Skip to main content
Delphix

FAQ: Delphix and SQL Server Host Management (KBA1351)

 

 

KBA

KBA#1351

How Does Delphix Communicate with hosts for the purpose of managing them?

For source environments, the Delphix Engine uses JDBC connections to the SQL Server instances on the source environment.

For target environments, Delphix uses a Delphix Connector connection to each target host from the Delphix Engine, and an iSCSI connection from the target environment to Delphix Engine.

Between the source and target environments:

Delphix runs commands on a source environment through the Delphix Connector running on a target environment using SMB, and SQL Server commands remotely over TCP from the target to the source environment.

During initial load, Delphix will take a full backup of the source database and direct the backup to go to a SMB share hosted on the pre-provisioning host from the source environment.

Delphix will attempt to access the source database's backups in the backup location from the pre-provisioning target over SMB

What are the Support Versions of Windows OS and SQL Server DBMS?

These are kept up-to-date on SQL Server Matrix in our main documentation

What are the supported SQL Server Backup Software? 

These are kept up-to-date on the SQL Server Matrix page in our main documentation. 

What are the Delphix OS user requirements? 

Delphix OS user need to meet certain criteria in regards to permissions, privileges, group memberships and sudo rights. Please refer to "SQL Server User Requirements" section in Delphix Engine Requirements, Installation, and Tuning document.

Can Delphix OS user be an LDAP user? 

Yes a Delphix OS user can be an LDAP user. The LDAP user should meet all the requirements as that of a local Delphix OS user.

 

Can there be more than one Delphix OS user for a given host? 

Yes. For Provisioning a VDB to a target host, you can pick the Delphix OS user to use, during Provisioning time. Additional OS users can be added after the host addition using "Host Manager"(Manage/Hosts in the GUI). 

What are the supported Platforms for Source and Target Hosts? 

Refer to SQL Server Matrix.

What host OS configuration details are inspected by Delphix? 

Delphix gathers the following information about the host:

  • Current User (The user who is running this script)
  • Processor Type (e.g. i386)
  • Platform (e.g. i86pc)
  • Machine Type (e.g. i86pc)
  • Total Memory (e.g. 2560000) - Unit being KB
  • OS Name(e.g. AIX)
  • OS Version (e.g. 6.1, 5.11)
  • Distribution (e.g. CentOS)
  • Kernel Name (e.g. SunOS)
  • Kernel Release (e.g. 5.11)
  • Kernel Version (e.g. snv_111b)
  • Time Zone (The timezone string reported by 'date' on the OS with the offset from GMT e.g. PDT-0700)
  • Canonical Time Zone (The Solaris Canonical Timezone for the host e.g. Australia/Sydney)
  • Toolkit Directory Available Space (e.g. 25600) - Unit being KB

How does Delphix inspect the host OS configuration details? 

Most of the details are gathered using standard OS commands.  Canonical Time Zone is inspected using a Java utility which requires having the Java executable in the path of the Delphix OS user.

What does the Host add/refresh job progress updates mean? 

0        Job started
5        Validating host
10      Connecting to host
20      Generating UUID for the host
25      Preparing toolkit directory on the host
30      Pushing OS inspector toolkit to the host
35      Inspecting OS configuration on the host
37      Pushing VDB metadata to the host
75      Inspecting database configuration on the host
80      Pushing Delphix toolkit to the host
90      Persisting the current configuration of the host
100    Finished adding the host

Can database installations be manually added? 

Yes. Database installations that are not automatically discovered by Delphix can be added using "Host Manager"(Manage/Hosts in the GUI). 

Note

Note:

Manually added entries can be deleted whereas that is not possible with the automatically discovered entries.

Can database Instances be manually added? 

Yes. Database instances and their associated JDBC listener strings that are not automatically discovered by Delphix can be added using "Host Manager"(Manage/Hosts in the GUI). 

Note

Note:

Manually added entries can be deleted whereas that is not possible with the automatically discovered entries.

Can administrator do some basic troubleshooting of network between Delphix server and host? 

Yes, starting from 2.7.x Delphix Engine release. Open the host card on the right hand side pane in the GUI to see traceroute results to the host. Click "Update" to get the latest results.

Can Linking/Provisioning be disabled on a host? 

This is possible at the granularity of Database Installation level. Linking/Provisioning can be disabled for a given Database Installation on a host using "Host Manager"(Manage/Hosts in the GUI). 

What does Link compliance/Provision compliance on the host card in the GUI mean? 

The Link Compliance bar reflects how well this host meets the requirements for acting as a source host. The compliance monitor checks for the availability of the link toolkit, SQL installation home(s), database instances and listeners.

The Provision Compliance bar reflects how well this host meets the requirements for acting as a target host for VDBs. The compliance monitor checks for the availability of the provision toolkit, SQL installation home(s), and the presence of provisioned VDBs. Provision compliance will not be 100% until one or more VDBs have actually been provisioned to that target host.

If link compliance or provision compliance tests reveal an underlying situation that might need attention, an information symbol appears next to the link compliance bar or the provision compliance bar. Click the information symbol to view details.