS和目標之間的通訊。

RHP客戶端（RHP Client）

RHP Client程式是一個叢集中的HA資源，執行在叢集的一個節點中，並處理來自RHP Service的請求。能夠與客戶端互動，並在沒有憑據的情況下執行預期的任務。此外，客戶端可以在本地啟動許多工。在啟動時，客戶機-伺服器程式之間建立一個經過身份驗證的通訊通道並保持連線，稱為JMX通訊通道。這需要在RHP Service和RHP Client上都開啟埠來建立這個通道。

如何配置RHP Server

從18c開始，在安裝GI的時候，RHP Server是預設被安裝的，使用的是本地模式。也就是下面的輸出，只有move命令。如果只想在本地模式下使用，也可以不配置RHP Server。
本地模式下的輸出

orgrid@ohs1 ~]$ rhpctl
Usage: rhpctl <command> <object> [<options>]
    commands: move
    objects: database|gihome
For detailed help on each command and object and its options use:
  rhpctl <command> <object> -help
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$

伺服器模式下的輸出（如果是這種模式，請忽略下面的步驟）

[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$ rhpctl
Usage: rhpctl <command> <object> [<options>]
    commands: add|addnode|allow|delete|deleteimage|deletenode|disallow|discover|export|grant|import|insertimage|instantiate|modify|move|promote|query|register|revoke|subscribe|uninstantiate|unregister|unsubscribe|upgrade|verify|enable|disable|collect|deploy
    objects: audit|client|credentials|database|gihome|image|imagetype|job|node|osconfig|peerserver|role|series|server|user|useraction|workingcopy
For detailed help on each command and object and its options use:
  rhpctl <command> <object> -help
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$

下圖記錄了在已安裝18c（18.3）叢集上建立 RHP Server 的詳細步驟。

ohs1和ohs2是已安裝18c的叢集，其中RHP Client不是可選的。

停止RHP Server
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$ srvctl stop rhpserver
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$ srvctl remove rhpserver
PRCN-2018 : Current user orgrid is not a privileged user
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$ which srvctl
/pgold/orgrid/oracle/product/183/bin/srvctl
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$ su -
Password:
移除RHP Server
[root@ohs1 ~]# /pgold/orgrid/oracle/product/183/bin/srvctl remove rhpserver
[root@ohs1 ~]#
增加RHP Server
[root@ohs1 ~]# /pgold/orgrid/oracle/product/183/bin/srvctl add rhpserver -storage /rhpstorage -diskgroup DATA -verbose
ohs1.ohsdba.cn: Creating a new volume...
ohs1.ohsdba.cn: Checking for the existence of file system...
ohs1.ohsdba.cn: Creating a new ACFS file system...
ohs1.ohsdba.cn: Starting the ACFS file system...
ohs1.ohsdba.cn: Creating authentication keys...
[root@ohs1 ~]# su – orgrid
Note：/rhpstorage會被自動建立
啟動RHP Server
[root@ohs1 ~]# /pgold/orgrid/oracle/product/183/bin/srvctl start rhpserver
[root@ohs1 ~]# /pgold/orgrid/oracle/product/183/bin/srvctl status rhpserver
Rapid Home Provisioning Server is enabled
Rapid Home Provisioning Server is running on node ohs1
檢視RHP Server配置
[root@ohs1 ~]# /pgold/orgrid/oracle/product/183/bin/srvctl config rhpserver
Storage base path: /rhpstorage
Disk Groups: DATA
Port number: 23795
Transfer port range:
Rapid Home Provisioning Server is enabled
Rapid Home Provisioning Server is individually enabled on nodes:
Rapid Home Provisioning Server is individually disabled on nodes:
Email address:
Mail server address:
Mail server port:
Transport Level Security disabled
HTTP Secure is enabled
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$ df -h
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/vg_ohs-lv_root
                       50G  5.1G   42G  11% /
tmpfs                 2.4G  1.1G  1.3G  46% /dev/shm
/dev/sda1             477M   84M  368M  19% /boot
/dev/mapper/vg_ohs-lv_pgold
                      537G   23G  487G   5% /pgold
/dev/asm/ghchkpt-33   5.5G  784M  4.8G  14% /rhpstorage/chkbase
/dev/asm/ghvol464715-33
                       12G  5.7G  6.4G  47% /rhpstorage/images/iDB112957258
/dev/asm/ghvol895499-33
                       22G   12G   11G  51% /rhpstorage/images/iDB183271079
[orgrid@ohs1 ~]$
增加HAVIP
[root@ohs1 ~]# /pgold/orgrid/oracle/product/183/bin/srvctl add havip -id havip -address 192.168.56.6

