Disclaimer

The following steps are intended for a quick recovery of the database. Use them at your own risk.

Symptom

Oracle mounts the database, but refuses to open the database with an ORA-01113: file x needs media recovery Error.

% sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.1.0 - Production on Mon Sep 24 09:29:10 2007
Copyright (c) 1982, 2005, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to an idle instance.

SQL> startup
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 2684354560 bytes
Fixed Size                  1981064 bytes
Variable Size             436209016 bytes
Database Buffers         2231369728 bytes
Redo Buffers               14794752 bytes
Database mounted.
ORA-01113: file 1 needs media recovery
ORA-01110: data file 1: '/OraData/SIAMST/siamst_system.dbf'

% oerr ora 01113
01113, 00000, "file %s needs media recovery"
// *Cause:  An attempt was made to online or open a database with a file that
//         is in need of media recovery.
// *Action: First apply media recovery to the file.

Resolution

1. Startup the database with the mount option
   

   SQL> startup mount
   ORACLE instance started.
   
   Total System Global Area 2684354560 bytes
   Fixed Size                  1981064 bytes
   Variable Size             436209016 bytes
   Database Buffers         2231369728 bytes
   Redo Buffers               14794752 bytes
   Database mounted.

   
   
2. Find the name of the redo log file which belongs to the active group
   

   SQL> SELECT MEMBER FROM V$LOG G, V$LOGFILE F WHERE G.GROUP# = F.GROUP# 
     2  AND G.STATUS = 'CURRENT';
   
   MEMBER
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   /OraRedo/RedoLogFiles/siamst_log01.dbf

   
   
3. Using a backup control file, start the cancel based recovery. The system may suggest a non-existing archive log -- ignore it and specify the log file name {with full path} that you got in the above step
   

   SQL> RECOVER DATABASE USING BACKUP CONTROLFILE UNTIL CANCEL
   ORA-00279: change 21375038 generated at 09/21/2007 20:12:47 needed for thread 1
   ORA-00289: suggestion : /export/pspp/oracle/dbs/arch1_4_633901491.dbf
   ORA-00280: change 21375038 for thread 1 is in sequence #4
   
   Specify log: {=suggested | filename | AUTO | CANCEL}
   /OraRedo/RedoLogFiles/siamst_log01.dbf
   Log applied.
   Media recovery complete.

   
   
4. Finally open the database in RESETLOGS mode. It is recommended to reset the online logs after incomplete recovery or recovery with a backup control file
   

   SQL> ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS;
   Database altered.

Take a backup of the database as soon as the recovery is done.

See Also:

• Metalink Note 1020262.102 ORA-01113, ORA-01110: Trying To Startup Database After Incomplete Recovery
  
• Performing Cancel-Based Incomplete Recovery

_______________
Technorati Tags:
Oracle | Troubleshooting

How do you like launching some of the applications running on a system, securely using a web browser?

Consider this simple scenario.

You have a system that is exposed to the internet. You are trying to get your partner engineer access your system {say using telnet or ssh}; but the partner engineer is not able to access it due to their corporate firewall.

One option for the partner engineer is to bypass their company's firewall somehow, then connect to the system that is accessible from the internet.

Another option is to install Sun Secure Global Desktop (aka Tarantella) on the system that was exposed to the internet; and letting the partner engineer access it using a standard web browser.

Here's a screen shot:


There are plenty of other options, but this blog entry focuses on Sun Secure Global Desktop option.

How to install Sun Secure Global Desktop?

1. Download a fully functional 30-day trial latest copy of Sun Secure Global Desktop software from http://www.sun.com/software/products/sgd/get.jsp. 4.31 is the latest version of SGD as of this writing.
   
