Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Creating First Database on an Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer System

After provisioning an Oracle Database Home and any needed backup destinations, you are ready to create your first database on Exadata Cloud@Customer.

Parent topic: Getting Started with Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer Deployment

Prerequisites and Limitations for Creating and Managing Oracle Databases on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

Review the prerequisites for creating and managing Oracle Databases on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.

Before you can create and use an Oracle Database on Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer, you must:

  • Provision Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer infrastructure
  • Configure a VM cluster
  • Create any required backup destinations

You can create one or more databases on each Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system. Other than the storage and processing limits of your Oracle Exadata system, there is no maximum for the number of databases that you can create. By default, databases on Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer use Oracle Database Enterprise Edition - Extreme Performance. This edition provides all the features of Oracle Database Enterprise Edition, plus all of the database enterprise management packs, and all of the Enterprise Edition options, such as Oracle Database In-Memory, and Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC). If you use your own Oracle Database licenses, then your ability to use various features is limited by your license holdings. TDE Encryption is required for all cloud databases. All new tablespaces will automatically be enabled for encryption.

Oracle Database Releases Supported by Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

Learn about the versions of Oracle Database that Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer supports.

Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer supports the following Oracle Database software releases:

  • Oracle Database 19c (19.x)
  • Oracle Database 12c Release 2 (12.2.0.1) (requires a valid Upgrade Support contract)
  • Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2) (requires a valid Upgrade Support contract)
  • Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.4) (requires a valid Upgrade Support contract)

For Oracle Database release and software support timelines, see Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID 742060.1) in the My Oracle Support portal.

About Provisioning and Configuring Oracle Databases on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

Learn about provisioning and configuring Oracle Database on Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

Each Oracle Database is configured as follows:
  • When you provision a database, you can associate it with a backup destination, and enable automatic backups.
  • When a database is provisioned an archivelog maintenance job is added to the crontab for the database.
    • If the database is not enabled for backups, then the archivelog job will maintain FRA space by deleting Archive Redo Logs older than 24 hours.
    • If the database is enabled for backups, then the archivelog job will backup archivelogs that have not been backed up. Once an archived log is backed up, it will be purged when older than 24 hours.
  • Each database is configured with Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database instances running on every node in the virtual machine (VM) cluster.
  • Each database is created in an Oracle home, which uses a separate set of Oracle binaries in a separate Oracle home location.
  • Each database is configured with default instance parameter settings. While the defaults are reasonable for many cases, you should review the instance parameter settings to ensure that they meet your specific application needs.

    In particular, review the Oracle Database system global area (SGA) and program global area (PGA) instance parameter settings, especially if your VM cluster supports multiple databases. Also, ensure that the sum of all Oracle Database memory allocations never exceeds the available physical memory on each virtual machine.

    • When creating a container database, the initialization parameter, SGA_TARGET is set by the automation. This will automatically size the SGA memory pools. The setting will vary depending on the size of the database VM total memory. If the VM has less than or equal to 60 GB of system memory, SGA_TARGET is set to 3800 MB. If the VM has 60 GB or more system memory, SGA_TARGET is set to 7600 MB.
    • The database initialization parameter USE_LARGE_PAGES is set to ONLY upon database creation, which will require the use of large pages for SGA memory. If the VM is configured with insufficient large pages, the instance will fail to start.
    • The database initialization parameter INMEMORY_FORCE is set to CELLMEMORY_LEVEL for all 19.8 and later databases created via the cloud automation. This setting will enable the Exadata Columnar Cache feature, which dramatically speeds up analytic queries. It is available for 19.8 and later databases and no In Memory license is required when running in Exadata Cloud. For more information, see INMEMORY_FORCE
  • Exadata Database Service will only create databases with 8K block size. This parameter cannot be changed.
  • Each database using Oracle Database 12c Release 1 or a later release is configured as a container database (CDB). One pluggable database (PDB) is created inside the CDB. By default:
    • The first PDB is configured with a local PDB administration user account, named PDBADMIN.
    • The PDBADMIN user account is initially configured with the same administration password as the CDB SYS and SYSTEM users.
    • The PDBADMIN user account is initially configured with basic privileges assigned through two roles; CONNECT and PDB_DBA. However, for most practical administrative purposes you must assign extra privileges to the PDBADMIN user account, or to the PDB_DBA role.

