Configuring Oracle Data Guard for Azure

This tutorial demonstrates how to set up and implement Oracle Data Guard in Azure
Virtual Machines environment for high availability and disaster recovery. The
tutorial focuses on one-way replication for non-RAC Oracle databases.
Oracle Data Guard supports data protection and disaster recovery for Oracle
Database. It is a simple, high-performance, drop-in solution for disaster recovery,
data protection, and high availability for the entire Oracle database.
This tutorial assumes that you already have theoretical and practical knowledge on
Oracle Database High Availability and Disaster Recovery concepts. For information,
see the�Oracle web site�and also the�Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration
Guide.
In addition, the tutorial assumes that you have already implemented the following
prerequisites:
?You�ve already reviewed the High Availability and Disaster Recovery Considerations
section in the�Oracle Virtual Machine images - Miscellaneous Considerations�topic.
Azure supports standalone Oracle Database instances but not Oracle Real Application
Clusters (Oracle RAC) currently.
?You have created two Virtual Machines (VMs) in Azure using the same platform
provided Oracle Enterprise Edition image. Make sure the Virtual Machines are in
the�same cloud service�and in the same Virtual Network to ensure they can access
each other over the persistent private IP address. Additionally, it is recommended
to place the VMs in the same�availability set�to allow Azure to place them into
separate fault domains and upgrade domains. Oracle Data Guard is only available
with Oracle Database Enterprise Edition. Each machine must have at least 2 GB of
memory and 5 GB of disk space. For the most up-to-date information on the platform
provided VM sizes, see�Virtual Machine Sizes for Azure. If you need additional disk
volume for your VMs, you can attach additional disks. For information, see�How to
Attach a Data Disk to a Virtual Machine.
?You�ve set the Virtual Machine names as �Machine1� for the primary VM and
�Machine2� for the standby VM at the Azure classic portal.
?You�ve set the�ORACLE_HOME�environment variable to point to the same oracle root
installation path in the primary and standby Virtual Machines, such
as�C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\database.
?You log on to your Windows server as a member of the�Administrators�group or a
member of the�ORA_DBA�group.
In this tutorial, you will:
Implement the physical standby database environment
1.Create a primary database
2.Prepare the primary database for standby database creation
a.Enable forced logging
b.Create a password file
c.Configure a standby redo log
d.Enable Archiving
e.Set primary database initialization parameters
Create a physical standby database
1.Prepare an initialization parameter file for standby database
2.Configure the listener and tnsnames to support the database on primary and
standby machines
a.Configure listener.ora on both servers to hold entries for both databases
b.To hold entries for both primary and standby databases, configure tnsnames.ora on
the primary and standby Virtual Machines.
c.Start the listener and check tnsping on both Virtual Machines to both services.
3.Start up the standby instance in nomount state
4.Use RMAN to clone the database and to create a standby database
5.Start the physical standby database in managed recovery mode
6.Verify the physical standby database
Important
This tutorial has been set up and tested against the following hardware and
software configuration:
 Primary Database Standby Database
Oracle Release Oracle11g Enterprise Release (11.2.0.4.0) Oracle11g Enterprise
Release (11.2.0.4.0)
Machine Name Machine1 Machine2
Operating System Windows 2008 R2 Windows 2008 R2
Oracle SID TEST TEST_STBY
Memory Min 2 GB Min 2 GB
Disk Space Min 5 GB Min 5 GB
For subsequent releases of Oracle Database and Oracle Data Guard, there might be
some additional changes that you need to implement. For the most up-to-date
version-specific information, see�Data Guard�and�Oracle Databasedocumentation at
Oracle web site.
Implement the physical standby database environment
1. Create a primary database
?Create a primary database �TEST� in the primary Virtual Machine. For information,
see Creating and Configuring an Oracle Database.
?To see the name of your database, connect to your database as the SYS user with
SYSDBA role in the SQL*Plus command prompt and run the following statement:
SQL> select name from v$database;

The result will display like the following:

