Oracle backup and recovery user's guide
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This document provides a guide to backing up and recovering Oracle databases using Recovery Manager (RMAN) and user-managed techniques. It covers RMAN backup and recovery concepts, starting and configuring RMAN, making RMAN backups of datafiles, control files, archived redo logs and incremental backups. It also covers restoring and recovering databases using RMAN as well as features like Flashback Database and restore points.
![Showing the Default RMAN Configuration
Getting Started with RMAN 2-3
You can connect to a database with command-line options or by using the CONNECT
TARGET command. The following example starts RMAN and then connects to a target
database through Oracle Net, AS SYSDBA is not specified because it is implied.
RMAN prompts for a password.
% rman
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS@prod
target database Password: password
connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561)
The following variation starts RMAN and then connects to a target database by using
operating system authentication:
% rman
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET /
connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561)
To quit the RMAN client, enter EXIT at the RMAN prompt:
RMAN> EXIT
Syntax of Common RMAN Command-line Options
RMAN
[ TARGET connectStringSpec
| { CATALOG connectStringSpec }
| LOG ['] filename ['] [ APPEND ]
.
.
.
]...
connectStringSpec::=
['] [userid] [/ [password]] [@net_service_name] [']
The following example appends the output from an RMAN session to a text file at
/tmp/msglog.log
% rman TARGET / LOG /tmp/msglog.log APPEND
Showing the Default RMAN Configuration
The RMAN backup and recovery environment is preconfigured for each target
database. The configuration is persistent and applies to all subsequent operations on
this target database, even if you exit and restart RMAN.
RMAN configured settings can specify backup devices, configure a connection to a
backup device (known as a channel), policies affecting backup strategy, and others.
The default configuration is adequate for most purposes.
To show the current configuration for a database:
1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database.
2. Run the SHOW ALL command.
See Also: Chapter 4, "Starting and Interacting with the
RMAN Client," to learn more about starting and using the RMAN
client](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/oraclebackupandrecoveryusersguide-150318213250-conversion-gate01/85/Oracle-backup-and-recovery-user-s-guide-39-320.jpg)
![Entering RMAN Commands
Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-5
FORMAT '/disk2/bck/&1%U.bck'
KEEP FOREVER
RESTORE POINT &3;
}
EXIT;
2. Create a shell script that you can use to run the RMAN command file created in
the previous step.
The following example creates a shell script named runbackup.sh. The example
creates shell variables for the format and restore point name and accepts the
values for these variables as command-line arguments to the script.
#!/bin/tcsh
# name: runbackup.sh
# usage: use the tag name and number of copies as arguments
set media_family = $argv[1]
set format = $argv[2]
set restore_point = $argv[3]
rman @'/disk1/scripts/whole_db.cmd' USING $media_family $format $restore_point
3. Execute the shell script created in the previous step, specifying the desired
arguments on the command line.
The following example runs the runbackup.sh shell script and passes it
archival_backup as the media family name, bck0906 as the format string, and
FY06Q3 as the restore point name.
% runbackup.sh archival_backup bck0906 FY06Q3
Checking RMAN Syntax
You may want to test RMAN commands for syntactic correctness without executing
them. Use the command-line argument CHECKSYNTAX to start the RMAN client in a
mode in which it only parses the commands that you enter and returns an
RMAN-00558 error for commands that are not legal RMAN syntax.
Checking RMAN Syntax at the Command Line
You can check the syntax of RMAN commands interactively without actually
executing the commands.
To check RMAN syntax at the command line:
1. Start RMAN with the CHECKSYNTAX parameter.
For example, enter the following commands:
% rman CHECKSYNTAX
2. Enter the RMAN commands to be tested.
The following shows a sample interactive session, with user-entered text in bold.
RMAN> run [ backup database; ]
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for @
syntax
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn
about the CHECKSYNTAX command-line option](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/oraclebackupandrecoveryusersguide-150318213250-conversion-gate01/85/Oracle-backup-and-recovery-user-s-guide-71-320.jpg)
![Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager
5-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt
PARMS 'SBT_LIBRARY=pathname';
When RMAN allocates channels to communicate with a media manager, it attempts to
load the library indicated by the SBT_LIBRARY parameter.
If you do not provide a value for the SBT_LIBRARY parameter in an allocated or
preconfigured channel, then RMAN looks in a platform-specific and secured default
location.
On Linux and UNIX, the SBT library is loaded from:
/opt/oracle/extapi/[32,64]/{SBT}/{VENDOR}/{VERSION}/libobk.so
The SBT library file name extension name varies according to platform:
■ .so, .sl on HP-UX,
■ .a on AIX,
On Windows, the SBT library is loaded from:
%SYSTEM_DRIVE%oracleextapi[32,64]{SBT}{VENDOR}{VERSION}orasbt.dll
If RMAN cannot use the secured default location or if you are using Oracle Database
11g or earlier, RMAN loads the SBT library from the location designated by the
environment variables PATH or LIBPATH.
In some cases, your organization may have security or regulatory compliance
requirements that prohibit the use of environment variables PATH or LIBPATH to
designate a library directory. To disable this behavior, set the PARMS string to
SBT_SECURE=1.
Configuring Media Management Software for RMAN Backups
After installing the media management software, perform whatever configuration that
your vendor requires so that the software can accept RMAN backups. Depending on
the type of media management software that you installed, you may have to define
media pools, configure users and classes, and so on.
Consult your media management vendor documentation for the appropriate RMAN
settings. The PARMS parameter sends instructions to the media manager. If PARMS
values are needed for the ALLOCATE CHANNEL or the CONFIGURE CHANNEL
command, or if a FORMAT string is recommended for the BACKUP or CONFIGURE
command, then refer to the vendor documentation for this information.
Example 5–6 shows a PARMS setting for Oracle Secure Backup. This PARMS settings
instructs the media manager to back up to a family of tapes called datafile_mf. The
PARMS settings are always vendor-specific.
Note: The default media management library file is not part of the
standard database installation. It is present only if you install
third-party media management software.
See Also: Your operating system-specific database documentation
and the documentation supplied by your media vendor for
instructions on how to achieve media manager integration on your
platform](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/oraclebackupandrecoveryusersguide-150318213250-conversion-gate01/85/Oracle-backup-and-recovery-user-s-guide-90-320.jpg)
![Enabling Lost Write Detection
6-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
Enabling Lost Write Detection
A data block lost write occurs when an I/O subsystem acknowledges the completion
of the block write, but the write did not occur in the persistent storage. On a
subsequent block read, the I/O subsystem returns the stale version of the data block,
which might be used to update other blocks of the database, thereby corrupting it.
You can set the DB_LOST_WRITE_PROTECT initialization parameter to TYPICAL or
FULL so that a database records buffer cache block reads in the redo log. The default
setting is NONE. When the parameter is set to TYPICAL, the instance logs buffer cache
reads for read/write tablespaces in the redo log, but not read-only tablespaces. When
set to FULL, the instance also records reads for read-only tablespaces. The performance
overhead for TYPICAL mode is approximately 5 to 10% and potentially higher for
FULL mode.
Lost write detection is most effective when used with Data Guard. In this case, you set
DB_LOST_WRITE_PROTECT in both primary and standby databases. When a standby
database applies redo during managed recovery, it reads the corresponding blocks and
compares the SCNs with the SCNs in the redo log. If the block SCN on the primary
database is lower than on the standby database, then it detects a lost write on the
primary database and throws an external error (ORA-752). If the SCN is higher, it
detects a lost write on the standby database and throws an internal error (ORA-600
[3020]). In either case, the standby database writes the reason for the failure in the
alert log and trace file.
To repair a lost write on a primary database, you must initiate failover to the standby
database. To repair a lost write on a standby database, you must re-create the entire
standby database or restore a backup of only the affected files.
Enabling lost write detection is also useful when you are not using Data Guard. In this
case, you can encounter a lost write in two ways: during normal database operation or
during media recovery. In the first case, there is no direct way to detect the error.
Indirect symptoms such as inconsistent tables cannot be unambiguously traced to the
lost write. If you retained a backup made before the suspected lost write, however, then
you can restore this backup to an alternative location and recover it. To diagnose the
problem, recover the database or tablespace to the SCN of the stale block read, which
then generates the lost write error (ORA-752).
If a lost write error is encountered during media recovery, the only response is to open
the database with the RESETLOGS option. The database is in a consistent state, but all
data after the RESETLOGS SCN is lost. If you recover a backup made after database
creation, you have no guarantee that other stale blocks have not corrupted the
database. This possibility exists because the restored backup may have been made
after an earlier lost write. To guarantee that no lost writes have corrupted the database,
you must perform media recovery from database creation, which is not a practical
strategy for most database environments.
See Also: Your platform-specific Oracle documentation and your
Oracle Database Net Services Reference for a complete description of
Oracle Net connect string syntax
See Also:
■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to use
a standby database for lost write detection and repair
■ Oracle Database Reference to learn about the DB_LOST_WRITE_
PROTECT initialization parameter](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/oraclebackupandrecoveryusersguide-150318213250-conversion-gate01/85/Oracle-backup-and-recovery-user-s-guide-124-320.jpg)
![Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs
12-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
Overview of RMAN Deletion
Every RMAN backup produces a corresponding record in the RMAN repository. This
record is stored in the control file. If a recovery catalog is used, then the record can also
be found in the recovery catalog after the recovery catalog is resynchronized from the
control file. For example, if you generate a full database backup set, then you can view
the record for this backup set in V$BACKUP_SET. If you use a recovery catalog, then
you can also access the record in the RC_BACKUP_SET catalog view.
The V$ control file views and recovery catalog views differ in the way that they store
information, and this affects how RMAN handles repository records. The recovery
catalog RMAN repository is stored in actual database tables, while the control file
version of the repository is stored in an internal structure in the control file.
When you use an RMAN command to delete a backup or archived redo log file,
RMAN does the following:
■ Removes the physical file from the operating system (if the file is still present)
■ Updates the file records in the control file to status DELETED
■ Removes the file records from the recovery catalog tables (if RMAN is connected
to a recovery catalog)
Because of the way that control file data is stored, RMAN cannot remove the record
from the control file, only update it to DELETED status. Because the recovery catalog
tables are ordinary database tables, however, RMAN deletes rows from them in the
same way that rows are deleted from any table.
RMAN Deletion Commands
Table 12–1 describes the RMAN commands that can delete backups.
Table 12–1 RMAN Deletion Commands
Command Purpose
DELETE To delete backups, update the control file records to status DELETED, and remove their
records from the recovery catalog (if a recovery catalog is used).
You can specify that DELETE should remove backups that are EXPIRED or OBSOLETE. If
you run DELETE EXPIRED on a backup that exists, then RMAN issues a warning and
does not delete the backup. If you use the DELETE command with the optional FORCE
keyword, then RMAN deletes the specified backups, but ignores any I/O errors,
including those that occur when a backup is missing from disk or tape. It then updates
the RMAN repository to reflect the fact that the backup is deleted, regardless of whether
RMAN was able to delete the file or whether the file was missing.
RMAN uses all configured channels to perform the deletion. If you use DELETE for files
on devices that are not configured for automatic channels, then you must first use
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE command. For example, if you made a
backup with the SBT channel, but only a disk channel is configured, then you must
manually allocate an SBT channel for DELETE. An automatic or manually allocated
maintenance channel is required when you use DELETE command on a disk-only file.
BACKUP ... DELETE
[ALL] INPUT
To back up archived logs, data file copies, or backup sets, then delete the input files from
the operating system after the successful completion of the backup. RMAN also deletes
and updates repository records for the deleted input files.
If you specify DELETE INPUT (without ALL), then RMAN deletes only the specific files
that it backs up. If you specify ALL INPUT, then RMAN deletes all copies of the files
recorded in the RMAN repository.
CHANGE ...
UNCATALOG
To delete recovery catalog records for specified backups and change their control file
records to status DELETED. The CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command only changes the
RMAN repository record of backups, and does not actually delete backups.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/oraclebackupandrecoveryusersguide-150318213250-conversion-gate01/85/Oracle-backup-and-recovery-user-s-guide-246-320.jpg)
![Testing the Media Management API
Troubleshooting RMAN Operations 23-11
The rows that contain the string rman channel show the channel performing the
backup. The remaining rows are for the connections to the target database.
Testing the Media Management API
On some platforms, Oracle provides a diagnostic tool called sbttest. This utility
performs a simple test of the media management software by acting as the Oracle
database server and attempting to communicate with the media manager.
Obtaining the sbttest Utility
On UNIX, the sbttest utility is typically located in $ORACLE_HOME/bin. If for some
reason the utility is not included with your platform, then contact Oracle Support
Services to obtain the C version of the program. You can compile this version of the
program on all UNIX platforms.
On platforms such as Solaris, you do not have to relink when using sbttest. On
other platforms, relinking may be necessary.
Obtaining Online Documentation for the sbttest Utility
For online documentation of sbttest, issue the following on the command line:
% sbttest
The program displays the list of possible arguments for the program:
Error: backup file name must be specified
Usage: sbttest backup_file_name # this is the only required parameter
<-dbname database_name>
<-trace trace_file_name>
<-remove_before>
<-no_remove_after>
<-read_only>
<-no_regular_backup_restore>
<-no_proxy_backup>
<-no_proxy_restore>
<-file_type n>
<-copy_number n>
<-media_pool n>
<-os_res_size n>
<-pl_res_size n>
<-block_size block_size>
<-block_count block_count>
<-proxy_file os_file_name bk_file_name
[os_res_size pl_res_size block_size block_count]>
<-libname sbt_library_name>
The display also indicates the meaning of each argument. For example, following is
the description for two optional parameters:
Optional parameters:
-dbname specifies the database name which will be used by SBT
to identify the backup file. The default is "sbtdb"
-trace specifies the name of a file where the Media Management
software will write diagnostic messages.
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SET
COMMAND ID syntax, and Oracle Database Reference for more
information about V$SESSION and V$PROCESS](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/oraclebackupandrecoveryusersguide-150318213250-conversion-gate01/85/Oracle-backup-and-recovery-user-s-guide-437-320.jpg)
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Oracle backup and recovery user's guide
- 1. Oracle® Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2) E10642-06 July 2013 A guide to backup and recovery of Oracle databases, including RMAN backup and recovery, RMAN data transfer, Oracle Flashback Technology, and user-managed backup and recovery
- 2. Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide, 11g Release 2 (11.2) E10642-06 Copyright © 2003, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Primary Author: Lance Ashdown Contributors: Katherine Weill, Tammy Bednar, Anand Beldalker, Timothy Chien, Mark Dilman, Raymond Guzman, Stephan Haisley, Wei Hu, Alex Hwang, Ashok Joshi, Vasudha Krishnaswamy, J. William Lee Valarie Moore, Muthu Olagappan, Vsevolod Panteleenko, Francisco Sanchez, Vinay Srihari, Margaret Susairaj, Mike Stewart, Steven Wertheimer, Wanli Yang, Rob Zijlstra This software and related documentation are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted in your license agreement or allowed by law, you may not use, copy, reproduce, translate, broadcast, modify, license, transmit, distribute, exhibit, perform, publish, or display any part, in any form, or by any means. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of this software, unless required by law for interoperability, is prohibited. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice and is not warranted to be error-free. If you find any errors, please report them to us in writing. If this is software or related documentation that is delivered to the U.S. Government or anyone licensing it on behalf of the U.S. Government, the following notice is applicable: U.S. GOVERNMENT END USERS: Oracle programs, including any operating system, integrated software, any programs installed on the hardware, and/or documentation, delivered to U.S. Government end users are "commercial computer software" pursuant to the applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation and agency-specific supplemental regulations. As such, use, duplication, disclosure, modification, and adaptation of the programs, including any operating system, integrated software, any programs installed on the hardware, and/or documentation, shall be subject to license terms and license restrictions applicable to the programs. No other rights are granted to the U.S. Government. This software or hardware is developed for general use in a variety of information management applications. It is not developed or intended for use in any inherently dangerous applications, including applications that may create a risk of personal injury. If you use this software or hardware in dangerous applications, then you shall be responsible to take all appropriate fail-safe, backup, redundancy, and other measures to ensure its safe use. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates disclaim any liability for any damages caused by use of this software or hardware in dangerous applications. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Intel and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. AMD, Opteron, the AMD logo, and the AMD Opteron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. This software or hardware and documentation may provide access to or information on content, products, and services from third parties. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates are not responsible for and expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind with respect to third-party content, products, and services. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates will not be responsible for any loss, costs, or damages incurred due to your access to or use of third-party content, products, or services.
- 3. iii Contents Preface............................................................................................................................................................... xix What's New in Backup and Recovery?.......................................................................................... xxi Part I Overview of Backup and Recovery 1 Introduction to Backup and Recovery Purpose of Backup and Recovery.......................................................................................................... 1-1 Data Protection ................................................................................................................................... 1-2 Data Preservation............................................................................................................................... 1-3 Data Transfer ...................................................................................................................................... 1-3 Oracle Backup and Recovery Solutions............................................................................................... 1-3 Oracle Flashback Technology ................................................................................................................ 1-5 Logical Flashback Features............................................................................................................... 1-5 Flashback Database............................................................................................................................ 1-7 Data Recovery Advisor............................................................................................................................ 1-7 Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap .............................................................................. 1-8 Recovery Manager Documentation Roadmap............................................................................ 1-10 User-Managed Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap........................................... 1-10 2 Getting Started with RMAN Overview of the RMAN Environment................................................................................................. 2-1 Starting RMAN and Connecting to a Database ................................................................................. 2-2 Showing the Default RMAN Configuration ...................................................................................... 2-3 Backing Up a Database............................................................................................................................ 2-4 Backing Up a Database in ARCHIVELOG Mode.......................................................................... 2-4 Backing Up a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode ................................................................... 2-5 Typical Backup Options.................................................................................................................... 2-5 Making Incremental Backups........................................................................................................... 2-6 Validating Database Files and Backups.......................................................................................... 2-7 Scripting RMAN Operations............................................................................................................ 2-8 Reporting on RMAN Operations.......................................................................................................... 2-9 Listing Backups .................................................................................................................................. 2-9 Reporting on Database Files and Backups .................................................................................. 2-10 Maintaining RMAN Backups ............................................................................................................. 2-10
- 4. iv Cross-checking Backups................................................................................................................. 2-10 Deleting Obsolete Backups............................................................................................................ 2-11 Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor.............................................. 2-11 Listing Failures and Determining Repair Options..................................................................... 2-11 Repairing Failures........................................................................................................................... 2-13 Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database........................................................................... 2-13 Restoring and Recovering Database Files........................................................................................ 2-14 Preparing to Restore and Recover Database Files...................................................................... 2-14 Recovering the Whole Database ................................................................................................... 2-15 Recovering Tablespaces ................................................................................................................. 2-15 Recovering Individual Data Blocks.............................................................................................. 2-16 Part II Starting and Configuring RMAN and Flashback Database 3 Recovery Manager Architecture About the RMAN Environment ............................................................................................................ 3-1 RMAN Command-Line Client............................................................................................................... 3-3 RMAN Channels ...................................................................................................................................... 3-3 Channels and Devices ....................................................................................................................... 3-4 Automatic and Manual Channels.................................................................................................... 3-4 RMAN Repository.................................................................................................................................... 3-5 Media Management ................................................................................................................................. 3-6 RMAN Interaction with a Media Manager .................................................................................... 3-6 Oracle Secure Backup ........................................................................................................................ 3-6 Backup Solutions Program ............................................................................................................... 3-7 Fast Recovery Area................................................................................................................................... 3-7 RMAN in a Data Guard Environment ................................................................................................. 3-7 RMAN Configuration in a Data Guard Environment.................................................................. 3-7 RMAN File Management in a Data Guard Environment ............................................................ 3-8 4 Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client Starting and Exiting RMAN................................................................................................................... 4-1 Specifying the Location of RMAN Output ......................................................................................... 4-2 Setting Globalization Support Environment Variables for RMAN............................................... 4-2 Entering RMAN Commands.................................................................................................................. 4-2 Entering RMAN Commands at the RMAN Prompt..................................................................... 4-3 Using Command Files with RMAN ................................................................................................ 4-3 Entering Comments in RMAN Command Files............................................................................ 4-4 Using Substitution Variables in Command Files .......................................................................... 4-4 Checking RMAN Syntax................................................................................................................... 4-5 Making Database Connections with RMAN...................................................................................... 4-7 About RMAN Database Connections ............................................................................................. 4-7 Making RMAN Database Connections from the Operating System Command Line............. 4-9 Making Database Connections from the RMAN Prompt ......................................................... 4-10 Connecting RMAN to an Auxiliary Database ............................................................................ 4-11 Making RMAN Database Connections Within Command Files ............................................. 4-11
- 5. v Diagnosing RMAN Connection Problems .................................................................................. 4-12 Using the RMAN Pipe Interface ........................................................................................................ 4-12 Executing Multiple RMAN Commands in Succession Through a Pipe: Example................ 4-13 Executing RMAN Commands in a Single Job Through a Pipe: Example............................... 4-14 5 Configuring the RMAN Environment Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups .......................................................................... 5-1 Showing and Clearing Persistent RMAN Configurations........................................................... 5-2 Configuring the Default Device for Backups: Disk or SBT.......................................................... 5-3 Configuring the Default Type for Backups: Backup Sets or Copies........................................... 5-4 Configuring Channels ....................................................................................................................... 5-4 Configuring Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups ........................................... 5-7 Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager........................................................... 5-9 Prerequisites for Using a Media Manager with RMAN............................................................... 5-9 Determining the Location of the Media Management Library ................................................... 5-9 Configuring Media Management Software for RMAN Backups............................................. 5-10 Testing Whether the Media Manager Library Is Integrated Correctly ................................... 5-11 Configuring SBT Channels for Use with a Media Manager ..................................................... 5-13 Configuring the Fast Recovery Area.................................................................................................. 5-14 Overview of the Fast Recovery Area............................................................................................ 5-15 Enabling the Fast Recovery Area.................................................................................................. 5-17 Disabling the Fast Recovery Area................................................................................................. 5-21 Configuring Locations for Control Files and Redo Logs .......................................................... 5-21 Configuring RMAN File Creation in the Fast Recovery Area.................................................. 5-23 Configuring the Backup Retention Policy ....................................................................................... 5-23 Configuring a Redundancy-Based Retention Policy ................................................................. 5-23 Configuring a Recovery Window-Based Retention Policy....................................................... 5-24 Disabling the Retention Policy...................................................................................................... 5-24 Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command................................................................ 5-25 Overview of Backup Optimization............................................................................................... 5-25 Effect of Retention Policies on Backup Optimization for SBT Backups.................................. 5-26 Configuring Backup Optimization............................................................................................... 5-28 Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy..................................................................... 5-28 About Archived Redo Log Deletion Policies .............................................................................. 5-28 Enabling an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy....................................................................... 5-29 Configuring RMAN in a Data Guard Environment....................................................................... 5-30 6 Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics Configuring Advanced Channel Options ........................................................................................... 6-1 About Channel Control Options...................................................................................................... 6-1 Configuring Specific Channel Parameters ..................................................................................... 6-2 Configuring Advanced Backup Options ............................................................................................. 6-3 Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Sets............................................................................ 6-4 Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Pieces........................................................................ 6-4 Configuring Backup Duplexing....................................................................................................... 6-5 Configuring Tablespaces for Exclusion from Whole Database Backups................................... 6-6
- 6. vi Configuring Compression Options ................................................................................................. 6-6 Configuring Backup Encryption...................................................................................................... 6-8 Configuring Auxiliary Instance Data File Names .......................................................................... 6-11 Configuring the Snapshot Control File Location............................................................................ 6-12 Viewing the Configured Location of the Snapshot Control File.............................................. 6-12 Setting the Location of the Snapshot Control File...................................................................... 6-12 Configuring RMAN for Use with a Shared Server......................................................................... 6-12 Enabling Lost Write Detection............................................................................................................ 6-14 7 Using Flashback Database and Restore Points Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points............... 7-1 Flashback Database............................................................................................................................ 7-2 Flashback Database Window ........................................................................................................... 7-2 Limitations of Flashback Database.................................................................................................. 7-3 Normal Restore Points....................................................................................................................... 7-4 Guaranteed Restore Points ............................................................................................................... 7-4 Logging for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points ................................................. 7-5 Guaranteed Restore Points and Fast Recovery Area Space Usage ............................................ 7-5 Logging for Guaranteed Restore Points with Flashback Logging Disabled ............................. 7-6 Logging for Flashback Database with Guaranteed Restore Points Defined ............................. 7-7 Prerequisites for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points ........................................ 7-7 Using Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points .................................................................................. 7-8 Creating Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points ........................................................................ 7-8 Listing Restore Points........................................................................................................................ 7-8 Dropping Restore Points................................................................................................................... 7-9 Using Flashback Database................................................................................................................... 7-10 Enabling Flashback Database........................................................................................................ 7-10 Disabling Flashback Database Logging....................................................................................... 7-10 Configuring the Environment for Optimal Flashback Database Performance...................... 7-11 Monitoring the Effect of Flashback Database on Performance ................................................ 7-11 Flashback Writer (RVWR) Behavior with I/O Errors ............................................................... 7-12 Part III Backing Up and Archiving Data 8 RMAN Backup Concepts Consistent and Inconsistent RMAN Backups .................................................................................... 8-1 Consistent Backups............................................................................................................................ 8-1 Inconsistent Backups ......................................................................................................................... 8-2 Online Backups and Backup Mode...................................................................................................... 8-2 Backup Sets................................................................................................................................................ 8-3 Backup Sets and Backup Pieces ....................................................................................................... 8-3 Block Compression for Backup Sets................................................................................................ 8-4 Binary Compression for Backup Sets.............................................................................................. 8-4 Backup Undo ...................................................................................................................................... 8-5 Encryption for Backup Sets............................................................................................................... 8-5 Filenames for Backup Pieces ............................................................................................................ 8-5
- 7. vii Number and Size of Backup Pieces................................................................................................. 8-6 Number and Size of Backup Sets..................................................................................................... 8-6 Multiplexed Backup Sets................................................................................................................... 8-7 Proxy Copies....................................................................................................................................... 8-8 Image Copies............................................................................................................................................. 8-9 RMAN-Created Image Copies ......................................................................................................... 8-9 User-Managed Image Copies ........................................................................................................ 8-10 Multiple Copies of RMAN Backups ................................................................................................. 8-10 Duplexed Backup Sets.................................................................................................................... 8-11 Backups of Backups ........................................................................................................................ 8-11 Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups.................................................................... 8-12 When RMAN Performs Control File Autobackups ................................................................... 8-12 How RMAN Performs Control File Autobackups..................................................................... 8-13 Incremental Backups ............................................................................................................................ 8-13 Multilevel Incremental Backups ................................................................................................... 8-14 Block Change Tracking .................................................................................................................. 8-16 Incremental Backup Algorithm..................................................................................................... 8-16 Recovery with Incremental Backups............................................................................................ 8-17 Backup Retention Policies................................................................................................................... 8-17 Recovery Window........................................................................................................................... 8-18 Backup Redundancy....................................................................................................................... 8-20 Batch Deletes of Obsolete Backups............................................................................................... 8-20 Backup Retention Policy and Fast Recovery Area Deletion Rules .......................................... 8-21 9 Backing Up the Database Overview of RMAN Backups ................................................................................................................ 9-1 Purpose of RMAN Backups.............................................................................................................. 9-1 Basic Concepts of RMAN Backups.................................................................................................. 9-1 Specifying Backup Output Options ..................................................................................................... 9-2 Specifying the Device Type for an RMAN Backup....................................................................... 9-2 Specifying Backup Set or Copy for an RMAN Backup to Disk................................................... 9-3 Specifying a Format for RMAN Backups ....................................................................................... 9-3 Specifying Tags for an RMAN Backup ........................................................................................... 9-4 Making Compressed Backups.......................................................................................................... 9-6 Backing Up Database Files with RMAN ............................................................................................. 9-6 Backing Up a Whole Database with RMAN .................................................................................. 9-7 Backing Up Tablespaces and Datafiles with RMAN .................................................................... 9-7 Backing Up Control Files with RMAN ........................................................................................... 9-8 Backing Up Server Parameter Files with RMAN .......................................................................... 9-9 Backing Up a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode ................................................................ 9-10 Backing Up Archived Redo Logs with RMAN................................................................................ 9-10 About Backups of Archived Redo Logs....................................................................................... 9-10 Backing Up Archived Redo Log Files .......................................................................................... 9-12 Backing Up Only Archived Redo Logs That Need Backups .................................................... 9-12 Deleting Archived Redo Logs After Backups............................................................................. 9-13 Making and Updating Incremental Backups................................................................................... 9-14 Purpose of Incremental Backups .................................................................................................. 9-14
- 8. viii Planning an Incremental Backup Strategy .................................................................................. 9-15 Making Incremental Backups........................................................................................................ 9-15 Incrementally Updating Backups ................................................................................................. 9-16 Using Block Change Tracking to Improve Incremental Backup Performance ...................... 9-20 Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage........................................................................ 9-23 Purpose of Archival Backups ........................................................................................................ 9-23 Basic Concepts of Archival Backups ............................................................................................ 9-23 Making an Archival Backup for Long-Term Storage................................................................. 9-24 Making a Temporary Archival Backup ....................................................................................... 9-25 Backing Up RMAN Backups............................................................................................................... 9-26 About Backups of Backups............................................................................................................ 9-26 Backing Up Backup Sets with RMAN.......................................................................................... 9-28 Backing Up Image Copy Backups with RMAN ......................................................................... 9-29 10 Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics Limiting the Size of RMAN Backup Sets......................................................................................... 10-1 About Backup Set Size.................................................................................................................... 10-1 Limiting the Size of Backup Sets with BACKUP ... MAXSETSIZE.......................................... 10-2 Dividing the Backup of a Large Data File into Sections............................................................ 10-2 Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files........................................................................................ 10-3 Optimizing a Daily Archived Log Backup to a Single Tape: Scenario.................................... 10-4 Optimizing a Daily Archived Log Backup to Multiple Media Families: Scenario................ 10-4 Creating a Weekly Secondary Backup of Archived Logs: Example........................................ 10-5 Skipping Offline, Read-Only, and Inaccessible Files.................................................................... 10-6 Duplexing Backup Sets........................................................................................................................ 10-6 Duplexing Backup Sets with CONFIGURE BACKUP COPIES ............................................... 10-7 Duplexing Backup Sets with BACKUP ... COPIES .................................................................... 10-8 Making Split Mirror Backups with RMAN..................................................................................... 10-8 Encrypting RMAN Backups.............................................................................................................. 10-10 About RMAN Backup Encryption Settings............................................................................... 10-10 Making Transparent-Mode Encrypted Backups ...................................................................... 10-11 Making Password-Mode Encrypted Backups........................................................................... 10-11 Making Dual-Mode Encrypted Backups ................................................................................... 10-12 Restarting RMAN Backups ............................................................................................................... 10-12 About Restartable Backups.......................................................................................................... 10-12 Restarting a Backup After It Partially Completes .................................................................... 10-13 Managing Backup Windows............................................................................................................. 10-13 About Backup Windows.............................................................................................................. 10-13 Specifying a Backup Duration..................................................................................................... 10-14 Permitting Partial Backups in a Backup Window.................................................................... 10-14 Minimizing Backup Load and Duration.................................................................................... 10-14 Part IV Managing RMAN Backups 11 Reporting on RMAN Operations Overview of RMAN Reporting .......................................................................................................... 11-1
- 9. ix Purpose of RMAN Reporting........................................................................................................ 11-1 Basic Concepts of RMAN Reporting............................................................................................ 11-1 Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects ............................................................................. 11-3 About the LIST Command............................................................................................................. 11-3 Listing All Backups and Copies.................................................................................................... 11-5 Listing Selected Backups and Copies........................................................................................... 11-7 Listing Database Incarnations....................................................................................................... 11-9 Reporting on Backups and Database Schema ................................................................................. 11-9 About Reports of RMAN Backups ............................................................................................. 11-10 Reporting on Files Needing a Backup Under a Retention Policy .......................................... 11-10 Reporting on Datafiles Affected by Unrecoverable Operations ............................................ 11-11 Reporting on Obsolete Backups.................................................................................................. 11-12 Reporting on the Database Schema............................................................................................ 11-13 Using V$ Views to Query Backup Metadata.................................................................................. 11-14 Querying Details of Past and Current RMAN Jobs ................................................................. 11-14 Determining the Encryption Status of Backup Pieces ............................................................. 11-16 Querying Recovery Catalog Views.................................................................................................. 11-16 About Recovery Catalog Views .................................................................................................. 11-16 Querying Catalog Views for the Target DB_KEY or DBID Values ....................................... 11-18 Querying RC_BACKUP_FILES................................................................................................... 11-19 12 Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records Overview of RMAN Backup and Repository Maintenance ......................................................... 12-1 Purpose of Backup and Repository Maintenance ...................................................................... 12-1 Basic Concepts of Backup and Repository Maintenance .......................................................... 12-2 Maintaining the Control File Repository ......................................................................................... 12-3 About Control File Records ........................................................................................................... 12-3 Preventing the Loss of Control File Records............................................................................... 12-5 Protecting the Control File............................................................................................................. 12-5 Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area ................................................................................................. 12-6 Deletion Rules for the Fast Recovery Area.................................................................................. 12-6 Monitoring Fast Recovery Area Space Usage............................................................................. 12-7 Managing Space for Flashback Logs in the Fast Recovery Area.............................................. 12-7 Responding to a Full Fast Recovery Area ................................................................................... 12-8 Changing the Fast Recovery Area to a New Location............................................................... 12-9 Disabling the Fast Recovery Area................................................................................................. 12-9 Responding to an Instance Crash During File Creation............................................................ 12-9 Updating the RMAN Repository ..................................................................................................... 12-10 Crosschecking the RMAN Repository ....................................................................................... 12-10 Changing the Repository Status of Backups and Copies ........................................................ 12-13 Adding Backup Records to the RMAN Repository ................................................................. 12-14 Removing Records from the RMAN Repository...................................................................... 12-17 Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs.................................................................... 12-17 Overview of RMAN Deletion...................................................................................................... 12-18 Deleting All Backups and Copies ............................................................................................... 12-19 Deleting Specified Backups and Copies .................................................................................... 12-20 Deleting Expired RMAN Backups and Copies......................................................................... 12-21
- 10. x Deleting Obsolete RMAN Backups Based on Retention Policies........................................... 12-21 Dropping a Database.......................................................................................................................... 12-22 13 Managing a Recovery Catalog Overview of the Recovery Catalog .................................................................................................... 13-1 Purpose of the Recovery Catalog.................................................................................................. 13-1 Basic Concepts for the Recovery Catalog .................................................................................... 13-2 Basic Steps of Managing a Recovery Catalog ............................................................................. 13-3 Creating a Recovery Catalog ............................................................................................................... 13-4 Configuring the Recovery Catalog Database.............................................................................. 13-4 Creating the Recovery Catalog Schema Owner.......................................................................... 13-6 Executing the CREATE CATALOG Command.......................................................................... 13-6 Registering a Database in the Recovery Catalog ............................................................................ 13-7 About Registration of a Database in the Recovery Catalog...................................................... 13-7 Registering a Database with the REGISTER DATABASE Command..................................... 13-8 Cataloging Backups in the Recovery Catalog.................................................................................. 13-9 Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs......................................................................... 13-10 About Virtual Private Catalogs................................................................................................... 13-10 Creating and Granting Privileges to a Virtual Private Catalog Owner ................................ 13-11 Creating a Virtual Private Catalog ............................................................................................. 13-12 Revoking Privileges from a Virtual Private Catalog Owner .................................................. 13-12 Dropping a Virtual Private Catalog ........................................................................................... 13-13 Protecting the Recovery Catalog....................................................................................................... 13-13 Backing Up the Recovery Catalog .............................................................................................. 13-13 Recovering the Recovery Catalog............................................................................................... 13-15 Managing Stored Scripts.................................................................................................................... 13-16 About Stored Scripts..................................................................................................................... 13-16 Creating Stored Scripts................................................................................................................. 13-16 Replacing Stored Scripts .............................................................................................................. 13-17 Executing Stored Scripts .............................................................................................................. 13-18 Creating and Executing Dynamic Stored Scripts ..................................................................... 13-19 Printing Stored Scripts.................................................................................................................. 13-20 Listing Stored Script Names........................................................................................................ 13-20 Deleting Stored Scripts................................................................................................................. 13-21 Executing a Stored Script at RMAN Startup............................................................................. 13-21 Maintaining a Recovery Catalog ...................................................................................................... 13-21 About Recovery Catalog Maintenance ...................................................................................... 13-22 Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog..................................................................................... 13-22 Updating the Recovery Catalog After Changing a DB_UNIQUE_NAME........................... 13-25 Unregistering a Target Database from the Recovery Catalog................................................ 13-26 Resetting the Database Incarnation in the Recovery Catalog................................................. 13-28 Upgrading the Recovery Catalog ............................................................................................... 13-29 Importing and Moving a Recovery Catalog.............................................................................. 13-31 Dropping a Recovery Catalog........................................................................................................... 13-33 Part V Diagnosing and Responding to Failures