rhpctl命令列

RHP是從12.1開始引入的，也只有在GI下面才有，檔名是rhpctl。在這個版本，如果要透過rhpctl部署軟體HOME，必須是配置了RHP Client才可以。到了12.2，在沒有RHP Client客戶下，也可以部署。從18c開始，沒有安裝GI也可以使用（也可以說在單例項下面也可以使用），從資料庫的HOME下我們能找到rhpctl這命令。

[root@ohs1 ~]# rhpctl -h

Performs Rapid Home Provisioning operations and manages Rapid Home Provisioning Servers and Clients.
Usage:
         rhpctl add                   Adds a resource, type or other entity.
         rhpctl addnode               Adds nodes or instances of specific resources.
         rhpctl addpdb                Adds a pluggable database to the specified multitenant container database.
         rhpctl allow                 Allows access to the image, series or image type.
         rhpctl collect               Collects backup of operating system configuration for the cluster.
         rhpctl compare               Compares operating system configurations for the specified cluster.
         rhpctl delete                Deletes a resource, type or other entity.
         rhpctl deleteimage           Deletes an image from a series.
         rhpctl deletenode            Deletes nodes or instances of specific resources.
         rhpctl deletepdb             Removes a pluggable database from the specified multitenant container database.
         rhpctl deploy                Deploys OS image for the cluster.
         rhpctl disable               Disables the scheduled daily backup of operating system configuration for the cluster.
         rhpctl disallow              Disallows access to the image, series or image type.
         rhpctl discover              Validates and discovers parameters to generate a response file.
         rhpctl enable                Enables the scheduled daily backup of operating system configuration for the cluster.
         rhpctl export                Exports data from the repository to a client or server data file.
         rhpctl grant                 Grants a role to a client user.
         rhpctl import                Creates a new image from the specified path.
         rhpctl insertimage           Inserts a new image into a series.
         rhpctl instantiate           Requests images from another server.
         rhpctl modify                Modifies a resource, type or other entity.
         rhpctl move                  Moves a resource from a source path to a destination path.
         rhpctl promote               Promotes an image.
         rhpctl query                 Gets information of a resource, type or other entity.
         rhpctl recover               Recovers a node after its failure.
         rhpctl register              Registers an image, user or server.
         rhpctl replicate             Replicate image from server to a specified client.
         rhpctl revoke                Revokes a role of a client user.
         rhpctl subscribe             Subscribes the specified user to an image series.
         rhpctl uninstantiate         Stops updates for previously requested images from another server.
         rhpctl unregister            Unregisters an image, user or server.
         rhpctl unsubscribe           Unsubscribes the specified user to an image series.
         rhpctl upgrade               Upgrades a resource.
         rhpctl verify                Validates and creates or completes a response file.
         rhpctl zdtupgrade            Performs zero downtime upgrade of a database.
For detailed help on each command use:
        rhpctl <command> -help
[root@ohs1 ~]#

RHP的“Gold Image ”和“workingcopy ”

RHP最基本的操作，一個是建立“Gold Image”，一個是建立“workingcopy”。

每個 “Gold Image”都代表一個HOME，可以是Oracle資料庫HOME、Grid Infrastructure HOME或任何其他軟體HOME。應用程式不會直接在“Gold Image”上執行。可以從“Gold Image”上建立副本（working copy），然後在這些workingcopy上執行。“Gold Image”可以從RHP服務上安裝的HOME、RHP Client或資料中心中的任何節點匯入。Gold Image還可以在RHP服務之間共享。預設的狀態是PUBLISHED，在建立image的時候可以指定引數-state來設定狀態，之後還可以透過“promote image”命令來改變狀態。

有多種方式來建立“Gold Images”

一個是“import image”，

一個是“add image”，

一個是“register image”（這個在白皮書中暫時沒找到說明）

“add image”用於從workingcopy中建立副本。並且這個workingcopy是在RHP服務端上，並且部署時的儲存選項是RHP_MANAGED。透過這個還可以節省儲存空間。這個在後面會有介紹。

