SharePlexForOracle 8.5 InstallationandSetupGuide en

SharePlex for Oracle 8.
5
Installation and Setup Guide
2014Dell Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This guide contains proprietary information protected by copyright. The software described in this guide is furnished under a
software license or nondisclosure agreement. This software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the
applicable agreement. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any purpose other than the purchasers personal use without the written
permission of Dell Software Inc.
The information in this document is provided in connection with Dell Software products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel
or otherwise, to any intellectual property right is granted by this document or in connection with the sale of Dell Software products.
EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN DELL SOFTWARES TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE LICENSE AGREEMENT
FOR THIS PRODUCT, DELL SOFTWARE ASSUMES NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER AND DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS,
IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTY RELATING TO ITS PRODUCTS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT
SHALL DELL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR
LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS DOCUMENT, EVEN IF DELL
SOFTWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Dell Software makes no representations or
warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and reserves the right to make changes
to specifications and product descriptions at any time without notice. Dell Software does not make any commitment to update the
information contained in this document.
If you have any questions regarding your potential use of this material, contact:
Dell Software Inc.
Attn: LEGAL Dept
5 Polaris Way
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
Refer to our web site (www.software.dell.com) for regional and international office information.
Patents
This product is protected by U.S. Patent #: 7,065,538 and 7,461,103 Additional Patents Pending.
Trademarks
Dell, and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc.and/or its affiliates. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this
document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the
marks and names of others.
Legend
Caution: A CAUTION icon indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not
followed.
Warning: A WARNING icon indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
IMPORTANT Note, NOTE, TIP, MOBILE, or VIDEO: An information icon indicates supporting information.
SharePlex for Oracle Installation and Setup Guide

Updated - March 2014
Software Version - 8.5
Contents
About this manual 5
Introduction: Advantages of SharePlex for Oracle 6

Welcome to Shareplex 8
Strategies for Information Availability 8
UNIX installation and setup 10

Unix installation overview 10
UNIX pre-installation checklist 10
Pre-installation procedure for HP-UX environments 18
Pre-installation procedure for Sun Solaris environments 19
Pre-installation procedures for Red Hat Linux 20
Pre-installation procedure for nameserver environments 21
Installation of SharePlex for Oracle 22
Adding a SharePlex license key 27
Assigning SharePlex users and authorization 27
Establishing SharePlex as an Oracle user 29
Windows installation and setup 33

Windows installation overview 33
Windows pre-installation checklist 33
Pre-installation instructions for Windows cluster environments 40
Running the installation program 41
Adding a SharePlex license key 44
OraSetup: Establishing SharePlex as an Oracle user 44
Installing the SharePlex service 46
Setting a default port for sp_ctrl 46
Changing global settings in the MKS toolkit 47
Post-installation procedures for Windows cluster environments 47
Assigning SharePlex users and authorization levels 49
Basic SharePlex Demonstrations 52

Overview of the demonstrations 52
What you will learn 52
Tables used in the demonstrations 52
Part 1: Starting SharePlex 53
Part 2: Creating and activating a configuration 54
Part 3: Testing replication 55
Advanced SharePlex Demonstrations 61

Installing the demonstration objects 61
SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

3
Demo1: Initial demonstration 63
Demo 2: Demonstrating partitioned replication 66
Demo 3: Demonstrating transformation 67
Demo 4: Demonstrating generic conflict resolution 69
Solving installation problems 74

Read this first... 74
Did you review the Release Notes for this version? 74
If the license utility returns errors 74
If the installation program returns errors 75
If Oracle Setup (ora_setup) failed 76
If SharePlex does not interact with Oracle 77
If users cannot run sp_cop or sp_ctrl 79
If users cannot issue commands in sp_ctrl 79
Appendix A: SharePlex tables 80

Default storage values 80
Appendix B: Running ora_cleansp 82

How ora_cleansp works 82
Other alternatives to ora_cleansp 82
Before running ora_cleansp 83
Running ora_cleansp on a UNIX system 83
Running OraCleanSp on a Windows system 84
Appendix C: Removing SharePlex 85

Removing SharePlex from a UNIX system 85
Removing SharePlex from a Windows system 86
About Dell Software 89

Contacting Dell Software 89
Technical support resources 89
Index 90

4
About this manual
Conventions used in this manual
The following typographic conventions are used in this guide.
l Bold represents required components of a command or option that must be typed as shown.
l Italics represent variables defined, named or entered by the user.
l Bold Italics represents required user defined variables in example command strings.
l {Braces} enclose available required arguments.
l [Brackets] represent optional command components and may also be used in example command strings
to emphasize required user defined variables in long strings.
Example:
reconcile queue {queuename} for {datasource-datadest} [on host]
l A vertical bar, or pipe character ( | ) within brackets or braces indicates that you can use only one of the
enclosed components.
Example:
abort service {service | all}
Names of commands, programs, directories and files are expressed in Arial Bold;
other names are expressed in capital letters using the default font.
Examples:
The sp_ctrl program is located in the bin directory.
Open the oramsglst file.
Find the value for ORACLE_HOME.
Click Apply.
System displays, such as prompts and command output, are expressed in Courier New.
Examples:
sp_ctrl(sysA)>
User is a viewer (level=3)
Windows menu items, dialog boxes, and options within dialog boxes are expressed in Arial Bold.
Example:
From the File menu, select Print.
System names are expressed generically or fictitiously. When necessary, the source system
(or primary system) is referred to as SysA. Target systems (or secondary systems)
are referred to as SysB, SysC, SysD, and so forth.

5
Introduction: Advantages of
SharePlex for Oracle
This chapter explains the advantages of SharePlex for Oracle.
SharePlex for Oracle provides high-speed, log-based replication between Oracle instances on Sun Solaris, HP-
UX, IBM-AIX, Linux, and Windows platforms. SharePlex for Oracle differs from other replication products in
several ways.
Maintains up-to-date, accessible target instances

A major benefit of SharePlex replication is that users can access a replica (target) database while SharePlex
updates it. SharePlex target instances are continuously updated, providing a reliable copy of the production
instance that can be used for reporting, queries, extracts, backups, and high availability. Removing that
processing from the production server improves the performance of the production instance while enabling the
secondary instance to be optimized for the needs of its users. In addition, SharePlex delivers a logical replica
that protects against accidental table drops and database corruption, such as block corruption.
Designed for high-intensity OLTP and ERP environments

SharePlex for Oracle is designed for business volumes of data. It is capable of replicating millions of
transactions a day for thousands of tables. It supports business varieties of data, including data types such as
LONG columns and sequences, which are found in ERP applications, as well as BLOB and CLOB datatypes.
Conserves system resources

SharePlex for Oracle accomplishes its replication without significantly impacting the source instance, the source
system, or the network. Its log-based design allows it to replicate with very low overhead.
Replicates with both speed and accuracy

SharePlex for Oracle is fast, minimizing the latency between source and target instances by capturing
modifications to selected objects from the redo logs continuously and starting replication before transactions are
committed. If a transaction is cancelled, SharePlex replicates the rollback so that the target instance is an
accurate representation of the source database.
SharePlex for Oracle is fast, but not at the cost of accuracy. SharePlex strictly adheres to the Oracle Read
Consistency model, maintaining operation order and session context all the way to the target instance, where
SharePlex uses standard SQL to apply the replicated changes.
Maintains fault tolerance

Another significant advantage of SharePlex for Oracle is its tolerance for outages. If the target Oracle instance is
unavailable, SharePlex queues data on the target system, allowing transactions to accumulate until an Oracle
connection can be re-established. If the target system itself is unavailable, or if there are network problems,
SharePlex stores the transactions on the source system until operations are restored.
Provides high level of user control

With this design, you have additional options. You can control when SharePlex sends the data over the network.
By default, SharePlex replicates as quickly as it can, sending a steady stream of data to the target systems, but

6
you can delay transmission by stopping the Export process. To control when the transactions are applied to a
target system, you can stop the Post process. When you are ready for the transactions to be applied, you simply
start the posting process again. As an alternative, you can force the Post process to delay transactions based on
a time factor, using one of the SharePlex tuning parameters.
Provides high level of flexibility

SharePlex for Oracle enables you to customize replication to specific needs. For example, you can replicate an
entire table, or you can replicate a subset of its data (columns) beyond a firewall while protecting other, more
sensitive data. You can replicate different records to different locations. And, you can configure SharePlex to
interact with PL/SQL procedures that transform data before, or instead of, posting it to a target database.
SharePlex provides several other ways to configure replication routes, as well.
Installs quickly and easily

SharePlex for Oracle is relatively simple to install. The average installation takes about an hour for source and
target systems. Configuration of replication scenarios may require more time if they are especially complex or if
there are special circumstances.
Replicates in a high availability environment

SharePlex for Oracle provides significant advantages for high-availability and other mission-critical operations
where perpetual data access is essential and downtime means lost business opportunities. Using WAN
connections, SharePlex replication can be used to maintain a duplicate database in a different location that is
ready for fast, seamless failover and failback in planned or unplanned mode.
When the primary system fails, user activity moves to the secondary system and continues while the secondary
instance is copied and applied to the primary system during recovery. SharePlex reconciles the copy provided
by the backup with the ongoing, replicated user transactions, discarding operations already applied by the
backup. With synchronization between the two databases restored, users move back to the primary system and
continue to work.
Simplifies routine maintenance

SharePlex for Oracle simplifies the maintenance of Oracle instances involved in replication by facilitating data
re-synchronization with minimal interruption to user activity. Application and Oracle patches, upgrades, and
DDL changes can be performed on the source machine and applied to the target machine with a hot backup
instead of manually, while SharePlex replicates online transactions. SharePlex synchronizes the replicated
changes with the backup, and replication resumes in a seamless manner.
Reduces downtime and risk from migrations

Hardware migrations usually require a significant amount of downtime, whether you need to change hardware
platforms, move a data center, or consolidate servers to reduce costs. By maintaining a near-realtime copy of
the database, SharePlex for Oracle can help you minimize migration downtime by enabling the original system
to function normally until the migration is complete.
Provides ability to record changes to data

In some environments there is a need to keep track of changes made to a set of tables in the database. For
example, in certain circumstances it can be important to track every change made to a table to resolve customer
disputes. SharePlex has an option to store the change data on a secondary server using log mining technology.
The cost of extracting changes from the source database using log mining is negligible, making use of this
functionality feasible. Since the change data is stored on a different database, all change data inquires can be
offloaded from the production database.

7
Welcome to Shareplex
This manual provides instructions for:
l Installing SharePlex on UNIX and Windows systems.
l Establishing SharePlex users.
l Establishing an Oracle account for SharePlex.
l Running basic and advanced demonstrations of the SharePlex software.
l Removing SharePlex from UNIX and Windows systems.
For information about planning and implementing a replication strategy, see the SharePlex Administrators
Guide. That manual also has information about:
l How SharePlex works
l How to run the SharePlex programs
l Other information for maintaining a replication environment.
A companion manual, the SharePlex Reference Manual, provides instructions for:
l Using sp_ctrl commands.
l Setting SharePlex tuning parameters.
l Preventing and solving common replication problems.
Strategies for Information Availability

Because SharePlex for Oracle replicates over LAN and WAN connections, you can put a replica database to
work as a reliable, continuously updated alternate database that can be used in many different ways. The
following strategies enable you to get the right data to the people who need it, when they need it.
Reporting instances
SharePlex for Oracle's target instances are ideal for offloading report and query processing because they are
accessible while being kept up-to-date, and they can be optimized with keys and indices designed for optimal
query performance. You can run reports all day long, without complaints about performance from your OLTP
users. Even during busy reporting times such as the end of the month or quarter, application response time will
be unaffected by heavy reporting. And, your organizations decision-makers will appreciate the accuracy of the
data reflected in the reports.
Data distribution and distributed processing

When many remote users access or use data stored in a central database, you can move their processing to
one or more secondary databases that are kept current through SharePlex replication. That way, you can keep
the central database and system optimized for transactions. SharePlex also can replicate data through an
intermediary system to remote systems, providing access for remote users who have no direct network
connection to the primary database.

8
Data warehousing
SharePlex can replicate from numerous source systems to one target system. It is ideal for consolidating data in
a data warehouse or a data mart so that information is available enterprise-wide for queries and reports. A high
degree of granularity in the data that you replicate and the option to transform replicated data to conform to a
different target structure are unique SharePlex features that enable you to populate your data warehouse with
the specific, timely information that users need to make good decisions.
High availability and disaster recovery

SharePlex for Oracle can be used to maintain duplicate Oracle instances over local or wide-area networks.
Production can move to the alternate sites in an emergency or in a planned manner when routine maintenance
is performed on the primary server. SharePlex replication enables the secondary database to be used for
queries and reporting.
Figure 1: SharePlex replication strategies at a glance

9
UNIX installation and setup
This chapter contains instructions for installing SharePlex for Oracle on UNIX systems.
Unix installation overview

Important: Read this entire chapter before you install SharePlex so that your installation is
successful.
1. Complete the UNIX Preinstallation Checklist below.

2. Perform the system-level pre-installation procedures appropriate for your environment on each system to
be involved in replication. There are pre-installation procedures for the following:
a. HP-UX (requires system reboot), see page 26
b. Sun Solaris (requires system reboot), see page 27
c. Red Hat Linux, see page 29
d. Nameserver Environments, see page 31
3. Perform the installation of the SharePlex software on each system using the instructions on page 32.
4. Assign SharePlex users and authorization levels on each system using the instructions on page 41.
5. Perform the Oracle Initial Setup (ora_setup) for each Oracle database involved in replication (source and
target) using the instructions on page 45.
Important information about upgrades: Before you upgrade SharePlex, read the Release Notes for
the version you are installing. Requirements can vary from one version of SharePlex to another, and
you could be asked to take other steps instead of, or in addition to, those documented in this manual.
Instructions for upgrading SharePlex are located in the Release Notes.
UNIX pre-installation checklist

Before you install SharePlex, complete the following checklist
.
Network checklist
1. Nameserver users: Add all SharePlex users to the nameserver before installing SharePlex.
Have all SharePlex users been added to the Nameserver?
2. Each system on which you are loading SharePlex must be connected to the network. The network node
name and IP address must be established sufficiently to allow the installation process to perform TCP
operations, even though the machines themselves are not yet configured. If you disconnect the system
from the network, the installation will fail. This failure might appear to be a license utility error, but it is
usually the inability of the license utilities and other components of SharePlex to perform initial TCP

10
operations. Make sure nobody renames the /etc/resolv.conf file (if using a DNS nameserver) or does
anything else that disconnects the system from the network.
Are all systems connected?
System checklist
1. The SharePlex installer will need up to 120 MB of disk space to extract the compressed
installation package. Additionally, for new installations, the product install itself will require up to
200 MB of disk space.
Note: The .tpm installer may be extracted to a file system separate from the product install location by
invoking the -t option when executing the installation package. The default extraction location is in the
/tmp directory. For more information on using the -t option and other .tpm file options see the .tpm
Command Line Options on page 31.
Is there sufficient disk space to extract and complete the install?
2. The SharePlex queues grow dynamically as data is replicated. To determine the amount of disk space
that you will need for the variable-data directory, use the following guidelines.
a. Estimate the longest time that you can tolerate replication to be down.
b. Determine how much data would be replicated in that time, using the following formula as a
guide. The formula multiplies the redo log value by 1/3 because only about 1/3 of the redo log
is data that is replicated. The rest is used by Oracle for maintenance and operation of the
instance itself.
[size of a redo log] x [number of log switches in 1 hour] x 1/3 x [number of hours downtime] =
amount of disk space needed for the queues on each system
For example, if you expect to recover from 8 hours of downtime, and your redo logs are 500 MB in size
and switch five times an hour, then you could need 6.5 GB of space on both the source and target
machines for the SharePlex queues.
[500 MB redo log] x [5 switches/hour] x [1/3] x [8 hours] = 6.5 GB disk space

How much space do you need for the variable-data directory?
3. Cached file systems
The Capture process encounters errors when accessing the buffer of cache option enabled files
systems, Veritas Quick I/O and Net App Filer, because of the way disk information is cached and how the
buffer is flushed to disk. The buffer access seems to be an incomplete block, so when the Capture
process encounters this condition, it waits and will retry. This wait causes it to lose pace with Oracle.
SharePlex recommends that all redo logs, archive logs, and SharePlex files to be placed on file system
(i.e. Veritas Quick I/O and Net App Filer) with the cache option disabled. Redo logs and archive logs on
cache enabled mount points may cause unpredictable outcomes.
Are your redo log and archive log files on a cache option disabled file system?
4. SharePlex users and authorization levels may be manually created and set at any time, before or after
installation. If you are installing using a non-root user, the Share- Plex Admin User and SharePlex Admin
group must exist prior to installation. For more information on authorization levels see Assigning
SharePlex users and authorization levels in this guide.
Who will use the software and what authorization levels will each be assigned?
5. SharePlex supports host names that contain letters or numbers only. If a host name contains a dot or any

11
other non-alphanumeric character (such as . or _), create an alias in the local /etc/hosts file that
contains only alphanumeric characters. Also create the alias on the NIS server and the DNS server, if
used.
Do all host names contain supported characters?
6. SharePlex requires a per-process memory allocation of at least 256 MB. Typically, per-process memory
usage for SharePlex processes is just a fraction of that. However, under some conditions, the Post and
Read processes dynamically allocate larger sets of memory. To prevent process failure, the per-process
memory needs to be high enough so that the processes can succeed under those conditions.
Is the per-process memory at least 256 MB?
7. SharePlex requires the number of semaphores per process to be greater than or equal to 26
(recommended) or the number of queues plus 2.
Do the semaphores meet this requirement?
8. SharePlex requires a system file descriptors setting of 1024 or as close to that value as your system
resources can accommodate. The system file descriptors setting (nofiles) determines the number of files
that a process can have open at one time. This parameter can be set either as a system hard limit or a
session-based soft limit.
On most production systems, the hard limit usually is set high enough for SharePlex, but it should be
verified. The following command displays the hard limit (and other ulimit settings) on Sun Solaris and
IBM AIX systems. On HP-UX systems, the command works in the Bourne shell (sh).
$ ulimit -aH
time(seconds) unlimited
file(blocks) unlimited
data(kbytes) unlimited
stack(kbytes) unlimited
coredump(blocks) unlimited
nofiles(descriptors) 1024
vmemory(kbytes) unlimited
The nofiles(descriptors) value is the one to verify and change if necessary. Changing the system file
descriptors setting requires root privileges (usually the Systems Administrator), and the system must be
rebooted after you make the change. Consult your Systems Administrator for assistance.
Instead of changing the hard limit, you can set a soft limit for this parameter, but the soft limit only stays in
effect for the duration of the sp_cop session for which it was set. When you shut down sp_cop and start
it again, the soft limit reverts back to its default value, which could be lower than the hard limit.
The soft limit can be set as high as the hard limit, but not higher. It does not require a root user to change
it. On Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, and HP-UX (Bourne shell), the following command displays the soft limit for
file descriptors.
$ ulimit -aS
The following command sets the soft limit for system file descriptors.
$ ulimit -n value
Because of the session-based limitations of the soft limit, Dell Software recommends that you use the
hard limit setting for sp_cop to ensure that the system file descriptors setting remains at a sufficient
value. If you increase the hard limit to satisfy SharePlex, you can use the soft limit to restrict other
applications to lower levels.

