Oracle8i ^TM

Release Notes

Release 3 (8.1.7) for Alpha OpenVMS

December 2000

Part No. A86711-01

This document accompanies Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) for Alpha OpenVMS. Its contents supplement or supersede corresponding information found in the Oracle8i Installation Guide, Release 3 (8.1.7) for Alpha OpenVMS.

The following topics are covered in this document:

• Installation Issues and Known Restrictions

• Default JDBC Driver Behavior

• Alpha OpenVMS Requirements

• Documentation

• Product Notes

• Oracle Parallel Server

• Installing Online Documentation

Prior to installation you may want to extract the README* files from the product save-sets distributed on the Product CD-ROM. For example, to extract the README* files from the RDBMS.BCK save-set, perform the following steps:

a. Mount the Product media.

$ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION <ddcn>:

where:

<ddcn> is a valid CD-ROM device.

b. Extract the README* files

$ BACKUP/SELECT=README*.*  -
<ddcn>:[SERVER]RDBMS.BCK/SAV [<dir>]

where:

<dir> is a valid directory of your choice.

Repeat this procedure, substituting the appropriate save-set name, for any product README* files that you would like to review before installing Oracle8i.

Installation Issues and Known Restrictions

Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) on Alpha OpenVMS ships with two installer programs. One is the traditional character-based, menu-driven installer (ORACLEINS). New with this release is a new Java/GUI-based installer, known as Oracle Universal Installer (OUI).

The following issues and restrictions can affect the installation of Oracle8i on Alpha OpenVMS.

New ORA_ROOT and Login Session

Oracle Corporation requires that you install Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) products into a new ORA_ROOT (with OUI this directory is referred to as ORACLE_HOME). Do not install Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) into an ORA_ROOT directory that already contains Oracle products.

If you already have login sessions pointing to Oracle installations from the earlier releases, please make sure you logout of these sessions in order not to carry over any of the logicals or symbols to your new install. Also, please make sure that the LOGIN.COM of the account that will be used to install Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) does not define any of the Oracle logicals or symbols, or does not execute any command file which might define these. Make sure that none of the general Oracle specific logicals (which generally begin with ORA_) are defined in the system table, except for some of the logicals related to mailbox devices and shared libraries. A successful installation and running of Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) is not guaranteed if this is not the case.

Using Hummingbird Exceed

If you are using Hummingbird's Exceed X Windows Emulator while installing with OUI and using Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7), set the window manager to run in "Native" mode so that Microsoft Windows functions as the window manager. See your Exceed documentation for instructions on configuring the window manager.

Although Oracle supports the use of Exceed for installing and configuring products, users should be aware of the following common problems with using this X-Windows Emulator for installation:

• There is a bug in the way Exceed handles screen coordinates. The installer window and related installer dialogs or configuration assistants may encounter display problems when run through the emulator. These display problems include the sudden truncation of the main window when clicking the [Next] button during the install, rendering the screen unreadable, or the expansion of an installer window such that the dialog buttons display off the screen and are not selectable. In such cases, you must exit the entire X-Windows session and start a new session to fix the problem. Opening a new shell and re-running the installer from that shell does not fix the problem.

• There are consistent display problems with the AQ Database Information dialog which is part of the Oracle Applications InterConnect installation. The last text field on this dialog which prompts for "Consumer Name:" appears truncated when viewed through Exceed. This dialog displays as expected when viewed through native X-Windows on Alpha OpenVMS.

To correct any problems with hidden dialog fields such as the one indicated in (2) above, try the following:

Select Windows Start Menu> Exceed Program Group> xconfig. Select the "Fonts" Applet. The "Font Settings" dialog box displays. Click the [Font Database] button. The "Font Database" dialog box displays. De-select the "Automatic Font Substitution" option. Click the [Add...] button. The "Add Font Directory" dialog box displays. Click the [Server] radio button. Enter the hostname for your machine in the "Host Name" field in the "Add Font Server" dialog box. Leave all the other entries at their default settings. Click [OK] and [Close] on all dialogs to save the settings.

