Step by Step Oracle RAC 12c Release 2 (12c R2) installation on Oracle VirtualBox with OEL7

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Step by Step How to Install Oracle RAC (Real Application Cluster) on your Laptop

Note:- Installation of Oracle RAC is a very lengthy and time taking process and requires lots of preparation and co-ordination with different Teams in real environment. Since in this post you will perform all the tasks your own, it may take even more time. Keeping this point in mind and make the installation easier I have divided this post in several small posts which may be independently completed. lastly you have to be patient.
Step1: Planning and Understanding Hardware and Software Requirements for Oracle RAC installation on your Laptop.
Check out the post  Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements to Install Oracle Real Application Cluster (Oracle RAC 12c) to complete this step
Step2: Download the Required Software
Check out the post How to Download Oracle Software from Oracle E- delivery and download the required software.
Step3: Create the Virtual Machines
Create the Virtual Servers with the configuration mentioned in step1. You can follow the instructions from post Step by Step how to Create Virtual Machine using Virtualbox
Step4: Install OS Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL 7)
Follow the post Installing Oracle Enterprise Linux 7 for Oracle RAC Installation
and complete the OS installation. Perform the installation on all 3 Servers. 2 for RAC nodes and 1 for DNS and NTP
Step5: Install Open Filer  for Shared Storage Preparation
Follow the instructions from How to Install OpenFiler Storage Management Appliance
Step6: Configure Openfiler and Discover the LUN on RAC nodes
Follow the instructions from Step by Step How to Configure Shared Storage for Oracle RAC Using Openfiler
Step7: Configure NTP.
Follow the instructions from How to Configure NTP Server for Oracle RAC Installation
NOTE: If you don't want to use NTP just de-configure it and let the Oracle Clusterware (CTSS) take care of time synchronization
Step8: Deconfigure NTP on Oracle RAC database Nodes
Step8 is only required if you don't have an NTP server to synchronize the time of the servers. De-configure it for all the RAC nodes in the cluster.
#systemctl stop ntpd.service
#systemctl status ntpd.service
#mv /etc/ntp.conf /etc/ntp.conf.org
# rm /var/run/ntpd.pid
Step9: Configure DNS
Follow the instruction from How to Configure DNS Server for Oracle RAC Installation

Step10: Prepare OS for Oracle RAC Installation

complete the Step10 (from A-F) as root for all the nodes
A: Add group and user
Add oinstall and dba group
#groupadd -g 500 oinstall
#groupadd -g 501 dba
Add oracle user
#useradd -u 500 -g oinstall -G dba oracle
Reset the password for user oracle
#passwd oracle
B : Create the directories and change ownership to Oracle
#mkdir -p  /u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid
#mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.0.1/dbp1
#chown -R oracle:oinstall /u01
#chmod -R 775 /u01/
C:  Configure /etc/hosts.
Enter All the IPs (Public IPs, Private IPs, VIPs etc) in /etc/hosts as shown below. Each node must have all the IPs from all the nodes participating in the cluster including VIP and Private IPs.
#loopback address

127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain   localhost
# Public IP Address
192.9.1.100   node1.oracle.com        node1
192.9.1.101   node2.oracle.com        node2
192.9.1.105   storage.oracle.com      storage
# Private IP Address
10.0.0.1   node1-priv.oracle.com   node1-priv
10.0.0.2   node2-priv.oracle.com   node2-priv
# Virtual IP Address
192.9.1.150   node1-vip.oracle.com        node1-vip
192.9.1.151   node2-vip.oracle.com        node2-vip

D: Disable SELINUX
If already not disabled this is the time you must disable SELINUX setting
Change the setting by editing the "/etc/selinux/config" file, making sure the SELINUX flag is set as follows
SELINUX=disable
E: Disable IPtables/firewall
If you have the Linux firewall enabled, you will need to disable or configure it, as shown here. The following is an example of disabling the firewall.
#systemctl stop  iptables.service
#chkconfig iptables off
F:  Enable NTP Slewing Option
The Option is only needed if you are using NTP for time synchronization. If your RAC is going to be permanently connected to your main network and you want to use NTP, you must add the "-x" option into the following line in the "/etc/sysconfig/ntpd" file.
OPTIONS="-x -u ntp:ntp -p /var/run/ntpd.pid"

Step11: Prepare ASM Disks for Shared Storage

You have installed and configured openfiler in Step 5 and Step6. The shared LUN  (/dev/sdb) from openfiler is discovered on your RAC node.

Create minimum 8 Partitions each 40GB in size as shown below. Use fdisk to create partitions

Note: You can do this as root user and you must do it only on one node.

Step12: Discover the Above Created partitions on Node2

Just execute the following command as root to sync the partition table on node2 as well

#partprobe

run fdisk –l  to see if the partitions are visible

Step13: Create ASM disk using ASM Lib

Follow the instruction at Step by Step How to Install and Configure Oracle asmlib Install and configure the ASMLIB and create the disk on one node and just discover it on 2nd node using oracleasm scandisks command.

