Relinking Oracle v18c grid infrastructure for cluster and database binaries

Introduction

This blog provides insights about what relinking is, why it is required, and how you relink Oracle© object files.

For any language, you need the predefined functions, which are defined inside the library files for that language and are required to compile the code to create a binary format file (object file). The object files are then linked together with operating system (OS) libraries to create a single executable file. For linking the files, the process needs to find all the function definitions before it can generate an executable from the components.

What does it mean to relink Oracle Home binaries?

Oracle software is shipped in the form of object and archive files and then grouped in a compressed Java© Archive (jar) format. The object files are then relinked at the operating system (OS) level during installation to create usable executables. This relinking guarantees reliable integration with the functions provided by the OS system libraries. During relinking, the current executables are renamed and saved, while the new executables are generated. After the new executables are in place and you verify that the new executables work, you can delete the old executables in the directory ORACLE_HOME/bin. Each old executable has an 'O' appended to its file name. For example, exp.exe is renamed to expO.exe.

The following directories in Oracle Home contain various object and archive files:

•     /lib
•     /usr/lib
•     $ORACLE_HOME/lib
•     $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib
•     $ORACLE_HOME/\<product\>/lib

The sysliblist file, found in $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib or $ORACLE_HOME/lib, contains a list of other libraries, which you need to include.

 Why is Oracle Home relinking required?

Oracle Home relinking must occur to link Oracle-provided object files to the OS system library.

Relinking occurs automatically under the following circumstances:

•     The Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) installed an Oracle database.
•     The OUI applied an Oracle database patchset.
•     The `OPatch` utility applied an Oracle database patch.

You can also perform relinking manually.
 

When is manual relinking required?

You need to perform manual relinking in the following circumstances:

•     After an OS upgrade or downgrade.
•     After an OS patch.
•     If there are missing library files in RDBMS home.
•     If you need to reset the Oracle Home binaries permission.

 Steps to manually relink Oracle object files

Before starting the relink operation, you need to stop all the services that run from the $ORACLE_HOME directory. Shut down all the databases, listeners, Oracle Automatic Storage (ASM) instances, and cluster services.

 Root access required 

Use root access to run the following command to unlock GRID_HOME:

    # cd GRID_HOME/crs/install
    # rootcrs.sh -unlock

 Oracle Grid Infrastructure cluster owner access required 

Use the Oracle Grid Infrastructure cluster owner access to perform the
following steps:

Verify that the environment variables $ORACLE_HOME and $PATH are set properly. 

Take a backup of $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/config.o before executing the relink command. 

Execute the following commands to relink GRID_HOME: 

    $ export ORACLE_HOME=Grid_home
    $ Grid_home/bin/relink all

Review the relink log file for any errors.

 Root access required 

Use root access to run the following commands to lock the GRID-HOME binaries:

    # cd Grid_home/rdbms/install/
    # ./rootadd_rdbms.sh
    # cd Grid_home/crs/install
    # rootcrs.sh -lock

 Relink Oracle database binaries 

Make sure the environment variables $ORACLE_HOME and $PATH are set properly.

Before proceeding with relink command, set umask to 022.

 Review the relink log file for any errors.

The relink all command resets the permissions of extjob, jssu, oradism, and externaljob.ora.

You also need to execute the following commands, as root, to change permissions for the specified binaries:

 chown root $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism
    chmod 4750 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism
    chown root $ORACLE_HOME/bin/extjob
    chmod 4750 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/extjob
    chown root $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/externaljob.ora
    chmod 640  $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/externaljob.ora
    chown root $ORACLE_HOME/bin/jssu
    chmod 4750 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/jssu
    chown root $ORACLE_HOME/bin/nmb
    chmod 4710 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/nmb
    chown root $ORACLE_HOME/bin/nmhs
    chmod 4710 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/nmhs
    chown root $ORACLE_HOME/bin/nmo
    chmod 4710 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/nmo

Start all clusters, database services, and verify that everything is working properly.

 Conclusion

The relink process uses the combined expertise of the database administrator, system administrator, operating system programmer, and software programmer, and it ensures that the Oracle software works properly after you've done major changes to the servers at OS level.