“import image” 用於從安裝的HOME中建立“Gold Image”。可以是在RHP服務端，也可以是RHP Client端，或者是一個沒有客戶端的目標端 (11.2, 12.1 or 12.2) ，這個是常用選項。

支援import image的Database 和 GI 版本為11.2.0.4, 12.1.0.2, and 12.2.0.1。請記住，資料中心中的任何家HOME都可以作為“gold images”匯入，因此您可以選擇哪些image作為標準化部署基礎。

Image狀態和訪問
RHP允許您定義Image的狀態PUBLISHED、RESTRICTED、TESTABLE（釋出的、可測試的或受限的三種），來實現Image的生命週期管理。此外，還可以在角色和特定使用者級別控制對給定映像的訪問。

Workingcopy

只要是透過rhpctl部署的HOME（就是wokingcopy）都屬於被託管（managed）的，不是透過rhpctl部署的HOME都統稱為非託管（unmanaged）的。例如，在一個非託管的HOME下，在補丁或升級過程中，可以透過rhpctl部署新的HOME，然後透過rhpctl做升級或遷移，非託管（unmanaged）的HOME可以很容易的切換到被託管（managed），納入RHP的管理框架。

打補丁方式的改變

之前打補丁的操作以及後續步驟，現在透過下面的兩條命令就可以搞定了

1. rhpctl add workingcopy
2. rhpctl move database

部署新叢集或資料庫 就是這麼簡單

只要作業系統、相關安裝包和網路配置好。在RHP服務端透過下面的三個命令就可以快速的部署一個新叢集，包含資料庫。

透過RHP部署和升級體驗

下面是原始環境的資訊。我們透過在RHP Server ohs1上匯入ood 11204的ORACLE_HOME，在ohs1上匯入183的ORACLE HOME。然後在ohs1上透過RHP為ohs部署11204的ORACLE_HOME，並建立資料庫，然後再部署183的ORACLE_HOME，最後將11204的資料庫升級都183。

18c在本地模式下透過rhpctl move切換ORACLE HOME
注意：move只適合於大版本相同，小版本不同的情況。比如這裡是介紹從Oracle 18.2切換到18.3。
檢視情況環境

[oracle@sdb09] /home/oracle> env |grep ORACLE
ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/18.0.0/dbhome_1
ORACLE_HOSTNAME=sdb09
ORACLE_PATH=/home/oracle/scripts
ORACLE_SID=cdb2
ORACLE_UNQNAME=cdb2
[oracle@sdb09] /home/oracle> sqlplus "/as sysdba"
SQL*Plus: Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production on Tue Jul 24 16:43:00 2018
Version 18.2.0.0.0
Copyright (c) 1982, 2018, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
Connected to:
Oracle Database 18c Enterprise Edition Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 18.2.0.0.0
CDB$ROOT@cdb2>show pdbs
    CON_ID CON_NAME                       OPEN MODE  RESTRICTED
---------- ------------------------------ ---------- ----------
         2 PDB$SEED                       READ ONLY  YES
         3 PDB2                           READ WRITE NO
CDB$ROOT@cdb2>exit
Disconnected from Oracle Database 18c Enterprise Edition Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 18.2.0.0.0
[oracle@sdb09] /home/oracle>

安裝18.3 ORACLE HOME
18.3 ORACLE_HOME的安裝（略）

注意：這裡是本地模式，就不能透過rhpctl add workingcopy來部署183的ORACLE HOME了
執行rhpctl move database
一條命令搞定，真的很簡單。在18.2下執行rhpctl move database
[oracle@sdb09] /home/oracle> rhpctl move database -dbname cdb2              \
>                      -sourcehome /u01/app/oracle/product/18.0.0/dbhome_1  \
>                      -desthome /u01/app/oracle/product/18.0.0/dbhome_3    \
>                      -stopoption IMMEDIATE

