1. Oracle Application Server 10g Architecture and Administration - Single Sign-On (SSO)
With Single Sign-On, a client can sign onto the application once and be automatically authenticated for
other components within the application server, as well as to external applications if properly set up.
SSO provides a central authentication repository rather than having a separate authentication for each
application on the server. SSO uses the Infrastructure instance to validate users as they move from
application to application without forcing them to reauthenticate.
The SSO component interacts with the Oracle HTTP Server (OHS) and allows the formatting of Single
Sign-On information as an open source Apache header. Note that SSO only functions within the domain
of your Oracle system. Many distributed e-commerce systems communicate with third-party portals,
and SSO cannot be extended to service these external clients. For example, an Oracle e-commerce site
might need to process a payment request with Cybercash, and Cybercash would require its own
independent SSO mechanism. Hence, many Application Server 10g administrators must develop XML
Data Type Definition (DTD) protocols for communication with external third-party systems.
We will discuss SSO and other components of Application Server 10g security in great detail in Chapter
12.
Oracle Internet Directory
The Oracle Internet Directory (OID) is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory service
that provides centralized storage of information about users, applications, and resources in your
enterprise. Coupled with SSO, OID allows end users to sign on one time and use their predefined OID
credential (set up by the DBA). This credential defines those components of Application Server 10g with
which the end user is allowed to interface.
Because it is LDAP-compliant, OID can be viewed as a simple lookup mechanism for web services. For
example, LDAP entries can be used instead of entries in the traditional tnsnames.ora file, thereby
allowing connectivity for clients anywhere on your network. This technique has replaced the obsolete
Oracle*Names tool as a method for defining services for Oracle.
In sum, OID is an easy-to-configure tool for defining end-user access with Application Server 10g.
Because it is tightly coupled with SSO and advanced security, OID is a critical component of Oracle
security management. OID is managed with a GUI called Oracle Directory Manager (ODM). We will
discuss this tool for managing data access rules in great detail in Chapter 12, along with other security
topics.
Metadata Repository (Infrastructure)
The metadata repository is a critical component of Application Server 10g because it allows for a
common management interface between multiple instances of Application Server 10g and the other
components. The metadata repository is commonly referred to as the Infrastructure, which is common
to all Application Server 10g farms and components that share a common definition. We will discuss the
Infrastructure in great detail in Chapter 3.
2. Oracle Management Server (OMS)
With the Oracle Management Server, administrators can include the Application Server in a centrally
managed configuration using Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM--a separate product). OMS is a
component of the Oracle Enterprise Manager console, used to manage Application Server 10g instances,
databases, and other components. The foremost feature of OMS is its ability to store OEM data inside
the metadata repository. This storage ability of OMS allows administrators to share server configuration
information, scheduled events and jobs, and notifications of failures. To start OMS, you use the emctl
command and issue the emctl start oms command to start the web servers and OMS processes.
Because OMS is the “glue” that binds all of the Application Server 10g components together, we will be
visiting OMS functionality throughout this book. OMS provides the important functions of user
administration, and manages the flow of information between the OEM console and all managed nodes.
OEM allows for any server to become a managed node by installing an Oracle intelligent agent (OIA),
thereby making it accessible with the central administrative GUI. An OIA is a daemon process that
interfaces with the database and operating system on each server within each Application Server 10g
farm. The intelligent agent performs localized execution of tasks as directed by the OMS, and for Oracle
servers, the OIA performs time-based database monitoring. The concept of managed nodes adds power
to OEM, allowing the Application Server 10g DBA to quickly apply configuration changes to many server
components.
TopLink
For Java developers, TopLink provides a mechanism for making Java objects persistent across sessions.
In object-oriented (OO) languages such as Java, C#, or C++, objects can be instantiatedand destroyed
according to the needs of the program.
The problem is that OO languages like Java create objects in the RAM heap, and upon termination of the
program, all of the program’s objects are destroyed. Oracle Application Server TopLink 10g is a
persistence framework that enables object persistence by supplying routines that can be invoked to
store Java objects in relational database tables (in any relational database that supports JDBC). In
addition, TopLink provides a GUI tool, the Mapping Workbench, that greatly simplifies the task of
mapping Java objects and their attributes to database tables. TopLink also provides powerful features
like a query framework, object-level transaction support, relationship mappings, object caching, and
much more. Prior to TopLink, the programmer would have to write custom JDBC code to store and
retrieve the Java object’s attributes to/from a relational table. This is not only extremely time consuming
and error prone but also difficult to change. TopLink is built on top of JDBC but does not require
developers to use JDBC (or even SQL!). TopLink supports all J2EE compliant application servers, and can
be used to store object data from standard Java objects, as well as entity beans. Please refer to the
Oracle Application Server TopLink 10g documentation for more information.