- 11. xi 14 RMAN Data Repair Concepts Overview of RMAN Data Repair....................................................................................................... 14-1 Problems Requiring Data Repair .................................................................................................. 14-1 RMAN Data Repair Techniques ................................................................................................... 14-2 RMAN Restore Operations ................................................................................................................. 14-3 Backup Selection.............................................................................................................................. 14-3 Restore Failover............................................................................................................................... 14-4 Restore Optimization...................................................................................................................... 14-4 RMAN Media Recovery....................................................................................................................... 14-5 Selection of Incremental Backups and Archived Redo Logs.................................................... 14-5 Database Incarnations .................................................................................................................... 14-5 15 Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor Overview of Data Recovery Advisor................................................................................................. 15-1 Purpose of Data Recovery Advisor .............................................................................................. 15-1 Basic Concepts of Data Recovery Advisor .................................................................................. 15-2 Basic Steps of Diagnosing and Repairing Failures..................................................................... 15-6 Listing Failures ...................................................................................................................................... 15-6 Listing All Failures.......................................................................................................................... 15-7 Listing a Subset of Failures............................................................................................................ 15-8 Checking for Block Corruptions by Validating the Database...................................................... 15-8 Determining Repair Options ............................................................................................................ 15-10 Determining Repair Options for All Failures ........................................................................... 15-10 Determining Repair Options for a Subset of Failures.............................................................. 15-12 Repairing Failures............................................................................................................................... 15-12 About Repairing Failures............................................................................................................. 15-12 Repairing a Failure........................................................................................................................ 15-13 Changing Failure Status and Priority.............................................................................................. 15-14 16 Validating Database Files and Backups Overview of RMAN Validation.......................................................................................................... 16-1 Purpose of RMAN Validation....................................................................................................... 16-1 Basic Concepts of RMAN Validation ........................................................................................... 16-1 Checking for Block Corruption with the VALIDATE Command................................................ 16-4 Validating Database Files with BACKUP VALIDATE................................................................... 16-6 Validating Backups Before Restoring Them.................................................................................... 16-7 17 Performing Complete Database Recovery Overview of Complete Database Recovery...................................................................................... 17-1 Purpose of Complete Database Recovery.................................................................................... 17-1 Scope of This Chapter..................................................................................................................... 17-1 Preparing for Complete Database Recovery.................................................................................... 17-2 Identifying the Database Files to Restore or Recover ................................................................ 17-3 Determining the DBID of the Database ....................................................................................... 17-5 Previewing Backups Used in Restore Operations...................................................................... 17-5
- 12. xii Validating Backups Before Restoring Them ............................................................................... 17-8 Restoring Archived Redo Logs Needed for Recovery............................................................... 17-8 Performing Complete Database Recovery ..................................................................................... 17-10 About Complete Database Recovery ......................................................................................... 17-10 Performing Complete Recovery of the Whole Database......................................................... 17-10 Performing Complete Recovery of a Tablespace...................................................................... 17-13 Performing Complete Recovery After Switching to a Copy................................................... 17-16 18 Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Overview of Oracle Flashback Technology and Database Point-in-Time Recovery ............... 18-1 Purpose of Flashback and Database Point-in-Time-Recovery ................................................. 18-1 Basic Concepts of Point-in-Time Recovery and Flashback Features....................................... 18-1 Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table......................................................................................... 18-4 Prerequisites of Flashback Table................................................................................................... 18-4 Performing a Flashback Table Operation.................................................................................... 18-5 Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop ..................................................... 18-7 About Flashback Drop.................................................................................................................... 18-7 Prerequisites of Flashback Drop ................................................................................................... 18-7 Performing a Flashback Drop Operation..................................................................................... 18-8 Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database......................................................................... 18-11 Prerequisites of Flashback Database .......................................................................................... 18-11 Performing a Flashback Database Operation............................................................................ 18-12 Monitoring Flashback Database.................................................................................................. 18-15 Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery.............................................................................. 18-15 Prerequisites of Database Point-in-Time Recovery.................................................................. 18-15 Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery......................................................................... 18-15 Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios...................................................... 18-18 Rewinding an OPEN RESETLOGS Operation with Flashback Database............................. 18-18 Rewinding the Database to an SCN in an Abandoned Incarnation Branch......................... 18-19 Recovering the Database to an Ancestor Incarnation.............................................................. 18-20 19 Performing Block Media Recovery Overview of Block Media Recovery.................................................................................................. 19-1 Purpose of Block Media Recovery................................................................................................ 19-1 Basic Concepts of Block Media Recovery.................................................................................... 19-2 Prerequisites for Block Media Recovery .......................................................................................... 19-4 Recovering Individual Blocks ............................................................................................................ 19-4 Recovering All Blocks in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION........................................... 19-5 20 Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios Recovering a NOARCHIVELOG Database with Incremental Backups .................................... 20-1 Restoring the Server Parameter File .................................................................................................. 20-2 Restoring the Server Parameter File from a Control File Autobackup ................................... 20-3 Creating an Initialization Parameter File with RMAN.............................................................. 20-4 Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File.......................................................................... 20-4 About Recovery with a Backup Control File .............................................................................. 20-4
- 13. xiii Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File and No Recovery Catalog....................... 20-6 Performing Disaster Recovery............................................................................................................ 20-8 Prerequisites of Disaster Recovery ............................................................................................... 20-8 Recovering the Database After a Disaster ................................................................................... 20-9 Restoring a Database on a New Host .............................................................................................. 20-11 Preparing to Restore a Database on a New Host ..................................................................... 20-11 Testing the Restore of a Database on a New Host ................................................................... 20-12 21 Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) Overview of RMAN TSPITR .............................................................................................................. 21-1 Purpose of RMAN TSPITR ............................................................................................................ 21-1 Basic Concepts of RMAN TSPITR ................................................................................................ 21-2 TSPITR Restrictions, Special Cases, and Limitations.................................................................... 21-5 Limitations of TSPITR .................................................................................................................... 21-5 Special Considerations When Not Using a Recovery Catalog ................................................. 21-6 Planning and Preparing for TSPITR ................................................................................................. 21-6 Step 1: Select the Right Target Time for TSPITR ........................................................................ 21-6 Step 2: Determine the Recovery Set.............................................................................................. 21-7 Step 3: Identify and Preserve Objects That Are Lost After TSPITR......................................... 21-7 Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR................................................................................ 21-8 Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance..... 21-10 Renaming TSPITR Recovery Set Data Files with SET NEWNAME ...................................... 21-10 Naming TSPITR Auxiliary Set Data Files.................................................................................. 21-11 Using Image Copies for Faster RMAN TSPITR Performance ................................................ 21-15 Customizing Initialization Parameters for the Automatic Auxiliary Instance in TSPITR . 21-17 Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance............................................ 21-19 Preparing Your Own Auxiliary Instance for RMAN TSPITR ................................................ 21-19 Preparing RMAN Commands for TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance.................. 21-21 Executing TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance ........................................................... 21-22 Performing TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance: Scenario........................................ 21-23 Troubleshooting RMAN TSPITR..................................................................................................... 21-24 Troubleshooting Filename Conflicts .......................................................................................... 21-24 Troubleshooting the Identification of Tablespaces with Undo Segments............................ 21-24 Troubleshooting the Restart of a Manual Auxiliary Instance After TSPITR Failure .......... 21-25 Part VI Tuning and Troubleshooting 22 Tuning RMAN Performance Purpose of RMAN Performance Tuning........................................................................................... 22-1 Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning .............................................................................. 22-1 Read Phase ....................................................................................................................................... 22-3 Copy Phase....................................................................................................................................... 22-6 Write Phase for System Backup Tape (SBT)................................................................................ 22-6 Write Phase for Disk....................................................................................................................... 22-9 Using V$ Views to Diagnose RMAN Performance Problems.................................................... 22-10 Monitoring RMAN Job Progress with V$SESSION_LONGOPS ........................................... 22-10
- 14. xiv Identifying Bottlenecks with V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO and V$BACKUP_ASYNC_IO ........ 22-12 Tuning RMAN Backup Performance............................................................................................... 22-13 Step 1: Remove the RATE Parameter from Channel Settings ................................................ 22-13 Step 2: If You Use Synchronous Disk I/O, Set DBWR_IO_SLAVES..................................... 22-14 Step 3: If You Fail to Allocate Shared Memory, Set LARGE_POOL_SIZE........................... 22-14 Step 4: Tune the Read, Write, and Copy Phases....................................................................... 22-15 23 Troubleshooting RMAN Operations Interpreting RMAN Message Output ............................................................................................... 23-1 Identifying Types of Message Output ......................................................................................... 23-1 Recognizing RMAN Error Message Stacks ................................................................................. 23-2 Identifying Error Codes ................................................................................................................. 23-2 Interpreting RMAN Error Stacks.................................................................................................. 23-5 Identifying RMAN Return Codes................................................................................................. 23-7 Using V$ Views for RMAN Troubleshooting.................................................................................. 23-7 Monitoring RMAN Interaction with the Media Manager ........................................................ 23-7 Correlating Server Sessions with RMAN Channels................................................................... 23-8 Testing the Media Management API............................................................................................... 23-11 Obtaining the sbttest Utility ........................................................................................................ 23-11 Obtaining Online Documentation for the sbttest Utility......................................................... 23-11 Using the sbttest Utility................................................................................................................ 23-12 Terminating an RMAN Command................................................................................................... 23-12 Terminating the Session with ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION............................................ 23-13 Terminating the Session at the Operating System Level......................................................... 23-13 Terminating an RMAN Session That Is Not Responding in the Media Manager............... 23-13 Part VII Transferring Data with RMAN 24 Duplicating a Database Overview of RMAN Database Duplication..................................................................................... 24-1 Purpose of Database Duplication ................................................................................................. 24-1 Basic Concepts of Database Duplication ..................................................................................... 24-2 Basic Steps of Database Duplication ............................................................................................ 24-6 Preparing to Duplicate a Database .................................................................................................... 24-6 Step 1: Choosing a Duplication Technique ................................................................................. 24-7 Step 2: Choosing a Strategy for Naming Duplicate Files .......................................................... 24-8 Step 3: Making Backups Accessible to the Duplicate Instance................................................. 24-8 Step 4: Preparing Remote Access to Databases ........................................................................ 24-11 Step 5: Creating an Initialization Parameter File and Starting the Auxiliary Instance....... 24-12 Placing the Source Database in the Proper State .......................................................................... 24-13 Starting RMAN and Connecting to Databases.............................................................................. 24-13 Configuring RMAN Channels for Use in Duplication................................................................ 24-14 Configuring Channels for Active Database Duplication ........................................................ 24-14 Configuring Channels for Backup-Based Duplication ............................................................ 24-14 Duplicating a Database...................................................................................................................... 24-14 Backup-Based Duplication Without a Target Connection: Example..................................... 24-15
- 15. xv Backup-Based Duplication with a Target Connection: Example ........................................... 24-16 Backup-Based Duplication Without a Target and a Recovery Catalog Connection: Example....... 24-16 Restarting DUPLICATE After a Failure.......................................................................................... 24-17 25 Duplicating a Database: Advanced Topics Specifying Alternative Names for Duplicate Database Files....................................................... 25-1 Specifying Non-OMF or Non-ASM Alternative Names for Duplicate Database Files......... 25-1 Specifying OMF or ASM Alternative Names for Duplicate Database Files........................... 25-4 Making Disk Backups Accessible Without Shared Disk.............................................................. 25-8 Duplicating a Database When No Server Parameter File Exists.................................................. 25-9 Starting the Auxiliary Instance When No Server Parameter File Exists................................... 25-10 Duplicating a Subset of the Source Database Tablespaces......................................................... 25-11 Excluding Specified Tablespaces ................................................................................................ 25-12 Including Specified Tablespaces................................................................................................. 25-12 26 Creating Transportable Tablespace Sets Overview of Creating Transportable Tablespace Sets ................................................................... 26-1 Purpose of Creating Transportable Tablespace Sets.................................................................. 26-1 Basic Concepts of Transportable Tablespace Sets ...................................................................... 26-2 Basic Steps of Creating Transportable Tablespace Sets............................................................. 26-4 Customizing Initialization Parameters for the Auxiliary Instance ............................................. 26-5 Setting Initialization Parameters for the Auxiliary Instance..................................................... 26-5 Setting the Location of the Auxiliary Instance Parameter File................................................. 26-6 Creating a Transportable Tablespace Set.......................................................................................... 26-6 Troubleshooting the Creation of Transportable Tablespace Sets ................................................ 26-7 Transportable Tablespace Set Scenarios ........................................................................................... 26-8 Creating a Transportable Tablespace Set at a Specified Time or SCN.................................... 26-8 Specifying Locations for Data Pump Files................................................................................... 26-8 Specifying Auxiliary File Locations.............................................................................................. 26-9 27 Transporting Data Across Platforms Overview of Cross-Platform Data Transportation.......................................................................... 27-1 Purpose of Cross-Platform Data Transportation........................................................................ 27-1 Basic Concepts of Cross-Platform Data Transportation............................................................ 27-2 Performing Cross-Platform Tablespace Conversion on the Source Host................................... 27-3 Performing Cross-Platform Data File Conversion on the Destination Host ............................. 27-4 About Cross-Platform Data File Conversion on the Destination Host ................................... 27-5 Using CONVERT DATAFILE to Convert Data File Formats................................................... 27-5 Checking the Database Before Cross-Platform Database Conversion ....................................... 27-7 Converting Data Files on the Source Host When Transporting a Database.............................. 27-9 Converting Data Files on the Destination Host When Transporting a Database................... 27-12 Performing Preliminary Data File Conversion Steps on the Source Host............................ 27-12 Converting Data Files on the Destination Host........................................................................ 27-13 Part VIII Performing User-Managed Backup and Recovery
- 16. xvi 28 Making User-Managed Database Backups Querying V$ Views to Obtain Backup Information ...................................................................... 28-1 Listing Database Files Before a Backup ....................................................................................... 28-1 Determining Data File Status for Online Tablespace Backups................................................. 28-2 Making User-Managed Backups of the Whole Database.............................................................. 28-3 Making User-Managed Backups of Tablespaces and Data Files ................................................. 28-4 Making User-Managed Backups of Offline Tablespaces and Data Files ................................ 28-4 Making User-Managed Backups of Online Tablespaces and Data Files................................. 28-5 Making User-Managed Backups of the Control File.................................................................... 28-10 Backing Up the Control File to a Binary File............................................................................. 28-10 Backing Up the Control File to a Trace File............................................................................... 28-11 Making User-Managed Backups of Archived Redo Logs ........................................................... 28-11 Making User-Managed Backups in SUSPEND Mode ................................................................. 28-11 About the Suspend/Resume Feature......................................................................................... 28-12 Making Backups in a Suspended Database............................................................................... 28-12 Making User-Managed Backups to Raw Devices......................................................................... 28-14 Backing Up to Raw Devices on Linux and UNIX..................................................................... 28-14 Backing Up to Raw Devices on Windows................................................................................. 28-16 Making Backups with the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).............................................. 28-17 Verifying User-Managed Data File Backups.................................................................................. 28-17 Testing the Restoration of Data File Backups ........................................................................... 28-17 Running the DBVERIFY Utility .................................................................................................. 28-17 29 Performing User-Managed Database Flashback and Recovery Performing Flashback Database with SQL*Plus ............................................................................ 29-1 Overview of User-Managed Media Recovery.................................................................................. 29-2 About User-Managed Restore and Recovery.............................................................................. 29-2 Automatic Recovery with the RECOVER Command................................................................ 29-4 Recovery When Archived Logs Are in the Default Location ................................................... 29-5 Recovery When Archived Logs Are in a Nondefault Location................................................ 29-5 Recovery Cancellation.................................................................................................................... 29-7 Parallel Media Recovery ................................................................................................................ 29-7 Performing Complete Database Recovery ....................................................................................... 29-7 Performing Closed Database Recovery ....................................................................................... 29-8 Performing Open Database Recovery........................................................................................ 29-11 Performing Incomplete Database Recovery................................................................................... 29-13 Performing Cancel-Based Incomplete Recovery ...................................................................... 29-14 Performing Time-Based or Change-Based Incomplete Recovery.......................................... 29-16 Recovering a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode................................................................... 29-17 Troubleshooting Media Recovery.................................................................................................... 29-18 About User-Managed Media Recovery Problems.................................................................... 29-18 Investigating the Media Recovery Problem: Phase 1............................................................... 29-20 Trying to Fix the Recovery Problem Without Corrupting Blocks: Phase 2 .......................... 29-21 Deciding Whether to Allow Recovery to Mark as Corrupt Blocks: Phase 3 ........................ 29-22 Allowing Recovery to Corrupt Blocks: Phase 4........................................................................ 29-23 Performing Trial Recovery........................................................................................................... 29-23
- 17. xvii 30 Performing User-Managed Recovery: Advanced Scenarios Responding to the Loss of a Subset of the Current Control Files ............................................... 30-1 Copying a Multiplexed Control File to a Default Location ...................................................... 30-1 Copying a Multiplexed Control File to a Nondefault Location ............................................... 30-2 Recovering After the Loss of All Current Control Files ................................................................ 30-2 Recovering with a Backup Control File in the Default Location ............................................. 30-3 Recovering with a Backup Control File in a Nondefault Location ......................................... 30-4 Recovering Through an Added Data File with a Backup Control File ................................... 30-4 Recovering Read-Only Tablespaces with a Backup Control File............................................. 30-5 Re-Creating a Control File................................................................................................................... 30-6 Recovering Through a RESETLOGS with a Created Control File ........................................... 30-7 Recovery of Read-Only Files with a Re-Created Control File .................................................. 30-8 Re-Creating Data Files When Backups Are Unavailable .............................................................. 30-8 Recovering NOLOGGING Tables and Indexes.............................................................................. 30-9 Recovering Transportable Tablespaces ........................................................................................... 30-10 Recovering After the Loss of Online Redo Log Files................................................................... 30-10 Recovering After Losing a Member of a Multiplexed Online Redo Log Group ................. 30-11 Recovering After Losing All Members of an Online Redo Log Group................................. 30-12 Recovering from a Dropped Table Without Using Flashback Features ................................... 30-15 Dropping a Database with SQL*Plus.............................................................................................. 30-16 Glossary Index
- 18. xviii
- 19. xix Preface This preface contains the following topics: ■ Audience ■ Documentation Accessibility ■ Related Documentation ■ Relocated Documentation ■ Conventions Audience Backup and Recovery User's Guide is intended for database administrators who perform the following tasks: ■ Back up, restore, and recover Oracle databases ■ Perform maintenance on backups of database files ■ Transfer data between a file system and ASM or between platforms when installing Oracle Database To use this document, you must know the following: ■ Relational database concepts and basic database administration as described in Oracle Database Concepts and the Oracle Database Administrator's Guide ■ The operating system environment under which you run the database Documentation Accessibility For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=docacc. Access to Oracle Support Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=info or visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=trs if you are hearing impaired.
- 20. xx Related Documentation For more information about backup and recovery, see these Oracle resources: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference ■ Oracle Database Utilities ■ Oracle Database Storage Administrator's Guide You can access information about the Backup Solutions Program (BSP) at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/features/availability /bsp-088814.html Many books in the documentation set use the sample schemas of the seed database, which is installed by default when you install Oracle Database. Refer to Oracle Database Sample Schemas for information about how these schemas were created and how you can use them yourself. Relocated Documentation The following chapters have been relocated: ■ Chapter 24: "Creating Transportable Tablespace Sets." You can reference this material in Oracle Database Administrator's Guide. ■ Chapter 26: "Performing ASM Data Migration." This information is now included in the Database Storage Administrator's Guide. Conventions The following text conventions are used in this document: Convention Meaning boldface Boldface type indicates graphical user interface elements associated with an action, or terms defined in text or the glossary. italic Italic type indicates book titles, emphasis, or placeholder variables for which you supply particular values. monospace Monospace type indicates commands within a paragraph, URLs, code in examples, text that appears on the screen, or text that you enter.
- 21. xxi What's New in Backup and Recovery? This section describes new features of backup and recovery for Oracle Database 11g Release 2 and provides pointers to additional information. The release of Recovery Manager (RMAN) continues to enhance and extend the reliability, efficiency, and availability of Oracle Database backup and recovery. Some highlights in this release are the inclusion of Oracle's Database Backup Cloud offering, referred to as Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) Cloud Module, the addition of Expanded Backup Compression Levels, and several DUPLICATE Database Command Enhancements. New Backup and Recovery Features for Oracle 11g Release 2 The following Backup and Recovery features are new in Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2): ■ Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) Cloud Module Users can take advantage of the Internet-based data storage services offered by Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) for their RMAN backup and recovery tasks. The OSB Cloud Module interface extends the Amazon S3 functionality and provides an easy-to-manage, cost-efficient, and scalable alternative to maintaining in-house data storage and a local, fully configured backup infrastructure. ■ DUPLICATE Database Command Enhancements Users can duplicate a database without connecting to a target database. The only requirements for this operation are a connection to a catalog and an auxiliary database. This new functionality is useful when the target database is not always available. Users can also duplicate a database without connecting to a target database and a recovery catalog. In this case, the only requirement is that you provide a disk backup location where RMAN can find all the backups, data file copies, archived logs, and control file copies for database duplication. This database duplication enhancement is helpful when it is not possible to connect to the target database and the recovery catalog. When you duplicate from a target database, RMAN determines if any excluded tablespaces contain SYS-owned objects, materialized views, and identifies tablespaces that are not self-contained before starting any duplication operations. See Also: Appendix C in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference
- 22. xxii ■ RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) Enhancements TSPITR can be used to recover a dropped tablespace and to recover to a point in time before the tablespace was brought online. The latter TSPITR operation can be repeated as many times as necessary. ■ Automatic Block Repair The enhancements to corrupt block detection make block repair more efficient and increase availability. The automatic block repair enhancement complements the Oracle Database 11g Release 1 automatic block corruption detection. A detected corrupt block (for example, through a user's SQL query) is now automatically repaired by using a good block from a physical standby database. With automatic block repair, a user querying data in the corrupt block no longer sees the corrupt block error message displayed (ORA-01578). Instead, there is a pause while the corrupt block is repaired, and then the results of the SQL query are returned. The automatic block repair is transparent to the user unless the repair fails. Block recovery is faster because no redo must be applied to the block that is taken from the physical standby database. Automatic block repair requires an Oracle Active Data Guard license because real-time query mode must be enabled on the physical standby database. The operation occurs automatically but can also be explicitly invoked with the RMAN RECOVER BLOCK command. ■ SET NEWNAME Options The SET NEWNAME command is more powerful and easier to use. You can use this command on a specific tablespace or on all data files and temp files. You can also change the names for multiple files in the database. A new string format identifier "%b" makes it easier to move files around. Using SET NEWNAME with the format identifier "%b" enables you to designate a file name without its directory path. This option is particularly useful when you want to keep the names of your data files the same but move the data files to a different directory location. See Also: Chapter 24, "Duplicating a Database", and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the associated DUPLICATE command options NOREDO and UNDO TABLESPACE Note: Before this release, TSPITR did not operate on dropped tablespaces. See Also: Chapter 19, "Performing Block Media Recovery" and the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference RECOVER command See Also: ■ Chapter 25, "Duplicating a Database: Advanced Topics" ■ Example 25–2, "Duplicating with SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE and FOR TABLESPACE" ■ The SET option in the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the enhanced SET NEWNAME functionality
- 23. xxiii ■ CONVERT DATABASE Option A new option, SKIP UNNECESSARY DATAFILES, is now supported for the CONVERT DATABASE command. When the option is invoked, the only data files that are converted are those that require RMAN processing during transfer between the specified platforms. The rest of the data files can be used by the destination database through shared storage or path name. By skipping the conversion of data files that do not contain undo segments, overall database transport time can be reduced. You can use this option when converting at the source or converting ON DESTINATION PLATFORM. ■ Expanded Backup Compression Levels RMAN now offers a wider range of compression levels with the Advanced Compression Option (ACO). Although the existing BASIC compression option may be suitable for most environments, you may want to explore the ACO backup compression levels (LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH) to achieve better performance or higher compression ratios. ■ INCARNATION Specifier Enhancement Incarnations may now be used to further qualify archived redo log ranges for the BACKUP, RESTORE, and LIST commands. You can now specify ALL or CURRENT or designate a particular incarnation number when listing ranges of archived logs. ■ TO DESTINATION syntax has been added to the BACKUP command. This addition enables you to designate a specific directory location for backups to disk and is primarily for use with the BACKUP RECOVERY AREA command. If backup optimization is enabled, then RMAN only skips backups of identical files that reside in the directory location specified by the TO DESTINATION option. Changes in RMAN Functionality or Prerequisites The Block Change Tracking feature can be used at a physical standby database only if the Oracle Active Data Guard option is licensed. See Also: The CONVERT DATABASE option in the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference See Also: "Binary Compression for Backup Sets" on page 8-4 and the CONFIGURE ... COMPRESSION ALGORITHM command option in the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for settings and examples See Also: BACKUP command and examples of the new setting in the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference
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- 25. Part I Part I Overview of Backup and Recovery The chapters in this part introduce backup and recovery and explain how to devise a backup and recovery strategy: ■ Chapter 1, "Introduction to Backup and Recovery" ■ Chapter 2, "Getting Started with RMAN"
- 27. 1 Introduction to Backup and Recovery 1-1 1 Introduction to Backup and Recovery This chapter explains Oracle Database backup and recovery and summarizes the Oracle solutions. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Purpose of Backup and Recovery ■ Oracle Backup and Recovery Solutions ■ Oracle Flashback Technology ■ Data Recovery Advisor ■ Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap Purpose of Backup and Recovery As a backup administrator, your principal duty is to devise, implement, and manage a backup and recovery strategy. In general, the purpose of a backup and recovery strategy is to protect the database against data loss and reconstruct the database after data loss. Typically, backup administration tasks include the following: ■ Planning and testing responses to different kinds of failures ■ Configuring the database environment for backup and recovery ■ Setting up a backup schedule ■ Monitoring the backup and recovery environment ■ Troubleshooting backup problems ■ Recovering from data loss if the need arises As a backup administrator, you may also be asked to perform other duties that are related to backup and recovery: ■ Data preservation, which involves creating a database copy for long-term storage ■ Data transfer, which involves moving data from one database or one host to another The purpose of this manual is to explain how to perform the preceding tasks. Note: To get started with Recovery Manager (RMAN) right away, proceed to Chapter 2, "Getting Started with RMAN."
- 28. Purpose of Backup and Recovery 1-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Data Protection As a backup administrator, your primary job is making and monitoring backups for data protection. A backup is a copy of data of a database that you can use to reconstruct data. A backup can be either a physical backup or a logical backup. Physical backups are copies of the physical files used in storing and recovering a database. These files include data files, control files, and archived redo logs. Ultimately, every physical backup is a copy of files that store database information to another location, whether on disk or on offline storage media such as tape. Logical backups contain logical data such as tables and stored procedures. You can use Oracle Data Pump to export logical data to binary files, which you can later import into the database. The Data Pump command-line clients expdp and impdp use the DBMS_DATAPUMP and DBMS_METADATA PL/SQL packages. Physical backups are the foundation of any sound backup and recovery strategy. Logical backups are a useful supplement to physical backups in many circumstances but are not sufficient protection against data loss without physical backups. Unless otherwise specified, the term backup as used in the backup and recovery documentation refers to a physical backup. Backing up a database is the act of making a physical backup. The focus in the backup and recovery documentation set is almost exclusively on physical backups. While several problems can halt the normal operation of an Oracle database or affect database I/O operations, only the following typically require DBA intervention and data recovery: media failure, user errors, and application errors. Other failures may require DBA intervention without causing data loss or requiring recovery from backup. For example, you may need to restart the database after an instance failure or allocate more disk space after statement failure because of a full data file. Media Failures A media failure is a physical problem with a disk that causes a failure of a read from or write to a disk file that is required to run the database. Any database file can be vulnerable to a media failure. The appropriate recovery technique following a media failure depends on the files affected and the types of backup available. One particularly important aspect of backup and recovery is developing a disaster recovery strategy to protect against catastrophic data loss, for example, the loss of an entire database host. User Errors User errors occur when, either due to an error in application logic or a manual mistake, data in a database is changed or deleted incorrectly. User errors are estimated to be the greatest single cause of database downtime. Data loss due to user error can be either localized or widespread. An example of localized damage is deleting the wrong person from the employees table. This type of damage requires surgical detection and repair. An example of widespread damage is a batch job that deletes the company orders for the current month. In this case, drastic action is required to avoid a extensive database downtime. While user training and careful management of privileges can prevent most user errors, your backup strategy determines how gracefully you recover the lost data when user error does cause data loss.
- 29. Oracle Backup and Recovery Solutions Introduction to Backup and Recovery 1-3 Application Errors Sometimes a software malfunction can corrupt data blocks. In a physical corruption, which is also called a media corruption, the database does not recognize the block at all: the checksum is invalid, the block contains all zeros, or the header and footer of the block do not match. If the corruption is not extensive, then you can often repair it easily with block media recovery. Data Preservation Data preservation is related to data protection, but serves a different purpose. For example, you may need to preserve a copy of a database as it existed at the end of a business quarter. This backup is not part of the disaster recovery strategy. The media to which these backups are written are often unavailable after the backup is complete. You may send the tape into fire storage or ship a portable hard drive to a testing facility. RMAN provides a convenient way to create a backup and exempt it from your backup retention policy. This type of backup is known as an archival backup. Data Transfer In some situations you may need to take a backup of a database or database component and move it to another location. For example, you can use Recovery Manager (RMAN) to create a database copy, create a tablespace copy that can be imported into another database, or move an entire database from one platform to another. These tasks are not strictly speaking part of a backup and recovery strategy, but they do require the use of database backups, and so may be included in the duties of a backup administrator. Oracle Backup and Recovery Solutions When implementing a backup and recovery strategy, you have the following solutions available: ■ Recovery Manager (RMAN) Recovery Manager is fully integrated with the Oracle database to perform a range of backup and recovery activities, including maintaining an RMAN repository of historical data about backups. You can access RMAN through the command line or through Oracle Enterprise Manager. ■ User-managed backup and recovery In this solution, you perform backup and recovery with a mixture of host operating system commands and SQL*Plus recovery commands.You are responsible for determining all aspects of when and how backups and recovery are done. These solutions are supported by Oracle and are fully documented, but RMAN is the preferred solution for database backup and recovery. RMAN provides a common See Also: ■ Chapter 9, "Backing Up the Database" ■ Oracle Database Utilities to learn how to use Data Pump See Also: "Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage" on page 9-23 See Also: The chapters in Part VII, "Transferring Data with RMAN"
- 30. Oracle Backup and Recovery Solutions 1-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide interface for backup tasks across different host operating systems, and offers several backup techniques not available through user-managed methods. Most of this manual focuses on RMAN-based backup and recovery. User-managed backup and recovery techniques are covered in Section VIII, "Performing User-Managed Backup and Recovery." The most noteworthy are the following: ■ Incremental backups An incremental backup stores only blocks changed since a previous backup. Thus, they provide more compact backups and faster recovery, thereby reducing the need to apply redo during data file media recovery. If you enable block change tracking, then you can improve performance by avoiding full scans of every input data file. You use the BACKUP INCREMENTAL command to perform incremental backups. ■ Block media recovery You can repair a data file with only a small number of corrupt data blocks without taking it offline or restoring it from backup. You use the RECOVER BLOCK command to perform block media recovery. ■ Binary compression A binary compression mechanism integrated into Oracle Database reduces the size of backups. ■ Encrypted backups RMAN uses backup encryption capabilities integrated into Oracle Database to store backup sets in an encrypted format. To create encrypted backups on disk, the database must use the Advanced Security Option. To create encrypted backups directly on tape, RMAN must use the Oracle Secure Backup SBT interface, but does not require the Advanced Security Option. ■ Automated database duplication Easily create a copy of your database, supporting various storage configurations, including direct duplication between ASM databases. ■ Cross-platform data conversion Whether you use RMAN or user-managed methods, you can supplement physical backups with logical backups of schema objects made with Data Pump Export utility. You can later use Data Pump Import to re-create data after restore and recovery. Logical backups are mostly beyond the scope of the backup and recovery documentation. Table 1–1 summarizes the features of the different backup techniques. Table 1–1 Feature Comparison of Backup Techniques Feature Recovery Manager User-Managed Data Pump Export Closed database backups Supported. Requires instance to be mounted. Supported. Not supported. Open database backups Supported. No need to use BEGIN/END BACKUP statements. Supported. Must use BEGIN/END BACKUP statements. Requires rollback or undo segments to generate consistent backups. Incremental backups Supported. Not supported. Not supported.
- 31. Oracle Flashback Technology Introduction to Backup and Recovery 1-5 Oracle Flashback Technology As explained in Oracle Database Concepts, Oracle Flashback Technology complements your physical backup and recovery strategy. This set of features provides an additional layer of data protection. Specifically, you can use the various features of Oracle Flashback to view past states of data and rewind your database without restoring backups or performing point-in-time recovery. In general, flashback features are more efficient and less disruptive than media recovery in most situations in which they apply. Logical Flashback Features Most of the flashback features of Oracle operate at the logical level, enabling you to view and manipulate database objects. The logical-level flashback features of Oracle do not depend on RMAN and are available whether or not RMAN is part of your backup strategy. Except for Oracle Flashback Drop, the logical flashback features rely on undo data, which are records of the effects of each database update and the values overwritten in the update. Oracle Database includes the following logical flashback features: ■ Oracle Flashback Query Corrupt block detection Supported. Identifies corrupt blocks and logs in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_ CORRUPTION. Not supported. Supported. Identifies corrupt blocks in the export log. Automatic specification of files to include in a backup Supported. Establishes the name and locations of all files to be backed up (whole database, tablespaces, data files, control files, and so on). Not supported. Files to be backed up must be located and copied manually. Not applicable. Backup repository Supported. Backups are recorded in the control file, which is the main repository of RMAN metadata. Additionally, you can store this metadata in a recovery catalog, which is a schema in a different database. Not supported. DBA must keep own records of backups. Not supported. Backups to a media manager Supported. Interfaces with a media manager. RMAN also supports proxy copy, a feature that allows a media manager to manage completely the transfer of data between disk and backup media. Supported. Backup to tape is manual or controlled by a media manager. Not supported. Backup of initialization parameter file Supported. Supported. Not supported. Backup of password and networking files Not supported. Supported. Not supported. Platform-independent language for backups Supported. Not supported. Supported. Table 1–1 (Cont.) Feature Comparison of Backup Techniques Feature Recovery Manager User-Managed Data Pump Export
- 32. Oracle Flashback Technology 1-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide You can specify a target time and run queries against a database, viewing results as they would have appeared at the target time. To recover from an unwanted change like an update to a table, you could choose a target time before the error and run a query to retrieve the contents of the lost rows. Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide explains how to use this feature. ■ Oracle Flashback Version Query You can view all versions of all rows that ever existed in one or more tables in a specified time interval. You can also retrieve metadata about the differing versions of the rows, including start and end time, operation, and transaction ID of the transaction that created the version. You can use this feature to recover lost data values and to audit changes to the tables queried. Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide explains how to use this feature. ■ Oracle Flashback Transaction Query You can view changes made by a single transaction, or by all the transactions during a specific time period. Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide explains how to use this feature. ■ Oracle Flashback Transaction You can reverse a transaction. Oracle Database determines the dependencies between transactions and in effect creates a compensating transaction that reverses the unwanted changes. The database rewinds to a state as if the transaction, and any transactions that could be dependent on it, had never happened. Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide explains how to use this feature. ■ Oracle Flashback Table You can recover a table or set of tables to a specified point in time in the past without taking any part of the database offline. In many cases, Flashback Table eliminates the need to perform more complicated point-in-time recovery operations. Flashback Table restores tables while automatically maintaining associated attributes such as current indexes, triggers, and constraints, and in this way enabling you to avoid finding and restoring database-specific properties. "Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table" on page 18-4 explains how to use this feature. ■ Oracle Flashback Drop You can reverse the effects of a DROP TABLE statement. "Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop" on page 18-7 explains how to use this feature. A flashback data archive enables you to use some logical flashback features to access data from far back in the past. A flashback data archive consists of one or more tablespaces or parts of tablespaces. When you create a flashback data archive, you specify the name, retention period, and tablespace. You can also specify a default flashback data archive. The database automatically purges old historical data the day after the retention period expires. You can turn flashback archiving on and off for individual tables. By default, flashback archiving is turned off for every table.
- 33. Data Recovery Advisor Introduction to Backup and Recovery 1-7 Flashback Database At the physical level, Oracle Flashback Database provides a more efficient data protection alternative to database point-in-time recovery (DBPITR). If the current data files have unwanted changes, then you can use the RMAN command FLASHBACK DATABASE to revert the data files to their contents at a past time. The end product is much like the result of a DBPITR, but is generally much faster because it does not require restoring data files from backup and requires less redo than media recovery. Flashback Database uses flashback logs to access past versions of data blocks and some information from archived redo logs. Flashback Database requires that you configure a fast recovery area for a database because the flashback logs can only be stored there. Flashback logging is not enabled by default. Space used for flashback logs is managed automatically by the database and balanced against space required for other files in the fast recovery area. Oracle Database also supports restore points along with Flashback Database and backup and recovery. A restore point is an alias corresponding to a system change number (SCN). You can create a restore point at any time if you anticipate needing to return part or all of a database to its contents at that time. A guaranteed restore point ensures that you can use Flashback Database to return a database to the time of the restore point. Data Recovery Advisor Oracle Database includes a Data Recovery Advisor tool that automatically diagnoses persistent data failures, presents appropriate repair options, and executes repairs at your request. Data Recovery Advisor provides a single point of entry for Oracle backup and recovery solutions. You can use Data Recovery Advisor through the Enterprise Manager Database Control or Grid Control console or through the RMAN command-line client. A database failure usually manifests itself as a set of symptoms: error messages, alerts, trace files and dumps, and failed data integrity checks. Data Recovery Advisor automatically diagnoses and informs you of these failures. For Data Recovery Advisor, a failure is a persistent data corruption that can be directly mapped to a set of repair actions. Each failure has a status of open or closed. Each failure also has a priority of critical, high, or low. Failures are detected by data integrity checks, which are diagnostic procedures executed to assess the health of the database or its components. If a data integrity check reveals a failure, then Data Recovery Advisor automatically assesses the effect of a set of failures and maps it to a set of repair options. Usually, Data Recovery Advisor presents both automated and manual repair options. See Also: ■ Chapter 18, "Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery" to learn how to perform Flashback Table and Flashback Drop ■ Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide for more information on the logical flashback features See Also: "Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database" on page 18-11 to learn how to perform Flashback Database with the FLASHBACK DATABASE command
- 34. Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap 1-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Data Recovery Advisor determines the best automated repair option and its effect on the database. The repair option may include repairs such as data file restore and recovery, media recovery, Flashback Database, and so on. Before presenting an automated repair option, Data Recovery Advisor validates it for the specific environment and the availability of media components required to complete the proposed repair. If you choose an automated repair option, then RMAN coordinates sessions on the Oracle database to perform the repair for you. The Data Recovery Advisor tool verifies the repair success and closes the appropriate failures. Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap Figure 1–1 illustrates the recommended way to navigate the backup and recovery documentation. The roadmap is divided into two main paths: RMAN and user-managed backup and recovery. Optional paths are shown as splitting off and then rejoining each main path. If you are new to Oracle Database and want to learn about backup recovery, then the best entry point is Oracle Database 2 Day DBA. The backup and recovery chapter explains how to use Enterprise Manager to perform basic operations. Optionally, you can expand your knowledge of basic backup and recovery principles by reading the relevant chapter in Oracle Database Concepts. See Also: Chapter 15, "Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor," to learn how to use Data Recovery Advisor
- 35. Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap Introduction to Backup and Recovery 1-9 Figure 1–1 Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap As shown in Figure 1–1, you can either implement your backup and recovery strategy with RMAN, which is recommended, or with user-managed tools. 2 Day DBA Introduction to Backup and Recovery User-Managed Path Backup and Recovery Concepts (in Database Concepts) Performing Database Recovery: Advanced Performing Block Media Recovery Performing Database Flashback and Recovery Backing Up the DatabaseGetting Started Starting RMAN Managing the Recovery Catalog Configuring the RMAN Environment Reporting on RMAN Operations Using the Data Recovery Advisor Performing Flashback and DBPITR Backing Up the Database End RMAN Path Maintaining RMAN Backups Performing Advanced RMAN Recovery Tuning RMAN Performance End Performing Complete Database Recovery
- 36. Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap 1-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Recovery Manager Documentation Roadmap If you use RMAN as your principal backup and recovery solution, then begin by reading "Getting Started with RMAN" on page 2-1. This brief chapter, which explains the most basic RMAN techniques, may be adequate for your purposes. For a more comprehensive explanation of how to implement a backup and recovery strategy with RMAN, read the chapters in the following order (optional chapters are not listed): 1. Read Chapter 4, "Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client." This chapter explains how to start the RMAN client and connect to databases. 2. Read Chapter 5, "Configuring the RMAN Environment." This chapter explains how to perform basic tasks such as configuring a fast recovery area, backup retention policy, and archived redo log deletion policy. 3. Read Chapter 9, "Backing Up the Database." This chapter explains how to implement a basic backup strategy. 4. Read Chapter 11, "Reporting on RMAN Operations." This chapter explains how to monitor RMAN backup and recovery operations. Specifically, the chapter explains how to use the reporting commands (LIST, REPORT, and SHOW) and the relevant V$ and recovery catalog views. 5. Read Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records." This chapter explains how to verify the existence of backups, change the repository status of backups, delete backups, and perform other maintenance tasks. 6. Read Chapter 15, "Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor." This chapter explains how to use the Data Recovery Advisor tool. You can use it to list failures, obtain advice about to respond to these failures, and in some cases automatically repair the failures. 7. Read Chapter 18, "Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery." This chapter explains how to use the FLASHBACK DATABASE command and perform point-in-time recovery with the RECOVER DATABASE command. 8. Read Chapter 17, "Performing Complete Database Recovery." This chapter explains how to recover individual tablespaces or the database. User-Managed Backup and Recovery Documentation Roadmap If you do not use RMAN as your principal backup and recovery solution, then you must use third-party tools to make your backups and SQL or SQL*Plus commands to perform recovery. Read the chapters in the following order: 1. Read Chapter 28, "Making User-Managed Database Backups." This chapter explains how to make backups with third-party tools. 2. Read Chapter 29, "Performing User-Managed Database Flashback and Recovery." This chapter explains how to use the SQL statement FLASHBACK DATABASE and to perform recovery with the SQL*Plus RECOVER command. 3. Read Chapter 30, "Performing User-Managed Recovery: Advanced Scenarios." This chapter explains various recovery scenarios.