   
2. Add two user accounts: ttaserv, ttasys
   

   # mkdir /export/home/ttaserv
   # groupadd -g 102 ttaserv
   # useradd -g 102 -d /export/home/ttaserv -s /bin/bash ttaserv
   # useradd -g 102 -d /export/home/ttaserv -s /bin/bash ttasys

   
   
3. Install the Sun Secure Global Desktop software package
   

   # pkgadd -d ./tta-4.31-905.sol-sparc.pkg
   
   The following packages are available:
     1  tta     Sun Secure Global Desktop Software for SPARC Solaris 2.8+
                (SPARC) 4.31.905
   
   Select package(s) you wish to process (or 'all' to process
   all packages). (default: all) [?,??,q]: all
   
   Processing package instance <tta> from </export/home/oracle/tta-4.31-905.sol-sparc.pkg>
   
   Sun Secure Global Desktop Software for SPARC Solaris 2.8+(SPARC) 4.31.905
   Sun Microsystems, Inc. 
    
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Setting up Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Secure Global Desktop Setup recommends you use the following settings:
    
   Installation type = install 4.31.905
   Installation directory = /opt/ttaserv
    
   Are these settings OK?
     Y - Yes, install using these settings
     N - No, tell me more about the options and let me change the settings
     Q - Quit now
   
   OK to use these settings? [Y] N
    
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Secure Global Desktop installation directory
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Secure Global Desktop uses a single directory for all its code and other
   static and dynamic components. Which directory would you like to use?
   
   Installation directory [/opt/ttaserv] /export/home/ttaserv/
    
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Setting up Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
   Installation type = install 4.31.905
   Installation directory = /export/home/ttaserv/
    
   Are these settings OK?
     Y - Yes, install using these settings
     N - No, tell me more about the options and let me change the settings
     Q - Quit now
   
   OK to use these settings? [Y] Y
   
   ...
   ...
   ...
   
   ## Executing postinstall script.
   
   To complete the installation, please run /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella start
   
   Installation of <tta> was successful.

   
   
4. Configure the timeout values.
   
   Modify the timeout values in /export/home/ttaserv/var/serverresources/expect/vars.exp.
   

   # grep -i timeout vars.exp
   # Timeouts
   set timeouts(prelogin)            180
   set timeouts(loggedin)            180
   set timeouts(hostprobe)           180
   set timeout 3600

   
   
5. Start the Sun Secure Desktop Desktop server
   

   # /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella start
    
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Secure Global Desktop Software License Agreement
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   To use Secure Global Desktop you must agree to be bound by
   the terms of the Software License Agreement.
   
     Y - I have read, and accept the terms of the license agreement
     N - I do not accept the terms of the license agreement
     R - Let me read the license agreement
   
   Accept terms of Software License Agreement? [R] Y
    
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Setting up Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Secure Global Desktop Setup recommends you use the following settings:
    
   Installation type = install 4.31.905
   Peer DNS name = v490-a4
   HTTP port = 80 [not currently in use]
   Archive logs every week? = yes (Sunday 03:00 hours)
    
   Are these settings OK?
     Y - Yes, install using these settings
     N - No, tell me more about the options and let me change the settings
     Q - Quit now
   
   OK to use these settings? [Y] N
    
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Peer (internal) DNS name
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Each computer on the network may have a number of DNS names.  In
   Secure Global Desktop, the peer DNS name is the name by which this host
   is known to others within your firewall, if you have one. If you're
   using an array of multiple Secure Global Desktop servers, this is the
   name used by other servers in the array to identify this server.
   
   Peer DNS name [v490-a4] dummy.sun.com
   
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   HTTP port
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Secure Global Desktop includes a web server. You need to choose the TCP port
   on which the web server listens for HTTP (unencrypted) connections.
   The default port for HTTP is 80/tcp.
   
   You must choose an unused TCP port for installation to complete.
   
   HTTP port [80] 8000
   
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Archive logs every week
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   Would you like the Secure Global Desktop server to archive its log files
   every week?
   
   Archive logs every week? [yes] yes
   
   On what day should the archive occur?
   Type a number between 0 (Sunday) and 6 (Saturday).
   
   Archive day [0] 
   
   At what time should the archive occur?
   Type a number between 0 (midnight) and 23 (11pm).
   
