Setting up Data Guard with FlashGrid

Initialization Parameters

In addition to Data Guard specific initialization parameters, set LOCAL_LISTENER parameter to NodeFQDN on the source database and keep it the same on the target database.

SQL> alter system set local_listener='NodeFQDN';

Make sure that remote_listener parameter indicates the information about the SCAN listener:

On the primary side:

remote_listener='primrac-scan.example.com:1521'

On the standby side:

remote_listener='stbyrac-scan.example.com:1521'

Oracle Net files

Make sure you have primary and standby node hostnames and SCAN addresses on DNS servers.

For example:

The primary side DNS server should contain information about the standby side:

stbyrac1.example.com 10.200.0.1 
stbyrac2.example.com 10.200.0.2 
stbyrac-scan.example.com 10.200.0.1 
stbyrac-scan.example.com 10.200.0.2

Standby side DNS entries:

primrac1.example.com 10.100.0.1 
primrac2.example.com 10.100.0.2 
primrac-scan.example.com 10.100.0.1 
primrac-scan.example.com 10.100.0.2

Primary and standby side TNS entries in $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora should look like the following:

primorcl =
 (DESCRIPTION =
   (TRANSPORT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=3)(RETRY_COUNT=6)
   (ADDRESS_LIST =      
     (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = primrac-scan.example.com)(PORT = 1521)))
   (CONNECT_DATA =
     (SERVER = DEDICATED)
     (SERVICE_NAME = primorcl)))

stbyorcl =
 (DESCRIPTION =
 (TRANSPORT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=3)(RETRY_COUNT=6)
 (ADDRESS_LIST =
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = stbyrac-scan.example.com)(PORT = 1521)))
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = stbyorcl)))

On the first nodes of primary and standby databases, add the following entries temporarily to be able to run duplicate:

primorcl1 =
 (DESCRIPTION =
 (ADDRESS_LIST =
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = primrac1.example.com)(PORT = 1522))
   )
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = primorcl)
    ))

stbyorcl1 =
 (DESCRIPTION =
 (ADDRESS_LIST =
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = stbyrac1.example.com)(PORT = 1522))
   )
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = stbyorcl)
    ))

To connect to the standby database using RMAN, when it is started in NOMOUNT, you need to add the following entry in $GRID_HOME/network/admin/listener.ora on the first node of the standby database.

Update file as grid user.

SID_LIST_LISTENER =
  (SID_LIST =
    (SID_DESC =
      (GLOBAL_DBNAME = stbyorcl)
      (ORACLE_HOME = /u01/app/oracle/product/19.3.0/dbhome_1)
      (SID_NAME = primorcl1)
    )
  )

Reload the listener on standby node1:

$ sudo su - grid
$ lsnrctl reload

RMAN Duplicate

The database can be duplicated from a backup or from an active database.

Backup-based duplicate method:

• Assuming that /backup is a shared NFS mountpoint on both sides, and the primary database backup is already there.
• Standby is started in NOMOUNT mode

Connect to the auxiliary instance using RMAN and run a duplicate command:

[oracle@stbyrac1 ~]$ rman AUXILIARY sys/MySYSPassword@stbyorcl1

RMAN> duplicate target database for standby backup location '/backup' nofilenamecheck;

Active duplicate method:

Connect to the target and auxiliary instances and run duplicate:

[oracle@stbyrac1 ~]$ rman target sys/MySYSPassword@primorcl1 auxiliary sys/MySYSPassword@stbyorcl1

RMAN> duplicate target database for standby from active database nofilenamecheck dorecover;

Create Standby Database using DBCA

It is an alternative to the RMAN Duplicate method above. This method is available starting with Oracle 12.2.

Edit $GRID_HOME/network/admin/listener.ora on the first node of the standby database:

SID_LIST_LISTENER =
  (SID_LIST =
    (SID_DESC =
      (ORACLE_HOME = /u01/app/oracle/product/19.3.0/dbhome_1)
      (SID_NAME = stbyorcl1)
    )
  )

Reload the listener on standby node1:

$ sudo su - grid
$ lsnrctl reload

Run DBCA on the first node of the standby database as oracle user:

dbca -createDuplicateDB -silent \
     -gdbName orcl \
     -primaryDBConnectionString primrac1.example.com:1522/primorcl \
     -sid stbyorcl \
     -initParams "dg_broker_start=true" \
     -sysPassword Oracle123 \
     -adminManaged \
     -nodelist stbyrac1,stbyrac2 \
     -recoveryAreaDestination +FRA \
     -databaseConfigType RAC \
     -useOMF true \
     -storageType ASM \
     -datafileDestination +DATA \
     -createAsStandby \
     -dbUniqueName stbyorcl \
     -createListener stbyrac1.example.com:1522

Remove the SID_LIST_LISTENER entry from $GRID_HOME/network/admin/listener.ora

Remove $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/listener.ora created by DBCA.

Configure connect time failover for clients

Add service (e.g. orclservice) on both sides which will be online on just the primary side.

Example of client-side TNS entry:

orclsrv =
(DESCRIPTION_LIST=(FAILOVER=ON)(LOAD_BALANCE=OFF)(DESCRIPTION=(TRANSPORT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=3)(RETRY_COUNT=6)(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=primrac1.example.com)(PORT=1521))(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=primrac2.example.com)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=orclservice)))(DESCRIPTION=(TRANSPORT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=3)(RETRY_COUNT=6)(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=stbyrac1.example.com)(PORT=1521))(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=stbyrac2.example.com)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=orclservice))))