DNS configuration for the SCAN used with Oracle Database 11gR2
November 25, 2012 Leave a comment
This post provides the basic DNS configuration steps necessary to use the Single Client Access Name (SCAN) introduced in Oracle 11g Release 2 RAC.
I’m not an network guy and don’t claim to know much about DNS.
This post represents the minimum you can do to make a SCAN work. The DNS configuration in the post has been done on a DNS server installed on a separate VM called romford.mpoojari.co.uk where romford is the hostname (dns server name) and mpoojari.co.uk is the domain name. The IP address of this server will be 192.168.0.10 (static IP).
DNS installation
Install and configure RHEL 5.4 VM
[root@romford etc]# uname -a Linux romford.mpoojari.co.uk 2.6.18-194.el5 #1 SMP Mon Mar 29 22:10:29 EDT 2010 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Ensure you have choose DNS Name server and Server configuration tools(select bind packages) during the installation phase.
Check if the following DNS Server Packages are installed
[root@romford ~]# rpm -qa | grep bind bind-libs-9.3.6-4.P1.el5_4.2 ypbind-1.19-12.el5 system-config-bind-4.0.3-4.0.1.el5 bind-utils-9.3.6-4.P1.el5_4.2 bind-chroot-9.3.6-4.P1.el5_4.2 bind-9.3.6-4.P1.el5_4.2
Three packages must be installed on Linux for DNS Server:
•bind (includes DNS server, named)
•bind-utils (utilities for querying DNS servers about host information)
•bind-libs (libraries used by the bind server and utils package)
You should be able to locate /etc/named.conf
If not copy all the files under /usr/share/doc/bind-9.3.4/sample/etc to /etc
Also copy all the files under /usr/share/doc/bind-9.3.4/sample/var to /var
[root@romford etc]# ls -ltr /usr/share/doc/bind-9.3.6/sample/etc total 32 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 524 Jan 20 2010 named.root.hints -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 775 Jan 20 2010 named.rfc1912.zones -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4298 Jan 20 2010 named.conf -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Jan 20 2010 rndc.conf [root@romford etc]# ls -ltr /usr/share/doc/bind-9.3.6/sample/var/ total 8 drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Nov 24 14:01 named [root@romford etc]# ls -ltr /usr/share/doc/bind-9.3.6/sample/var/named/ total 88 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 427 Jan 20 2010 named.zero -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1892 Jan 20 2010 named.root -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 426 Jan 20 2010 named.local -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 424 Jan 20 2010 named.ip6.local -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 427 Jan 20 2010 named.broadcast -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 195 Jan 20 2010 localhost.zone -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 198 Jan 20 2010 localdomain.zone -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 56 Jan 20 2010 my.internal.zone.db -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 56 Jan 20 2010 my.external.zone.db drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jan 20 2010 data drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 24 14:01 slaves
1. Generate the DNS Key
[root@romford etc]# which dns-keygen /usr/sbin/dns-keygen [root@romford etc]# dns-keygen j30zdeKhACTGFWSdxGgHVSC3jFm0ejIAn5p4mJkYmA0cyHp4jDaT30SYQLMR
2. Configure the named.conf file
Add the DNS key to the /etc/named.conf under the below section and should look like
replace
key ddns_key
{
algorithm hmac-md5;
secret "use /usr/sbin/dns-keygen to generate TSIG keys";
};
to
key ddns_key
{
algorithm hmac-md5;
secret "j30zdeKhACTGFWSdxGgHVSC3jFm0ejIAn5p4mJkYmA0cyHp4jDaT30SYQLMR";
};
Add the below line in the /etc/named.conf .
zone "mpoojari.co.uk" IN {
type master;
file "mpoojari.co.uk.zone";
allow-update { none; };
};
3. Create the zone file under /var/named
[root@romford etc]# ls -ltr /var/named total 44 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 24 16:27 slaves -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 427 Nov 24 16:27 named.zero -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1892 Nov 24 16:27 named.root -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 426 Nov 24 16:27 named.local -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 424 Nov 24 16:27 named.ip6.local -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 427 Nov 24 16:27 named.broadcast -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 56 Nov 24 16:27 my.internal.zone.db -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 56 Nov 24 16:27 my.external.zone.db -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 195 Nov 24 16:27 localhost.zone -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 198 Nov 24 16:27 localdomain.zone drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 24 16:27 data [root@romford etc]# cd /var/named [root@romford named]# cp localdomain.zone mpoojari.co.uk.zone [root@romford named]# ls -ltr total 48 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 24 16:27 slaves -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 427 Nov 24 16:27 named.zero -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1892 Nov 24 16:27 named.root -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 426 Nov 24 16:27 named.local -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 424 Nov 24 16:27 named.ip6.local -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 427 Nov 24 16:27 named.broadcast -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 56 Nov 24 16:27 my.internal.zone.db -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 56 Nov 24 16:27 my.external.zone.db -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 195 Nov 24 16:27 localhost.zone -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 198 Nov 24 16:27 localdomain.zone drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 24 16:27 data -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 198 Nov 24 16:33 mpoojari.co.uk.zone
Add the below entries to the zone file /var/named/mpoojari.co.uk.zone (and /var/named/localdomain.zone file not required as my domain is mpoojari.co.uk)
rac1 IN A 192.168.0.101 rac2 IN A 192.168.0.102 rac1-vip IN A 192.168.0.221 rac2-vip IN A 192.168.0.222 rac1-priv IN A 192.168.1.101 rac2-priv IN A 192.168.1.102 rac-scan IN A 192.168.0.51 rac-scan IN A 192.168.0.52 rac-scan IN A 192.168.0.53
4. Configure a reverse proxy
To identify the SCAN name from any of the IPS’s we need to configure a reverse proxy .
