Best Practices For Deploying

Oracle RAC On Docker

Deploying and Configuring Oracle RAC on Docker

November 2021 | Version 1.3

Copyright © 2021, Oracle and/or its affiliates
PURPOSE STATEMENT
This document provides best practices for deploying and configuring Oracle RAC on Docker as a solution to many of the
challenges faced by DevOps (Development and Operations) today.

INTENDED AUDIENCE
Oracle Database Administrators and Application Developers.

DISCLAIMER
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contained herein may not be disclosed, copied, reproduced, or distributed to anyone outside Oracle without prior written
consent of Oracle. This document is not part of your license agreement, nor can it be incorporated into any contractual
agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or affiliates.
This document is for informational purposes only and is intended solely to assist you in planning for the implementation and
upgrade of the product features described. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should
not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality
described in this document remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.
Due to the nature of the product architecture, it may not be possible to safely include all features described in this document
without risking significant destabilization of the code.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Purpose Statement 1
Intended Audience 1
Disclaimer 1
INTRODUCTION 3
Solution Overview 4
Oracle Clusterware 4
Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) 4
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) 4
Oracle Linux 4
Oracle Container Runtime for Docker 4

Deployment Best Practices 5

Step 1: Install and Configure Oracle Linux 7 5
Step 2: Install and Configure Docker Engine 5
Step 3: Oracle RAC on Docker Deployment Scenarios 5
Deployment on a SINGLE HOST with publicly accessible ip addresses 5
Deployment on a SINGLE HOST with container-only ip addresses 5
Deployment on MULTIPLE Hosts 6
Deployment using block storage 6
Deployment using NAS Storage 7
Step 4: Download Docker Repository Files and Oracle Software 8
Deployment Overview 8
Clone Oracle RAC on Docker Files from Github 9
Download Oracle Software 9
Step 5: Build the Docker Image 9
Step 6: Configure Docker Host Environment 10
Step 7: Deploy Oracle RAC on DOCKER 10
Step 8: Run the ADDNode Script 10
Step 9: Connect To RAC 10

Weblogic and Oracle RAC on Docker Containers 11

Step 1: Install and Configure Oracle RAC on Docker 12
Step 2: Install and Configure WebLogic 12
Step 3: Download the Oracle Weblogic Server Software 12
Step 4: Build the Oracle WebLogic Image 12
Step 5: Create the Medrec Image 12
Step 6: Download WebLogic Supplemental Installer 12
Step 7: Build the Image 12
Step 8: Run the Container 12
Step 9: Access the Console 12

CONCLUSION 13
More Information 13

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INTRODUCTION
Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) allows an Oracle Database to run any packaged or custom application across a
set of clustered servers. This provides continuous database service uptime during node and instance failures, most planned
maintenance activities, and Oracle RAC expansion. If a clustered node fails, the Oracle Database service continues to run on
one of the surviving nodes. When more processing power is needed, another node can be added without interrupting user
access to the database or data.
Docker is an open source containerization platform that accelerates the development and deployment of microservices.
Docker has gained a lot of support in the IT community because of its agility, and, as such, many organizations are running
their services in Docker containers.

• Integration Challenges: Building a database environment for applications requires solving many software
dependencies. With Docker, developers or the database administrator can build an Oracle RAC Docker image with all
the package dependencies, Oracle Grid Infrastructure Software, Oracle Database release updates, and application
deployment scripts.

• Environment Provisioning Challenges: In test and development environments, users require quick environment
provisioning. Without a packaged database Docker image, it will take a lot of time and skills. However, using Docker,
users can download the Oracle RAC image and trigger the deployment of RAC and the application schemas. Users
get a complete software stack included in the image and can quickly provision the environment.

• Testing Challenges: Since Oracle RAC runs in a Docker container, users can freeze the test environment and share
it with other testers and developers, enhancing collaboration and productivity.

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SOLUTION OVERVIEW
This section introduces Oracle Grid Infrastructure, Oracle RAC, Oracle Linux, and Docker.

