Get on the Fast Track to DBaaS with EM12c - Part I

Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) has now become a buzzword in the IT industry. Organizations are starting to realize the benefits of database as a service thanks to the ubiquity of "The Cloud".

Companies relying on Oracle databases for managing their data can also get on the DBaaS fast track thanks to Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c. Using EM12c you can enable self-service and rapid provisioning of Oracle databases and enjoy all the benefits (well most) of Cloud computing.  EM12c supports both IaaS and PaaS models. These are also tightly integrated with Oracle VM Server along with their engineered systems including Oracle Exadata Database Machine.

Setting up and configuring DBaaS requires several steps. While these are well-documented, it seems like a daunting task for those who are unfamiliar with process. A list of steps required to setup DBaaS include the following:

■Create Roles and Users
■Setup Privilege Delegation
■Add Hosts
■Configure Software Library
■Create PaaS Infrastructure Zone
■Setup Software Pools
■Setup Quotas
■Create Provisioning Profiles
■Create Service Templates

Thanks to the Rapid Start Kit we can setup a fully configured DBaaS environment in minutes.

Rapid Start Kit

The Rapid Start Kit consists of a set of Python scripts which call EMCLI commands and a setup of XML config files. The RSK is located in MW_HOME/plugins/oracle.sysman.ssa.oms.plug_12.1.0.7.0/dbaas/setup

cd /u01/app/oracle/Middleware/plugins/oracle.sysman.ssa.oms.plugin_12.1.0.7.0/dbaas/setup

$ ls

 config  database_cloud_setup.py  exadata_cloud_setup.py

The exadata_cloud_setup.py script is the one that  is executed to setup DBaaS. Don't worry, it doesn't require an Exadata machine.

You can view the command line options for the scripts by running emcli in script mode.

[oracle@gridoms01 setup]$ emcli @exadata_cloud_setup.py -help

====================================================================================================

Cloud Setup Tool

====================================================================================================

Usage: emcli @exadata_cloud_setup.py

                     -pdbaas

                         This flag is used to setup Cloud for Pluggable Database

                     -dbaas

                         This flag is used to setup Cloud for Database as service

                     -db_list

                         comma separated list of 'Target Name'(s) for 'Cluster Database' targets discovered in Enterprise Manager.

                         Choose Container Databases for PDbaaS.

                        Make sure all the Container Databases have same Database credentials and same Host Credentials and are on same platform

                         e.g -db_list=CDB1,CDB2,CDB3

                     -host_list

                         comma separated list of 'Target Name'(s) for 'Host' targets discovered in Enterprise Manager.

                     -db_home_location

                         Database Home location

                         e.g -db_home_location=/u01/app/oracle/11.2.0/dbhome1

                     -cloud_input=

                         Cloud input XML defines Enterprise Manager entities created as part of Cloud Setup.

                         Default file config/dbaas_cloud_input.xml will be used for database setup

                         Default file config/pdbaas_cloud_input.xml will be used for pluggable database setup.

                         Pass custom input xml file to override default input file.

                    -help

                         Displays Cloud Setup help

     For example:

        Setup Cloud on Exadata Machine: Run script on first node of Exadata Machine:

             emcli @exadata_cloud_setup.py : Sets up Cloud for PDBaaS if CDB is available in Enterprise Manager. Setups up DBaaS otherwise.

             emcli @exadata_cloud_setup.py -pdbaas : Sets up Cloud for PDBaaS

            emcli @exadata_cloud_setup.py -dbaas  : Sets up Cloud for DBaaS

       Setup Cloud on Non-Exadata Cluster Machine: Run script on cluster node or any standalone Machine:

             emcli @exadata_cloud_setup.py -pdbaas -db_list=CDB1,CDB2,CDB3   : Sets up Cloud for PDBaaS using  given list of Pluggable databases

             emcli @exadata_cloud_setup.py -dbaas -host_list=host1,host2 -db_home_location= : Sets up Cloud for DBaaS using  given list of hosts and oracle home

You should edit the dbaas_cloud_input.xml configuration file to change the default role and credential names as well as default passwords.

[oracle@gridoms01 config]$ vi dbaas_cloud_input.xml

To setup a Pluggable database as a service (PDBaaS) environment, you need to have an existing Oracle 12c RAC or single-instance database using ASM for database storage. To find the the list of container databases we can use the emcli get_targets command as shown below.

$ emcli get_targets -target="oracle_pdb"

Status  Status           Target Type           Target Name

 ID

1       Up               oracle_pdb            racdb_CDBROOT

0       Down             oracle_pdb            racdb_RACPDB

0       Down             oracle_pdb            racdb_RAC_PDB1

0       Down             oracle_pdb            racdb_RAC_PDB2

The screenshot below is an example of setting up a PDBaaS on a RAC 12c cluster.

After completing the setup simply login as one of the SSA users.

Part II will show how SSA users access the Self-Service Portal to request databases.