   Archive time [03]  
    
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Setting up Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
   Installation type = install 4.31.905
   Peer DNS name = dummy.sun.com
   HTTP port = 8000 [not currently in use]
   Archive logs every week? = yes (Sunday 03:00 hours)
    
   Are these settings OK?
     Y - Yes, install using these settings
     N - No, tell me more about the options and let me change the settings
     Q - Quit now
   
   OK to use these settings? [Y] Y
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Configuring your installation...
   Running templates Setup script...OK
   Running files_rename Setup script...OK
   Running dbcreate Setup script...OK
   Running extended_templates Setup script...OK
   Running config Setup script...OK
   Running printing Setup script...OK
   Running sysadmin Setup script...OK
   Running loadprobe_config Setup script...OK
   Configuring and starting Secure Global Desktop web server...OK
   Running wcp/configchanges Setup script...OK
   Running tsp/resources Setup script...OK
   Running 3270/resources Setup script...OK
   Running 3270/configchanges Setup script...OK
   Running 3270/purge Setup script...OK
   Running 5250/resources Setup script...OK
   Running 5250/configchanges Setup script...OK
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   What's next?
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Secure Global Desktop is now installed and ready to use.
   
   To get started:
   
    - In a web browser, go to:
      http://dummy.sun.com:8000/
    - When prompted, log in with username "Administrator" and root's password.
    - On your webtop, click Administration Guide to learn more about the product
      (we strongly recommend you read the "Getting started" section).
      Or click Object Manager to start creating user webtops.
   
   To add license keys, click Array Manager on your webtop or type:
   /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella license add <key>...
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Successfully installed Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the SGD server is up, supply the URL http://dummy.sun.com:8000 and the login credentials to the partner engineer so (s)he can access the system using a standard web browser.

Q: How to check the status of Sun Secure Global Desktop server?

eg., At the startup:

# /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella status

Array members (1):
 - dummy.sun.com (primary): Accepting standard connections.
 - Webtop sessions (0):
 - Emulator sessions (0):

After some clients connect to the server:

# /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella status

Array members (1):
 - dummy.sun.com (primary): Accepting standard connections.
 - Webtop sessions (1):
    - Standard connections: 1
 - Emulator sessions (1):
    - X Protocol Engine: 1

Q: How to stop, start the SDG server?
eg., Stop the SDG server

# /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella stop
 WARNING: Users are connected to this Secure Global Desktop server.
Stopping the server will shut down any emulator sessions for these users.
This may result in loss of data.

Are you sure you want to continue? [no] y
Secure Global Desktop services have been stopped.

Start the SDG server

# /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella start
Starting Secure Global Desktop server (version 4.31.905). Please wait...
Secure Global Desktop services are now available on this host.

Q: How to stop, start the web server?

eg., Stop the web server:

# /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella webserver stop
Stopping Tomcat servlet container...
Using CLASSPATH:     /export/home/ttaserv/webserver/tomcat/5.0.28_axis1.2/bin/bootstrap.jar:/export/home/ttaserv/bin/jdk.spso...
Using CATALINA_BASE: /export/home/ttaserv/webserver/tomcat/5.0.28_axis1.2
Using CATALINA_HOME: /export/home/ttaserv/webserver/tomcat/5.0.28_axis1.2
Using JAVA_HOME:     /export/home/ttaserv/bin/jdk.spso_1.6.0
...OK
Stopping Apache web server...
/export/home/ttaserv/webserver/apache/1.3.36_mod_ssl-2.8.27_openssl-0.9.8d_jk1.2.15/bin/apachectl stop: httpd stopped
...OK

# /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella status

Array members (1):
 - dummy.sun.com (primary): NOT ACCEPTING CONNECTIONS.

Start the web server:

# /export/home/ttaserv/bin/tarantella webserver start
Starting Tomcat servlet container...
Using CLASSPATH:     /export/home/ttaserv/webserver/tomcat/5.0.28_axis1.2/bin/bootstrap.jar:/export/home/ttaserv/bin/jdk.spso ...
Using CATALINA_BASE: /export/home/ttaserv/webserver/tomcat/5.0.28_axis1.2
Using CATALINA_HOME: /export/home/ttaserv/webserver/tomcat/5.0.28_axis1.2
Using JAVA_HOME:     /export/home/ttaserv/bin/jdk.spso_1.6.0
...OK
Starting Apache web server...
/export/home/ttaserv/webserver/apache/1.3.36_mod_ssl-2.8.27_openssl-0.9.8d_jk1.2.15/bin/apachectl start: httpd started
...OK

Q: Is there a demo version on-line?

