Difference between revisions of "Installation guidelines ASE 15.0"

Revision as of 20:52, 6 June 2007

This page describes how to install and configure a Sybase ASE server.

Get the software

First download ASE.

For a licensed version you need to go here: http://sybase.subscribenet.com or to the eShop at sybase.com: http://eshop.sybase.com/eshop/buy?id=19517

To get a free download you can find several places here: http://www.sypron.nl/get_ase_soft.html

Prepare the Operating System

Make sure that the filesystem for the Sybase software is big enough. A full installation needs approx. 800 Mb so 3 Gb should give you enough room to handle upgrades too. In this case we install the software in /opt/sybase/ase15. Database files will be stored on raw devices and/or in /var/sybase.

Become root and add a group "sybase" and a user "sybase" to the system. Also create the needed directories.

mkdir -p /opt/sybase
mkdir -p /var/sybase
groupadd sybase
useradd -g sybase -d /opt/sybase sybase
chown sybase:sybase /opt/sybase
chown sybase:sybase /var/sybase

Enable the operating system to allow more than the default 500M for a single shared memory segment.

• Solaris (pre version 10) /etc/system

set shmsys:shminfo_shmmax = 4294967295

• Linux

Use "sysctl kernel.shmmax" to see the current value.

Configure a new value with "sysctl -w kernel.shmmax=78643200" (this is for Debian/Ubuntu, use a dot instead of the / in Redhat)

Raw devices or filesystem files

Sybase recommends, and I fully 100% agree, to store all database files on raw devices except for temporary databases like tempdb. Some Unix adminstrators do not like raw devices and then you need to put everything on filesystems. Whenever possible, use directio when the mounted filesystem allows it.

Raw devices

When you do raw devices, create the following:

• master (60Mb but 100Mb is better)
• sybsystemprocs(150M)
• sybsystemdb(20M)
• data01 (for instance 32G but for testing purposes 100Mb is also good. You can always add more)
• log01(for instance 5G but for testing purposes 20Mb is also good. You can always add more).

Do not forget to chown the raw devices to the sybase user. Check if this setting is persistent after a reboot.

File system files

Make sure you have a filesystem that's big enough to store the files mentioned in the 'Raw devices' section.

Temporory databases

Files for temporary databases (like tempdb) should be stored on the filesystem. Allow at least for 100Mb but, depending on your application, 1Gb is not uncommon.

Determine your license policy

Since ASE 15 you cannot run a production server with no license file. License files can reside on the network or on the local system. Think about the license policy that suits you best.

When there is no valid license after the installation ASE will run with a grace time of 30 days. After that it will shutdown and it cannot be rebooted anymore until you install a license.

Installation

Now, switch to the newly created user:

su - sybase

You should now be in the directory /opt/sybase. Make a work directory and put the downloaded Sybase software in it.

mkdir work
cd work
<put the software in this directory>
tar -xf <software-distro>

Start the installation.

./setup -console

Use /opt/sybase/ase15 as the destination directory, do a full installation. Assuming you store Sybase licenses on your local system, answer No at "Will licenses be obtained from the License Server?". Also, at "Do you want to configure email alerts?" answer No.

At the possible options of the Product Edition choose the one that suits your situation. After installation you can reconfigure it, in case you picked the wrong option.

At the list of possible servers to configure, deselect all options. We will do it manually.

When the installation has finished succesful you can safely remove the work directory.

Setup your environment

In /opt/sybase/ase15 you will find a few files, like SYBASE.csh, SYBASE.sh and SYBASE.env. Depending on the type of shell you use you need to source in one of these. For instance, when your default shell is bash you should do this:

. /opt/sybase/ase15/SYBASE.sh

By doing:

echo $SYBASE

it should return /opt/sybase/ase15. Is is fairly common to activite the SYBASE.sh script (or similar one) from your login script.

When you have generated a licence file through http://sybase.subscribenet.com install it in the directory $SYBASE/$SYBASE_SYSAM/licences

Create the server

Most installations run multiple ASE's and backup servers from a single Sybase software tree. For a good overview it is quite handy to store files that are specific for a server in it's own directory. In this example we create two servers: an ASE called ASE1 and a backupserver called SYB_BACKUP. Configuration files and the errorlog are stored in the admin directory, database files are stored in /var/sybase.

Create the directories for these servers:

cd /opt/sybase
mkdir admin
mkdir admin/ASE1
mkdir admin/SYB_BACKUP
mkdir /var/sybase/ASE1

When you choose to use raw device it's quite handy when you create symbolic links from /var/sybase/ASE1 to those devices. For example:

ln -s /dev/hda4 /var/sybase/ASE1/master.dat

Do this also for the other raw devices that you made.

