Re: A good way to keep documentation for databases as DBA
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 06:49:26 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <8fc0b0fa-e0eb-48b0-b788-8714c9f29f9a_at_x27g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>
On Jun 6, 2:41 pm, Big George <jbet..._at_gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm following my own practices to document my job on databases, but
> also I'm wondering if they are correct or how other DBAs manage their
> own documentation for a day-to-day job.
>
> We have about 5 instances or databases to check. Each instance has a
> number of schemas or users, tablespaces and datafiles, blobs, indexes
> etc.
>
> On my Windows XP, I distribute my documentation in folders and Excel
> files.
>
> I keep my scripts or queries as small text files. If I have 10 text
> files, each text file has one script or a documented command. These
> text files are storaged in folders. For example, one root folder is
> named "Scripts and Commands" that contains general scripts and useful
> commands for an Oracle DBA . This folder is divided by sub-folders.
> For example sub-folder "Tablespace_Management" contains scripts and
> commands for managing tablespaces.
>
> Other root folder is named "Instance_1", which is the name of our
> instance 1. It contains scripts for recreating schemas, users,
> tablespaces, etc of that instance. It also contains specific queries
> for end-user information.
> This folder contains sub-folder "Backup_Management" which has docs
> about the backup process.
>
> Also, I keep an important Excel file with many sheets. One sheet lists
> server's IP, instances, schemas, passwords and some comments. Another
> sheet lists instances, schemas and tablespaces. Another sheet lists
> database servers and performance features like model, memory,
> processors, hard disks, etc.
>
> I update manually this Excel file every three days by querying my
> databases or after any big change that I made to a database.
>
> Of course I also use EM db console and Toad.
>
> Is there any advice or suggestion that you could provide?
>
> Thanks a lot !
How you organize your scripts and reference documentation should be done in a manner that makes sense to you and your teammates.
Mine are organized in my UNIX home directory under a directory named ora then in subdirectories by functional grouping. I have a subdirectory for scritps related to tables, indexes on the table, columns in an index, FK to a table, and so one. I have another directory for information related to database data files, tablespaces, redo logs, and undo segments.
I back my scritps up by copying my scritps from my development server to my production server so I have access to my scripts on each server I need to work on. If you are placing your information folders on the same server as your database you should give some though to their availability in the event of a media problem on the server.
HTH -- Mark D Powell --
If you are storing the scripts on the database server Received on Mon Jun 07 2010 - 08:49:26 CDT