Fix Oracle 19c Database Creation Stuck at 15% 36% 46% – Troubleshooting Guide

Fix Oracle 19c Database Creation Stuck at 15% 36% 46%

 I encountered a small case yesterday and wanted to write it down for reference.

I was creating a new database on a test server today. This test machine already had three instances running, and I planned to add three more. However, the DBCA (Database Configuration Assistant) kept getting stuck at 36% (in CDB mode). If it were a non-CDB setup, it would get stuck at 46%.

Why Does Oracle 19c Database Creation Get Stuck at 15%, 36%, 46%?

When running DBCA (Database Configuration Assistant) in Oracle 19c, many administrators report the setup freezing at 15% progress. This is usually caused by:

• Missing or misconfigured environment variables (ORACLE_HOME, ORACLE_SID)

• Insufficient memory or disk space on the host system

• Listener configuration issues are preventing service registration

• Incorrect database character set or parameters

• Permission problems on Oracle directories

Checking the trace logs, I found that the process halted during the execution of datapatch. 

 
executing datapatch /orabin/product/19.3.0/OPatch/datapatch

The alert log and other logs didn't provide any useful information. After checking MOS (My Oracle Support), I realized the issue was caused by my previous modification to the glogin.sql file—I had altered it to display the current database name and other information upon local login. I had essentially dug my own grave. 

 
vi $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/admin/glogin.sql
Add the following parameters
-- Display current database name at login
SELECT 'Connected to database: ' || GLOBAL_NAME AS "Database Name"
FROM GLOBAL_NAME
WHERE ROWNUM = 1
/
-- set prompt to username@SID
SET SQLPROMPT "_USER'@'&_CONNECT_IDENTIFIER> "
-- line break
SET TERMOUT ON

Step-by-Step Fix for Oracle 19c DBCA Stuck

1. The solution was to revert glogin.sql to its original state by deleting or commenting out all manually added content.

2. After making that change, I reran DBCA, and it worked fine.

Note: Modifying glogin.sql can affect patching operations, and it doesn't throw an error—it just gets stuck. So remember this, otherwise you might spend a long time troubleshooting without finding the root cause.

Best Practices for Oracle 19c Installation

• Always run pre-install checks before DB creation.

• Ensure swap memory is properly configured.

• Use AL32UTF8 character set for broader compatibility.

• Keep Oracle patches updated to avoid known bugs.

How to Enable SSH and Shell Services on VMware ESXi – Step-by-Step Guide

Why Enable SSH and ESXi Shell?

By default, VMware ESXi has SSH and Shell services disabled for security reasons. However, enabling them is essential for:

• Advanced troubleshooting (logs, storage, networking)

• Running esxcli and vim-cmd commands

• Performing manual datastore management

• Automating tasks using remote scripts

Three methods to enable SSH and Shell services of VMware ESXi and demonstrate how to log in to ESXi using SSH client software.

Remote access to the ESXi host is a necessary condition for maintaining and managing the VMware environment. You can access the ESXi shell through an SSH (Secure Shell ) client (such as Putty). The service corresponding to SXi's Shell is the Technical Support Mode (TSM) service, and SSH corresponds to the TSM-SSH service. In a production environment, keep SSH (TSM-SSH) and ESXi Shell (TSM) services disabled (Disable) status. Enable these services only when you must access the command line to troubleshoot problems. After troubleshooting, disable these services.

Firstly. Through the ESXi host client (VMware Host Client)

Method 1:

Step 1, Access the management IP address or domain name of the ESXi host, and log in to the host client (VMware Host Client) according to the prompts to enter the ESXi account password.

Step 2, in the ESX host client interface, select "Navigator"->"Host"-> "Manage"-> "Services", scroll down to view the service list, and find TSM(ESXi Shell) and TSM-SSH (SSH)services

Step 3, select "TSM(ESXi Shell)", and then click "Start"

Step 4, Confirm that the status of the TSM service is "Running", ESXi Shell successfully started

Step 5, select "TSM-SSH(SSH)", then click "Start"

Step 6, Confirm that the status of the TSM-SSH service is "Running", and SSH is successfully enabled.

Note: When the ESXi host restarts, SSH/Shell will be automatically disabled. This is the default policy. You can modify the policy to start and stop with the host, as shown in the figure below.