12
Is the ulimit for system file descriptors set correctly?
9. SharePlex requires that the coredump(blocks) setting be as large as your system resources can
accommodate. This will insure that when a core dump occurs a core file is produced. To determine the
core dump block size, enter the command:
ulimit -a.
If you see coredump(blocks) 0, then you must change the core dump block size to ensure that a core file
is produced. (This setting must be changed before SharePlex is started.) To set the core dump block size
to a reasonable number, such as 1.5 million blocks, type the following:
ulimit -c 1500000
10. Many platforms support system-wide, user, or process-specific placement of application core files, and
customizable naming conventions for core files. For core file location, SharePlex supports only the dump
subdirectory of the SharePlex variable data directory. This is the "current working directory" for sp_cop
and the processes started by sp_cop.
For naming conventions, SharePlex supports "core" and "core.<pid>". SharePlex will rename files
named "core" to "core.<pid>" unless the core file is from sp_cop. In that case, the core file will not be
renamed. If the OS naming convention is set to "core.<pid>", all core files will have that name format.
If the SharePlex core file policy is not met, the SharePlex event log might report that a core file was not
generated. The core file generating process might exit even if a core file was actually created.
11. The ora_setup program uses SQL*Plus to install the SharePlex objects needed for replication. To
ensure that ora_setup and other non-Oracle users have permission to log into SQL*Plus, the
Oracle software must have a set-user-id of the following, which is the default configuration after
Oracle is installed:
-rwsr-s--x 1 oracle dba 31829136 Mar 25 2005 oracle

Is the Oracle set-user-id set to -rwsr-s--x?
12. In the system startup scripts and other scripts that start SharePlex and Oracle, as well as in manual
operations, always start Oracle before you start SharePlex and shut down SharePlex before you shut
down Oracle.
Have scripts and procedures been structured to start and stop Oracle and SharePlex in the
proper sequence?
Database checklist
1. If you are upgrading your Oracle database: If you plan to upgrade your database, perform the Oracle
upgrade before you install SharePlex. At the end of the SharePlex installation process, you will run a
program named ora_setup, which establishes an Oracle account for SharePlex, installs some database
objects, and runs an analysis that establishes object definitions. Installing the database upgrade before
you run ora_setup ensures that SharePlex has the correct object definitions.
Have all Oracle upgrades been performed?
2. Do you use Oracle Name Server? If so, ensure that the instance is listed in the oratab file prior to running
the SharePlex installation script.
Is the instance listed?
3. The minimum number of Oracle PROCESSES and SESSIONS for the Post process is calculated by

13
taking the setting for the SP_OPO_THREADS_MAX parameter, and adding one for the global
connection. The default setting (and the max setting) for the SP_OPO_THREADS_MAX parameter is 64.
Have the Oracle process and session setting for the Post process been set correctly?
4. SharePlex requires a master Oracle account (schema and user) that will be used by all SharePlex
processes to interface with Oracle. The account is created during the ora_setup portion of the
installation. To perform replication, SharePlex must have a DBA role and unlimited privileges,
tablespace privileges, and read privileges to the redo logs. This privilege remains in effect unless it is
explicitly changed. The default user is splex/splex.
Important: The SharePlex user is created with the default Oracle profile under the assumption
that the profile has the unlimited resource privileges originally assigned by Oracle. View the
profiles in your database to verify that the default is unlimited. If the default has been changed,
assign SharePlex a DBA profile with unlimited privileges for all definitions.
The following grants are applied during ora_setup for the SharePlex user, where splex in the syntax is
the name of your SharePlex user.
a. For Oracle 9i or 10g, the SharePlex Oracle user requires the following grant to access the data
dictionary if O7_DICTIONARY_ACCESSIBILITY is set to FALSE*.
grant select any dictionary to splex;
(*SharePlex requires access to the dictionary tables outside of the standard DBA roles.)
b. To replicate DDL supported for Oracle 9i (e.g., when setting SP_OCT_REPLICATE_DDL_
ALL=1), the SharePlex Oracle user requires the following grants:
grant select any table to splex with admin option;

grant create any view to splex with admin option;
What will be the name of the SharePlex Oracle user?
5. The Oracle instance must be open before you run ora_setup, although the database does not have to be
populated. SharePlex does not create or populate the database.
Exception: If you will be using an Oracle hot backup to synchronize the data, it creates the target
instance and database files. See the SharePlex Administrators Guide for synchronization procedures.
Are all Oracle instances open?
6. The Oracle database must have at least the minimum level of supplemental logging enabled.
7. Oracle 9i only: The LOG_PARALLELISM parameter is not supported when it is set to a value greater
than 1. If the LOG_PARALLELISM parameter is set to a value greater than 1, SharePlex cannot parse
the redo logs correctly and thus transactions hang in the capture queue.
To prevent this problem, check the value for the LOG_PARALLELISM parameter before installing
SharePlex. If it is greater than 1, reset the value to 1, and restart the Oracle instance for the new value to
take effect.
What is the value for the LOG_PARALLELISM parameter?

14
Installation checklist
1. SharePlex has a different set of binaries for each supported Oracle version, and the appropriate set must
be installed.
What is the Oracle version on this system?
Do you have the install package that corresponds to this Oracle version?
2. The installation package will prompt you for the following SharePlex Admin User and SharePlex Admin
group information:
a. SharePlex Admin User name:
If this is a new user SharePlex will create this user for you. You will need the following
information:
New user password:
New user home directory:
b. SharePlex Admin group name:
Note: If running the installation as non-root the SharePlex Admin User and SharePlex Admin group
must exist prior to install, as non-root users are not able to create new users and groups.
3. The installation package creates a product directory named by you (named /productdir in this manual)
into which it installs the SharePlex binaries.
Install the SharePlex product directory on a separate filesystem from the one containing the production
Oracle instance, but not on a raw device.
Do not install the product directory in the same directory as the variable-data directory that is created in
the Installation Checklist step 4. There are identically named sub-directories in both directories, and it is
possible that SharePlex utilities that restore replication to a clean state could affect the wrong files.
What is the name of the SharePlex product directory?
For a list of the SharePlex directories and files, see the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
4. The installation package creates a variable-data directory named by you (referred to as /vardir in this
manual) only if this directory currently does not exist. SharePlex maintains the current replication
environment in this directory, including the data files for its queues.
Install the SharePlex variable-data directory on a separate filesystem from the one containing the
production database instance, but not on a raw device, to prevent the queues from affecting the
performance of the production instance.
Other requirements for the variable-data directory:
a. Do not install the variable-data directory in the same directory as the SharePlex product directory
that is created in Installation Checklist step 3. There are identically named sub-directories in both
directories, and it is possible that SharePlex utilities that restore replication to a clean state could
affect the wrong files.
b. To determine space requirements for the variable-data directory, see System Checklist step 2.
What is the name of the SharePlex variable-data directory?
5. SharePlex uses the default TCP/IP and UDP port numbers of 2100 (for which the hex equivalent is 834).
Please review the following information about establishing the SharePlex port number.

15
a. In Oracle 9.2.x, port 2100 is used by an Oracle XML daemon, so it cannot be used by SharePlex.
Use the following instructions to specify an alternative port number for SharePlex after you install
the SharePlex software.
b. If you are using a firewall, a UDP port must be open for SharePlex, in addition to the TCP/IP port.
c. If you are using SSH software, you can configure SharePlex to work with it through a secure
port. Using SSH for a SharePlex instance is incompatible with the SharePlex Manager
application. For instructions for establishing SSH compatibility for SharePlex, see the SharePlex
Administrators Guide.
What is the port number for TCP/IP and UDP?
Note: You may change the default TCP/IP after installation by following the instructions located under
Setting an alternative port for sp_cop in the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
6. You will be prompted for the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME directory of the Oracle instance for
which you are implementing replication.
To determine the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME
The ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME are listed in the oratab file. On all supported UNIX platforms
except Sun Solaris, this file is located in the /etc directory. On Sun machines, it is in the /var/opt/oracle
directory. The oratab entry is similar to the following example.
ora9:/oracle/ora9/product: N
In this example, ora9 is the ORACLE_SID, and /oracle/ora9/product is the ORACLE_HOME.
Important!
a. Sun OS only: SharePlex uses the oratab file located in the /var/opt/oracle directory. If there is a
copy of the oratab file in the /etc directory ensure that this file is identical to the one in the
/var/opt/oracle directory.
b. If you intend to use a single set of SharePlex binaries for replicating data on a system with
multiple minor or patch release versions of Oracle, when prompted during installation for the
ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME provide the information that corresponds to the lowest patch
release version intended for replication. For example, if you have a system running Oracle
9.2.0.4, 9.2.0.6, and 9.2.0.8 and you want to use a single set of SharePlex binaries, when
prompted for instance information you should associate the installation with the ORACLE_SID
and ORACLE_HOME of the lowest minor or patch release version, which in this case is Oracle
9.2.0.4. Alternately, you may install separate SharePlex binaries for each minor or patch release
version intended for replication.
c. Some oratab files have an asterisk symbol (*) instead of a specific entry for the ORACLE_SID.
This causes ora_setup to fail. Ensure that a valid ORACLE_SID exists in the oratab file.
What are the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME?
7. The installation package will attempt to associate the SharePlex Admin User with a dba privileged group
identified by the name dba. If it does not locate a group of this name and privilege it will prompt you for
the name of a dba privileged group.
Note: This group must exist prior to installation. The installation package will not create a dba
privileged group.
What is the name of the dba privileged group?
8. You will be prompted for a unique license key for each machine where you are installing SharePlex. The

16
software can be installed without a key, but you will not be able to run it.
Permanent SharePlex license keys are generated for a specific machine ID, so be sure you know which
key was assigned to which machine. Keep a copy of your license keys in a safe place in case you need
them in the future.
For SharePlex demonstration trials only: You need a temporary demonstration key for each system
where you are installing SharePlex. If you did not receive keys, contact your Dell Software sales
representative to get them.
Do you have a valid key for each machine?
9. After you install SharePlex, but before you run ora_setup, install all current patches for your version
of SharePlex. It is possible that one or more patches were created after the software was released. To
find out if there are patches for your version of SharePlex and for instructions for downloading and
applying them.
Log onto Support and confirm you have the current patches: http://software.dell.com/support/.
ORA_SETUP checklist
1. When initiating ora_setup you will be asked for the following information:
a. The Oracle SID that the set-up process is being run against.
b. The password for the SYSDBA privileged SYSTEM account on the Oracle SID listed above.
c. The name and password of the SharePlex Admin User.
2. SharePlex requires a tablespace for its internal tables in each database involved in replication. With
the exception of the SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP tables, SharePlex tables use the tablespaces default
storage settings.
If the tables to be replicated have extensive LOB columns that are updated or inserted frequently
consider the following when sizing the tablespace:
LOB Considerations
The SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP table is created with a 1 MB INITIAL extent, 1 MB NEXT extent, and
PCTINCREASE of 10. The MAXEXTENTS of this table is 120, allowing it to grow to 120 MB. The default
storage usually accommodates this table, permitting more than 4 million LOB entries. If you expect more
than that, size the SharePlex tablespace accordingly, taking into account that this table shares the
tablespace with other SharePlex tables. The SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP table does not contain entries for
LOBs stored in-row.
If the database is using the cost-based optimizer (CBO) and the replicating tables include numerous
LOBs, incorporate the SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP table into the analysis schedule.
* For upgrades in which a SharePlex account already exists, the storage parameters of the internal
tables will not be changed.
Note: For a list of the SharePlex internal tables and their default storage values, see SharePlex Tables
in this guide.
What is the name of the default SharePlex tablespace?
3. SharePlex requires a temporary tablespace where it can perform sorts and other operations. This
tablespace will be used for sorts when the compare commands are used to compare source and target
tables to verify synchronization. Compares performed on large tables require large sorting operations,

17
especially if there are no primary or unique keys. For more information about the compare commands,
see the SharePlex Reference Manual.
If you expect to be using these commands, take into account sorting requirements when sizing the
SharePlex temporary tablespace or choosing an existing temporary tablespace for SharePlex. The
default tablespace is the tablespace where the Share- Plex tables are installed.
What is the name of the SharePlex temporary tablespace?
4. SharePlex requires an index tablespace for the indices for its internal tables. The default for this
tablespace is the tablespace for the SharePlex tables, but performance will be enhanced if the
SharePlex tables and indices are on separate tablespaces to minimize I/O contention.
If you have a previous version of SharePlex, the SharePlex indices were installed in the tablespace
where you installed the SharePlex tables. These indices are not moved when you install this version of
SharePlex, but it is recommended that you move them to the index tablespace you are defining for this
installation. If the existing SharePlex indices are in an index tablespace, you can specify that tablespace
for this installation.
What is the name of the SharePlex index tablespace?
Pre-installation procedure for HP-UX

environments
Important! This change only applies if you are installing on a HP-UX platform. This changes requires a
system reboot if semmnu is less than 255 or shmmax is less than 60 MB. This change must be
performed on every node in a cluster, and on all nonclustered source and target machines.
This change to the maximum number of kernel undo structures for SYS V semaphores and the maximum SYS
V shared-memory segment size is necessary to ensure the maximum amount of protection for SharePlex
processes. This will not affect performance, but will increase system stability.
Semaphores provide a locking mechanism for access to queues; undo structures are a subset of semaphores.
The shared-memory segment is used by SharePlex queues as the primary working area and is shared by all
SharePlex processes. If the number of semaphore undo structures, semmnu, on your system is larger than 255,
do not change it. If it is smaller than 255, change it to 255. If the maximum shared-memory size, shmmax, is
greater than 60 MB, do not change it. If it is smaller than 60 MB, change it to 60 MB.
In the HP_UX environment, the configurable kernel parameters are set by the SAM utility. These changes must
be performed by someone with root-level authority before SharePlex software is installed.
l semmnu: number of processes using the undo facility (SharePlex requires 255)
l shmmax: maximum shared memory segment size (SharePlex requires 60 MB)
Note: Editing kernel parameters requires that you overwrite the existing kernel, move the kernel to the
appropriate directory, and perform a system reboot.
Note: The instance of /stand/vmunix will not match the currently running vmunix, which may result in PS
inaccuracies.

18
Important! If your environment uses nameservers, continue to Preinstallation procedure for
nameserver environments on page 31. Otherwise, proceed to Installation of SharePlex for Oracle
on page 32.
Pre-installation procedure for Sun Solaris

environments
Important! This change only applies if you are installing on a Solaris platform and requires a system
reboot if parameters are changed. This change must be performed on every node in a cluster, and on
all non-clustered source and target machines.
This change the maximum number of kernel undo structures for SYS V semaphores and the maximum SYS V
shared-memory segment size is necessary to ensure the maximum amount of protection for SharePlex
processes. This will not affect performance, but will increase system stability.
SharePlex processes. If the number of semaphore undo structures on your system is larger than 255, do not
change it. If it is smaller than 255, change it to 255 according to the following instructions. If the maximum
shared-memory size is greater than 60 MB, do not change it. If it is smaller than 60 MB, change it to 60 MB
according to the following instructions.
In SunOS, configurable kernel parameters are set by adding entries in the /etc/system file. The changes must
be performed by someone with root-level authority before Share- Plex software is installed.
l semmni: number of semaphore identifiers (SharePlex requires 70)
l semmns: number of semaphores in the system (SharePlex requires 255)
l semmsl: maximum number of System V semaphores that can be used by a single process at one time
(the minimum SharePlex requires 128)
l semume: number of undo structures per process (SharePlex requires 255)
l shmmax: maximum shared memory segment size (SharePlex requires 60 MB)
l shmmin: minimum shared memory segment size (SharePlex recommends 1 byte)
l shmmni: number of shared memory identifiers (SharePlex requires is 100)
l shmseg: number of shared memory segments per process (SharePlex requires 26)
Note: If you are using the Solaris 9 Operating System the shmmin kernel parameter value cannot be changed.
Note: The shmseg and shmmin kernel parameters are obsolete in Solaris 9 and later.
Important! If your environment uses nameservers, continue to Preinstallation procedure for

nameserver environments on page 31. Otherwise, proceed to Installation of SharePlex for Oracle
on page 32.

19
Pre-installation procedures for Red Hat
Linux
There are three procedures that you must perform before you install or run the SharePlex software.
1. Change the core dump block size from the default value of 0 to a positive value
2. Ensure that the ksh shell is set.
3. Ensure that the configurable kernel parameters are set with values equal to or exceeding the SharePlex
default values.
Changing the core dump block size

By default, most versions of Linux have the core dump block size set to zero. Thus, when a core dump occurs,
no core file is produced. To determine the core dump block size, enter the command:
ulimit -a.
If you see coredump(blocks) 0, then you must change the core dump block size to ensure that a core file is
produced. To set the core dump block size to a reasonable number, such as 1.5 million blocks, type the
following:
ulimit -c 1500000
Installing the ksh shell

Red Hat Linux must have the ksh shell installed before SharePlex is installed. A version of ksh called pdksh is
included on the Red Hat Linux CDs. Refer to the Red Hat Linux documentation for more information.
Changing the configurable kernel parameters

Users may opt to change the maximum number of kernel undo structures for SYS V semaphores and the
maximum SYS V shared-memory segment size. The reason for doing this is to ensure the maximum amount of
protection for SharePlex processes. This will not affect performance, but will increase system stability.
SharePlex processes. If the number of semaphore undo structures on your system is larger than 255, do not
change it. If it is smaller than 255, change it to 255 according to the following instructions. If the maximum
shared-memory size is greater than 60 MB, do not change it. If it is smaller than 60 MB, change it to 60 MB
according to the following instructions.
Check these parameters and change them if necessary. The changes must be performed by someone with root-
level authority before SharePlex software is installed.
In Linux, configurable kernel parameters are set by adding entries in the /etc/sysctl.conf file. The changes must
be performed by someone with root-level authority before SharePlex software is installed.
l semmni: number of semaphore identifiers (SharePlex requires 70)
l semmns: number of semaphores in the system (SharePlex requires 255)

20
l semmsl: maximum number of System V semaphores that can be used by a single process at one time
(the minimum requirement for SharePlex is 128)
l semopm: maximum number of operations that can be outstanding on a single system V semaphore at
one time (SharePlex requires 64)
l semume: number of undo structures per process (SharePlex requires 255)
l shmmax: maximum shared memory segment size (SharePlex requirement 60 MB)
l shmmin: minimum shared memory segment size (SharePlex recommends 1 MB)
l shmmni: number of shared memory identifiers (SharePlex requires 100)
l shmseg: number of shared memory segments per process (SharePlex requires 26)
Please note that the semmns and semmni kernel values are additive. You will need to add the Oracle min
values to the Shareplex min values to obtain the appropriate setting.
Pre-installation procedure for nameserver

environments
Important! Use this procedure only if you are installing in a nameserver environment.
If a replication system is within a nameserver environment, such as NIS or NISPLUS, you have the following
choices for installing SharePlex groups:
l Use the following procedure to add the SharePlex groups and the SharePlex Administrator to the
nameserver before installing SharePlex.
Or...
l To install the SharePlex entries on the local system, add the SharePlex groups to the local /etc/group file
and assign users to them. The SharePlex Administrator named in the preinstallation checklist must be
listed in the SharePlex Admin group in the local /etc/group file and on the nameserver.
To add SharePlex groups to the nameserver

l For NIS, add the following groups to the group.byname and group.bygid maps on your NIS server. You
can select the group ID values for each.
SharePlex Admin group

spopr
spview
l For NISPLUS, add the following SharePlex groups to the group.org_dir table:
SharePlex Admin group

spopr
spview

21
l For both NIS and NISPLUS, add the SharePlex Administrator named in the UNIX Preinstallation
Checklist to the SharePlex Admin group that you just created. This must be done before you begin the
SharePlex installation process.
To add SharePlex groups to the local system

You can add the SharePlex groups to the local system after you install SharePlex. To add users to those groups,
see the instructions in Assigning SharePlex users and authorization levels on page 41.
Installation of SharePlex for Oracle

The following installation procedure is for installing SharePlex on the UNIX platform.
Warning! If you have not done so already, review the Preinstallation Checklist on page 11 and the
preinstallation procedures starting on page 26 before you begin the installation process.
Downloading the installer

To download SharePlex follow these instructions.
1. Go to the Dell Software Support page: http://software.dell.com/support/

2. Click Download New Releases
3. In the search box, type SharePlex for Oracleand press Go.
4. Scroll down and click Download New Releases.
To narrow the results to the file you are looking for, select the appropriate SharePlex for Oracle version,
the platform, and the database version.
5. Click the arrow in the Download column for the version you need.
You can also click the file name for access to more information and to download the file(s).
6. You are ready to begin the installation/upgrade process. Be sure to thoroughly read the version specific
Release Notes prior to running the installer.
Where to run the installation script

Non-clustered systems: Run the SharePlex installation script on all non-clustered source and target systems
that will be involved in replication.
The tpm file

The .tpm file is a self-extracting installation file which uses the following naming convention:
SharePlex-[Release #]-[Oracle Version #]-[Platform].tpm

Example
SharePlex-6.0.0-b86-oracle100-aix-52-ppc.tpm
In the above example, the file name represents an installer for SharePlex v. 6.0.0, build 86, for Oracle 10g on an
AIX 5.2 system that is running on a PowerPC chipset.