    You can use native Oracle Database facilities to create extra PDBs, and to manage all of your PDBs. The dbaascli utility also provides a range of convenient PDB management functions.

Note

Avoid entering confidential information when assigning descriptions, tags, or friendly names to your cloud resources through the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console, API, or CLI.

Using the Console to Create a Database

To create an Oracle Database with the console, use this procedure.

  1. Open the navigation menu Under Oracle Database, and click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.

    VM Clusters is selected by default.

  2. Choose your Compartment.

    A list of VM Clusters is displayed for the chosen Compartment.

  3. Click the name of a VM cluster where you want to create the database.

    In the VM Cluster Details page, under Resources, Databases is selected by default.

  4. Click Create Database.

    (or)

    1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Cloud@Customer.

      VM Clusters is selected by default.

    2. Choose your Compartment.

      A list of VM Clusters is displayed for the chosen Compartment.

    3. Click the name of a VM cluster where you want to create the database.

      In the VM Cluster Details page, under Resources, Databases is selected by default.

    4. Click Database Homes.
    5. Click the name of the Database Home where you want to create the database.
    6. Click Create Database.

  5. Provide the requested information in the Create Database page:

    Note

    You cannot modify the db_name, db_unique_name, and SID prefix after creating the database.
    • Provide the database name: Specify a user-friendly name that you can use to identify the database. The database name must contain only the permitted characters.
      Review the following guidelines when selecting a database name.
      • maximum of 8 characters
      • contain only alphanumeric characters
      • begin with an alphabetic character
      • cannot be part of first 8 characters of a db_unique_name on the VM cluster
      • unique within a VM cluster
      • DO NOT use grid because grid is a reserved name
      • DO NOT use ASM because ASM is a reserved name

    • Provide a unique name for the database: Optionally, specify a unique name for the database. This attribute defines the value of the db_unique_name database parameter. The value is case insensitive.

      The db_unique_name must contain only the permitted characters. Review the following guidelines when selecting a database name.
      • maximum of 30 characters
      • can contain alphanumeric and underscore (_) characters
      • begin with an alphabetic character
      • unique across the fleet/tenancy

      If a unique name is not provided, then the db_unique_name defaults to the following format <db_name>_<3 char unique string>_<region-name>.

      If you plan to configure the database for backup to a Recovery Appliance backup destination, then the unique database name must match the name that is configured in the Recovery Appliance.

    • Select a database version: From the list, choose the Oracle Database software release that you want to deploy.
    • Database Home: Select an existing Database Home or create one as applicable. Note that this field is not available when you create a Database from the Database Home details page.
      • Select an existing Database Home: If one or more Database Homes already exist for the database version you have selected, then this option is selected by default. And, you will be presented with a list of Database Homes. Select a Database Home from the list.
      • Create a new Database Home: If no Database Homes exist for the database version you have selected, then this option is selected by default.
        1. Enter Database Home display name.
        2. Click Change Database Image to select your software version.

          Select a Database Software Image window is displayed.

        3. Select an Image Type, Oracle Provided Database Software Images, or Custom Database Software Images.

          If you choose Oracle Provided Database Software Images, then you can use the Display all available version switch to choose from all available PSUs and RUs. The most recent release for each major version is indicated with a latest label.

          Note

          For the Oracle Database major version releases available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, images are provided for the current version plus the three most recent older versions (N through N - 3). For example, if an instance is using Oracle Database 19c, and the latest version of 19c offered is 19.8.0.0.0, images available for provisioning are for versions 19.8.0.0.0, 19.7.0.0, 19.6.0.0 and 19.5.0.0.