- 37. 2 Getting Started with RMAN 2-1 2 Getting Started with RMAN This chapter is intended for new users who want to start using RMAN right away without first reading the more detailed chapters in this book. This chapter provides the briefest possible digest of the most important RMAN concepts and tasks. It is not a substitute for the rest of the backup and recovery documentation set. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of the RMAN Environment ■ Starting RMAN and Connecting to a Database ■ Showing the Default RMAN Configuration ■ Backing Up a Database ■ Reporting on RMAN Operations ■ Maintaining RMAN Backups ■ Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor ■ Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database ■ Restoring and Recovering Database Files Overview of the RMAN Environment Recovery Manager (RMAN) is an Oracle Database client that performs backup and recovery tasks on your databases and automates administration of your backup strategies. It greatly simplifies backing up, restoring, and recovering database files. The RMAN environment consists of the utilities and databases that play a role in backing up your data. At a minimum, the environment for RMAN must include the following components: ■ A target database An Oracle database to which RMAN is connected with the TARGET keyword. A target database is a database on which RMAN is performing backup and recovery operations. RMAN always maintains metadata about its operations on a database in the control file of the database. The RMAN metadata is known as the RMAN repository. ■ The RMAN client An Oracle Database executable that interprets commands, directs server sessions to execute those commands, and records its activity in the target database control file. The RMAN executable is automatically installed with the database and is
- 38. Starting RMAN and Connecting to a Database 2-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide typically located in the same directory as the other database executables. For example, the RMAN client on Linux is located in $ORACLE_HOME/bin. Some environments use the following optional components: ■ A fast recovery area A disk location in which the database can store and manage files related to backup and recovery. You set the fast recovery area location and size with the DB_ RECOVERY_FILE_DEST and DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE initialization parameters. ■ A media manager An application required for RMAN to interact with sequential media devices such as tape libraries. A media manager controls these devices during backup and recovery, managing the loading, labeling, and unloading of media. Media management devices are sometimes called SBT (system backup to tape) devices. ■ A recovery catalog A separate database schema used to record RMAN activity against one or more target databases. A recovery catalog preserves RMAN repository metadata if the control file is lost, making it much easier to restore and recover following the loss of the control file. The database may overwrite older records in the control file, but RMAN maintains records forever in the catalog unless the records are deleted by the user. This chapter explains how to use RMAN in the most basic configuration, which is without a recovery catalog or media manager. Starting RMAN and Connecting to a Database The RMAN client is started by issuing the rman command at the command prompt of your operating system. RMAN then displays a prompt for your commands as shown in the following example: % rman RMAN> RMAN connections to a database are specified and authenticated in the same way as SQL*Plus connections to a database. The only difference is that RMAN connections to a target or auxiliary database require the SYSDBA privilege. The AS SYSDBA keywords are implied and cannot be explicitly specified. See Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn about database connection options for SQL*Plus. See Also: ■ Chapter 3, "Recovery Manager Architecture"for a more detailed overview of the RMAN environment ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP command syntax and semantics Caution: Good security practice requires that passwords should not be entered in plain text on the command line. You should enter passwords in RMAN only when requested by an RMAN prompt. See Oracle Database Security Guide to learn about password protection.
- 39. Showing the Default RMAN Configuration Getting Started with RMAN 2-3 You can connect to a database with command-line options or by using the CONNECT TARGET command. The following example starts RMAN and then connects to a target database through Oracle Net, AS SYSDBA is not specified because it is implied. RMAN prompts for a password. % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS@prod target database Password: password connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561) The following variation starts RMAN and then connects to a target database by using operating system authentication: % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561) To quit the RMAN client, enter EXIT at the RMAN prompt: RMAN> EXIT Syntax of Common RMAN Command-line Options RMAN [ TARGET connectStringSpec | { CATALOG connectStringSpec } | LOG ['] filename ['] [ APPEND ] . . . ]... connectStringSpec::= ['] [userid] [/ [password]] [@net_service_name] ['] The following example appends the output from an RMAN session to a text file at /tmp/msglog.log % rman TARGET / LOG /tmp/msglog.log APPEND Showing the Default RMAN Configuration The RMAN backup and recovery environment is preconfigured for each target database. The configuration is persistent and applies to all subsequent operations on this target database, even if you exit and restart RMAN. RMAN configured settings can specify backup devices, configure a connection to a backup device (known as a channel), policies affecting backup strategy, and others. The default configuration is adequate for most purposes. To show the current configuration for a database: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the SHOW ALL command. See Also: Chapter 4, "Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client," to learn more about starting and using the RMAN client
- 40. Backing Up a Database 2-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide For example, enter the command at the RMAN prompt as follows: RMAN> SHOW ALL; The output lists the CONFIGURE commands to re-create this configuration. Backing Up a Database Use the BACKUP command to back up files. RMAN backs up data to the configured default device for the type of backup requested. By default, RMAN creates backups on disk. If a fast recovery area is enabled, and if you do not specify the FORMAT parameter (see Table 2–1), then RMAN creates backups in the recovery area and automatically gives them unique names. By default, RMAN creates backup sets rather than image copies. A backup set consists of one or more backup pieces, which are physical files written in a format that only RMAN can access. A multiplexed backup set contains the blocks from multiple input files. RMAN can write backup sets to disk or tape. If you specify BACKUP AS COPY, then RMAN copies each file as an image copy, which is a bit-for-bit copy of a database file created on disk. Image copies are identical to copies created with operating system commands like cp on Linux or COPY on Windows, but are recorded in the RMAN repository and so are usable by RMAN. You can use RMAN to make image copies while the database is open. Backing Up a Database in ARCHIVELOG Mode If a database runs in ARCHIVELOG mode, then you can back up the database while it is open. The backup is called an inconsistent backup because redo is required during recovery to bring the database to a consistent state. If you have the archived redo logs needed to recover the backup, open database backups are as effective for data protection as consistent backups. To back up the database and archived redo logs while the database is open: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the BACKUP DATABASE command. For example, enter the following command at the RMAN prompt to back up the database and all archived redo log files to the default backup device: RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; See Also: Chapter 5, "Configuring the RMAN Environment," and Chapter 6, "Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics," to learn how to configure the RMAN environment See Also: ■ Chapter 8, "RMAN Backup Concepts," to learn concepts relating to RMAN backups ■ Chapter 9, "Backing Up the Database," to learn how to back up database files with RMAN ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP command syntax and semantics
- 41. Backing Up a Database Getting Started with RMAN 2-5 Backing Up a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode If a database runs in NOARCHIVELOG mode, then the only valid database backup is a consistent backup. For the backup to be consistent, the database must be mounted after a consistent shutdown. No recovery is required after restoring the backup. To make a consistent database backup: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Shut down the database consistently and then mount it. For example, enter the following commands to guarantee that the database is in a consistent state for a backup: RMAN> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; RMAN> STARTUP FORCE DBA; RMAN> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; RMAN> STARTUP MOUNT; 3. Run the BACKUP DATABASE command. For example, enter the following command at the RMAN prompt to back up the database to the default backup device: RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE; The following variation of the command creates image copy backups of all data files in the database: RMAN> BACKUP AS COPY DATABASE; 4. Open the database and resume normal operations. The following command opens the database: RMAN> ALTER DATABASE OPEN; Typical Backup Options The BACKUP command includes a host of options, parameters, and clauses that control backup output. Table 2–1 lists some typical backup options. Table 2–1 Common Backup Options Option Description Example FORMAT Specifies a location and name for backup pieces and copies. You must use substitution variables to generate unique file names. The most common substitution variable is %U, which generates a unique name. Others include %d for the DB_NAME, %t for the backup set time stamp, %s for the backup set number, and %p for the backup piece number. BACKUP FORMAT 'AL_%d/%t/%s/%p' ARCHIVELOG LIKE '%arc_dest%'; TAG Specifies a user-defined string as a label for the backup. If you do not specify a tag, then RMAN assigns a default tag with the date and time. Tags are always stored in the RMAN repository in uppercase. BACKUP TAG 'weekly_full_db_bkup' DATABASE MAXSETSIZE 10M; See Also: "Specifying Backup Output Options" on page 9-2
- 42. Backing Up a Database 2-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Making Incremental Backups If you specify BACKUP INCREMENTAL, then RMAN creates an incremental backup of a database. Incremental backups capture block-level changes to a database made after a previous incremental backup. Incremental backups are generally smaller and faster to make than full database backups. Recovery with incremental backups is faster than using redo logs alone. The starting point for an incremental backup strategy is a level 0 incremental backup, which backs up all blocks in the database. An incremental backup at level 0 is identical in content to a full backup, however, unlike a full backup the level 0 backup is considered a part of the incremental backup strategy. A level 1 incremental backup contains only blocks changed after a previous incremental backup. If no level 0 backup exists in either the current or parent database incarnation when you run a level 1 backup, then RMAN makes a level 0 backup automatically. A level 1 backup can be a cumulative incremental backup, which includes all blocks changed since the most recent level 0 backup, or a differential incremental backup, which includes only blocks changed since the most recent incremental backup. Incremental backups are differential by default. When restoring incremental backups, RMAN uses the level 0 backup as the starting point, then updates changed blocks based on level 1 backups where possible to avoid reapplying changes from redo one at a time. Recovering with incremental backups requires no additional effort on your part. If incremental backups are available, then RMAN uses them during recovery. To make incremental backups of the database: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the BACKUP INCREMENTAL command. The following example creates a level 0 incremental backup to serve as a base for an incremental backup strategy: BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 DATABASE; The following example creates a level 1 cumulative incremental backup: BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 CUMULATIVE DATABASE; The following example creates a level 1 differential incremental backup: BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 DATABASE; Making Incrementally Updated Backups The RMAN incrementally updated backup feature is an efficient incremental backup strategy. The strategy has the following main features: Note: You cannot make incremental backups when a NOARCHIVELOG database is open, although you can make incremental backups when the database is mounted after a consistent shutdown. See Also: "Incremental Backups" on page 8-13 for a more detailed conceptual overview of incremental backups and "Making and Updating Incremental Backups" on page 9-14
- 43. Backing Up a Database Getting Started with RMAN 2-7 ■ The strategy requires a level 0 data file copy as a base. This copy has either a system-defined or user-defined tag. ■ Periodically, level 1 differential backups are created with the same tag as the level 0 data file copy. The BACKUP FOR RECOVER OF COPY command specifies that an incremental backup should contain only blocks changed since the most recent incremental backup with the same tag. ■ Periodically, the incremental backups are applied to the level 0 data file copy. Because the data file copy has been updated with more recent changes, it now requires less media recovery. Table 2–2 explains which options to use with FOR RECOVER OF COPY to implement an incrementally updated backup strategy. To implement an incrementally updated backup strategy: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the RECOVER COPY and BACKUP INCREMENTAL commands. The following script, run on a regular basis, is all that is required to implement a strategy based on incrementally updated backups. RECOVER COPY OF DATABASE WITH TAG 'incr_update'; BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG 'incr_update' DATABASE; Validating Database Files and Backups You can use the VALIDATE command to confirm that all database files exist, are in their correct location, and are free of physical corruption. The CHECK LOGICAL option also checks for logical block corruption. Table 2–2 FOR RECOVER OF COPY Options BACKUP Option Description Example FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG 'tag_name' Use TAG to identify the tag of the data file copy serving as basis for the backup strategy. RMAN automatically assigns the same tag to every level 1 backup of this copy. If no level 0 data file copy with the specified tag exists in either the current or parent database incarnation, then RMAN creates a level 0 data file copy with the specified tag. BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG 'incr_update' DATABASE; FOR RECOVER OF COPY DATAFILECOPY FORMAT 'format' Specifies where RMAN creates the data file copy if a copy does not exist. If you add a new data file to the database, then you do not need to change your script, because RMAN automatically creates the level 0 copy required by the incremental backup routine. BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 FOR RECOVER OF COPY DATAFILECOPY FORMAT '/disk2/df1.cpy' DATABASE; See Also: "Incrementally Updating Backups" on page 9-16
- 44. Backing Up a Database 2-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide To validate database files: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the BACKUP VALIDATE ... command for the desired files. For example, enter the following commands to validate all database files and archived redo log files for physical and logical corruption: BACKUP VALIDATE CHECK LOGICAL DATABASE ARCHIVELOG ALL; You can also use the VALIDATE command to check individual data blocks, as shown in the following example: VALIDATE DATAFILE 4 BLOCK 10 TO 13; You can also validate backup sets, as shown in the following example: VALIDATE BACKUPSET 3; You specify backup sets by primary key, which is shown in the output of the LIST BACKUP command. Scripting RMAN Operations RMAN supports the use of command files to manage recurring tasks such as weekly backups. A command file is a client-side text file containing RMAN commands, exactly as you enter them at the RMAN prompt. You can use any file extension. The RUN command provides a degree of flow-of-control in your scripts. To create and run a command file: 1. Use a text editor to create a command file. For example, create a command file with the following contents: # my_command_file.txt CONNECT TARGET / BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; LIST BACKUP; EXIT; 2. Start RMAN and then execute the contents of a command file by running the @ command at the RMAN prompt: % rman RMAN> @/my_dir/my_command_file.txt # runs specified command file You can also launch RMAN with a command file to run, as shown here: % rman @/my_dir/my_command_file.txt See Also: ■ Chapter 16, "Validating Database Files and Backups" ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for VALIDATE command syntax and semantics
- 45. Reporting on RMAN Operations Getting Started with RMAN 2-9 Reporting on RMAN Operations The RMAN LIST and REPORT commands generate reports on backup activities based on the RMAN repository. Use the SHOW ALL command to display the current RMAN configuration. Listing Backups Run the LIST BACKUP and LIST COPY commands to display information about backups and data file copies listed in the repository. For backups, you can control the format of LIST output with the options in Table 2–3 and Table 2–4. For both backups and copies you have additional options shown in Table 2–4. To list backups and copies: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the LIST command at the RMAN prompt. You can display specific objects, as in the following examples: LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE; LIST COPY OF DATAFILE 1, 2; LIST BACKUP OF ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 10; LIST BACKUPSET OF DATAFILE 1; See Also: "Using Command Files with RMAN" on page 4-3 to learn more about command files, and "Using Substitution Variables in Command Files" on page 4-4 to learn how to use substitution variables in command files and pass parameters at run time Table 2–3 LIST Options for Backups Option Example Explanation BY BACKUP LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE BY BACKUP Organizes the output by backup set. This is the default mode of presentation. BY FILE LIST BACKUP BY FILE Lists the backups according to which file was backed up. SUMMARY LIST BACKUP SUMMARY Displays summary output. Table 2–4 Additional LIST Options Option Example Explanation EXPIRED LIST EXPIRED COPY Lists backups that are recorded in the RMAN repository but that were not present at the expected location on disk or tape during the last CROSSCHECK command. An expired backup may have been deleted by an operating system utility. RECOVERABLE LIST BACKUP RECOVERABLE Lists data file backups or copies that have status AVAILABLE in the RMAN repository and that can be restored and recovered.
- 46. Maintaining RMAN Backups 2-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Reporting on Database Files and Backups The REPORT command performs more complex analysis than LIST. Some main options are shown in Table 2–5. To generate reports of database files and backups: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the REPORT command at the RMAN prompt. The following example reports backups that are obsolete according to the currently configured backup retention policy: REPORT OBSOLETE; The following example reports the data files and temp files in the database: REPORT SCHEMA; Maintaining RMAN Backups RMAN repository metadata is always stored in the control file of the target database. The RMAN maintenance commands use this metadata when managing backups. Cross-checking Backups The CROSSCHECK command synchronizes the logical records of RMAN backups and copies with the files on storage media. If a backup is on disk, then CROSSCHECK See Also: ■ "Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects" on page 11-3 to learn more about the LIST command ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for LIST command syntax Table 2–5 REPORT Options Option Example Explanation NEED BACKUP REPORT NEED BACKUP DATABASE Shows which files need backing up under current retention policy. Use optional REDUNDANCY and RECOVERY WINDOW parameters to specify different criteria. OBSOLETE REPORT OBSOLETE Lists backups that are obsolete under the configured backup retention policy. Use the optional REDUNDANCY and RECOVERY WINDOW parameters to override the default. SCHEMA REPORT SCHEMA Reports the tablespaces and data files in the database at the current time (default) or a different time. UNRECOVERABLE REPORT UNRECOVERABLE Lists all data files for which an unrecoverable operation has been performed against an object in the data file since the last backup of the data file. See Also: "Reporting on Backups and Database Schema" on page 11-9 to learn how to use the REPORT command for RMAN reporting
- 47. Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor Getting Started with RMAN 2-11 determines whether the header of the file is valid. If a backup is on tape, then RMAN queries the RMAN repository for the names and locations of the backup pieces. It is a good idea to crosscheck backups and copies before deleting them. To crosscheck all backups and copies on disk: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the CROSSCHECK command, as shown in the following example: CROSSCHECK BACKUP; CROSSCHECK COPY; Deleting Obsolete Backups The DELETE command removes RMAN backups and copies from disk and tape, updates the status of the files to DELETED in the control file repository, and removes the records from the recovery catalog (if you use a catalog). If you run RMAN interactively, and if you do not specify the NOPROMPT option, then DELETE displays a list of files and prompts for confirmation before deleting any file in the list. The DELETE OBSOLETE command is particular useful because RMAN deletes backups and data file copies recorded in the RMAN repository that are obsolete, that is, no longer needed. You can use options on the DELETE command to specify what is obsolete or use the configured backup retention policy. To delete obsolete backups and copies: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Run the DELETE OBSOLETE command, as shown in the following example: DELETE OBSOLETE; Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor The simplest way to diagnose and repair database problems is to use the Data Recovery Advisor. This Oracle Database tool provides an infrastructure for diagnosing persistent data failures, presenting repair options to the user, and automatically executing repairs. Listing Failures and Determining Repair Options A failure is a persistent data corruption detected by the Health Monitor. Examples include physical and logical data block corruptions and missing data files. Each failure has a failure priority and failure status. The priority can be CRITICAL, HIGH, or LOW. The status can be OPEN or CLOSED. You can run the LIST FAILURE command to show all known failures. If failures exist, then run the ADVISE FAILURE command in the same session to determine manual See Also: "Crosschecking the RMAN Repository" on page 12-10 to learn how to crosscheck RMAN backups See Also: "Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs" on page 12-17 to learn how to use the DELETE command See Also: "Overview of Data Recovery Advisor" on page 15-1
- 48. Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 2-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide and automated repair options. The following example illustrates these two commands (sample output included). Example 2–1 LIST FAILURE and ADVISE FAILURE RMAN> LIST FAILURE; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 142 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 One or more non-system datafiles are missing 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks RMAN> ADVISE FAILURE; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 142 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 One or more non-system datafiles are missing 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks analyzing automatic repair options; this may take some time using channel ORA_DISK_1 analyzing automatic repair options complete Mandatory Manual Actions ======================== no manual actions available Optional Manual Actions ======================= 1. If file /disk1/oradata/prod/users01.dbf was unintentionally renamed or moved, restore it Automated Repair Options ======================== Option Repair Description ------ ------------------ 1 Restore and recover datafile 28; Perform block media recovery of block 56416 in file 1 Strategy: The repair includes complete media recovery with no data loss Repair script: /disk1/oracle/log/diag/rdbms/prod/prod/hm/reco_660500184.hm The ADVISE FAILURE output shows both manual and automated repair options. First try to fix the problem manually. If you cannot fix the problem manually, then review the automated repair section. An automated repair option describes a server-managed repair for one or more failures. Repairs are consolidated when possible so that a single repair can fix multiple failures. The repair option indicates which repair is performed and whether data is lost by performing the repair operation. In Example 2–1, the output indicates the file name of a repair script containing RMAN commands. If you do not want to use Data Recovery Advisor to repair the failure automatically, then you can use the script as the basis of your own recovery strategy. See Also: "Listing Failures" on page 15-6 and "Determining Repair Options" on page 15-10
- 49. Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database Getting Started with RMAN 2-13 Repairing Failures After running LIST FAILURE and ADVISE FAILURE in an RMAN session, you can run REPAIR FAILURE to execute a repair option. If you execute REPAIR FAILURE with no other command options, then RMAN uses the first repair option of the most recent ADVISE FAILURE command in the current session. Alternatively, specify the repair option number obtained from the most recent ADVISE FAILURE command. Example 2–2 illustrates how to repair the failures identified in Example 2–1. Example 2–2 REPAIR FAILURE RMAN> REPAIR FAILURE; By default, REPAIR FAILURE prompts for confirmation before it begins executing. After executing a repair, Data Recovery Advisor reevaluates all existing failures on the possibility that they may also have been fixed. Data Recovery Advisor always verifies that failures are still relevant and automatically closes fixed failures. If a repair fails to complete because of an error, then the error triggers a new assessment and re-evaluation of existing failures and repairs. Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database You can use the Oracle Flashback Database to rewind the whole database to a past time. Unlike media recovery, you do not need to restore data files to return the database to a past state. To use the RMAN FLASHBACK DATABASE command, your database must have been previously configured to generate flashback logs. This configuration task is described in "Flashback Database" on page 7-2. Flashback Database works by rewinding changes to the data files that exist at the moment that you run the command. You cannot use the command to repair media failures or missing data files. The database must be mounted when you issue FLASHBACK DATABASE. If you have previously created a restore point, then you can flash back to this restore point if it falls within the flashback database window. To rewind a database with Flashback Database: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Ensure that the database is in a mounted state. The following commands shut down and then mount the database: SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; STARTUP MOUNT; 3. Run the FLASHBACK DATABASE command. The following examples illustrate different forms of the command: FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 861150; FLASHBACK DATABASE TO RESTORE POINT BEFORE_CHANGES; FLASHBACK DATABASE TO TIMESTAMP TO_DATE(04-DEC-2009 03:30:00','DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS'); See Also: "Repairing Failures" on page 15-12
- 50. Restoring and Recovering Database Files 2-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 4. After performing the Flashback Database, open the database read-only in SQL*Plus and run some queries to verify the database contents. Open the database read-only as follows: SQL "ALTER DATABASE OPEN READ ONLY"; 5. If satisfied with the results, then issue the following sequence of commands to shut down and then open the database: SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; STARTUP MOUNT; ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; Restoring and Recovering Database Files Use the RESTORE and RECOVER commands for RMAN restore and recovery of physical database files. Restoring data files is retrieving them from backups as needed for a recovery operation. Media recovery is the application of changes from redo logs and incremental backups to a restored data file to bring the data file forward to a desired SCN or point in time. Preparing to Restore and Recover Database Files If you must recover the database because a media failure damages database files, then you should first ensure that you have the necessary backups. You can use the RESTORE ... PREVIEW command to report, but not restore, the backups that RMAN could use to restore to the specified time. RMAN queries the metadata and does not actually read the backup files. The database can be open when you run this command. To preview a database restore and recovery: 1. Start RMAN and connect to the target database. 2. Optionally, list the current tablespaces and data files, as shown in the following command: RMAN> REPORT SCHEMA; 3. Run the RESTORE DATABASE command with the PREVIEW option. The following command specifies SUMMARY so that the backup metadata is not displayed in verbose mode (sample output included): RMAN> RESTORE DATABASE PREVIEW SUMMARY; Starting restore at 21-MAY-07 allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=80 device type=DISK List of Backups =============== Key TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ------- -- -- - ----------- --------------- ------- ------- ---------- --- 11 B F A DISK 18-MAY-07 1 2 NO TAG20070518T181114 See Also: "Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database" on page 18-11 See Also: Chapter 17, "Performing Complete Database Recovery"
- 51. Restoring and Recovering Database Files Getting Started with RMAN 2-15 13 B F A DISK 18-MAY-07 1 2 NO TAG20070518T181114 using channel ORA_DISK_1 List of Archived Log Copies for database with db_unique_name PROD ===================================================================== Key Thrd Seq S Low Time ------- ---- ------- - --------- 47 1 18 A 18-MAY-07 Name: /disk1/oracle/dbs/db1r_60ffa882_1_18_0622902157.arc Media recovery start SCN is 586534 Recovery must be done beyond SCN 587194 to clear datafile fuzziness validation succeeded for backup piece Finished restore at 21-MAY-07 Recovering the Whole Database Use the RESTORE DATABASE and RECOVER DATABASE commands to recover the whole database. You must have previously made backups of all needed files. This scenario assumes that you can restore all data files to their original locations. If the original locations are inaccessible, then use the SET NEWNAME command as described in "Restoring Datafiles to a Nondefault Location" on page 17-10. To recover the whole database: 1. Prepare for recovery as explained in "Preparing to Restore and Recover Database Files" on page 2-14. 2. Place the database in a mounted state. The following example terminates the database instance (if it is started) and mounts the database: RMAN> STARTUP FORCE MOUNT; 3. Restore the database. The following example uses the preconfigured disk channel to restore the database: RMAN> RESTORE DATABASE; 4. Recover the database, as shown in the following example: RMAN> RECOVER DATABASE; 5. Open the database, as shown in the following example: RMAN> ALTER DATABASE OPEN; Recovering Tablespaces Use the RESTORE TABLESPACE and RECOVER TABLESPACE commands on individual tablespaces when the database is open. In this case, you must take the tablespace that needs recovery offline, restore and then recover the tablespace, and bring the recovered tablespace online. If you need to restore a data file to a new location, then use the RMAN SET NEWNAME command within a RUN command to specify the new file name. Afterward, use a SWITCH DATAFILE ALL command, which is equivalent to using the SQL statement
- 52. Restoring and Recovering Database Files 2-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE, to update the control file to reflect the new names for all data files for which a SET NEWNAME has been issued in the RUN command. Unlike in user-managed media recovery, you should not place an online tablespace in backup mode. Unlike user-managed tools, RMAN does not require extra logging or backup mode because it knows the format of data blocks. To recover an individual tablespace when the database is open: 1. Prepare for recovery as explained in "Preparing to Restore and Recover Database Files" on page 2-14. 2. Take the tablespace to be recovered offline: The following example takes the USERS tablespace offline: RMAN> SQL 'ALTER TABLESPACE users OFFLINE'; 3. Restore and recover the tablespace. The following RUN command, which you execute at the RMAN prompt, sets a new name for the data file in the USERS tablespace: RUN { SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '/disk1/oradata/prod/users01.dbf' TO '/disk2/users01.dbf'; RESTORE TABLESPACE users; SWITCH DATAFILE ALL; # update control file with new file names RECOVER TABLESPACE users; } 4. Bring the tablespace online, as shown in the following example: RMAN> SQL 'ALTER TABLESPACE users ONLINE'; You can also use RESTORE DATAFILE and RECOVER DATAFILE for recovery at the data file level. Recovering Individual Data Blocks RMAN can recover individual corrupted data file blocks. When RMAN performs a complete scan of a file for a backup, any corrupted blocks are listed in V$DATABASE_ BLOCK_CORRUPTION. Corruption is usually reported in alert logs, trace files, or results of SQL queries. To recover data blocks: 1. Obtain the block numbers of the corrupted blocks if you do not have this information. The easiest way to locate trace files and the alert log is to connect SQL*Plus to the target database and execute the following query: SQL> SELECT NAME, VALUE 2 FROM V$DIAG_INFO; 2. Start RMAN and connect to the target database. See Also: ■ "Performing Complete Recovery of a Tablespace" on page 17-13 ■ "Online Backups and Backup Mode" on page 8-2
- 53. Restoring and Recovering Database Files Getting Started with RMAN 2-17 3. Run the RECOVER command to repair the blocks. The following RMAN command recovers all corrupted blocks: RMAN> RECOVER CORRUPTION LIST; You can also recover individual blocks, as shown in the following example: RMAN> RECOVER DATAFILE 1 BLOCK 233, 235 DATAFILE 2 BLOCK 100 TO 200; See Also: Chapter 19, "Performing Block Media Recovery"
- 54. Restoring and Recovering Database Files 2-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 55. Part II Part II Starting and Configuring RMAN and Flashback Database The chapters in this part explain the basic components of the RMAN environment and how to configure it. This part contains the following chapters: ■ Chapter 3, "Recovery Manager Architecture" ■ Chapter 4, "Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client" ■ Chapter 5, "Configuring the RMAN Environment" ■ Chapter 6, "Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics" ■ Chapter 7, "Using Flashback Database and Restore Points"
- 57. 3 Recovery Manager Architecture 3-1 3Recovery Manager Architecture This chapter describes the Recovery Manager (RMAN) interface and the basic components of the RMAN environment. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ About the RMAN Environment ■ RMAN Command-Line Client ■ RMAN Channels ■ RMAN Repository ■ Media Management ■ Fast Recovery Area ■ RMAN in a Data Guard Environment About the RMAN Environment The Recovery Manager environment consists of the various applications and databases that play a role in a backup and recovery strategy. Table 3–1 lists some components in a typical RMAN environment. Table 3–1 Components of the RMAN Environment Component Description RMAN client The client application that manages backup and recovery operations for a target database. The RMAN client can use Oracle Net to connect to a target database, so it can be located on any host that is connected to the target host through Oracle Net. target database A database containing the control files, datafiles, and optional archived redo logs that RMAN backs up or restores. RMAN uses the target database control file to gather metadata about the target database and to store information about its own operations. The work of backup and recovery is performed by server sessions running on the target database. recovery catalog database A database containing a recovery catalog, which contains metadata that RMAN uses to perform backup and recovery. You can create one recovery catalog that contains the RMAN metadata for multiple target databases. Unless you are using RMAN with a physical standby database, a recovery catalog is optional when using RMAN because RMAN stores its metadata in the control file of each target database. recovery catalog schema The user within the recovery catalog database that owns the metadata tables maintained by RMAN. RMAN periodically propagates metadata from the target database control file into the recovery catalog.
- 58. About the RMAN Environment 3-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The only required components in an RMAN environment are a target database and RMAN client, but most real-world configurations are more complicated. For example, you use an RMAN client connecting to multiple media managers and multiple target databases and auxiliary databases, all accessed through Enterprise Manager. Figure 3–1 illustrates components in a possible RMAN environment. The figure shows that the primary database, standby database, and recovery catalog databases all reside on different computers. The primary and standby database hosts use a locally attached tape drive. The RMAN client and Enterprise Manager console run on a separate computer. physical standby database A copy of the primary database that is updated with archived redo logs generated by the primary database. A physical standby database has the same DBID and DB_NAME values as the primary database, but a different DB_UNIQUE_NAME. You can fail over to the standby database if the primary database becomes inaccessible. RMAN can create, back up, or recover a standby database. Backups that you make at a standby database are usable at primary database or another standby database for same production database. The recovery catalog is required when you use RMAN in the Data Guard environment. Note: A logical standby database is treated as a separate database by RMAN because it has a different DBID from its primary database. See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to use RMAN in a Data Guard environment duplicate database A copy of the primary database that you can use for testing purposes. The DBID is different from the database from which it was created. fast recovery area A disk location that you can use to store recovery-related files such as control file and online redo log copies, archived redo logs, flashback logs, and RMAN backups. Oracle Database and RMAN manage the files in the fast recovery area automatically. media manager A vendor-specific application that enables RMAN to back up to a storage system such as tape media management catalog A vendor-specific repository of metadata about a media management application Oracle Enterprise Manager A browser-based interface to the database, including backup and recovery through RMAN Table 3–1 (Cont.) Components of the RMAN Environment Component Description
- 59. RMAN Channels Recovery Manager Architecture 3-3 Figure 3–1 Sample RMAN Environment RMAN Command-Line Client Use the RMAN command-line client to enter commands that you can use to manage all aspects of backup and recovery operations. RMAN uses a command language interpreter that can execute commands in interactive or batch mode. Even when you use the backup and recovery features in Enterprise Manager that are built on top of RMAN, an RMAN client executes behind the scenes. RMAN Channels The RMAN client directs database server sessions to perform all backup and recovery tasks. What constitutes a session depends on the operating system. For example, on Linux, a server session corresponds to a server process, whereas on Windows it corresponds to a thread within the database service. The RMAN client itself does not perform backup, restore, or recovery operations. When you connect the RMAN client to a target database, RMAN allocates server sessions on the target instance and directs them to perform the operations. An RMAN channel represents one stream of data to a device, and corresponds to one database server session. The channel reads data into PGA memory, processes it, and See Also: Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide to learn about Oracle Net
- 60. RMAN Channels 3-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide writes it to the output device. See "Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning" on page 22-1 for a low-level description of how channels work. Most RMAN commands are executed by channels, which must be either configured to persist across RMAN sessions, or manually allocated in each RMAN session. As illustrated in Figure 3–2, a channel establishes a connection from the RMAN client to a target or auxiliary database instance by starting a server session on the instance. Figure 3–2 Channel Allocation Channels and Devices The RMAN-supported device types are disk and SBT (system backup to tape). An SBT device is controlled by a third-party media manager. Typically, SBT devices are tape libraries and tape drives. If you use a disk channel for a backup, then the channel creates the backup on disk in the file name space of the target database instance creating the backup. You can make a backup on any device that can store a data file. RMAN does not call a media manager when making disk backups. To create backups on nondisk media, you must use media management software such as Oracle Secure Backup and allocate channels supported by this software. RMAN contacts the media manager whenever the channel type allocated is not disk. How and when the SBT channels cause the media manager to allocate resources is vendor- specific. Some media managers allocate resources when you issue the command; others do not allocate resources until you open a file for reading or writing. Automatic and Manual Channels You can use the CONFIGURE CHANNEL command to configure channels for use with disk or tape across RMAN sessions. This technique is known as automatic channel allocation. RMAN comes preconfigured with one DISK channel that you can use for backups to disk. When you run a command that can use automatic channels, RMAN automatically allocates the channels with the options that you specified in the CONFIGURE command. For the BACKUP command, RMAN allocates only the type of channel required to back up to the specified media. For the RESTORE command and RMAN maintenance commands, RMAN allocates all necessary channels for the device types See Also: "Configuring the Default Device for Backups: Disk or SBT" on page 5-3 Recovery Managerchannel ch1 Oracle Recovery Catalog Target database Disk Server session
- 61. RMAN Repository Recovery Manager Architecture 3-5 required to execute the command. RMAN determines the names for automatic channels. You can also manually allocate channels. Each manually allocated channel uses a separate connection to the database. When you manually allocate a channel, you give it a user-defined name such as dev1 or ch2. The number of channels available for use with a device when you run a command determines whether RMAN reads from or write to this device in parallel while performing the command. When the work is done in parallel, the backup of the files is done by multiple channels. Each channel may back up multiple files, but unless a multisection backup is performed, no file is backed up by more than one channel. RMAN Repository The RMAN repository is the collection of metadata about the target databases that RMAN uses for backup, recovery, and maintenance. RMAN always stores its metadata in the control file. The version of this metadata in the control file is the authoritative record of RMAN backups of your database. This is one reason why protecting your control file is an important part of your backup strategy. RMAN can conduct all necessary backup and recovery operations using just the control file to store the RMAN repository information, and maintains all records necessary to meet your configured retention policy. You can also create a recovery catalog, which is a repository of RMAN metadata stored in an Oracle database schema. The control file has finite space for records of backup activities, whereas a recovery catalog can store a much longer history. You can simplify backup and recovery administration by creating a single recovery catalog that contains the RMAN metadata for all of your databases. The owner of a recovery catalog can grant or revoke restricted access to the catalog to other database users. Each restricted user has full read/write access to his own metadata, which is called a virtual private catalog. When one or more virtual private catalogs exist in a database, the database contains just one set of catalog tables. These tables are owned by the base recovery catalog owner. The owner of the base recovery catalog controls which databases each virtual private catalog user can access. Some RMAN features only function when you use a recovery catalog. For example, you can create a stored script in the recovery catalog and use this script to execute RMAN jobs. Other RMAN commands are specifically related to managing the recovery catalog and so are not available (and not needed) if RMAN is not connected to a recovery catalog. The recovery catalog is maintained solely by RMAN. A target database instance never accesses the catalog directly. RMAN propagates information about the database structure, archived redo logs, backup sets, and data file copies into the recovery catalog from the target database control file after any operation that updates the repository, and also before certain operations. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for ALLOCATE CHANNEL syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference on ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE ■ "Configuring Channels for Disk" on page 5-5 and "Configuring SBT Channels for Use with a Media Manager" on page 5-13
- 62. Media Management 3-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Media Management The Oracle Media Management Layer (MML) API lets third-party vendors build a media manager, software that works with RMAN and the vendor's hardware to allow backups to sequential media devices such as tape drives. A media manager handles loading, unloading, and labeling of sequential media such as tapes. You must install media manager software to use RMAN with sequential media devices. When backing up or restoring, the RMAN client connects to a target database instance and directs the instance to send requests to its media manager. No direct communication occurs between the RMAN client and the media manager. RMAN Interaction with a Media Manager Before performing backup or restore to a media manager, you must allocate one or more channels to handle the communication with the media manager. You can also configure default channels for the media manager. The default channels are used for all backup and recovery tasks that employ the media manager and for which you have not explicitly allocated channels. RMAN does not issue specific commands to load, label, or unload tapes. When backing up, RMAN gives the media manager a stream of bytes and associates a unique name with this stream. When RMAN must restore the backup, it asks the media manager to retrieve the byte stream. All details of how and where that stream is stored are handled entirely by the media manager. For example, the media manager labels and keeps track of the tape and names of files on each tape, and automatically loads and unloads tapes, or signals an operator to do so. Some media managers support proxy copy functionality, in which they handle the entire data movement between data files and the backup devices. These products may use technologies such as high-speed connections between storage and media subsystems to reduce the load on the primary database server. RMAN provides a list of files requiring backup or restore to the media manager, which in turn makes all decisions regarding how and when to move the data. Oracle Secure Backup Oracle Secure Backup is a media manager that provides reliable and secure data protection through file system backup to tape. All major tape drives and tape libraries in SAN, Gigabit Ethernet, and SCSI environments are supported. Although Oracle Secure Backup has no specialized knowledge of database backup and recovery algorithms, it can serve as a media management layer for RMAN through the SBT interface. In this capacity, Oracle Secure Backup provides the same services for RMAN as other supported third-party SBT libraries. Oracle Secure Backup has some features, however, that are not available in other media managers. See Also: Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records" and Chapter 13, "Managing a Recovery Catalog" See Also: "Configuring SBT Channels for Use with a Media Manager" on page 5-13 See Also: Oracle Secure Backup Administrator's Guide to learn how to use Oracle Secure Backup
- 63. RMAN in a Data Guard Environment Recovery Manager Architecture 3-7 Backup Solutions Program The Oracle Backup Solutions Program (BSP), part of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, is a group of media manager vendors whose products are compliant with Oracle's MML specification. Several products may be available for your platform from media management vendors. For more information, contact your Oracle representative for a list of available products, contact individual vendors to ask them if they participate, or access the Backup Solutions Program website at: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/features/availability /bsp-088814.html Oracle does not certify media manager vendors for compatibility with RMAN. Questions about availability, version compatibility, and functionality can only be answered by the media manager vendor, not Oracle. Fast Recovery Area The components that create different backup and recovery-related files have no knowledge of each other or of the size of the file systems where they store their data. With automatic disk-based backup and recovery, you can create a fast recovery area (also called the recovery area), which automates management of backup-related files. A fast recovery area minimizes the need to manually manage disk space for backup- related files and balance the use of space among the different types of files. In this way, a fast recovery area simplifies the ongoing administration of your database. Oracle recommends that you enable a recovery area to simplify backup management. When you create a recovery area, you choose a location on disk and set an upper bound for storage space. You also set a backup retention policy that governs how long backup files are needed for recovery. The database manages the storage used for backups, archived redo logs, and other recovery-related files for the database within this space. Files no longer needed are eligible for deletion when RMAN must reclaim space for new files. RMAN in a Data Guard Environment When using RMAN in a Data Guard environment, a recovery catalog is required. The recovery catalog can store the metadata for all primary and standby databases. A database in a Data Guard environment is uniquely identified by the DB_UNIQUE_NAME parameter in the initialization parameter file. For RMAN to work correctly in a Data Guard environment, the DB_UNIQUE_NAME must be unique across all the databases with the same DBID. RMAN Configuration in a Data Guard Environment To simplify ongoing use of RMAN for backup and recovery, you can set some persistent configuration settings for each primary and physical standby database in a Data Guard environment. These settings control many aspects of RMAN behavior. For example, you can configure the backup retention policy, default destinations for backups to tape or disk, default backup device type, and so on. See Also: "Configuring the Fast Recovery Area" on page 5-14 to learn about the fast recovery area and how to configure it See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to use RMAN in a Data Guard environment
- 64. RMAN in a Data Guard Environment 3-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide You can use the CONFIGURE command with the FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME clause to create a persistent configuration for a database in a Data Guard environment without connecting to the standby database or primary database as TARGET. For example, you connect RMAN to the recovery catalog, run the SET DBID command, and then can create a configuration for a physical standby database before its creation so that the RMAN configuration applies when the database is created. RMAN updates the control file of the database when connected to it as TARGET during a recovery catalog resynchronization. If you use FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME for a database without being connected as TARGET to this database, however, then RMAN changes configurations in the recovery catalog only. RMAN File Management in a Data Guard Environment RMAN uses a recovery catalog to track file names for all database files in a Data Guard environment. The catalog also records where the online redo log files, standby redo log files, temp files, archived redo log files, backup sets, and image copies are created. Interchangeability of Backups in a Data Guard Environment RMAN commands use the recovery catalog metadata to function transparently across different physical databases in the Data Guard environment. For example, you can back up a tablespace on a physical standby database and restore and recover it on the primary database. Similarly, you can back up a tablespace on a primary database and restore and recover it on a physical standby database. Backups of standby control files and nonstandby control files are interchangeable. For example, you can restore a standby control file on a primary database and a primary control file on a physical standby database. This interchangeability means that you can offload control file backups to one database in a Data Guard environment. RMAN automatically updates the file names for database files during restore and recovery at the databases. Association of Backups in a Data Guard Environment The recovery catalog tracks the files in the Data Guard environment by associating every database file or backup file with a DB_UNIQUE_NAME. The database that creates a file is associated with the file. For example, if RMAN backs up the database with the unique name of standby1, then standby1 is associated with this backup. A backup remains associated with the database that created it unless you use the CHANGE ...RESET DB_UNIQUE_NAME command to associate the backup with a different database. Accessibility of Backups in a Data Guard Environment The accessibility of a backup is different from its association. In a Data Guard environment, the recovery catalog considers disk backups as accessible only to the database with which they are associated, whereas tape backups created on one database are accessible to all databases. If a backup file is not associated with any database, then the row describing it in the recovery catalog view shows null for the See Also: "Configuring RMAN in a Data Guard Environment" on page 5-30 Note: Backups of logical standby databases are not usable at the primary database.