1. What is SSO used for ?
3. OracleAS Single-Sign On server enables a user to log into multiples applications registered with the
Oracle Application Server with a single username and password. SSO server retrieve the user
information from OID. The management time is drastically reduced.
2. What is the SSL ?
The SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a well-known communication protocol that enables you to send
messages securely across the Internet.
3. Which are the SSO components ?
OracleAS SSO Server: enable you to use "authenticate one, log in many times" feature
OID: OID id the repository for the SSO
4. Which are the 2 type of applications which can be managed by SSO ?
Partner Applications: If you can log in to one partner application through the SSO Server, you can log in
to all partner applications registered with that server.
External Applications: "authenticate one, log in many times" feature is not enabled. The external
applications (and not SSO Server) are responsible for user authentication.
5. What is a Private Key Cryptography ?
Private Key encryption uses one key, that is used to both encrypt and decrypt messages. This is also
called symmetric encryption.
6. What is a Public Key Cryptography ?
Public-key cryptography (or PKI), also known as asymmetric cryptography, is a form of cryptography in
which a user has a pair of cryptographic keys—a public key and a private key. The private key is kept
secret, while the public key may be widely distributed. The keys are related mathematically, but the
private key cannot be practically derived from the public key. This is more secure than the Private Key
Cryptography.
7. What is an Oracle Wallet ?
An Oracle wallet is a password-protected container used to store authentication and signing credentials,
including private keys, certificates, and trusted certificates needed by SSL.
RMAN
1. What is RMAN ?
2. Why use RMAN ?
3. Where does RMAN store the metadata information about the backups ?
4. 4. Which are the components of RMAN ?
5. Which are the advantages of each RMAN metadata repositories ?
6. Which are the disadvantages of each RMAN metadata repositories ?
1. What is RMAN ?
RMAN (Recovery Manager) is the recommended tool for Oracle database backup, restore and recovery
operations. RMAN is an Oracle product.
2. Why use RMAN ?
RMAN supports both cold (offline) and hot (online) backup
The RMAN online backup is easier to take than an online user-managed backup
Does block level backup and recovery
RMAN command language is platform independent
The online backup doesn't put the tablespace in "backup mode", so no extra redo logs are not generated
3. Where does RMAN store the metadata information about the backups ?
In RMAN Catalog Repository (created on a database schema) or in the control files of the target
database. Personally, I prefer to use the control file because the result is the same, but there is less
administrative work for this.
4. Which are the components of RMAN ?
RMAN software: RMAN executable software could be find in $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory
Processes: RMAN creates processes to perform different activities, such as backups, restore and
recovery
Target database: The target database is the database RMAN connect to backup, restore, recover
information from (in)
Recovery Catalog Database: Store the metadata for the RMAN activities. It doesn't store the backup of
the target database. The target control files also could keep the RMAN metadata.
RMAN channel: The RMAN Channel provide a mean of communication between the server and the
operating system. Using more channels increase the speed of the RMAN activities.
Backup Set: A Backup Set store one or more physical files or backup pieces. You cannot split a file across
different backup sets or mix archived logs and datafiles into one backup set.
5. Image Copy: Is a replica of the physical files in uncompressed form. Because of this the images copies
could be used to restore the data files using RMAN or operating system commands.
1. Which is the default RMAN configuration ?
2. How could I restore the actual configuration to the default value ?
3. Using substitution variables
4. Configure RETENTION POLICY
5. Configure DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE
6. Configure CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP
1. Which is the default RMAN configuration ?
show all;
RMAN configuration parameters are:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 1; # default
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION OFF; # default
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP OFF; # default
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '%F'; # default
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES128'; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO NONE; # default
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/oracle/10gOHome/dbs/snapcf_db10.f'; # default
NOTES:
The parameters which are currently modified are in bold.
6. The changes in the RMAN configuration are saved automatically in the control file/ RMAN catalog.
2. How could I restore the actual configuration to the default value ?
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY CLEAR;
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION CLEAR;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE CLEAR;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP CLEAR;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE SBT CLEAR;
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE SBT CLEAR;
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE SBT CLEAR;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE SBT CLEAR;
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE CLEAR;
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME CLEAR;
3. Using substitution variables
RMAN can make use of substitution variables in creating format strings to generate UNIQUE file names.
If the file names are not unique the files will be overwritten and the data will be lost.
Format Description
%d specifies the database name.
%u specifies an 8-character name constituted by compressed representations of the backup set
number and the time the backup set was created.
%p specifies the backup piece number within the backup set. This value starts at 1 for each backup
set and is incremented by 1 as each backup piece is created.
7. %c Specifies the copy number of the backup piece within a set of duplexed backup pieces. If you did
not issue the set duplex command, then this variable will be 1 for regular backup sets and 0 for proxy
copies. If you issued set duplex, the variable identifies the copy number: 1, 2, 3, or 4.