Yes, there is. If you want to feel the experience before you install SDG software on your system(s), access the following URL using a standard web browser, and then click on 'Login' link.

https://sgddemo.sun.com/

You can login anonymously just by clicking on 'Login' button without user name and password.

(Last Updated: October 11, 2007 @ 01:40 PM. Thanks to 'Fat' for the correction.)

__________________
Technorati tags:
Sun Microsystems | Tarantella

Symptom:

You are trying to extract the archived files off of a huge (any file with size > 2 GB or 4GB, depending on the OS) ZIP file with unzip utility on Solaris, and it fails with the following error:

cannot find zipfile directory in one of file.zip or
          file.zip.zip, and cannot find file.zip.ZIP, period.

% ls -lh file.zip
-rw-r--r--   1 oracle   dba          13G Sep  8 09:46 file.zip

zipinfo returns the following message:

$ zipinfo file.zip
[file.zip]
  End-of-central-directory signature not found.  Either this file is not
  a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.  In the
  latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
  the last disk(s) of this archive.
zipinfo:  cannot find zipfile directory in one of file.zip or
          file.zip.zip, and cannot find file.zip.ZIP, period.

Workaround:

Try extracting the files with jar tool that comes with the Java Development Kit (JDK). It may work.

Although I'm not sure, I think the 32-bit version of unzip (there's no 64-bit version) cannot handle large files of size > 2GB or 4GB. I believe the 32-bit jar tool was built with switches like -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 to overcome limitations like the one discussed in this blog entry.
______________
Solaris | OpenSolaris | Linux | Troubleshooting

First, the symptom.

On Solaris x86 systems that support large pages (any page size > 4K), the processes may get 2M pages when the system is up for few hours, but may not obtain even a single large page (2M) when the system is up for few days.

Now, the explanation.

Memory fragmentation is the main reason for the above mentioned behavior on Solaris x86 platform. On Solaris x86, once memory has been fragmented, it is very rare that a large page can be put back together. This is a limitation of Solaris on x86. It takes 512 base pages (4K in size) that are aligned and physically contiguous to form a common large page (2M on x86). If a kernel allocation occurs within this region, it is typically not possible to ever form this large page again as kernel pages cannot be relocated.

Solaris/SPARC has the kernel cage to help memory from being fragmented with kernel allocations. However as of now kernel cage isn't fully implemented in Solaris/x86. That is the main reason for the non availability of large (2M) pages on Solaris x86 when the system is up for longer durations. The good news is that Sun Microsystems is actively working on a solution to address this issue.

Acknowledgments:
Kit Chow
_______________
Technorati tags:
Solaris | OpenSolaris | Performance

For some reason if the Master Boot Record (MBR) is overwritten or corrupted, here is a simple HOW-To to install GRUB (GRand Unified Boot loader) as the boot loader with Ubuntu being the host operating system.

1. Boot up Linux using Ubuntu Live CD
   
   
2. Run grub with system user privileges
   

   % sudo grub
   Password:
   
   Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.

   
   
3. Locate the grub files on the connected devices.
   

   grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
    (hd0,0)

   
   
4. Even though the above example shows only one location, it is not uncommon for grub to find multiple locations when multiple operating systems are installed on a system. In that case, choose the one that corresponds to the partition where Linux is installed.
   

   grub> root (hd0,0)

   
   
5. Finally install the grub boot loader on the primary HDD by running 'setup'.
   

   grub> setup (hd0)
    Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
    Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
    Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
    Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"...  17 sectors are embedded.
   succeeded
    Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd0)1+17 p (hd0,0)/boot/grub/stage2
   /boot/grub/menu.lst"... succeeded
   Done.

After restarting the system, GRUB menu should appear during the system startup.
__________________
Technorati tags:
Linux | Ubuntu | GRUB