- 65. RMAN in a Data Guard Environment Recovery Manager Architecture 3-9 SITE_KEY column. By default, RMAN associates a file whose SITE_KEY is null with the database to which they are connected as TARGET. RMAN commands such as BACKUP, RESTORE, and CROSSCHECK work on any accessible backup. For example, for a RECOVER COPY operation, RMAN considers only image copies that are associated with the database as eligible to be recovered. RMAN considers the incremental backups on disk and tape as eligible to recover the image copies. In a database recovery, RMAN considers only the disk backups associated with the database and all files on tape as eligible to be restored. To illustrate the differences in backup accessibility, assume that databases PROD and STANDBY1 reside on different hosts. RMAN backs up data file 1 on PROD to /prmhost/disk1/df1.dbf on the production host and also to tape. RMAN backs up data file 1 on STANDBY1 to /sbyhost/disk2/df1.dbf on the standby host and also to tape. If RMAN is connected to database prod, then you cannot use RMAN commands to perform operations with the /sbyhost/disk2/df1.dbf backup located on the standby host. However, RMAN does consider the tape backup made on STANDBY1 as eligible to be restored. Note: You can transfer a backup from a standby host to a primary host or vice versa, connect as TARGET to the database on this host, and then use the CATALOG command to catalog the backup. After a file is cataloged by the target database, the file is associated with the target database. See Also: ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to perform RMAN backup and recovery in a Data Guard environment ■ "Maintenance Commands in a Data Guard Environment" on page 12-2 ■ Chapter 13, "Managing a Recovery Catalog" to learn how to manage a recovery catalog in a Data Guard environment ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax
- 66. RMAN in a Data Guard Environment 3-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 67. 4 Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-1 4 Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client This chapter explains how to start the RMAN command-line interface and make database connections. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Starting and Exiting RMAN ■ Specifying the Location of RMAN Output ■ Setting Globalization Support Environment Variables for RMAN ■ Entering RMAN Commands ■ Making Database Connections with RMAN ■ Using the RMAN Pipe Interface Starting and Exiting RMAN The RMAN executable is automatically installed with the database and is typically located in the same directory as the other database executables. For example, the RMAN client on Linux is located in $ORACLE_HOME/bin. You have the following basic options for starting RMAN: ■ Start the RMAN executable at the operating system command line without specifying any connection options, as in the following example: % rman ■ Start the RMAN executable at the operating system command line while connecting to a target database and, possibly, to a recovery catalog, as in the following examples: % rman TARGET / # operating system authentication % rman TARGET SYS@prod NOCATALOG # RMAN prompts for SYS password % rman TARGET / CATALOG rco@catdb # RMAN prompts for rco password To quit RMAN and terminate the program, enter EXIT or QUIT at the RMAN prompt: RMAN> EXIT Note: Most RMAN commands require that RMAN connect to at least a target database to perform useful work. See "Making Database Connections with RMAN" on page 4-7 for more details about connecting RMAN to different types of databases.
- 68. Specifying the Location of RMAN Output 4-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Specifying the Location of RMAN Output By default, RMAN writes command output to standard output. To redirect output to a log file, enter the LOG parameter on the command line when starting RMAN, as in the following example: % rman LOG /tmp/rman.log In this case, RMAN displays command input but does not display the RMAN output. The easiest way to send RMAN output both to a log file and to standard output is to use the Linux tee command or its equivalent. For example, the following technique enables both input and output to be visible in the RMAN command-line interface: % rman | tee rman.log RMAN> Setting Globalization Support Environment Variables for RMAN Before invoking RMAN, it may be useful to set the NLS_DATE_FORMAT and NLS_ LANG environment variables. These variables determine the format used for the time parameters in RMAN commands such as RESTORE, RECOVER, and REPORT. The following example shows typical language and date format settings: NLS_LANG=american NLS_DATE_FORMAT='Mon DD YYYY HH24:MI:SS' If you are going to use RMAN to connect to an unmounted database and mount the database later while RMAN is still connected, then set the NLS_LANG environment variable so that it also specifies the character set used by the database. A database that is not mounted assumes the default character set, which is US7ASCII. If your character set is different from the default, then RMAN returns errors after the database is mounted. For example, if the character set is WE8DEC, then to avoid errors, you can set the NLS_LANG variable as follows: NLS_LANG=american_america.we8dec In order for the environment variable NLS_DATE_FORMAT to be applied and override the defaults set for the server in the server initialization file, the environment variable NLS_LANG must also be set. Entering RMAN Commands You can enter RMAN commands either directly from the RMAN prompt or read them in from a text file. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RMAN command-line syntax See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about RMAN command-line options See Also: ■ Oracle Database Reference for more information about the NLS_ LANG and NLS_DATE_FORMAT parameters ■ Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide
- 69. Entering RMAN Commands Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-3 This section contains the following topics: ■ Entering RMAN Commands at the RMAN Prompt ■ Using Command Files with RMAN ■ Entering Comments in RMAN Command Files ■ Using Substitution Variables in Command Files ■ Checking RMAN Syntax Entering RMAN Commands at the RMAN Prompt When the RMAN client is ready for your commands, it displays the command prompt, as in this example: RMAN> Enter commands for RMAN to execute. For example: RMAN> CONNECT TARGET RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE; Most RMAN commands take some parameters and must end with a semicolon. Some commands, such as STARTUP, SHUTDOWN, and CONNECT, can be used with or without a semicolon. When you enter a line of text that is not a complete command, RMAN prompts for continuation input with a line number. For example: RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE 2> INCLUDE CURRENT 3> CONTROLFILE 4> ; Using Command Files with RMAN For repetitive tasks, you can create a text file containing RMAN commands, and start the RMAN client with the @ argument, followed by a file name. For example, create a text file cmdfile1 in the current directory containing one line of text as shown here: BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; You can run this command file from the command line as shown in this example, and the command contained in it is executed: % rman TARGET / @cmdfile1 After the command completes, RMAN exits. You can also use the @ command at the RMAN command prompt to execute the contents of a command file during an RMAN session. RMAN reads the file and executes the commands in it. For example: RMAN> @cmdfile1 After the command file contents have been executed, RMAN displays the following message: RMAN> **end-of-file** Unlike the case where a command file is executed from the operating system command line, RMAN does not exit.
- 70. Entering RMAN Commands 4-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Entering Comments in RMAN Command Files The comment character in RMAN is a pound sign (#). All text from the pound sign to the end of the line is ignored. For example, the following command file contents backs up the database and archived redo log files and includes comments: # Command file name: mybackup.rman # The following command backs up the database BACKUP DATABASE; # The following command backs up the archived redo logs BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL; The following example shows that you can break a single RMAN command across multiple lines: RMAN> BACKUP # this is a comment 2> SPFILE; Starting backup at 30-APR-07 allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1 . . . Using Substitution Variables in Command Files When running a command file, you can specify one or more values in a USING clause for use in substitution variables in a command file. In this way, you can make your command files dynamic. As in SQL*Plus, &1 indicates where to place the first value, &2 where to place the second value, and so on. The substitution variable syntax is &integer followed by an optional period, for example, &1.3. The optional period is part of the variable and replaced with the value, thus enabling the substitution text to be immediately followed by another integer. For example, if you pass the value mybackup to a command file containing the variable &1.3, then the result of the substitution is mybackup3. The following procedure explains how to create and use a dynamic shell script that calls a command file containing substitution variables. To create and use a dynamic shell script: 1. Create an RMAN command file that uses substitution variables. The following example shows the contents of a command file named quarterly_backup.cmd, which is run every quarter. The script uses substitution variables for the name of the tape set, for a string in the FORMAT specification, and for the name of the restore point to be created. # quarterly_backup.cmd CONNECT TARGET / RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=&1)'; BACKUP DATABASE TAG &2 See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RMAN command-line syntax
- 71. Entering RMAN Commands Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-5 FORMAT '/disk2/bck/&1%U.bck' KEEP FOREVER RESTORE POINT &3; } EXIT; 2. Create a shell script that you can use to run the RMAN command file created in the previous step. The following example creates a shell script named runbackup.sh. The example creates shell variables for the format and restore point name and accepts the values for these variables as command-line arguments to the script. #!/bin/tcsh # name: runbackup.sh # usage: use the tag name and number of copies as arguments set media_family = $argv[1] set format = $argv[2] set restore_point = $argv[3] rman @'/disk1/scripts/whole_db.cmd' USING $media_family $format $restore_point 3. Execute the shell script created in the previous step, specifying the desired arguments on the command line. The following example runs the runbackup.sh shell script and passes it archival_backup as the media family name, bck0906 as the format string, and FY06Q3 as the restore point name. % runbackup.sh archival_backup bck0906 FY06Q3 Checking RMAN Syntax You may want to test RMAN commands for syntactic correctness without executing them. Use the command-line argument CHECKSYNTAX to start the RMAN client in a mode in which it only parses the commands that you enter and returns an RMAN-00558 error for commands that are not legal RMAN syntax. Checking RMAN Syntax at the Command Line You can check the syntax of RMAN commands interactively without actually executing the commands. To check RMAN syntax at the command line: 1. Start RMAN with the CHECKSYNTAX parameter. For example, enter the following commands: % rman CHECKSYNTAX 2. Enter the RMAN commands to be tested. The following shows a sample interactive session, with user-entered text in bold. RMAN> run [ backup database; ] RMAN-00571: =========================================================== See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for @ syntax See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CHECKSYNTAX command-line option
- 72. Entering RMAN Commands 4-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00558: error encountered while parsing input commands RMAN-01006: error signaled during parse RMAN-02001: unrecognized punctuation symbol "[" RMAN> run { backup database; } The command has no syntax errors RMAN> Checking RMAN Syntax in Command Files To test commands in a command file, start RMAN with the CHECKSYNTAX parameter and use the @ command to name the command file to be passed. To test commands in a command file: 1. Use a text editor to create a command file. Assume that you create the /tmp/goodcmdfile with the following contents: # command file with legal syntax RESTORE DATABASE; RECOVER DATABASE; Assume that you create another command file, /tmp/badcmdfile, with the following contents: # command file with bad syntax commands RESTORE DATABASE RECOVER DATABASE 2. Run the command file from the RMAN prompt in the following format, where filename is the name of the command file: % rman CHECKSYNTAX @filename The following example shows the output when you run /tmp/goodcmdfile with CHECKSYNTAX: RMAN> # command file with legal syntax 2> restore database; 3> recover database; 4> The cmdfile has no syntax errors Recovery Manager complete. In contrast, the following example shows the output when you run /tmp/badcmdfile with CHECKSYNTAX: RMAN> #command file with syntax error 2> restore database 3> recover RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS=============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00558: error encountered while parsing input commands RMAN-01005: syntax error: found "recover": expecting one of: "archivelog, channel, check, controlfile, clone, database, datafile, device,
- 73. Making Database Connections with RMAN Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-7 from, force, high, (, preview, ;, skip, spfile, standby, tablespace, until, validate" RMAN-01007: at line 3 column 1 file: /tmp/badcmdfile As explained in "Using Substitution Variables in Command Files" on page 4-4, you make your command files dynamic by including substitution variables. When you check the syntax of a command file that contains substitution variables, RMAN prompts you to enter values. Example 4–1 illustrates what happens you enter invalid values when checking the syntax of a dynamic command file. The text in bold indicates text entered as the prompt. Example 4–1 Checking the Syntax of a Command File with Bad Syntax RMAN> CONNECT TARGET * 2> BACKUP TAG Enter value for 1: mybackup abc COPIES Enter value for 2: mybackup abc RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00558: error encountered while parsing input commands RMAN-01009: syntax error: found "identifier": expecting one of: "integer" RMAN-01008: the bad identifier was: mybackup RMAN-01007: at line 2 column 25 file: /tmp/whole_db.cmd RMAN indicates a syntax error because the string mybackup is not a valid argument for COPIES. Making Database Connections with RMAN This section explains how to connect the RMAN client to target databases. It contains the following topics: ■ About RMAN Database Connections ■ Connecting RMAN to an Auxiliary Database ■ Making RMAN Database Connections Within Command Files ■ Diagnosing RMAN Connection Problems About RMAN Database Connections To perform useful work, the RMAN client must connect to a database. The following table describes the types of database connections that you can make with RMAN. Table 4–1 Overview of RMAN Database Connections Type of Database Connection Keyword Description target database TARGET A database to be backed up or restored by RMAN recovery catalog database CATALOG A database that provides an optional backup store for the RMAN repository in addition to the control file.
- 74. Making Database Connections with RMAN 4-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Authentication for RMAN Database Connections RMAN connections to a database are specified and authenticated in the same way as SQL*Plus connections to a database. The only difference is that RMAN connections to a target or auxiliary database require the SYSDBA privilege. The AS SYSDBA keywords are implied for target and auxiliary connections and cannot be explicitly specified. A SYSDBA privilege is not required when connecting to the recovery catalog. You must grant the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role to the catalog schema owner. Authentication for RMAN Database Connections Using the Operating System To connect to a database using operating system authentication, you must set the environment variable specifying the Oracle SID. For example, to set the SID to prod in some UNIX shells, you would enter: % ORACLE_SID=prod; export ORACLE_SID A special operating system groups controls SYSDBA connections when using operating system authentication. This group is generically referred to as OSDBA. The group is created and assigned a specific name as part of the database installation process. The specific name varies depending upon your operating system. If the current operating system user is a member of the OSDBA group, and if the Oracle SID is set, then RMAN can connect to this database with SYSDBA privileges as follows: % rman TARGET / Authentication for RMAN Database Connections Using a Password File If a database uses a password file, then RMAN can use a password to connect to this database. Use a password file for either local or remote access. You must use a password file if you are connecting remotely as SYSDBA with a net service name. You can start RMAN without a password in the connect string, as in this example: auxiliary instance or auxiliary database AUXILIARY A physical standby database, or a database instance created for performing a specific task such as creating a duplicate database, transporting tablespaces, or performing tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR). For many tasks that use an auxiliary database, RMAN creates an automatic auxiliary instance for use during the task, connects to it, performs the task, and then destroys it when the task is completed. You do not give any explicit command to connect to automatic auxiliary instances. See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn about database connection options when using SQL*Plus Caution: Good security practice requires that passwords should not be entered in plain text on the command line. You should enter passwords in RMAN only when requested by an RMAN prompt. See Oracle Database Security Guide to learn about password protection. Table 4–1 (Cont.) Overview of RMAN Database Connections Type of Database Connection Keyword Description
- 75. Making Database Connections with RMAN Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-9 % rman TARGET SYS@prod target database Password: password connected to target database: PROD1 (DBID=39525561) RMAN prompts for a password and does not echo the characters. Making RMAN Database Connections from the Operating System Command Line To connect to a target database from the operating system command line, enter the rman command followed by the connection information. You can begin executing commands after the RMAN prompt is displayed. In the examples in this chapter, the generic values have the meanings shown in Table 4–2. Example 4–2 illustrates a connection to a target database that uses operating system authentication. The NOCATALOG option indicates that a recovery catalog is not used in the session. Example 4–2 Connecting to a Target Database from the System Prompt % rman TARGET / NOCATALOG connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561) using target database control file instead of recovery catalog RMAN> Example 4–3 illustrates a connection to a target database that uses Oracle Net authentication. RMAN prompts for the password. Example 4–3 Connecting to a Target Database from the System Prompt % rman TARGET SYS@prod NOCATALOG target database Password: password connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561) RMAN> Use the CATALOG keyword to connect to a recovery catalog. Example 4–4 illustrates a connection that uses Oracle Net authentication for the target and recovery catalog databases. In both cases RMAN prompts for a password. Table 4–2 Values in Examples Value Used in Example Meaning SYS User with SYSDBA privileges prod The net service name for the target database rco User that owns the recovery catalog schema. This is a user defined in the recovery catalog database that has been granted the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role. catdb The net service name for the recovery catalog database aux The net service name for an auxiliary instance
- 76. Making Database Connections with RMAN 4-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Example 4–4 Connecting to Target and Catalog Databases from the System Prompt % rman TARGET SYS@prod CATALOG rco@catdb target database Password: password connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561) recovery catalog database Password: password connected to recovery catalog database RMAN> You can also start RMAN without specifying NOCATALOG or CATALOG. If you do not specify NOCATALOG on the command line, and if you do not specify CONNECT CATALOG after RMAN has started, then RMAN defaults to NOCATALOG mode the first time that you run a command that requires the use of the RMAN repository. If you connect to the target database on the operating system command line, then you can begin executing commands after the RMAN prompt is displayed. Making Database Connections from the RMAN Prompt If you start RMAN without connecting to a target database, then you must issue a CONNECT TARGET command at the RMAN prompt to connect to a target database and begin performing useful work. To make a database connection from the RMAN prompt: 1. On the operating system command line, start the RMAN client without making a database connection. For example, enter rman as follows: % rman RMAN> 2. At the RMAN prompt, enter one or more CONNECT commands. The following example connects to a target database using operating system authentication: RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / The following alternative example connects to a target database and then a recovery catalog. The target connection uses operating system authentication, whereas the catalog database connection uses Oracle Net authentication. RMAN prompts for the password of the recovery catalog user. RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG rco@catdb recovery catalog database Password: password connected to recovery catalog database The following example connects to a target database with database-level credentials. RMAN prompts for the SYS password. % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS@prod Note: After you have executed a command that uses the RMAN repository in NOCATALOG mode, you must exit and restart RMAN to be able to connect to a recovery catalog.
- 77. Making Database Connections with RMAN Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-11 target database Password: password connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561) Connecting RMAN to an Auxiliary Database To use the DUPLICATE command, you must connect to an auxiliary instance. To perform RMAN tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR), you may also need to connect to an auxiliary instance. The form of an auxiliary connection is identical to a target database connection, except that you use the AUXILIARY keyword instead of the TARGET keyword. Example 4–5 connects to a target database and auxiliary instance from the RMAN prompt. Example 4–5 Connecting to the Target and Auxiliary Databases from the RMAN Prompt % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / RMAN> CONNECT AUXILIARY SYS@aux auxiliary database Password: password connected to auxiliary database: PROD (DBID=30472568) Making RMAN Database Connections Within Command Files If you create an RMAN command file which uses a CONNECT command with database level credentials (user name and password), then anyone with read access to this file can learn the password. There is no secure way to incorporate a CONNECT string with a password into a command file. If you create an RMAN command file which uses a CONNECT command, then RMAN does not echo the connect string when you run the command file with the @ command. This behavior prevents connect strings from appearing in any log files that contain RMAN output. For example, suppose you create a command file listbkup.rman as follows: cat > listbkup.rman << EOF CONNECT TARGET / LIST BACKUP; EOF See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CONNECT command Note: When you use the DUPLICATE ... FROM ACTIVE DATABASE command, a net service name is required. See "Step 5: Creating an Initialization Parameter File and Starting the Auxiliary Instance" on page 24-12 for more details. See Also: ■ Chapter 24, "Duplicating a Database" for more details on using the DUPLICATE command ■ Chapter 21, "Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR)" for more details on performing TSPITR
- 78. Using the RMAN Pipe Interface 4-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide You execute this script by running RMAN with the @ command line option as follows: % rman @listbkup.rman When the command file executes, RMAN replaces the connection string with an asterisk, as shown in the following output: RMAN> CONNECT TARGET * 2> LIST BACKUP; 3> connected to target database: RDBMS (DBID=771530996) using target database control file instead of recovery catalog List of Backup Sets =================== . . . Diagnosing RMAN Connection Problems When diagnosing errors RMAN encounters in connecting to the target, catalog and auxiliary databases, using SQL*Plus to connect to the databases directly can reveal underlying problems with the connection information or the databases. Diagnosing Target and Auxiliary Database Connection Problems RMAN always connects to target and auxiliary databases using the SYSDBA privilege. Thus, when using SQL*Plus to diagnose connection problems to the target or auxiliary databases, request a SYSDBA connection to reproduce RMAN behavior. For example, suppose that the following RMAN command encountered connection errors: RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / You reproduce the preceding connection attempt with the SQL*Plus command as follows: SQL> CONNECT / AS SYSDBA Diagnosing Recovery Catalog Connection Problems When RMAN connects to the recovery catalog database, it does not use the SYSDBA privilege. So, when you are using SQL*Plus to diagnose connection problems to the recovery catalog database, you must enter the database connect string exactly as it was entered into RMAN. Do not specify AS SYSDBA. Using the RMAN Pipe Interface The RMAN pipe interface is an alternative method for issuing commands to RMAN and receiving the output from those commands. With this interface, RMAN obtains commands and sends output by using the DBMS_PIPE PL/SQL package instead of the operating system shell. Using this interface, it is possible to write a portable programmatic interface to RMAN. The pipe interface is invoked by using the PIPE command-line parameter for the RMAN client. RMAN uses two private pipes: one for receiving commands and the other for sending output. The names of the pipes are derived from the value of the PIPE parameter. For example, you can invoke RMAN with the following command: % rman PIPE abc TARGET /
- 79. Using the RMAN Pipe Interface Starting and Interacting with the RMAN Client 4-13 RMAN opens the two pipes in the target database: ORA$RMAN_ABC_IN, which RMAN uses to receive user commands, and ORA$RMAN_ABC_OUT, which RMAN uses to send all output back to RMAN. All messages on both the input and output pipes are of type VARCHAR2. RMAN does not permit the pipe interface to be used with public pipes, because they are a potential security problem. With a public pipe, any user who knows the name of the pipe can send commands to RMAN and intercept its output. If the pipes are not initialized, then RMAN creates them as private pipes. If you want to put commands on the input pipe before starting RMAN, you must first create the pipe by calling DBMS_PIPE.CREATE_PIPE. Whenever a pipe is not explicitly created as a private pipe, the first access to the pipe automatically creates it as a public pipe, and RMAN returns an error if it is told to use a public pipe. Executing Multiple RMAN Commands in Succession Through a Pipe: Example This scenario assumes that the application controlling RMAN wants to run multiple commands in succession. After each command is sent down the pipe and executed and the output returned, RMAN pauses and waits for the next command. To execute RMAN commands through a pipe: 1. Start RMAN by connecting to a target database (required) and specifying the PIPE option. For example, issue: % rman PIPE abc TARGET / You can also specify the TIMEOUT option, which forces RMAN to exit automatically if it does not receive any input from the input pipe in the specified number of seconds. For example, enter: % rman PIPE abc TARGET / TIMEOUT 60 2. Connect to the target database and put the desired commands on the input pipe by using DBMS_PIPE.PACK_MESSAGE and DBMS_PIPE.SEND_MESSAGE. In pipe mode, RMAN issues message RMAN-00572 when it is ready to accept input instead of displaying the standard RMAN prompt. 3. Read the RMAN output from the output pipe by using DBMS_PIPE.RECEIVE_ MESSAGE and DBMS_PIPE.UNPACK_MESSAGE. 4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to execute further commands with the same RMAN instance that was started in Step 1. 5. If you used the TIMEOUT option when starting RMAN, then RMAN terminates automatically after not receiving any input for the specified length of time. To force RMAN to terminate immediately, send the EXIT command. Note: If multiple RMAN sessions can run against the target database, then you must use unique pipe names for each RMAN session. The DBMS_PIPE.UNIQUE_SESSION_NAME function is one method that you can use to generate unique pipe names.
- 80. Using the RMAN Pipe Interface 4-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Executing RMAN Commands in a Single Job Through a Pipe: Example This scenario assumes that the application controlling RMAN wants to run one or more commands as a single job. After running the commands that are on the pipe, RMAN exits. To execute RMAN commands in a single job through a pipe: 1. After connecting to the target database, create a pipe (if it does not exist under the name ORA$RMAN_pipe_IN). 2. Put the desired commands on the input pipe. In pipe mode, RMAN issues message RMAN-00572 when it is ready to accept input instead of displaying the standard RMAN prompt. 3. Start RMAN with the PIPE option, and specify TIMEOUT 0. For example, enter: % rman PIPE abc TARGET / TIMEOUT 0 4. RMAN reads the commands that were put on the pipe and executes them by using DBMS_PIPE.PACK_MESSAGE and DBMS_PIPE.SEND_MESSAGE. When it has exhausted the input pipe, RMAN exits immediately. 5. Read RMAN output from the output pipe by using DBMS_PIPE.RECEIVE_ MESSAGE and DBMS_PIPE.UNPACK_MESSAGE. See Also: Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference for documentation on the DBMS_PIPE package
- 81. 5 Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-1 5 Configuring the RMAN Environment This chapter explains the most basic tasks involved in configuring RMAN. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups ■ Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager ■ Configuring the Fast Recovery Area ■ Configuring the Backup Retention Policy ■ Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command ■ Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy ■ Configuring RMAN in a Data Guard Environment Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups For most parameters required for backups, RMAN provides sensible defaults that enable you to perform basic backup and recovery. When implementing an RMAN-based backup strategy, you can use RMAN more effectively if you understand the most common configurations. To simplify ongoing use of RMAN, you can set some persistent configuration settings for each target database. These settings control many aspects of RMAN behavior. For example, you can configure the backup retention policy, default destinations for backups, default backup device type, and so on. You can use the SHOW and CONFIGURE commands to view and change RMAN configurations. This section explains what an RMAN configuration is and how you can use the CONFIGURE command to change RMAN default behavior for your backup and recovery environment. This section also introduces the major settings available to you and their more common values. See Also: ■ Chapter 6, "Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics" to learn about configuration options not covered in this chapter, including backup compression and encryption ■ Appendix C in the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for information about configuring RMAN for the Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) Cloud Module.
- 82. Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups 5-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide This section includes the following topics: ■ Showing and Clearing Persistent RMAN Configurations ■ Configuring the Default Device for Backups: Disk or SBT ■ Configuring the Default Type for Backups: Backup Sets or Copies ■ Configuring Channels ■ Configuring Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups Showing and Clearing Persistent RMAN Configurations You can use the SHOW command to display the current value of RMAN configured settings for the target database. You can also view whether these commands are currently set to their default values. To view or change your CONFIGURE command settings: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the RMAN SHOW command. For example, run SHOW ALL as shown in Example 5–1 (sample output included). The output includes both parameters that you have changed and those that are set to the default. The configuration is displayed as the series of RMAN commands required to re-create the configuration. You can save the output in a text file and use this command file to re-create the configuration on the same or a different database. Example 5–1 SHOW ALL Command SHOW ALL; RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name PROD1 are: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 3 DAYS; CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON; CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON; CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE TO '%F'; # default CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '%F'; # default CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET; CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE TO 1; # default CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE TO 1; # default CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARMS 'ENV=(OB_DEVICE=tape1)'; CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED; # default CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; # default CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES128'; # default CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO NONE; # default CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/disk1/oracle/dbs/snapcf_ev.f'; # default Note: If you plan to back up to tape, refer to "Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager" on page 5-9. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax
- 83. Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-3 You can also use the SHOW command with the name of a particular configuration. For example, you can view the retention policy and default device type as follows: SHOW RETENTION POLICY; SHOW DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE; 3. Optionally, use the CONFIGURE ... CLEAR command to return any configuration to its default value, as shown in the following examples: CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION CLEAR; CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY CLEAR; CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR; Configuring the Default Device for Backups: Disk or SBT Backups for which no destination device type is specified are directed to the configured default device. RMAN is preconfigured to use disk as the default device type. No additional configuration is necessary. You may need to change the default device type from disk to tape, or change it back from tape to disk. Table 5–1 shows the commands that configure the default device. You can always override the default device by using the DEVICE TYPE clause of the BACKUP command, as shown in the following examples: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt DATABASE; BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK DATABASE; To change the configured default device type: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the SHOW ALL command to show the currently configured default device. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SHOW syntax Table 5–1 Commands to Configure the Default Device Type Command Explanation CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK Specifies that backups should go to disk by default. If a recovery area is enabled, then the backup location defaults to the fast recovery area. Otherwise, the backup location defaults to an operating system-specific directory on disk. When backing up to disk, the logical block size of the database file must be an even multiple of the physical block size of the destination device. For example, a device of type DISK with a block size of 2 kilobytes can only be used as a destination for backups of database files with logical block sizes of 2 KB, 4 KB, 6 KB, and so on. Most disk drives have physical block sizes of 512 bytes, so this limitation rarely affects backup to disk drives. Nevertheless, you can encounter this limitation when backing up to a writable DVD or a device that has a larger physical block size. CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt Specifies that backups should go to tape by default. "Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager" on page 5-9 explains how to set up RMAN for use with a media manager. After RMAN can communicate with the media manager, you can configure RMAN to make backups to tape and specify SBT as the default device type.
- 84. Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups 5-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 3. Run the CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE command, specifying either TO DISK or TO sbt. Configuring the Default Type for Backups: Backup Sets or Copies The BACKUP command can create either backup sets or image copies. For disk, you can configure RMAN to create either backup sets or image copies as its default backup type with the CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK BACKUP TYPE TO command. The default backup type for disk is an uncompressed backup set. RMAN can create backup sets using binary compression. You can configure RMAN to use compressed backup sets by default on a device type by specifying the COMPRESSED option in the BACKUP TYPE TO ... BACKUPSET clause. To disable compression, use the CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE command with arguments specifying your other desired settings, but omit the COMPRESSED keyword. To configure the default type of backup: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Configure backup sets or image copies as the default backup type. The following examples configure the backup type for disk backups to copies and backup sets: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK BACKUP TYPE TO COPY; # image copies CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # uncompressed The following examples configure compression for backup sets: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET; CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET; Configuring Channels As explained in "RMAN Channels" on page 3-3, an RMAN channel is a connection to a database server session. RMAN uses channels to perform most tasks. About Channel Configuration Use the CONFIGURE CHANNEL command to configure options for disk or SBT channels. CONFIGURE CHANNEL takes the same options used to specify one-time options with the ALLOCATE CHANNEL command. You can configure generic channel settings for a device type, that is, a template that is used for any channels created based on configured settings for that device. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for more details on using the BACKUP command with the DEVICE TYPE clause Note: Because RMAN can write an image copy only to disk, the backup type for tape can only be a backup set. See Also: ■ Backup Sets on page 8-3 ■ Making Compressed Backups on page 9-6
- 85. Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-5 If you use CONFIGURE CHANNEL to specify generic channel settings for a device, any previous settings are discarded, even if the settings are not in conflict. For example, after the second CONFIGURE CHANNEL command, which specifies only the FORMAT for configured disk channels, the MAXPIECESIZE for the disk channel is returned to its default value: CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK MAXPIECESIZE 2G; CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT /tmp/%U; Configuring Channels for Disk By default, RMAN allocates one disk channel for all operations. You may want to specify different options for this channel, for example, a new default location for backups. Example 5–2 configures RMAN to write disk backups to the /disk1 directory and specifies a nondefault format for the relative file name. Example 5–2 Configuring a Nondefault Backup Location CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/ora_df%t_s%s_s%p'; In Example 5–2, RMAN automatically replaces the format specifier %t with a four byte time stamp, %s with the backup set number, and %p with the backup piece number. You can also specify an ASM disk location, as shown in Example 5–3: Example 5–3 Configuring an ASM Disk Location CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '+dgroup1'; Configuring Parallel Channels for Disk and SBT Devices The number of channels available for a device type when you run a command determines whether RMAN reads or writes in parallel. As a rule, the number of channels used in executing a command should match the number of devices accessed. Thus, for tape backups, allocate one channel for each tape drive. For disk backups, allocate one channel for each physical disk, unless you can optimize the backup for your disk subsystem architecture with multiple channels. Failing to allocate the right number of channels adversely affects RMAN performance during I/O operations. You can configure channel parallelism settings, binary compression for backup sets, and other options for an SBT device with CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt. You set the configuration for the device type independently of the channel configuration. Note: This section explains configuration of disk channels. To learn how to configure channels for tape, see "Configuring SBT Channels for Use with a Media Manager" on page 5-13. Note: When you configure an explicit format for disk channels, RMAN does not create backups by default in the fast recovery area. In this case, you lose the disk space management capabilities of the fast recovery area. See Also: "Backing Up Database Files with RMAN" on page 9-6 to learn how to make backups
- 86. Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups 5-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Example 5–4 changes the SBT device (sample output included) so that RMAN can back up to a media manager using two tape drives in parallel. Each configured SBT channel backs up approximately half the total data. Example 5–4 Configuring Parallelism for an SBT Device RMAN> CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 2; old RMAN configuration parameters: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET PARALLELISM 1; new RMAN configuration parameters: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET; new RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored Example 5–5 changes the default backup type for the SBT device to an uncompressed backup set (sample output included). Example 5–5 Configuring the Backup Type for an SBT Device RMAN> CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; old RMAN configuration parameters: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET; new RMAN configuration parameters: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET PARALLELISM 2; new RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored The CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE commands used in this example only affect parallelism and backup type and do not affect the values of settings not specified. In Example 5–4, the default backup type of compressed backup set was not changed by changing the parallelism setting. In Example 5–5, the ability to use multiple tape drives in parallel was not affected by changing the default backup type. Manually Overriding Configured Channels If you manually allocate a channel during a job, then RMAN disregards any configured channel settings. For example, assume that the default device type is SBT, and you execute the following command: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE DISK; BACKUP TABLESPACE users; } In this case, RMAN uses only the disk channel that you manually allocated within the RUN command, overriding any defaults set by using CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE, CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE, or CONFIGURE CHANNEL settings. See Also: ■ "Specifying Multiple Formats for Disk Backups" on page 9-4 to learn how to make disk backups in parallel ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for reference material on the CHANNEL parameter of the BACKUP command ■ Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide for information about taking advantage of parallel operations in an Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) configuration
- 87. Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-7 Configuring Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups As explained in "Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups" on page 8-12, you can configure RMAN to automatically back up the control file and server parameter file. The autobackup occurs whenever a backup record is added. If the database runs in ARCHIVELOG mode, then an autobackup is also taken whenever the database structure metadata in the control file changes. A control file autobackup enables RMAN to recover the database even if the current control file, recovery catalog, and server parameter file are lost. Because the file name for the autobackup follows a well-known format, RMAN can search for it without access to a repository and then restore the server parameter file. After you have started the instance with the restored server parameter file, RMAN can restore the control file from an autobackup. After you mount the control file, the RMAN repository is available, and RMAN can restore the data files and find the archived redo logs. You can enable the autobackup feature by running the following command: CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON; You can disable the feature by running the following command: CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP OFF; Configuring the Control File Autobackup Format By default, the format of the autobackup file for all configured devices is the substitution variable %F in the FORMAT clause. This variable format translates into c-IIIIIIIIII-YYYYMMDD-QQ, with the placeholders defined as follows: ■ IIIIIIIIII stands for the DBID. ■ YYYYMMDD is a time stamp of the day the backup is generated. ■ QQ is the hexadecimal sequence that starts with 00 and has a maximum of FF. You can change the default format by using the following command, where deviceSpecifier is any valid device type, and 'string' must contain the substitution variable %F (and no other substitution variables) and is a valid handle for the specified device: CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier TO 'string'; For example, you can run the following command to specify a nondefault file name for the control file autobackup. In the file name, ? stands for ORACLE_HOME. CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT See Also: ■ "RMAN Channels" on page 3-3 to learn about configured and allocated channels ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for ALLOCATE CHANNEL syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax
- 88. Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups 5-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '?/oradata/cf_%F'; The following example configures the autobackup to write to an Automatic Storage Management disk group: CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '+dgroup1/%F'; To clear control file autobackup formats for a device, use the following commands: CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR; CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt CLEAR; If you have set up a fast recovery area for the database, then you can direct control file autobackups to the fast recovery area by clearing the control file autobackup format for disk. Overriding the Configured Control File Autobackup Format The SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT command, which you can specify either within a RUN command or at the RMAN prompt, overrides the configured autobackup format in the current session only. The order of precedence is: 1. SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT (within a RUN block) 2. SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT (at RMAN prompt) 3. CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT The following example shows how the two forms of SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT interact: SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 'controlfile_%F'; BACKUP AS COPY DATABASE; RUN { SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '/tmp/%F.bck'; BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DEVICE TYPE DISK DATABASE; } The first SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT controls the name of the control file autobackup until the RMAN client exits, overriding any configured control file autobackup format. The SET CONTROFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT in the RUN block overrides the SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT outside the RUN block for the duration of the RUN block. Note: The valid formats for control file autobackups are: %D, %I, %M, %Y, %F, %T, %d, and %n. If you use formats other than these, you may not be able to restore the control file autobackup. Note: All files in the fast recovery area are maintained by Oracle Database and associated file names are maintained in the Oracle Managed Files (OMF) format.
