Smart Database Technology

Dbvisit version Dbvisit 5.3.08 has been released. The complete list of new features and fixes are below.

New features:

1. Send an email to ADMINS on successful completion of CSD (with trace) (Creation of Standby Database).
2. Drop tempfiles on standby on completion of graceful switchover for oracle versions 11.2+. As a workaround for Oracle bug: 10292173: “This bug causes rman backups to fail if the tempfiles on the standby are more recent than on the primary”.

Fixes:

1. Use db_unique_name instead of ORACLE_SID to access subdirectories under flash recovery area.
2. Allow for different syntax of the asmcmd command to obtain asmcmd version. Previously caused Dbvisit call to asmcmd to hang.
3. Improved logging for a remote execution of starting the standby database from the primary server.
4. Make sure datafiles are given unique names when copied to/from temp location during CSD (Creation of Standby Database). Previously datafiles with different paths but same basenames overwrote each other.
5. Ensure archive log gap report and heartbeat messages are sent to SUCCESS_MAILTO address if SUCCESS_MAILTO is set, not to ADMINS.
6. Improve the graceful switchover option for RAC. Previously the log gap would not always be 0 to initiate the switchover. This is because the ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG was done on the database level and not on the instance. Setting INSTANCE_CLAUSE_FOR_ARCHIVE_LOG_CURRENT = Y will add the optional INSTANCE clause to the ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG command.
7. Fix issue in AMM where it did not delete archives when number of archives reached the number specified by NUM_ARCHSOURCE_TO_KEEP.
8. Fix issue in AMM where under some circumstances it deleted newer archives first.

Dbvisit can be downloaded from http://www.dbvisit.com/dbvisit_download.php

Dbvisit version Dbvisit 5.3.06 has been released. The complete list of new features and fixes are below.
New features:

1. Change the name pattern for dbvisit trace files to use DDC rather than ORACLE_SID.
2. Check if primary database is in hot backup mode before starting CSD (Create standby database).
3. Support function to collect and mail standby database trace files.
   Usage: dbv_functions -a DDC get_stdby_traces primary_trace_name:[offset]

4. Improve tracing information for dbv_functions. Now displays the switch in the trace file.
5. Added a global USE_LONG_SERVER_NAME to allow the use of long server names.
   Example: server names db1.atlas.domain.com and db1.zeus.domain.com can now be used. Previously Dbvisit would only use the shortname which would be db1 in both cases.

6. Dbvisit heartbeat file dbv_heartbeat_DDC.lck introduced to improve the logging and tracing of the heartbeat functionality.
7. Set standby_file_management=auto on standby database creation completion.
8. Added global ARCHSOURCE_BACKUP_COUNT for the AMM module. When this is set > 0, Dbvisit will only remove the archive log file on the primary server if it has been backed up by RMAN. The count refers to the number of times it has to be backed up by RMAN before being removed by Dbvisit.
9. Changed default value for JOBHIST and JOBHIST_DR to dbvisit_DDC.hist.
10. Added setting to ignore certain ORA error codes if required.
11. Improvements to the way Oracle databases are started and stopped. A further check is now made after stopping to ensure the correct status of the database.
12. More Oracle database dictionary information is listed in the trace file for the standby database.

Fixes:

1. _INIT_ORA_REMOVE was defined as a list of two strings instead of one – fixed.
2. Dbvisit shuts down primary database using “shutdown normal” – changed to “shutdown immediate”.
3. Globals $SEQ_LENGTH_FORCE and $THREAD_LENGTH_FORCE introduced to overwrite $SEQ_LENGTH and $THREAD_LENGTH values. SEQ_LENGTH is reset to 5 only for oracle version < 11.2 (windows).
4. Removed \ at the end of a certain paths to improve verification.
5. Improved ability to deal with ASM filenames.
6. Replaced checksum verification for datafiles with file size verification for creating standby db when files are copied directly to the standby server.
7. Replaced exit code 768 with 770 to fix child exit code issue.
8. Provide fix for ORA-10878: parallel recovery slave died unexpectedly for Oracle 11 by adding the clause “noparallel”.
9. Bug fixed for Oracle RAC when RAC has more than 2 nodes.
10. Ignore Oracle log_archive which are set to REMOTE destinations.
11. Do not allow the user to change the value of parameter db_name (in CSD).
12. Remove PFILE global from documentation, this is no longer needed.

