Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation — Post 3: Grid Infrastructure Installation

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Series: Oracle RAC 12.2 — Complete Installation on VMware Workstation

📌 About this series: This guide covers Oracle RAC 12c, which is out of support. The goal is to document learning and revisit concepts — not to recommend this version for production. Read the full context in the series overview →

📋 This series — Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation:

Series posts
Series Overview — RAC architecture, environment, and software
Post 1 — VMware Setup and targetcli iSCSI Storage
Post 2 — Oracle Linux Configuration and iSCSI Initiator
Post 3 — Grid Infrastructure 12.2 Installation ← this post
Post 4 — Oracle Database Installation and DBCA
Post 5 — Final Validation and Quick Reference

⚙️ Prerequisite: Post 2 completed — Oracle Linux configured on both nodes, iSCSI connected, and SSH equivalence validated.

💡 In practice: Grid is the most sensitive part of the entire RAC installation. Most failures don’t happen during the installation itself — they happen because of misconfigured prerequisites: wrong UDEV rules, SCAN not resolving, GIMR ignored. This post documents every error encountered in the lab.

The entire installation is performed from orclrac1.

Preparation

Configure UDEV for ASM Disks

Run as root on both nodes:

cat > /etc/udev/rules.d/99-oracle-asmdevices.rules << 'EOF'
KERNEL=="sdc", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdh", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdg", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdf", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sde", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdd", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
EOF

udevadm control --reload-rules && udevadm trigger

ls -la /dev/sdc /dev/sdd /dev/sde /dev/sdf /dev/sdg /dev/sdh

cat > /etc/udev/rules.d/99-oracle-asmdevices.rules << 'EOF'
KERNEL=="sdc", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdh", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdg", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdf", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sde", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
KERNEL=="sdd", SUBSYSTEM=="block", OWNER="oracle", GROUP="dba", MODE="0660"
EOF

udevadm control --reload-rules && udevadm trigger

ls -la /dev/sdc /dev/sdd /dev/sde /dev/sdf /dev/sdg /dev/sdh

Prepare the Grid Installer

The Grid Infrastructure zip is extracted directly into the ORACLE_HOME (/u01/app/12.2.0/grid), not into a separate directory. The installer expects to find the files at that exact location.

cd /u01/app/12.2.0/grid
unzip -q /u01/stage/linuxx64_12201_grid_home.zip

cd /u01/app/12.2.0/grid
unzip -q /u01/stage/linuxx64_12201_grid_home.zip

orclrac2 does not need to unzip — the OUI copies the binaries automatically over SSH.

Install cvuqdisk on Both Nodes

rpm -ivh /u01/app/12.2.0/grid/cv/rpm/cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm

scp /u01/app/12.2.0/grid/cv/rpm/cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm root@orclrac2:/tmp/
rpm -ivh /tmp/cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm

rpm -ivh /u01/app/12.2.0/grid/cv/rpm/cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm

scp /u01/app/12.2.0/grid/cv/rpm/cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm root@orclrac2:/tmp/
rpm -ivh /tmp/cvuqdisk-1.0.10-1.rpm

Configure Local DNS (dnsmasq)

The OUI validates SCAN via nslookup, which doesn’t read /etc/hosts. Without DNS, the DNS/NIS check fails.

chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf
cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 8.8.8.8
EOF

yum install -y dnsmasq

cat > /etc/dnsmasq.conf << 'EOF'
no-resolv
no-poll
listen-address=127.0.0.1,192.168.15.170
bind-interfaces
domain=oracle.local
local=/oracle.local/
EOF

systemctl enable dnsmasq && systemctl start dnsmasq

cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 192.168.15.170
EOF

chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf
cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 8.8.8.8
EOF

yum install -y dnsmasq

cat > /etc/dnsmasq.conf << 'EOF'
no-resolv
no-poll
listen-address=127.0.0.1,192.168.15.170
bind-interfaces
domain=oracle.local
local=/oracle.local/
EOF

systemctl enable dnsmasq && systemctl start dnsmasq

cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 192.168.15.170
EOF

chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

On orclrac2:

chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf
cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 192.168.15.170
EOF
chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf
cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 192.168.15.170
EOF
chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

Validate:

nslookup orclrac-scan

nslookup orclrac-scan

Grid Infrastructure Installation

ssh -X oracle@192.168.15.170

ssh -X oracle@192.168.15.170

Install X11 support packages if needed:

yum install -y xorg-x11-utils xorg-x11-xauth

yum install -y xorg-x11-utils xorg-x11-xauth

xorg-x11-utils and xorg-x11-xauth are usually already installed by the oracle-database-server-12cR2-preinstall package. If the command returns already installed, proceed normally.

