Deploy Oracle RAC Fast with VirtualBox & Vagrant

Background​
A recent project required an Oracle RAC environment for testing. While OpenNebula typically handles VM provisioning, Oracle RAC’s shared disk configuration added complexity. This article details using ​VirtualBox + Vagrant​ for rapid deployment.

​Software Overview​

• ​VirtualBox: Lightweight virtualization engine (like VMware) for isolated VMs.
• ​Vagrant: Automation tool (like Docker Compose) for managing VM lifecycles via Vagrantfile.
• Versions: VirtualBox 7.1.10 [1], Vagrant 2.4.7 [2].

​Why Not Docker?​​

1. ​Storage: Oracle RAC relies on ASM for raw disk access (/dev/sdb). Docker volumes (directory mounts) cannot emulate block devices, even with --privileged.
2. ​Network: RAC requires dedicated heartbeat networks, VIP failover, and SCAN resolution. Docker’s Overlay networks incur performance overhead, and VIP tools (e.g., Keepalived) conflict with Docker networking.
3. ​Kernel Isolation: RAC nodes need strict resource isolation (CPU/memory locks). Docker’s shared kernel blocks Oracle kernel modules (e.g., oracleasm) and risks IPC conflicts.

​VirtualBox Advantages​

• True VM-level isolation (dedicated kernels per node).
• Native block device support via VirtualBox shared disks.
• Flexible networking (e.g., Host-Only for zero-latency communication).

​Vagrant Configuration​

1. ​Initialize Environment​
   Run as admin in C:\Program Files\Vagrant:

vagrant init  

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Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|  
  config.vm.box = "CentOS7u2"  
  config.disksize.size = "20GB"  # Requires vagrant-disksize plugin  

  # Node: rac1  
  config.vm.define :rac1 do |rac1|  
    rac1.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |v|  
      v.customize ["modifyvm", :id, "--name", "rac1", "--memory", "2048"]  
    end  
    rac1.vm.hostname = "rac1"  
    rac1.vm.network :public_network, ip: "192.168.56.11", adapter: 2  
    rac1.vm.network :private_network, ip: "10.10.10.11", adapter: 3  
  end  

  # Node: rac2  
  config.vm.define :rac2 do |rac2|  
    rac2.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |v|  
      v.customize ["modifyvm", :id, "--name", "rac2", "--memory", "2048"]  
    end  
    rac2.vm.hostname = "rac2"  
    rac2.vm.network :public_network, ip: "192.168.56.12", adapter: 2  
    rac2.vm.network :private_network, ip: "10.10.10.12", adapter: 3  
  end  
end  

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3. ​Install vagrant-disksize Plugin​Default root disk (9.77GB) is insufficient for GI installation. The plugin enables resizing via config.disksize.size.

4. Add OS Image​
Download bento/centos-7.2 box [3] or use a local file. Ensure the box name matches CentOS7u2 in Vagrantfile.

5. Create Shared Disks​
Use VBoxManage (add VirtualBox to system PATH if needed):

# OCR disks  
VBoxManage createhd --filename "D:\VirtualBox VMs\ocr1.vdi" --size 1024 --format VDI --variant Fixed  
VBoxManage modifyhd "D:\VirtualBox VMs\ocr1.vdi" --type shareable  
# ... Repeat for ocr2, ocr3, data1, data2, data3  

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​6. Launch VMs

vagrant up  

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​Troubleshooting: If VMs are inaccessible, switch the second NIC from Bridged to Host-Only mode.

7. ​Access VMs​
   Use vagrant ssh (default credentials: vagrant/vagrant) or tools like Git Bash:

The base environment for Oracle RAC is ready. Proceed with GI/DB installation per Oracle’s documentation.

​Summary​
This guide demonstrated how VirtualBox + Vagrant simplifies Oracle RAC test environment setup. Key considerations include multi-NIC configuration, shared storage (via ASMLib/UDEV), and sufficient resources (≥2GB/node).