Add the below entry to /etc/named.conf
zone "0.168.192.in-addr.arpa." IN {
type master;
file "0.168.192.in-addr.arpa";
allow-update { none; };
};
5. Create the reverse proxy file under /var/named
[root@ast1 named]# cat 0.168.192.in-addr.arpa
$ORIGIN 0.168.192.in-addr.arpa.
$TTL 1H
@ IN SOA mpoojari.co.uk. root.mpoojari.co.uk. ( 2
3H
1H
1W
1H )
0.168.192.in-addr.arpa. IN NS mpoojari.co.uk.
101 IN PTR rac1.mpoojari.co.uk.
102 IN PTR rac2.mpoojari.co.uk.
221 IN PTR rac1-vip.mpoojari.co.uk.
222 IN PTR rac2-vip.mpoojari.co.uk.
51 IN PTR rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk.
52 IN PTR rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk.
53 IN PTR rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk.
The named.conf file finally looks like as shown below
[root@romford etc]# cat /etc/named.conf
options
{
// Those options should be used carefully because they disable port
// randomization
// query-source port 53;
// query-source-v6 port 53;
// Set IP address correctly.
listen-on port 53 { 127.0.0.1; 192.168.0.10; };
// My Additions
// Forwarder: Anything this DNS can't resolve gets forwarded to my ISPs DNS.
// forwarders { 194.168.4.100; 194.168.8.100; };
// End My Additions
// Put files that named is allowed to write in the data/ directory:
directory "/var/named"; // the default
dump-file "data/cache_dump.db";
statistics-file "data/named_stats.txt";
memstatistics-file "data/named_mem_stats.txt";
};
zone "mpoojari.co.uk" IN {
type master;
file "mpoojari.co.uk.zone";
allow-update { none; };
};
zone "0.168.192.in-addr.arpa." IN {
type master;
file "0.168.192.in-addr.arpa";
allow-update { none; };
};
key ddns_key
{
algorithm hmac-md5;
secret "j30zdeKhACTGFWSdxGgHVSC3jFm0ejIAn5p4mJkYmA0cyHp4jDaT30SYQLMR";
};
6. Restart the named service as below
[root@romford named]# service named stop Stopping named: [ OK ] [root@romford named]# service named start Starting named: [ OK ]
7. Edit the /etc/resolv.conf and put your domain name and the DNS server name on all nodes
[root@romford named]# cat /etc/resolv.conf search localdomain mpoojari.co.uk nameserver 192.168.0.10
8. On the DNS server
[root@romford named]# cat /etc/nsswitch.conf |grep dns # dns Use DNS (Domain Name Service) #hosts: db files nisplus nis dns hosts: dns files nis
9. Do a nslookup on SCAN and observe the IP addresses round-robin resolution
[root@romford etc]# nslookup rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Server: 192.168.0.10 Address: 192.168.0.10#53 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.52 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.53 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.51 [root@romford etc]# nslookup rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Server: 192.168.0.10 Address: 192.168.0.10#53 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.51 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.52 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.53 [root@romford etc]# nslookup rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Server: 192.168.0.10 Address: 192.168.0.10#53 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.53 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.51 Name: rac-scan.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.52
If try to ping rac-scan.testenv.com at this moment, you will find it displays one of SCAN ip addresses but it will not be able to be reached. This is correct behavior. Also at this stage, I have not installed rac1 and rac2 nodes hence they will not be able to be reached.
Once the GI software has been installed and is running it will bring these IP addresses online and at that point the SCAN IP should be pingable.
10. nslookup on VIP names
[root@romford etc]# nslookup rac1-vip Server: 192.168.0.10 Address: 192.168.0.10#53 Name: rac1-vip.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.221 [root@romford etc]# nslookup rac2-vip Server: 192.168.0.10 Address: 192.168.0.10#53 Name: rac2-vip.mpoojari.co.uk Address: 192.168.0.222
Troubleshooting
Error while restarting named service,
[root@romford etc]# service named restart
Stopping named: [ OK ]
Locating /var/named/chroot//etc/named.conf failed:
[FAILED]
I’ve commented, “#ROOTDIR=/var/named/chroot” in /etc/sysconfig/named.
And now service named will start!
[root@romford etc]# service named restart Stopping named: [ OK ] Starting named: [ OK ]
Network Configuration of rac nodes
Node1
- Set DNS server ip address to 192.168.0.10
- Set gateway ip address to 192.168.0.1
- Set hostname as rac1.mpoojari.co.uk
- set static IP to 192.168.0.101 (eth0)
- set static IP to 192.168.1.101 (eth1)
- Set subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Node2
- Set DNS server ip address to 192.168.0.10
- Set gateway ip address to 192.168.0.1
- Set hostname as rac2.mpoojari.co.uk
- set static IP to 192.168.0.102 (eth0)
- set static IP to 192.168.1.102(eth1)
- Set subnet mask 255.255.255.0
At this stage,
rac1 is reachable from DNS server, romford and from rac2
rac2 is reachable from DNS server, romford and from rac1
SCAN name is also pingable on rac1 and rac2.
Note that hosts files do not contain any IP addresses as it is DNS resolved.
