Using the Console to Provision Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer

Learn how to provision an Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system.

Using the Console to Create Exadata Cloud@Customer Infrastructure

To create your Exadata Cloud@Customer infrastructure, be prepared to provide values for the fields required for configuring the infrastructure.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Region, select the region that you want to associate with the Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

    The region that is associated with your Oracle Exadata infrastructure cannot be changed after the Oracle Exadata infrastructure is created. Therefore, ensure that you select the most appropriate region for your infrastructure. Consider the following factors:

    • Consider any business policies or regulations that preclude the use of a particular region. For example, you can be required to maintain all operations within national boundaries.
    • Consider the physical proximity of the region to your data center. Needless extra physical separation adds unnecessary latency to network communications between Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and your corporate data center.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click Create Exadata Infrastructure.
  5. In the Create Exadata Infrastructure page, provide the requested information:

    • Oracle Cloud Infrastructure region: The region that is associated with your Oracle Exadata infrastructure cannot be changed after the Oracle Exadata infrastructure is created. Therefore, check the displayed region to ensure that you are using the most appropriate region for your infrastructure.

      See step 2 (earlier in this procedure) for further considerations. To switch regions now, use the Region menu at the top of the console.

    • Choose a compartment: From the list of available compartments, choose the compartment that you want to contain the Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

      For more information, see Understanding Compartments.

    • Provide the display name: The display name is a user-friendly name that you can use to identify the Exadata infrastructure. The name doesn't need to be unique, because an Oracle Cloud Identifier (OCID) uniquely identifies the Oracle Exadata infrastructure.
    • Select the Exadata system model: From the list, choose an Oracle Exadata hardware.

      The Oracle Exadata system model and system shape combine to define the amount of CPU, memory, and storage resources that are available in the Exadata infrastructure. For more information, see System Configuration.

    • Compute and storage configuration:
      • Database servers:
        • X10M: You can expand the database and storage servers in the initial rack up to 16 total servers.
        • X8M/X9M: You can add a minimum of 2 and extend up to a maximum of 8 database servers.
      • Storage servers:
        • X10M: You can expand the database and storage servers in the initial rack up to 16 total servers..
        • X8M/X9M: You can add a minimum of 3 and extend up to a maximum of 12 storage servers. For each storage server you add, the storage capacity that will be added is displayed on the right.
      • Multi-rack deployment: If you scale beyond the maximum limits, Database servers: 8 and Storage servers: 12, then the multi-rack deployment checkbox is automatically selected. You can also check that option if the database servers count and storage server count are within the minimum and maximum bounds; however, you want the infrastructure to span multiple racks.

        A new field, Upload multi-rack configuration file, appears when you select this check box. You can drag and drop the JSON file or select one from the local filesystem. For multi-rack deployments, the Control Plane cannot generate the configuration bundle correctly without the JSON file. The JSON file will be used to generate host names and IP addresses for the additional components. Contact your Oracle Field Engineer for more information.

        If you fail to identify an infrastructure as multi-rack and subsequently determine it is multi-rack, then you will have to delete that infrastructure and recreate it.

    • Configure the cloud control plane server network

      Each Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system contains two control plane servers, which enable connectivity to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The control plane servers are connected to the control plane network, which is a subnet on your corporate network. The following settings define the network parameters:

      • Control Plane Server 1 IP Address: Provide the IP address for the first control plane server. This IP address is for the network interface that connects the first control plane server to your corporate network using the control plane network.
      • Control Plane Server 2 IP Address: Provide the IP address for the second control plane server. This IP address is for the network interface that connects the second control plane server to your corporate network using the control plane network.
      • Netmask: Specify the IP netmask for the control plane network.
      • Gateway: Specify the IP address of the control plane network gateway.
      • HTTP Proxy: (Optional) You can choose to use this field to specify your corporate HTTP proxy. The expected format is as follows, where server is the server name, domain is the domain name, and port is the assigned port:
        http://server.domain:port
        For example:
        http://proxy.example.com:80

        For enhanced security, when possible, Oracle recommends that you use an HTTP proxy.

      • Enable Control Plane Server Offline Report: Enabling the Control Plane Server (CPS) offline report helps in diagnosing connectivity issues between the CPS and OCI endpoints, should they arise.
        To view the report, do the following:
        1. Find the CPS IP addresses.

