Life Without Tools:

Monitoring
Database Activity
With The Power Of
SQL
Ari Kaplan
Independent Consultant
 Topic Overview
 Which users are logged on to the database?

 What SQL statement is a particular user account

executing?

 Setting up an interactive script for viewing users and SQL

 What is my datafile activity like?

 Which rollback segments are being used by which user

accounts?

 What has the largest number of concurrent users been?

 Which locks are being held?

 Which users have hogged up the most CPU usage?

 What is the archiving status of the database?

 Quick Overview of Typical
Monitoring Views
Data Dictionary View What It Shows
DBA_FREE_SPACE Free chunks of tablespace
DBA_DATA_FILES Data File location and sizes
V$FILESTAT Reads/Writes to datafiles
V$SGASTAT Detailed shared pool information (free memory, etc)
V$ROLLSTAT Rollback Segment Information (shrinks, optimal size, …)
V$SESSION Information on connections
V$SYSSTAT 200 system-wide statistics
V$PARAMETER Initialization parameter settings
V$LOCK Locks within the database
DBA_SEGMENTS Segments and how many extents, next extent
 Who Is Logged On?
The V$SESSION view contains
information on all active sessions:

SELECT sid, schemaname, osuser

substr(machine,1,20) Machine
FROM v$session
ORDER BY schemaname;
 Who Is Logged On?
SELECT sid, schemaname, osuser, substr(machine,1,20) Machine
FROM v$session
ORDER BY schemaname;

A sample output from the above SQL follows:

SID SCHEMANAME OSUSER MACHINE

1 SYS
2 SYS
3 SYS
4 SYS
7 SYSTEM plat headq
13 SYSTEM oracle headq
6 WWW_DBA oracle uk_office
14 WWW_DBA oracle uk_office
12 PRODMAN mr_boss ny_office
 What SQL Statement Is A
Particular User Account Executing?
SELECT sql_text
FROM v$sqlarea
WHERE (address, hash_value) IN
(SELECT sql_address,
sql_hash_value
FROM v$session
WHERE sid = &sid_number);
 What SQL Statement Is A Particular User Account
Executing?
SELECT sql_text
FROM v$sqlarea
WHERE (address, hash_value) IN
(SELECT sql_address,
sql_hash_value
FROM v$session
WHERE sid = &sid_number);

A sample output from the above SQL follows:

Enter value for sid_number: 17
old 1: WHERE SID = &sid_number
new 1: WHERE USERNAME = 17
SQL_TEXT
Update EMP set first_name = ‘Ari’ where
first_name = ‘Arie’;
 Setting Up An Interactive Script For Viewing
Users And SQL
SQL Script “SQL1.SQL” SQL Script “SQL2.SQL”
SELECT sid,
sid, schemaname,
schemaname, osuser,
osuser, SELECT
SELECT sql_text
sql_text
substr(machine,1,20) Machine FROM v$session FROM
FROM v$sqlarea
ORDER BY schemaname;
schemaname; WHERE
WHERE (address,
(address, hash_value)
hash_value) IN
IN
((SELECT sql_address,
sql_address,
What SQL is
sql_hash_value
sql_hash_value
Who is logged used? FROM
FROM v$session
in to the WHERE
WHERE sid= sid_number;
sid_number;
database?
UNIX Script “SQL_RUN”
echo “Enter the database to connect to:” echo “Enter the SID for which SQL you wish to see:”
read DATABASE read SID_NUM
echo “Enter the password for the SYSTEM user:”
sqlplus system/$PASSWD@DATABASE << EOF
stty -echo
echo “Password:\c” select sql_text from v$sqlarea
read PASSWD where (address, hash_value) in
stty echo (select sql_addresss, sql_hash_value
echo “” from v$session
sqlplus system/$PASSWD\@DATABASE << EOF
@sql1.sql WHERE sid = $SID_NUM)
EOF /
EOF
 What is my datafile activity like?
SELECT file_name, phyrds, phywrts,
decode(phyrds,0,0,phyblkrd/phyrds) “Blocks/Read”
decode(phywrts,0,0,phyblkwrt/phywrts) “Blocks/Write”
FROM dba_data_files, v$filestat
WHERE dba_data_files.file_id=v$filestat.file#;

