ORA-15077: Could Not Locate ASM Instance Serving the Database

ORA-15077: Could Not Locate ASM Instance Serving a Required Diskgroup

Error Overview

Error Text: ORA-15077: could not locate ASM instance serving a required diskgroup

ORA-15077 occurs when a database instance attempts to access an ASM diskgroup but cannot find a running ASM instance to handle the request. The error commonly appears at database startup, during file creation, or after ASM has been restarted/crashed.

Common Causes

ASM Instance Not Running

• ASM crashed or was shut down
• ASM failed to start during cluster boot
• Wrong ASM instance targeted
• ASM in NOMOUNT state (not yet ready for connections)

Listener and Registration Issues

• ASM not registered with local listener
• Database tried connecting before ASM registration completed
• Listener crashed or misconfigured
• LOCAL_LISTENER parameter wrong on ASM

Oracle Restart / Grid Infrastructure

• CRS not started
• ASM resource not configured to auto-start
• Dependency between database and ASM resource broken
• ASM disk group not mounted at startup

Network and Privilege Issues

• Wrong ORACLE_HOME for ASM connection
• Database user not in OSDBA/OSASM groups
• ASM password file missing or invalid

Diagnostic Steps

Check ASM Status

# Verify ASM is running
ps -ef | grep asm_pmon | grep -v grep

# Check via CRS
crsctl stat res ora.asm -t

# In Oracle Restart
srvctl status asm

# In RAC
srvctl status asm -node node1

Verify Listener Registration

# Check listener for ASM service
lsnrctl status

# Look for "+ASM" service in output
lsnrctl status LISTENER | grep -i asm

# Verify LOCAL_LISTENER on ASM instance
sqlplus / as sysasm
SQL> SHOW PARAMETER local_listener
SQL> SHOW PARAMETER remote_listener

Inspect ASM Alert Log

# Find ASM alert log
ADR_BASE=$(adrci -script "show base" 2>/dev/null | head -1)
find $ADR_BASE -name "alert_+ASM*.log" -mtime -1

# Check recent errors
tail -200 $ORACLE_BASE/diag/asm/+asm/+ASM1/trace/alert_+ASM1.log

Test Connectivity From Database

# Try connecting to ASM from DB host
. oraenv  # set DB env first
sqlplus sys@+ASM as sysasm

# Or via TNS
tnsping +ASM

Check CRS Resources

# All resources state
crsctl stat res -t

# ASM-specific
crsctl stat res ora.asm -p | grep -i auto_start

# Database dependency on ASM
srvctl config database -d PROD | grep -i diskgroup

Resolution Steps

1. Start ASM Instance

# Oracle Restart / single instance
srvctl start asm

# RAC - start on specific node
srvctl start asm -node node1

# Direct startup (last resort)
. oraenv  # Set ASM environment
sqlplus / as sysasm
SQL> STARTUP;

2. Mount Required Diskgroup

-- After ASM is up, mount diskgroups
sqlplus / as sysasm
SQL> ALTER DISKGROUP data MOUNT;
SQL> ALTER DISKGROUP fra MOUNT;

-- Or via srvctl
-- $ srvctl start diskgroup -diskgroup DATA

3. Fix Listener Registration

# Restart listener
srvctl stop listener -listener LISTENER
srvctl start listener -listener LISTENER

# Force ASM service registration
sqlplus / as sysasm
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM REGISTER;

# Verify
lsnrctl status | grep -i asm

4. Repair Oracle Restart Dependencies

# Recreate database resource with proper ASM dependency
srvctl modify database -d PROD -diskgroup "DATA,FRA"

# Set auto-start
crsctl modify resource ora.asm -attr "AUTO_START=always"

# Restart Oracle Restart
crsctl stop has
crsctl start has
crsctl check has

5. Validate OS Group Membership

# Check grid user groups
id grid
# Should include: oinstall, asmadmin, asmdba, asmoper

# Check oracle user groups
id oracle
# Should include: oinstall, dba, asmdba

# Add missing membership
usermod -a -G asmdba oracle

6. Recreate ASM Password File

# Locate existing password file
ls -la $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/orapw+ASM
ls -la /u01/app/19.0.0/grid/dbs/orapw+ASM

