Oracle MiniCluster MC-S7 is an engineered system (often referred to as an integrated system). As such, it has been designed, built and optimized by Oracle for performance, scalability, fault tolerance and stability. This is achieved by engineering the software and hardware together and testing it together prior to shipment to the end user. Doing so relies on limited and fixed configurations to provide best practice, best performance, better test coverage and better stability. Changing certain aspects of system configuration can reduce the benefits of an engineered system and may also be unsupported. This document gives examples of configuration changes that are not supported on MiniCluster.

Oracle MiniCluster MC-S7 Hardware

Generally, there should be no changes, additions or removal of any hardware other than component replacement of broken parts. Should there arise any exception to this this document will be updated accordingly. For more information on MC-S7 hardware subsystems please refer to the following: Oracle® MiniCluster S7-2 Service Manual

Customers who have additional storage requirements have the following options at their disposal:

• Add an External SAN storage, connected to the MiniCluster via either iSCSI or NFS (Fibre Channel attached disks NOT supported)
• Add a second DE3-24C storage tray (Up to a maximum of 2 storage trays are supported)

Please note that DE3-24C Storage Tray part numbers and configurations for other Oracle storage systems cannot be used with the Oracle MiniCluster, only the pre-defined, specific Oracle MiniCluster Storage Tray part number 7119798 (or 7119799 without encryption), is supported with the Oracle MiniCluster

Oracle MiniCluster Virtual Assistant (MCMU)

Access to the MiniCluster Virtual Assistant is provided both via browser based graphical user interface (BUI) via the management subnet on node 1 only, and also via the Solaris command line utility "mcmu", again on node 1 (primary) only. In general it is not recommended to make any changes to the system via the command line utility without the involvement of Oracle Support. All post installation configuration changes should be made via the MCMU BUI unless otherwise directed by Oracle Support. For further information on Oracle MiniCluster Virtual Assistant (MCMU) please refer to the following: Oracle MiniCluster S7-2 Administration Guide

Oracle Enterprise Hardware Manager (OESHM)

Access to the Oracle Enterprise Hardware Manager (OESHM) utility is provided via browser based graphical user interface (BUI) over the client network on port 8001 on node 1. Post installation there should be no reason for any changes to be made via this interface. For more information on Oracle Enterprise Hardware Manager (OESHM), please refer to the following: Oracle MiniCluster S7-2 Administration Guide

Oracle Integrated Lights-out Manager (ILOM)

Access to the ILOM for any given chassis is provided via both BUI and ssh login. Post installation one should not consider any changes to ILOM configuration or parameters without express direction from Oracle Support. For more information on Oracle Integrated Lights-out Manager (ILOM) please refer to the following: Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) 3.2 Documentation Library

Oracle MinicCluster Software Updates

MC-S7 MCMU Software incorporates a patching / SW update automation feature that is simple to use. One simply downloads the latest SW bundles from Oracle MiniCluster S7-2: Software Download Center (Doc ID 2153282.1) and follows the Release Notes for the version being installed, which instructs the user to unpack and store the files on the system, then use the BUI interface to apply the updates. There are some 'does and don'ts' that one should keep in mind:

• One must always unpack the software updates as user mcinstall.
• NEVER unpack SW update bundles or attempt to manually update (via mcmu cli) a MC-S7 as any other user
• DO NOT change or modify anything manually via Solaris Command line unless instructed to do so by the Release Notes
• DO NOT ever change or attempt to set up the default SSH/RSH key equivalency for user root or mcinstall

Solaris Operating System

• One must not apply Solaris updates, SRUs or kernel IDRs outside of the MCMU patching process.
• One can apply user-land (non-kernel) IDRs independently under guidance of Oracle Support
• One must not change the layout/partitioning of the disk subsystem
• One must not change RSA keys for any default user / admin accounts
• One must not change or modify user login profiles for any default user / admin accounts. This includes mcinstall, supervisor, root and oracle user ID's.
• One can create additional filesystems on existing disk space by creating additional ZFS filesystems in the existing zpools only.
• UFS filesystems are not supported anywhere in MiniCluster
• One can not change hostname, management & client IP addresses post-install
• One can not change DNS or NTP services manually.  Starting with MiniCluster release 1.1.30.2, the MiniCluster Virtual Assitant provides a way to change these settings.  Consult the Administration Guide for details.
• One can not add / modify or change VLAN setup manually.  To add new networks or add VMs to existing networks, use the "mcmu network" CLI.  Consult the Administration Guide for details.
• Installing any other software in the global zones, including Oracle Solaris Cluster, is not supported.
• One can modify the IPfilter rules of each VM using the Firewall Manager included in MiniCluster Software release 1.2.2.3 and later.
• One must not configure any variant of memory capping using rcapd.
• One must not change the prompt (PS1 variable) of users root, mcinstall or oracle in the .profile file of the respective user.
• One must not change the core allocation in any zone configuration.  One must not use poolcfg, psrset, pbind or psradm to create or change cpu pools or otherwise alter cpu allocation.

