This short article provides the steps necessary to add a candidate disk to an already

existing disk group on the Linux platform. I already have an existing disk group
named TESTDB_DATA1. I am not using the ASMLib libraries.

Identify Candidate Disks

The current disk group configuration, (TESTDB_DATA1 and candidate disks not assigned to any disk
group) has the following configuration:

$ ORACLE_SID=+ASM; export ORACLE_SID

$ sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
SELECT
NVL(a.name, '[CANDIDATE]')
disk_group_name
, b.path
disk_file_path
, b.name
disk_file_name
, b.failgroup
disk_file_fail_group
FROM
v$asm_diskgroup a RIGHT OUTER JOIN v$asm_disk b USING (group_number)
ORDER BY
a.name;
Disk Group Name Path
--------------- --------------TESTDB_DATA1
/dev/raw/raw1
/dev/raw/raw2
/dev/raw/raw3
/dev/raw/raw4
[CANDIDATE]

File Name
-------------------TESTDB_DATA1_0000
TESTDB_DATA1_0001
TESTDB_DATA1_0002
TESTDB_DATA1_0003

Fail Group
--------------CONTROLLER1
CONTROLLER1
CONTROLLER2
CONTROLLER2

/dev/raw/raw5
/dev/raw/raw6
/dev/raw/raw7

In this example, I will be adding two new disks (/dev/raw/raw5 and /dev/raw/raw6) to the current
disk group.

Add Disks to a Disk Group

Finally, let's add the two new disks to the disk group. This needs to be done within the ASM instance and
connected as a user with SYSDBA privileges:

$ ORACLE_SID=+ASM; export ORACLE_SID

$ sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
SQL> ALTER DISKGROUP testdb_data1 ADD
2 FAILGROUP controller1 DISK '/dev/raw/raw5'
3 FAILGROUP controller2 DISK '/dev/raw/raw6' REBALANCE POWER 11;
Diskgroup altered.

After submitting the SQL to add the new disks to the disk group, query the dynamic performance view
V$ASM_OPERATION in the ASM instance to check the status of the rebalance operation. The
V$ASM_OPERATION view will return one row for every active Automatic Storage Management long
running operation executing in the Automatic Storage Management instance.

SQL> SELECT group_number, operation, state, power, est_minutes FROM

v$asm_operation;
GROUP_NUMBER OPERATION STATE
POWER EST_MINUTES
------------ --------- ------ ------ ----------1 REBAL
RUN
11
9
Continue to query this view to monitor the rebalance operation. When this row is gone, the ASM
rebalance operation will be complete.
After adding the new disks, this is a new view of the disk group configuration:

Disk Group Name Path

--------------- --------------TESTDB_DATA1
/dev/raw/raw1
/dev/raw/raw2
/dev/raw/raw3
/dev/raw/raw4
/dev/raw/raw5
/dev/raw/raw6
[CANDIDATE]

File Name
-------------------TESTDB_DATA1_0000
TESTDB_DATA1_0001
TESTDB_DATA1_0002
TESTDB_DATA1_0003
TESTDB_DATA1_0004
TESTDB_DATA1_0005

Fail Group
--------------CONTROLLER1
CONTROLLER1
CONTROLLER2
CONTROLLER2
CONTROLLER1
CONTROLLER2

/dev/raw/raw7

Drop Disks from a Disk Group

Now, let's drop the same two new disks from the disk group. This needs to be done within the ASM
instance and connected as a user with SYSDBA privileges:

$ ORACLE_SID=+ASM; export ORACLE_SID

$ sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
SQL> ALTER DISKGROUP testdb_data1 DROP
2 DISK testdb_data1_0004, testdb_data1_0005

REBALANCE POWER 11;

Diskgroup altered.
The current disk group configuration, (TESTDB_DATA1 and candidate disks not assigned to any disk
group) now has the following configuration:

Disk Group Name Path

File Name
Fail Group
--------------- --------------- -------------------- ---------------

TESTDB_DATA1

/dev/raw/raw1
/dev/raw/raw2
/dev/raw/raw3
/dev/raw/raw4

[CANDIDATE]

/dev/raw/raw5
/dev/raw/raw6
/dev/raw/raw7

TESTDB_DATA1_0000
TESTDB_DATA1_0001
TESTDB_DATA1_0002
TESTDB_DATA1_0003

CONTROLLER1
CONTROLLER1
CONTROLLER2
CONTROLLER2