22
Note: The .tpm creates a temporary target directory, within the current directory, for extraction. This temporary
target directory is removed upon installation completion.
.tpm Command Line Options

Upon installation, upgrade or patch, users do not need to run the .tpm file with additional command line options.
These options are typically employed when working with Support to resolve specific issues.
The .tpm command line options and their descriptions follow:
USAGE
tpm [<options>] [ [<package> | <location>] ... ]
OPTIONS
-v, --verbose Turns verbose mode on
-h, -?, --help Prints out this message
--debug Starts the interactive debugger
--info Print information about installed
packages
--install Perform product installation
--remove Perform product deinstallation
--commit Commit last installation
--revert Revert last installation
-t, --tmp <directory> Temporary directory location
-d, --directory <directory> Working directory
-f, --force Unconditionally update existing files
--no-cleanup Do not perform cleanup on failure
--nocleanup Same as --no-cleanup, for compatibility
--list List the content of the archive
--extract Extract the archive into the current directory
-r, --responses <yaml file> Use the responses from a specified file
-D, --defaults Accept default answers
-l, --log Leave the installation log file
DESCRIPTION
Provides package management facilities. Packages can be installed, removed,
reverted or committed. The utility also figures out its role based on the command
name of its invocation path. For example, "tpm-install" is treated as "tpm --
install", "tpm-remove" as "tpm --remove", etc.
It can also be invoked as part of a self extracting package invocation, in which
case it is treated as "tpm --install".
Note: All command line options for the .tpm file are preceded by two dashes.
Installing SharePlex as Non-root

You will need the following information prior to running the installer:

23
l SharePlex Admin user name
l Location of the installation directories, e.g. the product directory and the variabledata directory
l SharePlex Admin group name
l ORACLE_SID that corresponds to the system under install
l ORACLE_HOME that corresponds to the system under install
l Oracle DBA group name
l SharePlex communications port number
l SharePlex licensing information
Note: When installing the product please specify new directories that do not contain prior installations of
SharePlex or other files. The installer will exit if the directories are not empty. You may specify directories that do
not exist. The installer will create them for you.
Note: If your system has an older version(s) of SharePlex you will see a different prompt for the install
directories. Please be sure to provide new directories that do not contain prior installations or other files. The
installer will exit if the directories are not empty.
1. Login as the user who will own the install, run the .tpm file:
# ./SharePlex-[Release #]-[Oracle Version #]-[Platform].tpm

The install process will begin by displaying install package version information. Please verify the
information displayed corresponds to the Oracle version and platform you are upgrading.
2. Follow the prompts that guide you through the installation process.
Note: Please note that the default port number is 2100 and that Oracle may already be using this
port number.
3. When the process is complete the installer will exit after displaying the location of the install log file.
Installation log saved to: /home/splex/.shareplex/INSTALL-SharePlex- 6.0.0-

0704251334.log SharePlex for Oracle v. 6.0.0 installation successful.
4. [OPTIONAL] If you have downloaded patches for this version of SharePlex, apply them now.
5. When the process is complete switch the user to SharePlex Administrator.
# su [SharePlex Admin user]

6. Run ora_setup using the instructions in the Installation and Demonstration Guide. You can find the
instructions in the following section, Establishing SharePlex as an Oracle user on page 45.
7. Start SharePlex for Oracle.
Installing SharePlex as Root

Warning! If you have not done so already, review the Preinstallation Checklist on page 11 and the
preinstallation procedures starting on page 26 before you begin the installation process.

24
l SharePlex Admin group name
l ORACLE_SID that corresponds to the system under install
l ORACLE_HOME that corresponds to the system under install
l Oracle DBA group name
1. To begin the installation process proceed with the following:

a. Ensure that your are running as superuser (root).
b. Copy the appropriate .tpm file to a temporary directory where you have write permissions.
c. Change the permissions of the SharePlex-[Release #]-[Oracle Version #]-
[Platform].tpm file as follows:
# chmod 555 SharePlex-[Release #]-[Oracle Version #]-

[Platform].tpm
2. As root, run the .tpm file:
# ./SharePlex-[Release #]-[Oracle Version #]-[Platform].tpm

The install process will begin by displaying install package version information. Please verify the
information displayed corresponds to the Oracle version and platform you are upgrading.
3. Follow the prompts that guide you through the installation process.
Note: Please note that the default port number is 2100 and that Oracle may already be using this
port number.
4. When the process is complete the installer will exit after displaying the location of the install log file.
Installation log saved to: /home/splex/.shareplex/INSTALL-SharePlex- 6.0.0-

0704251334.log
SharePlex for Oracle v. 6.0.0 installation successful.
5. [OPTIONAL] If you have downloaded patches for this version of SharePlex, apply them now.
6. When the process is complete switch the user to SharePlex Administrator.
# su [SharePlex Admin user]

7. Run ora_setup using the instructions in the Installation and Demonstration Guide. You can find the
instructions in the following section, Establishing SharePlex as an Oracle user on page 45.
8. Start SharePlex for Oracle.
Unattended Install/Upgrade
The unattended option is designed to assist users with multiple install/upgrade instances. When invoked with
the -r option, the install/upgrade process utilizes a text response file. The responses to standard user prompts

25
are read from the response file, allowing the process to run unattended, while still providing on screen status
information.
When running in unattended mode the process is unable to call the system password utility. If a user is created
during the install it will remain locked until the password is set manually.
Editable response files are located in the install subdirectory of the product directory:
/productdir/install
Editable response files may also be obtained from the SupportLink web site or by contacting Customer
Support directly.
The response file is divided into two (2) sections. The top section is user configurable. This is where the user
provides responses for the install/upgrade process. As stated below, only the values to the right of the colon
should be edited. Editing the values to the left of the colon could cause the process to encounter an error and
subsequently become interactive. The following example is for non-root installation:
# To install SharePlex for Oracle with the unattended option please

# modify the settings below. You may safely modify only the values
# to the right of the colon, and the colon must be immediately
# followed by a space. Editing the values to the left of the colon
# may impact the unattended install causing the process to become
# interactive.
#
SharePlex Admin group: spadmin
product directory location: /home/splex/proddir
variable data directory location: /home/splex/vardir
ORACLE_SID that corresponds to this installation: oracledb
ORACLE_HOME directory that corresponds to this ORACLE_SID: /home/oracle/
products/version
TCP/IP port number for SharePlex communications: 2100
the License key: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

the customer name associated with this license key: SharePlex_Trial
Note: The response file formatting requires that the colon be followed by a space: user that will be the
SharePlex Admin: splex
The bottom section of the file contains settings specific to install versus upgrade, and the install user type. This
section should not be edited.
# Do not change settings that appear below.

# Changing these settings may cause the install to fail.
#
Proceed with installation: yes
Proceed with upgrade: no
OK to upgrade: no
valid SharePlex for Oracle v. .*? license: yes
update the license: no
After selecting and editing the appropriate response file, the install/upgrade process can be started in
unattended mode by starting the process using the -r option and providing the absolute path to the
response file:
# ./SharePlex-6.0.0-b86-oracle100-aix-52-ppc.tpm -r /splex/temp/nonroot-
upgrade-only.rsp

26
Please refer to the Installing SharePlex as Non-root and Installing SharePlex as Root sections for information on
requirements and limitations that apply to the unattended install/upgrade.
When the installation is complete run ora_setup using the instructions in this guide. You can find the instructions
in the following section, Establishing SharePlex as an Oracle user on page 9.
Adding a SharePlex license key

Please refer to Release Notes for instructions on adding a license key.
Assigning SharePlex users and

authorization
To monitor, control, or change SharePlex replication, a person must be designated as a SharePlex user on the
systems where he or she will be issuing commands. When designating users, you designate their authorization
levels. The authorization level defines which SharePlex commands a user can issue.
To designate SharePlex users and assign their command authorization levels, follow the instructions in this
topic to add their names to one of the following SharePlex groups in the /etc/group file on the replication system
(s) they will be accessing.
l SharePlex Admin group
l spopr
l spview
Important! For Oracle 11gR2 & ASM: The Shareplex Admin user must also be in the OSDBA group for
Oracle ASM (typically named asmdba) as well as in the OSDBA group (typically named dba). For
example: $ useradd g spadmin G dba,asmdba splex
Creating the SharePlex groups on a non-clustered system

On each non-clustered system where you install SharePlex, the SharePlex groups are created automatically in
the /etc/group file by the installation script. You can proceed to Assigning users to SharePlex groups to assign
users to those groups.
Note: SharePlex groups are created only when install is performed by root. For non-root installs, the installer
checks that all necessary groups are present on the system. If not, a message is displayed to inform users that
certain groups must be created manually as superuser.
Creating the SharePlex groups within a cluster

In a cluster, the SharePlex groups are added during installation only to the primary node (the node to which the
shared disk containing the SharePlex directories was mounted during installation). The groups are not created
automatically on the other cluster nodes, but they must exist on those nodes so that they are available when
Share- Plex fails over to those nodes.

27
Note: SharePlex groups are created only when install is performed by root. For non-root installs, the installer
checks that all necessary groups are present on the system. If not, a message is displayed to inform users that
certain groups must be created manually as superuser.
To create the groups on the other nodes, use the following syntax.
# groupadd {SharePlex Admin group}

# groupadd spopr
# groupadd spview
Assigning users to SharePlex groups

Each SharePlex command is assigned one of three authorization levels that corresponds to one of the
SharePlex groups. Each authorization level has different privileges. To execute a command, a SharePlex user
must have that commands authorization level or higher.
When you installed SharePlex, one user was designated as a SharePlex Administrator and was added to the
SharePlex Admin group. To grant other users access to Share- Plex, use the following table to determine their
authorization levels.
User Authorization Levels and Roles
Auth User type User group User roles

level
1 Administration SharePlex Can issue all SharePlex commands. Commands that can only be issued by
Admin group a SharePlex Administrator are:
l startup, shutdown
l all configuration commands relating to an active configuration
l all parameter commands except list param
l start capture
l stop capture
l abort capture
l truncate log
2 Operator spopr Can issue all SharePlex commands except those listed above.
3 Viewer spview Can view lists, status screens, and logs to monitor replication
only.
To assign user authorization levels

Note to Nameserver users: This procedure is performed through the nameserver, so access to the /etc/group
file is not necessary unless you want SharePlex entries on the local system.
1. Open the /etc/group file.

2. Add the UNIX user name of each SharePlex user to the appropriate group: SharePlex Admin group,
spopr, or spview. You can assign a list of user names to each group, making sure the names are

28
separated by commas (see the example below). If the password field is null, no password is associated
with the group. In the example, the asterisk (*) represents the password, 102 represents the numerical
group ID, and spadmin represents the SharePlex Admin group. The group ID must be unique.
spadmin:*:102:spadmin,root,jim,jane,joyce,jerry
a. Put user names for SharePlex Administrators in the SharePlex Admin group. You need at least
one user with Administrator rights on each source and target system.
b. Put user names for SharePlex operators in the spopr group.
c. Put user names for SharePlex viewers in the spview group.
d. To include the root user as a SharePlex user, add it to the desired group. By default, the root user
is not added to the SharePlex user groups
3. Save the /etc/group file.
4. Repeat these steps for each source and target system, including all the nodes in a cluster.
Tip: After logging onto UNIX, any user can verify his or her authorization level from the sp_ctrl interface
by issuing the authlevel command.
5. Proceed to Establishing SharePlex as an Oracle user on page 45.
Establishing SharePlex as an Oracle user

The ora_setup program establishes SharePlex as an Oracle user. Whether or not to run ora_setup at this time
depends on whether this is a source or target system and on how you intend to synchronize the data.
l If this is a source system, run ora_setup now. You cannot commence replication until ora_setup has
been run for the source instance to establish SharePlex as an Oracle user.
l If this is a target system, choose one of the following options, depending on your replication strategy,
unless you have been instructed otherwise by a documented SharePlex procedure, a Technical Support
representative, or a Dell Software Systems Consultant.
A. If the target instance exists, and you will be using transportable tablespaces or a cold-copy
method to synchronize the data (export/import, store/restore from tape, FTP), run ora_setup now.
B. If you will be using an Oracle hot backup to synchronize the data, run ora_setup after the backup
has been applied and the database has been recovered and opened, following the instructions
in the synchronization procedure. Running ora_setup on an existing target instance, such as a
hot standby, before the backup and recovery does no harm, but you will need to re-run ora_setup
again after the backup.
Synchronization options are explained in the SharePlex Administrators Guide.

The ora_setup program (Oracle Setup) creates SharePlex for Oracle internal tables and indices in the database
and establishes a master Oracle account with full DBA privileges. This account will be used by all of the
SharePlex for Oracle processes. All of the objects installed by ora_setup will be owned by the SharePlex for
Oracle master account.

29
Requirements for ora_setup
l Run ora_setup for each Oracle instance involved in replication on all source and target systems.
l For centralized reporting (consolidated replication) using separate variable-data directories, run ora_
setup for each variable-data directory. Create a different Oracle user for each one.
l Do not alter the SharePlex for Oracle database objects. If you have questions or concerns about these
objects, contact Technical Support.
To run ora_setup
1. Start the Oracle database instance, if it is not already.
2. Log onto UNIX as a non-root user with DBA privileges.
3. View the oratab file, and make certain that the values for ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME directory
paths are valid.
The oratab file is typically located in the /etc directory; however, it may be located in the var/opt/oracle
directory, as is the case for Sun Solaris platforms. If the oratab file is located in the var/opt/oracle
directory ensure that no other version of this file exists in the /etc directory. (The ora_setup process first
looks in the /etc directory and then the var/opt/oracle directory. If there are multiple oratab files they
should be identical or have different file names.)
Warning! Sometimes oratab files have an asterisk (*) symbol instead of an entry for the
ORACLE_SID, and that can cause ora_setup to fail. Ensure that the oratab file contains a valid
ORACLE_SID.
4. Make a note of the ORACLE_SID. You will need it for the setup process. To set the ORACLE_SID as the
default, export it by typing one of the following commands.
ksh shell:
export ORACLE_SID=OracleSID of this instance
csh shell:
setenv ORACLE_SID OracleSID of this instance
5. [FOR CONFIGURATIONS USING MULTIPLE VARIABLE-DATA DIRECTORIES] Export the environment
variable that points to the variable-data directory for the SharePlex instance for which you are
running ora_setup
ksh shell:
export SP_SYS_VARDIR=/full pathname of variable-data directory
csh shell:
setenv SP_SYS_VARDIR /full pathname of variable-data directory
6. Change directories to the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory.
$ cd /product_dir/bin
7. If sp_cop is running, run sp_ctrl and shut down sp_cop with the following command. SharePlex cannot
be running when you run ora_setup.
$ ./sp_ctrl
sp_ctrl> shutdown
8. From the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory, run the ora_setup program.

30
$ ./ora_setup
9. Follow the prompts through the ora_setup process. You will need the following information to complete
the process:
o ORACLE_SID
o SYSTEM account password
o SharePlex User name and password
If this is the first time ora_setup is being run, create a new SharePlex user. If this is not the first
time that ora_setup is being run you may use the existing SharePlex Admin user or you may
elect to use another existing SharePlex user.
o DEFAULT tablespace for use by SharePlex
o TEMPORARY tablespace for use by SharePlex
o INDEX tablespace(s) for use by SharePlex
o If you are running ASM.
Default options are shown in brackets [ ]. To choose the default, press Enter
Note: You are allowed five attempts to enter a valid password for an existing user. At any point, you can
press Enter to return to the Create New User prompt. After five invalid passwords, you are also returned
to the Create New User prompt. Enter y to create a new user or n to quit ora_setup. If you quit, SharePlex
will not be established as an Oracle user.
Note: If you have an active configuration and you would like to change the SharePlex Oracle user, to
preserve the current replication environment copy the SharePlex objects from the existing SharePlex
users schema to the new SharePlex users schema. When prompted for the SharePlex Oracle user
specify the changed SharePlex Oracle user.
10. When the ora_setup program completes the Oracle setup process it will exit with confirmation of a
successful setup:
Setup completed successfully
Important!
l Before you configure SharePlex for replication, run the demonstrations in this manual to confirm that
your installation was successful and that you are familiar with the software.
l Before you activate a configuration for production, read the following chapters in the SharePlex
Administrators Guide for additional instructions for planning and configuring replication.
Chapter 2: How SharePlex Works
Chapter 3: Running the SharePlex Programs
Chapter 4: Planning SharePlex Replication
Chapter 5: Preparing for SharePlex Replication
Chapter 6: SharePlex Optional Setup
Chapter 7: Starting SharePlex Replication
Refer to the SharePlex Reference Manual for information about:

31
l Controlling and monitoring replication.
l Tuning replication with SharePlex parameters.
l Preventing and solving replication problems.

32
Windows installation and setup
This chapter contains instructions for installing SharePlex for Oracle on a Windows system.
Windows installation overview

Important! Read this entire chapter before you install SharePlex so that your installation is
successful.
1. Complete the Windows Preinstallation Checklist on page 51.

2. If you are installing SharePlex on a cluster, follow the pre-installation instructions on page 65.
3. Install the SharePlex software on each system using the instructions starting on page 67. If this is a first-
time SharePlex installation, you will be prompted to restart the system.
4. If you are installing SharePlex on a cluster, follow the post-installation instructions on page 82.
5. Assign SharePlex users and authorization levels on each system after installation using the instructions
starting on page 88.
Important information about upgrades: Before you install an upgrade of SharePlex, refer to the
Release Notes for the version you are installing. Requirements can vary from one version of
SharePlex to another, and you could be asked to take additional actions beyond what is documented
in this manual. Instructions for upgrading SharePlex are located in the Release Notes.
Windows pre-installation checklist

Before you install the SharePlex software, make the following pre-installation decisions and complete this
checklist. After installation, consult the SharePlex Administrators Guide for additional instructions for planning
and configuring replication.
Network checklist
1. Each system on which you are loading SharePlex must be connected to the network. The network node
name and IP address must be established sufficiently to allow the installation process to perform TCP
operations, even though the machines themselves are not yet configured. If you disconnect the system
from the network, the installation will fail. This failure might appear to be a license utility error, but it is
usually the inability of the license utilities and other components of SharePlex to perform initial TCP
operations.
Are all systems connected?
2. In some situations, machine names cannot be resolved between UNIX and Windows systems. The
workaround is to add the IP addresses and names of all UNIX and Windows servers in the replication
network to the following files, which contain mappings of IP addresses to host names.

33
o The /etc/hosts file on all UNIX machines
o The hosts file on all Windows machines. The file normally is in C:\Windows\
System32\Drivers\etc).
Put each entry on an individual line. Type the machines IP address first, then tab or space over at least
once and add the corresponding host name, then tab again to add the alias. Comments can be used
after the host name if they are preceded by the pound (#) symbol.
102.54.94.97 sysA.company.com sysA # source system

38.25.63.10 sysB.company.com sysB # target system
SharePlex supports host names that contain letters or numbers only. For host names that contain a dot
or other non-alphanumeric character (such as . or _), create an alias in the /etc/hosts or hosts file
that contains only alphanumeric characters. Also create the alias on the NIS server and the DNS
server, if used.
Are all machine names listed correctly in the host files?
System Checklist
1. The SharePlex install file requires 60MB of disk storage and the installation process requires an
additional 400MB of temporary disk space. When installed, the SharePlex files will utilize at least 600MB
of disk space. The MKS Toolkit installation requires at least 20MB of disk space.
Is there sufficient disk space to complete the install?
2. In order for SharePlex security features to be utilized, partition the drives that contain replication
components as NTFS. SharePlex user groups cannot function as designed on a FAT partition, since it
lacks the file security features of the NTFS format. On FAT partitions, you cannot control access to, and
use of, the SharePlex processes and the sp_ctrl user interface. Any user who logs onto a FAT partition,
regardless of his or her SharePlex user authorization level, will have SharePlex Admin group
permissions with full capability to stop, start and abort SharePlex replication processes, except for
remote logins, which retain the SharePlex group assignments.
To employ the security provided by the SharePlex user groups if FAT partitions must be used,
prevent local access to the FAT partitions by all users except SharePlex Admin group, and allow
only remote login for spopr and spview groups. Additional information about the SharePlex user
groups is on page 88.
Have security issues with FAT partitions been addressed?
3. SharePlex needs an additional 200 MB of page file size if more than 80% of the current total page file
size is being used. Greater page size provides faster processing speed when SharePlex is handling
large transactions in the queues.
Is there adequate page size?
4. SharePlex on the Windows platform uses the MKS Toolkit operating environment from Mortice Kern
Systems (MKS), formerly known as NuTCRACKER. This enables SharePlex to be ported to the UNIX
and Windows platforms in a uniform manner. The MKS Toolkit files are installed by the MKS Platform
Components installation program. One Registry entry is created under the manufacturers name,
Mortice Kern Systems, and another is created under the name Data Focus. The default folder for the
MKS Toolkit is C:\Program Files\MKS Toolkit, but if you select a different folder, ensure that it is
secured so that it cannot accidentally be moved or removed. The MKS Toolkit files must not be moved

34
after they are installed.
Important! For first-time MKS Toolkit installations, you will be prompted to restart the system.
What is the MKS Toolkit directory?