- 89. Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-9 Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager On most platforms, to back up to and restore from sequential media such as tape you must integrate a media manager with your Oracle database. You can use Oracle Secure Backup, which supports both database and file system backups to tape, as your media manager. See Oracle Secure Backup Administrator's Guide to learn how to set up RMAN for use specifically with Oracle Secure Backup. If you do not use Oracle Secure Backup, then you can use a third-party media manager. This section describes the generic steps for configuring RMAN for use with a third-party media manager. The actual steps depend on the media management product that you install and the platform on which you run the database. If you opt to use RMAN with a media manager other than Oracle Secure Backup, then you must obtain all product-specific information from the vendor. Read the following sections in order when configuring the media manager: 1. Prerequisites for Using a Media Manager with RMAN 2. Determining the Location of the Media Management Library 3. Configuring Media Management Software for RMAN Backups 4. Testing Whether the Media Manager Library Is Integrated Correctly 5. Configuring SBT Channels for Use with a Media Manager Prerequisites for Using a Media Manager with RMAN Before you can begin using RMAN with a third-party media manager, you must install the media manager and ensure that RMAN can communicate with it. Refer to the media management vendor's software documentation for instructions. In general, you should begin by installing and configuring the media management software on the target host or production network. Ensure that you can make non-RMAN backups of operating system files on the target database host. This step makes later troubleshooting much easier by confirming that the basic integration of the media manager with the target host has been successful. Refer to your media management documentation to learn how to back up files to the media manager without using RMAN. Then, obtain and install the third-party media management module for integration with the database server. This module contains the media management library that the Oracle database loads and uses when accessing the media manager. It is generally a third-party product that must be purchased separately. Contact your media management vendor for details. Determining the Location of the Media Management Library Before attempting to use RMAN with a media manager, determine the location of the media management library. When allocating or configuring a channel for RMAN to use to communicate with a media manager, you must specify the SBT_LIBRARY parameter in an ALLOCATE CHANNEL or CONFIGURE CHANNEL command. The SBT_LIBRARY parameter specifies the path to the library. The following example shows the channel syntax, where pathname is the absolute file name of the library: See Also: "Media Management" on page 3-6 for an overview of media management software and its implications for RMAN
- 90. Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager 5-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'SBT_LIBRARY=pathname'; When RMAN allocates channels to communicate with a media manager, it attempts to load the library indicated by the SBT_LIBRARY parameter. If you do not provide a value for the SBT_LIBRARY parameter in an allocated or preconfigured channel, then RMAN looks in a platform-specific and secured default location. On Linux and UNIX, the SBT library is loaded from: /opt/oracle/extapi/[32,64]/{SBT}/{VENDOR}/{VERSION}/libobk.so The SBT library file name extension name varies according to platform: ■ .so, .sl on HP-UX, ■ .a on AIX, On Windows, the SBT library is loaded from: %SYSTEM_DRIVE%oracleextapi[32,64]{SBT}{VENDOR}{VERSION}orasbt.dll If RMAN cannot use the secured default location or if you are using Oracle Database 11g or earlier, RMAN loads the SBT library from the location designated by the environment variables PATH or LIBPATH. In some cases, your organization may have security or regulatory compliance requirements that prohibit the use of environment variables PATH or LIBPATH to designate a library directory. To disable this behavior, set the PARMS string to SBT_SECURE=1. Configuring Media Management Software for RMAN Backups After installing the media management software, perform whatever configuration that your vendor requires so that the software can accept RMAN backups. Depending on the type of media management software that you installed, you may have to define media pools, configure users and classes, and so on. Consult your media management vendor documentation for the appropriate RMAN settings. The PARMS parameter sends instructions to the media manager. If PARMS values are needed for the ALLOCATE CHANNEL or the CONFIGURE CHANNEL command, or if a FORMAT string is recommended for the BACKUP or CONFIGURE command, then refer to the vendor documentation for this information. Example 5–6 shows a PARMS setting for Oracle Secure Backup. This PARMS settings instructs the media manager to back up to a family of tapes called datafile_mf. The PARMS settings are always vendor-specific. Note: The default media management library file is not part of the standard database installation. It is present only if you install third-party media management software. See Also: Your operating system-specific database documentation and the documentation supplied by your media vendor for instructions on how to achieve media manager integration on your platform
- 91. Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-11 Example 5–6 PARMS Setting for Oracle Secure Backup CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=datafile_mf)'; Testing Whether the Media Manager Library Is Integrated Correctly After you have confirmed that the database server can load the media management library, test to ensure that RMAN can back up to the media manager. Testing ALLOCATE CHANNEL on the Media Manager The following steps use the ALLOCATE CHANNEL command to perform a basic test of RMAN communication with the media manager. To test channel allocation on the media manager: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the ALLOCATE CHANNEL command with the PARMS required by your media management software. The following RUN command shows sample vendor-specific PARMS settings: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'SBT_LIBRARY=/mydir/lib/libobk.so, ENV=(OB_DEVICE=drive1,OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=datafile_mf)'; } 3. Examine the RMAN output. If you do not receive an error message, then the database successfully loaded the media management library. If you receive the ORA-27211 error, the media management library could not be loaded: RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03009: failure of allocate command on c1 channel at 11/30/2007 13:57:18 ORA-19554: error allocating device, device type: SBT_TAPE, device name: ORA-27211: Failed to load Media Management Library Additional information: 25 In this case, check the media management installation to ensure that the library is correctly installed, and recheck the value for the SBT_LIBRARY parameter as described in "Determining the Location of the Media Management Library" on page 5-9. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for ALLOCATE CHANNEL syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for channel control options ■ Oracle Secure Backup Reference for RMAN-specific parameter settings for Oracle Secure Backup
- 92. Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager 5-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide If the database cannot locate a media management library in the location specified by the SBT_LIBRARY parameter or the default location, then RMAN issues an ORA-27211 error and exits. Whenever channel allocation fails, the database writes a trace file to the trace subdirectory in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR) home directory. The following shows sample output: SKGFQ OSD: Error in function sbtinit on line 2278 SKGFQ OSD: Look for SBT Trace messages in file /oracle/rdbms/log/sbtio.log SBT Initialize failed for /oracle/lib/libobk.so Testing Backup and Restore Operations on the Media Manager After testing a channel allocation on the media manager, create and restore a test backup. For example, you can use the command in Example 5–7 (substituting the channel settings required by your media management vendor) to test whether a backup can be created on the media manager. If your database does not use a server parameter file, then back up the current control file instead. Example 5–7 Backing Up the Server Parameter File to Tape RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'SBT_LIBRARY=/mydir/lib/libobk.so, ENV=(OB_DEVICE=drive1,OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=datafile_mf)'; BACKUP SPFILE; # If your database does not use a server parameter file, use: # BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE; } If the backup succeeds, then attempt to restore the server parameter file as an initialization parameter file. Example 5–8 restores the backup created in Example 5–7 to a temporary directory. Example 5–8 Restoring the Server Parameter File from Tape RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'SBT_LIBRARY=/mydir/lib/libobk.so, ENV=(OB_DEVICE=drive1,OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=datafile_mf)'; RESTORE SPFILE TO PFILE '/tmp/test_restore.f'; # If your database does not use a server parameter file, use: # RESTORE CURRENT CONTROLFILE TO '/tmp/test_restore.f'; } If the backup and restore operations succeed, then you are ready to use the media manager with RMAN. Possible failures include the following cases: ■ The backup hangs. A hanging backup usually indicates that the media manager is waiting to mount a tape. Check if there are any media manager jobs in tape mount request mode and fix the problem. Ensure that the steps in "Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager" on page 5-9 are correctly done. See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn how to use the Automatic Diagnostic Repository to monitor database operations
- 93. Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-13 ■ The backup fails with ORA-27211: Failed to load Media Management Library. This error indicates that the media management software is not correctly configured. Ensure that the steps in "Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager" are correctly done. Also, ensure that you have the PARMS and FORMAT strings required by your media management software. Configuring SBT Channels for Use with a Media Manager This section describes how to configure channels for use with a media manager. For an overview of configured channels and how they are used, refer to the section "Configuring Advanced Channel Options" on page 6-1. About Media Manager Backup Piece Names A backup piece name is determined by the FORMAT string specified in the BACKUP command, CONFIGURE CHANNEL command, or ALLOCATE CHANNEL command. The media manager considers the backup piece name as the name of the backup file, so every backup piece must have a unique name in the media management catalog. You can use the substitution variables in a FORMAT parameter to generate unique backup piece names. For example, %d specifies the name of the database, whereas %t specifies the backup time stamp. For most purposes, you can use %U, in which case RMAN automatically generates a unique file name. The backup piece name 12i1nk47_1_1 is an example. If you do not specify the FORMAT parameter, then RMAN automatically generates a unique file name with the %U substitution variable. Your media manager may impose restrictions on file names and sizes. In this case, you may need more control over the naming of backup pieces so that they obey media manager restrictions. For example, some media managers only support a 14-character backup piece name, and some require special FORMAT strings. The unique names generated by the %U substitution variable do not exceed 14 characters. Some media managers may have limits on the maximum size of files that they can back up or restore. You must ensure that RMAN does not produce backup sets larger than those limits. To limit backup piece sizes, use the parameter MAXPIECESIZE, which you can set in the CONFIGURE CHANNEL and ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands. See Also: "Testing the Media Management API" on page 23-11 and Chapter 23, "Troubleshooting RMAN Operations" See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference and "Number and Size of Backup Pieces" on page 8-6 to learn how to set MAXPIECESIZE ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for the complete list of variables allowable in format strings with the BACKUP command ■ Your media management documentation to determine the string character limit for the media manager
- 94. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area 5-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring Automatic SBT Channels The easiest technique for backing up to a media manager is to configure automatic SBT channels. As explained in "Configuring the Default Device for Backups: Disk or SBT" on page 5-3, you can use a tape device as your default backup destination. To configure channels for use with a media manager: 1. Configure a generic SBT channel. In the configuration, enter all parameters that you tested "Testing Backup and Restore Operations on the Media Manager" on page 5-12. The following example configures vendor-specific channel parameters and sets the default device: CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME=1minute,OB_DEVICE=tape1)'; 2. Configure the default device type to SBT, as shown in the following command: CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt; If you use multiple tape devices, then you must specify the channel parallelism as described in "Configuring Parallel Channels for Disk and SBT Devices" on page 5-5. The following configuration enables you to back up to two tape drives in parallel: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 2; Optionally, check your channel configuration by running the following command: SHOW CHANNEL FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt; 3. Make a test backup to tape. The following command backs up the server parameter file to tape: BACKUP SPFILE; 4. List your backups to ensure that the test backup went to the media manager: LIST BACKUP OF SPFILE; Configuring the Fast Recovery Area As explained in "Fast Recovery Area" on page 3-7, the fast recovery area feature enables you to set up a disk area where the database can create and manage a variety of files related to backup and recovery. Use of the fast recovery area is strongly recommended. Consider configuring a fast recovery area as a first step in implementing a backup strategy. This section outlines the functions of the fast recovery area, identifies the files stored there, explains the rules for file management, and introduces the most important configuration options. This section contains the following topics: ■ Overview of the Fast Recovery Area ■ Enabling the Fast Recovery Area ■ Disabling the Fast Recovery Area ■ Configuring Locations for Control Files and Redo Logs ■ Configuring RMAN File Creation in the Fast Recovery Area
- 95. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-15 Overview of the Fast Recovery Area The fast recovery area can contain control files, online redo logs, archived redo logs, flashback logs, and RMAN backups. Files in the recovery area are permanent or transient. Permanent files are active files used by the database instance. All files that are not permanent are transient. In general, Oracle Database eventually deletes transient files after they become obsolete under the backup retention policy or have been backed up to tape. The fast recovery area is an Oracle Database managed space that can be used to hold RMAN disk backups, control file autobackups and archived redo log files. The files placed in this location are maintained by Oracle Database and the generated file names are maintained in Oracle Managed Files (OMF) format. Table 5–2 describes the files in the recovery area, the classification of each file as permanent or temporary, and how database availability is affected. See Also: "Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-6 Table 5–2 Files in the Fast Recovery Area Files Type Database Behavior When Fast Recovery Area Is Inaccessible Multiplexed copies of the current control file Permanent The instance fails if the database cannot write to a multiplexed copy of the control file stored in the fast recovery area. Failure occurs even if accessible multiplexed copies are located outside the recovery area. See Also: "Configuring Control File Locations" on page 5-22 to learn how to configure control files in the recovery area Online redo log files Permanent Instance availability is not affected if a mirrored copy of the online redo log exists in an accessible location outside the fast recovery area. Otherwise, the instance fails. See Also: "Configuring Online Redo Log Locations" on page 5-21 to learn how to configure online redo logs in the recovery area Archived redo log files Transient Instance availability is not affected if the log is archived to an accessible location outside the fast recovery area. Otherwise, the database eventually halts because it cannot archive the online redo logs. See Also: "Configuring Archived Redo Log Locations" on page 5-22 to learn how to configure archived redo logs in the recovery area Foreign archived redo log files Transient Instance availability is not affected. Note: Foreign archived redo logs are received by a logical standby database for a LogMiner session. Unlike a normal archived log, a foreign archived redo log is associated with a different DBID. For this reason, it cannot be backed up or restored on a logical standby database.
- 96. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area 5-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide If you are on a Windows platform, then you can use the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) with the Oracle VSS writer. In this case, the fast recovery area automates management of files that are backed up in a VSS snapshot and deletes them as needed. Oracle Managed Files and Automatic Storage Management The fast recovery area can be used with Oracle Managed Files (OMF) and Automatic Storage Management (ASM). Because the fast recovery area is built on top of OMF, so it can be stored anywhere that Oracle Managed Files can. You can also use the recovery area with ASM. Even if you choose not to set up the fast recovery area in ASM storage, you can still use Oracle Managed Files to manage your backup files in an ASM disk group. However, you lose a major benefit of the fast recovery area: the automatic deletion of files no longer needed to meet your recoverability goals as space is needed for more recent backups. Nevertheless, the other automatic features of OMF still function. When your store backups, using OMF on top of ASM without using a fast recovery area is supported but discouraged. It is awkward to directly manipulate files under ASM. How Oracle Manages Disk Space in the Fast Recovery Area Space in the fast recovery area is balanced among backups and archived logs that must be kept according to the retention policy, and other files that may be subject to deletion. Oracle Database does not delete eligible files from the fast recovery area until the space must be reclaimed for some other purpose. Files recently moved to tape are often still available on disk for use in recovery. The recovery area can thus serve as a Image copies of data files and control files Transient Instance availability is not affected. Backup pieces Transient Instance availability is not affected. Flashback logs Transient Instance availability is not affected if guaranteed restore points are not defined. In this case, the database automatically disables Flashback Database, writes a message to the alert log, and continues with database processing. If guaranteed restore points are configured, the instance fails because of interdependencies on the flashback logs. The Oracle Flashback Database feature, which provides a convenient alternative to database point-in-time recovery (DBPITR), generates flashback logs. These logs are transient files and must be stored in the fast recovery area. Unlike other transient files, flashback logs cannot be backed up to other media. If the fast recovery area has insufficient space to store flashback logs and meet other backup retention requirements, then the recovery area may delete flashback logs. See Also: "Enabling Flashback Database" on page 7-10 to learn how to enable flashback logging See Also: ■ Chapter 18, "Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery" ■ Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows to learn about making backups in a VSS environment Table 5–2 (Cont.) Files in the Fast Recovery Area Files Type Database Behavior When Fast Recovery Area Is Inaccessible
- 97. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-17 cache for tape. When the fast recovery area is full, Oracle Database automatically deletes eligible files to reclaim space in the recovery area as needed. Enabling the Fast Recovery Area You enable the fast recovery area by setting two initialization parameters. These parameters enable the fast recovery area without having to shut down and restart the database instance. You set the size of the fast recovery area with the parameter DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE first, and then you set the physical location of the flash recovery files with the parameter DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST. Table 5–3 discusses both the mandatory and optional parameters for enabling the fast recovery area. In an Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database, all instances must have the same values for these initialization parameters. The location must be on a cluster file system, ASM, or a shared directory. See Also: "Deletion Rules for the Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-6 and "Responding to a Full Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-8
- 98. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area 5-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Considerations When Setting the Size of the Fast Recovery Area The larger the fast recovery area is, the more useful it becomes. Ideally, the fast recovery area should be large enough to contain the files listed in Table 5–2 on page 5-15. The recovery area should be able to contain a copy of all data files in the database and the incremental backups used by your chosen backup strategy. If providing this much space is impractical, then it is best to create an area large enough to keep a backup of the most important tablespaces and all the archived logs not yet on tape. At an absolute minimum, the fast recovery area must be large enough to contain the archived redo logs not yet on tape. If the recovery area has insufficient space to store new flashback logs and meet other backup retention requirements, then to make room, the recovery area may delete older flashback logs. Table 5–3 Initialization Parameters for the Fast Recovery Area Initialization Parameter Required Description DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE Yes Specifies the disk quota, which is maximum storage in bytes of data to be used by the recovery area for this database. You must set this parameter before DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST. The DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE setting does not include the following kinds of disk overhead: ■ Block 0 or the operating system block header of each Oracle Database file is not included. Allow an extra 10% for this data when computing the actual disk usage required for the fast recovery area. ■ DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE does not indicate the real size occupied on disk when the underlying file system is mirrored, compressed, or affected by overhead not known to Oracle Database. For example, if the recovery area is on a two-way mirrored ASM disk group, each file of x bytes occupies 2x bytes on the ASM disk group. In this case, set DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE to no more than half the size of the disks for the ASM disk group. Likewise, when using a three-way mirrored ASM disk group, DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE must be no greater than one third the size of the disks in the disk group, and so on. DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST Yes Specifies the recovery area location, which can be a file system directory or ASM disk group, but not a raw disk. The location must be large enough for the disk quota. DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET No Specifies the upper limit (in minutes) on how far back in time the database may be flashed back. This parameter is required only for Flashback Database. This parameter indirectly determines how much flashback log data is kept in the recovery area. The size of flashback logs generated by the database can vary considerably depending on the database workload. If more blocks are affected by database updates during a given interval, then more disk space is used by the flashback log data generated for that interval. See Also: Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for ALTER SYSTEM syntax, and Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for details on setting and changing database initialization parameters
- 99. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-19 Formulas for estimating a useful fast recovery area size depend on whether: ■ Your database has a small or large number of data blocks that change frequently ■ You store backups only on disk, or on disk and tape ■ You use a redundancy-based backup retention policy, or a recovery window-based retention policy ■ You plan to use Flashback Database or a guaranteed restore point as alternatives to point-in-time recovery in response to logical errors If you plan to enable flashback logging, then the volume of flashback log generation is approximately the same order of magnitude as redo log generation. For example, if you intend to set DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET to 24 hours, and if the database generates 20 gigabytes of redo in a day, then a general rule of thumb is to allow 20 GB to 30 GB of disk space for the flashback logs. The same rule applies to guaranteed restore points when flashback logging is enabled. For example, if the database generates 20 GB of redo every day, and if the guaranteed restore point is kept for a day, then plan to allocate 20 to 30 GB. Suppose that you want to determine the size of a fast recovery area when the backup retention policy is set to REDUNDANCY 1 and you intend to follow Oracle's suggested strategy of using an incrementally updated backup. In this example, you use the following formula to estimate the disk quota, where n is the interval in days between incremental updates and y is the delay in applying the foreign archived redo logs on a logical standby database: Disk Quota = Size of a copy of database + Size of an incremental backup + Size of (n+1) days of archived redo logs + Size of (y+1) days of foreign archived redo logs (for logical standby) + Size of control file + Size of an online redo log member * number of log groups + Size of flashback logs (based on DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET value) Considerations When Setting the Location of the Fast Recovery Area Place the fast recovery area on a separate disk from the database area, where the database maintains active database files such as data files, control files, and online redo logs. Keeping the fast recovery area on the same disk as the database area exposes you to loss of both your live database files and backups if a media failure occurs. Oracle recommends that DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST be set to a different value from DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST or any of the DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_DEST_n initialization parameters. The database writes a warning to the alert log if DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST equals these parameters. Multiple databases can have the same value for DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST, but one of the following must be true: ■ No two databases for which the DB_UNIQUE_NAME initialization parameters are specified have the same value for DB_UNIQUE_NAME. ■ For those databases where no DB_UNIQUE_NAME is provided, no two databases have the same value for DB_NAME. When databases share a single recovery area in this way, the location should be large enough to hold the files for all databases. Add the values for
- 100. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area 5-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE for the databases, then allow for overhead such as mirroring or compression. Setting the Fast Recovery Area Location and Initial Size Table 5–3 lists the initialization parameters that you must set to enable the fast recovery area. This section explains how to specify a location for the recovery area and set its initial size. To determine the optimum size for the fast recovery area: 1. If you plan to use flashback logging or guaranteed restore points, then query V$ARCHIVED_LOG to determine how much redo the database generates in the time to which you intend to set DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET. 2. Set the recovery area size. If you plan to use flashback logging or guaranteed restore points, then ensure that the size value obtained from Step 1 is incorporated into the setting. Set the DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE initialization parameter by any of the following means: ■ Shut down the database and set the DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE parameter in the initialization parameter file of the database, as shown in the following example: DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE = 10G ■ Specify the parameter with the SQL statement ALTER SYSTEM SET when the database is open, as shown in the following examples: ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE = 10G SCOPE=BOTH SID='*'; ■ Use the Database Configuration Assistant to set the size. 3. Set the recovery area location. Set the initialization parameters by any of the following means: ■ Set DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST in the initialization parameter file of the database, as shown in the following example: DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST = '/u01/oradata/rcv_area' ■ Specify DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST with the SQL statement ALTER SYSTEM SET when the database is open, as shown in the following example: ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST = '+disk1' SCOPE=BOTH SID='*'; ■ Use the Database Configuration Assistant to set the location. If you do not plan to use flashback logging, then open the database (if it is closed) and do not complete the rest of the steps in this procedure. 4. If flashback logging is enabled, then run the database under a normal workload for the time period specified by DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET. In this way, the database can generate a representative sample of flashback logs. 5. Query the V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG view as follows:
- 101. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-21 SELECT ESTIMATED_FLASHBACK_SIZE FROM V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG; The result is an estimate of the disk space needed to meet the current flashback retention target, based on the database workload since Flashback Database was enabled. 6. If necessary, adjust the flashback log space requirement based on the actual size of flashback logs generated during the time period specified by DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET. Disabling the Fast Recovery Area If you have enabled Flashback Database or use the fast recovery area for archive logs, then take the appropriate steps from those that follow below. Otherwise, skip to Step 3: 1. If Flashback Database is enabled, then disable it before you disable the fast recovery area. ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK OFF; 2. If you are using the fast recovery area for archive logs, then set the initialization parameter LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n to use a non-fast recovery area location. For example, to change the fast recovery area for LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1 to a non-fast recovery area location, use the command ALTER SYSTEM SET: LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1='LOCATION=USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST' ALTER SYSTEM SET LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1='LOCATION=/ORACLE/DBS/'; 3. Disable the fast recovery area initialization parameter. ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST=''; Configuring Locations for Control Files and Redo Logs As explained in "Overview of the Fast Recovery Area" on page 5-15, the only permanent files are multiplexed copies of the current control file and online redo logs. This section explains how to set locations for these files and the archived logs. Configuring Online Redo Log Locations The initialization parameters that determine where online redo log files are created are DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_DEST_n, DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST, and DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST. Details of the effect of combinations of these parameters on online redo log creation can be found in Oracle Database SQL Language Reference in the description of the LOGFILE clause of the CREATE DATABASE statement. The following SQL statements can create online redo logs in the fast recovery area: ■ CREATE DATABASE ■ ALTER DATABASE ADD LOGFILE ■ ALTER DATABASE ADD STANDBY LOGFILE ■ ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS The default size of an online log created in the fast recovery area is 100 megabytes. The log member file names are automatically generated by the database. See Also: "Managing Space for Flashback Logs in the Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-7
- 102. Configuring the Fast Recovery Area 5-22 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring Control File Locations The initialization parameters CONTROL_FILES, DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_DEST_n, DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST, and DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST all interact to determine the location where the database control files are created. For a full description of how these parameters interact, see the "Semantics" section of the description of CREATE CONTROLFILE in Oracle Database SQL Language Reference. If the database creates an Oracle managed control file, and if the database uses a server parameter file, then the database sets the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter in the server parameter file. If the database uses a client-side initialization parameter file, then you must set the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter manually in the initialization parameter file. Configuring Archived Redo Log Locations Oracle recommends that you the use fast recovery area as an archiving location because the archived logs are automatically managed by the database. The generated file names for the archived logs in the fast recovery area are for Oracle Managed files and are not determined by the parameter LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT. Whatever archiving scheme you choose, it is always advisable to create multiple copies of archived redo logs. You have the following basic options for archiving redo logs, listed from most to least recommended: 1. Enable archiving to the fast recovery area only and use disk mirroring to create the redundancy needed to protect the archived redo logs. If DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST is specified and no LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n is specified, then LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_10 is implicitly set to the recovery area. You can override this behavior by setting LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_10 to an empty string. 2. Enable archiving to the fast recovery area and set other LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n initialization parameter to locations outside the fast recovery area. If a fast recovery area is configured, then you can add the fast recovery area as an archiving destination by setting any LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameter to LOCATION=USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST. 3. Set LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n initialization parameters to archive only to non-fast recovery area locations. If you use the fast recovery area, then you cannot use the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST and LOG_ARCHIVE_DUPLEX_DEST initialization parameters. Using either of these parameters prevents you from starting the instance. Instead, set the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameters. After your database is using LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n, you can configure a recovery area. Note also that if you enable archiving but do not set any value for LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST, LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n, or DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST, then the redo logs are archived to a default location that is platform-specific. For example, on Solaris the default is ?/dbs. See Also: Oracle Database Reference for details on the semantics of the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameters
- 103. Configuring the Backup Retention Policy Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-23 Configuring RMAN File Creation in the Fast Recovery Area This section describes RMAN commands or implicit actions (such as control file autobackups) that can create files in the fast recovery area, and explains how to control whether a command creates files there or in another destination. The commands are: ■ BACKUP If you do not specify the FORMAT clause for disk backups, then RMAN creates backup pieces and image copies in the fast recovery area, with names in Oracle Managed Files name format. If a fast recovery area is enabled, and if you do specify FORMAT on BACKUP or a channel, then RMAN creates the backup in a platform-specific location rather than in the recovery area. ■ Control File Autobackup RMAN can create control file autobackups in the fast recovery area. Use the RMAN command CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR to clear any configured format option for the control file autobackup location on disk. RMAN creates control file autobackups in the fast recovery area when no other destination is configured. ■ RESTORE ARCHIVELOG Explicitly or implicitly set a LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameter to LOCATION=USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST. If you do not specify SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION to override this behavior, then RMAN restores archived redo log files to the fast recovery area. ■ RECOVER DATABASE or RECOVER TABLESPACE, RECOVER ... BLOCK, and FLASHBACK DATABASE These commands restore archived redo log files from backup for use during media recovery, as required by the command. RMAN restores any redo log files needed during these operations to the fast recovery area and deletes them after they are applied during media recovery. To direct the restored archived logs to the fast recovery area, set a LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameter to LOCATION = USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST. Verify that you are not using SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION to direct restored logs to some other destination. Configuring the Backup Retention Policy As explained in "Backup Retention Policies" on page 8-17, the backup retention policy specifies which backups must be retained to meet your data recovery requirements. This policy can be based on a recovery window or redundancy. Use the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY command to specify the retention policy. Configuring a Redundancy-Based Retention Policy The REDUNDANCY parameter of the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY command specifies how many full or level 0 backups of each data file and control file that RMAN should keep. If the number of full or level 0 backups for a specific data file or control file exceeds the REDUNDANCY setting, then RMAN considers the extra backups as obsolete. The default retention policy is REDUNDANCY 1. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax
- 104. Configuring the Backup Retention Policy 5-24 Backup and Recovery User's Guide As you produce more backups, RMAN keeps track of which ones to retain and which are obsolete. RMAN retains all archived logs and incremental backups that are needed to recover the nonobsolete backups. Assume that you make a full backup of data file 7 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. You now have four full backups of this data file. If REDUNDANCY is 2, then the Monday and Tuesday backups are obsolete. If you make another backup on Friday, then the Wednesday backup of data file 7 becomes obsolete. Assume a different case in which REDUNDANCY is 1. You run a level 0 database backup at noon on Monday, a level 1 cumulative backup at noon on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a level 0 backup at noon on Thursday. Immediately after each daily backup you run the command DELETE OBSOLETE. The Wednesday DELETE command does not remove the Tuesday level 1 backup because this backup is not redundant: the Tuesday level 1 backup could be used to recover the Monday level 0 backup to a time between noon on Tuesday and noon on Wednesday. However, the DELETE command on Thursday removes the previous level 0 and level 1 backups. Run the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY command at the RMAN prompt, as in the following example: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 3; Configuring a Recovery Window-Based Retention Policy The RECOVERY WINDOW parameter of the CONFIGURE command specifies the number of days between the current time and the earliest point of recoverability. RMAN does not consider any full or level 0 incremental backup as obsolete if it falls within the recovery window. Additionally, RMAN retains all archived logs and level 1 incremental backups that are needed to recover to a random point within the window. Run the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY command at the RMAN prompt. This example ensures that you can recover the database to any point within the last week: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS; RMAN does not automatically delete backups rendered obsolete by the recovery window. Instead, RMAN shows them as OBSOLETE in the REPORT OBSOLETE output and in the OBSOLETE column of V$BACKUP_FILES. RMAN deletes obsolete files if you run the DELETE OBSOLETE command. Disabling the Retention Policy When you disable the retention policy, RMAN does not consider any backup as obsolete. To disable the retention policy, run this command: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO NONE; Configuring the retention policy to NONE is different from clearing it. Clearing it returns it to its default setting of REDUNDANCY 1, whereas NONE disables it. If you disable the retention policy and run REPORT OBSOLETE or DELETE OBSOLETE commands without passing a retention policy option to the command, then RMAN See Also: "Deleting Obsolete RMAN Backups Based on Retention Policies" on page 12-21 See Also: "Deleting Obsolete RMAN Backups Based on Retention Policies" on page 12-21
- 105. Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-25 issues an error because no retention policy exists to determine which backups are obsolete. Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command Run the CONFIGURE command to enable and disable backup optimization. Backup optimization skips the backup of files in certain circumstances if the identical file or an identical version of the file has been backed up. Overview of Backup Optimization If you enable backup optimization, then the BACKUP command skips backing up files when the identical file has already been backed up to the specified device type. Table 5–4 describes criteria that RMAN uses to determine whether a file is identical to a file that it backed up. If RMAN determines that a file is identical and it has been backed up, then it is a candidate to be skipped. RMAN must do further checking to determine whether to skip the file, however, because both the retention policy and the backup duplexing feature are factors in the algorithm that determines whether RMAN has sufficient backups on the specified device type. RMAN uses backup optimization when the following conditions are true: ■ The CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON command has been run to enable backup optimization. ■ You run BACKUP DATABASE, BACKUP ARCHIVELOG with ALL or LIKE options, or BACKUP BACKUPSET ALL, BACKUP RECOVERY AREA, BACKUP RECOVERY FILES, or BACKUP DATAFILECOPY. Caution: If you are using a fast recovery area, then you should not run your database with the retention policy disabled. If files are never considered obsolete, then a file can only be deleted from the fast recovery area if it has been backed up to some other disk location or to a tertiary storage device such as tape. This action is likely to use all of the space in your recovery area, which interferes with the normal operation of your database. See "How Oracle Manages Disk Space in the Fast Recovery Area" on page 5-16 Table 5–4 Criteria to Determine an Identical File Type of File Criteria to Determine an Identical File Data file The data file must have the same DBID, checkpoint SCN, creation SCN, and RESETLOGS SCN and time as a data file in a backup. The data file must be offline-normal, read-only, or closed normally. Archived log Same DBID, thread, sequence number, and RESETLOGS SCN and time Backup set Same DBID, backup set record ID, and stamp Note: When TO DESTINATION is used with BACKUP RECOVERY AREA or BACKUP RECOVERY FILES, RMAN only skips backups of files that have identical backups in the TO DESTINATION location that you provide.
- 106. Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command 5-26 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ Only one type of channel is allocated, do not mix disk and SBT channels in the same backup command. For example, assume that you have configured backup optimization. These commands back up to tape the database, all archived logs, and all backup sets: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt BACKUPSET ALL; If none of the backed-up files has changed since the last backup, then RMAN does not back up the files again. RMAN also does not signal an error if it skips all files specified in the command because the files have already been backed up. You can override optimization at any time by specifying the FORCE option on the BACKUP command. For example, you can run: BACKUP DATABASE FORCE; BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL FORCE; Effect of Retention Policies on Backup Optimization for SBT Backups Backup optimization is not always applied when backing up to SBT devices. The exceptions to normal backup optimization behavior for recovery window-based and redundancy-based retention policies are described in the following sections. Backup Optimization for SBT Backups with Recovery Window Retention Policy Suppose that backup optimization is enabled, and a recovery window backup retention policy is in effect. In this case, when performing SBT backups RMAN always backs up data files whose most recent backup is older than the recovery window. For example, assume the following scenario: ■ Today is February 21. ■ The recovery window is 7 days. ■ The most recent backup of tablespace tools to tape is January 3. ■ Tablespace tools is read-only. On February 21, when you issue a command to back up tablespace tools to tape, RMAN backs it up even though it did not change after the January 3 backup (because Note: In backup undo optimization, RMAN excludes undo changes (that are not needed for recovery of a backup) for transactions that have been committed. You can enable and disable backup optimization, but backup undo optimization is built-in behavior. See Also: The CONFIGURE entry in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a complete description of the backup optimization rules Note: Use caution when enabling backup optimization if you use a media manager with its own internal expiration policy. Run the CROSSCHECK command periodically to synchronize the RMAN repository with the media manager. Otherwise, RMAN may skip backups due to optimization without recognizing that the media manager has discarded backups stored on tape.