ORACLE CLUSTERWARE
Oracle Clusterware enables servers to coordinate with each other to appear to function as a highly available unit. This
combination of servers is commonly known as a cluster. Although the servers are standalone servers, each server
communicates with other servers, making the individual servers appear as one system to applications and end-users. Oracle
Clusterware also monitors the components within the cluster, restarting or failing over resources to ensure high availability.
Oracle Clusterware provides the infrastructure necessary to run Oracle RAC. Oracle Clusterware also manages resources, such
as virtual IP (VIP) addresses, databases, listeners, services, and many more.

ORACLE AUTOMATIC STORAGE MANAGEMENT (ASM)

Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is the recommended cluster volume manager which can be used for both
Oracle RAC and Single Instance Oracle Databases. Oracle ASM simplifies storage management through the principle of "stripe
and mirror everything" (SAME). Intelligent mirroring capabilities allow administrators to define 2- or 3-way mirrors to protect
vital data. When a read operation identifies a corrupt block on a disk, Oracle ASM automatically relocates the valid block from
the mirrored copy to an uncorrupted portion of the disk.

ORACLE REAL APPLICATION CLUSTERS (RAC)

Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) enables multiple interconnected instances to provide an Oracle Database Service
cooperatively. In an Oracle RAC environment, the database runs on two or more systems in a cluster while appearing to end-
users and applications as a single database. The result is a single database that spans multiple hardware systems, enabling
Oracle RAC to provide high availability and redundancy during failures in the cluster. Oracle RAC accommodates all system
types, from read-only data warehouse systems to update-intensive online transaction processing (OLTP) systems.

ORACLE LINUX
Operating systems, containers, and virtualization are the fundamental building blocks of modern IT infrastructure. Oracle
combines them all into one integrated offering: Oracle Linux. Running on your choice of hardware—in your data center or the
cloud—Oracle Linux provides the reliability, scalability, security, and performance for demanding enterprise workloads.

ORACLE CONTAINER RUNTIME FOR DOCKER

Oracle Container Runtime for Docker allows for easy creation and distribution of applications across Oracle Linux systems and
other operating systems that support Docker. Oracle Container Runtime for Docker consists of the Docker Engine, which
packages and runs the applications. It integrates with the Docker Hub, Docker Store, and Oracle Container Registry to share
the applications in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud.

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DEPLOYMENT BEST PRACTICES
This section provides best practices details for deploying and configuring Oracle RAC on Docker.

STEP 1: INSTALL AND CONFIGURE ORACLE LINUX 7

When setting up Oracle RAC on Docker, use Oracle Linux 7.x with UEK4. For detailed installation steps and system
requirements, please refer to the Installation Guide for Oracle Linux Release 7 under Oracle Linux Documentation

STEP 2: INSTALL AND CONFIGURE DOCKER ENGINE

Oracle RAC on Docker supports the non-privilege mode feature. Running in non-privileged mode allows Oracle RAC to safely
and securely run on a single host or multiple hosts without interference from the other Docker Containers. Configuring Oracle
Container Runtime for Docker involves many steps; please execute them in the order given in the documentation. To get more
details about each section described below, you can refer to Oracle Container Runtime for Docker User's Guide.

STEP 3: ORACLE RAC ON DOCKER DEPLOYMENT SCENARIOS

DEPLOYMENT ON A SINGLE HOST WITH PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE IP ADDRESSES
Multiple Oracle RAC Clusters can be deployed on a single Docker host. Every Oracle RAC Cluster will use dedicated storage
and assigned IPs running in a Docker container. You can connect to Oracle RAC Databases running on single hosts using Scan
IPs directly from your application, which can run on another host. A Docker MACVLAN bridge is required to expose your
Docker container IPs to your physical network.

DEPLOYMENT ON A SINGLE HOST WITH CONTAINER-ONLY IP ADDRESSES

If SCAN IPs are not accessible from outside your container, you can use Oracle Connection Manager to access the Oracle RAC
Cluster from your application. Oracle Connection manager acts like a Database proxy server, providing a single publicly
available IP address enabling connections to multiple container-private IP addresses. Figure 1 illustrates the architecture of
running RAC on Docker on a single host with Oracle Connection Manager.

Figure 1 RAC on Docker deployment scenario with Oracle Connection Manager

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DEPLOYMENT ON MULTIPLE HOSTS
Multiple Oracle RAC Clusters can be deployed on multiple hosts on Docker. Every Oracle RAC Cluster will use dedicated storage
and assigned IP addresses within the Docker container. To run Oracle RAC on Docker on multiple hosts, you need container
IPs on the same subnet and reachable between the containers running on the different hosts. Docker MACVLAN bridge
connects the containers directly to your public physical network enabling containers running on different hosts to
communicate with each other.
Figure 2 illustrates the architecture of running Oracle RAC on Docker on multiple hosts.