    • Provide the name of the first PDB: (Optional) Specify the name for the first PDB. A PDB is created with the database.

      To avoid potential service name collisions when using Oracle Net Services to connect to the PDB, ensure that the PDB name is unique across the entire VM cluster. If you do not provide the name of the first PDB, then a system-generated name is used.

    • Provide the administration password: Provide and confirm the Oracle Database administration password. This password is used for administration accounts and functions in the database, including:

      • The password for the Oracle Database SYS and SYSTEM users.
      • The Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) Keystore password.

      For Oracle Database 12c Release 1 or later releases, the password for the PDB administration user in the first PDB (PDBADMIN) must be nine to 30 characters and contain at least two uppercase, two lowercase, two numeric, and two special characters. The special characters must be _, #, or -. In addition, the password must not contain the name of the tenancy or any reserved words, such as Oracle or Table, regardless of casing.

      • Use the administrator password for the TDE wallet: When this option is checked, the password entered for the SYS user is also used for the TDE wallet. To set the TDE wallet password manually, uncheck this option and enter the TDE wallet password.

    • Backup Destination Type: Select a backup destination for the database. From the list, choose an option:

      • None: Select to not define a backup configuration for the database.
      • Local: Select to store backups locally in the Oracle Exadata Storage Servers on your Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer system.

        This option is available only if you enabled backups on local Oracle Exadata storage in the VM cluster that you want to host the database.

      • Object Storage: Select to store backups in an Oracle-managed object storage container on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

        To use this option, your Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer system must have egress connectivity to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage.

      • NFS: Select to store backups in one of your previously defined backup destinations that use Network File System (NFS) storage. For more information, refer to the information about backup destinations in this publication.

        If you select this option, then you must also choose from the list of NFS Backup Destinations.

      • Recovery Appliance: Select to store backups in one of your previously defined backup destinations that use Oracle Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance. Refer to the information about backup destination options in this document.

        If you select Oracle Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance as your backup option, then you must also:

        • Choose from the list of appliance Backup Destinations.
        • Choose from the VPC User list, which contains the list of virtual private catalog (VPC) user names that are defined in the Oracle Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance backup destination.
        • Provide the Password for the VPC user.
        Note

        If you select a backup destination, then you cannot change a backup location after the database is created. However, if you select None now, then you can select a backup destination after the database is created.

      • Enable automatic backups: Select this option to enable daily backups using the policy for automatic backups.

        This option is only enabled when you select a Backup Destination Type other than None. You can change this setting after database creation.

    • (Optional) Select Show Advanced Options. From this window, you can select the following options:

      • Provide the Oracle SID prefix:
        Note

        Entering a SID prefix is only available for 12.1 databases and above.

        Optionally, specify the Oracle SID prefix for the database. The instance number is automatically appended to the SID prefix to become the instance_name database parameter. If not provided, then the SID prefix defaults to the db_name.

        Review the following guidelines when selecting a database name:
        • maximum of 12 characters
        • contain only alphanumeric characters
        • begin with an alphabetic character
        • unique in the VM cluster

      • Backup retention period: From the list, you can choose the length of time that you want automatic backups to be retained.

        For backups to local Exadata storage, you can choose a retention period of 7 days or 14 days. The default retention period is 7 days.

        For backups to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage, or to an NFS backup destination, you can choose one of the following preset retention periods: 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 45 days, or 60 days. The default retention period is 30 days.

        This option does not apply to Oracle Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance backup destinations. For backups to Oracle Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance, the retention policy that is implemented in the appliance controls the retention period.

      • Character set: The character set for the database. The default is AL32UTF8.
      • National character set: The national character set for the database. The default is AL16UTF16.
      • Tags: (Optional) You can choose to apply tags. If you have permissions to create a resource, you also have permissions to apply free-form tags to that resource. To apply a defined tag, you must have permissions to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, refer to information about resource tags.If you are not sure if you should apply tags, then skip this option (you can apply tags later), or ask your administrator.

  6. Click Create Database.