FILE_NAME PHYRDS PHYWRTS BLOCKS/READ BLOCKS/WRITE

/u01/oradata/PRODDB/system01.dbf 10243 3478 4.928 1
/u02/oradata/PRODDB/rbs01.dbf 1759 49649 1 1
/u03/oradata/PRODDB/temp01.dbf 0 0 0 0
/u04/oradata/PRODDB/tools01.dbf 0 0 0 0
/u05/oradata/PRODDB/ctxdata01.dbf 187293 15846 1.959 1
/u05/oradata/PRODDB/ctxdata02.dbf 455377 397 4 14. 258 1
/u05/oradata/PRODDB/ctxindex01.dbf 332860 616291 1.248 1
/u02/oradata/PRODDB/rbs02.dbf 91528 11593 6.130 1
 Which Rollback Segments Are
Being Used By Which User
Accounts?
 “SET TRANSACTION USE ROLLBACK SEGMENT
rollback_segment_name” specifies a rollback segment to
use. This is issued first, or immediately after COMMIT or
ROLLBACK.
 Use V$ROLLSTAT and V$ROLLNAME to get general
rollback segment activity
 Link V$ROLLNAME with V$LOCK and V$SESSION to
determine which users are using which rollback segments.
 More information on the users can be collected by further
joining with the V$PROCESS view.
 Which Rollback Segments Are
Being Used By Which User
Accounts?
 When a user is doing rollback activity, Oracle creates a
latch (lock of type “TX”) on an extent of a rollback
segment.
 The USN (Unique Serial Number) of V$ROLLNAME links
with V$LOCK’s ID1 column. The ID1 column contains the
object id of the object (rollback segment) being locked.
 The V$LOCK view contains a SID column which links to
the SID column of V$SESSION.
 The V$SESSION view links to the V$PROCESS view via the
PADDR column.
Which Rollback Segments Are Being
Used By Which User Accounts?
NOTE: Only relevant columns are listed with tables

V$ROLLNAME V$LOCK
NAME ID1
USN SID
TYPE
V$PROCESS LMODE
ADDR
PID V$SESSION
SPID
SID
USERNAME
TERMINAL PADDR
Which Rollback Segments Are Being
Used By Which User Accounts?
echo “Enter the password for the SYSTEM user:”
read PASSWD
sqlplus system/$PASSWD << EOF
spool temp.lst
set head off
set pagesize 0
connect system\$PASSWD@DBNAME
SELECT to_char(rownum+3)||’) ‘||rpad(r.name,17)||rpad(to_char(p.pid),11) ||
rpad(s.sid,6)|| rpad(p.spid,11) || rpad(nvl(p.username,’NO TRANSACTION’),17) ||
rpad(p.terminal,8)
FROM v\$lock l, v\$process p, v\$rollname r, v\$session s
WHERE l.sid = s.sid (+) AND p.addr = s.paddr AND
l.type(+)=‘TX’ AND l.lmode(+)=6 AND
trunc(l.idl1(+)/65536)=r.usn
UNION
SELECT ‘2) ROLLBACK SEG;ORACLE PID; SYSTEM PID; SID; TRANSACTION;
TERMINAL’
FROM dual
UNION SELECT ‘1) ‘ FROM dual
UNION SELECT ‘3) ---------------- ---------- ---------- ----------- --------’ FROM dual
ORDER BY 1;
EOF
 Which Rollback Segments Are Being
Used By Which User Accounts?
Below is a sample output from the preceding SQL:

1)
2) ROLLBACK SEGMENT; ORACLE PID; SYSTEM PID; SID; TRANSACTION; TERMINAL
3)------------------------- --------------- --------------- ---- ----------------- ------------
4) R01 70 1632 14 oracle ?
5) BIG_ROLL 65 1492 21 oracle ?
 What Has The Largest Number Of
Concurrent Users Been?
set pagesize 24

set linesize 100

SELECT rpad(c.name||’:’,11)||chr(9)||chr(9)||

rpad(‘ current logons=‘||(to_number(b.sessions_current)-1),20)||chr(10)||

‘cumulative logons=‘||rpad(substr(a.value,1,12),12)||chr(9)||

‘highwater mark=‘||b.sessions_highwater||chr(9)

FROM v$sysstat a, v$license b, v$database c

WHERE a.name = ‘logons cumulative’;

 What Has The Largest Number Of
Concurrent Users Been?

