APPLIES TO:

GOAL

How to enable/disable database archivelog in RAC configuration?

SOLUTION

1. The following steps need to be taken to enable archive logging in a RAC database environment:

-- shutdown immediate all database instances
$ srvctl stop database -d <db_unique_name>

-- startup database in mount mode
$ srvctl start database -d <db_unique_name> -o mount

-- enable archive logging
$ sqlplus / as sysdba
sql> alter database archivelog;
sql> exit;

-- stop database
$ srvctl stop database -d <db_unique_name>

-- restart all database instances
$ srvctl start database -d <db_unique_name>

-- verify archiving is enabled/disabled by means of:
sql> archive log list; 

You might need to set your log_archive_dest(_n) parameters to a shared location in each spfile, but the log_archive_start parameter does not need to be set anymore as of 10g (see Note 274302.1).

2. To disable archive logging, follow the same steps but use the NOARCHIVELOG clause of the ALTER DATABASE statement.

Please note, from 10.2 onwards, it is no longer required to modify cluster_database parameter to change archive log mode. Please refer to

Database Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide
What's New in Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment?

"Changing the Archiving Mode

You no longer need to modify the CLUSTER_DATABASE parameter setting to change the archiving mode in Oracle RAC. You can change archive log mode as long as the database is mounted in the local instance and not open in any instances."

REFERENCES