Temporal Validity, ACLs, External Tables, SQL*Loader and more in Oracle 12c

Some more 12c articles have trickled out over the last few days.

I kind-of mentioned this next thing in a post a few weeks ago, but didn’t name names. 🙂 While writing an article about the PDB logging clause in 12.1.0.2 I noticed it didn’t work. I raised an SR with Oracle Support and they confirmed it was a bug. I was not planning to release the article until the bug was patched, but it came up in conversation recently and I decided it was better to release the article with a big fat warning on the top saying it doesn’t work, just so others are not as confused by this as I was. I’m still not sure it is the right thing to do, but what the heck…

When the bug is patched, I will revise the article and probably promote it to the front page of the website as a “new article”. For now it is lurking in the depths of my website. 🙂

The 12c journey continues…

Cheers

Tim…

VirtualBox 4.3.16

VirtualBox 4.3.16 has arrived. The downloads and changelog are in the usual places.

Although 4.3.14 worked fine on OS X and Linux, I skipped it on Windows because it just wouldn’t start a VM. That issue is allegedly fixed in this release. The changelog includes the following entry.

Windows hosts: fixed startup problems on certain Windows hosts due to conflicts with anti-virus software (4.3.14 regression, bug #13187)”

Happy days! 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Update: It is working fine on Windows 7 at work…

A few more 12c articles

A few more 12c articles went live over the last few days…

The DMU and In-Database Archiving are from the OCP syllabus. The Invisible Columns stuff seemed like a natural thing to mention, when discussing the In-Database Archiving.

The 12c journey continues…

Cheers

Tim…

 

OTN APAC Tour 2014

As well as losing the ACED OpenWorld confirmation email, it turns out my website/mailbox move also caused me to lose the email about being accepted on the OTN APAC Tour 2014. I saw a tweet this morning saying that I was on the agenda for the NZOUG event and checked with Francisco to see what was going on. That’s when I found out that yet another important email had gone missing… 🙂

The good news is I had already agreed the time off work, so everything is good for the tour.

  • Perth, Australia : November 6-7
  • Shanghai, China : November 9
  • Tokyo, Japan : November 11-13
  • Beijing, China : November 14-15
  • Bangkok, Thailand : November 17
  • Auckland, New Zealand : November 19-21

After the OTN Yathra Tour 2014, which was 7 cities in 14 days, I told myself I was too old to do all this tour stuff… So much for that idea… 🙂

Although it’s a 6 event tour, the first and last events are pretty much like being at home for me. I’ve been to the AUSOUG and NZOUG events a few times, so it will be good to meet up with everyone again… It will be my second time in Beijing, and I’ve seen the traffic in India now, so I’m hoping I will cope better with the roads in China this time. 🙂 Shanghai, Tokyo and Bangkok are all new to me, so it will be interesting to see how I cope with them…

As always before one of these tours, I am a complete mix of excitement, fear and general panic! 🙂

I look forward to seeing you all there!

Cheers

Tim…

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge : Keeping It In The Family

If you watched my (No) Ice Bucket Challenge yesterday, you will know I nominated my Oracle family.

The first family member to step up to the plate was the daughter, Heli “Hell-Squirrel” Helskyaho. She shared the video on Facebook, which you can see here if you are a friend. We have to be careful with the parental controls to keep her safe!

Next up was the wife, Debra Lilley, who used the opportunity to do an Oscar acceptance speech.

That left only my dad, Graham Wood. This really is a case of saving the best for last. Thanks Dad for proving you really are the daddy! When I grow up I want to be just like you…

Thanks to the whole family for getting involved. It’s enough to bring a tear to your eye! 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

PS. Please don’t forget to donate!

Multitenant : PDB CONTAINERS Clause

I forgot to mention, I put another multitenant article live at the weekend.

I’m not sure I will ever use it, but it’s good to know it’s there.

I was originally working on an article on a completely different multitenant feature, but the examples I was using highlighted a bug, which kind-of scuppered that article. I’ve raised an SR and I’m waiting on the acknowledgement and possible fix. I’ll hold that article back until the fix is in place.

Cheers

Tim…

Oracle Midlands : Event #5

Just a quick reminder that Oracle Midlands Event #5 is just around the corner (Tuesday 16 September).

  • Boost Performance by Clustering Data – Martin Widlake
  • Data Virtualisation and Instant Cloning – Ron Ekins (Delphix)

Martin is always good value, so I’m looking forward to that session. I’ve seen a couple of talks on the Delphix stuff and it is seriously cool! I think this session will open a few people’s eyes… 🙂

Big thanks to the Red Gate Software folks for sponsoring the event, allowing it to remain free

You can get more details here. I’ve already registered. See you there!

Cheers

Tim…

 

To PDB or not to PDB : The final decision

After yesterday’s to PDB or not to PDB post, I decided the answer was “to PDB”. Here’s what I did…

  • Installed the Oracle 12c (12.1.0.2) software. There is an installation article here, but all I had to do was a software-only installation because the OS already met all the prerequisites because of the existing 11.2.0.3 installation.
  • Upgrade the existing 11.2.0.3 instance. See here. I could have stopped at this point, but as I said I decided “to PDB”. 🙂
  • Created an empty CDB instance on the box using “dbca”.
  • Created a new PDB as a remote clone of the non-CDB instance, as described here.
  • Turned off the non-CDB instance.

Job done. So far it’s looking good. I’m going to do some messing about tomorrow to make sure it registers with Cloud Control properly and the backup schedule is sorted. Then I’ll give it to the folks to test their apps against.

Thoughts:

  • I flippin’ love the remote cloning of non-CDBs. I’ve played with it while writing the article about it, but seeing it happen on a real database was really exciting.
  • I think we all realise that this is version 1.1 of the multitenant architecture. The question is, is version 1.1 good enough at this point? The testing will determine that, not my excitement levels.
  • The testing will be based on our use of the DB. We are a small operation with quite simple needs. If we choose to go this route it will be because it is right for us. Depending on your usage, your experience may be different.
  • If things don’t work out with this POC, we will try with the non-CDB instance.

So it was kind-of exciting, fun and scary all rolled into one… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

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