cd /u01/app/12.2.0/grid
./gridSetup.sh

cd /u01/app/12.2.0/grid
./gridSetup.sh

All 19 OUI Screens

Step 1 — Configuration Option: Configure Oracle Grid Infrastructure for a New Cluster

Step 2 — Cluster Configuration: Configure an Oracle Standalone Cluster

Step 3 — Grid Plug and Play:

Cluster Name: orclrac-cluster
SCAN Name: orclrac-scan / SCAN Port: 1521 / GNS: unchecked

Step 4 — Cluster Node Information — Click “Add”:

Field	Value
Public Hostname	`orclrac2`
Node Role	`HUB`
Virtual Hostname	`orclrac2-vip`

Click “SSH Connectivity”, enter the oracle password → “Setup”. Both nodes should return “Succeeded”.

Step 5 — Network Interface Usage:

Interface	Type
eth0	Public
eth1	ASM & Private
eth2	Do Not Use

Step 6 — Storage Option: Configure ASM using block devices

Step 7 — Grid Infrastructure Management Repository: Yes

Selecting Yes is mandatory. With No, the OUI returns [INS-30515] even with External redundancy, because Oracle reserves additional space in the OCR disk group for internal CRS data.

Step 8 — Create ASM Disk Group (OCR):

Field	Value
Disk group name	`OCR`
Redundancy	External
Allocation Unit Size	`4 MB`
Disks	`/dev/sdc`, `/dev/sdh`, `/dev/sdg`
ASM Filter Driver	unchecked

Step 9 — Create ASM Disk Group (MGMT — GIMR):

Field	Value
Disk group name	`MGMT`
Redundancy	External
Disks	`/dev/sdf` (40 GB)

Step 10 — ASM Password: Welcome1

Step 11 — Failure Isolation: Do not use IPMI (virtual environment)

Step 12 — Management Options: EM Cloud Control unchecked

Step 13 — Privileged OS Groups:

Group	Value
OSASM	`dba`
OSDBA for ASM	`asmdba`
OSOPER for ASM	`asmoper`

Step 14 — Installation Location:

Field	Value
Oracle Base	`/u01/app/oracle`
Software Location	`/u01/app/12.2.0/grid`

Warning [INS-40109] is expected — click Yes.

Step 15 — Create Inventory: /u01/app/oraInventory / group oinstall

Step 16 — Root Script Execution: Automatically run configuration scripts + root password

Step 17 — Prerequisite Checks — see Known Errors section

Step 18 — Summary → Install

Step 19 — Install Product / Finish — wait for completion

Create DATA and FRA Disk Groups

Via sqlplus

The grid_env and db_env aliases were created in Post 2, Environment Variables section.

su - oracle
grid_env
sqlplus / as sysasm

su - oracle
grid_env
sqlplus / as sysasm

CREATE DISKGROUP DATA EXTERNAL REDUNDANCY
  DISK '/dev/sde' NAME DATA1
  ATTRIBUTE 'compatible.asm'='12.2','compatible.rdbms'='12.2';

CREATE DISKGROUP FRA EXTERNAL REDUNDANCY
  DISK '/dev/sdd' NAME FRA1
  ATTRIBUTE 'compatible.asm'='12.2','compatible.rdbms'='12.2';

SELECT NAME, STATE, TOTAL_MB, FREE_MB FROM V$ASM_DISKGROUP;

CREATE DISKGROUP DATA EXTERNAL REDUNDANCY
  DISK '/dev/sde' NAME DATA1
  ATTRIBUTE 'compatible.asm'='12.2','compatible.rdbms'='12.2';

CREATE DISKGROUP FRA EXTERNAL REDUNDANCY
  DISK '/dev/sdd' NAME FRA1
  ATTRIBUTE 'compatible.asm'='12.2','compatible.rdbms'='12.2';

SELECT NAME, STATE, TOTAL_MB, FREE_MB FROM V$ASM_DISKGROUP;

Via asmca (GUI)

su - oracle
grid_env
asmca

su - oracle
grid_env
asmca

Right-click Disk Groups → Create:

For DATA:

Disk Group Name: DATA / Redundancy: External (None) / Select: /dev/sde / OK

For FRA:

Disk Group Name: FRA / Redundancy: External (None) / Select: /dev/sdd / OK

Verify Grid

crsctl stat res -t
olsnodes -n -i -s
crsctl query css votedisk
ocrcheck

crsctl stat res -t
olsnodes -n -i -s
crsctl query css votedisk
ocrcheck

Known Errors

Swap Size — Warning

Symptom: Swap Size appears as Warning on the Prerequisite Checks screen.

