Debugging directio on Solaris 10 - In mount options but directiostat says 0

[Doug_Freyburger]

Folks,

Is there a utility I can download to help debug directio on Solaris 10?  A client runs Oracle and we've followed the directions to make it use directio.  Tracing the db writer and achive writer processes so they are not using directio calls.

The mount options are in place -

/db01 on /dev/vx/dsk/oradg/db01 read/write/setuid/devices/mincache=direct/convosync=direct/nodatainlog/delaylog/largefiles/ioerror=mwdisable/dev=4ec07d1 on Wed Aug 11 03:01:12 2010

I downloaded directiostat from Solaris and there is zero usage -

>./directiostat
  lreads lwrites  preads pwrites     Krd     Kwr holdrds  nflush
       0       0       0       0       0       0       0       0

I picture using "mkfile" to create a big file, then running "truss some_prog big_file" and go through the output showing the kernel calls using directio.

The idea being if this debugging utility fails to use directio then I know my problem is in the mount options, licensing, kernel, whatever.  If this debugging program does use directio then I know my problem is with Oracle.

Thanks in advance!

[Marianne]

Which SF version? Oracle version?

Veritas Storage Foundation for Oracle Standard or Enterprise Edition?

[przemol · Accepted solution]

 I recommend using direct io on Oracle side: set FILESYTEMIO_OPTIONS to 'setall' and it turns on direct io traffic. It is even better to use filesystemio_options than Veritas direct option because if you use veritas setting ALL access is direct. There are certain files which are better accessed using cached access.

Regards 

Przemek

[Doug_Freyburger]

My question was - Is there a non-Oracle debugging tool?  The answer was - What version of Oracle?  I take it that translates to a no.  There is not a known non-Oracle debugging tool for quickio.  That's not the answer I was hoping for but it is an answer that I can accept as real.  I posted in a few other places asking the same question and no one else knew of such a tool.  I think directio is directed at databases so the tools as database oriented.

Storage Foundation Enterprise,v5.0; Storage Foundation Enterprise for Oracle, v5.0; Storage Foundation Enterprise HA for Oracle,v5.0; Storage Foundation Enterprise HA/DR for Oracle,v5.0.

VERITAS Storage Foundation for DB2 (this sounds like it was there from a previous generation of software); VERITAS Storage Foundation Enterprise

Hmm, those are the licenses not the package on the host itself.  That package on the host itself lists version 5.1.

SunOS client_host_name 5.10 Generic_137137-09 sun4u sparc SUNW,SPARC-Enterprise so Solaris 10.  The kernel patch number is pretty low.

Oracle version is 10.2.0.5.  Comparatively recent and within a quarter for CPU patches (that's an acronym that means a really different thing to a DBA than it does to me as an SA).

Thanks!

[Doug_Freyburger]

Thanks!  The "setall" option is included in the Oracle doc for configuring directio.  It works at other sites not this one.  That's why I asked about non-Oracle debugging tools, to find out if the problem is at the filesystem/driver layer or at the database layer.  A non-database tool would anwer that.