NAME
---------
TEST
?Next, query the names of the database files from the dba_data_files system view:
SQL> select file_name from dba_data_files;
FILE_NAME
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C:\ <YourLocalFolder>\TEST\USERS01.DBF
C:\ <YourLocalFolder>\TEST\UNDOTBS01.DBF
C:\ <YourLocalFolder>\TEST\SYSAUX01.DBF
C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\SYSTEM01.DBF
C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\EXAMPLE01.DBF
2. Prepare the primary database for standby database creation
Before creating a standby database, it�s recommended that you ensure the primary
database is configured properly. The following is a list of steps that you need to
perform:
1.Enable forced logging
2.Create a password file
3.Configure a standby redo log
4.Enable Archiving
5.Set primary database initialization parameters
Enable forced logging
To implement a Standby Database, we need to enable 'Forced Logging' in the primary
database. This option ensures that even if an 'nologging' operation is done, force
logging takes precedence and all operations are logged into the redo logs.
Therefore, we make sure that everything in the primary database is logged and
replication to the standby includes all operations in the primary database. To
enable force logging, run the alter database statement:
SQL> ALTER DATABASE FORCE LOGGING;

Database altered.
Create a password file
To be able to ship and apply archived logs from the Primary server to the Standby
server, the sys password must be identical on both primary and standby servers.
That�s why you create a password file on the primary database and copy it to the
Standby server.
Important
When using Oracle Database 12c, there is a new user,�SYSDG, which you can use to
administer Oracle Data Guard. For more information, see�Changes in Oracle Database
12c Release.
In addition, make sure that the ORACLE_HOME environment is already defined in
Machine1. If not, define it as an environment variable using the Environment
Variables dialog box. To access this dialog box, start the�System�utility by
double-clicking the System icon in the�Control Panel; then click the�Advanced�tab
and choose�Environment Variables. To set the environment variables, click
the�New�button under�System Variables. After setting up the environment variables,
close the existing Windows command prompt and open up a new one.
Run the following statement to switch to the Oracle_Home directory, such as
C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\database.

cd %ORACLE_HOME%\database
Then, create a password file using the password file creation utility,�ORAPWD. In
the same Windows command prompt in Machine1, run the following command by setting
the password value as the password of�SYS:
ORAPWD FILE=PWDTEST.ora PASSWORD=password FORCE=y
This command creates a password file, named as PWDTEST.ora, in the
ORACLE_HOME\database directory. You should copy this file to %ORACLE_HOME%\database
directory in Machine2 manually.
Configure a standby redo log
Then, you need to configure a Standby Redo Log so that the primary can correctly
receive the redo when it becomes a standby. Pre-creating them here also allows the
standby redo logs to be automatically created on the standby. It is important to
configure the Standby Redo Logs (SRL) with the same size as the online redo logs.
The size of the current standby redo log files must exactly match the size of the
current primary database online redo log files.
Run the following statement in the SQL*PLUS command prompt in Machine1. The
v$logfile is a system view that contains information about redo log files.
SQL> select * from v$logfile;
GROUP# STATUS TYPE MEMBER
IS_
---------- ------- -------
------------------------------------------------------------ ---
3 ONLINE C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO03.LOG NO
2 ONLINE C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO02.LOG NO
1 ONLINE C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO01.LOG NO
Next, query the v$log system view, displays log file information from the control
file.
SQL> select bytes from v$log;
BYTES
----------
52428800
52428800
52428800
Note that 52428800 is 50 megabytes.
Then, in the SQL*Plus window, run the following statements to add a new standby
redo log file group to a standby database and specify a number that identifies the
group using the GROUP clause. Using group numbers can make administering standby
redo log file groups easier:
SQL> ALTER DATABASE ADD STANDBY LOGFILE GROUP 4
'C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO04.LOG' SIZE 50M;
Database altered.
SQL> ALTER DATABASE ADD STANDBY LOGFILE GROUP 5
'C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO05.LOG' SIZE 50M;
Database altered.
SQL> ALTER DATABASE ADD STANDBY LOGFILE GROUP 6
'C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO06.LOG' SIZE 50M;
Database altered.
Next, run the following system view to list information about redo log files. This
operation also verifies that the standby redo log file groups were created:
SQL> select * from v$logfile;
GROUP# STATUS TYPE MEMBER IS_
---------- ------- ------- --------------------------------------------- ---
3 ONLINE C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO03.LOG NO
2 ONLINE C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO02.LOG NO
1 ONLINE C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO01.LOG NO
4 STANDBY C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO04.LOG
5 STANDBY C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO05.LOG NO
6 STANDBY C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST\REDO06.LOG NO
6 rows selected.
Enable Archiving
Then, enable archiving by running the following statements to put the primary
database in ARCHIVELOG mode and enable automatic archiving. You can enable archive
log mode by mounting the database and then executing the archivelog command.
First, log in as sysdba. In the Windows command prompt, run:
sqlplus /nolog

connect / as sysdba
Then, shutdown the database in the SQL*Plus command prompt:
SQL> shutdown immediate;
Database closed.
Database dismounted.
ORACLE instance shut down.
Then, execute the startup mount command to mount the database. This ensures that
Oracle associates the instance with the specified database.
SQL> startup mount;
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area 1503199232 bytes
Fixed Size 2281416 bytes
Variable Size 922746936 bytes
Database Buffers 570425344 bytes
Redo Buffers 7745536 bytes
Database mounted.
Then, run:
SQL> alter database archivelog;
Database altered.
Then, run the Alter database statement with the Open clause to make the database
available for normal use:
SQL> alter database open;