Running RHPCTL for Stand Alone Home
SQL*Plus: Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production on Tue Jul 24 16:46:23 2018
Version 18.2.0.0.0
Copyright (c) 1982, 2018, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
Connected to:
Oracle Database 18c Enterprise Edition Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 18.2.0.0.0
SQL> Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> Disconnected from Oracle Database 18c Enterprise Edition Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 18.2.0.0.0
SQL*Plus: Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production on Tue Jul 24 16:46:55 2018
Version 18.3.0.0.0
Copyright (c) 1982, 2018, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
Connected to an idle instance.
SQL> ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area 1073741304 bytes
Fixed Size                  8904184 bytes
Variable Size             771751936 bytes
Database Buffers          289406976 bytes
Redo Buffers                3678208 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
SQL> Disconnected from Oracle Database 18c Enterprise Edition Release 18.0.0.0.0 - Production
Version 18.3.0.0.0
/u01/app/oracle/product/18.0.0/dbhome_3
cdb2
SQL Patching tool version 18.0.0.0.0 Production on Tue Jul 24 16:47:19 2018
Copyright (c) 2012, 2018, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
Log file for this invocation: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/sqlpatch_533_2018_07_24_16_47_19/sqlpatch_invocation.log
Connecting to database...OK
Gathering database info...done
Note:  Datapatch will only apply or rollback SQL fixes for PDBs
       that are in an open state, no patches will be applied to closed PDBs.
       Please refer to Note: Datapatch: Database 12c Post Patch SQL Automation
       (Doc ID 1585822.1)
Bootstrapping registry and package to current versions...done
Determining current state...done
Current state of interim SQL patches:
Interim patch 27923415 (OJVM RELEASE UPDATE: 18.3.0.0.180717 (27923415)):
  Binary registry: Installed
  PDB CDB$ROOT: Rolled back with errors on 24-JUL-18 04.30.06.505223 PM
  PDB PDB$SEED: Rolled back with errors on 24-JUL-18 04.30.06.873780 PM
  PDB PDB2: Rolled back with errors on 24-JUL-18 04.30.07.119076 PM
Current state of release update SQL patches:
  Binary registry:
    18.3.0.0.0 Release_Update 1806280943: Installed
  PDB CDB$ROOT:
    Rolled back to 18.2.0.0.0 Release_Update 1804041635 successfully on 24-JUL-18 04.30.06.555634 PM
  PDB PDB$SEED:
    Rolled back to 18.2.0.0.0 Release_Update 1804041635 successfully on 24-JUL-18 04.30.06.951502 PM
  PDB PDB2:
    Rolled back to 18.2.0.0.0 Release_Update 1804041635 successfully on 24-JUL-18 04.30.07.155698 PM
Adding patches to installation queue and performing prereq checks...done
Installation queue:
  For the following PDBs: CDB$ROOT PDB$SEED PDB2
    No interim patches need to be rolled back
    Patch 28090523 (Database Release Update : 18.3.0.0.180717 (28090523)):
      Apply from 18.2.0.0.0 Release_Update 1804041635 to 18.3.0.0.0 Release_Update 1806280943
    The following interim patches will be applied:
      27923415 (OJVM RELEASE UPDATE: 18.3.0.0.180717 (27923415))
Installing patches...
Patch installation complete.  Total patches installed: 6
Validating logfiles...done
Patch 28090523 apply (pdb CDB$ROOT): SUCCESS
  logfile: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/28090523/22329768/28090523_apply_CDB2_CDBROOT_2018Jul24_16_49_17.log (no errors)
Patch 27923415 apply (pdb CDB$ROOT): SUCCESS
  logfile: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/27923415/22239273/27923415_apply_CDB2_CDBROOT_2018Jul24_16_51_54.log (no errors)
Patch 28090523 apply (pdb PDB$SEED): SUCCESS
  logfile: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/28090523/22329768/28090523_apply_CDB2_PDBSEED_2018Jul24_16_52_15.log (no errors)
Patch 27923415 apply (pdb PDB$SEED): SUCCESS
  logfile: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/27923415/22239273/27923415_apply_CDB2_PDBSEED_2018Jul24_16_55_08.log (no errors)
Patch 28090523 apply (pdb PDB2): SUCCESS
  logfile: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/28090523/22329768/28090523_apply_CDB2_PDB2_2018Jul24_16_52_16.log (no errors)
Patch 27923415 apply (pdb PDB2): SUCCESS
  logfile: /u01/app/oracle/cfgtoollogs/sqlpatch/27923415/22239273/27923415_apply_CDB2_PDB2_2018Jul24_16_55_01.log (no errors)
SQL Patching tool complete on Tue Jul 24 16:55:24 2018
[oracle@sdb09] /home/oracle>

