CRS-4995: The command ‘Start resource’ is invalid in crsctl. Use srvctl for this command

When working with Oracle Grid Infrastructure, adding a second network resource is often required for redundancy or separation of workloads. However, behavior differences between versions 12.1.0.1 and 12.1.0.2 can cause confusion when trying to start the resource. This post walks through the scenario, cause, and solution.

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Adding the 2nd Network Resource

The second network resource can be added as root using the srvctl add network command:

# srvctl add network -netnum 2 -subnet 192.xxx.xxx.0/255.xxx.xxx.0/bond2 -nettype STATIC -verbose

At this stage, the resource is created successfully.

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Issue When Starting the Resource

In version 12.1.0.1 +, administrators could manually start the network resource using crsctl. However, in 12.1.0.2+, attempts to start the resource with crsctl fail:

[root@xxxx][+ASM1] $ crsctl start res ora.net2.network
CRS-4995: The command 'Start resource' is invalid in crsctl. Use srvctl for this command.

Similarly, using srvctl results in an error:

[root@xxxxx][+ASM1] # srvctl start network -netnum 2
PRKF-1085 : Command 'start' is not supported for object 'network'
PRKO-2002 : Invalid command line option: -netnum

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Cause

This is by design currently..

• The network resource is a dependent resource of the VIP (Virtual IP).
• Unlike 12.1.0.1, you cannot directly start a network resource in 12.1.0.2.
• The resource will be automatically started when the corresponding VIP is started.

An internal enhancement request (Bug 19805116) has been logged with Oracle to allow explicit srvctl start network commands in future versions.

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Solution

To properly start the second network resource in 12.1.0.2, you must add a VIP resource for that network and then start the VIP. The network will start automatically as a dependency.

Step 1: Add VIP Resource

# srvctl add vip -n <node_name> -k <network_number> -A <vip_name|ip>/<netmask>/[if1[|if2...]] [-v]

srvctl add vip -n prodvm1 -A 192.168.56.3/255.255.255.0 -k 2

[root@prodvm1 ~]# crsctl stat res -t
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME           TARGET  STATE        SERVER                   STATE_DETAILS       
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
..
.                                    
ora.net1.network
               ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm1                                     
               ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm2                                     
ora.net2.network
               ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm1                                     
               ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm2                                     
                                    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
..
.                                   
ora.db112a.db
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm1                 Open                
      2        ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm2                 Open                
ora.prodvm1_2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm1                                     
ora.prodvm1.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm1                                     
ora.prodvm2_2.vip
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       prodvm2                                     
ora.prodvm2.vip

Step 2: Start the VIP Resource

# srvctl start vip { -n <node_name> | -i <vip_name> }

 srvctl start vip -vip prodvm1_2
 srvctl start vip -vip prodvm2_2

Once the VIP resource is started, the associated network resource will also be started automatically.

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Conclusion

In Oracle Grid Infrastructure 12.1.0.2, network resources cannot be directly started via crsctl or srvctl. Instead, they must be managed through VIP resources, which act as their parent dependency. By adding and starting the appropriate VIP, the network resource comes online seamlessly.

This design change emphasizes Oracle’s resource dependency model and ensures cleaner management of networks within Oracle Clusterware.