Asm Health Checker Found 1 New Failures (2026)
The "ASM Health Checker found 1 new failures" message is an indicator that there might be issues affecting your ASM storage environment. Promptly investigating and resolving these issues can help maintain database performance and availability. Always refer to Oracle documentation and support resources for specific guidance tailored to your environment.
Troubleshooting Guide: ASM Health Checker Found 1 New Failure
If you are managing an Oracle database environment and receive the alert "ASM Health Checker found 1 new failure," it’s time to pay attention. While Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is robust, this specific notification indicates that the internal diagnostic framework has detected an issue that could potentially impact disk group availability or performance.
Here is a comprehensive breakdown of what this error means, how to diagnose it, and the steps to resolve it. 1. Understanding the ASM Health Checker (CHMA)
The ASM Health Checker is part of the Oracle Check Framework. It runs periodic checks on the ASM instance, disk groups, and metadata to ensure everything is operating within healthy parameters.
When it reports a "new failure," it means a specific "check" (such as disk connectivity, metadata consistency, or space usage) has moved from a PASS to a FAIL state. 2. Immediate Step: Identify the Failure
The alert itself is generic. To find out what actually failed, you need to query the ASM instance. Run this SQL command in your ASM instance:
SELECT check_name, failure_pri, status, repair_script FROM v$asm_healthcheck_status WHERE status = 'FAILED'; Use code with caution. Common culprits include:
Disk Offline: One or more disks in a disk group are no longer accessible.
Metadata Corruption: Inconsistencies in the ASM metadata (e.g., File Directory or Disk Directory).
Space Issues: A disk group is nearing 100% capacity, risking an instance crash.
Stale Quorum: Issues with voting files in a CRS/Grid Infrastructure environment. 3. Deep Dive into the Logs
To get the granular details, look at the ASM Alert Log. You can usually find this in your Oracle Base directory:$ORACLE_BASE/diag/asm/+asm/+asm1/trace/alert_+asm1.log
Search for the timestamp of the alert. You will often see a corresponding ORA- error code (like ORA-15078 or ORA-15032) that provides the exact technical reason for the health check failure. 4. How to Resolve the Failure Scenario A: Disk Connectivity Issues
If the health checker found a disk failure, check the OS-level connectivity. Command: lsdsk (within ASMCMD) or fdisk -l (Linux).
Fix: If a disk is "OFFLINE," try to online it using:ALTER DISKGROUP Scenario B: Metadata Inconsistency
If the health check indicates metadata issues, you may need to run a manual check on the disk group.
Action: Execute the CHECK command:ALTER DISKGROUP Note: This checks for consistency but does not fix errors. If errors are found, you may need to involve Oracle Support. Scenario C: Space Pressure
If the failure is related to "Insufficient Space," rebalance the disk group or add new disks immediately.
Action: Check free space:SELECT name, free_mb, total_mb, usable_file_mb FROM v$asm_diskgroup; 5. Clearing the Alert
Once you have fixed the underlying physical or logical issue, the Health Checker should automatically update during its next run. However, if the status remains "Failed" in the views, you can manually trigger a re-run of the health check or use ADRCI to purge the alert. Summary Checklist
Query v$asm_healthcheck_status to identify the specific check. Review the ASM Alert Log for specific ORA-error codes.
Verify Physical Disks at the OS level to ensure no hardware failure. asm health checker found 1 new failures
Check Disk Group Capacity to ensure you haven't hit a "disk full" state.
By catching these "1 new failures" early, you prevent minor disk hiccups from turning into major database outages.
The message " asm health checker found 1 new failures typically appears in environments using Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) when an automated health check tool (like Oracle ORAchk Oracle EXAchk
) identifies a configuration issue or a hardware fault that doesn't match the established "best practices" or previous healthy state What This Usually Means
When this alert is triggered, it indicates that a recent scan has detected a deviation in your ASM environment. Common causes for a single new failure include: Disk Path Issues
: A single disk path has become unavailable, even if the disk is still accessible via a redundant path. Disk Group Redundancy
: One of the disks in a "Normal Redundancy" disk group has failed, putting the group in a "degraded" state. Parameter Mismatches : An ASM instance parameter (like ASM_POWER_LIMIT
) has been changed and no longer aligns with recommended settings. Offline Disks
: A disk has been taken offline due to I/O errors but has not yet been dropped from the disk group. Oracle Forums Recommended Steps to Investigate Check the Health Check Report : The tool that generated this message (likely
) will have created an HTML report. Locate this report to see the specific and description of the failure. Verify ASM Disk Status utility to check the status of your disks and disk groups: asmcmd lsdsk -t asmcmd lsdg Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard Look for disks with a status of Inspect the ASM Alert Log
: Review the ASM alert log file (usually found in the ADR home) for specific ORA- errors or messages about disk evictions. Validate Path Visibility
: Ensure the OS can still see all physical devices associated with the ASM disks. Oracle Help Center For more detailed troubleshooting, you can refer to the Oracle Automatic Storage Management documentation or check for tool-specific errors on the Oracle Support portal ASMCMD commands to check for disk redundancy or rebalance status?