Reference

https://blogs.oracle.com/db_maintenance/rapid-home-provisioning-simplifies-oracle-database-estate-management
https://blogs.oracle.com/db_maintenance/whats-new-in-122-for-rapid-home-provisioning-and-maintenance
https://blogs.oracle.com/db_maintenance/rapid-home-provisioning-and-maintenance-whats-new-in-18c

12.1 Reference

12.2 Reference

18c Reference

2126710.1 RHP: Rapid Home Provisioning Server - Minimum Requirement

2097026.1 How to Setup a Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) Server and Client
2124960.1 Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) setup in 1-Click

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相關文章

How To Setup a Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) Server and Client (Doc ID 2097026.1)

In this Document

APPLIES TO:

Oracle Database - Enterprise Edition - Version 12.2.0.1 and later
Oracle Database Cloud Schema Service - Version N/A and later
Oracle Database Exadata Express Cloud Service - Version N/A and later
Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Machine - Version N/A and later
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure - Database Service - Version N/A and later
IBM AIX on POWER Systems (64-bit)
Linux x86-64
Oracle Solaris on SPARC (64-bit)
Oracle Solaris on x86-64 (64-bit)

GOAL

To provide the steps to setup a Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) Server & Client

SOLUTION

Introduction

Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) represents a standard way for provisioning, patching and update at organizational level, in a unified manner, across all architectural layers of software infrastructure – Oracle databases and custom software.

• Rapid Home Provisioning is a method of deploying software homes from single cluster where you create, store and manage templates of Oracle homes as images - called gold images - of Oracle software. The DBA can make a working copy of any gold image and then provision that working copy to any RHP Client in a data center.
• RHP is installed as part of Grid Infrastructure. Oracle Clusterware manages the components that form the Rapid Home Provisioning Server. These components include the RHP server itself, Grid Naming Service (GNS) which is used to advertise the location of the RHP server, a VIP to support HA-NFS (required if there are any clients that you want to provision to - whether you use NFS storage for the workingcopies or not) and Oracle ASM Cluster File System (ACFS) which is used to store snapshots of the working copies.
• The gold images represent an installed home, whether that is an Oracle Database software home or some custom software home. The gold image is stored in an Oracle Automatic Software Management Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS).
• Metadata describing an installed home is stored as an image series in the Management Repository. The Management Repository (or Management Database MGMTDB) is created when installing Oracle Grid Infrastructure.

Using the rhpctl utility, gold images can be imported from an installed home on any of the RHP clients or RHP Server.

An existing working copy can be promoted to a gold image.

• A working copy is an instantiation of an Oracle database software home
• Working copies are writable and independent of one another

Using RHP we can provision Oracle GI/DB software for the various versions

• 11.2.0.* (Oracle Database 11g)
• 12.1.0.* (Oracle Database 12c)
• 12.2.0.* (Oracle Database 12c)

It's recommended on RHP Server to use the  latest GI (Grid Infrastructure) version (at the time of writing this article 12.2.0.1_180116).

Using Rapid Home Provisioning

Rapid Home Provisioning requires ASM, the Management DB and the Grid Naming Service (GNS). As part of the Grid Infrastructure deploy

• ASM is configured
• The Management Repository (Management DB) is available. The Management DB is installed by default with Oracle Grid Infrastructure 12.2.0.1

As the Management DB (MGMTDB) is doing a key role with the RHP, you should consider to setup a backup for it, in particular for the schema: ' GHSUSER' (for example using  expdp).
The size of it depends on the number of images, workingcopies, sites, users, etc. 
In general, the size requirement is very low since we only store the metadata: for 100 images, 2000 workingcopies and 25 RHP Clients, our internal test showed a size of about 200 Mb only.

You need to configure the GNS such that a GNS VIP is provided. A GNS with Zone Delegation is  not required by RHP.

GNS Setup

Execute the following command as root, providing a valid IP address (domain is not needed on RHP):

Once the GNS is configured the Rapid Home Provisioning server can be configured.

Creating a Rapid Home Provisioning Server

The Rapid Home Provisioning Server uses an Oracle ACFS file system for Oracle database software homes that will be published to clients.

