Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Provisioning an Exadata VM Cluster

Provisioning an Oracle Exadata VM Cluster requires the existence of an Oracle Exadata Infrastructure, and is a prerequisite for Oracle Exadata Databases that runs on the cluster.

Note

There are prerequisites that must be completed before you can provision Exadata Services. You need to complete the following:
  1. An existing Azure subscription
  2. An Azure VNet with a subnet delegated to the OracleDB@Azure service (Oracle.Database/networkAttachments)
  3. Permissions in Azure to create resources in the region, with the following conditions:
    • No policies prohibiting the creation of resources without tags, because the OracleSubscription resource is created automatically without tags during onboarding.
    • No policies enforcing naming conventions, because the OracleSubscription resource is created automatically with a default resource name.
  4. Purchase OracleDB@Azure in the Azure portal.
  5. Select your Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) account.
For more detailed documentation, including optional steps, see Onboarding with Oracle Database@Azure.
Note

Review the Troubleshooting and Known Issues for Exadata Services, specifically the IP Address Requirement Differences, to ensure you have all the information needed for a successful provisioning flow.
Note

There are considerations with Oracle Databases and VNets as follows:
  1. For a given VNet, you must have a single subnet delegated to Oracle.Database/networkAttachments. If you try to delegate a second subnet, provisioning will fail.
  2. You can configure multiple Oracle Exadata VM Clusters with the same delegated subnet.
  1. You provision Oracle Exadata Infrastructure and Oracle Exadata VM Cluster resources from the OracleDB@Azure blade. By default, the Oracle Exadata Infrastructure tab is selected. To create a Oracle Exadata VM Cluster resource, select that tab first.
  2. Select the + Create icon at the top of the blade to begin the provisioning flow.
  3. Check that you are using the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow. If not, exit the flow.
  4. From the Basics tab of the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow, enter the following information. NOTE: Before you can provision an Oracle Exadata VM Cluster, you must have a provisioned Oracle Exadata Infrastructure which you will assign for your Oracle Exadata VM Cluster.
    1. Select the Microsoft Azure subscription for the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster.
    2. Select an existing Resource group or select the Create new link to create and use a new Resource group for this resource.
    3. Enter a unique Name for the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster on this subscription.
    4. Select the Region where this Oracle Exadata Infrastructure will be provisioned. NOTE: The regions where the OracleDB@Azure service is available are limited, and you should assign the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster to the same region as the parent Oracle Exadata Infrastructure.
    5. Enter a Cluster name. It is recommended that the Cluster name match the Name to avoid naming conflicts.
    6. The Select an Exadata Infrastructure from another subscription checkbox is unselected by default. Select it if you want to use Oracle Exadata Infrastructure from another subscription.
    7. If you select the Select an Exadata Infrastructure from another subscription checkbox, the Exadata Infrastructure subscription drop-down field appears. Select the different Azure subscription where the Oracle Exadata Infrastructure is located. Important: This Azure subscription must be added to OracleDB@Azure. For more detailed information, see Linking Oracle Database@Azure to Multiple Azure Subscriptions.
    8. Select the existing Exadata infrastructure that will be the parent for your Oracle Exadata VM Cluster.
    9. The License type is either License included or Bring your own license (BYOL). Your selection will affect your billing.
    10. The default Time zone is UTC. There is also an option to Select another time zone.
    11. If you choose the Select another time zone option, two additional required fields will open, Region or country and Selected time zone. Both of these fields are drop-down lists with selectable values. Once you select the Region or country, the Selected time zone will be populated with the available values for that Region or country.
    12. The Grid Infrastructure Version is selectable based on your previous selections. The Grid Infrastructure Version limits the Oracle Database versions that the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster supports.
    13. If selected, the Choose Exadata Image version checkbox allows you to select whether or not to Include Exadata Image minor versions as selectable, and then to choose the specific Exadata Image version from the drop-down field based on whether or not you allowed Include Exadata Image minor versions.