Regular Backups

We would like to emphasize the importance and need of having reliable backups made regularly and certainly when making important changes to your environment such as upgrading to higher releases.

This is especially true since Oracle 8i for OpenVMS underwent a change in the (archived) redolog files' internal format compared to Oracle7 and 8.0.x releases. As a result, Oracle 8.1.7 (as is true for release 8.1.6) cannot read archived redolog files that were created by those versions. It is therefore imperative that you make sure all tablespaces are online and that the database is shutdown cleanly before you start the migration process. We strongly advise that immediately following the migration process you start a "hot" online backup or make a consistent "cold" backup of your database.

Also, because of the redolog file's internal format change attempts to use LogMiner against these files will return an error indicating the file cannot be read. Note that this restriction is for pre Oracle 8i generated archive redolog files only; you can use LogMiner on files that were generated by Oracle8 release 8.1.6 and 8.1.7.

Recovery Manager

You need to contact your Media Management vendor to obtain the appropriate BSP compliant libraries, in order to run the Recovery Manager. Please see the RMAN Appendix in the Installation Guide, for more information.

This release of RMAN works only with TCP/IP.

Multi-CD Issues

If any of the following products are to be installed, SQLJ, OEMAGENT, and/or NLS, and you would like to install directly from the distribution media (CD-ROM), you will have to switch CDs during the installation.

An attempt to install Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7), Enterprise Edition, directly from the installation media requires customers to switch between CD 1 and CD 2 during the middle of an installation session to complete a "full" install; this includes a "Typical" install if using OUI, or any installation requiring at least one of the above mentioned products. To avoid having to switch between CDs, copy the contents of each CD to the hard drive and run the Installer from the new location. Copy the contents of each CD in the directory structure as follows:

CD #1 has 3 top level directories:

• [SERVER]

• [OUI], and

• [DOC]

Copy the [SERVER], [OUI] (if using OUI for installation), and [DOC] (if desired) directories to a hard drive disk location, keeping them at the same level. Next, copy the CD #2 [SERVER] directory contents into the [SERVER] directory that contains the CD #1 [SERVER] directory contents. Now, follow the procedure described in the Installation Guide for either installer, substituting the hard drive location instead of the CD device as the "source" area.

Specifically, if using ORACLEINS, unload the BOOT.BCK into the new ORACLE_HOME, then run ORACLEINS.COM command procedure. If using OUI, run OUI.COM command in the [OUI] directory after ensuring that X Windows is configured properly.

If the contents of each CD are copied into this structure on the hard drive, Oracle Universal Installer automatically finds the contents of each CD and does not prompt for the location of either CD during the course of installation.

If you run OUI while the current working directory is in the CD-ROM, you should perform the following steps to mount the next CD-ROM when prompted:

Unmount and remove the CD-ROM from the CD-ROM drive. Insert and mount the next CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. Click "Next" to continue.

To perform a full install with ORACLEINS directly from the CD-ROM, perform the following steps:

Load (don't build) all desired products contained on the 1st CD (includes all except: SQLJ, OEMAGENT, and NLS).Unmount the 1st CD.Mount the 2nd CD.Load desired products contained on the 2nd CD.Choose build options for all loaded products.Build (link) all selected products.

Oracle Universal Installer: Known Problems, Restrictions, and Workarounds

On slower computers you may notice a "flicker" at the Oracle Universal Installer loading screen. It does not affect the installation in any way.

The Help window invoked from Oracle Universal Installer's Inventory window cannot be scrolled or resized the second time it is accessed. A workaround is to close the Inventory window. The Help window is now accessible. Resize the Help window, then close it. The next time you invoke Help from the Inventory window, it will appear at that size. This is a bug due to Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1.8.