Method 2:

Step 1, Access the management IP address or domain name of the ESXi host, and enter the account password to log in to the host client (VMware Host Client) as prompted.

Step 2, In the host client interface, select "Navigator"->"Host"->"Operation"->"Service"->"Enable Secure Shell (SSH)"

Step 3, Confirm that SSH is enabled

Step 4, in the host client interface, select "Navigator"->"Host"->"Actions"->"Services"->"Enable Console Shell"

Step 5, Confirm that Shell is enabled

Second, through the ESXi host's terminal console (DCUI) interface

Step 1, in the ESXi host Direct Console User Interface (DCUI), press the F2 key to enter the "System Customization" (System Customization) menu

Step 2, Enter the root account password as prompted, and press the Enter key to log in

Step 3, in the "System Customization" (System Customization) interface, select the "Troubleshooting Options" (Troubleshooting) option, and then press the "Enter"  key

Step 4, in the "Troubleshooting Options" (Troubleshooting) option, select "" (Enable ESXi Shell), and on the right side you can see "Enable ESXi Shell"(Enable ESXi Shell), on the right side you can see "ESXi Shell is Disabled" to confirm that the current Shell is disabled. Press "Enter" (Enter) to enable Shell

Step 5, on the right, it shows "ESXi Shell is Enabled", confirming that Shell has been enabled.

Step 6, select "Enable SSH" (Enable SSH), and press "Enter" (Enter) to enable SSH.

Step 7, on the right, it shows "SSH is Enabled", confirming that SSH has been enabled

Third. Through vCenter's vSphere Client

Step 1, Access the vCenter Server's management IP address (vSphere Client) and log in with your account and password as prompted.

Step 2, in the vSphere Client interface, select Host->Configuration->System->Services, find SSH and ESXi Shell, confirm the current status is stopped, then click Start 

Step 3, Confirm the status of ESXi Shell and SSH services is Running, and  confirm successful startup

 Log in to ESXi using SSH client software

Step 1, Open SSH client software (e.g., Putty), enter the ESXi host's domain name or IP address, then click "Open"

Note: The first login will pop up a certificate trust warning interface. Click Accept to trust the certificate.

Step 2, Enter the ESXi host's account and password to log in

Step 3, You can enter commands, for example: vmware -vl to view the current ESXi version

 
vmware -vl

More about VMware ESXi resources can be found here:

Security Best Practices

• Disable SSH when not in use.

• Use firewall rules to restrict access.

• Prefer vSphere CLI or PowerCLI for routine tasks.

• Regularly monitor /var/log/auth.log for suspicious login attempts.

How to Download Dell OEM ESXi from VMware – Step-by-Step Guide

Why Use Dell OEM ESXi?

When installing VMware ESXi on Dell PowerEdge servers, the standard ESXi ISO may not include all required drivers and firmware support. Dell OEM ESXi images are customized builds that include:

• Dell RAID/storage controller drivers

• Network interface drivers

• Dell iDRAC monitoring tools

• Hardware health monitoring integrations

Using the Dell-customized ESXi ISO ensures better compatibility, stability, and performance on Dell servers.

Steps to download Dell OEM VMware ESXI

1. Visit the Broadcom support homepage and log in: https://support.broadcom.com/

2. Click Products —> Software —> VMware Cloud Foundation —> My Downloads

3. On the My Downloads page, enter the keyword "vSphere" in the top right corner, then find VMware vSphere

4. On the VMware vSphere product page, select the vSphere version type, click the arrow on the right, then click the corresponding version

5. On the vSphere version download page, select Custom ISOs, then find the column starting with the OEM manufacturer's name (e.g., "Dell"), and click the arrow on the right

6. On the DELL OEM ESXi page, find the ESXi version you need

Note: The ISO version supports fresh boot installation, while the ZIP format is only for upgrades and does not support boot installation

Best Practices

• Always choose the latest Dell OEM ISO for security and driver updates.

• Check VMware’s Hardware Compatibility Guide (HCL) before installation.

• Keep iDRAC firmware updated for smooth integration.

• After installation, configure Dell OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter (OMIVV) for advanced monitoring.