5. The SharePlex queues grow dynamically as data is replicated. To determine the amount of disk space
that you will need for the variable-data directory, use the following guidelines.
1 Estimate the longest time that you can tolerate replication to be down.
2 Determine how much data would be replicated in that time, using the following formula as a guide. The
formula multiplies the redo log value by 1/3 because only about 1/3 of the redo log is data that is
replicated. The rest is used by Oracle for maintenance and operation of the instance itself.
[size of a redo log] x [number of log switches in 1 hour] x 1/3 x [number of hours downtime] =
amount of disk space needed for the queues on each system
For example, if you expect to recover from 8 hours of downtime, and your redo logs are 500 MB in size
and switch five times an hour, then you could need 6.5 GB of space on both the source and target
machines for the SharePlex queues
[500 MB redo log] x [5 switches/hour] x [1/3] x [8 hours] = 6.5 GB disk space

How much space do you need for the variable-data directory?
6. Cached file systems
The Capture process encounters errors when accessing the buffer of cache option enabled files
systems, because of the way disk information is cached and how the buffer is flushed to disk. The buffer
access seems to be an incomplete block, so when the Capture process encounters this condition, it
waits and will retry. This wait causes it to lose pace with Oracle.
SharePlex recommends that all redo logs, archive logs, and SharePlex files to be placed on file system
(i.e. Veritas Quick I/O, Net App Filer, etc.) with the cache option disabled. Redo logs and archive logs on
cache enabled mount points may cause unpredictable outcomes.
Are your redo log and archive log files on a cache option disabled file system?
7. SharePlex users and authorization levels may be manually created and set at any time, before or after
installation. For more information on authorization levels see Assigning SharePlex users and
authorization levels in this guide.
Who will use the software and what authorization levels will each be assigned?
8. SharePlex supports host names that contain letters or numbers only. If a host name contains a dot or
any other non-alphanumeric character (such as . or _), create an alias in the local /etc/hosts file
that contains only alphanumeric characters. Also create the alias on the NIS server and the DNS
server, if used.
Do all host names contain supported characters?
9. In the system startup scripts and other scripts that start SharePlex and Oracle, as well as in manual
operations, always start Oracle before you start SharePlex and shut down SharePlex before you shut
down Oracle.
Have scripts and procedures been structured to start and stop Oracle and SharePlex in the
proper sequence?

35
Database Checklist
1. If you are installing SharePlex on a test machine on which Oracle has been installed and uninstalled
many times, the Registry entries for Oracle could be corrupted. Before you install SharePlex on a test
machine, uninstall all Oracle software and delete all Oracle Registry entries to delete all references to
Oracle, if possible. Afterward, re-install Oracle using the Oracle installer program, which creates Registry
entries correctly. SharePlex relies on accurate Registry entries for the ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_SID,
redo and archive log locations and other information necessary for replication.
Is there a clean Oracle installation?
2. If you are upgrading your Oracle database: If you plan to upgrade your database, perform the Oracle
upgrade before you install SharePlex. At the end of the SharePlex installation process, you will run a
program named OraSetup, which establishes an Oracle account for SharePlex, installs some database
objects, and runs an analysis that establishes object definitions. Installing the database upgrade before
you run OraSetup ensures that SharePlex has the correct object definitions.
Have all Oracle upgrades been performed?
3. Do you use Oracle Name Server? If so, ensure that the instance is listed in the oratab file prior to running
the SharePlex installation script.
Is the instance listed?
4. The minimum number of Oracle PROCESSES and SESSIONS for the Post process is calculated by
taking the setting for the SP_OPO_THREADS_MAX parameter, and adding one for the global
connection. The default setting (and the max setting) for the SP_OPO_THREADS_MAX parameter is 64.
Have the Oracle process and session setting for the Post process been set correctly?
5. SharePlex requires a master Oracle account (schema and user) that will be used by all SharePlex
processes to interface with Oracle. The account is created during the Ora- Setup portion of the
installation. To perform replication, SharePlex must have a DBA role and unlimited privileges,
tablespace privileges, and read privileges to the redo logs. This privilege remains in effect unless it is
explicitly changed. The default user is splex/splex.
Important: The SharePlex user is created with the default Oracle profile under the assumption
that the profile has the unlimited resource privileges originally assigned by Oracle. View the
profiles in your database to verify that the default is unlimited. If the default has been changed,
assign SharePlex a DBA profile with unlimited privileges for all definitions.
The following grants are applied during OraSetup for the SharePlex user, where splex in the syntax is
the name of your SharePlex user.
o For Oracle 9i or 10g, the SharePlex Oracle user requires the following grant to access the data
dictionary if O7_DICTIONARY_ACCESSIBILITY is set to FALSE*.
grant select any dictionary to splex;
*SharePlex requires access to the dictionary tables outside of the standard DBA roles.
What will be the name of the SharePlex Oracle user?
6. The Oracle instance must be open before you run OraSetup, although the database does not have to be
populated. SharePlex does not create or populate the database.
Exception: If you will be using an Oracle hot backup to synchronize the data, it creates the target
instance and database files. See the SharePlex Administrators Guide for synchronization procedures.
Are all Oracle instances open?

36
7. The Oracle database must have at least the minimum level of supplemental logging enabled.
8. Oracle 9i only: The LOG_PARALLELISM parameter is not supported when it is set to a value greater
than 1. If the LOG_PARALLELISM parameter is set to a value greater than 1, SharePlex cannot parse
the redo logs correctly and thus transactions hang in the capture queue.
To prevent this problem, check the value for the LOG_PARALLELISM parameter before installing
SharePlex. If it is greater than 1, reset the value to 1, and restart the Oracle instance for the new value to
take effect.
What is the value for the LOG_PARALLELISM parameter?
Installation checklist
1. [CLUSTERS ONLY] If you are installing on a system cluster, follow the steps in Pre-
installation instructions for Windows cluster environments on page 65 before you install
SharePlex. After installation, follow the steps in Post-installation procedures for Windows cluster
environments on page 82.
2. At a minimum, the Oracle 9.2.0.2 client must be installed prior to installing Share- Plex. Ideally, the
Oracle Client version should match the version of Oracle involved in SharePlex replication. You can
download Oracle Client upgrades from the Oracle web site.
Is the correct Oracle client installed?
3. Assign a user who will own and write to the SharePlex product and variable-data directories. This user
must already exist on the system and must have read privileges to the Oracle redo logs. This user must
also belong to the administrators group.
Who is the owner of the SharePlex directories?
4. The installation creates a SharePlex product directory on the local system. This directory contains the
SharePlex binaries and default parameter settings. Within a cluster, you will install the SharePlex
product directory on each node so that binaries are available, Registry entries are created, and the MKS
Toolkit operating environment is established in readiness for failover.
As a normal precaution, install the product directory on a separate internal hard drive than the
production database, or on a different partition. If you do not specify a directory during installation, the
default installation directory that is used is C:\Program Files\Quest Software\SharePlex.
What is the path of the SharePlex product directory?
For a list of the SharePlex directories and files, see the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
5. The installation package creates a variable-data directory named by you (referred to as /vardir in this
manual). SharePlex maintains the current replication environment in this directory, including the data
files for its queues.
Install the SharePlex variable-data directory on a separate filesystem from the one containing the
production database instance, but not on a raw device, to prevent the queues from affecting the
performance of the production instance.
Other requirements for the variable-data directory

o Do not install the variable-data directory in the same directory as the SharePlex product directory
that is created in Installation Checklist step 4. There are identically named sub-directories in both
directories, and it is possible that SharePlex utilities that restore replication to a clean state could
affect the wrong files.
o To determine space requirements for the variable-data directory, see System Checklist step 5.

37
o [CLUSTERS] Before installing on a cluster, create a disk that can be mounted and accessed by
all nodes of the cluster. You will install the variable-data directory on that disk when you install
SharePlex on the primary cluster node. During failover, the adoptive node mounts the shared
disk so that the variable-data directory remains accessible and replication continues. Do not use
the same disk as the one used for the Oracle files or data.
What is the name of the SharePlex variable-data directory?

6. SharePlex uses the default TCP/IP and UDP port numbers of 2100 (for which the hex equivalent is 834).
Please review the following information about establishing the SharePlex port number.
o In Oracle 9.2.x, port 2100 is used by an Oracle XML daemon, so it cannot be used by SharePlex.
Use the following instructions to specify an alternative port number for SharePlex after you install
the SharePlex software.
o If you are using a firewall, a UDP port must be open for SharePlex, in addition to the TCP/IP port.
o If you are using SSH software, you can configure SharePlex to work with it through a secure
port. Using SSH for a SharePlex instance is incompatible with the SharePlex Manager
application. For instructions for establishing SSH compatibility for SharePlex, see the SharePlex
Administrators Guide.
Important: Windows users should not use port 2101. The SharePlex module, SpRemote, uses
port 2101.
Note: You may change the default TCP/IP port after installation by following the instructions located in
the SharePlex Administrators Guide. What is the port number for TCP/IP and UDP?
7. You will be prompted for the ORACLE_SID of the Oracle instance for which you are implementing
replication. The ORACLE_SID is stored in the Windows Registry.
IMPORTANT: SharePlex must link to the binaries of the version of Oracle that is involved in SharePlex
replication. Please ensure that the PATH is set correctly, with the correct ORACLE_HOME appearing first
in the PATH env variable.
Does the correct ORACLE_HOMEappear in the PATH?
What is the ORACLE_SID?
8. You will be prompted for a unique license key for each machine where you are installing SharePlex,
including each machine of a cluster. The software can be installed without a key, but you will not be able
to run it.
Permanent SharePlex license keys are generated for a specific machine ID, so be sure you know which
key was assigned to which machine. Keep a copy of your license keys in a safe place in case you need
them in the future.
For SharePlex demonstration trials only: You need a temporary demonstration key for each system
where you are installing SharePlex. If you did not receive keys, contact your Dell Software sales
representative to get them.
Do you have a valid key for each machine?
9. After you install SharePlex, but before you run OraSetup, install all current patches for your version of
SharePlex. It is possible that one or more patches were created after the software was released. To find
out if there are patches for your version of SharePlex and for instructions for downloading and applying
them, log onto Support and confirm you have the current patches: http://software.dell.com/support/.

38
ORASETUP checklist
1. When initiating OraSetup you will be asked for the following information:
o The Oracle SID that the set-up process is being run against.
o The password for the SYSDBA privileged SYSTEM account on the Oracle SID listed above.
o The name and password of the SharePlex Admin User.
2. SharePlex requires a tablespace for its internal tables in each database involved in replication. With
the exception of the SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP tables, SharePlex tables use the tablespaces default
storage settings.
If the tables to be replicated have extensive LOB columns that are updated or inserted frequently
consider the following when sizing the tablespace:
LOB Considerations
The SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP table is created with a 1 MB INITIAL extent, 1 MB NEXT extent, and
PCTINCREASE of 10. The MAXEXTENTS of this table is 120, allowing it to grow to 120 MB. The default
storage usually accommodates this table, permitting more than 4 million LOB entries. If you expect more
than that, size the SharePlex tablespace accordingly, taking into account that this table shares the
tablespace with other SharePlex tables. The SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP table does not contain entries for
LOBs stored in-row.
If the database is using the cost-based optimizer (CBO) and the replicating tables include numerous
LOBs, incorporate the SHAREPLEX_LOBMAP table into the analysis schedule.
* For upgrades in which a SharePlex account already exists, the storage parameters of the internal
tables will not be changed.
Note: For a list of the SharePlex internal tables and their default storage values, see SharePlex Tables
in this guide.
What is the name of the default SharePlex tablespace?
3. SharePlex requires a temporary tablespace where it can perform sorts and other operations. This
tablespace will be used for sorts when the compare commands are used to compare source and target
tables to verify synchronization. Compares performed on large tables require large sorting operations,
especially if there are no primary or unique keys. For more information about the compare commands,
see the SharePlex Reference Manual.
If you expect to be using these commands, take into account sorting requirements when sizing the
SharePlex temporary tablespace or choosing an existing temporary tablespace for SharePlex. The
default tablespace is the tablespace where the Share- Plex tables are installed.
What is the name of the SharePlex temporary tablespace?
4. SharePlex requires an index tablespace for the indices for its internal tables. The default for this
tablespace is the tablespace for the SharePlex tables, but performance will be enhanced if the
SharePlex tables and indices are on separate tablespaces to minimize I/O contention.
If you have a previous version of SharePlex, the SharePlex indices were installed in the tablespace
where you installed the SharePlex tables. These indices are not moved when you install this version of
SharePlex, but it is recommended that you move them to the index tablespace you are defining for this
installation. If the existing SharePlex indices are in an index tablespace, you can specify that tablespace
for this installation.
What is the name of the SharePlex index tablespace?

39
Pre-installation instructions for Windows
cluster environments
SharePlex can be used in a clustered environment. When SharePlex fails over, the adoptive node mounts a
central variable-data directory on a shared disk so that replication continues.
Installation sequence
1. Install SharePlex first on the primary node the one to which the shared disk that you created in
preinstallation checklist step 5 normally will be mounted. Do the following during installation:
o When you are prompted for the location of the variable-data directory, choose a location on the
shared disk.
o Install the license key for this node when prompted during the installation.
o Install license keys for all other nodes in the cluster at the same time that you install the license
for the primary node. To install the additional license keys, select the Add Alternate Host Id
check box in the License Key dialog box.
Tip: If you do not know the machine ID, run the SplexCpuID utility, located in the bin sub-directory of the
SharePlex product directory.
o In the SharePlex port field, select the port number.
o In the Enter License Key field, type the license key, observing spaces and spelling case. If you
received the key in a file, you can copy it (Control-c) and paste it (Control-v) into the field.
This places the secondary machines license in the shared variable-data directory.
2. Run SplexAddKey again on the primary node for each additional node in the cluster. The objective of
these steps is to place all license keys in the shared variabledata directory.
Install SharePlex on all of the other nodes in the cluster (the secondary nodes), specifying for each one a
variable-data directory on the local machine. You may use a temporary directory for this purpose. This directory
will not be used for replication, and 66 SHAREPLEX FOR ORACLE Installation and Demonstration Guide
Version 8.0 (document revision 1) you can delete all of the temporary variable-data directories from the
secondary nodes after SharePlex is installed.
Note: The reason you are installing SharePlex on each node, in addition to installing the binaries, is to establish
essential Registry entries on those nodes and to establish the MKS Toolkit operating environment, which
enables SharePlex to replicate between Windows and UNIX systems in a uniform manner.
IP addressing
Host names and IP addresses are part of the SharePlex queue structures and cannot be changed after
replication commences. A logical host name must be created, also known as a global cluster package name,
which must be mapped to the floating IP address before activating a configuration file.
To map the global cluster package name to the floating IP address, create an alias in the hosts file (usually
located in C:\\WINNT\System32\Drivers\etc) on all nodes or in a nameserver (DNS, NIS, NISPLUS). The alias
cannot contain non-alphanumeric characters, such as underscores ( _ ) or dots (.).
Example hosts file:
1.0.1.6 LocalSys #permanent IP address

1.0.1.7 HACluster #floating IP address

40
Make certain to follow the instructions in Post-installation procedures for Windows cluster environments on
page 82 after you install SharePlex.
Running the installation program

Important upgrades only! You do not need to uninstall SharePlex or the MKS Toolkit environment
before upgrading. Install the upgrade over the existing version.
Perform the installation instructions in this chapter on all Windows machines involved in SharePlex replication,
including all nodes of a cluster. Before each installation, review the Windows Preinstallation Checklist on page
51 again to ensure that all of the installation requirements are satisfied on that machine.
l Installation type, Full or Client. If you are performing a Full install, you must know the Oracle version of
the instance that corresponds to this installation.
To begin the installation process proceed with the following:
1. Log into Windows as the SharePlex Administrator that was specified in step 3 of the Windows
Preinstallation Checklist. This user must have Administrator privileges for Windows. The installation
automatically adds this user to the SharePlex Admin group.
2. [REINSTALLATION, UPGRADES, AND PATCHES ONLY]
Stop the SharePlex service by launching the SpUtils from the shortcut on the Windows desktop and
selecting the SharePlex Services tab from the SharePlex Utility.
o If the port for this instance of SharePlex is not displayed in the Port field, select the port from the
drop-down list, and click Stop.
o Click Close to close the dialog box.
3. Launch the sp_setup installation program. (The install process will begin by displaying the Welcome
dialog box.) Proceed through the installation by following the prompts.
Important: If you cancel this installation, do not run OraSetup unless you re-install the SharePlex
software first. Otherwise, the correct port number for SharePlex will not be reflected in the
OraSetup process.
4. When you are prompted for the SharePlex folder, otherwise known as the SharePlex product directory, if
you enter the path of a different directory, and any of the folders have spaces in them (for example,
Product Directory) the path name must be within quotation marks, for example
C:\SharePlex\Product Directory.
5. When you are prompted for the port number for SharePlex, do not use port 2101 as a SharePlex port
because the SpRemote SharePlex module on Windows uses port 2101.

41
Also, make certain all related SharePlex instances on the other machines are installed on the same port
number that is used on this machine to permit communication among the machines through TCP/IP
connections.
Note: You can install SharePlex on multiple ports to replicate multiple Oracle instances or to implement
consolidated replication. Finish all of the installation procedures for this system, then see the SharePlex
Administrators Guide for instructions for establishing a replication strategy, including how to run multiple
instances of SharePlex. You are prompted for the SharePlex variable-data directory, when installing on
a cluster, follow the guidelines for installing the variable-data directory on page 65.
6. If this is a new installation of SharePlex or if there is a new version of MKS Toolkit, you will be prompted
during installation to install the MKS Platform Components. These components comprise the MKS
Toolkit operating environment, which enables SharePlex to be ported to the UNIX and Windows
platforms in a uniform manner.
If prompted to restart your system, cancel the restart. You may restart your system after the SharePlex
installation procedures are completed.
Note: The default directory for the MKS Platform Components is called the MKS Toolkit. After you
complete the rest of the installation tasks, including adding a license key and running OraSetup, you
must change the default setting for Global Resources in the MKS Toolkit. Refer to Changing Global
Settings in the MKS Toolkit on page 80 in this manual.
7. After the installer finishes adding files and making system changes it will launch the SharePlex Utility to
enable you to add a license key.
After reviewing the information and instructions provided in Adding a SharePlex license key on page
72, you may:
o Continue with adding a license key by clicking on the Add License button and providing the
requested information.
o Click Cancel to close the SharePlex Utility if you do not have a license key. The SharePlex
software and the Oracle account remain intact, but you will not be able to run SharePlex.
8. After closing the utility to add the license key the installer will navigate you to the OraSetup section of the
SharePlex Utility. This will enable you to establish SharePlex as an Oracle user.
After reviewing the information and instructions provided in OraSetup: Establishing SharePlex as an
Oracle user on page 74, you may:
o Continue with OraSetup by providing the requested information.
o Click Cancel to postpone OraSetup and continue the installation. Run OraSetup when you are
instructed to do so by the synchronization procedure. Synchronization options are explained in
the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
Important: If you cancel the OraSetup installation, it does not cancel the installation of
the SharePlex software, nor does it remove it. SharePlex is still installed on the system,
but you cannot start replication unless you first run OraSetup. You can run OraSetup at
any time by using the SpUtils or SpClient utility.
9. After closing the utility to run OraSetup, the installer will navigate you to the SharePlex Services section
of the SharePlex Utility. This will enable you to install SharePlex as a service.
After reviewing the information and instructions provided in Installing the Share- Plex service on page
77, you may:

42
o Continue with adding SharePlex as a service by clicking on the Install button and providing the
requested information.
o Click Cancel to postpone adding SharePlex as a service.
10. When you have completed the steps above, the Installation Complete dialog box will appear, click
Finish to complete the installation. Be sure to review the Important! notes that follow these
installation steps.
11. If you were prompted to restart the system after you installed the MKS Toolkit files, you may do so now.
12. If you are using SharePlex in a cluster environment, proceed to Post-installation procedures for
Windows cluster environments on page 82. Otherwise, proceed to Assigning SharePlex users and
authorization levels on page 88
13. [OPTIONAL] If you are installing multiple instances of SharePlex on this system, you can set a default
port number for the sp_ctrl process so that it automatically connects to that port when it starts. If you do
not set a default port number, sp_ctrl connects to the SharePlex instance with the lowest port number.
Important!
l Repeat all of the installation procedures in this chapter for all Windows machines that will be involved in
SharePlex replication.
l Before each installation, review the Windows Preinstallation Checklist on page 51 again to ensure that
all of the system requirements are satisfied for each machine.
To install SharePlex on multiple ports in preparation for consolidated replication or other configurations
requiring multiple variable-data directories, see the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
Important!
l Before you configure SharePlex for replication, run the demonstrations in this manual to confirm that
your installation was successful and that you are familiar with the software.
l Before you activate a configuration for production, read the following chapters in the SharePlex
Administrators Guide for additional instructions for planning and configuring replication.
Chapter 2: How SharePlex Works
Chapter 3: Running the SharePlex Programs
Chapter 4: Planning SharePlex Replication
Chapter 5: Preparing for SharePlex Replication
Chapter 6: SharePlex Optional Setup
Chapter 7: Starting SharePlex Replication

o Controlling and monitoring replication.
o Tuning replication with SharePlex parameters.
o Preventing and solving replication problems.