Known Restrictions

This section lists information about known restrictions with Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7). As always, please refer to the README files in the Oracle product directories for the most up-to-date information including possible additions to this list.

• To have multiple client installations on a single system, you MUST configure RDBMS via ORACLEINS.COM before building your installation even though you didn't load the RDBMS save-set. You MUST replace the line "V817" with a unique system identifier that has a maximum of six alphanumeric characters. This procedure allows all client installations to use shared libraries.

• For issues regarding memory not being reserved at boot time as specified within the Reserved Memory Registry, refer to the ORA_RDBMS:READMEVMS.DOC.

• Oracle software is written for and certified with TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS from Compaq. Other TCP/IP software for OpenVMS which employs UCX emulation should work with Oracle software. You should be aware that any TCP/IP related problems that cannot be duplicated with TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS will be referred to the TCP/IP vendor for resolution.

• Server products that were distributed with the Oracle7 Server must not be linked against Oracle8i.

• The PL/SQL stored package UTL_HTTP makes HTTP (hyper-text transfer protocol) callouts from PL/SQL and SQL. The full use of the package is documented in the Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide. To use the UTL_HTTP package through a proxy server, you must first define a group or system wide logical, http_proxy, to point to your proxy server.

  For example, to define a group level logical:

  $ define/group http_proxy www-proxy.your-site
  

  or a system level logical:

  $ define/system http_proxy www-proxy.your-site
  

• The macro assembler needs to be installed as a prerequisite to the Release 3 (8.1.7) installation.

• Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) performs block checking for dictionary objects by default. This block checking can detect problems which went un-noticed in earlier releases of Oracle.

  In particular <Bug:839342>, which affects Oracle releases 7.3 to 8.0.5 inclusive, may have silently introduced a minor corruption in the data dictionary. If a database with this corruption is upgraded to 8.1.6 or higher then the new block checking code can notice the corruption causing the instance to be aborted or the dictionary block to be marked as permanently corrupt.

  Development has identified the following workaround to this problem:

  Prior to attempting a start of 8.0.x db from your 817 installation add the following entries to the init.ora for your database:

  db_block_checking=false 
  _db_always_check_system_ts=false 
  _check_block_after_checksum=false 
  

  After the migration, the customer is free to leave these parameters set to false. Please note that the block checking functions are disabled though.

• The JServer 8.1.7 does not support JAccelerator and EJB/Corba components in this release.

• Oracle8i code was compiled with the 5.7-6 compiler, but we have only tested Pro*C with the 6.2 compiler and that is the compiler we are supporting with current release.

• The fix for sqlnet bug 1335503 is not available with this release of Oracle8i since we are awaiting fix code review by base.

Default JDBC Driver Behavior

In Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7), the default behavior for the ResultSet::getXXXStream() APIs have been modified to comply with the JDBC specification so that they return null values for database null LONG/LONG RAW values. In earlier versions of the 8.1.x JDBC drivers, the default behavior returned the empty stream for database null values. To restore the earlier JDBC default behavior when using the 8.1.7 drivers, you must use the Java property jdbc.backward_compatible_to_8.1.6. For example, if this Java property is set at the virtual machine runtime, the command

java -Djdbc.backward_compatible_to_8.1.6 myJavaProgram

will cause the 8.1.7 JDBC drivers to return empty streams from calls to ResultSet::getXXXStream().

The jdbc.backward_compatible_to_8.1.6 Java property applies to 8.1.7 JDBC Thin driver and OCI driver.

Alpha OpenVMS Requirements

Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) for Alpha OpenVMS requires Alpha OpenVMS 7.2-1.

