Oracle archived logs filling the disk

When archived logs fill their disk, Oracle Database stops accepting changes, and deleting the files by hand frees space but leaves the backup records out of step with the disk. 2501 confirms what is filling the disk, clears archived logs only where you allow it, and checks that the database is healthy afterwards.

Applications that write to the database start to hang. Before anything is removed, someone has to confirm that archived logs are really the cause, and that clearing them keeps the backup records accurate.

What 2501 does

The Oracle specialty takes the alert from your ticketing system and investigates before it removes anything: what is using the disk, the database's error log and the state of the instance. Where you allow it, it clears archived logs in step with the backup records rather than deleting files behind their back.

It then checks that the database is healthy and accepting changes again, and reports what it changed and why. If archived logs are not the answer, it documents what it found and escalates to a person.

You stay in control

• You choose the level: investigate only, act after a person confirms, or act on its own within your rules. The level is set per specialty, not per ticket.
• Backup records come first: archived logs are never deleted without checking that the backup records agree.
• Destructive work is off the table: it never drops a database, schema or storage area, and never reboots the server.
• Your rules apply: which databases are in scope, whether archived logs may be cleared unattended, and which commands are blacklisted outright.

Frequently asked

Why not delete the oldest archived logs by hand? The database's backup records would no longer match what is on disk. 2501 checks those records first and clears the logs in step with them.

Will it restart the database? Only when the fix calls for it, shutting it down cleanly and forcing a shutdown only when nothing else will recover the instance.

Related

• Oracle Manager
• Disk partition full
• Linux fleet automation over SSH
• Guardrails: what an agent may never touch