          For more information, see Using the Console to View Exadata Infrastructure Network Configuration Details.

        2. From your local network, access the report over HTTP.

          To view the report in HTML format, use http://<CPSPublicIP>:18080/report

          To view the report in JSON format, use http://<CPSPublicIP>:18080/report/json

        For more information, see ExaCC gen2: Troubleshooting VPN/WSS connection from Customer Side.

    • Configure the Oracle Exadata system networks

      Each Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system contains two system networks, which are not connected to your corporate network. The following settings define IP address allocations for these networks:

      • Administration Network CIDR Block: Specifies the IP address range for the administration network using CIDR notation. The administration network provides connectivity that enables Oracle to administer the Exadata system components, such as the Exadata compute servers, storage servers, network switches, and power distribution units. You can accept the suggested default, or specify a custom value.

        The minimum CIDR block is /23. The maximum CIDR block is /21. Because this CIDR block cannot be changed in the future, it is recommended to use a /21 CIDR block to maximize flexibility for future possible expansion. However, the below table can be used for further guidance.

    • Secure Fabric Network: Specifies the IP address range for the Exadata secure fabric network using CIDR notation. The Exadata secure fabric network provides the high-speed low-latency interconnect used by Exadata software for internal communications between various system components. You can accept the suggested default, or specify a custom value.

      The minimum CIDR /22. The maximum CIDR block /19. Because this CIDR block cannot be changed in the future, it is recommended to use a /19 CIDR block to maximize flexibility for future possible expansion. However, the below table can be used for further guidance.

      Table 4-9 X10M (Quarter Rack X10M, Quarter Rack X10M-L, and Quarter Rack X10M-XL) CIDR Requirements

      Maximum DB Servers Maximum Storage Servers Required Administration Network CIDR Required Secure Fabric Network CIDR
      6 64 /23 /22
      7 45
      8 26
      9 9
      7 64 /22 /22
      8 55
      9 30
      10 5
      15 64 /22 /21
      16 60
      17 45
      18 30
      19 15
      17 64 /21 /21
      18 61
      19 36
      20 11
      32 64 /21 /20

      Table 4-10 X9M CIDR Requirements

      Maximum DB Servers Maximum Storage Servers Required Administration Network CIDR Required Secure Fabric Network CIDR
      6 64 /23 /22
      7 48
      8 30
      9 9
      7 64 /22 /22
      8 55
      9 30
      10 5
      15 64 /22 /21
      16 62
      17 45
      18 30
      19 15
      17 64 /21 /21
      18 61
      19 36
      20 11
      32 64 /21 /20

      Table 4-11 X8M CIDR Requirements

      Maximum DB Servers Maximum Storage Servers Required Administration Network CIDR Required Secure Fabric Network CIDR
      8 64 /23 /22
      9 61
      10 47
      11 37
      12 28
      13 13
      11 64 /22 /22
      12 51
      13 34
      14 17
      23 64 /22 /21
      24 56
      25 45
      26 38
      27 21
      26 64 /21 /21
      27 52
      28 35
      29 18
      32 64 /21 /20
      Note

      You cannot change this value in the future. Consider all future expansions when making this choice. Otherwise, your future expandability may be limited.
    • Configure DNS and NTP services

      Each Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system requires access to Domain Names System (DNS) and Network Time Protocol (NTP) services. The following settings specify the servers that provide these services to the Exadata infrastructure:

      • DNS Servers: Provide the IP address of a DNS server that is accessible using the control plane network. You may specify up to three DNS servers.
      • NTP Servers: Provide the IP address of an NTP server that is accessible using the control plane network. You may specify up to three NTP servers.
      • Time Zone: The default time zone for the Exadata Infrastructure is UTC, but you can specify a different time zone. The time zone options are those supported in both the Java.util.TimeZone class and the Oracle Linux operating system.
        Note

        If you want to set a time zone other than UTC or the browser-detected time zone, then select the Select another time zone option, select a Region or country, and then select the corresponding Time zone.

        If you do not see the region or country you want, then select Miscellaneous, and then select an appropriate Time zone.