Figure 2 RAC on Docker when RAC is deployed on user network using the Docker Macvlan Driver on Multihost

DEPLOYMENT USING BLOCK STORAGE

Both Oracle Clusterware and the Oracle RAC database use files that must be available to all the nodes in the cluster. Each disk
must have a partition table when using direct-attached storage (DAS) or storage area network (SAN) for Oracle ASM. Oracle
recommends creating exactly one partition for each disk that encompasses the entire disk.
For details, please refer section Supported Storage Options for Oracle Grid Infrastructure in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure
Installation and Upgrade Guide for Linux.

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If you specify the "--privileged=true" option to the commands "docker create" or "docker run", the container has access to all
the devices on the host, which can present a security risk. You should plan your storage requirements ahead of the Oracle
RAC installation and allocate specific block devices to containers based on your Oracle RAC DB storage requirement for more
precise control.
To allocate specific block devices on the host available to particular containers, you can use the "—device" option with the
docker run and Docker create commands: --device=host_devname[:container_devname[:permissions]]
Figure 3 illustrates the architecture of deploying RAC on Docker using block devices as shared storage.

Figure 3 Oracle RAC on Docker using Block storage as shared storage

DEPLOYMENT USING NAS STORAGE

If you have a certified NAS storage device, then you can create zero-padded files in an NFS-mounted directory and use those
files as disk devices for the Oracle ASM disk group. In this case and to create a zero-padded file of 1GB in size, use the dd
command:
Example: dd if=/dev/zero of=/oradata/asm_disk01.img bs=1M count=1000
For more details, refer to Supported Storage Options for Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Creating Files on a NAS Device for Use
with Oracle Automatic Storage Management in the Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation and Upgrade Guide for Linux.

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Suppose you do not have block or NAS devices to run Oracle RAC on Docker. In that case, you can deploy the
OracleRACStorageServer image, which emulates an NFS server and an NFS volume exposed to Oracle RAC container. The
following figure explains the usage of RAC on Docker with NAS devices.

Figure 4 Deployment using NAS as shared storage device

Note: the OracleRACStorageServer storage image is supported only for test and development deployments.

STEP 4: DOWNLOAD DOCKER REPOSITORY FILES AND ORACLE SOFTWARE

DEPLOYMENT OVERVIEW
To build the Oracle RAC on Docker image, clone the Oracle/docker-images repository files from GitHub and build the images
based on your environment. The Oracle RAC Docker image will be built based on the Oraclelinux:Slim-7 image. Figure 5
illustrates the complete build scenario for the Oracle RAC Docker Image, Oracle Connection Manager image, and RAC Storage
image.

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Figure 5 Steps to clone Oracle/docker repository files from GITHUB

CLONE ORACLE RAC ON DOCKER FILES FROM GITHUB

To clone the Oracle/docker-images repository files from GitHub to build the image, use the following command:
# git clone https://github.com/oracle/docker-images.git
You need to have connectivity to GitHub from your server to download the files. If GitHub is not reachable from your server,
you may try setting up a proxy-based on your environment to download the files from GitHub. For details, please refer to the
Oracle Container Runtime for Docker User's Guide.

DOWNLOAD ORACLE SOFTWARE

The Oracle Docker repository files do not contain any Oracle Software binaries. Download the software from the Oracle
Technology Network and stage the software under the dockerfiles/<version> folder. For details, please refer to the "Pre-
requisites for RAC on Docker" section in the README.md of the OracleRealApplicationClusters Docker files.

STEP 5: BUILD THE DOCKER IMAGE

Once you have downloaded the Oracle RAC on Docker repository files and the Oracle binaries onto your server, build the
images based on your environment. You may need to build the following three images, depending on your infrastructure
setup.

