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Tag Archives: database as a service

Oracle Private Database Cloud: Defining Database Sizes in the Service Catalog

16 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by adeeshfulay in Database as a service, oracle enterprise manager, private cloud

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

database as a service, em12c, emcli, private cloud

Latest release of cloud plug-in (part of EM12c R4 Plug-in Update 1) brings the ability to define sizes for database cloud services (Schema and PDB services already support definition of size). Prior to this ability, customers were required to define a new template for each size – small, medium, large, etc. This will help in significantly reducing the number of templates required.

So lets see how to use them.

1. The CRUD operations for database size are performed via emcli verbs. To create a new size, we run:

./emcli create_database_size -name=Tiny -description="tiny size" 
        -attributes="cpu:2;storage:20;memory:2"

The 4 attributes supported for size are – cpu, memory, processes, & storage. All attributes are optional, and minimum name and description need to be provided.

To list all sizes, we run:

./emcli list_database_sizes
 ____________________________________________
 Name:tiny
 Description:tiny size
 CPU(cores):2
 Memory(GB):2
 Processes(COUNT):Not Specified
 Storage(GB):20
 ____________________________________________

Had this size been assigned to any service templates, we could have provided the -details flag and gotten that list as well.

Editing this size is equally easy. We run:

./emcli update_database_size -name=tiny 
        -description="Tiny database size" 
        -attributes="storage:remove;processes:500"
 ____________________________________________
 Name:tiny
 Description:Tiny database size
 CPU(cores):2
 Memory(GB):2
 Processes(COUNT):500
 Storage(GB):Not Specified
 ____________________________________________

Few things to notice are:

  • name is the only fixed identifier, both attributes and description can be changed
  • to remove an attribute, set its value to remove
  • to set new attribute values, or change existing one, simply specify the new values

Finally, to delete a size, we run:

./emcli delete_database_size -name=tiny
 Are you sure you want to to delete?(yes/no)
 yes
 Database size tiny has successfully been deleted

Since delete is a destructive operation operation, you get the “Are you sure?” prompt.

2. Once sizes are defined, we can see them while creating or editing service templates. Note that by default, no sizes are attached with the service template. The administrator needs to explicitly associate a size with the template, as shown in the screenshot below.

st-size

3. Once the association is complete, and the template is saved. Any cloud consumer accessing the template via the cloud portal will see size as an additional input.

request-size

If you are using REST APIs, then database size will have to be provided as an additional input to the POST request.

A commonly asked question is that how are these values enforced? The answer depends on the the type of attribute:

  • cpu – this translates to cpu_count and is set as the DB init parameter
  • memory – this translates to memory_target and set as DB init parameter (This is a good time to mention that the memory attribute is only supported for DB version 11g and above. Other attributes work for 10g and above.)
  • storage – this is used only for monitoring purposes, and not enforced. So at the time of provisioning we ensure that the storage requirements for the service are within the quota limits of the consumer, but these limits are not set on the database.
  • processes – this is set as DB init parameter

In summary, the ability to define size as an external entity will help drastically reduce the number of templates required to be defined by the cloud administrators.

Additional Resources:

EMCLI Documentation

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Limit User Access to Oracle Private Database Cloud Portal

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by adeeshfulay in Database as a service, oracle enterprise manager, private cloud

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Tags

database as a service, dbaas, em12c, private cloud

When implementing Database as a Service (DBaaS) and/or Snap Clone, a common request was for a way to hide the other service types like IaaS, MWaaS, etc from the self service portal for the end users. Before EM12c R4, there was no way to restrict the portal view. Essentially, any user with the EM_SSA_USER role would be directed to the self service portal and would then be able to see all service types supported by EM12c.

Of course, you could always set Database as your default self service portal from the ‘My Preferences’ pop up, but this only helps with their post-login experience. The end user still gets to see all the options as shown in screen above.

In EM12c R4, a new out of the box role called EM_SSA_USER_BASE has been introduced. This role, by default, does not give access to any portal, that is an explicit selection. Here is how you use this role:

1. Create a custom role and add the EM_SSA_USER_BASE role to it.

2. Now in the Resource Privileges step, select the Resource Type ‘Cloud Self Service Portal for Database’, and edit it

3. Check the ‘Access the Cloud Self Service Portal for Database.’ privilege. Finish the rest of the wizard.

Now, when a user with this custom role accesses the self service portal, they can only do so for databases and nothing else.

While the EM_SSA_USER role will continue to work, we recommend you start using the new EM_SSA_USER_BASE role. For more details on DBaaS or Snap Clone roles, refer to the cloud admin guide chapter on roles and users.

Oracle Private Database Cloud REST APIs

27 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by adeeshfulay in Database as a service, oracle enterprise manager, private cloud

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

apis, Automation, database as a service, dbaas, em12c, private cloud

While we spend a lot of time developing GUI for our private cloud features – like the self service portal, setup screens, etc, a large percentage of our customers use these features via our APIs, both EMCLI and REST based.

Q: So why would anyone not use the out of the box cloud (self service) portal and use the APIs instead?

A: Well, there are many reasons:

  1. You already have a custom cloud portal that you use to deploy non-Oracle products and now you would like Oracle products to be part of it
  2. You want cloud related actions to be part of a larger orchestration flow. For example, prior to provisioning, you want to integrate an approval workflow, and then post-provision update your asset management system with the service details.
  3. You want to integrate the cloud actions with our IT service desk or ticketing systems
  4. Integrate actions like cloning of databases (Snap Clone), or provisioning of middleware and applications with your continuous integration or devops process.

I am sure there are more reasons, but this list should do for now.

Q: What kind of APIs does EM12c expose?

A: Typically, we identify two key roles in the Private Cloud space:

  1. Service Providers – This role represents the various administrators like DBAs, sysadmins, storage admins, etc that help setup and manage the private cloud infrastructure. EM12c provides EMCLI verbs and RESTful APIs for all actions that can be performed by this role.
  2. Service Consumers – This role represents the users who request and consume cloud based services like databases, VMs, middleware servers, etc. This role can access the cloud services from either the out-of-the-box cloud portal, or using RESTful APIs.

This blog post is focused on the the RESTful APIs provided for Service Consumers. The best way to understand and learn about these APIs is to see them in action. In the video below, i explain the various concepts (note i assume that you are already familiar with EM12c DBaaS concepts, if not check the references section), demo the cloud portal, and then perform the same actions using RESTful APIs. The demo is approx. 23 minutes long, so grab a drink before you get started.

The Python script used to demo the APIs can be found here. Note: i am posting this script as sample implementation, so there is no formal support available for it. Also, the demo was recorded on the latest version of EM – EM12c R4 Plugin Update 1.

Finally, I am often asked about customer examples. Till date, i have seen customers use our REST APIs from Chef recipes, shell scripts using the curl command, from 3rd party tools like Service Now and VMware vCAC, custom Java based applications, etc. Unfortunately, i am not an expert on any of these 3rd party tools, so i probably cannot tell you how the integration was done, but i would be more than happy to help you with the EM REST APIs.

Hopefully this was a good introduction to our EM12c Database as a Service (Private Database Cloud) REST APIs. I encourage you to play with the APIs and post code examples for the benefit of other users.

References:

Screenwatch: Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c: Build Service Catalog with DBaaS

Documentation: Cloud Administration Guide, REST API Chapter

About Me

Product Manager at CA Technologies
Formerly, at Robin Systems, VMware, Oracle, mValent.

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