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Setting up Oracle databases

Perforce does not provide support for installing, configuring, or maintaining Oracle. A qualified Oracle database administrator should install and configure the database and create the required schemas and tablespaces.

Keep the following in mind:

Do not add, delete, or modify any fields in the Surround SCM tables.
Do not directly add, edit, or delete any data in the tables.
Do not create different primary keys. This will adversely affect application performance.
Do not create complex triggers on any of the tables. Triggers may cause severe database issues and correcting these issues is not covered by Perforce.
Create a process to back up database tables on a regular schedule.

Running Oracle and the Surround SCM Server on the same computer can result in slow performance if not configured correctly. Make sure Oracle is configured correctly to avoid using all the system memory.

Connecting to Oracle

The recommended method for using Oracle is via Oracle Call Interface (OCI). Download and install the required Oracle Instant Client libraries.

Creating database tables

The Surround SCM Server automatically creates tables when you start the server or convert the server database. The SCMServer.sql script file, which is located in the Oracle directory in the Surround SCM application directory, is used to create the tables.

Creating Oracle users

You must create an Oracle user for the Surround SCM Server. The user only requires default connection privileges and should not have any Oracle DBA privileges. Use your preferred tablespace management for the users. An easy method is to set up the user to share the USERS tablespace and to enable an unlimited quota.

Database character set

Oracle only converts characters when the Oracle client’s character set, specified by NLS_LANG, does not match the character set stored in the database. If the character set is not UTF-8, VARCHAR2 fields may not be able to correctly store data. If this happens, the following misnomer of an error is returned: ‘ORA-01461: can bind a LONG value only for insert into a LONG column’. The Oracle database character set should be AL32UTF8 or UTF8.

Sizing, memory, and tuning

Oracle sizing and tuning settings should be consistent with your corporate standards. Review the SQL scripts for schema creation installed with Surround SCM Server to determine the appropriate settings.