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dba75038
Contributor
Contributor

Oracle 2nd node fails to start in cluster due to locking

Greetings,

I’m attempting to setup an oracle cluster (ASM) with shared disks on elinux 5.8. I modified the vmx file with the parameters below to supposedly allow disk sharing between the nodes:

disk.locking = "FALSE"

diskLib.dataCacheMaxSize = "0"

diskLib.dataCacheMaxReadAheadSize = "0"

diskLib.dataCacheMinReadAheadSize = "0"

diskLib.dataCachePageSize = "4096"

diskLib.maxUnsyncedWrites = "0"

scsi1.present = "TRUE"

scsi1.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

scsi1.sharedBus = "VIRTUAL"

scsi1:1.present = "TRUE"

scsi1:1.mode = "independent-persistent"

scsi1:1.fileName = "

/vmfs/volumes/4f709747-0ec9e0a0-219b-001e0bccdf5c/test1/test1_1.vmdk"

scsi1:1.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

scsi1:1.redo = ""

I can start either node separately, however if I start them both, the second fails because the first has the file locked.

From the log:

Apr 13 13:00:45.313: vmx| DISK: OPEN '/vmfs/volumes/4f709747-0ec9e0a0-219b-001e0bccdf5c/test2_1/test2.vmdk' Geo (1958/255/63) BIOS Geo (0/0/0)

Apr 13 13:00:45.397: vmx| DISK: OPEN scsi0:1 '/vmfs/volumes/4f709747-0ec9e0a0-219b-001e0bccdf5c/test1/test1_1.vmdk' independent-persistent R[]

Apr 13 13:00:45.437: vmx| AIOGNRC: Failed to open '/vmfs/volumes/4f709747-0ec9e0a0-219b-001e0bccdf5c/test1/test1_1-flat.vmdk' : Failed to lock the file (67) (0x2017).

Does anyone out there know how to setup disks in VM that can be shared by multiple nodes?

Thanks!

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4 Replies
dba75038
Contributor
Contributor

See this document:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=103416...

In short, you have to update both vmx files to allow multiple servers to write to the same disk:

scsi1:0.sharing = "multi-writer"
scsi1:1.sharing = "multi-writer"
scsi1:2.sharing = "multi-writer"
scsi1:3.sharing = "multi-writer"

This can also be done through the gui tool (see the link).

Hope this helps!

dba75038
Contributor
Contributor

That worked!  Thanks!

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kamruddin
Contributor
Contributor

Subject: Multi-writer flag does not persist in VM configuration parameter on VSAN 6.0 datastore

In every ORACLE RAC VM, the SCSi controller type is VMware Paravirtual and SCSI bus sharing is Physical in which shared disks are connected.
When I am trying to add multi-writer flag in Edit virtual machine settings> VM Options > Advanced> Edit Configuration, the flag does not persist when I view the same configuration parameter list. I have tried both in vsphere Client and Web client, even tried with vi editor and echo command to add the parameter manually in vmx file in the host in which the vm is registered.
But one strange thing happens - if i write the syntax wrong (e.g an extra colon or double quotation is added) then it persist.

Can anyone help pls.

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NavalgundRaj
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,
we had ( our ora team ) a same issue, however it resolved by updating .vmx as mentioned in your answer and it worked of the tea,
Regards
Basavaraj.RNavalgund
banavalg@yahoo.com
Note: If you found this correct or answer useful please consider the use of the Correct buttons to award points. Regards Basavaraj.R Navalgund
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