    • Network bonding mode
      Note

      The use of LACP requires both the server and the switch(es) have compatible settings to allow LACP to work properly. To use LACP for ExaDB-C@C, you must configure your network switches such that they are compatible with the following parameter from the Linux ifcfg-bondethx configuration file:
      BONDING_OPTS="mode=802.3ad miimon=100 downdelay=200 updelay=200 lacp_rate=1 xmit_hash_policy=layer3+4"

      Note that the BONDING_OPTS line in the host operating system cannot be changed, so customer switch settings must be compatible with the parameters stated above without alteration.

      The client and backup networks are configured to use active-backup bonding (mode 1) by default. Since the setting gets applied to each network interface individually, you have the flexibility to configure client and backup network interfaces independently of each other. For example, you can configure the backup network to LACP and the client network to active-backup, if desired.

      • Enable LACP for Client Network: Select to configure the client network with LACP mode 4 (mode=802.3ad) active/active dynamic link.
      • Enable LACP for Backup Network: Select to configure the backup network with LACP mode 4 (mode=802.3ad) active/active dynamic link.

      You can check the bonding mode of the client and backup networks under the Network section on the Exadata Infrastructure Details page.

      • Active/Backup indicates that the network interfaces are configured to use the default mode 1.
      • LACP indicates that the network interfaces are mode 4 enabled.
    • Provide maintenance details
      • Configure automatic maintenance

        Click Edit Maintenance Preferences.

        Edit Maintenance Preferences dialog is displayed.

        In the Edit Maintenance Preferences dialog, configure the following:
        • Choose a maintenance method:

          • Rolling: By default, Exadata Infrastructure is updated in a rolling fashion, one server at a time with no downtime.

          • Non-rolling: Update database and storage servers at the same time. The non-rolling maintenance method minimizes maintenance time but incurs full system downtime.

        • Enable custom action before performing maintenance on DB servers: Enable custom action only if you want to perform additional actions outside of Oracle’s purview. For maintenance configured with a rolling software update, enabling this option will force the maintenance run to wait for a custom action with a configured timeout before starting maintenance on each DB server. For maintenance configured with non-rolling software updates, the maintenance run will wait for a custom action with a configured timeout before starting maintenance across all DB servers.

          • Custom action timeout (in minutes): Timeout available to perform custom action before starting maintenance on the DB Servers.

            Default: 30 minutes

            Maximum: 120 minutes

        • Maintenance schedule:

          • No preference: The system assigns a date and start time for infrastructure maintenance.

          • Specify a schedule: Choose your preferred month, week, weekday, start time, and lead time for infrastructure maintenance.

          • Lead Time: Specify the minimum number of weeks ahead of the maintenance event you would like to receive a notification message.

        Click Save Changes.

        If you switch from rolling to non-rolling maintenance method, then Confirm Non-rolling Maintenance Method dialog is displayed.

        Enter the name of the infrastructure in the field provided to confirm the changes.

        Click Save Changes.

        Note

        After creating the infrastructure, you can find the maintenance method, maintenance schedule, DB Server version, and Storage Server version details under the Maintenance and Version sections on the Infrastructure Details page.

      • Provide maintenance contacts

        Maintenance contacts are required for service request-based communications for hardware replacement and other maintenance events.

        You can skip adding maintenance contacts while creating your infrastructure. However, you must add a primary contact prior to activating your infrastructure. Ensure that you provide the details of the contact that you used while registering the Customer Support Identifier (CSI) associated with this infrastructure, as a primary contact.

        Optionally, you can add a maximum of nine secondary contacts. Both the primary and secondary contacts receive all notifications about hardware replacement, network issues, and software maintenance runs. Note that you can promote any secondary contacts as the primary anytime you want. When you promote a secondary contact to primary, the current primary contact will be demoted automatically to secondary.

    • Show Advanced Options

      You have the option to configure advanced options.

      • Tags: (Optional) You can choose to apply tags. If you have permission to create a resource, then you also have permission to apply free-form tags to that resource. To apply a defined tag, you must have permission to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see 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 Exadata Infrastructure.

    If all of your inputs are valid, then the Infrastructure Details page appears. The page outlines the next steps in the provisioning process. Initially, after creation, the state of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure is Requires-Activation.

Enabling or Disabling the Control Plane Server Diagnostic Offline Report

To enable or disable CPS offline report, use this procedure.