- 107. Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-27 it is read-only). RMAN makes the backup because no backup of the tablespace exists within the 7-day recovery window. This behavior enables the media manager to expire old tapes. Otherwise, the media manager would be forced to keep the January 3 backup of tablespace tools indefinitely. By making a more recent backup of tablespace tools on February 21, RMAN enables the media manager to expire the tape containing the January 3 backup. Backup Optimization for SBT Backups With Redundancy Retention Policy Assume that you configure a retention policy for redundancy. In this case, RMAN only skips backups of offline or read-only data files to SBT when there are r + 1 backups of the files, where r is set in CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY r. For example, assume that you enable backup optimization and set the following retention policy: CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt; CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON; CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 2; With these settings, RMAN only skips backups when three identical files are already backed up. Also assume that you have never backed up the users tablespace, which is read/write, and that you perform the actions described in Table 5–5 over the course of the week. The backups on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday back up the offline users tablespace to satisfy the condition that three backups must exist (one more than redundancy setting). The Friday and Saturday backups do not back up the users tablespace because of backup optimization. The Tuesday backup of users is obsolete beginning on Thursday. On Sunday, you delete all obsolete backups, which removes the Tuesday backup of users. The Tuesday backup is obsolete because of the retention policy setting. The whole database backup on Monday then backs up the users tablespace to satisfy the condition that three backups must exist (one more than redundancy setting). In this way, you can recycle your tapes over time. Table 5–5 Effect of Redundancy Setting on Backup Optimization Day Action Result Redundant Backup Monday Take users offline normal. Tuesday BACKUP DATABASE The users tablespace is backed up. Wednesday BACKUP DATABASE The users tablespace is backed up. Thursday BACKUP DATABASE The users tablespace is backed up. Tuesday backup Friday BACKUP DATABASE The users tablespace is not backed up. Tuesday backup Saturday BACKUP DATABASE The users tablespace is not backed up. Tuesday backup Sunday DELETE OBSOLETE The Tuesday backup is deleted. Monday BACKUP DATABASE The users tablespace is backed up. Wednesday backup See Also: "Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command" on page 5-25
- 108. Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy 5-28 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring Backup Optimization By default, backup optimization is configured to OFF. You can use the SHOW BACKUP OPTIMIZATION command to view the current settings of backup optimization. To configure backup optimization: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the SHOW BACKUP OPTIMIZATION command to determine whether optimization is currently enabled. For example, enter the following command: SHOW BACKUP OPTIMIZATION; Sample output for SHOW BACKUP OPTIMIZATION follows: RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name PROD1 are: CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION OFF; 3. Enable backup optimization by running the following command: CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON; Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy You can use RMAN to create a persistent configuration that governs when archived redo logs are eligible for deletion from disk. About Archived Redo Log Deletion Policies You can use the CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY command to specify when archived redo logs are eligible for deletion. This deletion policy applies to all archiving destinations, including the fast recovery area. Archived redo logs can be deleted automatically by the database or by user-initiated RMAN commands. Only logs in the fast recovery area can be deleted automatically by the database. For archived redo log files in the fast recovery area, the database retains them as long as possible and automatically deletes eligible logs when additional disk space is required. You can manually delete eligible logs from any location, whether inside or outside the fast recovery area, when you issue BACKUP ... DELETE INPUT or DELETE ARCHIVELOG commands. When the Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy Is Disabled By default, there is no archived redo log deletion policy and this is why the archive redo log policy is set to the NONE clause. In this particular case, the fast recovery area considers archived redo log files in the recovery area as eligible for deletion if they have been backed up at least once to disk or SBT or the logs are obsolete according to the backup retention policy. The backup retention policy considers logs obsolete only if the logs are not needed by a guaranteed restore point and the logs are not needed by Oracle Flashback Database. Archived redo logs are needed by Flashback Database if the logs were created later than SYSDATE-'DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET'. See Also: "Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files" on page 10-3 for examples of how to optimize RMAN backups
- 109. Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy Configuring the RMAN Environment 5-29 When the Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy Is Enabled You can use the CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY BACKED UP integer TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE command to enable an archived log deletion policy. This configuration specifies that archived logs are eligible for deletion only when the specified number of archived log backups exist on the specified device type. If the deletion policy is configured with the BACKED UP integer TIMES clause, then a BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command copies the logs unless integer backups already exist on the specified device type. If integer backups of the logs exist, then the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command skips the logs. In this way, the archived log deletion policy functions as a default NOT BACKED UP integer TIMES clause on the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command. You can override the deletion policy by specifying the FORCE option on the BACKUP command. The archived log deletion policy also has options specific to a Data Guard environment. For example, if you specify the APPLIED ON STANDBY clause, then RMAN can delete logs after they have been applied at all mandatory remote destinations. If you specify SHIPPED TO STANDBY, then RMAN can delete logs when they have been transferred to all mandatory standby destinations. Enabling an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy This section explains how to configure an archived redo log deletion policy. By default the policy is set to NONE. To enable an archived redo log deletion policy: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY command with the desired options. The following example specifies that archived redo logs are eligible to be deleted from the fast recovery area and all local archiving destinations when logs have been backed up at least twice to tape: CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO SBT; See Also: ■ The CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY entry in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for detailed information about policy options ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to configure an archived log deletion policy in a Data Guard environment See Also: ■ The CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY entry in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for detailed information about policy options ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to configure an archived log deletion policy in a Data Guard environment
- 110. Configuring RMAN in a Data Guard Environment 5-30 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring RMAN in a Data Guard Environment If you use RMAN in a Data Guard environment, then you can use the CONFIGURE command to register and configure settings for the physical databases in this environment. RMAN uses the DB_UNIQUE_NAME initialization parameter to distinguish one database from another. Thus, it is critical that you maintain the uniqueness of the DB_UNIQUE_NAME in the Data Guard environment. RMAN must be connected to a recovery catalog when you create or alter a configuration for a database in the Data Guard environment. If you use the SET DBID command to set the DBID in the RMAN session, then you can configure a standby database even when RMAN is not connected as TARGET to a database in the Data Guard environment. You can even create a configuration for a standby database that has not yet been created. You can use the following forms of the CONFIGURE command: ■ CONFIGURE DB_UNIQUE_NAME defines a connection to a physical standby database and implicitly registers the new database. New standby databases are also automatically registered when RMAN connects as TARGET to a standby database for the first time. ■ CONFIGURE FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME configures settings for a database in the Data Guard environment. For example, you can configure channels, default devices, and so on for a specified database or for all databases in the environment. You can use SHOW ALL FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME to show the configuration for a specific standby database or SHOW ALL FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME ALL to show configurations for all known databases. A Data Guard environment involves many considerations that are only relevant for Data Guard. For example, you can configure an archived redo log deletion policy based on whether archived logs are transferred to or applied on a standby database. See Also: ■ "Deleting Archived Redo Logs After Backups" on page 9-13 ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to manage archived redo logs in a Data Guard environment ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a complete explanation of the CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY command and the conditions under which archived logs are eligible for deletion See Also: ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to configure the RMAN environment for use with a standby database ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a complete explanation of the CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY command and the conditions under which archived logs are eligible for deletion
- 111. 6 Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics 6-1 6 Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics This chapter describes how to perform setup and configuration tasks. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Configuring Advanced Channel Options ■ Configuring Advanced Backup Options ■ Configuring Auxiliary Instance Data File Names ■ Configuring the Snapshot Control File Location ■ Configuring RMAN for Use with a Shared Server ■ Enabling Lost Write Detection Configuring Advanced Channel Options Whereas "Configuring Channels" on page 5-4 explains the basics for configuring channels, this section explains more advanced channel topics. This section contains the following topics: ■ About Channel Control Options ■ Configuring Specific Channel Parameters About Channel Control Options Whether you allocate channels manually or use automatic channel allocation, you can use channel commands and options to control behavior. Table 6–1 summarizes the ways in which you can control channel behavior. Unless noted, all channel parameters are supported in both CONFIGURE CHANNEL and ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands. See Also: "RMAN Channels" on page 3-3 for a conceptual overview of configured and allocated channels, and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax
- 112. Configuring Advanced Channel Options 6-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring Specific Channel Parameters In addition to configuring parameters that apply to all channels of a particular type, you can also configure parameters that apply to one specific channel. Run the CONFIGURE CHANNEL n command (where n is a positive integer less than 255) to configure a specific channel. When manually numbering channels, you must specify one or more channel options (for example, MAXPIECESIZE or FORMAT) for each channel. When you use that specific numbered channel in a backup, the configured settings for that channel are used instead of the configured generic channel settings. Configure specific channels by number when it is necessary to control the parameters set for each channel separately. This technique is necessary in the following situations: ■ When running an Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database in which individual nodes do not have access to the full set of backups. Each channel must be configured with a node-specific connect string so that all backups are accessible by at least one channel. ■ When using a media manager that requires different PARMS settings on each channel. Configuring Specific Channels: Examples In this example, you want to send disk backups to two different disks. Configure disk channels as follows: CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO disk; # backup goes to disk CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE disk PARALLELISM 2; # two channels used in parallel CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/%U' # 1st channel to disk1 Table 6–1 Channel Control Options Type of Channel Control Commands Limit I/O bandwidth consumption Use the RATE channel parameter to act as a throttling mechanism for backups. Limit backup sets and pieces Use the MAXPIECESIZE channel parameter to set limits on the size of backup pieces. You can also use the MAXSETSIZE parameter on the BACKUP and CONFIGURE commands to set a limit for the size of backup sets. Vendor-specific instructions Use the PARMS channel parameter to specify vendor-specific information for a media manager. You can also use the SEND command to send vendor-specific commands to a media manager. Channel parallel backup and restore operations Use CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE ... PARALLELISM for persistent channel parallelism or multiple ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands for job-level parallelism. Connection settings for database instances Specify which instance performs an operation with the CONNECT channel parameter. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for ALLOCATE CHANNEL syntax, and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax See Also: Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide to learn about RMAN backups in an Oracle RAC environment
- 113. Configuring Advanced Backup Options Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics 6-3 CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk2/%U' # 2nd channel to disk2 BACKUP DATABASE; # backup - first channel goes to disk1 and second to disk2 Assume a different case in which you have two tape drives and want each drive to use tapes from a different tape media family. Configure your default output device and default tape channels as shown in Example 6–1 to use parallel database backups. Example 6–1 Configuring Channel Parallelism for Tape Devices CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt; # backup goes to sbt CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 2; # two sbt channels allocated by default # Configure channel 1 to pool named first_pool CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=first_pool)'; # configure channel 2 to pool named second_pool CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=second_pool)'; BACKUP DATABASE; # first stream goes to 'first_pool' and second to 'second_pool' In Example 6–1, the backup data is divided between the two tape devices. Each configured channel backs up approximately half the total data. Relationship Between CONFIGURE CHANNEL and Parallelism Setting The PARALLELISM setting is not constrained by the number of specifically configured channels. For example, if you back up to 20 different tape devices, then you can configure 20 different SBT channels, each with a manually assigned number (from 1 to 20) and each with a different set of channel options. In such a situation, you can set PARALLELISM to any value up to the number of devices, in this instance 20. RMAN always numbers parallel channels starting with 1 and ending with the PARALLELISM setting. For example, if the default device is SBT and parallelism is set to 3, then RMAN names the channels as follows: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 ORA_SBT_TAPE_2 ORA_SBT_TAPE_3 RMAN always uses the name ORA_SBT_TAPE_n even if you configure DEVICE TYPE sbt (not the synonymous sbt_tape). RMAN always allocates the number of channels specified in PARALLELISM, using specifically configured channels if you have configured them and generic channels if you have not. If you configure specific channels with numbers higher than the parallelism setting, then this setting prevents RMAN from using them. Configuring Advanced Backup Options "Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups" on page 5-1 explains the basics for configuring RMAN to make backups. This section explains more advanced configuration options. This section contains the following topics: ■ Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Sets ■ Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Pieces ■ Configuring Backup Duplexing ■ Configuring Tablespaces for Exclusion from Whole Database Backups See Also: "RMAN Channels" on page 3-3 to learn about channels
- 114. Configuring Advanced Backup Options 6-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ Configuring Compression Options ■ Configuring Backup Encryption Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Sets In tape backups, it is possible for a multiplexed backup set to span multiple tapes, which means that blocks from each data file in the backup set are written to multiple tapes. If one tape of a multivolume backup set fails, then you lose the data on all the tapes rather than just one. If a backup is not a multisection backup, then a backup set always includes a whole data file rather than a partial data file. You can use MAXSETSIZE to specify that each backup set should fit on one tape rather than spanning multiple tapes. The CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE command limits the size of backup sets created on a channel. This CONFIGURE setting applies to any channel, whether manually allocated or configured, when the BACKUP command is used to create backup sets. The default value is given in bytes and is rounded down to the lowest kilobyte value. The value set by the CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE command is a default for the given channel. You can override the configured MAXSETSIZE value by specifying a MAXSETSIZE option for an individual BACKUP command. Assume that you issue the following commands at the RMAN prompt: CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt; CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=first_pool)'; CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO 7500K; BACKUP TABLESPACE users; BACKUP TABLESPACE tools MAXSETSIZE 5G; The results are as follows: ■ The backup of the users tablespace uses the configured SBT channel and the configured default MAXSETSIZE setting of 7500K. ■ The backup of the tools tablespace uses the MAXSETSIZE setting of 5G specified in the BACKUP command. Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Pieces Backup piece size is an issue when it exceeds the maximum file size permitted by the file system or media management software. You can use the MAXPIECESIZE parameter of the CONFIGURE CHANNEL or ALLOCATE CHANNEL command to limit the size of backup pieces. For example, to limit the backup piece size to 2 gigabytes or less, you can configure the automatic DISK channel as follows and then run BACKUP DATABASE: CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK MAXPIECESIZE 2G; BACKUP DATABASE; See Also: ■ "Limiting the Size of Backup Sets with BACKUP ... MAXSETSIZE" on page 10-2 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP syntax
- 115. Configuring Advanced Backup Options Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics 6-5 Configuring Backup Duplexing You can use the CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES command to specify how many copies of each backup piece should be created on the specified device type for the specified type of file. This type of backup is known as a duplexed backup set. The CONFIGURE settings for duplexing only affect backups of data files, control files, and archived logs into backup sets, and do not affect image copies. RMAN can duplex backups to either disk or tape, but cannot duplex backups to tape and disk simultaneously. When backing up to tape, ensure that the number of copies does not exceed the number of available tape devices. The following examples show possible duplexing configurations: # Makes 2 disk copies of each data file and control file backup set # (autobackups excluded) CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 2; # Makes 3 copies of every archived redo log backup to tape CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO 3; To return a BACKUP COPIES configuration to its default value, run the same CONFIGURE command with the CLEAR option, as in the following example: CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt CLEAR; By default, CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES is set to 1 for each device type. Note: In version 2.0 of the media management API, media management vendors can specify the maximum size of a backup piece that can be written to their media manager. RMAN respects this limit regardless of the settings that you configure for MAXPIECESIZE. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... MAXPIECESIZE command Note: A control file autobackup is never duplexed. Note: If you do not want to create a persistent copies configuration, then you can specify copies with the BACKUP COPIES and the SET BACKUP COPIES commands. See Also: ■ "Multiple Copies of RMAN Backups" on page 8-10 for an overview of duplexed backups ■ "Duplexing Backup Sets" on page 10-6 to learn how to create duplexed backups ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SET syntax
- 116. Configuring Advanced Backup Options 6-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring Tablespaces for Exclusion from Whole Database Backups Sometimes you may want to omit a specified tablespace from part of the regular backup schedule. Here are some possible scenarios to consider: ■ A tablespace is easy to rebuild, so it is more cost-effective to rebuild it than back it up every day. ■ A tablespace contains temporary or test data that you do not need to back up. ■ A tablespace does not change often and therefore should be backed up on a different schedule from other backups. You can run CONFIGURE EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE to exclude the specified tablespace from the BACKUP DATABASE command. The exclusion condition applies to any data files that you add to this tablespace in the future. For example, you can exclude testing tablespaces cwmlite and example from whole database backups as follows: CONFIGURE EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE cwmlite; CONFIGURE EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE example; If you run the following command, then RMAN backs up all tablespaces in the database except cwmlite and example: BACKUP DATABASE; You can still back up the configured tablespaces by explicitly specifying them in a BACKUP command or by specifying the NOEXCLUDE option on a BACKUP DATABASE command. For example, you can enter one of the following commands: BACKUP DATABASE NOEXCLUDE; #backs up database, including cwmlite and example BACKUP TABLESPACE cwmlite, example; # backs up only cwmlite and example You can disable the exclusion feature for cwmlite and example as follows: CONFIGURE EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE cwmlite CLEAR; CONFIGURE EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE example CLEAR; RMAN includes these tablespaces in future whole database backups. Configuring Compression Options RMAN supports precompression processing and binary compression of backup sets. Precompression Block Processing Better backup compression ratios are achieved by consolidating the free space in each data block, and setting that free space to binary zeroes. This precompression processing stage has the most benefit for data blocks that have been the subject of many deletes and inserts operations. Conversely, it has no effect on data blocks that are still in their initial loaded state. The OPTIMIZE FOR LOAD option controls precompression processing. By specifying the default, OPTIMIZE FOR LOAD TRUE, you ensure that RMAN optimizes CPU usage and avoids precompression block processing. By specifying OPTIMIZE FOR See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP and CONFIGURE syntax
- 117. Configuring Advanced Backup Options Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics 6-7 LOAD FALSE, RMAN uses additional CPU resources to perform precompression block processing. Basic Compression Option You can configure the basic compression algorithm, which does not require the Advanced Compression Option, with the following syntax: Example 6–2 Configuring Basic Compression for Backup CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM 'BASIC'; Advanced Compression Option If you have enabled the Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Advanced Compression Option, you can choose from the following compression levels: The compression ratio generally increases from low to high, with a trade-off of potentially consuming more CPU resources. Because the performance of the various compression levels depends on the nature of the data in the database, network configuration, system resources and the type of computer system and its capabilities, Oracle cannot document universally applicable performance statistics. Which level is best for your environment depends on how balanced your system is regarding bandwidth into the CPU and the actual speed of the CPU. It is highly recommended that you run tests with the different compression levels on the data in your environment. Choosing a compression level based on your environment, network traffic characteristics (workload), and data set is the only way to ensure that the backup set compression level can satisfy your organization's performance requirements and applicable service level agreements. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE and SET syntax Compression Level Performance Benefits and Trade-Offs HIGH Best suited for backups over slower networks where the limiting factor is network speed. MEDIUM Recommended for most environments. Good combination of compression ratios and speed. LOW Least effect on backup throughput. Note: ■ If you are backing up to tape and your tape device performs its own compression, then you should not use both RMAN backup set compression and the media manager vendor's compression. See the discussion of tuning RMAN tape backup performance in Chapter 22, "Tuning RMAN Performance". ■ Restoring a compressed backup is performed inline, and does not require decompression.
- 118. Configuring Advanced Backup Options 6-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring Backup Encryption For improved security, you can configure backup encryption for RMAN backup sets. Encrypted backups cannot be read if they are obtained by unauthorized users. This feature requires the Enterprise Edition of the database. About Backup Encryption The V$RMAN_ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHMS view contains a list of encryption algorithms supported by RMAN. If no encryption algorithm is specified, then the default encryption algorithm is 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). RMAN encryption requires the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter at a target database to be at least 10.2.0. RMAN offers the following encryption modes: ■ Transparent Encryption of Backups This is the default mode and uses the Oracle wallet. A wallet is a password-protected container used to store authentication and signing credentials, including private keys, certificates, and trusted certificates needed by SSL. ■ Password Encryption of Backups This mode uses only password protection. You must provide a password when creating and restoring encrypted backups. ■ Dual Mode Encryption of Backups This mode requires either the wallet or a password. Encrypted backups are decrypted automatically during restore and recovery, if the required decryption keys are available. Each backup set gets a separate key. The key is stored in encrypted form in the backup piece. The backup is decrypted with keys obtained with a user-supplied password or the Oracle wallet. To create encrypted backups on disk with RMAN, the database must use the Advanced Security Option. The Oracle Secure Backup SBT is the only supported interface for making encrypted RMAN backups directly to tape. RMAN issues an ORA-19916 error if you attempt to create encrypted RMAN backups using an SBT library other than Oracle Secure Backup. The Advanced Security Option is not required when making encrypted backups using the Oracle Secure Backup SBT. When you use the BACKUP BACKUPSET command with encrypted backup sets, the backup sets are backed up in encrypted form. Because BACKUP BACKUPSET copies an encrypted backup set to disk or tape, no decryption key is needed during BACKUP BACKUPSET. The data is never decrypted during any part of the operation. The BACKUP BACKUPSET command can neither encrypt nor decrypt backup sets. Transparent Encryption of Backups Transparent encryption can create and restore encrypted backups with no DBA intervention, as long as the required Oracle key Note: Wallet-based encryption is more secure than password-based encryption because no passwords are involved. You should use password-based encryption only when it is absolutely necessary because your backups must be transportable. See Also: Oracle Database Advanced Security Administrator's Guide for details about configuring the Oracle wallet
- 119. Configuring Advanced Backup Options Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics 6-9 management infrastructure is available. Transparent encryption is best suited for day-to-day backup operations, where backups are restored to the same database from which they were created. Transparent encryption is the default for RMAN encryption. When you use transparent encryption, you must first configure an Oracle wallet for each database, as described in Oracle Database Advanced Security Administrator's Guide. Transparent backup encryption supports both the encrypted and autologin forms of the Oracle wallet. When you use the Oracle wallet, the wallet must be opened before you can perform backup encryption. When you use the autologin wallet, encrypted backup operations can be done at any time, because the autologin wallet is always open. After the Oracle wallet is configured, encrypted backups can be created and restored with no further DBA intervention. If some columns in the database are encrypted with transparent data encryption, and if those columns are backed up using backup encryption, then those columns are encrypted a second time during the backup. When the backup sets are decrypted during a restore operation, the encrypted columns are returned to their original encrypted form. Because the Oracle key management infrastructure archives all previous master keys in the Oracle wallet, changing or resetting the current database master key does not affect your ability to restore encrypted backups performed with an older master key. You can reset the database master key at any time. RMAN can restore all encrypted backups that were ever created by this database. Password Encryption of Backups Password encryption requires that the DBA provide a password when creating and restoring encrypted backups. Restoring a password-encrypted backup requires the same password that was used to create the backup. Password encryption is useful for backups that are restored at remote locations, but which must remain secure in transit. Password encryption cannot be persistently configured. You do not need to configure an Oracle wallet if password encryption is used exclusively. To use password encryption, use the SET ENCRYPTION ON IDENTIFIED BY password ONLY command in your RMAN scripts. Dual Mode Encryption of Backups Dual-mode encrypted backups can be restored either transparently or by specifying a password. Dual-mode encrypted backups are useful when you create backups that are normally restored on site using the Oracle wallet, Caution: If you use an autologin wallet, do not back it up along with your encrypted backup data, because users can read the encrypted backups if they obtain both the backups and the autologin wallet. It is safe to back up the Oracle wallet because that form of the wallet cannot be used without the wallet password. Caution: If you lose your Oracle wallet, then you cannot restore any transparently encrypted backups. Caution: If you forget or lose the password that you used to encrypt a password-encrypted backup, then you cannot restore the backup.
- 120. Configuring Advanced Backup Options 6-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide but which occasionally must be restored offsite, where the Oracle wallet is not available. When restoring a dual-mode encrypted backup, you can use either the Oracle wallet or a password for decryption. To create dual-mode encrypted backup sets, specify the SET ENCRYPTION ON IDENTIFIED BY password command in your RMAN scripts. Configuring RMAN Backup Encryption Modes You can use the CONFIGURE command to persistently configure transparent encryption of backups. You can use the command to specify the following: ■ Whether to use transparent encryptions for backups of all database files ■ Whether to use transparent encryptions for backups of specific tablespaces ■ Which algorithm to use for encrypting backups You can also use the SET ENCRYPTION command to perform the following actions: ■ Override the encryption settings specified by the CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION command. For example, you can use SET ENCRYPTION OFF to create an unencrypted backup, even though a database is configured for encrypted backups. ■ Set a password for backup encryption, persisting until the RMAN client exits. Because of the sensitive nature of passwords, RMAN does not permit configuration of passwords that persist across RMAN sessions. Using or not using persistent configuration settings controls whether archived redo log backups are encrypted. Backup sets containing archived redo log files are encrypted if any of the following are true: ■ SET ENCRYPTION ON is in effect when the archive log backup is being created. ■ Encryption is configured for backups of the whole database or at least one tablespace. This behavior ensures that the redo associated with any encrypted backup of a data file is also encrypted. To configure the environment so that all RMAN backups are encrypted: 1. Set up the Oracle wallet as explained in Oracle Database Advanced Security Administrator's Guide. 2. Issue the following RMAN command: CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE ON; At this stage, all RMAN backup sets created by this database use transparent encryption by default. You can explicitly override the persistent encryption configuration for an RMAN session with the following command: SET ENCRYPTION ON; Caution: If you forget or lose the password that you used to encrypt a dual-mode encrypted backup and you also lose your Oracle wallet, then you cannot restore the backup.
- 121. Configuring Auxiliary Instance Data File Names Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics 6-11 The encryption setting remains in effect until you issue the SET ENCRYPTION OFF command during an RMAN session, or change the persistent setting again with the following command: CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; Configuring the Backup Encryption Algorithm You can use the CONFIGURE command to persistently configure the default algorithm to use for encryption when writing backup sets. Possible values are listed in V$RMAN_ ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHMS. The default algorithm is AES 128-bit. To configure the default backup encryption algorithm: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure that the target database is mounted or open. 3. Execute the CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM command, specifying a valid value from V$RMAN_ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHMS.ALGORITHM_NAME. The following example configures the algorithm to AES 256-bit encryption: CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM TO 'AES256'; Configuring Auxiliary Instance Data File Names Assume that you are performing tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR) or performing data transfer with RMAN. In this case, you may want to set the names of data files in the auxiliary instance before starting the TSPITR or database duplication. The command is as follows, where datafileSpec identifies some data file by its original name or data file number, and filename is the new path for the specified file: CONFIGURE AUXNAME FOR datafileSpec TO 'filename'; For example, you might configure a new auxiliary name for data file 2 as follows: CONFIGURE AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE 2 TO '/newdisk/datafiles/df2.df'; As with other settings, the CONFIGURE command setting persists across RMAN sessions until cleared with CONFIGURE ... CLEAR, as shown in the following example: CONFIGURE AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE 2 CLEAR; If you are performing TSPITR or running the DUPLICATE command, then by using CONFIGURE AUXNAME you can preconfigure the file names for use on the auxiliary database without manually specifying the auxiliary file names during the procedure. When renaming files with the DUPLICATE command, CONFIGURE AUXNAME is an alternative to SET NEWNAME command. The difference is that after you set the AUXNAME the first time, you do not need to reset the file name when you issue another DUPLICATE command; the AUXNAME setting remains in effect until you issue CONFIGURE AUXNAME ... CLEAR. In contrast, you must reissue the SET NEWNAME command every time you rename files. See Chapter 21, "Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR)," for more details on using CONFIGURE AUXNAME with TSPITR, and Chapter 24, "Duplicating a Database," for more details on using CONFIGURE AUXNAME in performing database duplication.
- 122. Configuring the Snapshot Control File Location 6-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Configuring the Snapshot Control File Location When RMAN must resynchronize the recovery catalog with a read-consistent version of the control file, it creates a temporary snapshot control file. RMAN needs a snapshot control file when resynchronizing with the recovery catalog or when making a backup of the current control file. The default location for the snapshot control file is platform-specific and depends on the Oracle home of each target database. For example, the default file name on some Linux platforms is $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/[email protected]. If a fast recovery area is configured for a target database, then the default location for the snapshot control file is not the fast recovery area. Viewing the Configured Location of the Snapshot Control File You can see the current snapshot location by running the SHOW command. This example shows a snapshot location that is determined by the default rule: RMAN> SHOW SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME; CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/oracle/dbs/snapcf_trgt.f'; # default This example shows a snapshot control file that has a nondefault file name: RMAN> SHOW SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME; CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/oracle/oradata/trgt/snap_trgt.ctl'; Setting the Location of the Snapshot Control File Use the CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO 'filename' command to change the name of the snapshot control file. Subsequent snapshot control files that RMAN creates use the specified file name. For example, start RMAN and then enter: CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/oracle/oradata/trgt/snap_trgt.ctl'; You can also set the snapshot control file name to a raw device. To reset the snapshot control file location to the default, run the CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME CLEAR command. Configuring RMAN for Use with a Shared Server RMAN cannot connect to a target database through a shared server dispatcher. RMAN requires a dedicated server process. If your target database is configured for a shared server, then you must modify your Oracle Net configuration to provide dedicated server processes for RMAN connections. To ensure that RMAN does not connect to a dispatcher when a target database is configured for a shared server, the net service name used by RMAN must include (SERVER=DEDICATED) in the CONNECT_DATA attribute of the connect string. See Also: ■ "Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-22 ■ Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide for details about handling snapshot control files in Oracle RAC configurations
- 123. Configuring RMAN for Use with a Shared Server Configuring the RMAN Environment: Advanced Topics 6-13 Oracle Net configuration varies greatly from system to system. The following procedure illustrates only one method. This scenario assumes that the following service name in tnsnames.ora file connects to a target database using the shared server architecture, where inst1 is a value of the SERVICE_NAMES initialization parameter: inst1_shs = (DESCRIPTION= (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=inst1_host)(port=1521)) (CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=inst1)(SERVER=shared)) ) To use RMAN with a shared server: 1. Create a net service name in the tnsnames.ora file that connects to the nonshared SID. For example, enter: inst1_ded = (DESCRIPTION= (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=inst1_host)(port=1521)) (CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=inst1)(SERVER=dedicated)) ) 2. Start SQL*Plus and then connect using both the shared server and dedicated server service names to confirm the mode of each session. For example, connect with SYSDBA privileges to inst1_ded and then execute the following SELECT statement (sample output included): SQL> SELECT SERVER 2 FROM V$SESSION 3 WHERE SID = (SELECT DISTINCT SID FROM V$MYSTAT); SERVER --------- DEDICATED 1 row selected. To connect to a shared server session, you connect with SYSDBA privileges to inst1_shs and then execute the following SELECT statement (sample output included): SQL> SELECT SERVER 2 FROM V$SESSION 3 WHERE SID = (SELECT DISTINCT SID FROM V$MYSTAT); SERVER --------- SHARED 1 row selected. 3. Start RMAN and connect to the target database using the dedicated service name. Optionally, connect to a recovery catalog. For example, enter: % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS@inst1_ded target database Password: password connected to target database: INST1 (DBID=39525561) RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG rman@catdb
- 124. Enabling Lost Write Detection 6-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Enabling Lost Write Detection A data block lost write occurs when an I/O subsystem acknowledges the completion of the block write, but the write did not occur in the persistent storage. On a subsequent block read, the I/O subsystem returns the stale version of the data block, which might be used to update other blocks of the database, thereby corrupting it. You can set the DB_LOST_WRITE_PROTECT initialization parameter to TYPICAL or FULL so that a database records buffer cache block reads in the redo log. The default setting is NONE. When the parameter is set to TYPICAL, the instance logs buffer cache reads for read/write tablespaces in the redo log, but not read-only tablespaces. When set to FULL, the instance also records reads for read-only tablespaces. The performance overhead for TYPICAL mode is approximately 5 to 10% and potentially higher for FULL mode. Lost write detection is most effective when used with Data Guard. In this case, you set DB_LOST_WRITE_PROTECT in both primary and standby databases. When a standby database applies redo during managed recovery, it reads the corresponding blocks and compares the SCNs with the SCNs in the redo log. If the block SCN on the primary database is lower than on the standby database, then it detects a lost write on the primary database and throws an external error (ORA-752). If the SCN is higher, it detects a lost write on the standby database and throws an internal error (ORA-600 [3020]). In either case, the standby database writes the reason for the failure in the alert log and trace file. To repair a lost write on a primary database, you must initiate failover to the standby database. To repair a lost write on a standby database, you must re-create the entire standby database or restore a backup of only the affected files. Enabling lost write detection is also useful when you are not using Data Guard. In this case, you can encounter a lost write in two ways: during normal database operation or during media recovery. In the first case, there is no direct way to detect the error. Indirect symptoms such as inconsistent tables cannot be unambiguously traced to the lost write. If you retained a backup made before the suspected lost write, however, then you can restore this backup to an alternative location and recover it. To diagnose the problem, recover the database or tablespace to the SCN of the stale block read, which then generates the lost write error (ORA-752). If a lost write error is encountered during media recovery, the only response is to open the database with the RESETLOGS option. The database is in a consistent state, but all data after the RESETLOGS SCN is lost. If you recover a backup made after database creation, you have no guarantee that other stale blocks have not corrupted the database. This possibility exists because the restored backup may have been made after an earlier lost write. To guarantee that no lost writes have corrupted the database, you must perform media recovery from database creation, which is not a practical strategy for most database environments. See Also: Your platform-specific Oracle documentation and your Oracle Database Net Services Reference for a complete description of Oracle Net connect string syntax See Also: ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to use a standby database for lost write detection and repair ■ Oracle Database Reference to learn about the DB_LOST_WRITE_ PROTECT initialization parameter
- 125. 7 Using Flashback Database and Restore Points 7-1 7Using Flashback Database and Restore Points This chapter explains Flashback Database, restore points. This chapter discusses configuring, monitoring, and maintaining these features as part of an overall data protection strategy. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points ■ Logging for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points ■ Prerequisites for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points ■ Using Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points ■ Using Flashback Database Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points Oracle Flashback Database and restore points are related data protection features that enable you to rewind data back in time to correct any problems caused by logical data corruption or user errors within a designated time window. These features provide a more efficient alternative to point-in-time recovery and does not require a backup of the database to be restored first. The effects are similar to database point-in-time recovery (DBPITR). Flashback Database and restore points are not only effective in traditional database recovery situations but can also be useful during database upgrades, application deployments and testing scenarios when test databases must be quickly created and re-created. Flashback Database also provides an efficient alternative to rebuilding a failed primary database after a Data Guard failover. Restore points provide capabilities related to Flashback Database and other media recovery operations. In particular, a guaranteed restore point created at a system change number (SCN) ensures that you can use Flashback Database to rewind the See Also: Detailed information on recovery scenarios that use Flashback Database and normal and guaranteed restore points can be found in Chapter 18, "Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery". See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration
- 126. Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points 7-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide database to this SCN. You can use restore points and Flashback Database independently or together. Flashback Database is accessible through the RMAN command FLASHBACK DATABASE or the SQL statement FLASHBACK DATABASE. You can use either command to quickly recover the database from logical data corruption or user errors. The following examples return the database to a specified SCN or restore point: FLASHBACK DATABASE TO RESTORE POINT 'before_upgrade'; FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 202381; Flashback Database Flashback Database is accessible through the RMAN command and SQL statement FLASHBACK DATABASE. You can use either command to quickly recover the database from logical data corruptions or user errors. Flashback Database is similar to conventional point-in-time recovery in its effects. It enables you to return a database to its state at a time in the recent past. Flashback Database is much faster than point-in-time recovery because it does not require restoring datafiles from backup and requires applying fewer changes from the archived redo logs. You can use Flashback Database to reverse most unwanted changes to a database if the data files are intact. You can return a database to its state in a previous incarnation, and undo the effects of an ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS statement. "Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database" on page 18-11 explains how to use the FLASHBACK DATABASE command to reverse database changes. Flashback Database uses its own logging mechanism, creating flashback logs and storing them in the fast recovery area. You can only use Flashback Database if flashback logs are available. To take advantage of this feature, you must set up your database in advance to create flashback logs. To enable Flashback Database, you configure a fast recovery area and set a flashback retention target. This retention target specifies how far back you can rewind a database with Flashback Database. From that time onwards, at regular intervals, the database copies images of each altered block in every data file into the flashback logs. These block images can later be reused to reconstruct the data file contents for any moment at which logs were captured. When you use Flashback Database to rewind a database to a past target time, the command determines which blocks changed after the target time and restores them from the flashback logs. The database restores the version of each block that is immediately before the target time. The database then uses redo logs to reapply changes that were made after these blocks were written to the flashback logs. Redo logs on disk or tape must be available for the entire time period spanned by the flashback logs. For example, if the flashback retention target is 1 week, then you must ensure that online and archived redo logs that contain all changes for the past week are accessible. In practice, redo logs are typically needed much longer than the flashback retention target to support point-in-time recovery. Flashback Database Window The range of SCNs for which there is currently enough flashback log data to support the FLASHBACK DATABASE command is called the flashback database window. The
- 127. Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points Using Flashback Database and Restore Points 7-3 flashback database window cannot extend further back than the earliest SCN in the available flashback logs. You cannot back up flashback logs to locations outside the fast recovery area. To increase the likelihood that enough flashback logs are retained to meet the flashback database window, you can increase the space in your fast recovery area (see " Initialization Parameters for the Fast Recovery Area" on page 5-18). If the fast recovery area is not large enough to hold the flashback logs and files such as archived redo logs and other backups needed for the retention policy, then the database may delete flashback logs from the earliest SCNs forward to make room for other files. Consequently, the flashback database window can be shorter than the flashback retention target, depending on the size of the fast recovery area, other backups that must be retained, and how much flashback logging data is needed. The flashback retention target is a target, not a guarantee that Flashback Database is available. If you cannot use FLASHBACK DATABASE because the flashback database window is not long enough, then you can use database point-in-time recovery (DBPITR) in most cases to achieve a similar result. Guaranteed restore points are the only way to ensure that you can use Flashback Database to return to a specific point in time or guarantee the size of the flashback window. Limitations of Flashback Database Because Flashback Database works by undoing changes to the data files that exist at the moment when you run the command, it has the following limitations: ■ Flashback Database can only undo changes to a data file made by Oracle Database. It cannot be used to repair media failures, or to recover from accidental deletion of data files. ■ You cannot use Flashback Database to undo a shrink data file operation. However, you can take the shrunken file offline, flash back the rest of the database, and then later restore and recover the shrunken data file. ■ You cannot use Flashback Database alone to retrieve a dropped data file. If you flash back a database to a time when a dropped data file existed in the database, only the data file entry is added to the control file. You can only recover the dropped data file by using RMAN to fully restore and recover the data file. ■ If the database control file is restored from backup or re-created, all accumulated flashback log information is discarded. You cannot use FLASHBACK DATABASE to return to a point in time before the restore or re-creation of a control file. ■ When using Flashback Database with a target time at which a NOLOGGING operation was in progress, block corruption is likely in the database objects and Note: Some database operations, such as dropping a tablespace or shrinking a data file, cannot be reversed with Flashback Database. See "Limitations of Flashback Database" on page 7-3 for details. See Also: ■ "Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database" on page 18-11 to learn about Flashback Database ■ "Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery" on page 18-15 to learn about DBPITR
- 128. Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points 7-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide datafiles affected by the NOLOGGING operation. For example, if you perform a direct-path INSERT operation in NOLOGGING mode, and that operation runs from 9:00 to 9:15 on April 3, 2005, and you later use Flashback Database to return to the target time 09:07 on that date, the objects and datafiles updated by the direct-path INSERT may be left with block corruption after the Flashback Database operation completes. If possible, avoid using Flashback Database with a target time or SCN that coincides with a NOLOGGING operation. Also, perform a full or incremental backup of the affected data files immediately after any NOLOGGING operation to ensure recoverability to points in time after the operation. If you expect to use Flashback Database to return to a point in time during an operation such as a direct-path INSERT, consider performing the operation in LOGGING mode. Normal Restore Points Creating a normal restore point assigns a restore point name to an SCN or specific point in time. Thus, a restore point functions as a bookmark or alias for this SCN. Before performing any operation that you may have to reverse, you can create a normal restore point. The control file stores the name of the restore point and the SCN. If you use flashback features or point-in-time recovery, then you can use the name of the restore point instead of a time or SCN. The following commands support this use of restore points: ■ The RECOVER DATABASE and FLASHBACK DATABASE commands in RMAN ■ The FLASHBACK TABLE statement in SQL Creating a normal restore point eliminates manually recording an SCN in advance or determine the correct SCN after the fact by using features such as Flashback Query. Normal restore points are lightweight. The control file can maintain a record of thousands of normal restore points with no significant effect on database performance. Normal restore points eventually age out of the control file if not manually deleted, so they require no ongoing maintenance. Guaranteed Restore Points Like a normal restore point, a guaranteed restore point serves as an alias for an SCN in recovery operations. A principal difference is that guaranteed restore points never age out of the control file and must be explicitly dropped. In general, you can use a guaranteed restore point as an alias for an SCN with any command that works with a normal restore point. Except as noted, the information about where and how to use normal restore points applies to guaranteed restore points as well. A guaranteed restore point ensures that you can use Flashback Database to rewind a database to its state at the restore point SCN, even if the generation of flashback logs is disabled. If flashback logging is enabled, then a guaranteed restore point enforces the retention of flashback logs required for Flashback Database to any SCN after the earliest guaranteed restore point. Thus, if flashback logging is enabled, you can rewind the database to any SCN in the continuum rather than to a single SCN only. See Also: LOGGING_CLAUSE in Oracle Database SQL Reference for more information about operations that support NOLOGGING mode. See Also: Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide to learn how to use Flashback Query
- 129. Logging for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points Using Flashback Database and Restore Points 7-5 If the recovery area has enough disk space to store the needed logs, then you can use a guaranteed restore point to rewind a whole database to a known good state days or weeks ago. As with Flashback Database, even the effects of NOLOGGING operations like direct load inserts can be reversed with guaranteed restore points. Guaranteed Restore Points versus Storage Snapshots In practice, guaranteed restore points provide a useful alternative to storage snapshots. Storage snapshots are often used to protect a database before risky operations such as large-scale database updates or application patches or upgrades. Rather than creating a snapshot or duplicate database to test the operation, you can create a guaranteed restore point on a primary or physical standby database. You can then perform the risky operation with the certainty that the required flashback logs are retained. Logging for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points Logging for Flashback Database and guaranteed restore points involves capturing images of data file blocks before changes are applied. The FLASHBACK DATABASE command can use these images to return the data files to their previous state. The chief differences between normal flashback logging and logging for guaranteed restore points are related to when blocks are logged and whether the logs can be deleted in response to space pressure in the fast recovery area. These differences affect space usage for logs and database performance. Your recoverability goals partially determine whether to enable logging for flashback database, or use guaranteed restore points, or both. The implications in performance and in space usage for these features, separately and when used together, should also factor into your decision. Guaranteed Restore Points and Fast Recovery Area Space Usage The following rules govern creating, retaining, overwriting and deleting of flashback logs in the fast recovery area: ■ If the fast recovery area has enough space, then a flashback log is created whenever necessary to satisfy the flashback retention target. Caution: If flashback logging is disabled, then you cannot FLASHBACK DATABASE directly to SCNs between the guaranteed restore points and the current time. You can, however, flashback to the guaranteed restore point first and then recover to SCNs between the guaranteed restore point and current time. Note: Limitations that apply to Flashback Database also apply to guaranteed restore points. For example, shrinking a data file or dropping a tablespace can prevent flashing back the affected data files to the guaranteed restore point. See "Limitations of Flashback Database" on page 7-3 for details. In addition, when there are guaranteed restore points in the database, the database compatibility parameter cannot be set to a higher database version. An attempt to do so results in an error. This restriction exists because flashback database is currently unable to reverse the effects of increasing the database version with the compatibility initialization parameter.
