Importing the Oracle Cluster Registry with OCR Exports

Oracle RAC Cluster Tips by Burleson Consulting

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To ensure the OCR files are recoverable, in addition to using the automatically created OCR backup files, export the OCR contents before and after making significant configuration changes. This is done by using the ocrconfig -export command. This will enable the restoration of the OCR if the configuration changes cause errors. For example, if there are unresolvable configuration problems, or if the clusterware will not restart after making changes, restore the configuration using one of the following platform-specific procedures. The configuration cannot be restored from an automatically created OCR backup file using the -import option. Instead, the -restore option must be used.

Importing Oracle Cluster Registry Content on UNIX-Based Systems

1. Shut down all of the nodes in the cluster and restart one of them in single-user mode.

2. Import a valid OCR export file using the ocrconfig -import command from any node.

3. Restart all the nodes in the cluster in multi-user mode.

To avoid stopping the entire cluster, this alternate method can be used:

1. Update the inittab entries on all the nodes and remove the CRS-specific entries. Retain a copy of the original inittab file.

2. Run the /etc/init.d/init.crs stop command on all the nodes.

3. Import the valid OCR export file using the ocrconfig -import command from any cluster node.

4. Restore the original inittab file on all nodes.

5. Run the /etc/init.d/init.crs start command on all nodes.

6. Run the /etc/init q command.

Importing Oracle Cluster Registry Content on Windows-Based Systems

1. Stop the following OCR clients using the Service Control Panel:

* OracleClusterVolumeService,
* OracleCMService,
* OracleEVMService,
* OracleCSService, and the
* OracleCRService.

2. Import a valid OCR export file using the ocrconfig -import command from one of the cluster nodes.

3. Restart all of the affected services on all cluster nodes.

The ocrconfig Tool Command Syntax and Options

Execute OCR commands from a user with administrative privileges on UNIX-based platforms or from a user with Administrator privileges on Windows-based systems. The OCR command syntax is as follows:

ocrconfig -<option>

OPTION	PURPOSE
-export	To export the contents of the OCR into a target file.
-import	To import OCR contents from a previously exported OCR file.
-restore	To restore the OCR from an automatically created OCR backup file.

Table 8.12: Common OCR command options

To export the OCR contents to a binary file, for example, use the ocrconfig command with the following syntax where file_name is the file to which the OCR contents are to be exported:

ocrconfig -export file_name

The export file is not editable. If OCR clients such as the clusterware are running when an export is attempted, then Oracle will report an error.