Overview of provisioning Oracle virtual databases

Virtual databases are a key data management concept for Delphix. In order to create or provision a virtual database, you will need a linked dSource from a source host and a compatible target environment, as described in the overview for Managing Environments and Hosts and Requirements for Oracle Hosts and Databases.

A Solaris x86 source host is compatible with a Linux x86 target host and vice versa.

From a dSource, you can select a snapshot or point in time to create a VDB. Oracle VDBs each have their own configuration settings as described in Configuration Settings for Oracle Virtual Databases

RAC Timeflows

Timestamps in Oracle RAC Timeflows can be imprecise because of time skew among the hosts in a RAC configuration. The time stamps will generally track the host with the fastest clock. For this reason, provisioning by a timestamp may not leave the VDB provisioned at the exact time desired. The provision by SCN should be used if more fine-grained control is required when provisioning.

Procedure

In the Datasets panel on the left-hand side, click the group containing the dSource or VDB from which you want to provision.
From the Timeflow tab, select a snapshot or point in time to provision from.
Click to open the Provision VDB wizard, and select a compatible Target Environment for the new Oracle VDB
- Select Provide Privileged Credentials if you want to use login credentials on the target environment that are different from those associated with the Environment User
In the Advanced section, you may customize the VDB’s configuration settings, listeners, file mappings, patching, or custom environment variables. For more information, see Configuration Settings for Oracle Virtual Databases.
Select a Snapshot Policy for the VDB.
Enable Masked Provisioning by selecting an option on the Masking page.
Enter any operations that should be run in the Hooks page.
Review the VDB Configuration and Summary, and then click Submit.

When provisioning starts, you can review the progress of the job by selecting the VDB and clicking on the Status tab, or by selecting System and viewing the Jobs page.

Alternatively, you could see this in the Actions Sidebar. When provisioning is complete, the VDB will be included in the group you designated and listed in the Datasets panel.

Provisioning by snapshot or logSync

When provisioning by snapshot, you can provision to the start of any particular snapshot, either by time or SCN.

Snapshot Options

Snapshot options	Description
Provision by Time	You can provision to the start of any snapshot by selecting that snapshot card from the TimeFlow view or by entering a value in the time entry fields below the snapshot cards. The values you enter will snap to the beginning of the nearest snapshot.
Provision by SCN	To open the SCN entry field select the Actions (...) menu for your selected snapshot and select View by SCN. Here, you can type or paste in the SCN to which you want to provision. After entering a value, it will "snap" to the start of the closest appropriate snapshot.

For more granularity, you can use the logSync options to provision to any point in time, or to any SCN, within a particular snapshot.

logSync Options

logSync options	Description
Provision by Time	Select Open logSync control to view the time range within that snapshot. Select the clock icon and then select Time to the point to the time from which you want to provision. You can also enter a date and time directly.
Provision by SCN	Select View SCN to view the range of SCNs within that snapshot. You can also type or paste in the specific SCN to which you want to provision. Note that if the SCN does not exist, you will see an error when you provision.