43
Adding a SharePlex license key
Please refer to Release Notes for instructions on adding a license key.
OraSetup: Establishing SharePlex as an

Oracle user
The OraSetup program establishes SharePlex as an Oracle user, creates SharePlex for Oracle internal tables
and indices in the database, and establishes a master Oracle account with full DBA privileges. This account will
be used by all of the SharePlex processes. All of the objects installed by OraSetup will be owned by the
SharePlex for Oracle master account.
Running OraSetup during installation

During the installation process, the OraSetup dialog box opens after you install the license key. You can run the
Oracle Setup process at this time (recommended) or you can close the SharePlex utility dialog box and run
OraSetup later by launching SpUtils from the desktop shortcut and following the directions below.
Whether or not to run OraSetup during installation depends on whether this is a source or target system and on
how you intend to synchronize the data.
l If this is a source system, complete the OraSetup process during installation. You cannot
commence replication until OraSetup has been run for the source instance to establish SharePlex
as an Oracle user.
l If this is a target system, choose one of the following options, depending on your replication strategy,
unless you have been instructed otherwise by a documented SharePlex procedure, a Technical Support
representative, or a Dell Software Systems Consultant:
o If the target instance exists and you will be using transportable tablespaces or a cold-copy
method to synchronize the data (export/import, store/restore from tape, FTP), it is recommended
that you complete the OraSetup process during installation.
o If you will be using a hot backup to synchronize the data, run OraSetup after the backup has
been applied and the database has been recovered and opened, following the instructions in the
synchronization procedure. Running OraSetup on an existing target instance, such as a hot
standby, before the backup and recovery does no harm, but you will need to re-run OraSetup
again after the backup.
Requirements for OraSetup

l Run OraSetup for each Oracle instance involved in SharePlex replication on all source and
target systems.
l Within a cluster, run it on the primary node (the one to which the shared disk containing the variable-data
directory is mounted) so that the SharePlex user and password are registered in the SharePlex
paramdb file. You do not need to run it on the other cluster nodes.
l For centralized reporting (consolidated replication) using separate variable-data directories, run
OraSetup for each variable-data directory.
l Do not alter the SharePlex internal objects. If you have questions or concerns about these objects,

44
contact Technical Support.
l The Oracle 9.2.0.2 or higher client must be installed on the system where you are running OraSetup.
To run OraSetup
1. Start the Oracle database instance, if it is not already.
2. Launch the SpUtils from the shortcut on the Windows desktop and select the OraSetup tab from the
SharePlex Utilities dialog box.
3. Follow the prompts through the OraSetup process. You will need the following information to complete
the process:
o SharePlex port number
o ORACLE_SID
o SYSTEM account password
o SharePlex User name and password
Note: If this is the first time OraSetup is being run, create a new SharePlex user. If this is not the first
time that OraSetup is being run you may use the existing SharePlex user or you may elect to use
another existing SharePlex user.
o DEFAULT tablespace for use by SharePlex
o TEMPORARY tablespace for use by SharePlex
o INDEX tablespace(s) for use by SharePlex
o If you are running ASM on an ASM supported platform.
Note: You are allowed five attempts to enter a valid password for an existing user. At any point, you can
press Enter to return to the Create New User prompt. After five invalid passwords, you are also returned
to the Create New User prompt. Enter y to create a new user or n to quit OraSetup. If you quit, SharePlex
will not be established as an Oracle user.
4. When the OraSetup program completes the Oracle setup process it will display a confirmation of a
successful setup:
OraSetup Finished Successfully

5. Click OK to close the SharePlex Utilities dialog box.

45
Installing the SharePlex service
SharePlex, like Oracle, runs as a service on the Windows platform. The service name is Sp_Copsrv.exe, and it
must be installed and running for replication to proceed.
Installing the SharePlex service during installation

During the installation process, the SharePlex Services dialog box opens after you establish SharePlex as an
Oracle user. You can install the SharePlex service at this time (recommended) or you can close the SharePlex
utility dialog box and install the service later by launching SpUtils from the desktop shortcut and following the
directions below.
Adding SharePlex as a service

1. Launch the SpUtils from the shortcut on the Windows desktop and select the SharePlex Services tab
from the SharePlex Utility.
2. Select the SharePlex port number for which you are installing this service from the Port list box of the
SharePlex Services dialog box.
3. Click Install. (When you see the Service Stopped message in the Current State text box, the SharePlex
service is installed.)
4. To start the SharePlex service, click Start. (When you see the Service Running message in the Current
State text box, the SharePlex service is started.)
5. Click OK to close the SharePlex Utilities dialog box.
Tip: The SharePlex service is installed in auto-startup mode, which starts SharePlex automatically when
the system is started, ensuring that replication begins as soon as possible. To change startup status, use
the Services application in Administrative Tools directory located in the Control Panel.
Setting a default port for sp_ctrl

Setting the default port for sp_ctrl requires editing the registry.
1. From the Start menu, click Run.

2. In the Run dialog box, type regedit, and click OK to run the Registry Editor.
3. Under My Computer, drill down to the SharePlex entry of \HKEY_LOCAL_
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432node\Quest Software\SharePlex.
a. Click the SharePlex node.
b. In the Name column in the right pane, right click DefaultPort, then select Modify to open the Edit
String dialog box.
c. In the Value Data text box, enter the port number to be used as the default, then click OK.
4. Exit the Registry Editor.

46
Changing global settings in the MKS toolkit
When you have completed the preceding installation procedures, and if you also have the MKS Platform
Components (MKS Toolkit) installed (either newly installed or from a previous installation), you need to change
the default setting for Global Resources memory. The default value is 16 MB and you should increase it to 64
MB. To change this setting, perform the following steps.
1. From the Control Panel, double-click MKS Toolkit. The Configure MKS Toolkit dialog box appears.
2. Select the Runtime Settings tab and then select Miscellaneous Settings from the Categories
pull-down menu.
3. Under Global Settings in the Max Memory for Global Resources text box, change the value by typing
67108864 in the box
4. Click OK to close the dialog box. You must restart your system in order for the change to take effect.
Post-installation procedures for Windows

cluster environments
These instructions assume you installed SharePlex on the cluster nodes according to the instructions in Pre-
installation instructions for Windows cluster environments on page 65.
Summary of post-installation steps

In the following procedures, you will:
l Incorporate SharePlex into the cluster environment.
l Set the SP_SYS_HOST_NAME variable in the Windows Registry to the global cluster package name
that is associated with the floating IP address. The global cluster package name is the alias you created
in the hosts file. SP_SYS_HOST_NAME instructs SharePlex to use the alias when any of its processes
issues a name lookup (gethostname), superseding the local system name. It ensures that sp_ctrl
commands are directed to the correct host, in this case the global cluster package name, and it enables
SharePlex to migrate properly during failover.
l Set the SP_SYS_VARDIR environment variable in the Windows Registry to point to the shared variable-
data directory. This ensures that the current replication environment continues to be used by SharePlex
after failover.
l [OPTIONAL] Set the SP_QUE_SYNC parameter. SP_QUE_SYNC protects data from certain system
failures that cause data corruption by writing data to disk as it is received, instead of using UNIX
buffering. Use of this parameter can significantly slow replication speed, especially posting, so you
should test it if you replicate large volumes of data.
Note: This parameter is not a substitute for UPS or any other high-availability fault tolerance system.
Configuring SharePlex within the cluster solution

If possible, configure SharePlex and Oracle into a single global cluster package. The combination of SharePlex
and Oracle in the same package allows the cluster software to start and stop SharePlex and Oracle in the

47
proper sequence if any component of the package fails. Configure Oracle to start before SharePlex.
Setting environment variables in the Registry

The SP_SYS_VARDIR and SP_SYS_HOST_NAME environment variables must be set in the Windows Registry
on all nodes in the cluster. SharePlex gets its environment information from the Registry.
l Do not set these parameters as environment variables.
l Do not set these variables on source or target systems outside the cluster.
Warning! Do not add, change or remove Registry entries unless you are familiar with the functionality
of the Registry and the Windows platform. Errors when changing Registry settings can adversely
affect the operation of the software or the system itself. If you are not familiar with the Registry,
consult your Systems Administrator for assistance.
To set the variables in the Registry

1. From the Start menu, click Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type regedit, then click OK to run the Registry Editor program.
3. Locate the SharePlex entry
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432node\Quest Software\SharePlex.
4. Expand the SharePlex node, then highlight the port number.
5. In the Name column of the pane on the right, right-click the SP_SYS_VARDIR variable, then select
Modify. The Edit string dialog box appears.
6. In the Edit String dialog box, enter the full path name of the shared variable-data directory in the Value
Data field, then click OK.
7. To add the SP_SYS_HOST_NAME variable, right click the SharePlex port number, then click New, then
String Value.
8. In the Name column of the pane on the right, replace the blue-highlighted new string with SP_
SYS_HOST_NAME.
9. Click outside the new entry to exit edit mode. The new SP_SYS_HOST_NAME variable is highlighted.
10. Right-click the SP_SYS_HOST_NAME variable, then select Modify. The Edit String dialog box appears.
11. In the Edit String dialog box, type the global cluster package name in the Value data field.
12. Click OK.
13. Close the Registry Editor. se
14. The next time you start the SharePlex service, the new Registry entries will take effect.
Setting SP_QUE_SYNC
If you use SP_QUE_SYNC, set it on the primary node of the cluster (the node to which the shared variable-data
directory is mounted) and on each source and target machine outside the cluster that is part of this replication
environment. For more information about SP_QUE_SYNC, see the SharePlex Reference Manual.

48
To set SP_QUE_SYNC
1. Double-click the SpUtils desktop shortcut to open the SharePlex Utilities dialog box, then click the
SharePlex Services tab.
2. In the Port list box of the SharePlex Services dialog box, select the port number of the SharePlex
instance for which you are setting SP_QUE_SYNC, then click Start. The Current State text box displays
the status of the service.
3. Click Close to close the SharePlex Utilities dialog box.
4. Double-click the sp_ctrl desktop shortcut to open the sp_ctrl command prompt.
5. If you installed SharePlex on a port number other than port 2100 and you did not set a default port for
sp_ctrl (see Setting a default port for sp_ctrl on page 79), there is a message stating that your TCP port
is not set properly or sp_cop is not running.
Use the port command to set sp_ctrl to the correct port number. (Otherwise, skip this step.)
sp_ctrl> port portnumber

6. In sp_ctrl, set the SP_QUE_SYNC parameter to 1 using the following command.
sp_ctrl> set param SP_QUE_SYNC 1

7. Shut down SharePlex using the following command in sp_ctrl. The command shuts down the SharePlex
service and also shuts down sp_ctrl. The parameter change takes effect when SharePlex is restarted.
sp_ctrl> shutdown
Proceed to Assigning SharePlex users and authorization levels on page 88.
Assigning SharePlex users and

authorization levels
Important! Perform this procedure on all source and target systems.
To monitor, control, or change SharePlex replication, a person must be designated as a SharePlex user on the
systems where he or she will be issuing commands. When designating users, you designate their authorization
levels. The authorization level defines which SharePlex commands a user can issue.
To designate SharePlex users and assign their command authorization levels, you add their names to one of
the following SharePlex user groups on the replication system(s) they will be accessing.
l SharePlex Admin group
l spopr
l spview
The groups were created during the installation process.

Note: The default name for the SharePlex Admin group is spadmin. However, the user may designate any
group or may create a new group of any name during installation.
Important! Or Oracle 11gR2 & ASM: The Shareplex Admin user must also be in the OSDBA group for
Oracle ASM (typically named asmdba) as well as in the OSDBA group (typically named dba). For
example: $ useradd g spadmin G dba,asmdbasplex

49
Assigning users to SharePlex groups
Each SharePlex command is assigned one of three authorization levels that corresponds to one of the
SharePlex groups. Each authorization level has different privileges. To execute a command, a SharePlex user
must have that commands authorization level or higher.
When you installed SharePlex, one user was designated as a SharePlex Administrator and was added to the
SharePlex Admin group. To grant other users access to SharePlex, use the following table to determine their
authorization levels and groups. Modify the groups as necessary using the standard method for your Windows
operating system version.
User Authorization Levels and Roles
Auth User type User group User roles

level
1 Administrator SharePlex Can issue all SharePlex commands. Commands that can only be issued by a
Admin Group Share- Plex Administrator are:
startup, shutdown
all configuration commands relating to an active configuration
all parameter commands except list param
start capture
stop capture
abort capture
truncate log
2 Operator spopr Can issue all SharePlex commands except those listed above.
3 Viewer spview Can view lists, status screens, and logs to monitor replication
only.
You have now completed the installation process.

Important!
Before you configure SharePlex for replication, you are encouraged to start SharePlex and run the
demonstrations in this manual to confirm that your installation was successful and that you are familiar with the
software. After you run the demonstrations, refer to the SharePlex Administrators Guide for additional
information about:
l Starting and shutting down SharePlex properly.
l Configuring your data, application and system for SharePlex replication.
l Establishing SharePlex replication.
l Synchronizing your data and activating replication.
l Using SharePlex monitoring tools and utilities.
l Performing administrative operations on replication systems. Refer to the SharePlex Reference Manual
for information about:

50
l Controlling and monitoring replication.
l Tuning replication with SharePlex parameters.
l Preventing and solving replication problems.

Controlling and monitoring replication.
Tuning replication with SharePlex parameters.
Preventing and solving replication problems.

51
Basic SharePlex Demonstrations
This chapter demonstrates SharePlex replication using the sp_ctrl command-line interface. This demonstration
can be run on UNIX or Windows systems.
Warning! These demonstrations are intended to introduce you to the SharePlex software. All of the
demonstration components were created specifically for demonstration purposes, not deployment in
a production environment. Do not use these demonstrations as the basis for establishing replication.
To properly implement replication in your environment, use the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
Tip: The commands used in these demonstrations are described in more detail in the SharePlex
Reference Manual.
Overview of the demonstrations

These demonstrations assume that SharePlex is installed on one source system and one target system.
What you will learn

l How to activate a configuration
l How SharePlex replicates smoothly from source to target systems
l How SharePlex quickly and accurately replicates large transactions
l How SharePlex queues the data if the target system is unavailable
l How SharePlex resumes from its stopping point when the target system is recovered
l How SharePlex recovers after a primary instance interruption
l How SharePlex replicates a TRUNCATE command
l How SharePlex verifies synchronization and repairs out-of-sync rows When you complete these
demonstrations, you may move on to the next chapter, which contains more advanced demonstrations of
SharePlex performance and features.
Tables used in the demonstrations

The tables used in these demonstrations are source table demo_src and target table demo_dest, both of which
are installed in the SharePlex schema during ora_setup. The demo tables are installed empty. In order to

52
insure that each demo is started from a fresh state, please truncate the tables prior to beginning the
demonstration.
You will replicate demo_src from a source instance on the source system (described as sysA) to demo table
demo_dest in a target instance on another system, the target system (described as sysB).
For this documentation, the owner of the demo tables is assumed to be splex, which is the default name for the
SharePlex Oracle user. If you assigned SharePlex a different user name during ora_setup, use that one.
You need to know the ORACLE_SID of your source and target instances. On UNIX systems, the SID can be
found by viewing the oratab file in the /etc directory (/var/opt/ oracle directory on Solaris platforms). You will
see a display similar to this:
qa10:/qa/oracle/ora10/app/oracle/product/10.0
In the example, qa8 is the ORACLE_SID. On Windows systems, the ORACLE_SID is in Oracles entry in the
Windows Registry.
Description of the demo tables.
Column Name Data Type Null?

NAME varchar2(30)
ADDRESS verchar2(60)
PHONE# varchar2(12)
Part 1: Starting SharePlex

The following are instructions for starting SharePlex and the sp_ctrl command-line interface on UNIX and
Windows systems. Start SharePlex on the source and target systems.
UNIX systems
Log onto the system as a SharePlex Administrator (a member of the SharePlex Admin group).
From the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory (the one containing the binaries, represented by
the productdir variable in the following syntax), run sp_cop and sp_ctrl.
$ cd /productdir/bin
$ ./sp_cop &
$ . /sp_ctrl
Windows systems
1. Log onto the system as a SharePlex Administrator (a member of the SharePlex Admin group).
2. On the Windows desktop, double-click the SpUtils shortcut to open the SharePlex Utilities dialog box.
3. Click the SharePlex Services tab to display the SharePlex Services dialog box.
4. In the Port list box of the SharePlex Services dialog box, select the SharePlex port number, then
click Start.

53
5. When the Current State text box shows that the service has started, click Close to close the dialog box.
6. On the Windows desktop, double-click the sp_ctrl shortcut to open the sp_ctrl command prompt.
Part 2: Creating and activating a

configuration
SharePlex gets its replication instructions from configurations, which are user-defined specifications that tell
SharePlex what to do. For each group of objects that you want to replicate, you create a configuration file.
Configurations reside on the source system and define:
l The datasource (source database) the ORACLE_SID of the Oracle database on the source system
that contains the data to be replicated.
l The source objects the names of the objects within the source database that contain the data to be
replicated. You can replicate some or all of the tables and sequences within a database.
l The target objects the names of the objects in the database on the target system that will receive the
replicated data.
l The routing map the route for transporting the data. This includes the target system( s), any
intermediary systems, and the target databases ORACLE_SID. (An intermediary system is not used in
this demonstration.)
To create the demonstration configuration

1. Create a replication configuration named sample_config by issuing the create config command in sp_
ctrl on the source system. This opens the default text editor, which is vi for UNIX systems and WordPad
for Windows systems.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> create config sample_config
Refer to Template 1 below as you construct your configuration.
Template 1: Basic demonstration configuration sample_config
datasource:o.source_SID
splex.demo_src splex.demo_dest targetsys@o.target_SID
2. On the first non-commented line of the file, type the following, leaving no space between any
of the items.
(Substitute the ORACLE_SID of the source instance for source_SID.) This tells SharePlex where to find
the table whose data will be replicated. The o. tells Share- Plex that Oracle data is being replicated.
3. On the next line, enter the owner name (splex) and table name (demo_src) of the source table,
separating the two items with a dot (.) but no spaces. Using the owners name with a table name ensures
that SharePlex replicates the correct table, since different tables in different schemas in a database
could have the same name.
splex.demo_src

54
4. Type at least a few spaces or a tab to create a second column. Do not press Enter.
5. In the second column, enter the owner name (splex) and table name (demo_dest) of the target table,
separating the two items with a dot (.) but no spaces.
splex.demo_dest
6. Type a few spaces or a tab to create a third column. Do not press Enter.
7. In the third column, type the following items with no space between them. This creates the routing map
for your configuration, telling SharePlex where to put the replicated data.
l the name of the target system
l the @ symbol
l the letter o
l a dot (.)
l the target instance SID
Example:
sysB@o.oraB
8. Save the file and exit the editor. This returns you to the sp_ctrl prompt.
9. [OPTIONAL] To view the configuration, issue the view config command in sp_ctrl on the
source system:
sp_ctrl(sysA)> view config sample_config
10. Activate the configuration in sp_ctrl on the source system. Configuration names are case-sensitive.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> activate config sample_config
11. To confirm that your configuration is active, type the following sp_ctrl command on the source system to
display a list of all configurations. The sample_config configuration should appear under File Name,
and the word Active should appear under State.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> list config
Tip: If your configuration activation fails, use the view config sample_config command in sp_ctrl to view the file.
Compare it to Template 1 on page 95 and make sure all of the information you entered is correct. For example,
check for extra spaces that are not supposed to be there, or for missing components, such as the o. before the
SID. For other configuration troubleshooting tips, refer to Chapter 3 of the SharePlex Reference Manual.
To correct mistakes in the configuration file:
Use the edit config sample_config command in sp_ctrl to correct mistakes in the configuration file before you
activate it (or if the activation failed). This command opens the file in the text editor, and you can make the
changes by editing the file. Save the changes, and re-try the activation. To change an active configuration, you
must copy it to a new file first with the copy config command, and then edit and activate the copy. For more
information about the copy config command, see the SharePlex Reference Manual.
Part 3: Testing replication

This section demonstrates the speed and accuracy of SharePlex replication using the configuration you built
and activated. Before you run the tests, run SQL*Plus on each system, connect to your database, and select all

55
rows from both of the demonstration tables.
On sysA:
SQL> select * from splex.demo_src;
On sysB:
SQL> select * from splex.demo_dest;
These tables were installed empty. If they contain data, TRUNCATE them so that you can start the
demonstration from a fresh state.
Test 1: Verify replication startup

This test verifies that replication is proceeding.
1. Insert and commit a record into the source table (splex.demo_src) by typing:
SQL> insert into splex.demo_src values (JIM, 8001 Irvine Center Drive, 949-754- 8000);
SQL> commit;
SharePlex replicates the changes and posts them to the target table.
2. Verify that the new record is now in the splex.demo_dest table on the target system by typing the
following query:
You can see that the row you inserted now exists in the target table as well as the source table.
Test 2: Verify speed and replication of large volumes

This test verifies that SharePlex replicates large volumes of data quickly and accurately.
1. Create a SQL script to insert 500 rows into the splex.demo_src table on the source system, following
it with a COMMIT. You can refer to the description on page 93 for the table's description when
creating the script.
2. Run the perf_mon.sh script. This script monitors the speed of the Post process. When it runs, it polls the
Post process to determine the number of operations that were processed. It repeats this poll a specified
number of times at specified intervals, and then it computes the number of INSERTs, UPDATEs,
DELETEs, and COMMITs per second that SharePlex posted during that time. The results are printed to
screen. Following are instructions for UNIX and Windows systems.
UNIX systems
Run perf_mon from the util sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory using the following syntax.
You can control the frequency and interval of the poll.
Syntax:
perf_mon.sh #_polls poll_interval
where #_polls is the number of times to poll the Post process
and poll_interval is the time interval between polls
Example:
perf_mon.sh 10 60

56
In this example, the Post process is polled 10 times at 60-second intervals.
Windows systems
Run sp_perf_mon in the Command Prompt from the bin sub-directory of the Share- Plex product
directory. Use the following syntax. On Windows systems, the poll occurs every second and continues
until you kill it with the control+C command.
sp_perf_mon -rport_number
where port_number is the SharePlex port number
Example:
sp_perf_mon -r2100
Note: This script does not work with multiple post queues using the same port.
3. As you did in Test 1, verify that all rows have been sent to the target system. By the time you run
SQL*Plus and generate the query on the target system, the data should already have been posted.
Test 3: Verify queuing when the target is unavailable

This test shows you how SharePlex queues the replicated data on the source system when the target system is
unavailable.
1. Shut down SharePlex on the target system to simulate that this system is unavailable.
sp_ctrl(sysB)> shutdown
2. On the source system, INSERT and COMMIT records into splex.demo_src using the script you created
for Test 2.
3. Since the target system was made unavailable by shutting down SharePlex, meaning that there is no
Import service available on that system to receive data, the records will be queued in the export queue
on the source system. You can verify this by issuing the qstatus command, which displays the status of
all SharePlex queues on a system.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> qstatus
Figure 1 (following) is similar to what you will see when you issue the qstatus command on the source
system. Notice that there is no post queue on the source system. This is because the system is only
being used as a source system. Normally, the post queue for this configuration would be on a different
system, the target system. However, this system also could be a target system if a configuration is active
on another system.