Database altered.
Set primary database initialization parameters
To configure the Data Guard, you need to create and configure the standby
parameters on a regular pfile (text initialization parameter file) first. When the
pfile is ready, you need to convert it to a server parameter file (SPFILE).
You can control the Data Guard environment using the parameters in the INIT.ORA
file. When following this tutorial, you need to update the Primary database
INIT.ORA so that it can hold both roles: Primary or Standby.�
SQL> create pfile from spfile;
File created.
Next, you need to edit the pfile to add the standby parameters. To do this, open
the INITTEST.ORA file in the location of %ORACLE_HOME%\database. Next, append the
following statements to the INITTEST.ora file. The naming convention for your
INIT.ORA file is INIT<YourDatabaseName>.ORA.
db_name='TEST'
db_unique_name='TEST'
LOG_ARCHIVE_CONFIG='DG_CONFIG=(TEST,TEST_STBY)'
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1= 'LOCATION=C:\OracleDatabase\archive
VALID_FOR=(ALL_LOGFILES,ALL_ROLES) DB_UNIQUE_NAME=TEST'
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_2= 'SERVICE=TEST_STBY LGWR ASYNC
VALID_FOR=(ONLINE_LOGFILES,PRIMARY_ROLE) DB_UNIQUE_NAME=TEST_STBY'
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_STATE_1=ENABLE
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_STATE_2=ENABLE
REMOTE_LOGIN_PASSWORDFILE=EXCLUSIVE
LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT=%t_%s_%r.arc
LOG_ARCHIVE_MAX_PROCESSES=30
# Standby role parameters
--------------------------------------------------------------------
fal_server=TEST_STBY
fal_client=TEST
standby_file_management=auto
db_file_name_convert='TEST_STBY','TEST'
log_file_name_convert='TEST_STBY','TEST'
#
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
The previous statement block includes three important setup items:
?LOG_ARCHIVE_CONFIG...:�You define the unique database ids using this statement.
?LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1...:�You define the local archive folder location using this
statement. We recommend you create a new directory for your database�s archiving
needs and specify the local archive location using this statement explicitly rather
than using Oracle�s default folder %ORACLE_HOME%\database\archive.
?LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_2 .... LGWR ASYNC...:�You define an asynchronous log writer
process (LGWR) to collect transaction redo data and transmit it to standby
destinations. Here, the DB_UNIQUE_NAME specifies a unique name for the database at
the destination standby server.
Once the new parameter file is ready, you need to create the spfile from it.
First, shutdown the database:
SQL> shutdown immediate;

Database closed.

Database dismounted.

ORACLE instance shut down.

Next, run startup nomount command as follows:
SQL> startup nomount
pfile='c:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\database\initTEST.ora';
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area 1503199232 bytes
Fixed Size 2281416 bytes
Variable Size 922746936 bytes
Database Buffers 570425344 bytes
Redo Buffers 7745536 bytes
Now, create an spfile:
SQL>create spfile
frompfile='c:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome\_1\database\initTEST.ora';

File created.
Then, shutdown the database:
SQL> shutdown immediate;

