Temporary Data Files Test

Temporary data files in Oracle are a special type of data file. Oracle uses temporary files to store the intermediate results of a large sort operation and hash operations, as well as to store global temporary table data, or result set data. If adequate space is not allocated or is not available to the temporary datafiles, it could cause abnormal termination of the key operations mentioned above, thereby rendering the database inaccessible.

This test periodically monitors the space usage of the temporary datafiles, and proactively alerts administrators to excessive space consumption by, or deficiencies in space allocations to, the temp datafiles.

This test is disabled by default. To enable the test, go to the enable / disable tests page using the menu sequence : Agents -> Tests -> Enable/Disable, pick Oracle Database as the Component type, Performance as the Test type, choose this test from the disabled tests list, and click on the << button to move the test to the ENABLED TESTS list. Finally, click the Update button.

Target of the test : An Oracle server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every Oracle server being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
  1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed
  2. Host – The host for which the test is to be configured
  3. Port - The port on which the server is listening

  4. User – In order to monitor an Oracle database server, a special database user account has to be created in every Oracle database instance that requires monitoring. A Click here hyperlink is available in the test configuration page, using which a new oracle database user can be created. Alternatively, you can manually create the special database user. When doing so, ensure that this user is vested with the select_catalog_role and create session privileges.

    The sample script we recommend for user creation (in Oracle database server versions before 12c) for eG monitoring is:

    create user oraeg identified by oraeg

    create role oratest;

    grant create session to oratest;

    grant select_catalog_role to oratest;

    grant oratest to oraeg;

    The sample script we recommend for user creation (in Oracle database server 12c) for eG monitoring is:

    alter session set container=<Oracle_service_name>;

    create user <user_name>identified by <user_password> container=current default tablespace <name_of_default_tablespace> temporary tablespace <name_of_temporary_tablespace>;

    Grant create session to <user_name>;                                

    Grant select_catalog_role to <user_name>;

    The name of this user has to be specified here.

  5. Password – Password of the specified database user

    This login information is required to query Oracle’s internal dynamic views, so as to fetch the current status / health of the various database components.

  6. Confirm password – Confirm the password by retyping it here.
  7. ISPASSIVE – If the value chosen is yes, then the Oracle server under consideration is a passive server in an Oracle cluster. No alerts will be generated if the server is not running. Measures will be reported as “Not applicable" by the agent if the server is not up.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Allocated size:

This measure indicates the space allocated to temporary datafiles.

MB

 

Used size:

This measure indicates the currently used space by temporary datafiles.

MB

 

Free space:

This measure indicates the free space  available to temporary datafiles.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measurement should be very high.

Free space percentage:

This measure indicates the percentage of space allocated to the temp datafiles, which is still unused.

Percent

Typically, a high percentage of free space is desired. A value close to 0 or a consistent decrease in the value of this measure could indicate excessive space consumption by the temporary datafiles or insufficient space allocation; lack of free space for temporary datafiles can severely affect database performance, and can even cause the database to hang! To avoid such adversities, you might want to consider allocating more space to the temporary datafiles.