Master Oracle Log Collection with TFA: One-Command Solution for RAC Environments

Version and Installation

Oracle TFA (Trace File Analyzer Collector) runs on a wide range of platforms, including Intel Linux (Enterprise, RedHat, SUSE), Linux on System Z, Linux Itanium, Oracle Solaris SPARC and x86‑64, AIX, HPUX Itanium, and HPUX PA‑RISC. All platforms require Bash 3.2+ and JRE 1.5+.

TFA supports all Oracle database versions from 11.2.0.4 onward and works with both RAC and non‑RAC configurations, though documentation does not mention versions earlier than 10.2.0.4.

From 11.2.0.4 the tool is bundled with the Grid Infrastructure and installed under the Grid home directory. Earlier releases need a manual installation package.

Oracle provides a detailed support matrix (see image below) and releases updates frequently; for example, version 2.5.1.5 shipped with 11.2.0.4 (August 2013) and the latest 12.1.2.5.2 (October 2015) adds many new functions.

How TFA Works

The workflow is illustrated in the official diagram (see image). The process consists of the following steps:

DBA issues the diagcollect command, launching the TFA collection process on the local node.

The local TFA forwards the collection request to TFA agents on all other nodes, which start gathering logs in parallel.

The local TFA also begins collecting logs on its own node.

All logs from the participating nodes are archived to the "master" node that initiated the command.

DBA retrieves the archived log bundle for analysis or for opening a Service Request.

Thus the DBA only runs a single command and then extracts the resulting archive.

Using TFA

Below are common usage patterns for TFA on both 11.2.0.4 RAC and 12.1.2.5.2 environments.

Basic collection command (collects RDBMS, ASM, Grid, OS logs for a given time window):

tfactl diagcollect -starttime YYYYMMDDHHMM -endtime YYYYMMDDHHMM

The command intelligently truncates continuous logs (e.g., alert and listener logs) to the specified interval instead of copying entire files. If the osw tool is installed, its logs are gathered automatically.

To limit collection to database‑specific logs only, use: tfactl diagcollect -database For AWR report collection (available in 12.1.2.5.2), the syntax is: tfactl diagcollect -awrhtml -database Note: the AWR collection feature is still imperfect and may also pull alert and trace files.

Automatic error collection

Pre‑defined error events can be auto‑collected (see Appendix B of the User Guide). The feature is disabled by default and can be enabled with: tfactl set autodiagcollect=ON Enable it first in a test environment before using it in production.

Log analysis command

One‑line analysis of recent errors across DB, ASM, CRS, ACFS, OS, OSW, etc.: tfactl analyze -since 7d This scans the last seven days for entries with severity ERROR and extracts them. The error levels recognized by TFA are listed in the User Guide (see image).

Custom string searches can be performed with:

tfactl search -string "your text"

Permission handling

By default only root and grid users can run TFA. If an oracle user attempts a collection, the error "User oracle does not have keys to run TFA" appears. Grant permission with: tfactl access add -user oracle Configuration and space management

Current settings can be displayed with: tfactl print config Adjustments are made via tfactl set commands; an example output is shown below.

For further details, consult the tfactl -h help output and the "Trace File Analyzer Collector User Guide".

Known issues

Two rare problems have been reported on MOS: a RAC node hang when TFA is installed (fixed by editing oracle-tfa.conf as described in Doc 1983567.1) and a bug affecting certain PSU versions (resolved in PSU 11.2.0.4.3 and later).