- 130. Logging for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points 7-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ If a flashback log is old enough that it is no longer needed to satisfy the flashback retention target, then a flashback log is reused. ■ If the database must create a flashback log and the fast recovery area is full or there is no disk space, then the oldest flashback log is reused instead. ■ If the fast recovery area is full, then an archived redo log that is reclaimable according to the fast recovery area rules may be automatically deleted by the fast recovery area to make space for other files. In this case, any flashback logs that would require the use of that redo log file for the use of FLASHBACK DATABASE are also deleted. ■ No file in the fast recovery area is eligible for deletion if it is required to satisfy a guaranteed restore point. However, archived redo logs required to satisfy a guaranteed restore point may be deleted after they are backed up to disk or tape. When you use the RMAN FLASHBACK DATABASE command, if the archived redo logs required to satisfy a specified guaranteed restore point are not available in the fast recovery area, then they are restored from the backups. Retention of flashback logs and other files required to satisfy the guaranteed restore point, in addition to files required to satisfy the backup retention policy, can cause the fast recovery area to fill completely. Consult "Responding to a Full Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-8 if your fast recovery area becomes full. When you create a guaranteed restore point, with or without enabling full flashback database logging, you must monitor the space available in your fast recovery area. "Managing Space for Flashback Logs in the Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-7 explains how to monitor fast recovery area disk space usage. Logging for Guaranteed Restore Points with Flashback Logging Disabled Assume that you create a guaranteed restore point when logging for Flashback Database is disabled. In this case, the first time a data file block is modified after the time of the guaranteed restore point, the database stores an image of the block before Note: Reusing the oldest flashback log shortens the flashback database window. If enough flashback logs are reused due to a lack of disk space, then the flashback retention target may not be satisfied. Note: According to fast recovery area rules, a file is reclaimable when one of the following criteria is true: ■ The file is reported as obsolete and not needed by the flashback database. For example, the file is outside the DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET parameters. ■ The file is backed up to tape. Caution: If no files are eligible for deletion from the fast recovery area because of the requirements imposed by your retention policy and the guaranteed restore point, then the database performs as if it has encountered a disk full condition. In many circumstances, this causes your database to halt. See "Responding to a Full Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-8.
- 131. Prerequisites for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points Using Flashback Database and Restore Points 7-7 the modification in the flashback logs. Thus, the flashback logs preserve the contents of every changed data block at the time that the guaranteed restore point was created. Later modifications to the same block do not cause the contents to be logged again unless another guaranteed restore point was created after the block was last modified. This method of logging has the following important consequences: ■ FLASHBACK DATABASE can re-create the data file contents at the time of a guaranteed restore point by using the block images. ■ For workloads that repeatedly modify the same data, disk space usage can be less than normal flashback logging. Less space is needed because each changed block is only logged once. Applications with low volume inserts may benefit from this disk space saving. This advantage is less likely for applications with high volume inserts or large batch inserts. The performance overhead of logging for a guaranteed restore point without flashback database logging enabled can also be lower. Assume that your primary goal is the ability to return your database to the time at which the guaranteed restore point was created. In this case, it is usually more efficient to turn off flashback logging and use only guaranteed restore points. For example, suppose that you are performing an application upgrade on a database host over a weekend. You could create a guaranteed restore point at the start of the upgrade. If the upgrade fails, then reverse the changes with the FLASHBACK DATABASE command. Logging for Flashback Database with Guaranteed Restore Points Defined If you enable Flashback Database and define one or more guaranteed restore points, then the database performs normal flashback logging. In this case, the recovery area retains the flashback logs required to flash back to any arbitrary time between the present and the earliest currently defined guaranteed restore point. Flashback logs are not deleted in response to space pressure if they are required to satisfy the guarantee. Flashback logging causes some performance overhead. Depending upon the pattern of activity on your database, it can also cause significant space pressure in the fast recovery area. Thus, you should monitor space used in the fast recovery area. Prerequisites for Flashback Database and Guaranteed Restore Points To ensure successful operation of Flashback Database and guaranteed restore points, you must first set several key database options. Flashback Database Configure the following database settings before enabling Flashback Database: ■ Your database must be running in ARCHIVELOG mode, because archived logs are used in the Flashback Database operation. ■ You must have a fast recovery area enabled, because flashback logs can only be stored in the fast recovery area. ■ For Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) databases, the fast recovery area must be in a clustered file system or in ASM. Guaranteed Restore Points To use guaranteed restore points, the database must satisfy the following additional prerequisite: the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter must be set to 10.2.0 or greater
- 132. Using Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points 7-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Using Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points This section describes the various commands and monitoring capabilities you use with normal and guaranteed restore points. Creating Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points To create normal or guaranteed restore points, use the CREATE RESTORE POINT SQL statement, providing a name for the restore point and specifying whether it is to be a guaranteed restore point or a normal one (the default). To create a restore point: 1. Connect SQL*Plus to a target database. 2. Ensure that the database is open or mounted. If the database is mounted, then it must have been shut down cleanly (unless it is a physical standby database). 3. Run the CREATE RESTORE POINT statement. The following example shows how to create a normal restore point in SQL*Plus: SQL> CREATE RESTORE POINT before_upgrade; This example shows how to create a guaranteed restore point: SQL> CREATE RESTORE POINT before_upgrade GUARANTEE FLASHBACK DATABASE; Listing Restore Points You can use the LIST command to list either a specific restore point or all restore points known to the RMAN repository. The variations of the command are as follows: LIST RESTORE POINT restore_point_name; LIST RESTORE POINT ALL; RMAN indicates the SCN and time of the restore point, the type of restore point, and the name of the restore point. The following example shows sample output: RMAN> LIST RESTORE POINT ALL; using target database control file instead of recovery catalog SCN RSP Time Type Time Name Note: There are no special prerequisites to set before using normal restore points. See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for using SQL*Plus to connect to a database See Also: ■ Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for reference information about the SQL CREATE RESTORE POINT statement ■ "Listing Restore Points" on page 7-8 to learn how to list restore point ■ "Dropping Restore Points" on page 7-9 to learn how to delete restore points
- 133. Using Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points Using Flashback Database and Restore Points 7-9 ---------------- --------- ---------- --------- ---- 341859 28-JUL-06 28-JUL-06 NORMAL_RS 343690 28-JUL-06 GUARANTEED 28-JUL-06 GUARANTEED_RS To see a list of all currently defined restore points (normal and guaranteed), use the V$RESTORE_POINT control file view with the following query: SQL> SELECT NAME, SCN, TIME, DATABASE_INCARNATION#, GUARANTEE_FLASHBACK_DATABASE,STORAGE_SIZE FROM V$RESTORE_POINT; The output from the view: ■ Name of each restore point (guaranteed and normal) ■ SCN ■ Time and database incarnation number when the restore points were created ■ Type of restore point (normal or guaranteed) ■ Amount of space in the fast recovery area being used to support information needed for Flashback Database operations for that restore point For normal restore points, STORAGE_SIZE is zero. For guaranteed restore points, STORAGE_SIZE indicates the amount of disk space in the fast recovery area used to retain logs required to guarantee FLASHBACK DATABASE to that restore point. Dropping Restore Points When you are satisfied that you do not need an existing restore point, or when you want to create a restore point with the name of an existing restore point, you can drop the restore point, using the DROP RESTORE POINT SQL*Plus statement. For example: SQL> DROP RESTORE POINT before_app_upgrade; Restore point dropped. The same statement is used to drop both normal and guaranteed restore points. Guaranteed restore points never age out of the control file. They remain until they are explicitly dropped. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Reference for information about V$RESTORE_POINT ■ "Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database" on page 18-11 Note: Normal restore points eventually age out of the control file, even if not explicitly dropped. The rules governing retention of restore points in the control file are: ■ The most recent 2048 restore points are always kept in the control file, regardless of their age. ■ Any restore point more recent than the value of CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME is retained, regardless of how many restore points are defined. Normal restore points that do not meet either of these conditions may age out of the control file.
- 134. Using Flashback Database 7-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Using Flashback Database This section describes the basic commands for Flashback Database. It also lists guidelines to ensure optimal performance of Flashback Database. Enabling Flashback Database Follow these are the steps to enable Flashback Database. To enable flashback logging: 1. Ensure the database instance is open or mounted. If the instance is mounted, then the database must be shut down cleanly unless it is a physical standby database. Other Oracle RAC instances can be in any mode. 2. Optionally, set the DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET to the length of the desired flashback window in minutes: ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET=4320; # 3 days By default DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET is set to 1 day (1440 minutes). 3. Enable the Flashback Database feature for the whole database: ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK ON; 4. Optionally, disable flashback logging for specific tablespaces. By default, flashback logs are generated for all permanent tablespaces. You can reduce overhead by disabling flashback logging for specific tablespaces as in the following example: ALTER TABLESPACE tbs_3 FLASHBACK OFF; You can re-enable flashback logging for a tablespace later with this command: ALTER TABLESPACE tbs_3 FLASHBACK ON; If you disable Flashback Database for a tablespace, then you must take its datafiles offline before running FLASHBACK DATABASE. When you enable Flashback Database while the database is open, there is a very small chance the command may not be able to obtain the memory it needs. If the command fails because of that reason, retry the command after a while or retry after a shutdown and restart of the instance. When you enable Flashback Database on a physical standby database, you can flash back a standby database. Flashback Database of standby databases has some applications in the Data Guard environment. See Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration for details. Disabling Flashback Database Logging On a database instances that is either in mount or open state, issue the following command: ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK OFF; See also: Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for reference information about the SQL DROP RESTORE POINT statement
- 135. Using Flashback Database Using Flashback Database and Restore Points 7-11 Configuring the Environment for Optimal Flashback Database Performance Maintaining flashback logs imposes comparatively limited overhead on an database instance. Changed blocks are written from memory to the flashback logs at relatively infrequent, regular intervals, to limit processing and I/O overhead. To achieve good performance for large production databases with Flashback Database enabled, Oracle recommends the following: ■ Use a fast file system for your fast recovery area, preferably without operating system file caching. Files that the database creates in the fast recovery area, including flashback logs, are typically large. Operating system file caching is typically not effective for these files, and may actually add CPU overhead for reading from and writing to these files. Thus, it is recommended to use a file system that avoids operating system file caching, such as ASM. ■ Configure enough disk spindles for the file system that holds the fast recovery area. For large production databases, multiple disk spindles may be needed to support the required disk throughput for the database to write the flashback logs effectively. ■ If the storage system used to hold the fast recovery area does not have nonvolatile RAM, then try to configure the file system on striped storage volumes. Use a relatively small stripe size such as 128 KB. This technique enables each write to the flashback logs to be spread across multiple spindles, improving performance. ■ For large databases, set the initialization parameter LOG_BUFFER to at least 8 MB. The overhead of logging for Flashback Database depends on the mixture of reads and writes in the database workload. When you have a write-intensive workload, the Flashback Database logging overhead is high since it must log all those database changes. Queries do not change data and thus do not contribute to logging activity for Flashback Database. Monitoring the Effect of Flashback Database on Performance The Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) automates database statistics gathering by collecting, processing, and maintaining performance statistics for database problem detection and self-tuning. There are several data analysis methods for monitoring the Flashback Database workload on your system. For example, you can compare AWR reports from before and after the Flashback Database was turned on. You can also review AWR snapshots to pinpoint system usage caused by flashback logging. For example, if flashback buf free by RVWR is the top wait event, then you know that Oracle Database cannot write flashback logs very quickly. Therefore, you might want to tune the file system and storage used by the fast recovery area, possibly using a technique described in "Configuring the Environment for Optimal Flashback Database Performance" on page 7-11. The V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_STAT view shows the bytes of flashback data logged by the database. Each row in the view shows the statistics accumulated (typically over the course of an hour). The FLASHBACK_DATA and REDO_DATA columns describe bytes of flashback data and redo data written respectively during the time interval, while the DB_DATA column describes bytes of data blocks read and written. The columns FLASHBACK_DATA and REDO_DATA correspond to sequential writes, whereas DB_DATA column corresponds to random reads and writes.
- 136. Using Flashback Database 7-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Because of the difference between sequential I/O and random I/O, a better indication of I/O overhead is the number of I/O operations issued for flashback logs. The V$SYSSTAT statistics shown in Table 7–1 can tell you the number of I/O operations that your instance has issued for various purposes. Flashback Writer (RVWR) Behavior with I/O Errors When flashback is enabled or when there are guaranteed restore points, the background process RVWR writes flashback data to flashback database logs in the fast recovery area. If RVWR encounters an I/O error, then the following behavior is expected: ■ If there are any guaranteed restore points defined, then the instance fails when RVWR encounters I/O errors. ■ If no guaranteed restore points are defined, then the instance remains unaffected when RVWR encounters I/O errors. Note the following cases: – On a primary database, Oracle Database automatically disables Flashback Database while the database is open. All existing transactions and queries proceed unaffected. This behavior is expected for both single-instance and Oracle RAC databases. – On a physical or logical standby, RVWR appears to have stopped responding, retrying the I/O periodically. This may eventually cause the logical standby or the managed recovery of the physical standby to suspend. (Oracle Database does not cause the standby instance to fail because it does not want to cause the primary database to fail in maximum protection mode.) To resolve the issue, you can issue either a SHUTDOWN ABORT or an ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK OFF command. Table 7–1 V$SYSSTAT Statistics Column Name Column Meaning Physical write I/O request The number of write operations issued for writing data blocks Physical read I/O request The number of read operations issued for reading data blocks Redo writes The number of write operations issued for writing to the redo log Flashback log writes The number of write operations issued for writing to flashback logs Flashback log write bytes Total size in bytes of flashback database data written from this instance See Also: ■ Oracle Database Reference for more details on columns in the V$SYSSTAT view ■ Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide to learn about AWR ■ Oracle Database 2 Day + Performance Tuning Guide for more information about AWR reports
- 137. Part III Part III Backing Up and Archiving Data The chapters in this part describe how to use the RMAN utility to perform advanced backup and recovery operations, and explain RMAN performance tuning and troubleshooting. This part contains these chapters: ■ Chapter 8, "RMAN Backup Concepts" ■ Chapter 9, "Backing Up the Database" ■ Chapter 10, "Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics"
- 139. 8 RMAN Backup Concepts 8-1 8 RMAN Backup Concepts This chapter describes the general concepts that you must understand to make any type of RMAN backup. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Consistent and Inconsistent RMAN Backups ■ Online Backups and Backup Mode ■ Backup Sets ■ Image Copies ■ Multiple Copies of RMAN Backups ■ Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups ■ Incremental Backups ■ Backup Retention Policies Consistent and Inconsistent RMAN Backups The RMAN command for making backups is BACKUP. The RMAN BACKUP command supports backing up the following types of files: ■ Datafiles and control files ■ Server parameter file ■ Archived redo logs ■ RMAN backups Although the database depends on other types of files, such as network configuration files, password files, and the contents of the Oracle home, you cannot back up these files with RMAN. Likewise, some features of Oracle Database, such as external tables, may depend upon files other than the datafiles, control files, and redo log. RMAN cannot back up these files. Use some non-RMAN backup solution for any files not in the preceding list. When you execute the BACKUP command in RMAN, the output is always either one or more backup sets or one or more image copies. A backup set is an RMAN-specific proprietary format, whereas an image copy is a bit-for-bit copy of a file. By default, RMAN creates backup sets. Consistent Backups You can use the BACKUP command to make consistent and inconsistent backups of the database. A consistent backup occurs when the database is in a consistent state. A
- 140. Online Backups and Backup Mode 8-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide database is in a consistent state after being shut down with the SHUTDOWN NORMAL, SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE, or SHUTDOWN TRANSACTIONAL commands. A consistent shutdown guarantees that all redo has been applied to the datafiles. If you mount the database and make a backup at this point, then you can restore the database backup later and open it without performing media recovery. Inconsistent Backups Any database backup that is not consistent is an inconsistent backup. A backup made when the database is open is inconsistent, as is a backup made after an instance failure or SHUTDOWN ABORT command. When a database is restored from an inconsistent backup, Oracle Database must perform media recovery before the database can be opened, applying any pending changes from the redo logs. If the database runs in ARCHIVELOG mode, and you back up the archived redo logs and datafiles, inconsistent backups can be the foundation for a sound backup and recovery strategy. Inconsistent backups offer superior availability because you do not have to shut down the database to make backups that fully protect the database. Online Backups and Backup Mode When performing a user-managed backup of an online tablespace or database, an operating system utility can back up a data file at the same time that the database writer (DBWR) is updating the file. It is possible for the utility to read a block in a half-updated state, so that the block that is copied to the backup media is updated in its first half, while the second half contains older data. This type of logical corruption is known as a fractured block, that is, a block that is not consistent with an SCN. If this backup must be restored later, and if the block requires recovery, then recovery fails because the block is not usable. When performing a user-managed online backup, you must place your datafiles into backup mode with the ALTER DATABASE or ALTER TABLESPACE statement with the BEGIN BACKUP clause. When a tablespace is in backup mode, the database writes the before image for an entire block to the redo stream before modifying a block. The database also records changes to the block in the online redo log. Backup mode also freezes the data file checkpoint until the file is removed from backup mode. Oracle Database performs this safeguard because it cannot guarantee that a third-party backup tool copies the file header before copying the data blocks. Unlike user-managed tools, RMAN does not require extra logging or backup mode because it knows the format of data blocks. RMAN is guaranteed not to back up fractured blocks. During an RMAN backup, a database server session reads each data block and checks whether it is fractured by comparing the block header and footer. If a block is fractured, then the session rereads the block. If the same fracture is found, then the block is considered permanently corrupt. Also, RMAN does not need to freeze the data file header checkpoint because it knows the order in which the blocks are read, which enables it to capture a known good checkpoint for the file. Note: RMAN does not permit you to make inconsistent backups when the database is in NOARCHIVELOG mode. If you employ user-managed backup techniques for a NOARCHIVELOG database, then you must not make inconsistent backups of this database.
- 141. Backup Sets RMAN Backup Concepts 8-3 Backup Sets When you execute the BACKUP command in RMAN, you create one or more backup sets or image copies. By default, RMAN creates backup sets regardless of whether the destination is disk or a media manager. This section contains the following topics: ■ Backup Sets and Backup Pieces ■ Block Compression for Backup Sets ■ Binary Compression for Backup Sets ■ Backup Undo ■ Encryption for Backup Sets ■ Filenames for Backup Pieces ■ Number and Size of Backup Pieces ■ Number and Size of Backup Sets ■ Multiplexed Backup Sets ■ Proxy Copies Backup Sets and Backup Pieces RMAN can store backup data in a logical structure called a backup set, which is the smallest unit of an RMAN backup. A backup set contains the data from one or more datafiles, archived redo logs, control files, or server parameter file. Backup sets, which are only created and accessed through RMAN, are the only form in which RMAN can write backups to media managers such as tape drives and tape libraries. A backup set contains one or more binary files in an RMAN-specific format. Each of these files is known as a backup piece. A backup set can contain multiple datafiles. For example, you can back up 10 datafiles into a single backup set consisting of a single backup piece. In this case, RMAN creates one backup piece as output. The backup set contains only this backup piece. If you specify the SECTION SIZE parameter on the BACKUP command, then RMAN produces a multisection backup. This is a backup of a single large file, produced by multiple channels in parallel, each of which produces one backup piece. Each backup piece contains one file section of the file being backed up. For non-multisection backups, RMAN only records backup sets in the repository that complete successfully. There is no such thing as a partial backup set. This differs from an unsuccessful multisection backup, where it is possible for RMAN metadata to contain a record for a partial backup set. In the latter case, you must use the DELETE command to delete the partial backup set. See Also: "Making User-Managed Backups of Online Tablespaces and Data Files" on page 28-5 to learn how to back up online tablespaces when not using RMAN Note: Data file backup sets are typically smaller than data file image copies and take less time to write.
- 142. Backup Sets 8-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Block Compression for Backup Sets RMAN uses two types of block compression when creating backup sets: ■ Unused Block Compression (Supports disk backup and Oracle Secure Backup tape backup) ■ Null Block Compression (Supports all backups) Although it is referred to as block compression, it might be helpful to think of block compression as block skipping. Rather than compressing the data in the blocks, RMAN completely eliminates the blocks from the backup. RMAN reads blocks from a data file and writes them to a backup set. If unused block compression is enabled, RMAN reads only those blocks of the data file in an extent that currently belongs to a database segment. Unused block compression can only be employed when backing up tablespaces whose space is locally managed. When not employing unused block compression, RMAN reads every block of the data file. Before RMAN writes a block to the backup set, it applies the null block test, and if the block has never been used, it does not write that block to the backup set. Unused Block Compression During unused block compression, RMAN does not check each block. Instead, RMAN reads the bitmaps that indicate what blocks are currently allocated and then only reads the blocks that are currently allocated. Unused block compression is turned on automatically when all of the following five conditions are true: ■ The COMPATIBLE initialization parameter is set to 10.2 or higher. ■ There are currently no guaranteed restore points defined for the database. ■ The data file is locally managed. ■ The data file is being backed up to a backup set as part of a full backup or a level 0 incremental backup. ■ The backup set is created on disk, or Oracle Secure Backup is the media manager. Null Block Compression During null block compression, RMAN checks every block to see if it has ever contained data. Blocks that have never contained data are not backed up. Blocks that have contained data, either currently or in the past, are backed up. Binary Compression for Backup Sets RMAN supports binary compression of backup sets. Binary compression is only enabled when you specify AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET in the BACKUP command, or one-time with the CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE <DISK | SBT> BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET command. You have two binary compression options: Note: RMAN never considers partial backups as candidates for restore and recovery. See Also: Chapter 9, "Backing Up the Database"
- 143. Backup Sets RMAN Backup Concepts 8-5 ■ You can use the BASIC compression algorithm, which does not require the Advanced Compression Option. This setting offers a compression ratio comparable to MEDIUM, at the expense of additional CPU consumption. ■ If you have enabled the Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Advanced Compression Option, you can choose from the compression levels outlined in "Advanced Compression Option" on page 6-7. Backup Undo In backup undo optimization, RMAN excludes undo not needed for recovery of a backup, that is, for transactions that have been committed. Backup undo optimization works for level 0 and full disk backups and Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) tape backups. Unlike backup optimization, backup undo optimization is not configurable. Encryption for Backup Sets RMAN supports backup encryption for backup sets. You can use wallet-based transparent encryption, password-based encryption, or both. You can use the CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION command to configure persistent transparent encryption. Use the SET ENCRYPTION command at the RMAN session level to specify password-based encryption. To create encrypted backups on disk with RMAN, the database must use the Advanced Security Option. For encrypted RMAN backups directly to tape, the Oracle Secure Backup SBT is the only supported interface. Filenames for Backup Pieces You can either let RMAN determine a unique name for backup pieces or use the FORMAT clause to specify a name. If you do not specify the FORMAT parameter, then RMAN automatically generates a unique file name with the %U substitution variable in the default backup location. An example of RMAN generating an SBT backup piece name by %U is: 2i1nk47_1_1 An example of a non- Oracle Managed File (OMF) backup piece on disk is: See Also: ■ "Configuring Compression Options" on page 6-6 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about BACKUP AS BACKUPSET and CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM Note: Wallet-based encryption is more secure than password-based encryption because no passwords are involved. You should use password-based encryption only when it is absolutely necessary because your backups must be transportable. See Also: ■ "Configuring Backup Encryption" on page 6-8 ■ "Encrypting RMAN Backups" on page 10-10
- 144. Backup Sets 8-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide /backups/TEST/2i1nk47_1_1 The FORMAT clause supports substitution variables other than %U for generating unique file names. For example, you can use %d to generate the name of the database, %I for the DBID, %t for the time stamp, and so on. You can specify up to four FORMAT parameters. If you specify multiple FORMAT parameters, then RMAN uses the multiple FORMAT parameters only when you specify multiple copies. You can create multiple copies by using the BACKUP ... COPIES, SET BACKUP COPIES, or CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES commands. Number and Size of Backup Pieces By default a backup set contains one backup piece. To restrict the size of each backup piece, specify the MAXPIECESIZE option of the CONFIGURE CHANNEL or ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands. This option limits backup piece size to the specified number of bytes. If the total size of the backup set is greater than the specified backup piece size, then RMAN creates multiple physical pieces to hold the backup set contents. You can use this option for media managers that cannot manage a backup piece that spans multiple tapes. For example, if a tape can hold 10 GB, but the backup set being created must hold 80 GB of data, then you must instruct RMAN to create backup pieces of 10 GB, small enough to fit on the tapes used with the media manager. In this case, the backup set media consists of eight tapes. Media managers supporting SBT 2.0 can return a value to RMAN indicating the largest supported backup piece size, which RMAN uses in planning backup activities. If you specify the SECTION SIZE parameter on the BACKUP command, then RMAN can create a multisection backup. In this case, a single backup set can contain multiple backup pieces, each containing a file section. The purpose of multisection backups is to enable multiple channels to back up a large file in parallel. Number and Size of Backup Sets You use the backupSpec clause of the BACKUP command to specify the objects to be backed up. Each backupSpec clause produces at least one backup set. Note: If you use a media manager, then check your vendor documentation for restrictions on FORMAT, such as the size of the name, the naming conventions, and so on. See Also: ■ "Specifying a Format for RMAN Backups" on page 9-3 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for descriptions of the FORMAT clause and the substitution variables See Also: ■ "Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Pieces" on page 6-4 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for ALLOCATE CHANNEL syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax
- 145. Backup Sets RMAN Backup Concepts 8-7 The total number and size of backup sets depends mostly on an internal RMAN algorithm. However, you can influence RMAN behavior with the MAXSETSIZE parameter in the CONFIGURE or BACKUP command. By limiting the size of the backup set, the parameter indirectly limits the number of files in the set and can possibly force RMAN to create additional backup sets. Also, you can specify BACKUP ... FILESPERSET to specify the maximum number of files in each backup set. Multiplexed Backup Sets When creating backup sets, RMAN can simultaneously read multiple files from disk and then write their blocks into the same backup set. For example, RMAN can read from two datafiles simultaneously, and then combine the blocks from these datafiles into a single backup piece. The combination of blocks from multiple files is called backup multiplexing. Image copies, by contrast, are never multiplexed. As Figure 8–1 illustrates, RMAN can back up three datafiles into a backup set that contains only one backup piece. This backup piece contains the intermingled data blocks of the three input datafiles. Figure 8–1 Data File Multiplexing RMAN multiplexing is determined by several factors. For example, the FILESPERSET parameter of the BACKUP command determines how many datafiles to put in each See Also: ■ "About Backup Set Size" on page 10-1 ■ Chapter 22, "Tuning RMAN Performance" to learn about RMAN buffer management ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn the syntax for the backupSpec clause Note: If RMAN creates a multisection backup of a data file, then the data file is not multiplexed with any other data file or file section. Server session File 2 Backup set File 3File 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1
- 146. Backup Sets 8-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide backup set. The MAXOPENFILES parameter of ALLOCATE CHANNEL or CONFIGURE CHANNEL defines how many datafiles RMAN can read from simultaneously. The basic multiplexing algorithm is as follows: ■ Number of files in each backup set This number is the minimum of the FILESPERSET setting and the number of files read by each channel. The FILESPERSET default is 64. ■ The level of multiplexing This is the number of input files simultaneously read and then written into the same backup piece. The level of multiplexing is the minimum of MAXOPENFILES and the number of files in each backup set. The MAXOPENFILES default is 8. Suppose that you back up 12 datafiles with one channel when FILEPERSET is set to 4. The level of multiplexing is the lesser of this number and 8. Thus, the channel simultaneously writes blocks from 4 datafiles into each backup piece. Now suppose that you back up 50 datafiles with one channel. The number of files in each backup set is 50. The level of multiplexing is the lesser of this number and 8. Thus, the channel simultaneously writes blocks from 8 datafiles into each backup piece. RMAN multiplexing of backup sets is different from media manager multiplexing. One type of media manager multiplexing occurs when the media manager writes the concurrent output from multiple RMAN channels to a single sequential device. Another type occurs when a backup mixes database files and non-database files on the same tape. Proxy Copies During a proxy copy, RMAN turns over control of the data transfer to a media manager that supports this feature. Proxy copy can only be used with media managers that support it and cannot be used with channels of type DISK. The PROXY option of the BACKUP command specifies that a backup should be a proxy copy. For each file that you attempt to back up with the BACKUP PROXY command, RMAN queries the media manager to determine whether it can perform a proxy copy. If the media manager cannot proxy copy the file, then RMAN backs up the file as if the PROXY option had not been used. (Use the PROXY ONLY option to force RMAN to fail if a proxy copy cannot be performed.) Control files are never backed up with proxy copy. If the PROXY option is specified on an operation backing up a control file, then it is silently ignored for the purposes of backing up the control file. Caution: Oracle recommends that you never use media manager multiplexing for RMAN backups. See Also: ■ "Allocation of Input Disk Buffers" on page 22-3 to learn how multiplexing affects allocation of disk buffers during backups ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP syntax
- 147. Image Copies RMAN Backup Concepts 8-9 Image Copies An image copy is an exact copy of a single data file, archived redo log file, or control file. Image copies are not stored in an RMAN-specific format. They are identical to the results of copying a file with operating system commands. RMAN can use image copies during RMAN restore and recover operations, and you can also use image copies with non-RMAN restore and recovery techniques. RMAN-Created Image Copies To create image copies and have them recorded in the RMAN repository, you run the RMAN BACKUP AS COPY command. Alternatively, you can configure the default backup type for disk as image copies. A database server session is used to create the copy. The server session also performs actions such as validating the blocks in the file and recording the image copy in the RMAN repository. As with backup pieces, FORMAT variables are used to specify the names of image copies. The default format %U, which was explained in "Filenames for Backup Pieces" on page 8-5, is defined differently for image copies. The following example shows the name for data file 2 generated by %U: /d1/oracle/work/orcva/RDBMS/datafile/o1_mf_sysaux_2qylngm3_.dbf When creating image copies, you can also name the output copies with the DB_FILE_ NAME_CONVERT parameter of the BACKUP command. This parameter works identically to the DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT initialization parameter. Pairs of file name prefixes are provided to change the names of the output files. If a file is not converted by any of the pairs, then RMAN uses the FORMAT specification: if no FORMAT is specified, then RMAN uses the default format %U. Example 8–1 copies the datafiles whose file name is prefixed with /maindisk/oradata/users so that they are prefixed with /backups/users_ts. Example 8–1 Specifying Filenames with DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT BACKUP AS COPY DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT ('/maindisk/oradata/users', '/backups/users_ts') TABLESPACE users; If you run a RESTORE command, then by default RMAN restores a data file or control file to its original location by copying an image copy backup to that location. Image copies are chosen over backup sets because of the extra overhead of reading through an entire backup set in search of files to be restored. If you must restore and recover a current data file, and if you have an image copy available on disk, then you do not need to have RMAN copy the image copy back to its old location. Instead, you can use the image copy in place as a replacement for the data file to be restored. "Performing Complete Recovery After Switching to a Copy" on page 17-16 explains how to perform this task. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Reference for more information about the views V$PROXY_DATAFILE and V$PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for the BACKUP command and the PROXY option
- 148. Multiple Copies of RMAN Backups 8-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide User-Managed Image Copies RMAN can use image copies created by mechanisms outside of RMAN, such as native operating system file copy commands or third-party utilities that leave image copies of files on disk. This type of copy is known as a user-managed backup or operating system backup. You can use the CATALOG command to inspect an existing image copy and enter its metadata into the RMAN repository. However, the CATALOG command does not do the following: ■ Read all blocks in the data file copy to ensure there are no corruptions ■ Guarantee that the image copy was correctly made in backup mode After you catalog these files, you can use them with the RESTORE or SWITCH commands just as you can for RMAN-generated image copies. Some sites store their datafiles on mirrored disk volumes, which permit the creation of image copies by breaking a mirror. After you have broken the mirror, you can notify RMAN of the existence of a new user-managed copy, thus making it eligible for a backup. You must notify RMAN when the copy is no longer available by using the CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command. Multiple Copies of RMAN Backups In RMAN, you can make multiple, identical copies of backups in the following ways: ■ Duplex backups with the BACKUP ... COPIES command, in which case RMAN creates multiple copies of each backup set ■ Back up your files as backup sets or image copies, and then back up the backup sets or image copies with the RMAN BACKUP BACKUPSET or BACKUP COPY OF commands See Also: ■ "Configuring the Default Type for Backups: Backup Sets or Copies" on page 5-4 to learn how to make either backup sets or image copies the default type of RMAN backups ■ "Specifying Backup Set or Copy for an RMAN Backup to Disk" on page 9-3 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the meaning of %U for image copies See Also: ■ Chapter 28, "Making User-Managed Database Backups" ■ "Adding Backup Records to the RMAN Repository" on page 12-14 to learn how to catalog data file and archived log image copies ■ "Making Split Mirror Backups with RMAN" on page 10-8 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CHANGE syntax
- 149. Multiple Copies of RMAN Backups RMAN Backup Concepts 8-11 Duplexed Backup Sets When backing up datafiles, archived redo log files, server parameter files, and control files into backup pieces, RMAN can create a duplexed backup set, producing up to four identical copies of each backup piece in the backup set on different backup destinations with one BACKUP command. Duplexing is not supported for backup operations that produce image copies. You can use the COPIES parameter in the CONFIGURE, SET, or BACKUP commands to specify duplexing of backup sets when using the BACKUP command. RMAN can duplex backups to either disk or tape, but cannot duplex backups to tape and disk simultaneously. When backing up to tape, ensure that the number of copies does not exceed the number of available tape devices. The FORMAT parameter of the BACKUP command specifies the destinations for duplexed backups. The following example creates three copies of the backup of data file 7: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK COPIES 3 DATAFILE 7 FORMAT '/disk1/%U','?/oradata/%U','?/%U'; RMAN places the first copy of each backup piece in /disk1, the second in ?/oradata, and the third in the Oracle home. RMAN does not produce three backup sets, each with a different unique backup set key. Rather, RMAN produces one backup set with a unique key, and generates three identical copies of each backup piece in the set. Backups of Backups You can use the BACKUP command to back up existing backup sets and image copies. Backups of Backup Sets The RMAN BACKUP BACKUPSET command backs up backup sets that were created on disk. The command is a useful way to spread backups among multiple media. If RMAN discovers that one copy of a backup set is corrupted or missing, then it searches for other copies of the same backup set. This behavior is similar to the behavior of RMAN when backing up archived redo logs that exist in multiple archiving destinations. Example 8–2 shows how you might run the BACKUP command weekly as part of the production backup schedule. In this way, you ensure that all your backups exist on both disk and tape. Example 8–2 Backing Up Backup Sets to Tape BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK AS BACKUPSET DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt See Also: ■ "Configuring Backup Duplexing" on page 6-5 ■ "Duplexing Backup Sets" on page 10-6 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SET syntax
- 150. Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups 8-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide BACKUPSET ALL; # copies backup sets on disk to tape You can also use BACKUP BACKUPSET to manage backup space allocation. Example 8–3 backs up backup sets that were created more than a week ago from disk to tape, and then deletes them from disk. Example 8–3 Managing Space Allocation BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt BACKUPSET COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-7' DELETE INPUT; DELETE INPUT here is equivalent to DELETE ALL INPUT: RMAN deletes all existing copies of the backup set. If you duplexed a backup to four locations, then RMAN deletes all four copies of the pieces in the backup set. Backups of Image Copies You can use the BACKUP COPY OF command to back up existing image copies of database files either as backup sets or as image copies. When using this command, an image copy of every data file specified in the command must exist. If there are multiple copies of a data file, then the latest one is used. If you specify a tablespace or the whole database, then RMAN issues an error if there are datafiles in the database or tablespace for which there are no image copy backups. Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups Having recent backups of your control file and server parameter file is extremely valuable in many recovery situations. To ensure that you have backups of these files, the database supports control file and server parameter file autobackups. The autobackup occurs independently of any backup of the current control file explicitly requested as part of your BACKUP command. With a control file autobackup, RMAN can recover the database even if the current control file, recovery catalog, and server parameter file are inaccessible. Because the path used to store the autobackup follows a well-known format, RMAN can search for and restore the server parameter file from that autobackup. After you have started the instance with the restored server parameter file, RMAN can restore the control file from the autobackup. After you mount the control file, use the RMAN repository in the mounted control file to restore the datafiles. When RMAN Performs Control File Autobackups If CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP is ON, then RMAN automatically backs up the control file and the current server parameter file (if used to start up the database) at the end of a successful BACKUP command. If the database runs in ARCHIVELOG level, RMAN makes control file autobackups when a structural change to the database affects the contents of the control file. Note: Backups to sbt that use automatic channels require that you first run the CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt command. See Also: "Backing Up RMAN Backups" on page 9-26
- 151. Incremental Backups RMAN Backup Concepts 8-13 How RMAN Performs Control File Autobackups The first channel allocated during the backup job creates the autobackup and places it into its own backup set. For autobackups after database structural changes, the server process associated with the structural change makes the backup. If a server parameter file is in use by the database, then RMAN backs it up in the same backup set as the control file autobackup. After the autobackup completes, the database writes a message containing the complete path of the backup piece and the device type to the alert log located in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR). The control file autobackup file name has a default format of %F for all device types, so that RMAN can determine the file location and restore it without a repository. You can specify a different format with the CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT command, but all autobackup formats must include the %F variable. If you do not use the default format, then during disaster recovery you must specify the format that was used to generate the autobackups. Otherwise, RMAN cannot restore the autobackup. Incremental Backups By default, RMAN makes full backups. A full backup of a data file includes every allocated block in the file being backed up. A full backup of a data file can be an image copy, in which case every data block is backed up. It can also be stored in a backup set, in which case data file blocks not in use may be skipped. A full backup is the default type of RMAN backup. A full backup has no effect on subsequent incremental backups and is not considered a part of an incremental backup strategy. Image copies are always full backups because they include every data block in a data file. A backup set is by default a full backup because it can potentially include every data block in a data file, although unused block compression means that blocks never used are excluded and, in some cases, currently unused blocks are excluded (see "Block Compression for Backup Sets" on page 8-4). In contrast to a full backup, an incremental backup copies only those data blocks that have changed since a previous backup. You can use RMAN to create incremental Note: Beginning with Oracle Database Release 11g Release 2, RMAN takes only one control file autobackup when multiple structural changes contained in a script (for example, adding tablespaces, altering the state of a tablespace or data file, adding a new online redo log, renaming a file, and so on) have been applied. Note: Control file autobackups are never duplexed. See Also: ■ "Configuring Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups" on page 5-7 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CONFIGURE syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the substitution variable %F
- 152. Incremental Backups 8-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide backups of datafiles, tablespaces, or the whole database. A full backup cannot be part of an incremental backup strategy; that is, it cannot be the parent for a subsequent incremental backup. Multilevel Incremental Backups RMAN can create multilevel incremental backups. Each incremental level is denoted by a value of 0 or 1. A level 0 incremental backup, which is the base for subsequent incremental backups, copies all blocks containing data. You can create a level 0 database backup as backup sets or image copies. The only difference between a level 0 incremental backup and a full backup is that a full backup is never included in an incremental strategy. Thus, an incremental level 0 backup is a full backup that happens to be the parent of incremental backups whose level is greater than 0. A level 1 incremental backup can be either of the following types: ■ A differential incremental backup, which backs up all blocks changed after the most recent incremental backup at level 1 or 0 ■ A cumulative incremental backup, which backs up all blocks changed after the most recent incremental backup at level 0 Incremental backups are differential by default. The size of the backup file depends solely upon the number of blocks modified, the incremental backup level, and the type of incremental backup (differential or cumulative). Differential Incremental Backups In a differential level 1 backup, RMAN backs up all blocks that have changed since the most recent incremental backup at level 1 (cumulative or differential) or level 0. For example, in a differential level 1 backup, RMAN determines which level 1 backup occurred most recently and backs up all blocks modified after that backup. If no level 1 is available, then RMAN copies all blocks changed since the base level 0 backup. If no level 0 backup is available in either the current or parent incarnation, then the behavior varies with the compatibility mode setting. If compatibility is >=10.0.0, RMAN copies all blocks that have been changed since the file was created. Otherwise, RMAN generates a level 0 backup. Note: Cumulative backups are preferable to differential backups when recovery time is more important than disk space, because fewer incremental backups must be applied during recovery.