Output from
the preceding
SQL:

PINDB: current logons=298 cumulative

logons=7967 highwater mark=391
 What Has The Largest Number Of
Concurrent Users Been?
export LOGDIR=$ORACLE_HOME/udump
echo “Enter the password for the SYSTEM user:” Loop through
read PASSWD four
for SID in PRODDB TESTDB TRAINDB DEVDB databases
do
sqlplus system/$PASSWD@$SID << EOF >> $LOGDIR/temp_users.lst
set linesize 100
SELECT rpad(c.name||’:’,11)||chr(9)||chr(9)||
rpad(‘ current logons=‘||(to_number(b.sessions_current)-1),20)||chr(10)||
‘cumulative logons=‘||rpad(substr(a.value,1,12),12)||chr(9)||
‘highwater mark=‘||b.sessions_highwater||chr(9)
FROM v\$sysstat a, v\$license b, v\$database c
WHERE a.name = ‘logons cumulative’;
EOF
done
cat $LOGDIR/temp_users.lst |grep “LOG” > $LOGDIR/archive`date “+%m%d”`.log
rm $LOGDIR/temp_users.lst
 What Has The Largest Number Of
Concurrent Users Been?
Output from the preceding SQL for
four databases:

PRODDB: current logons=298 cumulative logons=7967 highwater

mark=391
TESTDB: current logons=15 cumulative logons=187 highwater mark=15
TRAINDB: current logons=8 cumulative logons=613 highwater mark=25
DEVDB: current logons=23 cumulative logons=1024 highwater mark=30
 Which Locks Are Being Held?
-- V$LOCK holds information on internal Oracle locks.
-- Six views show information more clearly:
DBA_LOCK: locks held and locks requested;is blocking?
DBA_LOCK_INTERNAL: locks held and locks requested
DBA_DML_LOCKS: DML locks (subset of DBA_LOCK)
DBA_DDL_LOCKS: DDL locks (subset of DBA_LOCK)
DBA_WAITERS: which sessions are holding and waiting
for locks?
DBA_BLOCKERS: which sessions are holding locks but
are not waiting on another lock themselves?
-- These are created by the
$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catblock.sql script
-- Use $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/utllockt.sql to analyze these
views.
 Which Locks Are Being Held?
SELECT * FROM DBA_LOCK;

SESSION_ID TYPE MODE_HELD MODE_REQUESTED

--------------- ------------------- --------------- -----------------------
LOCK_ID1 LOCK_ID2 LAST_CONVERT BLOCKING_OTHERS
------------ ------------ ------------------ ------------------------
2 Media Recovery Share None
212 0 113054 Not Blocking

4 Redo Thread Exclusive None

1 0 0 Not Blocking

310 Transaction Exclusive None

196612 399886 123 Not Blocking

310 DML Row-X (SX) None

438580 0 123 Not Blocking
 Which Locks Are Being Held?

 The previous views can be neatly arranged with the

$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/utllockt.sql script.
 The utllockt.sql script creates two temporary tables:
LOCK_HOLDERS and DBA_LOCKS_TEMP
 DBA_LOCKS_TEMP is created to improve performance
over using the slower DBA_LOCKS view.
 Output uses the CONNECT BY and START WITH clauses to
make a hierarchical tree structure.
 The highest level in the tree is where HOLDING_SESSION
is null.
 Which Locks Are Being Held?