57
Figure 2: Sample qstatus command issued on the source system.
Note: Since SharePlex is not running on the target system, you cannot view that system's post queue.
Under normal circumstances, when SharePlex is running on both systems, you can use the qstatus
command with the [on host] option on the source system to view the post queue instead of running sp_
ctrl on the target. (Substitute the target system's name for host.)
sp_ctrl (sysA) > qstatus on host
Test 4: Verify continuation of replication

This test demonstrates how SharePlex resumes processing from its stopping point when the target system
becomes available again.
1. Start sp_cop and sp_ctrl (if they are not already running) on the target system.
2. To verify that all SharePlex processes are started on the target system, issue the status command.
sp_ctrl(sysB)> status
The status command summarizes the SharePlex Status Database, showing you processes that are
running and any errors that occurred. The following screen shows a typical status window.

58
Figure 3: sample status command issued on the target system
The status command is one of several commands in sp_ctrl that can display replication status. To get
detailed status information, including explanations of errors, you can use the lstatus command.
sp_ctrl(sysB)> lstatus
3. When the SharePlex processes start, replication resumes. Run SQL*Plus on the target system and
verify that the records inserted by the script on the source system now exist in the target database.
Test 5: Verify SharePlex recovery after interruption to the primary instance

This test shows how SharePlex recovers after an interruption to the primary instance.
1. Stop the Capture process on the source system to simulate the interruption.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> stop capture
2. Use the script you created for Test 2 to INSERT and COMMIT records in splex.demo_src.
3. Re-start the Capture process on the source system.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> start capture
4. Check the status of the SharePlex processes on the source system to verify that Capture has started.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> status
5. Run SQL*Plus on the target system and verify that all records inserted by the script on the source
system now exist in the target database.
Test 6: Verify replication of the TRUNCATE TABLE command

This test demonstrates replication of the TRUNCATE TABLE command, allowing you to remove data from the
source and target tables with one command.
1. In SQL*Plus, issue the TRUNCATE TABLE command for splex.demo_src on the source system.
SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE splex.demo_src;

2. Immediately issue the qstatus command on the source system, then issue it again. You can see that the
transactions are moving through the queues on their way to the target system.
3. Run SQL*Plus on the target system, and verify that the target table splex.demo_dest is empty.
Test 7: Compare and repair out-of-sync rows

This is the final test in this demo. It demonstrates how you can use the compare command in sp_ctrl to
compare source and target tables to verify synchronization . You can then use the repair command to repair
rows that are out of synchronization.

59
1. On the source system, use the script you created for Test 2 to insert several rows into splex.demo_src.
2. Verify that all of the data has posted to splex.demo_dest by issuing the qstatus command in sp_ctrl on
the target system until the queues in the display are at 0.
sp_ctrl(sysB)> qstatus
3. Issue the compare command in sp_ctrl on the source system. sp_ctrl(sysA)> compare splex.demo_src
4. View the compare results using the compare status command on the source system. This should show
that there are no rows out of synchronization.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> compare status
5. On the target system, issue the UPDATE command for several rows to change the values in the NAME
column in splex.demo_dest. This causes the source and target tables to be out of synchronization.
6. Issue the compare command on the source system again. This compares the rows in splex.demo_dest
against those in splex.demo_src
sp_ctrl(sysA)> compare splex.demo_src
7. To repair the rows that are out of synchronization, issue the repair command.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> repair splex.demo_src

8. To verify the repair, issue the repair status command on the source system. The status should show
that the table has been repaired.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> repair status
9. To verify that the repair was accurate, you can manually compare the source and target tables using a
SELECT statement to view all rows in both tables.
SQL> select * from splex.demo_src; (on the source system)
SQL> select * from splex.demo_dest; (on the target system)
Tip: SharePlex also provides a compare using command to compare all source tables in a configuration to their
target tables.
This concludes the Basic SharePlex demonstration.

60
Advanced SharePlex Demonstrations
This chapter demonstrates selected features of SharePlex. These exercises can be run on UNIX and Windows
systems to demonstrate:
l How to build and verify a replication configuration
l How to use the compare command to verify synchronization
l How to use partitioned replication to replicate subsets of data
l How to use transformation to manipulate replicated data
l How to use generic conflict resolution in peer-to-peer replication
Important! These demonstrations were created specifically for demonstration purposes and are
intended to introduce you to SharePlex. Do not deploy these in a production environment or use them
as the basis for establishing replication. To properly implement replication, use the SharePlex
Administrators Guide. It is recommended that you run these demonstrations in the order that they
appear in this manual.
Tip: The commands used in these demonstrations are explained in the SharePlex Reference Manual.
Installing the demonstration objects

SharePlex provides several SQL scripts, including p2p.sql and od.sql that install all of the objects that you need
for these demonstrations. These scripts are located in the util sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory.
Run them on the source and target systems that you will be using for the demonstrations. Run the scripts in
SQL*Plus as an existing user with the DBA role and SELECT ANY TABLE privileges.
You will be prompted for the following items:
l The schema where you want the demonstration objects to be installed.
l The tablespace for the demonstration objects.
l Whether or not you want old demonstration objects from a previous version of SharePlex to be removed.
This requires entering the schema name for those objects, and the script will remove them.
Description of the demonstration objects
od_employee
Name Null? Type
---------------------------- --------------- -------------
EMP_NO NOT NULL NUMBER
EMP_FIRST_NAME VARCHAR2
EMP_LAST_NAME VARCHAR2
EMP_DOB DATE
EMP_DEPT_NO NUMBER
EMP_TIMESTAMP DATE

61
od_timesheet
Name Null? Type
---------------------------- --------------- -------------
TS_EMP_NO NUMBER
TS_IN_TIME DATE
TS_OUT_TIME DATE
TS_MOD_TIME DATE
od_department
Name Null? Type
--------------------------- --------------- -------------
DEPT_NO NOT NULL NUMBER
DEPT_NAME VARCHAR2
DEPT_CODE VARCHAR2
od_salary
Name Null? Type
--------------------------- --------------- -------------
SALE_EMP_NO NUMBER
SAL_VALUE NUMBER
SAL_CHANGED DATE
od_sales_emp_data
Name Null? Type
------------------------------ --------------- -------------
EMP_NO_KEY NOT NULL NUMBER
EMPLOYEE_NAME VARCHAR2 (70)
SALARY NUMBER
DEPARTMENT VARCHAR2 (50)
oxc_table
Name Null? Type
----------------------------- -------------- -------------
EXC_NO NOT NULL NUMBER
EXC_TYPE VARCHAR2 (6)
EXC_TARGET_TABLE VARCHAR2 (66)
EXC_FIXED VARCHAR2 (3)
EXC_INFO VARCHAR2 (500)
EXC_TIMESTAMP DATE

62
Demo1: Initial demonstration
This demonstration highlights the compare command, and provides a simple demonstration of performance.
Starting SharePlex
The following are instructions for starting SharePlex on UNIX and Windows systems. Start SharePlex on the
source and target systems.
UNIX systems
1 Log onto the system as a SharePlex Administrator (a member of the SharePlex Admin group).
From the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory (the one containing the binaries, represented by
the productdir variable in the following syntax), run sp_cop and sp_ctrl.
$ cd /productdir/bin
$ ./sp_cop &
$ . /sp_ctrl
Windows systems
1. Log onto the system as a SharePlex Administrator (a member of the SharePlex Admin group).
2. On the Windows desktop, double-click the SpUtils shortcut to open the SharePlex Utilities dialog box.
3. Click the SharePlex Services tab to display the SharePlex Services dialog box.
4. In the Port list box of the SharePlex Services dialog box, select the SharePlex port number, then
click Start.
5. When the Current State text box shows that the service has started, click Close to close the dialog box.
6. On the Windows desktop, double-click the sp_ctrl shortcut to open the sp_ctrl command prompt
Creating the configuration

In sp_ctrl, create a replication configuration named od.config that replicates the od_department, od_salary,
od_timesheet, and od_employee tables on the source system to the same tables on the target system.
To create the configuration, use the create config command in sp_ctrl. This command opens a new file in the
default text editor for SharePlex, which is either vi (UNIX) or WordPad (Windows).
sp_ctrl(sysA)> create config od.config
Using the editing commands in the text editor, follow Template 1 below to create the configuration, making the
following substitutions.
l For source_SID on line 1, use the ORACLE_SID of the source database. The SID is case-sensitive.
l For owner, substitute the owner of the object. The object in column 1 is the source object, and the object
in column 2 is the target object.
l For target_host, substitute the target machines name.
l For target_SID, substitute the ORACLE_SID of the target database. The SID is casesensitive.

63
Do not allow any spaces between characters within a column. Separate columns with two or more
spaces or a tab.
Template 1: Demonstration configuration od.config
owner.od_department owner.od_department target_host@o.target_SID
owner.od_salary owner.od_salary target_host@o.target_SID
owner.od_timesheet owner.od_timesheet target_host@o.target_SID
owner.od_employee owner.od_employee target_host@o.target_SID
When you are finished making the configuration entries, save the file using either the :wq command (in vi) or
File>Save (WordPad). SharePlex automatically saves the file in the config sub-directory.
Important! Retain this configuration file on your system, since it will be needed for another
demonstration.
Activating the configuration

You will use the activate command in sp_ctrl to activate the configuration. Prior to activating the configuration
this command validates the database ORACLE_SID, and object names using the source system. However,
before you activate the configuration, you should consider removing constraints and triggers on the target
system. If a trigger is enabled on the target and changes data for an object that is in replication it will cause an
out of sync condition for that object. The removal of constraints on the target system is suggested for
performance purposes. (Removing a primary key constraint could negatively impact performance.)
1. The target system contains an ON DELETE CASCADE constraint on the od_salary table. The
constraints name is od_sal_emp_no_fk. Disable the constraint on the target table only. SharePlex
replicates the original delete and the cascading deletes from the source system, so if these constraints
are allowed to activate on the target system, SharePlex will return out-of-sync errors.
SQL> alter table od_salary disable constraint od_sal_emp_no_fk;
2. The target system also contains a trigger on the od_timesheet table. The triggers name is od_
timesheet_mod. Since triggers on target tables cause SharePlex to return out-of-sync errors, disable
this trigger on the target table only.
SQL> alter trigger od_timesheet_mod disable;
3. In sp_ctrl, issue the activate config command for the od.config configuration.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> activate config od.config
Verifying synchronization
This demonstrates the compare command. This command compares the source and target tables to ensure
their synchronization. The repair command can then be used to resynchronize out-of-sync rows that are found.

64
1. Populate the od_employee and od_salary tables on the source system by executing the od_add_
emps procedure that was installed in the schema where you installed the demonstration objects. This
procedure has one IN parameter that specifies the number of employees to insert per department. The
default number of departments is Use an IN parameter of 100 to create 500 new employees in the od_
employee table and 500 entries in the od_salary table.
SQL> exec od_add_emps(100);
2. In sp_ctrl on the source system, issue the compare command once for the od_employee table and
once for the od_salary table. Substitute the tables owners, the target systems name, and the target
ORACLE_SID for the appropriate variables in the following syntax.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> compare source_owner.od_employee
sp_ctrl(sysA)> compare source_owner.od_salary
3. In sp_ctrl on the source system, issue the compare status command. This displays the progress of the
comparisons. Continue issuing this command until both compare processes have completed.
sp_ctrl> compare status
4. Issue the compare status command on the source system to view the results of the comparisons.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> compare status
The results should show no out-of-sync rows.
5. Delete some rows from od_employee on the target system. This causes that table to go out of
synchronization with its source table.
6. Issue the repair command on the source system again for the od_employee table. This repairs the out-
of-sync condition.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> repair source_owner.od_employee
7. Issue the repair status command on the source system. This should show no out-ofsync rows, since the
repair command added the missing rows to the target od_employee table.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> repair status
8. Delete (do not TRUNCATE) all rows from the od_employee table on the source system. This activates
the ON DELETE CASCADE constraint on the source od_salary table, deleting all of its rows. SharePlex
replicates all of those deletes to the target tables.
Demonstrating performance
This demonstration allows you to view performance statistics for SharePlex replication.
1. Run the od_add_emps procedure on the source system using an IN value of 2000. This adds 10,000
rows assuming you made no changes to the od_department table.
2. Run the perf_mon.sh script. This script monitors the speed of the Post process. When it runs, it polls the
Post process to determine the number of operations that were processed. It repeats this poll a specified
number of times at specified intervals, and then it computes the number of INSERTs, UPDATEs,
DELETEs, and COMMITs per second that SharePlex posted during that time. The results are printed to
screen. Following are instructions for UNIX and Windows systems.
UNIX systems
Run perf_mon from the util sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory using the following syntax.
You can control the frequency and interval of the poll.

65
Syntax:
perf_mon.sh #_polls poll_interval
where #_polls is the number of times to poll the Post process
and poll_interval is the time interval between polls
Example:
perf_mon.sh 10 5
In this example, the Post process is polled 10 times at 5-second intervals.
Windows systems
Run sp_perf_mon in the Command Prompt from the bin sub-directory of the Share- Plex product
directory. Use the following syntax. On Windows systems, the poll occurs every second and continues
until you kill it with the control+C command.
sp_ perf_mon -rport_number

where port_number is the SharePlex port number
Example:
sp_perf_mon -r2100
Note: This script does not work with multiple post queues using the same port.
Demo 2: Demonstrating partitioned

replication
This demonstration illustrates a combination of horizontally partitioned replication and vertically partitioned
replication, also known as selective row replication and selective column replication. You can use vertically
partitioned replication to distribute selected information, such as employee names and locations, while
protecting other data, such as personal information or salaries, without separating the data sets into different
objects. You can use horizontally partitioned replication to distribute different segments of data to different target
systems, such as sales and customer data to the individual stores responsible for it. More information about
partitioned replication can be found in Chapter 5 of the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
1. Delete (not TRUNCATE) all rows from the od_employee table on the source system. If the od.config
configuration is still active, the cascading delete constraint on the od_salary table activates as a result of
the deletes on od_employee. SharePlex will replicate all of those deletes and remove all rows from both
target tables. If the od.config configuration is not active, delete all rows from the source and target od_
employee and od_salary tables.
2. To implement horizontally partitioned replication, create a column condition, which is conditional syntax
that directs SharePlex to replicate only certain rows from the source od_employee table, in this case
only the rows for the Sales department. To create the column condition, run SQL*Plus on the source
system and insert the following into the SHAREPLEX_PARTITION table, substituting for the variables the
SHAREPLEX_PARTITION tables owner name, the target system name, and the target database
ORACLE_SID.
SQL> insert into owner.shareplex_partition (partition_scheme, description, route, target_
table_name, ordering, col_conditions) values (sales_partition, Replicate only sales
employees, targetsystem@o.target_SID, OD_EMPLOYEE, 1, EMP_DEPT_NO=1);

66
SQL> COMMIT;
3. To implement vertically partitioned replication, create a new configuration named od.partition on the
source system.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> create config od.partition
4. Follow Template 2 below to construct the configuration. Vertically partitioned replication is specified in
the configuration file using a column partition, which appears in parentheses after the source object. For
this demonstration, you are specifying a column partition that directs SharePlex to replicate all columns
in od_employee except for the EMP_DOB and EMP_TIMESTAMP columns.
It is permissible for a configuration line to wrap to the next line, as long as you do not press Enter.
Notice that, in addition to the column partition, you also are listing a partition scheme instead of a
regular routing map, as indicated by the !sales_partition component. The partition scheme is a logical
container for one or more column conditions. Normally, you would design your own partition schemes
based on your business rules, but for the sake of this demonstration, just one partition scheme named
sales_partition is used.
You will notice that a line with ! target_host@o.target_SID also is needed. Use the target system name
and the target database ORACLE_SID in the syntax. This line is necessary because SharePlex must be
able to see the target system name and ORACLE_SID within the configuration file itself. Normally, there
are configuration entries for other, non-partitioned tables replicating to the target system, which satisfies
this requirement, but in this case there is only one.
Template 2: Demonstration configuration od.partition
datasource:o.srce_SID
owner.od_employee (emp_no, emp_first_name, emp_last_name, emp_dept_no)
owner.od_employee !sales_partition
! target_host@o.target_SID
5. Activate the configuration on the source system.

sp_ctrl(sysA)> activate config od.partition
6. Run od_add_emps to populate the od_employee table on the source system. Use a small value for the
IN parameter, since you will be selecting rows for viewing after they are replicated.
7. Select all rows from the target od_employee table. The value for the EMP_DEPT_NO column should be
1 for all rows. Rows where the value for this column is a value other than 1 were not replicated.
Demo 3: Demonstrating transformation

SharePlex provides the ability to have the Post process call a PL/SQL transformation procedure (routine)
instead of applying a SQL operation to the target database. This gives you the ability to manipulate the
replicated data first.
For example, if the source and target tables are dissimilar in construction as when a persons first and last
name are in one column in the source table but in separate columns in the target table you can write a
procedure to make the conversion. You can use transformation for other business requirements, as well, such

67
as to convert datatypes, units of measurement, character sets, etc. Transformation routines also can be used
instead of database triggers to reduce I/O overhead.
When you specify transformation for a table, Post takes no action on the replicated data; it simply passes data
values to your procedure. This lets you control the destination of the data after it has been transformed. You can
post to the target table and/or you can post to an alternate location. When writing your routine, it is your
responsibility to include in your procedure the necessary SQL operations to either post the data to the target
database or redirect it to an alternate location (or both).
In this demonstration, transformation procedures are provided that combine data replicated from two separate
source tables, od_employee and od_salary into one target table named od_sales_emp_data.
1. Run ora_cleansp (OraCleanSp on Windows systems) on both systems according to the instructions in
Running ora_cleansp on page 139. This removes the queues from the previous demonstrations and
deactivates the previous configuration.
Note: Prior to running ora_cleansp you must shutdown SharePlex. You can do this using the shutdown
command in sp_ctrl.
2. DELETE (do not TRUNCATE) all rows from the source and target od_employee tables. This table has a
cascading DELETE constraint that deletes all rows from the dependent od_salary tables. DO NOT
delete any rows from the od_department table. This is a look-up table.
3. Grant the demonstration user on the target system privilege to execute the sp_cr package, which was
installed in the SharePlex schema during ora_setup.
SQL> grant execute on sp_cr to user_name
4. Log into SQL*Plus on the target system as the user who owns the SharePlex demonstration objects,
and run the transform.sql script from the util sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory. This
installs the od_transform_employee_insert and od_transform_employee_update demonstration
transformation routines. You are prompted for a schema and tablespace for this procedure and the name
of the Share- Plex Oracle user.
5. To direct SharePlex to call transformation routines instead of posting the SQL operations, you use the
transformation.SID file (where SID is the ORACLE_SID of the target database). Post checks this file to
determine if there is a transformation procedure that it must call. This file was installed with SharePlex in
the data sub-directory in the SharePlex variable-data directory. Open this file on the target system in
either the vi text editor (UNIX) or WordPad (Windows).
6. Follow Template 3 below to create entries in the file, using the target tables and owners. Separate each
column with at least a few spaces or a tab character. Substitute the correct owner names for the owner
variables.
Template 3: Demonstration transformation.SID file
owner.od_employee I owner.od_transform_employee_insert
owner.od_employee U owner.od_transform_employee_update
owner.od_salary I owner.od_transform_employee_insert
owner.od_salary U owner.od_transform_employee_update
7. On the target system, enable the parameter:
SP_OPO_XFORM_EXCLUDE_ROWID
sp_ctrl(sysB)> set param SP_OPO_XFORM_EXCLUDE_ROWID 1