Connect to the ASM instance and run:
sqlplus / as sysasm
SET LINESIZE 200
COL failure_type FORMAT a30
COL detail FORMAT a60
SELECT failure_id, failure_type, check_name, time_detected, status, detail
FROM v$asm_health_check
WHERE status = 'FAIL'
ORDER BY time_detected DESC;
If only one new failure exists, this yields exactly one row with actionable details.
Any SAN, multipath, or OS upgrade should trigger a manual health check:
asmcmd checkset -g DATA
Some common causes for ASM Health Checker failures include:
Error example: Disk DATA_0001 is offline
Fix:
ALTER DISKGROUP DATA ONLINE DISK 'DATA_0001' POWER 3;
-- wait for rebalance to complete
SELECT * FROM v$asm_operation;
If the disk remains offline, drop it and add a replacement:
ALTER DISKGROUP DATA DROP DISK 'DATA_0001';
ALTER DISKGROUP DATA ADD DISK '/dev/mapper/asm_data_new' NAME 'DATA_0001';
In RAC, if the Cluster Synchronization Service (CSS) heartbeat is delayed, the ASM health checker may interpret this as an ASM instance failure.
Would you like me to extend this into:
An "ASM health checker found 1 new failures" message in Oracle (AHF/ORAchk) signals a logged incident in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR), often caused by disk connectivity issues, failed rebalances, or metadata corruption. Immediate investigation requires using ADRCI to identify the specific incident and checking V$ASM_DISK for failed or dropped disks. Detailed diagnostic procedures are available from Oracle Help Center at Oracle Help Center. The "ASM Health Checker found 1 new failures"
The alert " ASM Health Checker found 1 new failures " is a critical notification typically found in Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) alert logs. It indicates that the GMON (Group Monitor)
process has detected an issue—often a disk failure or a forced dismount—that requires immediate attention What This Alert Means
This message usually appears alongside other ORA- errors and signals that ASM has identified a problem with the storage layer. Common triggers include: Disk Failures
: A physical disk or a storage path (LUN) has become inaccessible. Forced Dismounts
: The diskgroup has been forced offline because it can no longer maintain its required redundancy (e.g., a disk failure in an EXTERNAL REDUNDANCY Metadata Corruption
: Corruption in the ASM metadata blocks, which can happen during intensive operations like rebalancing. Configuration Issues
: Problems during the addition of new disks or voting file refreshes. Immediate Troubleshooting Steps Check the ASM Alert Log : Locate the alert log for your ASM instance (often in /u01/app/oracle/diag/asm/.../trace/alert_+ASM.log
). Look for the ORA- errors immediately preceding the "1 new failures" message to identify the specific disk or group affected. Verify Disk Status
: Run the following query in your ASM instance to check for offline or missing disks: name, group_number, path, state, header_status v$asm_disk; Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard Investigate the Incident : Oracle’s Fault Diagnosability Infrastructure
often generates an incident report when this occurs. Use the tool to view the incident details: show incident show tracefile (for the specific process like +ASM_rbal_xxxx.trc Monitor Rebalance/Repair : If a disk is just offline and you have redundancy, check the REPAIR_TIME
to see how long you have to fix the issue before ASM automatically drops the disk. Oracle Forums When to Take Urgent Action External Redundancy
: If your diskgroup uses external redundancy and a disk fails, the group will likely dismount immediately, potentially crashing your database. Intermediate States
: If your Clusterware (Grid Infrastructure) resources show an INTERMEDIATE
state after this alert, the diskgroup may be partially available but failing to fully mount. trace file associated with this failure?
ASM Health Checker Found 1 New Failure: What It Means and How to Resolve It
If you're a database administrator or a system administrator working with Oracle databases, you're likely familiar with the Automatic Storage Management (ASM) system. ASM is a storage management system that provides a simple and efficient way to manage storage for Oracle databases. One of the tools used to monitor and maintain ASM is the ASM Health Checker, which periodically checks the health of the ASM infrastructure and reports any issues or failures.