Fix: If swap was configured in Post 2, this warning should not appear. If it does, check Ignore All and proceed — it’s a Warning only.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) / chrony — Failed

Symptom: Network Time Protocol (NTP) and chrony daemon is synchronized appear as Failed.

Fix: If chrony was configured correctly in Post 2 with Google NTP servers, close the OUI, confirm synchronization with chronyc sources, and reopen the installer.

[INS-30515] Insufficient space available in the selected disks

Cause 1: NORMAL redundancy with 10 GB disks. Fix: Use External redundancy.

Cause 2: GIMR disk (/dev/sdf) has less than ~38 GB. Fix: Make sure lun-gimr.img was created with at least 40960 MB on vpslab.

INS-41808 / INS-30064 — Missing ASM groups on orclrac2

Symptom: user "oracle" does not belong to the OS group "asmoper" on remote nodes

groupadd -g 54327 asmdba
groupadd -g 54328 asmoper
groupadd -g 54329 asmadmin
usermod -a -G asmadmin,asmoper,asmdba oracle

groupadd -g 54327 asmdba
groupadd -g 54328 asmoper
groupadd -g 54329 asmadmin
usermod -a -G asmadmin,asmoper,asmdba oracle

Device Checks for ASM — Group mismatch

Symptom: Group of device "/dev/sdc" did not match. [Expected = "dba"; Found = "asmadmin"]

sed -i 's/GROUP="asmadmin"/GROUP="dba"/' \
  /etc/udev/rules.d/99-oracle-asmdevices.rules
udevadm control --reload-rules && udevadm trigger

sed -i 's/GROUP="asmadmin"/GROUP="dba"/' \
  /etc/udev/rules.d/99-oracle-asmdevices.rules
udevadm control --reload-rules && udevadm trigger

DNS/NIS — SCAN failed to resolve

Fix: Configure dnsmasq as described. If the check persists, click “Ignore All” — the cluster will work correctly.

resolv.conf overwritten by NetworkManager after reboot

echo "[main]
dns=none" >> /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

systemctl restart NetworkManager

cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 192.168.15.170
EOF

chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

echo "[main]
dns=none" >> /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

systemctl restart NetworkManager

cat > /etc/resolv.conf << 'EOF'
search oracle.local
nameserver 192.168.15.170
EOF

chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

ORA-15030 — diskgroup name is in use

Fix: Reboot both servers — ASM clears inconsistent state on boot.

Next Up

In Post 4 we’ll install Oracle Database software and create the RAC database with DBCA.

Search

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation — Post 5: Final Validation and Quick Reference

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation – Post 4: Oracle Database Installation and DBCA

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation — Post 2: Oracle Linux Configuration and iSCSI

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation — Post 3: Grid Infrastructure Installation

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation — Post 5: Final Validation and Quick Reference

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation – Post 4: Oracle Database Installation and DBCA

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation — Post 2: Oracle Linux Configuration and iSCSI

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INS-06006 – Passwordless SSH Connectivity Not Set Up

ORA-29548 — How to Fix “Java System Class Reported” in Oracle Database

PRVG-2002 — How to Fix “Encountered Error in Copying File” in Oracle RAC

Search

Oracle RAC 12.2 on VMware Workstation — Post 3: Grid Infrastructure Installation

Preparation

Configure UDEV for ASM Disks

Prepare the Grid Installer

Install cvuqdisk on Both Nodes

Configure Local DNS (dnsmasq)

Grid Infrastructure Installation

All 19 OUI Screens

Create DATA and FRA Disk Groups

Via sqlplus

Via asmca (GUI)

Verify Grid

Known Errors

Swap Size — Warning

Network Time Protocol (NTP) / chrony — Failed

[INS-30515] Insufficient space available in the selected disks

INS-41808 / INS-30064 — Missing ASM groups on orclrac2

Device Checks for ASM — Group mismatch

DNS/NIS — SCAN failed to resolve

resolv.conf overwritten by NetworkManager after reboot

ORA-15030 — diskgroup name is in use

Next Up

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