asmlib rpm's for RHEL6.2
Hi I am trying to identify and download the correct packages to download and install for my RHEL installation
My kernel version is as follows
[root@mpadev01 Packages]# uname -r
2.6.32-220.el6.x86_64
[root@mpadev01 Packages]# uname -a
Linux mpadev01 2.6.32-220.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Wed Nov 9 08:03:13 EST 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[root@mpadev01 Packages]#
i am told i need the following but dont know the correct versions
kmod-oracleasm
oracleasmlib
oracleasm-support
Anyy help would be greatly appreciated
Jim
Responses
Jim,
Do you have the server subscribed to the "RHEL Server Supplementary" channel in RHN / Satellite?
The package in the Supplementary channel seems to be for a very specific version (when checking dependencies)
kernel >= 2.6.32-358.el6
kernel < 2.6.32-359.el6
So you may need to build a kernel module for your kernel version or upgrade to the kernel version required by the package or login to ULN using your Oracle credentials and see if they have an rpm for your kernel version.
I am using ASM without the kernel module on several servers and from my understanding the kernel module is only for additional management capability of ASM filesystems from within the OS and is not required to manage ASM if you pass through raw block devices from the OS to Oracle (which are then used for ASM disks).
I use udev rules to create the Oracle disk layout which is then used by the Oracle DBA as raw block devices in ASM.
There is also some discussion here regarding the support status of ASM on RHEL 6.
https://community.oracle.com/thread/2185312
This links to this doc (need an Oracle account to read).
https://support.oracle.com/rs?type=doc&id=1089399.1
Guru
6863 points
Here is a support Doc from Red Hat on the topic:
https://access.redhat.com/site/solutions/315643
For my environment I do a partial sync of the Oracle EL6 repo (and I stress "PARTIAL") to a child channel on my Satellite. I use the include/exclude package declaration to ensure that I ONLY pull down the packages I need from Oracle, not the entire EL6 repo. I believe you could do the same from the ASM client node itself. I can't stress this enough though - you HAVE to make sure that your include/exclude statements work correctly to limit the packages you pull from Oracle's repo, otherwise you end up overwriting some of the actual RHEL packages ... and then.. you have a HUGE mess.
I then subscribe my RHEL 6 host to that EL6-Oracle child channel I created. So far it has worked rather well. Without knowing some specifics about your environment, my advice may be useless ;-)
Red Hat
Guru
3695 points
https://access.redhat.com/site/solutions/315643 is the right place - we only started spinning the packages in Supplementary starting in RHEL 6.4. If you are able to update to 6.4 or newer, this would be easiest option...
Guru
6863 points
Good catch - I just noticed that the OP put 6.2 in the title ;-) Sorry Jim.
I highly recommend getting to 6.4 rather than using the UDEV method.
Can you list some of the major benefits to loading the kernel module has over the udev mapping method?
I am interested to know why the kernel needs to know about ASM when Oracle is happy working with raw block devices, can someone give specific examples (is there RAC implications)?
I am working off the recommendation of DBAs, so some insight from others' experiences would be great!
-edit-
Just found the whitepaper to answer my Q's
https://access.redhat.com/site/sites/default/files/attachments/oracle_on_rhel_with_or_without_asm_asmlib_0.pdf
But still interested in others' experiences!
Guru
6863 points
ASMlib is magic ;-) Seriously though, by putting in a bit of effort upfront (updating my Satellite for automatic retrieval of the Oracle packages and the setup for distribution of the packages), the setup is quite simple and straight-forward. The ONLY thing that seems to be complicated is making sure the /etc/sysconfig/oracleasm has the correct data. On the RHEL 5 systems we have, there is a slight bit of manual intervention needed to make sure the correct version of the oracleasm package is installed to match the kernel (RHEL 6 seems to not have this same dependency).
In fairness - the udev method is probably easy enough. However, it is just one more thing I'd rather not have to worry about.
I try and avoid any third party kernel dependencies due to a history of being held back by slow vendor releases.. although this may not be the case with asmlib.
udev configuration for ASM is literally a single file in /etc/udev/rules.d to maintain device naming persistence for Oracle disks (basically generates symlinks based on scsi_id).
I have scripted the generation/update of this file based on the SCSI chain the disk is attached to.
No additional Satellite repo required, no kernel dependency :D
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