68
8. Follow Template 4 below to create a configuration named od.transform on the source system that
replicates the od_salary and od_employee tables.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> create config od.transform
Template 4: Demonstration configuration od.transform
owner.od_salary owner.od_salary target_host@o.target_SID
owner.od_employee owner.od_ target_host@o.target_SID
employee
9. Activate the configuration.

sp_ctrl(sysA)> activate config od.transform
10. Populate the od_employee and od_salary tables on the source system using the od_add_emps
procedure. Use an IN parameter of 10 to create 50 new employees in the od_sales_emp_data table.
11. In SQL*Plus, select all rows from od_sales_emp_data on the target system and view the transformed
data. You will see the following differences due to transformation:
o The EMPLOYEE_NAME column contains the first and last name of the employee. Compare this
to the source od_employee table, where the first and last names are in separate columns.
o The DEPARTMENT column contains the department name. Compare this to the source od_
employee table, where the EMP_DEPT_NO column contains a number. The transformation
procedure transformed the replicated department number into the department name by
referencing the od_department table.
o The SALARY column contains the salary from the OD_SALARY table.
12. [OPTIONAL] To see how transformation works for UPDATEs, you can update the od_employee table
manually. The od_transform_employee_update procedure will make the transformation. To further this
demonstration, you may construct a transformation procedure for DELETEs.
Demo 4: Demonstrating generic conflict

resolution
Conflict resolution is employed in peer-to-peer replication, a replication scenario where users work
concurrently on the same data in replica databases, usually on different systems, while SharePlex replicates
their changes to keep all databases synchronized. Peerto- peer replication presents challenges that are not
found in single-direction replication situations like replicating from a production server to a secondary system
for reporting purposes.
In those configurations, there is never DML or DDL activity on the database on the secondary system. In peer-to-
peer replication, however, all databases are accessed and changed. If the same record in matching (or
shadow) tables is changed on different systems at or about the same time, conflicts can occur, and conflict
resolution is required.
Conflict resolution relies on PL/SQL procedures (called conflict resolution routines) that tell the SharePlex Post
process what to do when a row it needs to change (insert, update or delete) was already changed by another
user. For example, SharePlex can be directed to give priority to a specific source system or the most recent
timestamp, or it can give specific users priority. In an actual production deployment of peer-to-peer replication,

69
you would develop custom conflict resolution routines based on your companys business rules and replication
environment.
About this demonstration

Generic conflict resolution allows you to use one PL/SQL procedure to resolve conflicts for multiple tables. The
following conflict-resolution strategies are demonstrated:
l Timestamp priority This demonstration is based on UPDATEs. Whichever row was updated LAST
takes priority when there is a conflict.
l Source-system priority In the following steps, you will define one system as the trusted source that
takes priority in the event of a conflict. This demonstration is based on INSERTs. All INSERTs that
originate on the trusted source will override INSERTs from the other system, which is referred to as the
secondary system.
There is no conflict-resolution logic in the demonstration procedure for DELETEs. Instead, SharePlex will write
failed DELETE statements to the SID_errlog.sql log and report an error to the Event Log. In addition, information
about the statement will be written to the source.exc_table table. To extend this demonstration, you can add
conflict- resolution logic for DELETEs to conform to your companys business rules.
Warning! This demonstration is intended to introduce you to the concept of peer-to-peer replication
and conflict resolution. Do not use this demonstration as the basis for establishing peer-to-peer
replication, and do not use the provided conflict resolution routines as your own. Peer-to-peer
replication is not necessarily compatible with all business applications. It requires a thorough
understanding of your data, your applications, your business rules, and how conflicts could occur.
When suitable for an environment, it requires careful execution, including the creation of custom
conflict resolution procedures that can be quite complex. Before you consider deployment of peer-to-
peer replication, please read the documentation for establishing this replication strategy in the
SharePlex Administrators Guide.
Preparing for the demonstration

1. Shut down SharePlex on both systems.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> shutdown
sp_ctrl(sysB)> shutdown
2. Run ora_cleansp (OraCleanSp on Windows systems) on both systems according to the instructions in
Running ora_cleansp on page 139. This removes the queues from the previous demonstrations and
deactivates the previous configuration.
3. Delete all rows in the od_employee tables on both systems. DO NOT delete any rows from the od_
department table. This is a look-up table for the conflict resolution procedure.
4. Grant the demonstration user on both systems privilege to execute the sp_cr package, which was
installed in the SharePlex schema during ora_setup.
SQL> grant execute on sp_cr to user_name
5. Log into SQL*Plus as the user who owns the SharePlex demonstration objects, and run the p2p.sql
script on both systems from the util sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory. This installs the od_
employee_gen demonstration conflict resolution routine. You are prompted for a schema and

70
tablespace for this procedure and the name of the SharePlex Oracle user. You also are prompted for the
name of the machine that will be the trusted source machine, which will take priority when conflicts are
generated. It does not matter which system you use.
Configuring for conflict resolution

1. To direct SharePlex to call conflict resolution routines when there is a conflict, you use the conflict_
resolution.SID file (where SID is the ORACLE_SID of the local database). Post checks this file to
determine if there is a conflict resolution procedure that it must call. This file was installed with SharePlex
in the data sub-directory of the SharePlex variable-data directory on each system. Open this file in either
the vi text editor (UNIX) or WordPad (Windows).
2. Create an entry as shown in Template 5 below in the conflict_resolution.SID file on both systems, using
the od_employee table, the correct owner for that table, and the od_employee_gen procedure.
Separate each column with a few spaces or a tab.
Template 5: Demonstration conflict_resolution.SID file
owner.od_employee IUD owner.od_employee_gen

3. Start SharePlex and sp_ctrl on both systems.
4. In sp_ctrl, set the SP_OPO_GENERIC_CR parameter to 1 on both systems. This enables the generic
conflict resolution capability.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> set param SP_OPO_GENERIC_CR 1
sp_ctrl(sysB)> set param SP_OPO_GENERIC_CR 1

5. Once you have set the SP_OPO_GENERIC_CR parameter, you must stop the Post process and then
restart it on both systems in order for the parameter to take effect.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> stop post
sp_ctrl(sysA)> start post
sp_ctrl(sysB)> stop post
sp_ctrl(sysB)> start post
6. Referring to Template 6 below, create a configuration named od.cr_trusted_src on the trusted source
system that replicates the od_employee table on that system to the od_employee table on the
secondary system.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> create config od.cr_trusted_src

Template 6: Demonstration configuration od.cr_trusted_src
datasource:o.trusted_source_SID
Template 6: Demonstration configuration od.cr_trusted_src
owner.od_employee owner.od_employee secondary_host@o.secondary_SID
7. Referring to Template 7 below, create another configuration named od.cr_secondary on the secondary
system that is the opposite of the preceding configuration. It replicates the secondary od_employee

71
table to the od_employee table on the trusted source system. Use the secondary databases ORACLE_
SID for the datasource. Use the trusted source systems name for trusted_source_host. Use the trusted
source databases ORACLE_SID for trusted_source_SID.
Template 7: Demonstration configuration od.cr_secondary
datasource:o.secondary_SID
owner.od_employee owner.od_employee trusted_source_host@o.trusted_source_SID
8. Activate both configurations.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> activate config od.cr_trusted_src
sp_ctrl(sysB)> activate config od.cr_secondary
Creating conflicts
Use the od_add_emps procedure to initially populate the od_employee table on the trusted source system.
SharePlex replicates those changes to the od_employee table on the secondary system, and the two are now
synchronized. Now you can create conflicts.
To demonstrate source-system priority

In this demonstration, an INSERT that originates on the trusted source will override an INSERT from the
other system.
1. Stop the Post processes on both systems.

2. Insert a row into od_employee on the secondary system, but do not issue the COMMIT.
3. Insert the same row on the trusted source, but do not issue the COMMIT.
4. Issue the COMMIT on the secondary system.
5. Issue the COMMIT on the trusted source. This should generate a conflict.
6. Restart the Post processes on both systems.
To demonstrate timestamp priority

In this demonstration, whichever row was updated LAST takes priority when there is a conflict.
1. Stop the Post processes on both systems.

2. Update the EMP_TIMESTAMP column to a different value on each system using the Primary Key, EMP_
NO, to find the row.
3. Wait for the data from each system to replicate to the other system. You will see messages in the
queues when you issue the qstatus command from sp_ctrl. The message count will remain there until
the COMMIT is sent.
sp_ctrl(sysB)> qstatus
4. Issue COMMITs on both systems simultaneously.
5. Start the Post processes on both systems.
6. Verify the results by selecting the rows that were updated from both tables.

72
Viewing the results of the Conflict Resolution Demonstration
A table named exc_table was installed in the schema that you specified when you ran the installation script.
This table has the following columns, which provide information about the conflicts.
l EXC_NO
This column is the exception number of the conflict.
l EXC_TYPE
This column is the type of SQL statement, whether INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE.
l EXC_TARGET_TABLE
This column is the table on which the conflict occurred.
l EXC_FIXED
This column describes the results of the conflict resolution routine. YES means that the routine was
successful. NO means that the routine failed and the row needs to be manually changed to the
correct value.
l EXC_INFO
This column describes what the conflict resolution routine found.
l EXC_TIMESTAMP
This column shows the time that the conflict occurred on this machine.
This concludes the Advanced SharePlex demonstration.

73
Solving installation problems
This chapter reviews some common problems that you could experience when installing SharePlex, running the
ora_setup program, or starting SharePlex for the first time after installation. Additional help for solving problems
with configuration activation, replication processes and other issues after you have configured replication and
begun the replication process can be found in the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
Read this first...

Did you review the Release Notes for this version?
Sometimes there are special installation instructions that supersede or supplement certain instructions in this
manual. In addition, there can be known issues for this version that you should be aware of during or after
installation. Please read the Release Notes for the version of SharePlex that you are installing before you begin
the installation process.
If the license utility returns errors

Are all machines connected to the network?
The inability of SharePlex components to perform initial TCP operations can sometimes appear to be license
key or license utility errors. If you know you entered the correct key and machine IDs, verify that all systems on
which you are loading SharePlex are connected to the network. The network node name and IP address of
each system must be established sufficiently to allow SharePlex to perform TCP operations, even though the
machines themselves are not yet configured. Also check to make sure that nobody has renamed the
/etc/resolv.conf file (if using a DNS nameserver).
Did you enter the correct key and/or machine ID number?

If you received this error message: Cannot add license: License key is illegal, it could be that you entered an
invalid license key. Assuming that you retyped the key correctly and still received an error, it probably means
that the license key, though valid, is not the correct key for this system. Except for trial keys, which are generic,
license keys are assigned to a specific machine according to the machines identification number (such as host
ID on Sun systems, machine ID on HP systems, etc.).
You probably received at least two license keys from Dell Software one for a source system and one for a
target system or if you are installing on multiple machines in a cluster, you should have a key for each one.
Verify that the key you entered is the one that was issued for this system by comparing it to the machine
identification number for which it was issued.
To view the machine ID and add a key on a Windows system

1. From the Windows desktop, double-click the SpUtils shortcut, then click the License Key tab.
2. Follow the instructions in Adding a license key on page 72 to view the machine ID and add the key.

74
To view the machine ID and add a key on a UNIX system
To view the machine ID on a UNIX system, run the splex_uname application from the install sub-directory in the
SharePlex product directory on the machine whose ID number you want to confirm. It displays the ID number for
the local machine, as shown in the example below.
$ /splex/proddir/install/splex_uname
Host ID = 2198894273 (831076C1 HEX)

Follow the instructions in Adding a SharePlex license key on page 40 to view the machine ID and add the key.
If the installation program returns errors

Is sp_cop shut down?
If you installed SharePlex on this system before, and you are re-installing it, the installation will return errors if
SharePlex is running on this system. Shut down SharePlex using the shutdown command in sp_ctrl, or you can
shut down the SharePlex service if this is a Windows system. If you are unable to run sp_ctrl, or if any
SharePlex processes will not die, locate the process (using ps -ef | grep sp_ on UNIX systems or the Taskmgr
tab available from the SpUtils application provided for Windows systems) and kill it. When all SharePlex
processes have been killed, run the installation program again.
Are all systems connected to the network?

Check to see that all systems on which you are loading SharePlex are connected to the network. The network
node name and IP address of each system must be established sufficiently to allow SharePlex to perform TCP
operations, even though the target machines themselves are not yet configured.
Note: These failures may appear to be license utility errors, but it is usually the inability of the license utilities
and other components of SharePlex to perform initial TCP operations. Also check to make sure that nobody has
renamed the /etc/resolv.conf file (if using a DNS nameserver).
Did you enter the SharePlex groups in the name service?

If your environment uses a name service such as NIS or NISPLUS, you need to add the SharePlex groups and
services to the nameserver before you run the SharePlex installation program, and the SharePlex Administrator
must be named in the SharePlex Admin group on the nameserver before you install SharePlex. Instructions are
on page 31. If these procedures are not performed, the installation will generate an error at the point in which it
attempts to verify that the groups exist.
Is the database open?

The Oracle database for the ORACLE_SID that you will be replicating must be open while you are installing
SharePlex.
Did you specify a valid ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME?

If you specify an invalid ORACLE_SID or ORACLE_HOME value for the Oracle instance, the installation script is
unable to locate the correct Oracle libraries to link to, and it will fail with an error such as this:
Cannot find shared library usr1/oracle/ 8.1.6/lib/libclntsh.so; Exiting.
Re-run the installation script again to provide the correct values for ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME.

75
If Oracle Setup (ora_setup) failed
Is the system running HP-UX?
Look for an /etc/logingroups file on the system. This file existed on HP-UX systems prior to the adaptation of
POSIX standards. To allow backward compatibility, HP-UX gives priority to /etc/logingroups, and uses the
/etc/group file only if /etc/logingroups does not exist. To resolve the problem, edit the /etc/group file to make its
entries identical to those in the /etc/logingroups file, then delete the etc/logingroups file.
Does the instance exist?

The instance containing the data to be replicated must exist before you run ora_setup (OraSetup). It does not
need to be populated. If you are using a hot backup method for initial synchronization of your data, it establishes
the target instance, and you should run ora_setup when directed by the synchronization procedure. These
procedures are in the SharePlex Administrators Guide.
Is Oracle running and is the instance open?

Oracle must be running and the instance must be open while you run ora_setup (OraSetup). This program
accesses Oracle to establish SharePlex as a user and install its internal tables.
Is sp_cop shut down?

The SharePlex sp_cop process cannot be running while you are running ora_setup (OraSetup). If it is running,
shut it down using the shutdown command in sp_ctrl. Run sp_ctrl from the bin sub-directory in the SharePlex
product directory.
sp_ctrl(sysA)> shutdown
Did you specify the correct ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME?

If you specify an invalid ORACLE_SID and/or ORACLE_HOME for the replication instance, ora_setup
(OraSetup) will fail.
Methods for determining the ORACLE_SID

You can view the ORACLE_SID in a few different ways.
l On UNIX and Windows systems, you can query the V$PARAMETER table through SQL*Plus.
SQL> select name, value from V$parameter where name = db_name;
l On a UNIX system, you can view the oratab file.
HP-UX and IBM AIX systems Sun Solaris systems
$ cd /etc
$ more oratab On the Solaris platform, the oratab file is typically located in the
You will see a display similar to this: var/ opt/oracle directory. Sometimes there is an oratab file in
the /etc directory as well. If there is an oratab file in the /etc
directory, remove, rename or relocate it to prevent problems
ora10:/qa/oracle/ora10/app/oracl for SharePlex.
e/ product/10.0
In this example, ora10 is the ORACLE_SID and
/qa/oracle/ora10/ product is the ORACLE_HOME
directory.

76
l On Windows systems, you can view the Windows Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE.
Is the Oracle library in $ORACLE_HOME/lib?

On UNIX systems, the ora_setup program expects the Oracle library to be in the $ORACLE_HOME/lib or
$ORACLE_HOME/lib32 directory. In some environments, the Oracle library has a different name than what
SharePlex expects it to be, or it is installed in a different location than expected (or both). In that case, you will
see the following error message when you attempt to run ora_setup:
ld.so.1: ./ora_setup: fatal: libclntsh.so.1.0: open failed: No such file or

directory. Killed.
If you experience problems running ora_setup or SharePlex because of a library issue, install the appropriate
library from Oracle and then re-start SharePlex (if it is stopped). SharePlex will link to the correct library from that
point forward.
Did you receive an ld.so.1: sqlplus: fatal: libsunmath.so.1: can't open file: errno=2 error?
On UNIX systems, this error indicates that ora_setup cannot find the libsunmath and libshareplex libraries,
even though the link exists in the proper place. You can use either of these solutions:
l Create a softlink for $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libsunmath.so.1 in the /usr/lib directory. or...
l In the ECXpert/config/bdg.ini file in the [DB_ENV] section add the following line:
LD_LIBRARYPATH=full oracle home path/lib
Was there an asterisk as the SID entry?

On UNIX systems, some oratab files may have the * (asterisk) symbol instead of a specific entry for the
ORACLE_SID of the instance that will be replicated. This causes ora_setup to fail. Make sure a valid ORACLE_
SID is in the oratab file.
Are there multiple oratab files (Sun Solaris platforms)?

On Sun systems, the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME values can be found by viewing the oratab file, which
is typically located in the /var/opt/oracle directory. Since other UNIX platforms store the oratab file in the /etc
directory, there may be a second oratab in your /etc directory. If there is one, either move, rename or delete it.
What is Oracles set-user-id setting?

To run ora_setup on UNIX systems, the set-user-id for the Oracle software need to be -rwsr-s--x. Those
permissions allow non-Oracle users, including ora_setup, to log into SQL*Plus. The ora_setup program uses
SQL*Plus to install the SharePlex database objects required for replication.
If SharePlex does not interact with Oracle

Did you run Oracle Setup for all instances involved in replication?
The ora_setup (OraSetup) program establishes SharePlex as an Oracle user. The SharePlex processes log
into Oracle as this user on the source database to activate configurations and maintain the SharePlex internal
replication tables, and they log in as this user on the target database to maintain tables there and apply
replicated changes to the database through SQL*Plus.

77
To verify that Oracle Setup was performed on all Oracle instances, view the SP_ORD_OWNER_ and SP_ORD_
LOGIN_ parameters. There should be an entry for the SharePlex Oracle user and password (encrypted). Use the
following command in sp_ctrl:
sp_ctrl(sysA)> list param all read
Read parameters:
Parameter Name Actual Value Units Set At

-------------------------------- ----------------------- ---------- ----------------------
SP_ORD_CDA_LIMIT 5 cdas Restart Process
SP_ORD_DATE_MSG 0 Live
SP_ORD_DEBUG 0x00000000 bitflag Live
SP_ORD_DEBUG_FLAG 0x00000000 bitflag Live
SP_ORD_DEBUG_OBJECT 0 objecti Live
SP_ORD_DELAY_RECORDS 200 records Live
SP_ORD_FIRST_FIND 1 Restart Process
SP_ORD_FULL_ROLLBACK 0 Live
SP_ORD_HP_HASH 16 slots Restart Process
SP_ORD_HP_IN_SYNC 0 Restart Process
SP_ORD_LDA_ARRAY_SIZE 5 logins Restart Process
SP_ORD_LOG_FILESIZE 50000000 bytes Restart Process
SP_ORD_LOG_NUMFILES 3 number Restart Process
558ec793ac0c1
SP_ORD_LOGIN_O Set Up
4ef8a06
Default Value:
SP_ORD_MSGS_CK_FREQ 10000 number Restart Process
SP_ORD_OWNER_O qarun Set Up
Default Value:
SP_ORD_RCM_SKIP_RATIO 2 ratio Restart Process
SP_ORD_RESTART_
0 retries Live
THRESHOLD
SP_ORD_RMSG_LIMIT 1000 readrel Live
SP_ORD_UTILIZATION_
0 Live
TIMERS
You also can verify that ora_setup was performed by querying the database for tables beginning with
SHAREPLEX_, and you can check to see if an Oracle account was established for SharePlex. If these items do
not exist, shut down sp_cop and follow the instructions for running ora_setup.
Did you run ora_setup as a non-root user?

On UNIX systems, you must run ora_setup as non-root. Otherwise, SharePlex will not have the correct
permissions to interact with Oracle.
Did you assign a DBA role to the SharePlex Oracle user?