    14. The SSH public key source can be selected to Generate new key pair, Use existing key stored in Azure, or Use existing public key. If you select Generate new key pair, you must give your newly generated key a unique name. If you select Use existing key stored in Azure, you must select that key from a dropdown of defined key for your subscription. If you select Use existing public key, you must provide an RSA public key in sing-line format (starting with "ssh-rsa") or the multi-line PEM format. You can generate SSH keys using ssh-keygen or Linux and OS X, or PuTTYGen on Windows.
    15. Select Next to continue.
  5. From the Configuration tab of the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow, enter the following information.
    1. The Change database servers checkbox allows you to assign the nodes from your Oracle Exadata VM Cluster as database servers, including the option to assign a single node. NOTE: Single-node clusters cannot be used for high-availability (HA) configurations.
    2. If you select the Change database servers checkbox, the Select database servers drop-down list appears. You can select the nodes, including a single-node, that will be used.
    3. Database servers and System Model fields are read-only and based on the available resources.
    4. The OCPU count per VM, Memory per VM, and Local storage per VM are limited by the Oracle Exadata Infrastructure.
    5. Total requested OCPU count, Total requested memory, and Total local storage are computed based on the local values that you accept or select.
    6. Usable Exadata Storage (TB) is limited by the Oracle Exadata Infrastructure.
    7. Use Exadata sparse snapshots, Use local backups, and Usable storage allocation are options that can only be set at this time before the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster has been provisioned.
    8. Select Next to continue.
  6. From the Networking tab of the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow, enter the following information.
    1. The Virtual network is limited based on the Subscription and Resource group that you selected earlier in the provisioning flow.
    2. The Client subnet is selectable based on the selected Virtual network.
    3. To use a custom DNS domain, select the Custom DNS checkbox. If unchecked, the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster uses the default domain, oraclevcn.com.
    4. If checked, a list of existing DNS private views from OCI is presented. Select the view to use. To create a new private view and zones, see Configure Private DNS. NOTE: In order for the list of DNS private views to be populated correctly, the network link's compartment in OCI must match the Microsoft Azure subscription.
    5. Enter the Host name prefix. The prefix forms forms the first portion of the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster host name.
    6. The Host domain name and Host and domain URL for your Oracle Exadata VM Cluster are read-only and populated with derived naming.
    7. The SCAN Listener Port (TCP/IP) defaults to 1521. You can assign a SCAN listener port (TCP/IP) between 1024 and 8999. If you do not change this value, the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster is created with the default port. If you assign a already reserved port number, the pre-provisioning validation will flag the conflict, and you will have to assign an unused port.
    8. Within the Network ingress rules section, the Add additional network ingress rules checkbox allows you to define addition ingress CIDR rules. Additional network CIDR ranges (such as application or hub subnet ranges) can be added, during provisioning, to the network security group (NSG) ingress rules for the VM cluster. The selected virtual network's CIDR is added by default. CIDR ranges are specified. The port can be a single port, port range (for example, 80-8080), a comma-delimited list of ports (for example, 80,8080), or any combination of these. This only updates the OCI network security group ingress rules. Microsoft Azure VNet network security rules must be updated in the specific VNet in Microsoft Azure.
    9. Select Next to continue.
  7. From the Diagnostics Collection tab of the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow allow you to specify the diagnostic events, health monitoring, and incident logs and tracing that Oracle can use to identify, track, and resolve issues. Select Next to continue.
  8. From the Consent tab of the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow, you must agree to the terms of service, privacy policy, and agree to access permissions. Select Next to continue.
  9. From the Tags tab of the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow, you can define Microsoft Azure tags. NOTE: These tags are not propagated to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) portal. Select Next to continue.
  10. From the Review _+ create tab of the Create Oracle Exadata VM Cluster flow, a short validation process is run to check the values that you entered from the previous steps. If the validation fails, you must correct any errors before you can start the provisioning process.
  11. Select the Create button to start the provisioning flow.
  12. Return to the Oracle Exadata VM Cluster blade to monitor and manage the state of your Oracle Exadata VM Cluster environments.