SELECT lpad(‘ ‘,3*level-1)) || waiting_sessions

“WAITING SESSION”,
lock_type, mode_requested, mode_held,
lock_id1, lock_id2
FROM lock_holders
CONNECT BY PRIOR
waiting_session=holding_session
START WITH holding_session IS NULL;
WAITING_ LOCK_ MODE_ MODE_ LOCK_
LOCK_
SESSION TYPE REQUESTED HELD ID1 ID2
---------- ------- ------------- ------- -------- ------
133 None
319 Transaction Exclusive Exclusive 196613 406415
 Which Users Have Hogged Up The
Most CPU Usage?
V$SESSION
V$SESSTAT SADDR
SADDR PROGRAM
PROGRAM
SID TYPE
TYPE
SID SQL_ADDRESS
SQL_ADDRESS
SERIAL#
SERIAL#
STATISTIC# AUDSID
AUDSID
SQL_HASH_VALUE
SQL_HASH_VALUE
MODULE
MODULE
VALUE PADDR
PADDR MODULE_HASH
MODULE_HASH
USER#
USER# ACTION
ACTION
USERNAME ACTION_HASH
ACTION_HASH
COMMAND
COMMAND CLIENT_INFO
CLIENT_INFO
OWNERID
OWNERID FIXED_TABLE_SEQUENCE
FIXED_TABLE_SEQUENCE
like ‘%CPU used by this TADDR
TADDR ROW_WAIT_OBJ#
ROW_WAIT_OBJ#
session%’
LOCKWAIT
LOCKWAIT ROW_WAIT_FILE#
ROW_WAIT_FILE#
STATUS
STATUS ROW_WAIT_BLOCK#
ROW_WAIT_BLOCK#
SERVER
SERVER ROW_WAIT_ROW#
ROW_WAIT_ROW#
V$STATNAME SCHEMA#
SCHEMA# LOGON_TIME
LOGON_TIME
SCHEMANAME
SCHEMANAME LAST_CALL_ET
LAST_CALL_ET
NAME OSUSER
OSUSER PDML_ENABLED
PDML_ENABLED
STATISTIC# PROCESS
PROCESS
MACHINE
MACHINE
FAILOVER_TYPE
FAILOVER_TYPE
FAILOVER_METHOD
FAILOVER_METHOD
CLASS TERMINAL
TERMINAL FAILED_OVER
FAILED_OVER
 Which Users Have Hogged Up The
Most CPU Usage?

SELECT substr(sn.name,1,30) parameter,

ss.username ||’ (’|| se_sid ||’) ‘ user_process, se.value
FROM v$session ss, v$sesstat se, v$statname sn
WHERE se. statistic# = sn.statistic# AND
sn.name LIKE ‘%CPU used by this session%’ AND
se.sid=ss.sid
ORDER BY sn.name, se_value DESC;
PARAMETER USER_PROCESS VALUE
-------------------------------- ------------------------ ---------------
CPU used by this session OLAP_MAN (390) 15230
CPU used by this session PIN (35) 4324
CPU used by this session OPERATOR (17) 157
CPU used by this session SYS (11) 0
 What Is The Archiving Status Of The
Database?
Why is archiving important?
What happens when the archive volume fills up?
How do you find the archiving status?
How do you turn on archiving?

SVRMGRL> ARCHIVE LOG LIST;

Database log mode No Archive Mode
Automatic archival Disabled
Archive Destination ?/dbs/arch
Oldest online log sequence 4525
Current log sequence 4528
 What Is The Archiving Status Of The
Database?
SELECT ‘NAME=‘|| a.name, ‘LOG_MODE=‘|| a.log_mode,
‘LOG_ARCHIVE_START=‘|| b.value,
‘LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST=‘|| c.value,
‘LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT=‘|| d.value
FROM v$database a, v$parameter b, v$parameter c,
v$parameter d
WHERE b.name=‘log_archive_start’ AND
c.name=‘log_archive_dest’ AND
d.name=‘log_archive_format’;
NAME=PINDB
LOG_MODE=NOARCHIVELOG
LOG_ARCHIVE_START=TRUE
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST=/u01/oracle/product/8.0.3/dbs/arch
LOG_ARCHIVE_FOMAT=_%s_%t.log
 Where to Now?
 There are many discussion Newsgroups on the internet for you to give questions

and get answers:

comp.databases.oracle.server

comp.databases.oracle.tools

comp.databases.oracle.misc

 These can be accessed through a newsgroup program or “ www.deja.com”

 Ari’s free Oracle Tips web page at:

There are over 370 tips and answers to questions that have been posed to me over the
years. This paper will be downloadable from the web page as well.

 Other good sites with links: www.orafaq.org, www.orafans.com, www.ioug.org,

www.orasearch.com, www.revealnet.com