Exadata Health Check Commands Every DBA Should Know

Introduction

Oracle Exadata is an engineered system designed for high-performance database workloads. Regular health checks help identify issues before they impact database availability, performance, or storage operations.

This guide provides essential health check commands for Exadata Database Servers, Storage Servers (Cells), and InfiniBand Network components.

Environment

Example Environment:

Component	Hostname
Database Server 1	db01
Database Server 2	db02
Storage Server 1	cell01
Storage Server 2	cell02
Storage Server 3	cell03

1. Verify Exadata Software Versions

Login to Storage Server:

cellcli

Check Cell Software Version:

list cell attributes releaseVersion

Example Output:

21.2.18.0.0

2. Check Cell Status

list cell detail

Verify:

• Status = online
• Flash Cache = active
• Grid Disks = active

3. Verify Physical Disks

list physicaldisk attributes name,status

Expected:

normal

Investigate immediately if:

warning

predictive failure

critical

appears.

4. Verify Grid Disks

list griddisk attributes name,status

Expected:

active

5. Verify Cell Disks

list celldisk attributes name,status

Expected:

normal

6. Check Flash Cache Status

list flashcache detail

Verify:

• CacheStatus = normal
• No degraded state

7. Check Flash Log Status

list flashlog detail

Confirm Flash Log is enabled and operational.

8. Verify ASM Disk Groups

Database Server:

sqlplus / as sysasm

Execute:

SELECT

name,

state,

type,

total_mb,

free_mb

FROM v$asm_diskgroup;

Verify:

• Mounted
• Adequate free space

9. Check ASM Disk Status

SELECT

group_number,

disk_number,

name,

path,

header_status,

mode_status,

state

FROM v$asm_disk;

Expected:

HEADER_STATUS = MEMBER

STATE = NORMAL

10. Verify Database Cluster Status

crsctl stat res -t

All resources should be:

ONLINE

11. Check Database Instances

srvctl status database -d <database_name>

Example:

srvctl status database -d PRODDB

Expected:

Instance PROD1 is running

Instance PROD2 is running

12. Verify InfiniBand Status

Database Server:

ibstat

Verify:

State: Active

Physical state: LinkUp

13. Check InfiniBand Switch Connectivity

ibhosts

Ensure all hosts and storage cells are visible.

14. Verify Exadata Services

Storage Server:

imageinfo

Verify software image version.

15. Check Critical Alerts

list alerthistory

Recent alerts should be reviewed daily.

Filter Critical Alerts:

list alerthistory where severity='critical'

16. Review Hardware Faults

list physicaldisk where status != 'normal'

list celldisk where status != 'normal'

list griddisk where status != 'active'

Any output requires investigation.

17. Verify Cell Services

cellcli -e "list cell detail"

Ensure:

• MS Service Running
• RS Service Running
• CELLSRV Running

18. Exachk Health Assessment

Run:

exachk

or

./exachk

Review:

FAIL

WARNING

INFO

sections carefully.

Daily DBA Health Check Checklist

Check	Status
CRS Resources Online	✓
ASM Disk Groups Mounted	✓
Cell Status Online	✓
Grid Disks Active	✓
Cell Disks Normal	✓
Flash Cache Healthy	✓
InfiniBand Active	✓
No Critical Alerts	✓
Database Instances Running	✓

Common Issues

Cell Disk Offline

list celldisk

Investigate hardware and storage alerts immediately.

ASM Disk Missing

select name,state,path from v$asm_disk;

Check storage server status and ASM alerts.

InfiniBand Link Down

ibstat

Expected:

State: Active

Any other status should be investigated.

Conclusion

Regular Exadata health checks help identify storage, ASM, network, and cluster issues before they affect production workloads. Incorporating these commands into daily operational checks significantly improves platform stability and reduces unplanned outages.

A disciplined health check process is one of the most important responsibilities of an Exadata DBA.