ORA-01507: database not mounted

Then, use the startup command to start an instance
SQL> startup;
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area 1503199232 bytes
Fixed Size 2281416 bytes
Variable Size 922746936 bytes
Database Buffers 570425344 bytes
Redo Buffers 7745536 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
Create a physical standby database
This section focuses on the steps that you must perform in Machine2 to prepare the
physical standby database.
First, you need to remote desktop to Machine2 via the Azure classic portal.
Then, on the Standby Server (Machine2), create all the necessary folders for the
standby database, such as C:\<YourLocalFolder>\TEST. While following this tutorial,
make sure that the folder structure matches the folder structure on Machine1 to
keep all the necessary files, such as controlfile, datafiles, redologfiles, udump,
bdump, and cdump files. In addition, define the ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE
environment variables in Machine2. If not, define them as an environment variable
using the Environment Variables dialog box. To access this dialog box, start
the�System�utility by double-clicking the System icon in the�Control Panel; then
click the�Advanced�tab and choose�Environment Variables. To set the environment
variables, click the�New�button under the�System Variables. After setting up the
environment variables, you need to close the existing Windows command prompt and
open up a new one to see the changes.
Next, follow these steps:
1.Prepare an initialization parameter file for standby database
2.Configure the listener and tnsnames to support the database on primary and
standby machines
a.Configure listener.ora on both servers to hold entries for both databases
b.Configure tnsnames.ora on the primary and standby Virtual Machines to hold
entries for both primary and standby databases
c.Start the listener and check tnsping on both Virtual Machines to both services.
3.Start up the standby instance in nomount state
4.Use RMAN to clone the database and to create a standby database
5.Start the physical standby database in managed recovery mode
6.Verify the physical standby database
1. Prepare an initialization parameter file for standby database
This section demonstrates how to prepare an initialization parameter file for the
standby database. To do this, first copy the INITTEST.ORA file from Machine 1 to
Machine2 manually. You should be able to see the INITTEST.ORA file in the
%ORACLE_HOME%\database folder in both machines. Then, modify the INITTEST.ora file
in Machine2 to set it up for the standby role as specified below:
Copy
�
db_name='TEST'
db_unique_name='TEST_STBY'
db_create_file_dest='c:\OracleDatabase\oradata\test_stby�
db_file_name_convert=�TEST�,�TEST_STBY�
log_file_name_convert='TEST','TEST_STBY'

job_queue_processes=10
LOG_ARCHIVE_CONFIG='DG_CONFIG=(TEST,TEST_STBY)'
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1='LOCATION=c:\OracleDatabase\TEST_STBY\archives
VALID_FOR=(ALL_LOGFILES,ALL_ROLES) DB_UNIQUE_NAME=�TEST'
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_2='SERVICE=TEST LGWR ASYNC
VALID_FOR=(ONLINE_LOGFILES,PRIMARY_ROLE)
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_STATE_1='ENABLE'
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_STATE_2='ENABLE'
LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT='%t_%s_%r.arc'
LOG_ARCHIVE_MAX_PROCESSES=30
The previous statement block includes two important setup items:
?*.LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1:�You need to create the c:\OracleDatabase\TEST_STBY\archives
folder in Machine2 manually.
?*.LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_2:�This is an optional step. You set this as it might be needed
when the primary machine is in maintenance and the standby machine becomes a
primary database.
Then, you need to start the standby instance. On the standby database server, enter
the following command at a Windows command prompt to create an Oracle instance by
creating a Windows service:
oradim -NEW -SID TEST\_STBY -STARTMODE MANUAL
The�Oradim�command creates an Oracle instance but does not start it. You can find
it in the C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\BIN directory.
Configure the listener and tnsnames to support the database on primary and standby
machines
Before you create a standby database, you need to make sure that the primary and
standby databases in your configuration can talk to each other. To do this, you
need to configure both the listener and TNSNames either manually or by using the
network configuration utility NETCA. This is a mandatory task when you use the
Recovery Manager utility (RMAN).
Configure listener.ora on both servers to hold entries for both databases
Remote desktop to Machine1 and edit the listener.ora file as specified below. When
you edit the listener.ora file, always make sure that the opening and closing
parenthesis line up in the same column. You can find the listener.ora file in the
following folder: c:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\NETWORK\ADMIN\.
# listener.ora Network Configuration File:
C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\network\admin\listener.ora

# Generated by Oracle configuration tools.

SID_LIST_LISTENER =
(SID_LIST =
(SID_DESC =
(SID_NAME = test)
(ORACLE_HOME = C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1)
(PROGRAM = extproc)
(ENVS =
"EXTPROC_DLLS=ONLY:C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\bin\oraclr11.dll")
)
)

LISTENER =
(DESCRIPTION_LIST =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = MACHINE1)(PORT = 1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC1521))
)
)
Next, remote desktop to Machine2 and edit the listener.ora file as follows:
# listener.ora Network Configuration File:
C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\network\admin\listener.ora

# Generated by Oracle configuration tools.

SID_LIST_LISTENER =
(SID_LIST =
(SID_DESC =
(SID_NAME = test_stby)
 (ORACLE_HOME = C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1)
(PROGRAM = extproc)
(ENVS =
"EXTPROC_DLLS=ONLY:C:\OracleDatabase\product\11.2.0\dbhome_1\bin\oraclr11.dll")
)
)