1. Oracle Connection Manager Image

a. Required if you want to access the Oracle RAC database but do not have RAC IP addresses that are reachable
from the physical network.
2. Oracle RAC Storage Server Image
a. Required if you do not have block devices or NAS devices.
b. The OracleRACStorageServer is only for testing purposes and not a recommended way to store Oracle RAC files.
3. Oracle RAC Image
a. Required to run an Oracle RAC DB.
b. To understand the Oracle RAC on Docker provisioning steps in detail, please refer to the README.MD on GitHub.

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STEP 6: CONFIGURE DOCKER HOST ENVIRONMENT
After building the required images, configure the Docker host environment to run Oracle RAC on Docker. You may need to
configure kernel parameters, network setup, and ASM device allocation, as well as configuring real-time process settings in
the container.
To understand the pre-setup steps for Oracle RAC on Docker, refer to the section "Pre-requisites for Oracle RAC on Docker"
in the README.MD on GitHub.

STEP 7: DEPLOY ORACLE RAC ON DOCKER

Once you have built the images and pre-setup the Docker host environment for the Oracle RAC on Docker deployment, create
the following containers as applicable from the images.

1. Oracle Connection Manager Image

a. To understand the Oracle Connection Manager deployment steps in detail, refer to the "Creating the Docker GI
and RAC Container" section in the README.MD on GitHub.
2. Oracle RAC Storage Server Image
a. Please refer to the "Running RACStorageServer Docker container" section in README to understand the RAC
Storage Server deployment steps in detail.MD on GitHub.
3. Oracle RAC Image
a. To understand the Oracle RAC on Docker deployment steps in detail, refer to the README.MD on GitHub.

At this point, you have deployed a single node RAC database running in a single container. For test & dev environments, a
single node Oracle RAC environment may be sufficient. However, if you wish to run a multi-instance Oracle RAC database,
you must add additional nodes to your Oracle RAC cluster. To add extra nodes, please follow step 8. Otherwise, skip to step 9.

STEP 8: RUN THE ADDNODE SCRIPT

Oracle RAC provides the addnode.sh script to scale horizontally to meet your workload requirements. If you need to extend
the cluster to accommodate the workload on your server, add more nodes to your Oracle RAC cluster. Node addition on Oracle
RAC on Docker is automated with parameters passed as environment variables.
Make sure that you have executed pre-setup steps as mentioned in Step 6 in this white paper. Please refer to the "Adding a
RAC Node using a Docker container" section for detailed steps to add a node in the README.MD.

STEP 9: CONNECT TO RAC

Once the Oracle RAC database environment is up and running in the Docker container, your application can connect to the
Oracle RAC database. If you have chosen to use Oracle connection manager and exposed port 1521 on the Docker host to your
public network, you can connect from a client outside the host using "docker hostname" and port 1521. If you used the Docker
Macvlan configuration, you could connect directly to RAC containers using the SCAN-name.
Please refer to the "Connecting to RAC Database" section in RAC on Docker README for more details.MD on GitHub.

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WEBLOGIC AND ORACLE RAC ON DOCKER CONTAINERS
Oracle WebLogic (Oracle WLS) is a scalable, enterprise-ready J2EE-based application server for developing and deploying
multi-tier distributed enterprise applications. WebLogic Server provides enterprise-level security and administration tools for
ease of managing the applications.
Tighter integration between WebLogic and Oracle RAC database provides a robust, complete, highly available infrastructure
to develop and test applications with improved availability, better resource sharing, ease of configuration, and automated
management facilities. As WebLogic and Oracle RAC databases are now running in containers, developers and enterprises
can take advantage of Docker's benefits of container isolation, portability, ability to automate the development and testing of
these applications. To understand the deployment scenarios of WebLogic on Docker, please refer to the Oracle WebLogic
Server on Docker Containers Document published by WebLogic on OTN.
MedRec (Avitek Medical Records Application) is an end-to-end sample Java EE application shipped with WebLogic Server; it
simulates an independent, centralized medical record management system. The MedRec application provides a framework
for patients, doctors, and administrators to manage patient data using various clients. MedRec demonstrates WebLogic server
and Java EE features, and it highlights Oracle-recommended best practices. MedRec is installed in the WebLogic server
distribution. It has been used as a reliable and realistic application performance benchmark for over ten years.
Figure 6 shows the system architecture for WebLogic deployment with Oracle RAC on Docker. Figure 6 illustrates a WebLogic
container running the MedRec application, which is connected to RAC Database. If any instance goes down, the application
can still connect to other instances.
A WebLogic domain can be extended to a clustered domain by running multiple domains in different containers managed by
the Admin server. Clustered WebLogic containers can run on the same host or multiple hosts.

