Re: Can't automatic startup oracle

From: Rowan McCammon <rowan.mccammon_at_macquarie.com.au>
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 09:37:12 +1100
Message-ID: <8s05j5$sbd$1@isdserv3.macbank>

Straight out of metalink:...

Problem Description

"dbstart" is a shellscript used on Unix platforms to start databases listed in the "oratab" file. It is often called from system startup scripts.

The "dbstart" script shipped with all versions of Oracle up to and including 8.1.6 does not start any 8.1.6 instances if they are down. "dbstart" will report "Database <SID> warm started" rather than starting the instance. This problem only affects 8.1.6 (or later) instances.

The change in the banner may affect users custom startup / shutdown scripts.

"dbshut" has no problem.

Please note there are 2 related issues which should be born in mind when changing any startup / shutdown scripts:

     Advance notification of Server Manager desupport      [NOTE:74943.1]
     Advance notification of CONNECT INTERNAL desupport    [NOTE:50508.1]

Solution Description

Enterprise Edition Workaround

The workaround is to change the dbstart script to look for the string "Oracle8i Enterprise Edition" instead of "PL/SQL" by making the following changes:

Save a copy of the 8.1.6 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/dbstart script
Edit the script and change the 'awk' lines from: VERSION=`$ORACLE_HOME/bin/svrmgrl command=exit | awk '
/PL\/SQL (Release|Version)/ {substr($3,1,3) ;
print substr($3,1,3)}'` to: VERSION=`$ORACLE_HOME/bin/svrmgrl command=exit | awk '
/PL\/SQL (Release|Version)/ { print substr($3,1,3); exit }
/Oracle7 Server (Release|Version)/ { print substr($4,1,3); exit }
/Oracle8i Enterprise Edition (Release|Version)/ { print
substr($5,1,3); exit }
/Oracle8i (Release|Version)/ { print substr($3,1,3); exit }'`

      Additionally for platforms which set LD_LIBRARY_PATH in the dbstart
      script you should change the following:
      From:
            LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}:${ORACLE_HOME}/lib ;
            export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
      To:
            LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${ORACLE_HOME}/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH} ;
            export LD_LIBRARY_PATH


   3. Copy the updated "dbstart" to any location it is expected to reside.
      Eg: system startup scripts often run /usr/local/bin/dbstart.

      IMPORTANT: Do not overwrite existing scripts without taking a backup
                 copy first as the script you are overwriting may have
                 been modified.

   NOTE: This workaround will only work for Oracle8 Enterprise Editions
         Similar workarounds may be used for other editions.

Explanation

The problem is caused by a change in the Oracle banner which is output by Oracle version 8.1.6. The banner no longer includes a PL/SQL line and so the test in "dbstart" for a PL/SQL version returns a blank string which in turn causes the step to startup the instance to be skipped.

References

The problem is reported in [BUG:1154931]

The "oratab" file typically exists in either /etc/oratab or /var/opt/oracle/oratab

[NOTE:50508.1] - Advance notification of CONNECT INTERNAL desupport [NOTE:74943.1] - Advance notification of Server Manager desupport Received on Tue Oct 10 2000 - 17:37:12 CDT