If you are using Pro*C, DEC C release 5.7-006 is also required with all available ECOs from Compaq. The 5.76 compiler, used for 8.1.7 is not the default compiler currently shipped on the OpenVMS 7.2 CD. The Compaq C V5.7-006 for OpenVMS Alpha compiler media kit is now available through the Compaq Services public patch web site (ECO kit ref.CC01057). This is full compiler media kit.

http://ftp1.support.compaq.com/public/vms/axp/v7.2/dec_c/5.7/

You must be properly licensed to use the Compaq C 5.7-006 for OpenVMS

You need Java Run-time Environment version 1.1.8 or version 1.2.2 to use JDBC drivers (DBJAVA). Version 1.1.8 is automatically installed into a new ORA_ROOT by the installer.

Disk Space Requirements for Oracle8i

The Oracle8i online documentation for Alpha OpenVMS requires approximately 7MB of disk space.

A client-only installation requires approximately 425 MB of disk space to accommodate NETCONFIG, UTIL, SQLPLUS, and all options for PROGINT.

A basic server installation requires approximately 1025 MB of disk space to accommodate NETCONFIG, UTIL, SQLPLUS, RDBMS, SVRMGR, all options of PROGINT and a 90 MB database.

A full server installation requires approximately 1400 MB of disk space to accommodate all products, all options, and a 90 MB database.

OEM_MONITOR Database Role

The OEM _MONITOR role can be granted to any database user being used as a "preferred credential" when registering advanced (database) events available with the Oracle Enterprise Manager Diagnostics Pack.

This role is defined in ORA_ROOT:[RDBMS.ADMIN]CATSNMP.SQL which is called by the catalog scripts at database creation time. In addition to the OEM_MONITOR role, the database user requires quota on their default tablespace within the monitored database, in order to have some of the advanced events evaluated. Failure to do so results in an insufficient privilege message.

Documentation

This section contains these topics:

• Important: Additional READMEs

• Online Support

• Revised, New, and Obsoleted Documentation for Release 8.1.7

Important: Additional READMEs

Additional product README files are located in the product subdirectories under the $ORA_ROOT directory.

Platform-Specific Documentation

The Oracle8i Server and Tools Administrator's Guide for Alpha OpenVMS, and the Oracle8i Installation Guide for Alpha OpenVMS are available online on the Oracle8i software CD-ROM. To access the documentation in HTML and PDF formats, use any web browser.

Online Support

The following websites have the most current information about products included with this release:

• http://www.oracle.com/support

• http://technet.oracle.com

• http://metalink.oracle.com

Revised, New, and Obsoleted Documentation for Release 8.1.7

The Oracle8i Online Documentation CD-ROM contains guides listed as release 8.1.6 and 8.1.7. Only guides listed as release 8.1.7 have been updated since release 8.1.6. Guides listed as release 8.1.6 have not been revised; however, updates to some of these 8.1.6 guides may be included in:

• These Release Notes

• Oracle8i Documentation Addendum

Product Notes

The following issues can affect the product Oracle8i:

• Product Installation issues

• Product Usage Issues

Product Installation issues

Re-installing

If you re-install Oracle8i Server into an ORA_ROOT where Oracle8i Server Release 8.1.7 is already installed, you must also re-install any product options, such as Oracle Partitioning, that were enabled before you began the re-installation.

Installing and Migrating Oracle Products

There are significant installation changes for Release 3 (8.1.7). Before starting your installation, review the Oracle8i Installation Guide Release 3 (8.1.7) for Alpha OpenVMS.

You MUST ensure that no Oracle-associated logical names are defined in the LNM$PROCESS or LNM$JOB logical name tables. These include all ORA* logicals plus TNS_ADMIN.

You MUST relink any existing PRECOMPiled applications that you may have with the new 8.1.7 installation to utilize the new shared libraries.

If you plan to create a Java-enabled database, please read the instructions and recommendations included in the files ORA_ROOT:[JAVAVM.DOC]READMEVMS.DOC and ORA_ROOT:[JAVAVM.DOC]README.TXT carefully before proceeding with creating the database using oracliens. Note that info in the file READMEVMS.DOC supersedes any info in README.TXT.