To configure the Rapid Home Provisioning Server you will need to:

• Provide an ASM diskgroup (DATA/RECO). It is recommended that this diskgroup is with at least 100Gb in free space. The diskgroup is used to store gold images and RHP managed NFS-provisioned workingcopies.
• Provide a mount path that exists on all nodes of the RHP server. Oracle ACFS snapshots can be used to provision server-local workingcopies or NFS-mounted workingcopies on clients.
• Configure an HA VIP. The NFS client, on the RHP client clusters will communicate with the NFS server on the RHP server over this IP address for NFS mounted homes. The VIP allows for the configuration of HANFS. Note that the HA VIP has to be configured in the same subnet as the default network configured on the RHP server. 

As  HANFS requires NFS in order to run. It is assumed that NFS (and its associated needs) will be started by init scripts at node boot time. NFS will need to be running on all RHP server nodes. We can check this on each node issuing:

If one of these is not running, you could start it by using (as root):

The 'chkconfig' command can be used to ensure that these services are started at boot time 

Once the pre-requisites mentioned above have been met, the RHP server can be added to Grid Infrastructure and started.

RHP Server:  Create the Rapid Home Provisioning Server resource

Assuming  DATA diskgroup usage, and ' /rhp_storage' as ACFS mount point, issue the following command (as 'root' user):

If adding rhpserver with above command you are getting the warning message:

you can set it up with the command (attaching ASM instance with sqlplus)

You can check the status for rhp server doing:

On all RHP Server nodes at this time, you have a new ACFS mount point:

RHP Server:  Start the Rapid Home Provisioning Server resource

Issue the following command (as 'root' user):

RHP Server: HA-VIP setup

On the RHP server as the Grid Infrastructure owner determine if an HA-VIP has been created (as 'grid' user):

If it's not configured, you need to issue the following command (as root): 

RHP Server: Create client data file

On RHP Server create the RHP client configuration file (as 'grid' user), RHPCTL creates the client data file in the directory path you specify after the -toclientdata flag. The name of the client data file is "client_cluster_name".xml: 

move the RHP Client config file created above to the RHP Client:

At this time you should configure the RHP Client.

RHP Client setup

Perform the following actions on the RHP client cluster (as 'root' user):

1. Create the RHP client using the XML wallet created for this cluster
2. Start the RHP client.

The command “ srvctl add rhpclient” has two optional arguments:

"-diskgroup" and "-storage" are defined as a pair (you cannot define one without the other). They can be provided in "srvctl add rhpclient", and they may be modified or added with "srvctl modify rhpclient". The specified diskgroup and storage location are used in two scenarios:

1. when provisioning working copies of Oracle Database Homes in to RHP_MANAGED_STORAGE. RHP_MANAGED_STORAGE is the recommended storage type for Oracle Database Homes because it leverages ACFS features to minimize storage footprint.
2. If the client is a multi-node cluster. When a working copy of a software home (Grid, DB or generic) is provisioned to the client, the client will create a local cached copy in ACFS, and then copy it to the other nodes of the cluster locally. (Otherwise, the RHP Server itself must provision the working copy to each node.)

Scenarios to Use Rapid Home Provisioning

Adding Gold Images to the Rapid Home Provisioning Server

Rapid Home Provisioning Server stores and serves gold images of software homes. These gold images must be instantiated on the Rapid Home Provisioning Server. Gold images are read-only, preventing a client from running programs from them. Gold images are not used as software homes directly. Rather, the gold image is used to create working copies. These working copies are usable as software homes on RHP Client.

The DBA can import software to the Rapid Home Provisioning Server using any one of the following methods:

- Import a gold image from an installed home on the Rapid Home Provisioning Server using the following command:

- Import a gold image from an installed home on a Rapid Home Provisioning Client, using the following command run from the RHP Client:

- Promote an existing workingcopy to a gold image using the following command:

As example,  let's suppose you have created several Oracle homes (on RHP Server) 

You could make them available as gold image issuing the following command (as 'grid' user):

Note as at this time you will have three new ACFS filesystems (for every single  rhpctl import command, a new ACFS mount point will be created):

Database Home provisioning

The command  rhpctl add workingcopy is used to provision an ORACLE_HOME for use by an Oracle database. This command can be run on the RHP Server or on the RHP Client. If run on the RHP Server, the command can provision an Oracle database either RHP-server-local or remotely on any RHP Client. When using the  rhpctl command on the RHP Server, use the  -client option to specify the remote cluster.

