Oracle v$log_history scripts

As Oracle offloads redo log images from the redo log filesystem onto the archived redo log filesystem, excessive I/O can occur and the archived redo log must be promptly written to tape to keep the free space in the filesystem. If the archived redo log filesystem becomes full, the database grinds to a halt.

Other scripts for measuring v$log_history can be found in Mike Ault's Oracle script collection of over 600 Oracle scripts.  I also have details and diagnostic scripts for Oracle log optimization in my book "Oracle Tuning: The Definitive Reference".
 

Inside log buffer switches

Not many DBA’s are aware of the v$log_history view, and how it can be used to plot the frequency of online redo log switches.  The Oracle web site offers this query to show log switches by date.

col c1 format a10 heading "Month"
col c2 format a25 heading "Archive Date"
col c3 format 999 heading "Switches"

compute AVG of C on A
compute AVG of C on REPORT

break on A skip 1 on REPORT skip 1

select
   to_char(trunc(first_time), 'Month') c1,
   to_char(trunc(first_time), 'Day : DD-Mon-YYYY') c2,
   count(*) c3
from
   v$log_history
where
   trunc(first_time) > last_day(sysdate-100) +1
group by
   trunc(first_time);
 

This v$log_history script comes from Ilya Petrenko:  The following query shows a count and size of the redo log files by day:

-- Daily Count and Size of Redo Log Space (Single Instance)
--
SELECT A.*,
Round(A.Count#*B.AVG#/1024/1024) Daily_Avg_Mb
FROM
(
   SELECT
   To_Char(First_Time,'YYYY-MM-DD') DAY,
   Count(1) Count#,
   Min(RECID) Min#,
   Max(RECID) Max#
FROM
   v$log_history
GROUP BY
   To_Char(First_Time,'YYYY-MM-DD')
ORDER
BY 1 DESC
) A,
(
SELECT
Avg(BYTES) AVG#,
Count(1) Count#,
Max(BYTES) Max_Bytes,
Min(BYTES) Min_Bytes
FROM
v$log
) B
;

During the RESETLOGS operation, the information in v$log_history and v$offline_range records are no longer cleared. In addition, two new columns have been added to indicate the incarnation the records belong to: resetlogs_change# and resetlogs_time.

select
   recid,
   thread#,
   sequence#,
   resetlogs_change#,
   resetlogs_time
from
   v$log_history
where
   rownum < 20;

In Oracle9i through Oracle 10g, the following script can be run to provide a complete log history with the v$log_history view:

set lines 120;
set pages 999;
SELECT
to_char(first_time,'YYYY-MON-DD') day,
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'00',1,0)),'99') "00",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'01',1,0)),'99') "01",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'02',1,0)),'99') "02",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'03',1,0)),'99') "03",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'04',1,0)),'99') "04",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'05',1,0)),'99') "05",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'06',1,0)),'99') "06",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'07',1,0)),'99') "07",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'08',1,0)),'99') "0",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'09',1,0)),'99') "09",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'10',1,0)),'99') "10",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'11',1,0)),'99') "11",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'12',1,0)),'99') "12",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'13',1,0)),'99') "13",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'14',1,0)),'99') "14",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'15',1,0)),'99') "15",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'16',1,0)),'99') "16",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'17',1,0)),'99') "17",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'18',1,0)),'99') "18",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'19',1,0)),'99') "19",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'20',1,0)),'99') "20",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'21',1,0)),'99') "21",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'22',1,0)),'99') "22",
to_char(sum(decode(to_char(first_time,'HH24'),'23',1,0)),'99') "23"
from
   v$log_history
GROUP by
   to_char(first_time,'YYYY-MON-DD');

 

Using v$log_history prior to Oracle8i

Prior to Oracle8i the FIRST_TIME column was named TIME, and this query applies:

select substr(time,1,5) day,
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'00',1,0)),'99') "00",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'01',1,0)),'99') "01",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'02',1,0)),'99') "02",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'03',1,0)),'99') "03",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'04',1,0)),'99') "04",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'05',1,0)),'99') "05",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'06',1,0)),'99') "06",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'07',1,0)),'99') "07",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'08',1,0)),'99') "08",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'09',1,0)),'99') "09",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'10',1,0)),'99') "10",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'11',1,0)),'99') "11",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'12',1,0)),'99') "12",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'13',1,0)),'99') "13",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'14',1,0)),'99') "14",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'15',1,0)),'99') "15",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'16',1,0)),'99') "16",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'17',1,0)),'99') "17",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'18',1,0)),'99') "18",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'19',1,0)),'99') "19",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'20',1,0)),'99') "20",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'21',1,0)),'99') "21",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'22',1,0)),'99') "22",
to_char(sum(decode(substr(time,10,2),'23',1,0)),'99') "23"
from
   v$log_history
group by
   substr(time,1,5);

In sum, this v$log_history script is great for showing the relative update activity of your database and it's one of many tools used by the Oracle tuning professional. 

If you like Oracle tuning, see the book "Oracle Tuning: The Definitive Reference", with 950 pages of tuning tips and scripts.  You can buy it direct from the publisher for 30%-off and get instant access to the code depot of Oracle tuning scripts.