Even if we (dbi services) usually advise to setup Oracle Enterprise Linux for Oracle deployments on Linux, it might appear that some customers still prefer other certified distributions such as SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES). This post describes the configuration of the tmpfs filesystem size on SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.0 (SLES 11, without any service pack) in order to use the Oracle 11.2 Automatic Memory Management feature (AMM) through the Oracle instance parameter memory_target.

I have been advising to use Perl for a long time in order to automate Oracle processes and operations. This week however, I tried for once to write a small procedure on a simple Linux shell (ksh and bash). This posting focuses on the shell internals and "nightmares" more than on Oracle related issues.

A few days ago, the dbi services consultants had the pleasure to welcome Oracle guru Martin Bach for a three day Oracle Grid infrastructure training. As many of you probably know, Martin Bach is an OakTable member and the author of 'Oracle Database 11g RAC on Linux'. He also is Oracle Certified Master and Oracle ACE.

A few days ago I downloaded the Cloud Control 12c binaries for Linux x86_64 from Oracle Technet. My friend Hervé Schweitzer, configured an OEL 5.7 VM for test purposes and I was quite eager to install this new software. I checked the OS settings, the required parameters, etc. - everything was fine. My OMS repository database (11.2.0.3) was ready. Unfortunately, as soon as I started the installer, it directly crashed.

MySQL 5.6 offers improved partition maintenance through "partition exchange". Even if not yet available, dbi services performed some tests on the MySQL Community Edition 5.6.2 m5 release (still under development).

My colleague Hervé Schweitzer reported a very interesting issue to me. It is about the usage of Grid Control 11g while monitoring the available space on an Oracle database – in our case a 10.2.0.3 target database. This post continues my last post about the free space management in a tablespace in relation to the recycle bin management.

This post describes some basic Oracle database management issues database administrators might be confronted with. It is about space management and differences observed while monitoring the available space from several point of views (tablespace/datafile) in Grid Control 11g. It also relates and explains an issue (ORA-01652) observed on pre 11.2 Oracle releases (targets) concerning the tablespace/datafile space management and the recycle bin.

You do not want to install or configure swingbench, load runner etc. - just to test the performance of your I/O system based on filesystems? Then Flexible I/O is the right tool for you. This post provides an overview.

The christmas period is over and it is now time to enjoy the several gifts brought by Santa Claus. Under my Chrismas tree I discovered an iPad this year.

! Read the last comment posted below, this information has been fixed in between - Huge Pages is definitively not possible with AMM !

Huge Pages were introduced in order to optimize the process of Memory Management on Linux Servers. The scope of this article is not to present in detail this technology, several articles and metalink note did this well (749851.1 - 361323.1 - 401749.1). Running Linux servers configured with Huge Pages was not always adapted when both 10.2 and 11.2 databases had to be started in parallel because the Oracle 11g Automatic Memory Management was not compatible with Huge Pages. This situation changed with Oracle 11.2.0.2!

Are you experiencing network access issues after a migration to Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2)? If yes, you have to make sure the concerned PL/SQL packages get access to your network again. This posting will show you how.

Have you ever noticed strange figures while collecting the Oracle optimizer system statistics ? If so, you need to provide the optimizer with the correct number, as explained in this posting.

Are you fed up with supporthtml.oracle.com because the flash plugin is crashing or not working in your browser? You need to use the latest Java plugin in you firefox browser, for instance for a Java based VPN connection.

You have recently migrated to Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1) and have had some issues with so called "mutexes"? Don't worry, these nasty sounding mutexes (not mutants) can be handled quite easily as I will show in my post. But first of all, what are mutexes?

The Metalink note 949858.1 describes problems with 10.2.0.5 agents monitoring 11g databases - this might be the case if you have an "old" 10.2.0.5 Grid Infrastructure you did not want to upgrade yet. The 11g databases are generating errors in both the alert.log and the log.xml file. The agent 10.2.0.5 agent seems to have problem with this. This posting will show you what to do.