# Recreate
cd $ORACLE_HOME/dbs
orapwd file=orapw+ASM password=YourPwd entries=10 force=y

# In RAC, distribute or recreate on each node

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Database Won’t Start After Reboot

SQL> STARTUP;
ORA-01078: failure in processing system parameters
ORA-15077: could not locate ASM instance serving a required diskgroup

Fix: Check crsctl stat res ora.asm and start ASM via srvctl start asm.

Scenario 2: ASM Cluster Failure

ORA-15077: could not locate ASM instance serving a required diskgroup

Fix: All ASM instances down. Start CRS: crsctl start crs (root); for HAS: crsctl start has.

Scenario 3: After Patch Bundle

Database won't open. ASM running but diskgroup not visible.
ORA-15077: could not locate ASM instance serving a required diskgroup

Fix: Patch may have left ASM in restricted mode. Check SELECT instance_name, status FROM v$instance; on ASM, restart if needed.

Sample Output

SQL> STARTUP;
ORA-01078: failure in processing system parameters
ORA-15077: could not locate ASM instance serving a required diskgroup
ORA-15001: diskgroup "DATA" does not exist or is not mounted

[oracle@node1]$ srvctl status asm
ASM is not running.

[oracle@node1]$ srvctl start asm
ASM is started.

[oracle@node1]$ srvctl start diskgroup -diskgroup DATA
[oracle@node1]$ srvctl start diskgroup -diskgroup FRA

[oracle@node1]$ srvctl start database -d PROD

Prevention Strategies

Auto-Start Configuration

# Ensure ASM auto-starts
crsctl modify resource ora.asm -attr "AUTO_START=always"

# Verify database depends on diskgroups
srvctl modify database -d PROD -diskgroup "DATA,FRA"

# Check current state
srvctl config database -d PROD

Boot-Time Validation

/etc/cron.d/asm-health

#!/bin/bash
# Run 2 minutes after boot

if ! pgrep -f asm_pmon > /dev/null; then
    logger -t asm-health "ASM not running, attempting start"
    su - grid -c "srvctl start asm"
    sleep 10
    if ! pgrep -f asm_pmon > /dev/null; then
        echo "ASM failed to start at boot" | mail -s "ASM ALERT" [email protected]
    fi
fi

Monitoring Script

#!/bin/bash
# Continuous ASM availability check
while true; do
    if ! sqlplus -s / as sysasm <<< "SELECT 1 FROM dual;" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
        echo "$(date): ASM unreachable" >> /var/log/asm_monitor.log
    fi
    sleep 60
done

Documented Restart Procedure

1. Stop databases first: srvctl stop database -d PROD
2. Stop diskgroups: srvctl stop diskgroup -diskgroup DATA -force
3. Stop ASM: srvctl stop asm -force
4. Start ASM: srvctl start asm
5. Mount diskgroups: srvctl start diskgroup -diskgroup DATA
6. Start databases: srvctl start database -d PROD

Related Errors

• ORA-01078: Failure in processing system parameters
• ORA-15001: Diskgroup does not exist or is not mounted
• ORA-15032: Not all alterations performed
• ORA-15110: No diskgroups mounted
• ORA-29701: Unable to connect to Cluster Synchronization Service

Troubleshooting Checklist

• Verify ASM instance is running (ps -ef | grep asm_pmon)
• Check CRS state (crsctl stat res ora.asm)
• Confirm ASM is registered with listener
• Validate diskgroups are mounted on ASM
• Check Oracle Restart database/diskgroup dependencies
• Verify OS user group memberships
• Inspect ASM alert log for startup errors