The SharePlex Oracle user requires a DBA role with unlimited privileges. The SharePlex user is created with
the default Oracle profile under the assumption that the profile has the unlimited resource privileges assigned

78
by Oracle as the default. If SharePlex is unable to interact with Oracle, check to see if the default was changed. If
so, assign SharePlex a DBA role with unlimited privileges for all definitions.
If users cannot run sp_cop or sp_ctrl

Was the initiating user an authorized SharePlex user?
Only a member of the SharePlex Admin group can start sp_cop. A root user that is not a member of this group
can start sp_cop, but no users (including root) will be able to connect through sp_ctrl to issue commands. To
issue commands through sp_ctrl, a user (including root) must be a member of the SharePlex Admin group,
spopr or spview group, and sp_cop must be started by a member of the SharePlex Admin group.
Is this a cluster environment?

In order for the SharePlex processes to issue name lookups and migrate properly in a clustered environment
(where a package name supersedes the local system name), the SP_SYS_HOST_NAME parameter must be
set to the correct package name. In addition, the host name set by this parameter must be the same on all
members of the cluster so that the name can bind to a socket and the /etc/hosts file or nameserver can correctly
map the parameters value to the correct IP address.
Was the filesystem mounted as nosuid?

On UNIX systems, if the filesystem is mounted as nosuid, SharePlex must be started by the installation
owner. In this case, members of the SharePlex Admin group, other than the installation owner, will not be
able to run SharePlex.
If users cannot issue commands in sp_ctrl

Did you assign them to the SharePlex groups?
Only one SharePlex user, the Administrator who owns the SharePlex binaries and files, is created during
SharePlex installation. For other users to start SharePlex and/or issue commands through sp_ctrl, you must
assign them to the appropriate SharePlex user groups. Instructions for assigning users to groups on UNIX
systems are in page 41. For Windows systems, see page 88.
Do they have the right authorization level for the command?

To issue a specific command (such as activate config or stop export), a user must have that commands
authorization level or higher. For example, a SharePlex Administrator (authorization level 1) can issue any
command, but a member of the spview group can only issue status commands and a few other commands that
do not directly affect the replication processes. Using the table on page 55, make sure you assigned users to the
SharePlex group that corresponds to the authorization level you are granting them.

79
Appendix A: SharePlex tables
The SharePlex ora_setup process installs these objects into the SharePlex tablespace for use by its replication
processes. Do not alter them in any way, or replication will be adversely affected.
If the SharePlex tables are installed on a locally managed tablespace, the storage parameters will not be set.
Default storage values

Table 1: Default storage values for the SharePlex tables and indices
INTERNAL INITIAL_ NEXT_ MAX_ PCT_ INCREASE

TABLES EXTENT EXTENT EXTENTS
SHAREPLEX_ACTID tablespace tablespace tablespace 0

default default default
SHAREPLEX_ACT_ tablespace tablespace tablespace 0
MARKER default default default
tablespace
default
SHAREPLEX_ tablespace tablespace tablespace 0
COMMAND default default default
CONFIG default default default
DATAEQUATOR default default default
DATAEQUATOR_ default default default
RESULTS
SHAREPLEX_ 1 MB 1 MB 120 10
LOBMAP

MARKER default default default
OBJMAP default default default
SHAREPLEX_OOS_ tablespace tablespace tablespace 0
KEYS default default default
SHAREPLEX_OOS_ tablespace tablespace tablespace 0
MASTER default default default

80
INTERNAL INITIAL_ NEXT_ MAX_ PCT_ INCREASE
TABLES EXTENT EXTENT EXTENTS
PARTITION default default default

PARTITION_CACHE default default default
SHAREPLEX_TRANS tablespace tablespace tablespace 0
default default default
LOBMAP_I1
LOBMAP_I2

81
Appendix B: Running ora_cleansp
The ora_cleansp utility removes the current replication state on a system, including deactivating configurations.
This can be acceptable in a test or demonstration environment, but it rarely is appropriate in a production
environment. Unless a documented procedure or demonstration requires running ora_cleansp (OraCleanSp
on Windows systems), contact Technical Support for assistance before running this utility for the first time. There
are other alternatives to running ora_cleansp.
How ora_cleansp works

ora_cleansp works in two stages to restore replication to an initial state, as follows:
ora_cleansp first truncates all of the SharePlex internal tables, except for the SHAREPLEX_PARTITION table,
which contains partition schemes that might be needed again. It does not remove the SharePlex Oracle user,
password, or demonstration objects.
After the tables are truncated, ora_cleansp removes the following components from the SharePlex variable-
data directory:
l The queue files in the rim sub-directory.
l The log files in the log sub-directory. The Event log retains one entry reflecting the outcome of the ora_
cleansp procedure.
l The contents of the statusdb file in the data sub-directory.
l The contents of the dump and state sub-directories.
ora_cleansp preserves user-created files such as configuration files, conflict-resolution files, transformation
files, hint files, the paramdb, and the oramsglist file.
ora_cleansp deactivates configurations. To start replication after running ora_cleansp, you must activate a
configuration.
Other alternatives to ora_cleansp

l To stop activity for a configuration without truncating the SharePlex tables and restoring replication to an
initial state, you might be able to use the abort config or purge config command in sp_ctrl. For more
information about these commands, see the SharePlex Reference Manual.
l To truncate the SharePlex tables without purging files in the variable-data directory, you can run the
cleanup.sql script (from the bin sub-directory of the product directory on UNIX systems or the util sub-
directory of the product directory on Windows systems).
l On UNIX systems, you can purge the files in the variable-data directory without truncating the SharePlex
tables by running the clean_vardir.sh script from the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory.

82
Important! ora_cleansp must be run on all source and target systems to restore replication to
an initial state. To verify if and when ora_cleansp was run on a system, view the Event Log on
that system.
Before running ora_cleansp

1. Log on as a SharePlex Administrator.
2. [UNIX ONLY] Set the SP_SYS_VARDIR environment variable to point to the SharePlex variable-data
directory. If you are running multiple instances of sp_cop using multiple variable-data directories, set
SP_SYS_VARDIR for the variable-data directory that you want to restore.
ksh shell:
$ export SP_SYS_VARDIR=/SharePlex_vardir_absolute_path
csh shell:
$ setenv SP_SYS_VARDIR /SharePlex_vardir_absolute_path
3. Run sp_ctrl from the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory.
4. Shut down sp_cop.
sp_ctrl> shutdown
5. Verify that all SharePlex processes are stopped by using either the ps -ef | grep sp_ command on UNIX
systems or Taskmgr from the SpUtil program on Windows systems.
6. Kill all orphan SharePlex processes by using either the kill -9 command on UNIX systems or the
KillSharePlex.bat program on Windows systems.
7. [UNIX ONLY] If you have not done so already, view the oratab file to determine the values for ORACLE_
HOME and ORACLE_SID for the instance.
$ cd /etc
$ more oratab
8. [UNIX ONLY] Set the ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID environment variables.
ksh shell:
$ export ORACLE_HOME=[value from oratab file]
$ export ORACLE_SID=[value from oratab file]
csh shell:
$ setenv ORACLE_HOME [value from oratab file]
$ setenv ORACLE_SID [value from oratab file]
9. Run ora_cleansp using one of the following methods, depending on the platform.
Running ora_cleansp on a UNIX system

1. Change directories to the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory (this must be the current
working directory), and run ora_cleansp with the SharePlex Oracle user account and password.

83
When run as a different user, ora_cleansp does not truncate the SharePlex tables.
$ ./ora_cleansp SharePlex_username/SharePlex_password
Tip: To find out the name of the SharePlex account, use the following command: $ cat SharePlex_
variable_data_directory/data/paramdb | grep SP_ORD_OWNER. You will see a display similar to this:
SP_ORD_OWNER_O.oraA jdadd. The first component after the dot is the ORACLE_SID (oraA in the
example). The second component is the Oracle account name (jdadd in the example).
2. View the Event Log after you run the utility to confirm its results.
Note: The utility might generate an error message stating that it cannot remove the .../ save_SharePlex_
version directory. You can remove this directory.
Running OraCleanSp on a Windows

system
1. Double-click the SpUtils desktop shortcut.
Or Navigate to the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory, then doubleclick the SpUtils
program icon.
2. In the SharePlex Utilities dialog box, click the OraCleanSp tab.
3. In the Port list box, select the port number for the instance of SharePlex for which you are running
OraCleanSp.
4. Under SharePlex User Info, enter the following information.
o In the User text box, type the name of the SharePlex Oracle user for the designated instance of
SharePlex. OraCleanSp must run as the SharePlex Oracle user.
o In the Password text box, type the password for the SharePlex user.
o In the Oracle SID text box, type the ORACLE_SID of the Oracle instance for which you are
running OraCleanSp.
5. Click Clean to execute OraCleanSp. Processing progress is displayed in the text box at the bottom of the
dialog box.
6. Click Close to close the dialog box.

84
Appendix C: Removing SharePlex
This appendix provides separate instructions for removing SharePlex from UNIX and Windows systems.
Removing SharePlex from a UNIX system

To remove SharePlex from a UNIX source or target system, use the following procedure.
Use this procedure only if a system no longer will be used for replication or if you are directed to use it by
Technical Support or another documented procedure.
Installing a SharePlex upgrade or reinstalling the software without un-installing it preserves existing data files.
Before you upgrade or re-install SharePlex, see the Release Notes for the version you are installing to
familiarize yourself with any special upgrade or installation requirements.
Removing SharePlex
This procedure removes the SharePlex product and variable-data directories, including user-created files such
as configuration files, conflict-resolution files, and hints files. If there are any files you would like to keep, those
files should be backed up, copied, or archived before starting the procedure.
This script does not remove the SharePlex internal tables, their indices, or other Share- Plex database objects.
Use standard Oracle methods to remove those objects.
To run splex_remove
1. Log on as the user that installed SharePlex. (The splex_remove script should be run by the user who
installed SharePlex. Permissions errors may occur and the splex_remove script will not be able to find
installation details if another user attempts to remove SharePlex using the splex_remove script.)
2. Shut down SharePlex using sp_ctrl.
sp_ctrl(system:port)> shutdown
When you have finished with this step, exit out of sp_ctrl.
3. Use the following command to make certain that no other users are running Share- Plex and that there
are no SharePlex processes running, including sp_cop.
# ps -ef | grep sp_

4. If any SharePlex processes are running, shut them down or use the UNIX kill command to
terminate them.
5. Run the splex_remove script from outside the SharePlex installation directory. (The splex_remove
script must be run from outside of the installation directories to prevent removal errors caused by trying to
delete the current working directory.
# /product_dir/install/splex_remove
When the splex_remove process has is complete, the script will print the location of the removal log file
to the screen.

85
Removing SharePlex from a Windows
system
Overview of the removal process
Removing SharePlex from a Windows system involves the following procedures.
l Shutting down the SharePlex service.
l Removing the SharePlex software and system files.
l Removing the MKS Toolkit (formerly known as NuTCRACKER) operating environment.
l Manually removing files that are not removed by the uninstaller.
l Manually removing the SharePlex user and database objects.
Files removed by the uninstall program

When SharePlex was installed, a file named install.log was installed in the SharePlex product directory. This file
contains a record of all files created on the system by the installation program. When you run the uninstall
program to remove SharePlex, it reads install.log to determine which files to remove.
The following components are removed by the automatic uninstall option of the uninstall program for all
instances of SharePlex (all SharePlex services on all ports).
l The SharePlex Registry entries.
l The SharePlex desktop icons.
l The SharePlex menu items (except for the top-level Program Manager Group folder).
l The SharePlex product directory. The uninstall program also contains a custom uninstall option that
enables you to selectively remove files.
The uninstall program also contains a custom uninstall option that enables you to selectively remove files.
Files not removed by the uninstall program

The uninstall program does not remove the following components.
l Files that already existed on the system when the current version of SharePlex was installed.
l Files created by SharePlex or a user in the product or variable-data directory after the current version of
SharePlex was installed. Such files can be removed manually after SharePlex is removed. This is
standard procedure for most Windows applications.
l The SharePlex variable-data directory. To remove this directory, delete it through the operating
system. The uninstall program does not remove this directory because there could be user-created
files, such as configuration files and custom parameter settings, that you want to keep for a future
installation of SharePlex.
To remove the SharePlex service

Before you remove the SharePlex software from the system, follow these steps to stop and remove each
SharePlex service on the system.

86
1. Double-click the SpUtils desktop icon.
2. Click the SharePlex Services tab.
3. In the Port list box, select the port number for the SharePlex instance that you want to remove.
4. Under SharePlex Service Status, click Stop.
5. Click Apply to stop the service. The Current State field displays the status.
6. [FOR MULTIPLE SHAREPLEX SERVICES] While in the SharePlex Services dialog box, repeat the
preceding steps to stop each SharePlex service.
7. After the SharePlex service stops, click Remove.
8. Click Apply to remove the services key from the Registry.
9. [FOR MULTIPLE SHAREPLEX SERVICES] While in the SharePlex Services dialog box, repeat steps 7
and 8 for all SharePlex services to remove their Registry keys.
10. Click Close to close the SharePlex Service dialog box.
To remove the SharePlex software and system files

1. From Start menu, click Programs, then navigate to the SharePlex program folder and click Uninstall.
Or use the Add/Remove Programs tool in the Windows Control Panel.
2. In the Select Uninstall Method dialog box, select an uninstall option.
o Select Automatic to remove everything listed in Files removed by the uninstall program on page
147. This is the recommended procedure because it is the cleanest way to remove SharePlex
from the system.
Or...
o Select Custom to selectively remove files. Use this option only if you must retain some files while
deleting others.
Or...
o Select Repair to re-install files or update Registry entries. This option might require the original
SharePlex installation CD if the installation files are not available.
3. Click Next to continue. You are prompted based on the uninstall option that you selected.
Follow the remaining steps for the option that you selected, either Automatic uninstall, Custom
uninstall or Repair.
Automatic uninstall
In the Perform Uninstall dialog box, click Finish to complete the uninstall, or click Back to perform a
custom uninstall.
The automatic uninstall finishes and exits.
Custom uninstall
o In the Select Private Files to Remove dialog box, select the files that you want to remove by
clicking them. To deselect a file, click it again.
Or...
o Select all of the files by clicking the Select All button. This has the same effect as if you had

87
selected the Automatic uninstall option.
o To clear your selections and start selecting files over again, click Select None.
4. Click Next to continue.

5. For the next series of dialog boxes, use the same procedure as before to select components to be
removed. Remaining component types for which you can make selections are:
o Directories
o INI files to remove
o INI files to edit back to the way they were before SharePlex was installed
o Registry keys to remove
o Registry trees to remove
o Registry keys to edit back to the way they were before SharePlex was installed
o Sub-systems to remove
6. In the Perform Uninstall dialog box, click Finish to begin the uninstall process, or click Back to change
any of your selections. The removal process finishes and exits.
Repair
In the Perform Repair dialog box, click Finish. The repair function detects items needing repair and performs
the repair automatically.
To remove the MKS Toolkit operating environment

1. From the Start menu, click Settings, then click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel dialog box, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, highlight MKS Platform Components.
4. Click Change/Remove.
5. Search the Registry to ensure that any Mortice Kern Systems, MKS and Data Focus entries from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software are removed. If you locate any such entries, remove them.
Important! If you intend to reinstall SharePlex or MKS Toolkit, it will not reinstall unless these Registry
entries are removed.
Warning! Do not add, change or remove Registry entries unless you are familiar with the functionality
of the Registry and the Windows platform. Errors when changing Registry settings can adversely
affect the operation of the software or the system itself. If you are not familiar with the Registry,
consult your System Administrator for assistance.
To remove the SharePlex user and database objects

To remove the SharePlex user and database objects from the Oracle instance, use standard Oracle methods for
removing users and objects. See Oracles documentation for instructions if needed.

88
About Dell Software
Dell listens to customers and delivers worldwide innovative technology, business solutions and services they
trust and value. For more information, visit www.software.dell.com.
Contacting Dell Software

Technical Support:
Online Support
Product Questions and Sales:
(800) 306-9329
Email:
info@software.dell.com
Technical support resources

Technical support is available to customers who have purchased Dell software with a valid maintenance
contract and to customers who have trial versions. To access the Support Portal, go to
http://software.dell.com/support/.
The Support Portal provides self-help tools you can use to solve problems quickly and independently, 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year. In addition, the portal provides direct access to product support engineers through an
online Service Request system.
The site enables you to:
l Create, update, and manage Service Requests (cases)
l View Knowledge Base articles
l Obtain product notifications
l Download software. For trial software, go to Trial Downloads.
l View how-to videos
l Engage in community discussions
l Chat with a support engineer

89
conflict resolution demonstration 10, 69
connections
Index D
TCP/IP 38
datasource, definition 52, 54

A
demonstrations
access to sp_ctrl
advanced 61
controlling 10
basic 52
adding
DNS nameserver 74-75
alias for cluster name 40
alias for non-alphanumeric host name 10, 33 E
license key ERP environments 6
Windows cluster 40 errors 11, 35, 59, 64, 74-75, 85

Windows system 44 EXC_TABLE table 69
Adding SharePlex as a service 46 I
addressing install
in cluster 40 SharePlex on UNIX 10
administrator SharePlex on Windows 33
SharePlex 49
L
advantages of SharePlex 6
licence key
alias
UNIX system 10
for cluster name
M
Windows 33
for non-alphanumeric host names MKS 34, 40-41, 47, 86
UNIX 10 O
Windows 33, 40 Oracle user, establishing SharePlex as 29, 44, 54
B ORACLE_HOME 5, 16, 24, 36, 75-76, 83
binaries, version-specific 33 ORACLE_SID 16, 24, 30, 38, 45, 53-54, 63, 66,
68, 71, 75-76, 83-84
C oratab file 13, 83
changing global settings in the MKS toolkit 42 Other Term
cluster environments Subterm 40, 47
package name P
Windows cluster 40
peer-to-peer replication 61, 69
post-installation instructions
Preinstallation Checklist 10, 22, 33, 41
Windows 47
R
pre-installation instructions
read privileges 14, 36
Windows 40
redo logs 6, 11, 35
command authorization levels, assigning
replica database 8
UNIX 28
routing map 54, 67
Windows 50

90
S
semaphores 12, 18-20
shared variable-data directory 40, 47
Status Database 58
Symbols
/etc directory 16
/etc/group file 21, 27
/etc/resolv.conf file 10
/stand/vmunix 18
system file descriptors 12
T
testing replication 55
timestamp priority 72
U
uninstalling
SharePlex
UNIX system 85
Windows system 86
upgrading
database 13, 36
SharePLex 10, 33
V
variable-data directory 11, 30, 35, 40, 42, 44, 68,
71, 82-83, 86
viewer 5
W
Windows
determining ORACLE_SID 76
installing SharePlex 33
page file size 34
partition requirements 33
SharePlex requirements 33
uninstalling SharePlex from 86

91

SharePlexForOracle 8.5 InstallationandSetupGuide en

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

SharePlexForOracle 8.5 InstallationandSetupGuide en

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SharePlex for Oracle 8.

SharePlex for Oracle Installation and Setup Guide

Introduction: Advantages of SharePlex for Oracle 6

UNIX installation and setup 10

Windows installation and setup 33

Basic SharePlex Demonstrations 52

Advanced SharePlex Demonstrations 61

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

Solving installation problems 74

Appendix A: SharePlex tables 80

Appendix B: Running ora_cleansp 82

Appendix C: Removing SharePlex 85

About Dell Software 89

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

l Italics represent variables defined, named or entered by the user.

l {Braces} enclose available required arguments.

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

Maintains up-to-date, accessible target instances

Designed for high-intensity OLTP and ERP environments

Conserves system resources

Replicates with both speed and accuracy

Maintains fault tolerance

Provides high level of user control

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

Provides high level of flexibility

Installs quickly and easily

Replicates in a high availability environment

Simplifies routine maintenance

Reduces downtime and risk from migrations

Provides ability to record changes to data

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

l Installing SharePlex on UNIX and Windows systems.

l Establishing SharePlex users.

l Establishing an Oracle account for SharePlex.

l Running basic and advanced demonstrations of the SharePlex software.

l Removing SharePlex from UNIX and Windows systems.

l How SharePlex works

l How to run the SharePlex programs

l Other information for maintaining a replication environment.

A companion manual, the SharePlex Reference Manual, provides instructions for:

l Using sp_ctrl commands.

l Setting SharePlex tuning parameters.

l Preventing and solving common replication problems.

Strategies for Information Availability

Data distribution and distributed processing

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

High availability and disaster recovery

Figure 1: SharePlex replication strategies at a glance

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

Unix installation overview

1. Complete the UNIX Preinstallation Checklist below.

UNIX pre-installation checklist

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

[500 MB redo log] x [5 switches/hour] x [1/3] x [8 hours] = 6.5 GB disk space

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

-rwsr-s--x 1 oracle dba 31829136 Mar 25 2005 oracle

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

grant select any table to splex with admin option;

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5

SharePlex for Oracle 8.5