Dbvisit can be downloaded from www.dbvisit.com/dbvisit_download.php

Dbvisit version Dbvisit 5.3.04 has been released. This includes bulk renaming of datafiles when creating the standby database, and further OMF enhancements.
The complete list is below.
New features:

1. Allow setting the ASM instance name to non-default value during Dbvisit DDC setup.
2. Confirm user choice in case the user chooses to terminate dbvisit setup when creating a standby database.
3. Add a “bulk rename” functionality to the standby creation wizard to allow renaming standby database files automatically.
4. Improve screen prompts by adding extra information (suggest running dbvisit to complete creating standby database, and adding tempfiles to a database after activation of a standby database).
5. New dbv_function display_datafile_header is introduced to display information about datafiles that need recovery.
6. Added functionality for Dbvisit to create a datafile in the OMF-enabled standby database when a datafile is created in the primary database.

Fixes:

1. Extend the list of Oracle database parameters to be set to default values when creating a standby database using Dbvisit.
2. Extend Dbvisit documentation to cover specifics of creating a standby database for ASM and OMF.
3. Dbvisit created repository tables under the SYS schema if FORCE_SYSDBA was set to Yes – fixed.
4. During creation of standby database Dbvisit could not handle Oracle database parameters values that contained single or double quotes – fixed.
5. Issues when creating an ASM standby database version 10.1, as asmcmd 10.1 does not display error codes – fixed.
6. When running Dbvisit for multiple DDC configurations on the same primary server, under certain circumstances dbvisit processes related to different DDC configurations can interfere with each other while compressing archive logs to be sent to standby servers – fixed.
7. In some environments output of SELECT statement is not formatted as expected when using to_char SQL function – fixed.
8. A criteria to establish if a database file is OMF was not clearly specified – fixed, based on Oracle definition of an OMF file.

Dbvisit can be downloaded from www.dbvisit.com/dbvisit_download.php

Dbvisit release 5.3 is big for us and we think it will be big for our customers as well. We have been working the last 6 months on this release and are very excited about its features. It will make the DBA’s job even easier in terms of creating and managing the standby database.
One of the issues with creating very large standby databases was that the whole database had to be copied over the network. Something that is not practical for large databases as it would take too long and use all the available network bandwidth.

With Dbvisit 5.3 we have added a feature called Transportable Media (TM) which allows for the creation of very large standby databases. Transportable Media is a removable storage device (such as a USB disk) which is first plugged into the primary server. Dbvisit will create a backup of the primary database onto the local Transportable Media device. The Transportable Media device is then manually taken to the standby or secondary site and plugged into the standby server. The Dbvisit Create Standby Database wizard will continue the operation of completing the creation the standby database on the standby server. This is a very efficient way of creating the standby database without utilizing the network. Once the standby database is created, Dbvisit can be activated to keep the standby database up to date.

We have also added Templates to the Dbvisit Create Standby Database wizard to make the disaster recovery process simpler, faster and more convenient for DBAs. Templates store all the settings to create the standby database which means that a new standby database can be easily recreated at any stage, even after a disaster.

For the complete list of new features:

• ASM support. The standby database can now be created in ASM as well, Oracle’s proprietary file system format. This completes the types of standby databases that can be created with Dbvisit.
• Templates. To make the disaster recovery process simpler, faster and more convenient for DBAs the Dbvisit standby database creation wizard now includes the option to create a template. This template stores all the information on how the standby database was created. When the standby database needs to be recreated, for example after a failover situation, this template can be used for fast and simple recreation.
• Transportable Media support. Some databases are too large to transfer across the network. Now the Dbvisit standby database creation process includes an option to interface with a local removable disk. This disk can then be manually transported to the remote site where the creation of the standby database can be restarted and completed.
• Ability to customize the standby pfile/spfile settings before creation of the standby database. These settings will be saved in the template for easy recreation of the standby database.
• Dbvisit installation, upgrades and creation of standby databases can now be scripted to run in batchmode for simple and efficient deployment.
• Rsync transfer method. DBAs now have the ability to use Rsync as the data transportation mechanism on Linux and Unix, facilitating efficient restarts when there are network issues or large file transfers.
• Oracle database parameters for the standby database can now be customized and saved in the template.

Dbvisit 5.3 is free to all customers who have current Dbvisit support and maintenance. A new license key will be required for Dbvisit 5.3. Existing Dbvisit 5.1 and 5.2 license keys are not valid. Please contact Dbvisit to obtain a new license key.

Dbvisit 5.3 can be download from Dbvisit download

Dbvisit version Dbvisit 5.2.30 has been released. This is a minor release which includes an improved Dbvisit man or help page and fixes a small number of issues.

New features:

1. Allow the use of other external non sendmail clients on Linux/Unix. Use MAILCFG_SENDMAIL_CLIENT to set the full path of the client.
2. Update Dbvisit man pages.

Fixes:

1. Correct default Oracle password file for Windows.
2. In some cases, Oracle SID information was not obtained from registry in Windows 64bit.
3. Improve error message when Oracle Windows service cannot be stopped or started.
4. Improve locking mechnism on Windows. In some cases the pid lock file does not get removed after successfully running Dbvisit.
5. Activation of standby database may not update the Dbvisit repository correctly. Initiating a Graceful Switchover after failover may result in error: ORA-00001: unique constraint (DBVISIT.DBV_TRANSFER_LOG_PK) violated. This has been fixed.
6. Change creation of tempfile from bytes to Mb. If the file is too big then error “ORA-02237: invalid file size” may result. This has been fixed.
7. If SOURCE or DESTINATION host names are set to long names, then Dbvisit does not use the correct starting sequence after graceful switchover. This has been fixed.

Please download from http://www.dbvisit.com/dbvisit_download.php

Dbvisit version Dbvisit 5.2.28 has been released. This version fixes a compatibility issue with Oracle 8i and Oracle 9i which was introduced in a previous version.

This version allows Dbvisit to be installed alongside Data Guard to test a comparison between Dbvisit and Data Guard. Dbvisit now ignores the specific Data Guard settings which means Data Guard does not need to be removed and no init.ora parameters need to be changed.

This version ignores dynamic memory location parameters and parameters related to other instances in spfile/pfile when creating the standby database.

New features:

1. Allow for Data Guard configurations to co-exists with Dbvisit.
   - Allow for VALID_FOR parameter.
   - Ignore standby redo log files in controlfile creation.

Fixes:

1. Remove a prompt for pfile name if PFILE is not found on the server during creation of standby database.
2. Set SOURCE and DESTINATION variables to short server names.
3. Change variables _SEQUENCE_LANG_NAME and _ASM_EXCLUDE to quoted strings instead of lists.
4. Change the query to obtain archive log names to ignore log archive destinations pointing to standby locations (used by Data Guard).
5. Oracle 8i may contain incorrect location in v$archive_dest – Fixed.
6. Does not use the correct SQL statement to obtain the standby database sequence for Oracle 8 and 9 – Fixed.
7. Ignore dynamic memory location parameters and parameters related to other instances in spfile/pfile when creating standby database.
8. When LOGDIR_DR is not set correctly there was an error message about incorrect mail settings – Fixed.

Please download from http://www.dbvisit.com/dbvisit_download.php

We have released Dbvisit 5.2.26.

New features:

1. SOURCE and DESTINATION host name variables are now not case sensitive for Windows.
2. Display a message “please wait” to the user to indicate that Dbvisit may take some time to delete old archive files when running AMM (Archive Management Module) on the primary server.
3. Improve the ability to obtain the standby database sequence when the standby database sequence is 1.
4. Add message to SUCCESSMAIL emails on how to turn off success mails and only email on alerts.
5. Add option to use existing pfile/spfile on standby database during standby database creation.