Now go to the "/opt/sybase/admin/ASE1" directory and create a resource file. Use the following template as an example, call it ASE1.rs. You can also use the Sybase supplied resource file, it's $SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/init/sample_resource_files/srvbuild.adaptive_server.rs

sybinit.release_directory: USE_DEFAULT
sybinit.product: sqlsrv
sqlsrv.server_name: ASE1
sqlsrv.new_config: yes
sqlsrv.do_add_server: yes
sqlsrv.network_protocol_list: tcp
sqlsrv.network_hostname_list: PUT_YOUR_HOSTNAME_HERE
sqlsrv.network_port_list: 4000
sqlsrv.server_page_size: USE_DEFAULT
sqlsrv.force_buildmaster: no
sqlsrv.master_device_physical_name: /var/sybase/ASE1/master.dat
sqlsrv.master_device_size: 60
sqlsrv.master_database_size: 30
sqlsrv.errorlog: /var/sybase/ASE1/errorlog
sqlsrv.do_upgrade: no
sqlsrv.sybsystemprocs_device_physical_name: /var/sybase/ASE1/sybsystemprocs.dat
sqlsrv.sybsystemprocs_device_size: 150
sqlsrv.sybsystemprocs_database_size: 150
sqlsrv.sybsystemdb_device_physical_name: /var/sybase/ASE1/sybsystemdb.dat
sqlsrv.sybsystemdb_device_size: 20
sqlsrv.sybsystemdb_database_size: 20
sqlsrv.default_backup_server: SYB_BACKUP
sqlsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters:

Please note that the option sqlsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters was added in 15.0.2 so you do not need to specify this for older releases.

Build the server with the command:

srvbuildres -r ASE1.rs

When the srvbuildres command fails with:

Task failed
Unable to boot server 'ASE1'.  
Server 'ASE1' was not created.

then go to this page for tips how to solve this: srvbuildres task failed.

After a succesful creation you can connect to the server:

isql -Usa -P -SASE1

Basic configuration

Load additional files

Often forgotten, but you should load this file too:

isql -Usa -P -SASE1 < $SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/scripts/instmsgs.ebf

Load the monitoring tables (automatically done since 15.0.2), like this: Pre 15.0, create a loopback server

isql -Usa -P -SASE1
sp_addserver loopback,null,@@servername
go
quit

Since 12.5.0.3, load the monitoring tables:

isql -Usa -P -SASE1 < $SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/scripts/installmontables

Increase the size of tempdb

Log on with isql and do the following:

disk init name = temp01,physname="/var/sybase/ASE1/temp01.dat",dsync=false,size="100M"
go
alter database tempdb on temp01=100
go

For a more advanced configuration of tempdb, go here: Tempdb space management.

Create a user database

disk init name = data01,size="1G",physname="/var/sybase/ASE1/data01.dat"
go
disk init name = log01,size="100M",physname="/var/sybase/ASE1/log01.dat"
go
create database my_database on data01="1G" log on log01 = "100M"
go

Very basic server configuration

Set some common options and increase memory size. Depending on your situation you need to increase the given values.

sp_configure "max memory",100000
go
sp_cacheconfig "default data cache","20M"
go
sp_poolconfig "default data cache","5M","4K"
go
sp_poolconfig "default data cache","5M","16K"
go
sp_configure "procedure cache size",14000
go

These values provide only a minimal starting point and should not be used in a production environment. Consult your local DBA for further assistance.

Create the backup server

Create the backup server using the following steps.

Go to the "/opt/sybase/admin/SYB_BACKUP" directory and create a resource file. Use the following template as an example, call it SYB_BACKUP.rs. You can also use the Sybase supplied resource file, it's $SYBASE/$SYBASE_ASE/init/sample_resource_files/srvbuild.backup_server.rs

sybinit.release_directory: USE_DEFAULT
sybinit.product: bsrv
bsrv.server_name: SYB_BACKUP
bsrv.new_config: yes
bsrv.do_add_backup_server: yes
bsrv.do_upgrade: no
bsrv.network_protocol_list: tcp
bsrv.network_hostname_list: PUT_YOUR_HOSTNAME_HERE
bsrv.network_port_list: 4001
bsrv.language: USE_DEFAULT
bsrv.character_set: USE_DEFAULT
bsrv.tape_config_file: USE_DEFAULT
bsrv.errorlog: /opt/sybase/admin/SYB_BACKUP/errorlog
sqlsrv.related_sqlsrvr: ASE1
sqlsrv.sa_login: sa
sqlsrv.sa_password: USE_DEFAULT
bsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters: 

Please note that the option bsrv.addl_cmdline_parameters was added in 15.0.2 so you do not need to specify this for older releases.

Build the server with the command:

srvbuildres -r SYB_BACKUP.rs

All done

Happy Sybase-ing with your new server!!

Further reading: http://infocenter.sybase.com/help/topic/com.sybase.dc30119_1501/html/installnx/title.htm