Moving/compressing *.trc files.

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Frank R. - 29 Jul 2008 10:55 GMT

Hello all,

Is it safe to move/compress (gzip) *.trc files from oracle [b|u]dump
directories while database instance is up?

I'm getting some of these files growing much more than expected (due
to a known bug...) and would like to know if i can safely move them
automatically to another directory using an script or similar.

Thanks in advance.

Regards.

Reply to this Message

gazzag - 29 Jul 2008 11:34 GMT

> Hello all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Regards.

On Unix systems in the past, I've set up a cron job to compress/move
trace files over a certain age - for example, three days - with no
problems.

HTH

-g

Reply to this Message

Frank R. - 29 Jul 2008 11:46 GMT

> On Unix systems in the past, I've set up a cron job to compress/move
> trace files over a certain age - for example, three days - with no
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> -g

Thanks for the response.

My OS is Linux RedHat and yes, I've also deleted old logfiles using
cron scripts. The main difference is tht in this case these trc files
are still reported as used (by "lsof" command), that's why I am afraid
of making some oracle background process crash if I suddenly wipe the
file out.

Reply to this Message

Helma - 29 Jul 2008 15:17 GMT

> > On Unix systems in the past, I've set up a cron job to compress/move
> > trace files over a certain age - for example, three days - with no
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> of making some oracle background process crash if I suddenly wipe the
> file out.

oracle won't crash when open files are deleted. Even after accidental
deletion, you can use the link in the /proc directory for recovery
(e.g. if you accidentally deleted a datafile). This is only for unix
systems which have a /proc directory.

Reply to this Message

Laurenz Albe - 30 Jul 2008 09:43 GMT

>> On Unix systems in the past, I've set up a cron job to compress/move
>> trace files over a certain age - for example, three days - with no
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> of making some oracle background process crash if I suddenly wipe the
> file out.

You need not be afraid of that.

What is more cumbersome is that the disk space will not be freed until
the file is really deleted, which is when the last Oracle process that
holds it open terminates or closes the file.

We have found that there are always a number of trace files which
are held open that way without obvious reason.
When we asked Oracle, they said that that's ok and we shouldn't worry.

You could modify your cron script so that it only deletes/compresses a
trace file if it is no longer accessed. You can use the /sbin/fuser
command to check if anything keeps the file open.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

Reply to this Message

Shakespeare - 30 Jul 2008 13:17 GMT

> (.............)
> When we asked Oracle, they said that that's ok and we shouldn't worry.
>(..............)
>
> Yours,
> Laurenz Albe

Glad they don't do nuclear plants.....

Shakespeare

Reply to this Message

gazzag - 30 Jul 2008 14:22 GMT

> > (.............)
> > When we asked Oracle, they said that that's ok and we shouldn't worry.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Shakespeare

As a matter of fact, I once went for a DBA job interview at a nuclear
plant back in 2002. They database controlling the reactor was Oracle
v6. When I asked why they hadn't upgraded to a more recent version of
Oracle, the interview shrugged and said "It all works as it should.
And anyway, do _you_ fancy upgrading a nuclear power plant?"

I confessed that I did not ;)

Reply to this Message

Shakespeare - 30 Jul 2008 14:56 GMT

>> > (.............)
>> > When we asked Oracle, they said that that's ok and we shouldn't worry.
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> I confessed that I did not ;)

Must be the same guy that put a yellow sticky note over the control light
(green at that time, but red later on) because it was too bright for him.
(And yes, that DID happen in a nuclear plant somewhere.....)

Shakespeare

Reply to this Message

fitzjarrell@cox.net - 30 Jul 2008 15:50 GMT

> >> > (.............)
> >> > When we asked Oracle, they said that that's ok and we shouldn't worry.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

Apparently the bulb in the panel was brighter than the bulb sitting
behind it.

David Fitzjarrrell

Reply to this Message

Matthias Hoys - 29 Jul 2008 18:31 GMT

> Hello all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Regards.

There might be a session still running with sql_trace=true (or a after-logon
trigger ?). So you might check your system, this can negatively impact
performance (and available diskspace ...).

Matthias

Reply to this Message