Fix VMware ESXi Cannot Recognize Local Storage – Causes & Solutions

Basic Information: A Dell PowerEdge R640 server equipped with a PERC H330 RAID controller. It has two 240GB SSDs and one 1TB HDD connected. All three drives are set to Non-RAID mode on the RAID controller (meaning they are not configured in a RAID array). In the ESXi system, the customer created three independent datastores using these three drives, with the ESXi system itself installed on the 1TB HDD.

Problem Description: A customer recently powered down the server to add memory modules. After the memory upgrade was complete, the host booted up normally, and they logged into the ESXi client, but encountered a serious issue: all the virtual machines on this ESXi host had "disappeared." It could not recognize any datastores, and couldn't even see the disk devices.

Why ESXi Cannot Recognize Local Storage

Sometimes during VMware ESXi installation or upgrade, the host may fail to detect local disks (SATA, NVMe, RAID). This prevents admins from creating a local datastore for VMs.

Common causes:

• Unsupported storage controller (RAID/SATA/NVMe not on HCL).

• Driver missing in ESXi installation ISO.

• BIOS/UEFI settings misconfigured (AHCI/RAID mode).

• Disk partitions left from old OS installations.

• Corrupted or hidden datastore signatures.

Troubleshooting Analysis:

(1) Accessed iDRAC to check hardware status; there were no hardware error logs, and all drive statuses were normal.

(2) Checked the RAID controller driver installation status; the driver was already installed.

(3) Used the esxcli command line to check, but it also failed to recognize the RAID controller and disk devices.

 
[root@vmnote:~] esxcli storage core adapter list
HBA Name  Driver    Link State  UID                                   Capabilities         Description
--------  --------  ----------  ------------------------------------  -------------------  -----------
vmhba0    qedf      link-down   fc.2000f4e9d4ea7b34:2001f4e9d4ea7b34  Second Level Lun ID  (0000:19:00.4) QLogic Corp. QLogic FastLinQ QL41xxx Series 10/25 GbE Controller (FCoE)
vmhba2    vmw_ahci  link-n/a    sata.vmhba2                                                (0000:00:11.5) Intel Corporation Lewisburg SATA AHCI Controller
vmhba3    vmw_ahci  link-n/a    sata.vmhba3                                                (0000:00:17.0) Intel Corporation Lewisburg SATA AHCI Controller
[root@vmnote:~]
[root@vmnote:~] esxcli storage core device list
[root@vmnote:~]

(4) Checked the PCIe hardware recognized by ESXi and found the H330's passthrough status was "Active."

Solution:

Changed the H330's status from "Active" to "Disabled," and after rebooting the ESXi host, the problem was resolved.

Best Practices to Avoid ESXi Storage Issues

• Always use VMware-certified hardware for local disks.

• Keep firmware & drivers updated.

• Backup & wipe old partitions before ESXi install.

• For production, prefer shared storage (SAN/NAS) over local disks.

How to Solve ESXi 7.0 System Storage Full Issue – Free Up & Manage Space

The system storage partitioning of ESXi 7.0, among which the ESX-OSData partition occupies 120GB of storage space, which mainly serves as a unified location for storing other modules, not for booting and virtual machines. The /scratch partition, VMware Tools locker partition, and core dump target partition of old versions (versions before 7.0) are all integrated into the ESX-OS Data partition. The ESX-OSData partition reserves such a large space for future versions to add features.

Why Does ESXi 7.0 System Storage Fill Up?

When running VMware ESXi 7.0, administrators may face an error where the system storage or datastore becomes fully occupied. This issue can prevent new VMs from running, prevent snapshots from being created, or even affect host stability.

Common causes include:

• Old snapshots were not deleted properly.

• Large log files are consuming space in /var/log/.

• Core dump files are generated after host issues.

• ISO images left unused in the datastore.

• Misconfigured scratch partitions or temp files.

Use the df -h command to see that the current 7.0 version of ESX-OSData partition actually only uses 2.8 GB of storage space

After installing ESXi on my 150 GB test disk, the actual space available for virtual machines is only 22 GB. If your ESXi installation disk is less than 128 GB or does not have a VMFS partition, you will need an additional storage volume to create and run virtual machines.