Recently, you may have encountered an alert or message indicating that the "ASM health checker found 1 new failure." This message can be concerning, especially if you're not familiar with what it means or how to resolve it. In this article, we'll explore what this message means, the possible causes, and step-by-step instructions on how to resolve the issue.
What Does the ASM Health Checker Do?
The ASM Health Checker is a background process that periodically checks the health of the ASM infrastructure. It monitors various aspects of ASM, including:
The ASM Health Checker runs automatically and reports any issues or failures it detects. The checker runs at regular intervals, which can be configured using the ASM_CHECK_INTERVAL parameter.
What Does "ASM Health Checker Found 1 New Failure" Mean?
When the ASM Health Checker detects a new failure, it reports the issue and provides information about the failure. The message "ASM health checker found 1 new failure" indicates that the checker has detected a problem with the ASM infrastructure that requires attention. Connect to the ASM instance and run: sqlplus
The failure can be related to various aspects of ASM, such as:
Possible Causes of the Failure
There are several possible causes for the ASM Health Checker to report a new failure. Some common causes include:
How to Resolve the Issue
To resolve the issue, follow these step-by-step instructions:
ALTER SESSION SET CONTAINER = '+ASM';
BEGIN
DBMS ASMADM .check_health;
END;
/
This command will provide more detailed information about the failure.
SELECT * FROM V$ASM_DISKGROUP;
SELECT * FROM V$ASM_DISK;
SELECT * FROM V$ASM_INSTANCE;
Best Practices to Avoid Future Failures
To avoid future failures and ensure the health of your ASM infrastructure, follow these best practices:
By following these best practices and resolving the issue reported by the ASM Health Checker, you can ensure the health and performance of your ASM infrastructure and prevent future failures.
Subject: ASM Health Check Report – New Failures Detected
To: Database Administration Team / System Health Monitoring Group
Date: [Insert Date]
Priority: Medium
The asm health checker found 1 new failures alert is Oracle’s way of saying: "Something in your storage stack is not perfect." In most cases, it's a disk path issue or an offline disk that can be fixed with a few commands. However, ignoring even one failure invites gradual degradation.
By following the diagnostic steps, applying the appropriate fix, and implementing preventive measures like ASMFD and regular scrubbing, you can ensure that this alert remains a minor reminder—not a major incident.
Remember: A healthy ASM is the silent foundation of a robust Oracle database. Listen to its health checker, and your database will thank you with uptime.
Have you encountered an unusual "1 new failure" not covered here? Share your specific error message—solutions vary by Oracle version (11.2 to 23ai) and storage vendor.
The message "ASM Health Checker found 1 new failures" is a critical warning often found in Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) alert logs. It typically signals that the system has detected a significant issue—such as disk corruption or a communication breakdown—that could lead to a diskgroup being forcibly dismounted.
Here is a story of a "typical" Friday night in the life of a Database Administrator (DBA) facing this error. The Friday Night Ghost in the Machine
It was 4:45 PM on a Friday. The office was thinning out, and Leo was already thinking about his weekend plans when his terminal began to scroll with red text. The monitoring system had just spat out a single, chilling line: ASM Health Checker found 1 new failures
Leo’s heart sank. In the world of Oracle ASM, "1 new failure" is rarely just one thing; it's the tip of an iceberg.
The Investigation BeginsHe dove into the alert logs. Just seconds before the health checker tripped, he saw a flurry of ORA-15130 errors: diskgroup "DATA" is being dismounted. This was the DBA equivalent of a ship taking on water.
He checked the shared storage. "It's always the hardware," he muttered. But the storage arrays looked green. He then checked the ASM Filter Driver, remembering a bug involving 4k sector drives that had caused similar headaches for peers in the past. The DiscoveryLeo ran a quick check of the diskgroup status: Diskgroup: DATA Status: DISMOUNTED Cause: "Insufficient number of disks discovered".
It turned out a routine disk add operation from earlier that morning had gone sideways. A subtle corruption on metadata block 40 had been lying in wait. When the ASM rebalance operation hit that specific block, the Health Checker—a silent guardian that usually stays in the background—spotted the anomaly and pulled the emergency brake to prevent further data loss.
The ResolutionThe "1 new failure" wasn't a death sentence, but it required surgery. Leo had to: