Mastering Oracle RAC with SRVCTL Commands

Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) provide high availability, scalability, and manageability for databases. One of the most powerful tools for managing RAC databases is srvctl, a command-line utility that allows administrators to control various database services. This blog explores essential srvctl commands to help you efficiently manage Oracle RAC environments.

1. Checking Database Configuration and Status

•  List all available databases on the host:

                 srvctl config database

•  Check the status of a specific database and its instances:  

                 srvctl status database -d <database_name>

•  Retrieve detailed status information about a database, including its instances and states: 

                 srvctl status database -d <database_name> -v

2. Stopping and Starting Databases

    Oracle RAC databases can be stopped and started in different modes depending on maintenance requirements.

Stopping the Database

• Stop the database on all RAC nodes:

               srvctl stop database -d <database_name>

• Stopping the database using different modes:

             srvctl stop database -d PRODB -o normal

             srvctl stop database -d PRODB -o immediate

             srvctl stop database -d PRODB -o transactional

             srvctl stop database -d PRODB -o abort

Starting the Database

• Start the database across all nodes:

            srvctl start database -d <database_name>

• Starting the database in different states:

            srvctl start database -d PRODB -o nomount

            srvctl start database -d PRODB -o mount

            srvctl start database -d PRODB -o open

3. Managing Database Instances

Administrators can manage individual database instances using the following commands:

• Start a specific instance:

             srvctl start instance -d <database_name> -i <instance_name>

• Stop a specific instance:

             srvctl stop instance -d <database_name> -i <instance_name>

4. Adding and Modifying Database Configurations

• Adding a database to cluster services:

            srvctl add database -d <database_name> -o /path/to/oracle_home

• Adding a new instance to the cluster: 

            srvctl add instance -d <database_name> -i <instance_name> -n <node_name>

• Modify database configuration (SPFILE, disk groups):

           srvctl modify database -db <database_name> -dbname <database_name> -spfile +ASM/Spfile_location -diskgroup "ASM01,ASM02"

5. Checking Cluster and ASM Configuration

• Display complete Oracle Clusterware configuration details:

            srvctl config all

• Check ASM configuration details:

            srvctl status asm -detail

6. Managing Listeners and VIPs

• Check the status of local database listeners:

             srvctl status listener

• Stop the local database listener:

             srvctl stop listener

• Stop a specific listener on a node:

            srvctl stop listener -l <listener_name> -n <node_name>

• Stop and remove Virtual IP (VIP):

           srvctl stop vip -vip <vip_name>

           srvctl remove vip -vip <vip_name>

7. Managing SCAN and SCAN Listeners

• Check SCAN and SCAN listener status:

           srvctl status scan

           srvctl status scan_listener

• Stop a specific SCAN listener:

           srvctl stop scan_listener -i 3

• Stop a specific SCAN VIP:

          srvctl stop scan -i <scan_name>

8. Removing and Adding Database Services

• Remove a database from cluster services:

             srvctl remove database -d <db_unique_name> [-f] [-y] [-v]

•  Add a database service:

             srvctl add database -d <db_unique_name> -o ORACLE_HOME [-p spfile]

• Add an instance to the database:

   srvctl add instance -d <db_unique_name> -i <inst_name> -n <node_name>

9. Managing Database Services

• Relocate a service from one instance to another:

             srvctl relocate service -d <database_name> -s <service_name> -i <old_inst_name> -r <new_inst_name>

• Remove a database service:

             srvctl remove service -d <DB_NAME> -s <SERVICE_NAME>

• Add a database service with preferred and available lists:

             srvctl add service -d <DB_NAME> -s <SERVICE_NAME> -r "preferred_list" -a "available_list" [-P {BASIC | NONE | PRECONNECT}]

• Start and stop a service:

            srvctl start service -d <DB_NAME> -s <SERVICE_NAME>

            srvctl stop service -d <DB_NAME> -s <SERVICE_NAME>