Step14: Configure user equivalence for oracle user

On node1 & node2 as oracle user
$ssh-keygen –t rsa
$ssh-keygen –t dsa
On node1
$cd /home/oracle/.ssh
$cat *.pub>>node1
On node2
$cd /home/oracle/.ssh
$cat *.pub>>node2
On node1
$scp node1 node2:/home/oracle/.ssh
On node2
$scp node2 node1:/home/oracle/.ssh
On node1
$cat node*>>authorized_keys
On node2
$cat node*>>authorized_keys
Now test the ssh configuration, should work without Password
On node1
$ssh node1
$ssh node2
On Node2
$ssh node2
$ssh node1

Step15: Install Mandatory Packages for Oracle

Install following required RPMs (same or above version) on both the nodes (node1, node2). Use rpm or yum to install.

binutils-2.23.52.0.1

compat-libcap1-1.10

libgcc-4.8.2

libstdc++-4.8.2

libstdc++-devel-4.8.2

sysstat-10.1.5

ksh

make-3.82

glibc-2.17

glibc-devel-2.17

libaio-0.3.109

libaio-devel-0.3.109

nfs-utils-1.2.3-15

smartmontools-6.2-4

net-tools-2.0-0.17

cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1

cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm is located under /u01/stage/database/rpm/ (location where you have extracted your grid binaries)

Step16: Configure Kernal Parameters

Configure Following Kernal  parameter on both nodes (Node1 and Node2)

Set Kernel Parameters in /etc/sysctl.conf file

fs.file-max = 6815744

kernel.sem = 250 32000 100 128

kernel.shmmni = 4096

kernel.shmall = 1073741824

kernel.shmmax = 4398046511104

kernel.panic_on_oops = 1

net.core.rmem_default = 262144

net.core.rmem_max = 4194304

net.core.wmem_default = 262144

net.core.wmem_max = 1048576

net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 2

net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter = 2

fs.aio-max-nr = 1048576

net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 9000 65500

# sysctl –p

Configure /etc/security/limits.conf file

oracle   soft   nofile    1024

oracle   hard   nofile    65536

oracle   soft   nproc    16384

oracle   hard   nproc    16384

oracle   soft   stack    10240

oracle   hard   stack    32768

oracle   hard   memlock    134217728

oracle   soft   memlock    134217728

Configure /etc/pam.d/login file

session   required     /lib/security/pam_limits.so

Step17: Copy and unzip oracle database Software

Transfer the oracle Grid Infrastructure software and unzip it in the $GRID_HOME

Since I want to install grid software under /u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid. I must unzip grid software at this location.

Step18: Perform RAC Installation PreCheck using Cluster Verification Utility from GI Home

As oracle user run cluster verification utility to perform the installation prerequisites

$cd under /u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid

./runcluvfy.sh stage -pre crsinst -n node1,node2 -fixup -verbose

Fix any error /warning reported by runcluvfy. It is highly advisable, not to ignore a single warning if you don't know the consequence

To fix Most common Issues reported during precheck Click Here

Step18: Initiate the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation

 If pre-installation check of cluster verification utility returns success go ahead for oracle clusterware (RAC) installation

Login as Oracle user and execute gridSetup.sh from /u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid

./gridSetup.sh

Step19:

Follow the installer instruction as Shown below.

Choose Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a New Cluster and click next

select configure an Oracle standalone Cluster and click next

 Enter Cluster Name, Scan Name and Port and click Next

Click on Add button and add the 2nd Server

Click on SSH Connectivity

 if you have already configured ssh you can test ssh configuration by clicking test button

to Setup the ssh you can click on Setup button

Click Next to proceed

Check if the proper Interface is selected. You  can Change the Default listing from drop down list.

Click Next

Click Next

Click Next

Enter the disk Group Name.

if your disk is not listed here

Check if the disk discovery path is correct.Change if required

Check if the permission of the disk is correct

Select appropriate disks and click Next

Enter the diskgroup Name to house the GMIR and click Next

Specify the Password and and Click Next

Click Next

Click Next.

Choose the Groups accordingly and click Next

Click Yes to ignore the warning and click Next to continue

Enter Oracle base Directory and click Next

Click Next

Click Next

Click Install to start the Installation

Execute the scripts. Ensure to execute serially exactly in the order listed below

On Node1

/u01/app/oraInventory/orainstRoot.sh

On Node2

/u01/app/oraInventory/orainstRoot.sh

On Node1

/u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid/root.sh

wait to finish the root.sh on node1.

On Node2:

/u01/app/12.2.0.1/grid/root.sh

Click ok only once the script execution on both the nodes are completed successfully
Note: Do not start the execution of script on node2 until it finish on node1

After successful installation of oracle clusterware you can verify the status as follows