Runtime database

We can view and update the current runtime database settings with the Runtime Database tab on the Cluster Configuration management page. If Oracle is set as the external runtime database and either the local management interface or runtime server trace specification includes Oracle trace points (for example, oracle.*) the underlying Oracle JDBC jar file is changed to a debugging jar file. This might have adverse effects on performance and as such Oracle tracing should only be enabled for debugging purposes and disabled once complete. Warning: Enabling trace for Oracle components “oracle.*” might result in the Oracle database administrator password being logged in clear text.

The runtime database contains runtime data used by the context-based access component. We can configure this database as an embedded database or an external database. The embedded database is suitable for small environments only. For large-scale production environments, configure an external database.

Local to the cluster

Use of the internal runtime database. Only the Maximum Size field relates to the internal runtime database. If we use the internal runtime database, all other fields are disabled.

Maximum Size (% of available disk)

The size of the internal runtime database. If we select the Local to the cluster option, this field is mandatory. The maximum size is a percentage of the remaining disk space at the time the policy is applied.

The valid value range is from 10% to 80%. If a change in this value results in a calculated maximum size, which is smaller the current size of the database, the database must be re-created. In this case, all existing data from the database is lost. To determine the percentage of available disk space to assign to the internal database, consider the following aspects of the environment:

• The current disk usage on the appliance. We can view the Disk Usage on the Appliance Dashboard in the LMI.

• Internal disk requirements for other utilities such as logging and snapshots.

Database export

Exports the current runtime data from the internal database so that it can be imported into an external database of the chosen type. This option is useful if we want to migrate the appliance's internal runtime database to an external database. Supported external database types are DB2, Oracle, and PostgreSQL. The exported data are compressed into a zip file. A readme file is included in the zip file to provide instructions on how to import the data into the external database.

Remote to the cluster

Use of an external runtime database. Specify the following information for the external runtime database:

Type

The database type, which is either DB2, Oracle, or, PostgreSQL.

Address

The IP address or hostname of the external database server.

Port

The port on which the external database server is listening.

Username

The name of the database administrator.

Password

The password for the database administrator.

DB2

Secure

Select this check box to create a secure connection with the DB2 server. Before a secure connection can be established, we must first import the certificate for the appliance to use for communication with the DB2 server. The certificate must be imported into the lmi_trust_store and rt_profile_keys key files. Use the SSL Certificates page to import the appropriate certificate.

Database name

The name of the database instance on the external DB2 server.

Enable High Available Disaster Recovery and Automatic Client Reroute

Select this checkbox to enable HADR and ACR.

Alternate Address

The IP address or hostname of the failover database server in the HADR configuration.

Alternate Port

The port on which the failover database server in the HADR configuration is listening.

Oracle

Secure

Select this check box to create a secure connection with the Oracle server. Before a secure connection can be established, we must first import the certificate for the appliance to use for communication with the Oracle server. The certificate must be imported into the lmi_trust_store and rt_profile_keys key files. Use the SSL Certificates page to import the appropriate certificate.

Service name

The name of the service instance on the external Oracle server.

Driver type

Type of Oracle JDBC driver that is used to connect to the Oracle server. Available options are Thin and OCI.

PostgreSQL

High availability, with an external PostgreSQL server, is achieved through the use of an external load balancer.

Secure

Select this check box to create a secure connection with the PostgreSQL server. Before a secure connection can be established, we must first import the certificate for the appliance to use for communication with the PostgreSQL server. The certificate must be imported into the lmi_trust_store and rt_profile_keys key files. Use the SSL Certificates page to import the appropriate certificate.

Database name

The name of the database instance on the external PostgreSQL server.

• Deploying an external runtime database
  To optimize performance or increase storage capacity for the appliance, we can deploy an external runtime database. We can configure the appliance to connect to DB2, PostgreSQL, or Oracle database on an external server.

Parent topic: Manage cluster configuration