%U Specifies a convenient shorthand for %u_%p_%c that guarantees uniqueness in generated
backup filenames. If you do not specify a format, RMAN uses %U by default.
%t specifies the backup set timestamp. The combination of %s and %t can be used to form a unique
name for the backup set.
%s specifies the backup set number. This number is a counter in the control file that is incremented
for each backup set. The counter value starts at 1 and is unique for the lifetime of the control file. If you
restore a backup control file, then duplicate values can result. Also, CREATE CONTROLFILE initializes the
counter back to 1.
4. Configure RETENTION POLICY
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 30 DAYS;
>> After 30 days the backup will become OBSOLETE.
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 3;
>> The latest 3 backups will NOT be OBSOLETE. The others will be.
When configuring a retention policy, RMAN will NOT cause backups to be automatically deleted.
REPORT OBSOLETE; -> List the backups (on disk) that have become obsolete with the current retention
policy.
DELETE OBSOLETE; -> Delete the obsolete backup files.
deletenoprompt obsolete;
NOTES:
crosscheck backup; -> check if the backup files exist physically on the disk
crosscheck copy; -> check if the files of a copy operation exist physically on the disk
list backup; -> To list all backup sets, backup pieces
list expired backup; -> To identify those backups that were not found during a crosscheck
DELETE EXPIRED BACKUP; ->To delete the information about the expired backups in the RMAN
repository
DELETE EXPIRED COPY; ->To delete the information about the expired copies in the RMAN repository
8. 5. Configure DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; --> by default
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO SBT;
This is overridden by the RUN command, or by DEVICE TYPE on the BACKUP command itself.
6. Configure CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP (starting from 9i)
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP OFF; --> by default
RMAN writes both the CONTROLFILE and the SPFILE (if the database was started with an SPFILE) to the
same backup piece.
To set the location of the Control file backup:
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO
'/oracle/RMAN_backup/%F';
The %F tag is essential for RMAN to be able to restore the file without a recovery catalog.
TKPROF Utility
TKPROF Utility is not a tuning utility is just an utility to read the trace file. So, one time we have the
trace file of one session we can use the TKPROF to read the trace file and to see what happen in that
session. Here are the steps in using TKPROF utility:
1. Enable Oracle database to gather statistics (on session or system level)
ALTER SYSTEM SET timed_statistics = true;
ALTER SESSION SET timed_statistics = true;
2. Find the SID, SERIAL# for a specific session you want to monitor
SELECT username, sid, serial#, program FROM v$session WHERE username = <User_Name>;
3. Enable the tracing for this session ( must be logged as SYSDBA )
EXECUTE dbms_system.set_sql_trace_in_session (<sid>, <serial#>, true);
4. Identify the directory where the trace file is generated
SELECT value FROM v$parameter WHERE name='user_dump_dest';
5. Identify the name of the trace file which is generated
9. SELECT s.username, s.SID, s.serial#, s.PROGRAM, p.spid
FROM v$session s,
v$process p
WHERE p.addr = s.paddr and s.username = <User_Name>;
The name of the trace file is <oracle_sid>_ora_<p.spid>.trc
6. Disable the tracing for this session ( must be logged as SYSDBA )
EXECUTE dbms_system.set_sql_trace_in_session (<sid>, <serial#>, false);
7. CONVERT the trace file into a readable format
cd $ORACLE_HOME/admin/<oracle_sid>/udump
tkproftrace_file.trc Readable_File.txt
Now the Readable_File.txt contains information like:
The execution plan also is included in the trace file.
pwd - The "pwd" command displays the current directory
pwd
/home/oracle
which - The "which" command displays the full path of (shell) commands.
which zip
/oracle/db/11.2/bin/zip
ls - The "ls" command list directory contents
10. ls -altr
total 112
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 310 Feb 15 2008 smit.transaction
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 171 Feb 15 2008 smit.script
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 1440 Feb 15 2008 smit.log
drwxr-x--- 3 oracle dba 256 Feb 15 2008 .java
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 875 Feb 18 2008 sqlnet.log
-rw------- 1 oracle dba 55 May 17 14:42 .vi_history
drwxr-xr-x 2 oracle dba 256 May 19 14:13 .p
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle dba 356 May 27 14:29 .rhosts
-rw------- 1 oracle dba 212 May 28 10:33 old.Xauthority
drwx------ 2 oracle dba 256 May 28 12:32 .ssh
drwxr----- 3 oracle dba 256 Jul 4 11:38 oradiag_oracle
drwxr-xr-x 6 bin bin 256 Jul 8 14:55 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 oracle dba 4096 Jul 15 21:39 .vnc
-rw------- 1 oracle dba 263 Jul 15 21:39 .Xauthority
drwxr-xr-x 7 oracle dba 4096 Jul 15 21:39 .