- Create the mount point for the working copy on all nodes of the RHP Client

Database home provisioning (LOCAL)

Provide an Oracle Home to RHP Client available as "oracle" user making it available " locally" (as 'grid' user from RHP Server)

Creating a workingcopy, a new ACFS snapshot of the DB Home gold image will be created, example:

Database home provisioning (NFS)

Provide an Oracle Home to RHP Client available as " oracle" user making it available  by " NFS" (HA-NFS) (as 'grid' user from RHP Server):

Database provisioning

Using RHP 'rhpctl add workingcopy', you can provide also a (RAC, RacOne, Single Instance) database (non-CDB, CDB).

Switch to Managed Homes

A DBA can switch databases from an Oracle home that was not provisioned using Rapid Home Provisioning (unmanaged Oracle home) to an Oracle home provisioned and managed by Rapid Home Provisioning Server.

Assume the following:

• Oracle Home installed at /u01/app/product/12.1.0/dbhome (currently an unmanaged home) on an RHP client cluster named odaremote. This home has one or more databases created from it.
• A gold image named ORACLEDB12 is managed by the RHP server.
• (Optionally) the gold image ORACLEDB12 has a working copy named myDB12HOME1 created on the client cluster odaremote from it.

Example:

Note: Moving a RAC database from un-managed Oracle Home to an RHP managed Oracle Home by default will be done in rolling mode

Database Patching

Similar to the above scenario, patching involves moving a database from one workingcopy to a new patched workingcopy.

Workingcopies are independent and multiple workingcopies can be created from the same gold image.
A typical scenario would involve creating an initial workingcopy from a base release. As new patches, PSUs are a good example, get released create a new workingcopy from your current gold image and apply the PSU.
The latest workingcopy would be promoted as a new gold image from which new databases are created. Existing databases can then be moved to this latest gold image (which contains the current PSU).
This maintains a lineage of homes, allows for reverting to an older home if necessary, and keeps databases up to date, with regard to PSU application.

Assume you are moving all databases from a workingcopy named  wcDB12PSU1 to a workingcopy named  wcDB12PSU2, you would issue the command:

This command creates a new ORACLE_HOME based on the patched image, if it does not exist, and then switches all Oracle databases from their current ORACLE_HOME location to the new ORACLE_HOME.

By default, patching is performed in a  rolling mode. Use the  -nonrolling option to perform patching in non-rolling mode. The database is then completely stopped on the old ORACLE_HOME, and is then restarted using the newly patched ORACLE_HOME.

For databases versions 12.1.0.1 or higher, the command rhpctl move database also executes any SQL commands required for database patching. For database versions earlier than Oracle Database 12c Release 1, a message is displayed asking the user to run the SQL commands for database patching manually. If only a specific database is to have its ORACLE_HOME moved, include the  -dbnameswitch:

Standby Database Patching

Similar to the above scenario, standby database patching involves moving a database oracle home from one workingcopy to a new patched workingcopy without applying any dictionary patch.

On RHP Client a standby database is running under 12.1.0.2.0:

From the RHP Server provide a new OH 12.1.0.2.3 (as 'grid' user):

Now, on RHP Client a new OH 12.1.0.2.3 is show:

At this point we can move the remote standby from binaries 12.1.0.2.0 to 12.1.0.2.3 (patch the standby OH), as 'grid' user:

The STDBY database is now attached to the new OH provided above:

Troubleshooting

- The RHP Server logs are located at the following location:

- The RHP Client logs are located at the following location:

- In order to investigate what an srvctl command is doing:

Depending on the nature of the error, enable additional tracing by defining SRVM_NATIVE_TRACE=TRUE and SRVM_JNI_TRACE=TRUE. This will produce additional jni trace information and is helpful to isolate issue in the jni layer.

REFERENCES

 
NOTE:2124960.1  - Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) setup in "1-Click"
 
NOTE:2126710.1  - RHP: Rapid Home Provisioning Server - Minimum Requirement
NOTE:2167541.1  - RHP (Rapid Home Provisioning): mnttest tool to test NFS 'export' and 'mount' functionalities
NOTE:2054804.1  - ODA (Oracle Database Appliance): How To Setup a Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP) Server and Client

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