Oracle File Open Wait Event

By Dean Richards on November 8, 2012


The file open wait event happens when the database needs to open a file. Wait time is recorded starting just prior to when the open request is issued and extends until the time the request is returned, having succeeded or failed, from the operating system.

How should I investigate the cause of file open waits?

When the wait is significantly impacting end user performance, you should investigate what is happening to cause this wait event. Generally you will see the file open wait event in trace files, or in the V$SESSION_WAIT and V$SYSTEM_WAIT views.

For the V$SYSTEM_WAIT view, a simple check to see if the TOTAL_WAITS and TIME_WAITED are high or are increasing will determine if there is a problem.

>SELECT event, total_waits, time_waited
 FROM v$system_event 
 WHERE event = 'file open';

If you find that there are excessive wait times for file open activity it is best to go straight to the V$SESSION_WAIT view. This will assist in pinpointing which process is experiencing the wait.

SELECT a.sid, c.pid, c.spid, a.username, b.event, b.wait_time, b.seconds_in_wait, b.p1, b.p2, b.p3
 FROM v$session a, v$session_wait b, v$process c
 WHERE a.sid = b.sid 
 AND a.paddr = c.addr 
 AND b.event = 'file open'

This is the typical method for looking at processes in wait. The only problem is that we would hope that the P values could be used to assist us in pointing to the file that is in the wait state. Instead P1 and P2 contains internal Oracle information that is held close to their chests and as such we really can’t use them for anything.

How to address file open wait events

This is one of those events you need to “catch in the act” through the V$SESSION_WAIT view as prescribed above. Then, since this is a disk operating system issue, take the associated system process identifier (c.spid) and see what information we can obtain from the operating system.

Typically the Unix truss command is used to determine the system level activity of a process.

The two most typical methods for calling the truss command are:

(hook to a process for read/write activity)
 truss -rall -wall -p <c.spid> 

 (hook to a process for everything)
 truss -p <c.spid>

There are different truss-like commands depending on your flavor of Unix and we have even seen an NT version called strace. The output of these commands will show, if caught in time, the file that it finally opens. You can then take this information and zero in on the disk subsystem the file resides on and then verify any tuning efforts or configuration changes.

Causes for excessive time for data file opens

While these are not all the causes, they tend to be some of the more common reasons Oracle has problems with the file open wait event.

  1. More data files in your database than the number of file descriptors allowed on your system. If this is the case then Oracle will need to cycle through the descriptors thus closing and opening files when needed.
  2. Hardware error may cause data files to be closed and then reopened when available.
  3. Excessive operating system disk activity outside Oracle increasing the time required to perform file opens. For example putting an Oracle data file on a disk that is used for logging might experience file open issues during high logging activity.
  4. Usage of remote data files or network attached storage where network latencies might be experienced.
  5. Improper hardware configuration, drivers, or patch levels not being maintained that do not allow for optimal communication with Oracle for file open requests. For example one type of controller may create a tablespace much faster than another.

Final thoughts

The file open wait event signals you to look elsewhere, outside the database, for performance issues in the database server. It often is an indication of faulty disk configuration, misuse of disk resources, or even potential failure of a disk sub-system. To properly address the issue you should look at the data files being accessed by Oracle. Then you can take proper action to replace, reconfigure or reroute disk activity.

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  1. […] File Open—This wait event happens when the database needs to open a file. Wait time is recorded starting just prior to when the open request is issued and extends until the time the request is returned, having succeeded or failed, from the operating system. […]

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