oracle cannot create large files during TS setup

[Ralph Grothe]

Hi DB Wizards,

our client's DBAs are trying in vain to create large table space data files during Oracle9i set up.

I definitely created the target filesystem of type Veritas with the largefiles option.

e.g.

newfs -F vxfs -b 8192 -o largefiles /dev/vg*/rlvol*

(asterisks here only substitute the proper raw device)

I'm also convinced that the filesystem got mounted correctly as being largefiles aware, although I didn't specify any largefile mount option in the package's control script that mounts the cluster shared volume (e.g. FS_MOUNT_OPT[0]="-o rw")

I fully logged in as user oracle and created a 6 GB chunk full of zeros in the target filesystem which should host the ts datafiles.

e.g.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/mount/of/packages/lv/testchunk bs=1024k count=6000

This worked, as well as a copying to another largefiles aware filesystem, and even a splitting of the chunk.
All under user oracle.

Despite the DBAs insist that they cannot create large data files.

I have no Oracle knowledge.
So I don't know if anything else is required on the DBAs' behalf in advance.

Maybe could it be that the user limits need to be raised.
This is what they show for oracle:

# su - oracle -c "ulimit -a"

time(seconds) unlimited
file(blocks) 4000000
data(kbytes) unlimited
stack(kbytes) 8192
memory(kbytes) unlimited
coredump(blocks) 4194303

What strikes me a bit is the file(blocks) restriction, but I cannot raise it

ulimit -f unlimited
ksh: ulimit: exceeds allowable limit

Regards

Ralph

[Massimo Bianchi]

Hi,
ksh is known to be limited and cannot be extended.

Use csh as shell for oracle, is better !

Massimo

[Stefan Farrelly]

You need to use posix shell (/sbin/sh) as it is set to unlimited there (unless someone has restricted it in some system startup file, eg. /etc/profile).

I think ksh is stuck to 2Gb for ulimit -f.

There is no kernel paraemter controlling it.

[Massimo Bianchi]

Hi Stefen,
yes, ksh on hpux is compiled with the 2G limitation is.


I had already my head over it :(

Massimo

[Massimo Bianchi]

Hi Stefen,
yes, ksh on hpux is compiled with the 2G limitation in.


I had already my head over it :(

Massimo

[Ralph Grothe]

Stefan, Massimo,

the (HP-UX) Korn shell doesn't impose such a boundary either.

Guess what I discovered in oracle's .profile %-{

# grep ulimit ~oracle/.profile
# ulimit 4000000

The DBAs themselves must have restricted their child processes.
Btw. the comment hash mark has just now been inserted by me.

I asked the DBAs to give oracle a new login shell (e.g. login anew) and give it another try.

I'm awaiting their response...