Note

  • You cannot enable or disable Control Plane Server diagnostic offline report if the Exadata Infrastructure is in DISCONNECTED mode.
  • At any given point in time, the report is available only at the primary Control Plane Server. When generating a report, if the first IP address specified for the Control Plane Servers does not work, then you may try the second IP.
  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Region, select the region that you want to associate with the Oracle Exadata infrastructure.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. From the list of infrastructures, click the name of the infrastructure that you're interested in.
  5. On the Infrastructure Details page, find the Control Plane Server Offline Report details under the Network section.
  6. Click the Enable or Disable link as needed.
    • If you click Enable, then the Enable Control Plane Server Offline Report window is displayed.

      Review the information provided on the popup window, and then click Enable.

    • If you click Disable, then Disable Control Plane Server Offline Report window is displayed.

      Review the information provided on the popup window, and then click Disable.

Viewing the Control Plane Server Diagnostic Offline Report

  1. Find the CPS IP addresses.

    For more information, see Using the Console to View Exadata Infrastructure Network Configuration Details.

  2. From your local network, access the report over HTTP.

    To view the report in HTML format, use http://<CPSPublicIP>:18080/report

    To view the report in JSON format, use http://<CPSPublicIP>:18080/report/json

Using the Console to View Exadata Infrastructure Network Configuration Details

To view network configuration details, follow these steps. Save this information for later use to troubleshoot if you face network issues.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Region, select the region that you want to associate with the Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. From the list of infrastructures, click the name of the infrastructure that you're interested in. Note that the infrastructure must be in Active state.
  5. On the Infrastructure Details page, find the network configuration details under the Network section.

Using the Console to Edit Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer Infrastructure Networking Configuration

To edit your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer infrastructure networking configuration, be prepared to provide values for the infrastructure configuration.

You can only edit Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer infrastructure networking configuration only if the current state of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure is Requires Activation. Also, ensure that you do not edit the Exadata infrastructure after you download the configuration file and provide it to Oracle.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Select Region and Compartment, and provide the region and the compartment where the Oracle Exadata infrastructure you want to edit is located.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Exadata infrastructure that you want to edit.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Click Edit Infrastructure Networking.
  6. Use the Edit Infrastructure Networking dialog to edit the Oracle Exadata infrastructure networking:

    1. Configure the cloud control plane network

      Each Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system contains two Control Plane Servers, which enable connectivity to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The Control Plane Servers are connected to the control plane network, which is a subnet on your corporate network. The following settings define the network parameters:

      • Control Plane Server 1 IP Address: Provide the IP address for the first control plane server. This IP address is for the network interface that connects the first Control Plane Server to your corporate network using the control plane network.
      • Control Plane Server 2 IP Address: Provide the IP address for the second control plane server. This IP address is for the network interface that connects the second Control Plane Server to your corporate network using the control plane network.
      • Netmask: Specify the IP netmask for the control plane network.
      • Gateway: Specify the IP address of the control plane network gateway.
      • HTTP Proxy: Optionally, you can use this field to specify your corporate HTTP proxy to use for the HTTPS connection from the Control Plane Server to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The expected format is:
        http://server.domain:port

        For example:

        http://proxy.example.com:80

        For enhanced security, when possible, Oracle recommends that you use an HTTP proxy.

    2. Configure the Exadata system networks

      Each Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system contains two system networks, which are not connected to your corporate network. The following settings define IP address allocations for these networks:

      • Administration Network CIDR Block: Specifies the IP address range for the administration network using CIDR notation. The administration network provides connectivity that enables Oracle to administer the Exadata system components, such as the Exadata compute servers, storage servers, network switches, and power distribution units.

        The maximum CIDR block prefix length is /23, which defines the smallest block of IP addresses that are required for the network. To allow for possible future expansion within Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer, work with your network team to reserve enough IP addresses to accommodate any future growth. The minimum CIDR block prefix length is /16.

        Ensure that the IP address range does not conflict with other hosts your corporate network, and does not overlap with the InfiniBand network CIDR block.

      • Secure Fabric Network CIDR Block: Specifies the IP address range for the Exadata InfiniBand network using CIDR notation. The Exadata InfiniBand network provides the high-speed low-latency interconnect used by Exadata software for internal communications between various system components.