If you have 10 TB of storage, you might think that 120 GB is nothing, just let it be. But if your Home Lab resources are already limited, and your 300 GB storage is directly occupied by half of the system's storage space, what resources do you have left for experiments? Is there any way to reduce the system footprint of ESXi?

The answer is certainly yes, there are two solutions, one officially supported and the other unofficially supported.

Officially supported solutions

In ESXi 7.0 Update 1c, the boot option systemMediaSize was added. This option allows you to customize the space used by the system storage during ESXi installation and better match the server's purpose and size. If this option is not used, the default system occupied space is 128GB. You can use the command systemMediaSize=min/small/max to set the ESXi system storage usage space. The detailed parameters are as follows:

• min (32 GB, for single disk or embedded server)

• small (64 GB, for servers with at least 512 GB RAM)

• default (128 GB)

• max (for multi-TB servers, using all available space)

In my test environment, I used 150 GB of storage without enabling the systemMediaSize option, and ESXi 7.0 was installed by default. The system occupied 128 GB, and the VMFS Datastore occupied 22 GB. The storage partition is shown in the figure below:

The detailed steps are as follows:

1. Mount the installation image to boot the host. When the ESXi installer window appears, press Shift+O (it's the English letter O, not the Arabic numeral 0) on the keyboard within 5 seconds to edit the boot options.

2. After pressing Shift+O, you don't need to worry about the default content that appears. Just press the spacebar, then enter systemMediaSize=min/small/max, for example,systemMediaSize=min. 

 
systemMediaSize=min

This will set the ESXi system storage usage to 32 GB. After setting, press Enter on the keyboard. The subsequent installation steps are the same as a normal ESXi installation.

3. After the installation is complete, check the ESXi storage partitions, as shown in the figure below:

Use the esxcli storage filesystem list command to view system storage partitions

 
esxcli storage filesystem list

Use df -h to view storage usage

Summary: When installing ESXi with a 150 GB storage disk, using the systemMediaSize=min command set the system occupancy to 32 GB, of which ESX-OSData only occupied 23.8 GB, freeing up about 100 GB of storage space compared to the previous 120 GB, and VMFS also reached 118 GB, significantly reducing the system's storage footprint.

 Unofficial Solutions

 The officially supported solution above can set the minimum system storage occupancy to 32 GB, but for some users, 32 GB is still too large. There is also an unofficial solution that can use the autoPartitionOSDataSize parameter to set the ESX-OSData partition size.

Disclaimer: This parameter may not be officially supported by VMware, as it deviates from official settings and may lead to other unexpected behaviors. Use at your own risk!!!

The detailed steps are as follows:

1. Mount the installation image to boot the host. When the ESXi installer window appears, press the Shift+O (that's the letter O, not the number 0) key combination within 5 seconds to edit the boot options.

2. After pressing Shift+O, ignore the default content that appears. Just press the spacebar, then enter autoPartitionOSDataSize=xxxx, for example, autoPartitionOSDataSize=8199 (unit is MB), which can set the storage usage of the ESX-OSData partition to 8GB. After setting, press Enter on the keyboard. The subsequent installation steps are the same as a normal ESXi installation.

3. After installation, check the ESXi storage partitions, as shown in the figure below:

Use the esxcli storage filesystem list command to view system storage partitions.

Use df -h to view storage usage.

Summary: Using a 150GB storage disk to install ESXi, the command "autoPartitionOSDataSize=8192" was used to set the ESX-OSData partition storage usage to 8GB. The entire ESXi system only occupies 16GB of storage space, leaving 134GB for VMFS storage, significantly reducing system storage consumption. Although this command doesn't specify a minimum value, by default, with no features enabled, the ESX-OSData partition actually occupies 2.8GB. Therefore, it's recommended not to set this value below 4096.

This article is only recommended for small Home Lab users. The default parameters have been modified, which may create some unknown risks. If used in a production environment, it may cause ESXi to malfunction. Please use with caution!

Best Practices to Prevent ESXi Storage Issues

• Regularly monitor datastore usage via vCenter alarms.

• Implement log rotation to prevent oversized logs.

• Avoid keeping long-term snapshots on production VMs.

• Periodically clean unused ISOs and temp files.

• Use dedicated storage monitoring scripts with PowerCLI.

The official documentation also provides some installation parameters. Here is the official link (https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?legacyId=77009)