Database VM Groups

• DB VM groups (zones) must be created using MiniCluster Virtual Assistant (MCMU).
• Oracle Databases in the DB VM groups must be created using MCMU.
  • It is supported to manually create a database (for example with dbca) and then use the "import" functionality of MCMU to import the database metadata into the MiniCluster environment.
• Databases must be deleted using MCMU only!
• Database Homes must be created or deleted using MCMU only!
• One may run some applications in DB VM groups
  • EM and Ops Center agents or backup agents/clients are expected
  • You must not run anything that has the potential to interfere with RAC or DB performance
  • If you're running 3rd party applications in DB VM groups/zones, you may be asked to disable or remove the application if you experience instance or node evictions
• Solaris Cluster is not supported.
• One must not change default scheduling policies
• One must not configure any variant of memory capping using rcapd or in the zone's configuration.
  
  • The existing "swap" configuration may be changed when following DocID 2263877.1.
• DB VM groups now based on solaris-minimal-server
• One may add and remove Solaris packages; however, one may not remove any of the existing packages shipped with the system unless requested to do so by Oracle Support.
• One may security harden DB VM groups
• One must not change the name of DB VM groups after they have been deployed.
• One can not change hostname, management & client IP addresses post-install
• As of MCMU version 1.1.30.2 one may now update / change DNS and NTP services post install, using the MCMU functionality.
• One can not modify or change VLAN setup post install.
• One may not modify the configuration of the shared storage subsystem.
• One can not disable user equivalency (passwordless ssh) for the oracle user.
• Changing the password of mcinstall or oracle in the database VMs must only be done using the MCMU browser user interface or "mcmu tenant".
• One can create additional, local users in the database VMs, which are not managed by MCMU.
• One must not change the prompt (PS1 variable) of users root, mcinstall or oracle in the .profile file of the respective user.
• One must not change the core allocation in any zone configuration. One must not use poolcfg, psrset, pbind or psradm to create or change cpu pools or otherwise alter cpu allocation.
• Database Homes
  • You must not upgrade Clusterware (grid infrastructure) manually.  This should be done using the MiniCluster patching tools.
  • You must not upgrade database homes manually (for example from database 12.1.x to 12.2.x).  This should be done using the MiniCluster patching tools.
  • You may apply one-off patches to your database home to fix individual issues.  You might need to back-out these patches before patching this database home with the MiniCluster update utility.

Application VM Groups

• Application VM groups must be created via MCMU
• One may run any application supported by Solaris within the App VM grouop
• Oracle Databases may be created using DBCA or manually within sqlplus however they can not be registered with MCMU and do not have access to the fast database storage.
• One can not change hostname, management & client IP addresses post-install
• One can not change DNS or NTP services manually.  Use the MCMU functionality.
• One can not add / modify or change VLAN setup post install.  See above for adding networks.
• Solaris Cluster is not supported. Cluster solutions can be implemented using the included Oracle Clusterware functionality.  To activate, select the cluster option during App VM Group installation.  Manual installation is not supported.
• One may not modify the configuration of the shared storage subsystem.
• One must not modify the password of mcinstall using the solaris "passwd" command.  Use the MCMU utility instead.
• One can create additional, local users in the database VMs, which are not managed by MCMU.
• One must not configure any variant of memory capping using rcapd or in the zone's configuration.
• One must not change the prompt (PS1 variable) of users root, mcinstall or oracle in the .profile file of the respective user.
• One must not change the core allocation in any zone configuration. One must not use poolcfg, psrset, pbind or psradm to create or change cpu pools or otherwise alter cpu allocation.

Network, DNS and NTP

• One can not change hostname, management & client IP addresses post-install
• As of MCMU version 1.1.30.2 one may now update / change DNS and NTP services post install, using the MCMU functionality.
• One can not  modify or change VLAN setup post install.
• One can add additional networks using the "mcmu network" CLI.  For details, refer to the Administration Guide.
• One can modify the IPfilter rules of each VM using the Firewall Manager included in MiniCluster Software release 1.2.2.3 and later.

Solaris Kernel Zone / ACFS

• Default configuration of the ACFS kernel zone must not be changed.
• One can not change hostname, management & client IP addresses post-install
• As of MCMU version 1.1.30.2 one may now update / change DNS and NTP services post install using the MCMU functionality.
• One can not modify or change VLAN setup post install.
• No other application may be installed in the kernel zone
• Normal user login accounts may not be created
• Existing administrative user accounts may not be modified in any way
• One must not change the core allocation in any zone configuration. One must not use poolcfg, psrset, pbind or psradm to create or change cpu pools or otherwise alter cpu allocation.

Passwords

• One must not use the Solaris "passwd" command to change passwords of system accounts.
  • When prompted for a new password at ssh login because of password expiry, abort access and return to the MCMU BUI to update passwords.
  • In case passwords have already been changed on the Solaris command line, open a Service Request for assistance.
• Passwords of all system accounts must only be changed using the MCMU CLI or the MCMU BUI.
• System accounts are:
  • mcinstall
  • oracle
  • root
  • The Supervisor account
  • Any other account created through the MCMU user interface
• Other accounts' passwords which are not managed by MCMU can be changed manually.

Pro-Active maintenance

• Periodic physical examination of all components is suggested to ensure airflow is not obstructed

Reactive maintenance

• Should there arise any issue with the functionality of the system it is recommended to open a service request with Oracle Support