If you are upgrading or migrating your Oracle database from an earlier version and intend to use some of the new features in Oracle8i such as Jserver, InterMedia, etc., the following parameter needs to be added to the init.ora file before starting up the database:

compatible = 8.1.0.0.0

MTS configuration

Syntax of some MTS configuration parameters have changed between 8.0.x releases and Oracle8i. Here's a sample of the set of parameters used typically:

mts_dispatchers="(PROTOCOL=TCP)(dispatchers=1)"
mts_servers=1
mts_max_servers=10
mts_max_dispatchers=10
local_listener="(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(Host=CPQ09)(Port=2376))"

Note specifically the change to the syntax of the MTS_DISPATCHERS parameter above.

Product Usage Issues

Note that whenever single quotes (') are used on VMS in a command line, the command interpreter will automatically attempt a symbol translation of the word following the single quote. In such situations, please include an additional pair of double quotes (") at both ends of the string. Here's an example:

Replace 'system/manager as sysdba' by "'system/manager as sysdba'"

Oracle Parallel Server

The following patches from Compaq Corporation and Process Software Corporation are required to be installed prior to any OPS installation of Oracle 8i Release 3 (8.1.7). Please note that these patches are very important and mandatory:

OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-1	OpenVMS AlphaV7.2-1H1
VMS721_SYS-V0800 (or later)	VMS721H1_UPDATE-V0300(or later)
VMS721_ACRTL-V0200 (or later)	VMS721H1_ACRTL-V0100 (or later)
DEC-AXPVMS-TCPIP_ECO-V0500-111-4(or TCPware/ MultiNet Patch)	DEC-AXPVMS-TCPIP_ECO-V0500-111-4 (or later)(or TCPware/ MultiNet Patch)

Note that there are different OpenVMS patches for OpenVMS V7.2-1 and V7.2-1H1. Please check the documentation for the kits to determine if there are any kit dependencies.

When OpenVMS V7.3 is released to customers, the OpenVMS solution for this problem will be in the base (SSB) kit. The version of TCP/IP that ships with Alpha OpenVMS V7.3 will also include the TCP/IP fix.

TCPware or MultiNet Patch:

Customers should contact Process Software Support to receive the appropriate patch

Installing Online Documentation

Beginning with Oracle7 release 7.3.2, online documents are distributed in HTML and PDF format and can be viewed using web browser.

Oracle8i Release 3 (8.1.7) includes online documentation for the following OpenVMS-specific guides:

• Oracle8i Release Notes for Alpha OpenVMS (this document)

• Oracle8i Installation Guide Release 3 (8.1.7) for Alpha OpenVMS

• Oracle8i Server and Tools Administrator's Guide for OpenVMS

• SQL*Net Configuration and User's Guide for Alpha OpenVMS

• Oracle Parallel Server Addendum for Alpha OpenVMS

Online documentation installation and usage instructions are as follows:

• Create a root level directory named ORACLEDOC. The documentation will need approximately 3MB of disk space.

  $ CREATE/DIRECTORY/OWNER=[ORACLE8] -
  <disk_device>:[ORACLEDOC]/PROTECTION=WORLD:RE
  

  where:

  [ORACLE8] is the owner of the directory

  <disk_device> is a valid disk device

• Make ORACLEDOC your default directory.

  $ SET DEFAULT <disk_device>:[ORACLEDOC]
  

• Mount the Product media.

  $ MOUNT/OVERRIDE=IDENTIFICATION <ddcn>:
  

  where:

  <ddcn> is a valid CD-ROM device.

• To view the Oracle documentation, invoke a local HTML browser and open the following URL:

  FILE:/<disk_device>/ORACLEDOC/PRODUCTS.HTM
  

  Note: The online documentation may be incorporated into a web server providing the ORACLEDOC directory hierarchy is maintained. This is necessary to preserve the relative hypertext document links.