        The maximum CIDR block prefix length is /22, which defines the smallest block of IP addresses that are required for the network. To allow for possible future expansion within Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer, work with your network team to reserve enough IP addresses to accommodate any future growth. The minimum CIDR block prefix length is /19.

        Ensure that the IP address range does not conflict with other hosts your corporate network, and does not overlap with the administration network CIDR block.

    3. Configure DNS and NTP services

      Each Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system requires access to Domain Names System (DNS) and Network Time Protocol (NTP) services. The following settings specify the servers that provide these services to the Exadata infrastructure:

      • DNS Servers: Provide the IP address of a DNS server that is accessible using the control plane network. You can specify up to three DNS servers.
      • NTP Servers: Provide the IP address of an NTP server that is accessible using the control plane network. You may specify up to three NTP servers.
      • Time zone: The default time zone for the Exadata Infrastructure is UTC, but you can specify a different time zone. The time zone options are those supported in both the Java.util.TimeZone class and the Oracle Linux operating system.
        Note

        If you want to set a time zone other than UTC or the browser-detected time zone, then select the Select another time zone option, select a Region or country, and then select the corresponding Time zone.

        If you do not see the region or country you want, then select Miscellaneous, and then select an appropriate Time zone.

  7. Click Save Changes.

Using the Console to Download a File Containing Configuration Data

To download an Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer configuration file, complete this procedure.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Choose the Region and Compartment that contains the Oracle Exadata infrastructure for which you want to download a file containing the infrastructure configuration details.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure for which you want to download a file containing the infrastructure configuration details.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Click Show guide on the banner displayed.
  6. Click Download Configuration.

    Your browser downloads a file containing the infrastructure configuration details.

The generated configuration file includes all the relevant configuration details for the additional storage servers included as part of the create infrastructure flow.

When you provide the generated infrastructure configuration file to Oracle, ensure that it has not been altered in any way. Also, ensure that you do not edit the Oracle Exadata infrastructure after you download the configuration file and provide it to Oracle.

Using the Console to Activate Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer Infrastructure

To activate Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer infrastructure, ensure that you meet the prerequisites, and complete this procedure.

  • Ensure that you have added a primary contact. You cannot activate your infrastructure without adding a primary maintenance contact.
  • Locate the activation file. This file is supplied to you by Oracle after installation and initial configuration of your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer system.
  • Ensure that the current state of your infrastructure is Requires Activation. You can only activate Oracle Exadata if its state is Requires Activation.
  1. Download the activation file.
  2. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  3. Choose Region and Compartment, and select the region and compartment that contains the Oracle Exadata infrastructure that you want to activate.
  4. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  5. Click the name of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure that you want to activate.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  6. Click Activate on the banner displayed.

    The Activate button is only available if the Oracle Exadata infrastructure requires activation. You cannot activate Oracle Exadata infrastructure multiple times.

  7. Use the Activate dialog to upload the activation file, and then click Activate Now.

    The activation file includes all the relevant details for the additional storage servers included as part of the create infrastructure flow.

    After activation, the state of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure changes to Active.

Using the Console to Check the Status of Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer Infrastructure

To find the status of your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer infrastructure, use this procedure to check the Infrastructure Details page.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Choose the Region and Compartment that contains the Oracle Exadata infrastructure that you are interested in.
  3. Click Exadata Infrastructure.
  4. Click the name of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure that you are interested in.

    The Infrastructure Details page displays information about the selected Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

  5. Check the icon on the Infrastructure Details page. The color of the icon and the text below it indicates the status of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure.

    • Creating: Yellow icon. The Oracle Exadata infrastructure definition is being created in the control plane.
    • Requires Activation: Yellow icon. The Oracle Exadata infrastructure is defined in the control plane, but it must be provisioned and activated before it can be used.
    • Active: Green icon. The Oracle Exadata infrastructure is successfully provisioned and activated.
    • Deleting: Gray icon. The Oracle Exadata infrastructure is being deleted by using the Console or API.
    • Deleted: Gray icon. The Oracle Exadata infrastructure is deleted, and is no longer available. This state is transitory. It is displayed for a short time, after which the Oracle Exadata infrastructure is no longer displayed.
    • Activation Failed: Red icon. An error condition currently prevents the activation of the Oracle Exadata infrastructure. Typically, this state is auto-correcting, and does not require user intervention.