Shell scripting is necessary for automating a broad range of administration tasks on Oracle servers. Many Oracle administrators and developers lack a strong system administration background and therefore manually perform these tasks at the cost of time, money and sustainability. This book will discuss how to automate many of the common Oracle administration tasks as well as the methods necessary to automate site-specific tasks. Special attention will be given to writing industry strength scripts which free the Oracle professional from daily maintenance tasks yet provide proper tracking and feedback to ensure the best possible operation. With the expert techniques discussed in this book the reader will gain a functional knowledge of the building blocks of server-side shell scripting. In addition to these techniques the reader will gain access to over 50 working scripts which can either be implemented as-is or be used as a basis for further scripts. Topics include a background on shells and shell scripting, detailed step-by-step instructions on building shell scripts for administration tasks, how to tell when things are working right and how to effectively monitor the system for failures. Shell scripting is one of the most universal tools on UNIX and Linux. Shell scripting allows the administrator to combine any number of commands to be executed simultaneously or sequentially with a single script. Sophisticated flow control allows shell scripts to react to conditions in the environment appropriately without the need for human intervention. These scripts can be run manually to combine many steps into a single command. Regular tasks can be automated through the use of 'cron' freeing the administrator from the burden of repeatedly executing scripts. This book is intended for any Oracle professional who is running Oracle on Linux or UNIX. The techniques discussed span all versions of Oracle and will be applicable by Oracle administrators, database developers, database programmers and anyone else who spends time at a UNIX prompt. This book combines shell scripting techniques for beginner to expert with dozens of working scripts. The skills discussed in this book will help the Oracle professional automate routine tasks freeing the administrator for more important duties. The scripts included with this text will give the Oracle professional a fantastic head-start on automating their administration duties as well as being easily modifiable for any environment. This combination of techniques and working scripts provide a complete sustainable solution for automating and improving any Oracle environment. Oracle Shell Scripting fulfills a unique niche for the Oracle Professional. While many books cover the installation and configuration of Oracle on UNIX and Linux the Oracle professional is then set adrift in their new environment. This book is their roadmap in that new environment. Oracle Shell Scripting excels at elevating the skills and confidence of the UNIX novice. By focusing specifically on the tools needed by Oracle Professionals the tutorial portion of the book remains succinct and is complimented by the provided scripts saving the Oracle professional hours of work! This combination of how-to and scripts will render other 'pocket reference' books redundant while still entering at a lower price point than most version specific books. Other books in this space are version-centric and fail to thoroughly address UNIX and Linux topics important to the Oracle professional. This version-agnostic book addresses the shell scripting skills necessary for the Oracle professional to master their UNIX environment and to simplify and automate their administration tasks.
Jon Emmons is a UNIX systems administrator with many years of experience operating Oracle and publishing related Web resources. He lives in Concord, New Hampshire. Donald K. Burleson is the author of 30 Oracle-related books, including Oracle Silver Bullets and Oracle Solid State Disk Tuning. He lives in Kittrell, North Carolina.