-rwxr----- 1 oracle dba 868 Jul 27 19:32 .profile
-rw------- 1 oracle dba 10866 Aug 2 09:59 .sh_history
cp - The "cp" command is used to copy files and directories
cp [option] SOURCE DEST
cp file1.txt file2.txt
cp * /archive (the source = * ---> from current directory; the destination = /archive )
cp /archive/* . (the source =/archive/* ; the destination is = . --->the current directory)
11. mv - The "mv" command is used to move or rename files and directories
mv file1.txt file2.txt
mv * /archive (the source = * ---> from current directory; the destination = /archive )
mv /archive/* . (the source =/archive/* ; the destination is = . --->the current directory)
rm - The "rm" command is used to delete files and directories
ls
Dir1 file1.txt
rm file1.txt
ls
Dir1
rm -R Dir1
ls
You can use -R in order to remove a directory.
cd - The "cd" command is used to change directories
/home/oracle/myDir>pwd
/home/oracle/myDir
/home/oracle/myDir>cd ../
/home/oracle>cd myDir
/home/oracle/myDir>
mkdir - The "mkdir" command is used to create new directories
mkdirMydir
find - The "find" command can be used to find the location of specific files
find $ORACLE_HOME -name listener.ora
/oracle/db/11.2/network/admin/samples/listener.ora
umask - The "umask" command can be used to set the creation file permisions for an (OS) user
12. The umask value is subtracted from the default permissions (666) to give the final/ real permission:
666 : Default permission
002 : - umask value
664 : final permission
chmod - The "chmod" command can be used to change the file permisions
chmod 777 myfile.txt
Owner Group The others Permission
7 7 7 read + write + execute
6 6 6 write + execute
5 5 5 read + execute
4 4 4 read only
2 2 2 write only
1 1 1 execute only
chown - The "chown" command is used to change the ownership of files
chownoracle:dbatnsnames.ora
chown -R oracle:dba /oracle/base
ps - The "ps" command lists current process information
ps -ef | grepsmon
kill - The "kill" command stop a specific OS process
kill -9 3009
3009 is the process ID
uname - The "uname" commands can be used to get information about the host
uname -a
AIX dev2rac 3 5 00C7FE6E4C00
AIX = the OS
13. dev2rac = hostname
3 = OS release
5 = OS version
gzip - The Linux/ UNIX/ AIX version of zip utility
gzip file1
gunzip file1.gz
compress - Another Linux/ UNIX/ AIX utility used to compress a file.
compress file1
uncompress file1.Z
Size of database
SELECT SUM (a.log_space + b.data_space + c.tempspace) "Total_DB_Size (G)"
FROM (SELECT ROUND (SUM (BYTES/1024/1024/1024), 2) data_space
FROM dba_data_files) b,
(SELECT ROUND (SUM (BYTES*members/1024/1024/1024), 2) log_space
FROM v$log) a,
(SELECT NVL(ROUND(SUM(BYTES/1024/1024/1024),2), 0) tempspace
FROM dba_temp_files) c;
Snap Shot infomation
SELECT snap_id,
TO_CHAR (snap_time, 'DD.MM.YYYY HH24:MI:SS') "Date/Time",
session_id,
serial#
FROM stats$snapshot
ORDER BY snap_timedesc;
14. Oracle trace in database: enable/disable, level
Level 1
How is enabled
(Current session)
ALTER SESSION SET sql_trace = true;
ALTER SESSION SET TRACEFILE_IDENTIFIER=<TRACEID>;
Level 2(Another session)
selectsid, serial# from v$session where ...
SID SERIAL#
---- ----------
11 13442
executedbms_system.set_sql_trace_in_session (<SID>, <SERIAL#>, true);
Database level
2.0 database
a) modifyinit.ora by adding sql_trace = true;
b) ALTER SYSTEM SET SQL_TRACE = TRUE SCOPE=MEMORY;
(ifspfile is used);
___________________________________________________________
Comments:
a) The default name for a trace files is INSTANCE_PID_ora_TRACEID.trc where:
· INSTANCE is the name of the Oracle instance;
· PID is the operating system process ID (V$PROCESS.OSPID);
· TRACEID is a character string of your choosing.
15. b) Don’t forget to Enable Timed Statistics before enabling tracing (is mandatory):
ALTER SYSTEM SET TIMED_STATISTICS = TRUE
c) The output trace file is written to user_dump_dest directory.
( SHOW PARAMETERS user_dump_dest : to see the value of user_dump_dest initialization parameter.)
d) The trace output is quite unreadable. Oracle provides a utility (TKProf) to interpret the output (trace)
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