Figure 6 RAC with WebLogic Running on Docker/Container

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STEP 1: INSTALL AND CONFIGURE ORACLE RAC ON DOCKER
To install WebLogic on Docker, first, install Oracle RAC on Docker.

STEP 2: INSTALL AND CONFIGURE WEBLOGIC

Download Oracle WebLogic images from GitHub if not already downloaded. Change directory to
<DOCKER_IMAGES>/OracleWebLogic/dockerfiles/12.2.1

STEP 3: DOWNLOAD THE ORACLE WEBLOGIC SERVER SOFTWARE

Download Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.2 quick installer and stage it under
<DOCKER_IMAGES>/OracleWebLogic/dockerfiles/12.2.1. Refer to the README.md to get the exact details of the software
along with a download link.

STEP 4: BUILD THE ORACLE WEBLOGIC IMAGE

Build the Oracle WebLogic developer image by running the following command:

# docker build -t oracle/weblogic:12.2.1.2-developer .

STEP 5: CREATE THE MEDREC IMAGE

Change the directory to <DOCKER_IMAGES/OracleWebLogic/samples/12212-oradb-medrec and edit container-
scripts/oradatasource.properties. Modify parameters based on your environment as needed. If you have created a RAC
database with the default settings, set the following parameters:

dsurl=jdbc:oracle:thin:@//172.16.1.70:1521/ORCLCDB

dsusername=system

dspassword=Oracle_12c

STEP 6: DOWNLOAD WEBLOGIC SUPPLEMENTAL INSTALLER

Download Oracle WebLogic 12.2.1.2.0 supplemental quick disk installer and stage it under the current directory.
For more details, please refer to the README.MD placed under the current directory.

STEP 7: BUILD THE IMAGE

Once the software is staged, build the image. Execute the following command to build the image:

# docker build -t 12212-oradb-medrec .

For more details, please refer to the README.MD placed in the current directory.

STEP 8: RUN THE CONTAINER

Once the image is built, execute the following command to create and run the container:

# docker run -d -p 7011:7011 –network rac_pub1_nw 12212-oradb-medrec

Note: Pass –network docker parameter and create the WebLogic container on a public network that you have used for RAC.

STEP 9: ACCESS THE CONSOLE

You can access the WebLogic console from a browser by using the following URL.

http://<Docker_Host>:7011/medrec

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CONCLUSION
In traditional deployment workflows, various steps are required, contributing to an overall deployment pain felt by multiple
teams. Each step added to the deployment process for an application or database, such as applying a patch, providing
application scripts, or setting up an environment for users, increases the overall inhering risk that comes with deploying
dev/test or production systems. Docker provides a simple toolset that is aimed to combine all steps in a single workflow to
address these concerns.
Oracle RAC represents an enterprise-class database product, which is best used with the latest patches and releases.
Combined with Docker, it can provide fast provisioning and ready-made images using those latest patches and releases. These
images can easily be consumed in dev and test environments and discarded when the dev or test jobs are done, expediting
any organization's dev and test cycle.
Concluding, one of the most significant challenges that today's IT faces is the efficient management of test, dev, QA, and
production environments necessary to support the complete application development lifecycle. Economic realities dictate that
these environments be hosted on consolidated systems to maintain cost efficiency. With the introduction of Oracle RAC and
Docker repository files on GitHub, customers now have a simple solution to all these challenges. It provides simple and rapid
deployment, storage, and portability of environments and the isolation required for consolidated environments.

MORE INFORMATION
• Oracle RAC on Docker - Released Versions and Known Issues (Doc ID 2488326.1)
• Oracle® Linux Oracle Container Runtime for Docker User's Guide
https://docs.oracle.com/en/operating-systems/oracle-linux/docker/
• Operating Systems Documentation: https://docs.oracle.com/en/operating-systems/index.html

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Best Practices for Deploying RAC on Docker

November, 2021
Author: Sanjay Singh, Paramdeep Saini, Racpack team, Bob Thome and Markus Michalewicz
Contributing Authors: Avi Miller, Gerald Venzl and Monica Riccelli