Fixes:

1. Capture more information when another instance of Dbvisit is running on Windows to ensure it can be started or not.
2. During creation of standby database on Windows, Dbvisit may error when COMPRESS variable is set to ssh in a DDC file – Fixed
3. Dbvisit may error with the primary and the standby databases having redo logs with the same names under different logfile group numbers during Graceful Switchover – Fixed
4. In rare cases Dbvisit may error when trying to clean up trace files if a file has already been deleted by another dbvisit process running at the same time – Fixed.
5. When the user renames oracle init parameters while creating standby database, Dbvisit edits both standby pfile and spfile. If the standby database uses spfile, only spfile should be edited not pfile – Fixed.
6. Dbvisit does not capture ORA-12638 error message – Fixed.
7. Make the global variable PFILE non case sensitive for Windows while creating a standby database
8. While checking oracle database parameters pointing to ASM locations on primary when creating a standby database, dbvisit considers all parameters values that contain symbol + to be ASM locations which is not always the case – Fixed
9. In some cases fuser incorrectly reports file in use on HP-UX.
10. Remove REMOTE_LISTENER parameter from init.ora when creating standby database.

Dbvisit 5.2.26 can be downloaded from our website. Please see the README.txt file included in the download for upgrade instructions.

We have just released Dbvisit 5.2.24 for all platforms.

This version fixes an issue introduced in 5.2.22 when creating a standby database using a primary database that has a pfile only. Dbvisit does not pick up the correct pfile to transfer to the remote server. This has been fixed. Database using spfiles are not affected.

The full details of this release are:

New features:

1. If SUCCESS_MAILTO is set, then the Dbvisit daily heartbeat emails also go to this email address instead of ADMINS.

Fixes:

1. Dbvisit does not pick up the correct pfile to transfer to the remote server while creating standby database when the primary database does not use an spfile.

The latest version of Dbvisit can be downloaded from http://www.dbvisit.com/download.php

We have just released Dbvisit 5.2.22 for all platforms.

This version allows for a different Standby Database name (ORACLE_SID_DEST) and different admin directories during the creation of the standby database. It also has a number of fixes, a number of which are related to NLS settings of non English.

The full details of this release are:

New features:

1. Dbvisit now allows the Oracle admin directories on standby to be different from the primary database during creation of the Standby Database.

Fixes:

1. Dbvisit does not pick up the correct sequence for RAC on the standby when NLS is set to Spanish.
2. Fix issue with quotes around multiple email addresses: can’t extract address at ..
3. Improve obtaining asmcmd version for Windows.
4. Dbvisit does not pick up the archive log destination when NLS is set to Spanish during graceful switchover.
5. Create standby database may fail in Oracle 8i due to long tablespace names. This has been fixed.
6. Update check and add more tracing to determine if previous Dbvisit process is still running.
7. Update dbvisit help text.
8. If Dbvisit is unable to create Windows Oracle service during creation of standby database, Dbvisit will suggest to create the service manually.
9. Ignore the following SQLPLUS error message when creating Dbvisit repository using dbvisit_setup: Error accessing PRODUCT_USER_PROFILE
10. Dbvisit will detect if ORACLE_HOME_DR is set to a non-existing or not  valid directory on the standby server when creating a standby database and display a warning.
11. Dbvisit may not correctly detect the creation of Oracle Windows service in other languages during creation of standby database. This has been fixed.

The latest version of Dbvisit can be downloaded from http://www.dbvisit.com/download.php

We have just released Dbvisit 5.2.20 for all platforms.

This version allows for passwords to be stored in encrypted form in the Dbvisit Database Configuration (DDC) file.

The full details of this release are:

New features:

1. Add ENCRYPT_PASSWDS variable to specify if all passwords should be stored encrypted in the DDC file or not. To change the setting run dbvisit_setup and choose option 6.
2. Add SWITCHOVER_WAIT_IN_SEC to control how long Dbvisit waits between each checkpoint iteration for graceful switchover. Total time Dbvisit waits for each checkpoint is set by SWITCHOVER_TIMEOUT_IN_SEC.

Fixes:

1. When standby redo logs are using OMF, graceful switchover may fail. This has been fixed.
2. When log_archive_format on Windows contains %S, the sequence number can be truncated by Oracle. Ensure that Dbvisit also truncates the number the same way.
3. Running dbvisit_setup: Update Dbvisit Database configuration (DDC) file may error for older DDC files.
4. Improve error message for ORA-27048.
5. Improve error message for creation of standby when datafile contains spaces.
6. Improve message for error 5005 when standby controlfile does not contain the archive log sequence.

Dbvisit can be downloaded from our website http://www.dbvisit.com.