- 153. Incremental Backups RMAN Backup Concepts 8-15 Figure 8–2 Differential Incremental Backups In the example shown in Figure 8–2, the following activity occurs each week: ■ Sunday An incremental level 0 backup backs up all blocks that have ever been in use in this database. ■ Monday through Saturday On each day from Monday through Saturday, a differential incremental level 1 backup backs up all blocks that have changed since the most recent incremental backup at level 1 or 0. The Monday backup copies blocks changed since Sunday level 0 backup, the Tuesday backup copies blocks changed since the Monday level 1 backup, and so forth. Cumulative Incremental Backups In a cumulative level 1 backup, RMAN backs up all blocks used since the most recent level 0 incremental backup in either the current or parent incarnation. Cumulative incremental backups reduce the work needed for a restore operation by ensuring that you only need one incremental backup from any particular level. Cumulative backups require more space and time than differential backups because they duplicate the work done by previous backups at the same level. In the example shown in Figure 8–3, the following occurs each week: ■ Sunday An incremental level 0 backup backs up all blocks that have ever been in use in this database. ■ Monday - Saturday A cumulative incremental level 1 backup copies all blocks changed since the most recent level 0 backup. Because the most recent level 0 backup was created on SunDay Backup level Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
- 154. Incremental Backups 8-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Sunday, the level 1 backup on each day Monday through Saturday backs up all blocks changed since the Sunday backup. Figure 8–3 Cumulative Incremental Backups Block Change Tracking The block change tracking feature for incremental backups improves incremental backup performance by recording changed blocks in each data file in a block change tracking file. This file is a small binary file stored in the database area. RMAN tracks changed blocks as redo is generated. If block change tracking is enabled, then RMAN uses the change tracking file to identify changed blocks for incremental backups, thus avoiding the need to scan every block in the data file. RMAN only uses block change tracking when the incremental level is greater than 0, because a level 0 incremental backup includes all blocks. Incremental Backup Algorithm The following concepts are essential for understanding the algorithm that RMAN uses to make incremental backups: ■ Checkpoint SCN Every data file has a data file checkpoint SCN, which you can view in V$DATAFILE.CHECKPOINT_CHANGE#. All changes with an SCN lower than this SCN are guaranteed to be in the file. When a level 0 incremental backup is restored, the restored data file contains the checkpoint SCN that it had when the level 0 was created. When a level 1 incremental backup is applied to a file, the See Also: "Making and Updating Incremental Backups" on page 9-14 See Also: "Using Block Change Tracking to Improve Incremental Backup Performance" on page 9-20 SunDay Backup level Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
- 155. Backup Retention Policies RMAN Backup Concepts 8-17 checkpoint SCN of the file is advanced to the checkpoint SCN that the file had when the incremental level 1 backup was created. ■ Incremental start SCN This SCN applies only to level 1 incremental backups. All blocks whose SCN is greater than or equal to the incremental start SCN are included in the backup. Blocks whose SCN is lower than the incremental start SCN are not included in the backup. The incremental start SCN is most often the checkpoint SCN of the parent of the level 1 backup. ■ Block SCN Every data block in a data file records the SCN at which the most recent change was made to the block. When RMAN makes a level 1 incremental backup of a file, RMAN reads the file, examines the SCN of every block, and backs up blocks whose SCN is greater than or equal to the incremental start SCN for this backup. If the backup is differential, then the incremental start SCN is the checkpoint SCN of the most recent level 1 backup. If the backup is cumulative, then the incremental start SCN is the checkpoint SCN of the most recent level 0 backup. When block change tracking is enabled, RMAN uses bitmaps to avoid reading blocks that have not changed during the range from incremental start SCN to checkpoint SCN. RMAN still examines every block that is read and uses the SCN in the block to decide which blocks to include in the backup. One consequence of the incremental backup algorithm is that RMAN applies all blocks containing changed data during recovery, even if the change is to an object created with the NOLOGGING option. Thus, if you restore a backup made before NOLOGGING changes were made, then incremental backups are the only way to recover these changes. Recovery with Incremental Backups During media recovery, RMAN examines the restored files to determine whether it can recover them with an incremental backup. If it has a choice, then RMAN always chooses incremental backups over archived redo logs because applying changes at a block level is faster than applying redo. RMAN does not need to restore a base incremental backup of a data file to apply incremental backups to the data file during recovery. For example, you can restore data file image copies and recover them with incremental backups. Backup Retention Policies You can use the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY command to create a persistent and automatic backup retention policy. When a backup retention policy is in effect, RMAN considers a backup of datafiles or control files as an obsolete backup, that is, no longer needed for recovery, according to criteria specified in the CONFIGURE command. You can use the REPORT OBSOLETE command to view obsolete files and the DELETE OBSOLETE command to delete them. See Also: Oracle Database Concepts for more information about NOLOGGING mode See Also: "Selection of Incremental Backups and Archived Redo Logs" on page 14-5
- 156. Backup Retention Policies 8-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide As you produce backups over time, older backups become obsolete as they are no longer needed to satisfy the retention policy. RMAN can identify the obsolete files for you, but it does not automatically delete them. You must use the DELETE OBSOLETE command to delete files that are no longer needed to satisfy the retention policy. If a fast recovery area is configured, then the database automatically deletes files that are either obsolete or backed up to tape when more recovery area space is needed for new files. The disk quota rules are distinct from the retention policy rules, but the database never deletes files in violation of the retention policy to satisfy the disk quota. Refer to "Responding to a Full Fast Recovery Area" on page 12-8. A backup is obsolete when REPORT OBSOLETE or DELETE OBSOLETE determines, based on the user-defined retention policy, that it is not needed for recovery. A backup is considered an expired backup only when RMAN performs a crosscheck and cannot find the file. In short, obsolete means a file is not needed, whereas expired means it is not found. A backup retention policy applies only to full or level 0 data file and control file backups. For data file copies and proxy copies, if RMAN determines that the copy or proxy copy is not needed, then the copy or proxy copy can be deleted. For data file backup sets, RMAN cannot delete the backup set until all data file backups within the backup set are obsolete. The retention policy is not responsible for deleting or rendering obsolete archived redo logs and incremental level 1 backups. Rather, these files become obsolete when no full backups exist that need them. Besides affecting full or level 0 data file and control file backups, the retention policy affects archived redo logs and level 1 incremental backups. First, RMAN decides which data file and control file backups are obsolete. Then, RMAN considers as obsolete all archived logs and incremental level 1 backups that are not needed to recover the oldest data file or control file backup that must be retained. There are two mutually exclusive options for implementing a retention policy: redundancy and recovery window. Recovery Window A recovery window is a period of time that begins with the current time and extends backward in time to the point of recoverability. The point of recoverability is the earliest time for a hypothetical point-in-time recovery, that is, the earliest point to which you can recover following a media failure. For example, if you implement a recovery window of 1 week, then RMAN retains full backups and required incremental backups and archived logs so that the database can be recovered up to 7 days in the past. You implement this retention policy as follows: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS; This command ensures that for each data file, one backup that is older than the point of recoverability is retained. For example, if the recovery window is 7, then there must always exist one backup of each data file that satisfies the following condition: Note: RMAN cannot implement an automatic retention policy if backups are deleted by non-RMAN techniques, for example, through the media manager's tape retention policy. The media manager should never expire a tape until all RMAN backups on that tape have been removed from the media manager's catalog.
- 157. Backup Retention Policies RMAN Backup Concepts 8-19 SYSDATE - BACKUP CHECKPOINT TIME >= 7 All backups older than the most recent backup that satisfied this condition are obsolete. Assume the retention policy illustrated in Figure 8–4. The retention policy has the following aspects: ■ The recovery window is 7 days. ■ Database backups are scheduled every two weeks on these days: – January 1 – January 15 – January 29 – February 12 ■ The database runs in ARCHIVELOG mode, and archived logs are saved on disk only as long as needed for the retention policy. Figure 8–4 Recovery Window, Part 1 As illustrated in Figure 8–4, the current time is January 23 and the point of recoverability is January 16. Hence, the January 14 backup is needed for recovery, and so are the archived logs from log sequence 500 through 850. The logs before 500 and the January 1 backup are obsolete because they are not needed for recovery to a point within the window. Assume the same scenario a week later, as depicted in Figure 8–5. Jan 1 Jan 7 Jan 14 Jan 21 Jan 28 Recovery Window = 7 Backup Backup Log 100 Jan 16 Point of Recoverability Jan 23 Current Time Log 250 Log 750 Log 850Log 500 Backup
- 158. Backup Retention Policies 8-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Figure 8–5 Recovery Window, Part 2 In this scenario, the current time is January 30 and the point of recoverability is January 23. Note how the January 14 backup is not obsolete even though a more recent backup (January 28) exists in the recovery window. This situation occurs because restoring the January 28 backup does not enable you to recover to the earliest time in the window, January 23. To ensure recoverability to any point in the window, you must save the January 14 backup and all archived logs from sequence 500 to 1150. Backup Redundancy In some cases using a recovery window can complicate disk space planning because the number of backups that must be retained is not constant and depends on the backup schedule. In contrast, a redundancy-based retention policy specifies how many backups of each data file must be retained. For example, you can configure a redundancy of 2 as follows: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 2; The default retention policy is configured to REDUNDANCY 1. Batch Deletes of Obsolete Backups You can run the REPORT OBSOLETE command to determine which backups are currently obsolete according to the retention policy. A companion command, DELETE OBSOLETE, deletes all files that are obsolete according to the retention policy. You can run DELETE OBSOLETE periodically to minimize space wasted by storing obsolete backups. For example, you can run DELETE OBSOLETE in a weekly script. You can also override the configured retention policy by specifying the REDUNDANCY or RECOVERY WINDOW options on the REPORT or DELETE commands. Using DELETE See Also: "Configuring a Recovery Window-Based Retention Policy" on page 5-24 See Also: "Configuring a Redundancy-Based Retention Policy" on page 5-23 Jan 1 Jan 7 Jan 14 Jan 21 Jan 28 Recovery Window = 7 Feb 4 Backup Backup Log 100 Jan 23 Point of Recoverability Jan 30 Current Time Log 250 Log 750 Log 1150Log 500 Backup Log 1000
- 159. Backup Retention Policies RMAN Backup Concepts 8-21 OBSOLETE with a recovery window shorter than the configured recovery window effectively reduces the window of recoverability. For example, if the configured window is 14 days, but you execute DELETE OBSOLETE RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS, then you no longer have the ability to recover to a time between 7 and 14 days ago. Backup Retention Policy and Fast Recovery Area Deletion Rules The RMAN status OBSOLETE is always determined in reference to a retention policy. For example, if a database backup is considered OBSOLETE in the RMAN repository, it is because it is either not needed for recovery to a point within the recovery window, or it is redundant. If you configure a fast recovery area, then the database uses an internal algorithm to select files in the fast recovery area that are no longer needed to meet the configured retention policy. These backups have status OBSOLETE and are eligible for deletion to satisfy the disk quota rules. The retention policy is never violated when determining which files to delete from the fast recovery area to satisfy the disk quota rules. There is one important difference between the fast recovery area rules for OBSOLETE status and the disk quota rules for deletion eligibility. Assume that archived logs 1000 through 2000, which are on disk, are needed for the current recovery window and so are not obsolete. If you back up these logs to tape, then the retention policy considers the disk logs as required, that is, not obsolete. Nevertheless, the fast recovery area disk quota algorithm considers the logs on disk as eligible for deletion because they have been backed up to tape. The logs on disk do not have OBSOLETE status in the repository, but they are eligible for deletion by the fast recovery area. See Also: ■ Chapter 11, "Reporting on RMAN Operations"to learn how to generate reports and delete backups ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for DELETE syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for REPORT syntax
- 160. Backup Retention Policies 8-22 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 161. 9 Backing Up the Database 9-1 9 Backing Up the Database This chapter explains how to perform the most basic backup tasks and implement backup strategies using RMAN. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of RMAN Backups ■ Specifying Backup Output Options ■ Backing Up Database Files with RMAN ■ Backing Up Archived Redo Logs with RMAN ■ Making and Updating Incremental Backups ■ Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage ■ Backing Up RMAN Backups Overview of RMAN Backups This section provides an overview of RMAN backups. Purpose of RMAN Backups The primary purpose of RMAN backups is to protect your data. If a media failure or disaster occurs, then you can restore your backups and recover lost changes. You can also make backups to preserve data for long-time archival, as explained in "Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage" on page 9-23, and to transfer data, as explained in the chapters included in Part VII, "Transferring Data with RMAN". Basic Concepts of RMAN Backups As explained in Chapter 8, "RMAN Backup Concepts", you can back up all or part of your database with the BACKUP command from within the RMAN client. Many of the techniques described in this chapter are also used in the Oracle suggested backup strategy provided by Enterprise Manager and described in Oracle Database 2 Day DBA. See Also: ■ Chapter 10, "Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics" to learn about more advanced topics such as backup optimization, duplexing, backup encryption, and restartable backups ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to perform RMAN backup and recovery in a Data Guard environment
- 162. Specifying Backup Output Options 9-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide In many cases, after your database has been configured in accordance with your backup strategy, you can back up the database by entering the following command at the RMAN prompt: RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE; RMAN uses the configured settings, the records of previous backups, and the control file record of the database structure to determine an efficient set of steps for the backup. RMAN then performs these steps. As explained in "RMAN File Management in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-8, you can run RMAN backups at any database in a Data Guard environment. Any backup of any database in the environment is usable for recovery of any other database if the backup is accessible. You can offload all backups of database files, including control file backups, to a physical standby database and thereby avoid consuming resources on the primary database. Specifying Backup Output Options If you specify only the minimum required options for an RMAN command such as BACKUP DATABASE, then RMAN determines the destination device, locations for backup output, and a backup tag automatically based on your configured environment and built-in RMAN defaults. You can also provide arguments to BACKUP to override these defaults. The most typical options are described in the following sections: ■ Specifying the Device Type for an RMAN Backup ■ Specifying Backup Set or Copy for an RMAN Backup to Disk ■ Specifying a Format for RMAN Backups ■ Specifying Tags for an RMAN Backup ■ Making Compressed Backups Specifying the Device Type for an RMAN Backup The BACKUP command takes a DEVICE TYPE clause that specifies whether to back up to disk or tape device. Example 9–1 illustrates a backup to disk. Example 9–1 Specifying Device Type DISK BACKUP DATABASE DEVICE TYPE DISK; When you run BACKUP without a DEVICE TYPE clause, RMAN stores the backup on the configured default device (disk or SBT). You set the default device with the CONFIGURE See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the BACKUP command ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to back up a standby database with RMAN See Also: Chapter 10, "Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics" to learn about advanced backup options such as duplexing and restarting backups
- 163. Specifying Backup Output Options Backing Up the Database 9-3 DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE command described in "Configuring the Default Device for Backups: Disk or SBT" on page 5-3. Specifying Backup Set or Copy for an RMAN Backup to Disk RMAN can create backups on disk as image copies or as backup sets. "Configuring the Default Type for Backups: Backup Sets or Copies" on page 5-4 explains how to configure the default disk device. You can override this default with the AS COPY or AS BACKUPSET clauses. To back up to disk as image copies, use BACKUP AS COPY as shown in Example 9–2. Example 9–2 Making Image Copies BACKUP AS COPY DEVICE TYPE DISK DATABASE; To back up your data into backup sets, use the AS BACKUPSET clause. You can allow backup sets to be created on the configured default device, or direct them specifically to disk or tape, as shownExample 9–3. Example 9–3 Making Backup Sets BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DATABASE; BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DEVICE TYPE DISK DATABASE; BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DEVICE TYPE SBT DATABASE; Specifying a Format for RMAN Backups RMAN provides a range of options to name the files generated by the BACKUP command. RMAN uses the following set of rules to determine the format of the output files, which are listed in order of precedence: 1. If a FORMAT parameter is specified on the BACKUP command, then this setting controls the generated file name. For example, you can direct the output to a specific location, as shown in the following command: BACKUP DATABASE FORMAT "/disk1/backup_%U"; # specifies a location on the file system In this case, backups are stored with generated unique file names with the prefix /disk1/backup_. The %U substitution variable, used to generate a unique string at this point in the file name, is required. You can also use the FORMAT parameter to name an ASM disk group as the backup destination, as shown in the following example: BACKUP DATABASE FORMAT '+dgroup1'; # specifies an ASM disk group
- 164. Specifying Backup Output Options 9-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide No %U is required in this case because Automatic Storage Management (ASM) generates unique file names as needed. However, you can specify %U if desired. 2. If a FORMAT setting is configured for the specific channel used for the backup, then this setting controls the generated file name. 3. If a FORMAT setting is configured for the device type used for the backup, then this setting controls the generated file name. 4. If a fast recovery area is enabled during a disk backup, and if FORMAT is not specified, then RMAN creates the backup with an automatically generated name in the fast recovery area. 5. If none of the other conditions in this list apply, then the default location and file name format of the backup are platform-specific. Specifying Multiple Formats for Disk Backups Typically, you do not need to specify a format when backing up to tape because the default %U variable generates a unique file name for tape backups. When backing up to disk, however, you can specify a format to spread the backup across several drives for improved performance. In this case, allocate one DISK channel for each disk drive and specify the format string on the ALLOCATE CHANNEL command so that the file names are on different disks. For example, issue the following command: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL disk1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/%d_backups/%U'; ALLOCATE CHANNEL disk2 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk2/%d_backups/%U'; ALLOCATE CHANNEL disk3 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk3/%d_backups/%U'; BACKUP AS COPY DATABASE; } You can distribute backups in this manner by default in the future, by configuring channels as follows: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 3; CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/%d_backups/%U'; CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk2/%d_backups/%U'; CONFIGURE CHANNEL 3 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk3/%d_backups/%U'; BACKUP AS COPY DATABASE; Specifying Tags for an RMAN Backup RMAN attaches a character string called a tag to every backup it creates, as a way of identifying the backup. You can either accept the default tag or specify your own with the TAG parameter of the BACKUP command. Note: If you specify FORMAT when a fast recovery area is enabled, then RMAN obeys the FORMAT setting. If no location is specified in the FORMAT clause, then RMAN creates the backup in a platform-specific location. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the FORMAT clause, and the installation guides in the Oracle Database documentation library to learn about the default file locations for your platform
- 165. Specifying Backup Output Options Backing Up the Database 9-5 About Backup Tags User-specified tags are a useful way to indicate the purpose or usage of different classes of backups or copies. You can tag backup sets, proxy copies, data file copies, or control file copies. For example, you can tag data file copies that you intend to use in a SWITCH command as for_switch_only and file copies that should be used only for a RESTORE command as for_restore_only. Tags do not need to be unique, so multiple backup sets or image copies can have the same tag, for example, weekly_backup. Assume that you specify that a data file should be restored from backups that have a specific tag. If multiple backups of the requested file has the desired tag, then RMAN restores the most recent backup that has the desired tag, within any constraints on the RESTORE command. In practice, tags are often used to distinguish a series of backups created as part of a single strategy, such as an incremental backup strategy. For example, you might create a weekly incremental backups with a tag like BACKUP TAG weekly_incremental. Many forms of the BACKUP command let you associate a tag with a backup, and many RESTORE and RECOVER commands let you specify a tag to restrict which backups to use in the RESTORE or RECOVER operation. If you do not explicitly specify a tag with the TAG parameter of the BACKUP command, then RMAN implicitly creates a default tag for backups (except for control file autobackups). The format of the tag is TAGYYYYMMDDTHHMMSS, where YYYY is the year, MM is the month, DD is the day, HH is the hour (in 24-hour format), MM is the minutes, and SS is the seconds. For example, a backup of data file 1 may get the tag TAG20070208T133437. The date and time refer to when RMAN started the backup in the time zone of the instance performing the backup. If multiple backup sets are created by one BACKUP command, then each backup piece has the same default tag. Tags are stored in uppercase, regardless of the case used when entering them. The maximum length of a backup tag is 30 bytes. Tags cannot use operating system environment variables or use special formats such as %T or %D. Specifying Tags for Backup Sets and Image Copies The characters in a tag must be limited to the characters that are legal in file names on the target database file system. For example, Automatic Storage Management (ASM) does not support the use of the hyphen (-) in the file names it uses internally, so a tag including a hyphen (such as weekly-incr) is not a legal tag name for backups in ASM disk groups. When you tag a backup set, the tag is an attribute of each backup piece in a given copy of a backup set. If you create a multiplexed backup set, then each copy of the backup set is assigned the same tag. Example 9–4 creates one backup set with the tag MONDAYBKP. Example 9–4 Applying a Tag to a Backup Set BACKUP AS BACKUPSET COPIES 1 DATAFILE 7 TAG mondaybkp; When you specify a tag for image copies, the tag applies to each individual copy. Example 9–5 shows that copies of data files in tablespaces users and tools are assigned the tag MONDAYCPY. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for the default format description in BACKUP ... TAG
- 166. Backing Up Database Files with RMAN 9-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Example 9–5 Applying Tags to Image Copies BACKUP AS COPY TABLESPACE users, tools TAG mondaycpy; You can use FROM TAG to copy an image copy with a specific tag, and then use TAG to assign the output copy a different tag. Example 9–6 creates new copies of all image copies of the database that have the tag full_cold_copy and gives the new copies the tag new_full_cold_copy. Example 9–6 Assigning Tags to Output Copies BACKUP AS COPY COPY OF DATABASE FROM TAG full_cold_copy TAG new_full_cold_copy; Making Compressed Backups For any use of the BACKUP command that creates backup sets, you can take advantage of RMAN support for binary compression of backup sets. Specify the AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET option to the BACKUP command. RMAN compresses the backup set contents before writing them to disk. The details of which binary compression level is used are automatically recorded in the backup set. There is no need to explicitly mention the type of compression used or how to decompress the backup set in the recovery operation. Example 9–7 backs up the entire database and archived logs to the configured default backup destination (disk or tape), producing compressed backup sets. Example 9–7 Making Compressed Backups BACKUP AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; Binary compression creates some performance overhead during backup and restore operations. Binary compression consumes CPU resources, so compressed backups should not be scheduled when CPU usage is high. However, the following circumstances may warrant paying the performance penalty: ■ You are using disk-based backups when disk space in your fast recovery area or other disk-based backup destination is limited. ■ You are performing your backups to some device over a network when reduced network bandwidth is more important than CPU usage. ■ You are using some archival backup media such as CD or DVD, where reducing backup sizes saves on media costs and archival storage. Backing Up Database Files with RMAN This section contains the following topics: See Also: For performance details regarding backup sets, consult the "Binary Compression for Backup Sets" on page 8-4 and the AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET option of the BACKUP command in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference.
- 167. Backing Up Database Files with RMAN Backing Up the Database 9-7 ■ Backing Up a Whole Database with RMAN ■ Backing Up Tablespaces and Datafiles with RMAN ■ Backing Up Control Files with RMAN ■ Backing Up Server Parameter Files with RMAN ■ Backing Up a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode Backing Up a Whole Database with RMAN You can perform a whole database backup with the database mounted or open. To perform a whole database backup, from the RMAN prompt, use the BACKUP DATABASE command. You may want to exclude specified tablespaces from a whole database backup. As explained in "Configuring Tablespaces for Exclusion from Whole Database Backups" on page 6-6, you can persistently skip tablespaces across RMAN sessions by executing the CONFIGURE EXCLUDE command for each tablespace that you always want to skip. You can override the configured setting with BACKUP ... NOEXCLUDE. To back up the database: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure the database is mounted or open. 3. Issue the BACKUP DATABASE command at the RMAN prompt. The simplest form of the command requires no options or parameters: BACKUP DATABASE; For a list of what files are backed up (datafiles, control file, server parameter file) see the BACKUP command keyword DATABASE in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference. The following example backs up the database, switches the online redo logs, and includes archived logs in the backup: BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; By archiving the logs immediately after the backup, you ensure that you have a full set of archived logs through the time of the backup. In this way, you guarantee that you can perform media recovery after restoring this backup. Backing Up Tablespaces and Datafiles with RMAN You can back up one or more tablespaces with the BACKUP TABLESPACE command or one or more datafiles with the BACKUP DATAFILE command. When you specify tablespaces, RMAN translates the tablespace name internally into a list of datafiles. The database can be mounted or open. Tablespaces can be read/write or read-only. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the BACKUP command and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CONNECT command ■ "Skipping Offline, Read-Only, and Inaccessible Files" on page 10-6 to learn how to use BACKUP ... SKIP to skip inaccessible data files or data files that are in offline or read-only tablespaces
- 168. Backing Up Database Files with RMAN 9-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN automatically backs up the control file and the server parameter file (if the instance was started with a server parameter file) when data file 1 is included in the backup. If control file autobackup is enabled, then RMAN writes the current control file and server parameter file to a separate autobackup piece. Otherwise, RMAN includes these files in the backup set that contains data file 1. To back up tablespaces or datafiles: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. If the database instance is not started, then either mount or open the database. 3. Run the BACKUP TABLESPACE command or BACKUP DATAFILE command at the RMAN prompt. The following example backs up the users and tools tablespaces to tape: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt TABLESPACE users, tools; The following example uses an SBT channel to back up data files 1 through 4 and a data file copy stored at /tmp/system01.dbf to tape: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt DATAFILE 1,2,3,4 DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/system01.dbf'; Backing Up Control Files with RMAN You can back up the control file when the database is mounted or open. RMAN uses a snapshot control file to ensure a read-consistent version. If the CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP command is set to ON (by default it is OFF), then RMAN automatically backs up the control file and server parameter file after every backup and after database structural changes. The control file autobackup contains metadata about the previous backup, which is crucial for disaster recovery. If the autobackup feature is not set, then you must manually back up the control file in one of the following ways: ■ Run BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE . ■ Include a backup of the control file within any backup by using the INCLUDE CURRENT CONTROLFILE option of the BACKUP command. ■ Back up data file 1, because RMAN automatically includes the control file and server parameter file in backups of data file 1. Note: Transportable tablespaces do not have to be in read/write mode for backup as in previous releases. Note: You can restore a backup of a control file made on one Data Guard database to any other database in the environment. Primary and standby control file backups are interchangeable. See Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to use RMAN to restore files on a standby database.
- 169. Backing Up Database Files with RMAN Backing Up the Database 9-9 Making a Manual Backup of the Control File A manual backup of the control file is different from a control file autobackup. RMAN makes a control file autobackup after the files specified in the BACKUP command are backed up. Thus, the autobackup—unlike a manual control file backup—contains metadata about the backup that just completed. Also, RMAN can automatically restore autobackups without the use of a recovery catalog. To make a manual backup, you can either specify INCLUDE CURRENT CONTROLFILE when backing up other files or specify BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE. You can also back up control files copies on disk by specifying the CONTROLFILECOPY parameter. To manually back up the control file: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure the target database is mounted or open. 3. Execute the BACKUP command with the desired control file clause. The following example backs up tablespace users to tape and includes the current control file in the backup: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt TABLESPACE users INCLUDE CURRENT CONTROLFILE; The following example backs up the current control file to the default disk device: BACKUP AS COPY CURRENT CONTROLFILE FORMAT '/tmp/control01.ctl'; The following example backs up the control file copy created in the previous example to tape: BACKUP AS COPY CURRENT CONTROLFILE FORMAT '/tmp/control01.ctl'; BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl'; If the control file autobackup feature is enabled, then RMAN makes two control file backups in these examples: the explicit backup of the files specified in the BACKUP command and the control file and server parameter file autobackup. Backing Up Server Parameter Files with RMAN As explained in "Backing Up Control Files with RMAN" on page 9-8, RMAN automatically backs up the current server parameter file in certain cases. The BACKUP Note: If the control file block size is not equal to the block size for data file 1, then the control file cannot be written into the same backup set as the data file. RMAN writes the control file into a backup set by itself if the block size is different. The V$CONTROLFILE.BLOCK_SIZE column indicates the control file block size, whereas the DB_BLOCK_ SIZE initialization parameter indicates the block size of data file 1. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP command
- 170. Backing Up Archived Redo Logs with RMAN 9-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide SPFILE command backs up the parameter file explicitly. The server parameter file that is backed up is the one currently in use by the instance. To back up the server parameter file: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure the target database is mounted or open. The database must have been started with a server parameter file. If the instance is started with a client-side initialization parameter file, then RMAN issues an error if you execute BACKUP ... SPFILE. 3. Execute the BACKUP ... SPFILE command. The following example backs up the server parameter file to tape: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt SPFILE; Backing Up a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode You can only backup a database in NOARCHIVELOG mode when the database is closed and in a consistent state. The script shown in Example 9–8 puts the database into the correct mode for a consistent, whole database backup and then backs up the database. The script assumes that control file autobackup is enabled for the database. Example 9–8 Backing Up a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; # Start up the database in case it suffered instance failure or was # closed with SHUTDOWN ABORT before starting this script. STARTUP FORCE DBA; SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; STARTUP MOUNT; # this example uses automatic channels to make the backup BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 MAXSETSIZE 10M DATABASE TAG 'BACKUP_1'; # Now that the backup is complete, open the database. ALTER DATABASE OPEN; You can skip tablespaces, such as read-only tablespaces, but any skipped tablespace that has not been offline or read-only since its last backup is lost if the database has to be restored from a backup. Backing Up Archived Redo Logs with RMAN Archived redo logs are the key to successful media recovery. You should back them up regularly. About Backups of Archived Redo Logs Several features of RMAN backups are specific to archived redo logs. For example, you can use BACKUP ... DELETE to delete one or all copies of archived redo logs from disk after backing them up to backup sets.
- 171. Backing Up Archived Redo Logs with RMAN Backing Up the Database 9-11 Archived Redo Log Failover Even if your redo logs are being archived to multiple destinations and you use RMAN to back up archived redo logs, RMAN selects only one copy of the archived redo log file to include in the backup set. Because logs with the same log sequence number are identical, RMAN does not need to include more than one log copy. The archived redo log failover feature enables RMAN to complete a backup even when some archiving destinations are missing logs or contain logs with corrupt blocks. If at least one log corresponding to a given log sequence and thread is available in the fast recovery area or any of the archiving destinations, then RMAN tries to back it up. If RMAN finds a corrupt block in a log file during backup, it searches other destinations for a copy of that log without corrupt blocks. For example, assume that you archive logs 121 through 124 to two destinations: /arch1 and /arch2. Table 9–1 shows the archived redo log records in the control file. However, unknown to RMAN, a user deletes logs 122 and 124 from the /arch1 directory. Afterward, you run the following backup: BACKUP ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 121 UNTIL SEQUENCE 125; With failover, RMAN completes the backup, using logs 122 and 124 in /arch2. Online Redo Log Switching Another important RMAN feature is automatic online redo log switching. To make an open database backup of archived redo logs that includes the most recent online redo log, you can execute the BACKUP command with any of the following clauses: ■ PLUS ARCHIVELOG ■ ARCHIVELOG ALL ■ ARCHIVELOG FROM ... Before beginning the backup, RMAN switches out of the current redo log group, and archives all online redo logs that have not yet been archived, up to and including the redo log group that was current when the command was issued. This feature ensures that the backup contains all redo generated before the start of the command. An effective way of backing up archived redo logs is the BACKUP ... PLUS ARCHIVELOG command, which causes RMAN to do the following: 1. Runs the ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT statement. 2. Runs BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL. If backup optimization is enabled, then RMAN skips logs that it has already backed up to the specified device. 3. Backs up the rest of the files specified in the BACKUP command. Table 9–1 Sample Archived Redo Log Records Sequence Filename in /arch1 Filename in /arch2 121 /arch1/archive1_121.arc /arch2/archive1_121.arc 122 /arch1/archive1_122.arc /arch2/archive1_122.arc 123 /arch1/archive1_123.arc /arch2/archive1_123.arc 124 /arch1/archive1_124.arc /arch2/archive1_124.arc
- 172. Backing Up Archived Redo Logs with RMAN 9-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 4. Runs the ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT statement. 5. Backs up any remaining archived logs generated during the backup. If backup optimization is not enabled, then RMAN backs up the logs generated in Step 1 plus all the logs generated during the backup. The preceding steps guarantee that data file backups taken during the command are recoverable to a consistent state. Also, unless the online redo log is archived at the end of the backup, DUPLICATE is not possible with the backup. Backing Up Archived Redo Log Files To back up archived logs, use the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command. If backup optimization is enabled, then RMAN skips backups of archived logs that have already been backed up to the specified device. To back up archived redo log files: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure that the target database is mounted or open. 3. Execute the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG or BACKUP ... PLUS ARCHIVELOG command. The following example backs up the database and all archived redo logs: BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; The following example uses a configured disk or SBT channel to back up one copy of each log sequence number for all archived redo logs: BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL; You can also specify a range of archived redo logs by time, SCN, or log sequence number, as in the following example: BACKUP ARCHIVELOG FROM TIME 'SYSDATE-30' UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-7'; Backing Up Only Archived Redo Logs That Need Backups You can indicate that RMAN should automatically skip backups of archived redo logs in the following ways: ■ Configure backup optimization. As explained in "Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command" on page 5-25, if you enable backup optimization, then the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command skips backing up files when an identical archived log has already been backed up to the specified device type. An archived log is considered identical to another when it has the same DBID, thread, sequence number, and RESETLOGS SCN and time. ■ Configure an archived redo log deletion policy. As explained in "Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy" on page 5-28, if the deletion policy is configured with the BACKED UP integer TIMES clause, then a BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command copies the logs unless integer backups already exist on the specified device type. If integer backups of the logs exist, then the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command skips the logs.
- 173. Backing Up Archived Redo Logs with RMAN Backing Up the Database 9-13 The BACKUP ... NOT BACKED UP integer TIMES command specifies that RMAN should back up only those archived log files that have not been backed up at least integer times to the specified device. To determine the number of backups for a file, RMAN only considers backups created on the same device type as the current backup. The BACKED UP clause is a convenient way to back up archived logs to a specified device type. For example, you can specify that RMAN should keep two copies of each archived redo log on tape and skip additional backups. To back up archived redo logs that need backups: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure that the target database is mounted or open. 3. Ensure that appropriate channels are configured for the backup. 4. Execute the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command with the NOT BACKED UP clause. BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL NOT BACKED UP 2 TIMES; Deleting Archived Redo Logs After Backups The BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ... DELETE INPUT command deletes archived log files after they are backed up. This command eliminates the separate step of manually deleting archived redo logs. With DELETE INPUT, RMAN deletes only the specific copy of the archived log chosen for the backup set. With DELETE ALL INPUT, RMAN deletes each backed-up archived redo log file from all log archiving destinations. As explained in "Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy" on page 5-28, the BACKUP ... DELETE INPUT and DELETE ARCHIVELOG commands obey the archived redo log deletion policy for logs in all archiving locations. For example, if you specify that logs should only be deleted when backed up at least twice to tape, then BACKUP ... DELETE honors this policy. For the following procedure, assume that you archive to /arc_dest1, /arc_dest2, and the fast recovery area. To delete archived redo logs after a backup: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure that the target database is mounted or open. 3. Run the BACKUP command with the DELETE INPUT clause. Assume that you run the following BACKUP command: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE ALL INPUT; In this case, RMAN backs up only one copy of each log sequence number in these archiving locations. RMAN deletes all copies of any log that it backed up from both the fast recovery area and the other archiving destinations. If you had specified DELETE INPUT rather than DELETE ALL INPUT, then RMAN would have only deleted the specific archived redo log files that it backed up. For See Also: "Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files" on page 10-3 for scenarios using NOT BACKED UP
- 174. Making and Updating Incremental Backups 9-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide example, RMAN would delete the logs in /arc_dest1 if these files were used as the source of the backup, but leave the contents of the /arc_dest2 intact. Making and Updating Incremental Backups As explained in "Incremental Backups" on page 8-13, an incremental backup copies only data file blocks that have changed since a specified previous backup. An incremental backups is either a cumulative incremental backup or differential incremental backup. Although the content of the backups is the same, BACKUP DATABASE and BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 DATABASE are different. A full backup is not usable as part of an incremental strategy, whereas a level 0 incremental backup is the basis of an incremental strategy. No RMAN command can change a full backup into a level 0 incremental backup. As with full backups, RMAN can make incremental backups of an ARCHIVELOG mode database that is open. If the database is in NOARCHIVELOG mode, then RMAN can make incremental backups only after a consistent shutdown. Purpose of Incremental Backups The primary reasons for making incremental backups part of your strategy are: ■ Faster daily backups if block change tracking is enabled (see "Using Block Change Tracking to Improve Incremental Backup Performance" on page 9-20) ■ Ability to roll forward data file image copies, thereby reducing recovery time and avoiding repeated full backups. ■ Less bandwidth consumption when backing up over a network. ■ Improved performance when the aggregate tape bandwidth for tape write I/Os is much less than the aggregate disk bandwidth for disk read I/Os. ■ Possibility of recovering changes to objects created with the NOLOGGING option. For example, direct load inserts do not create redo log entries, so their changes cannot be reproduced with media recovery. Direct load inserts do change data blocks, however, and these blocks are captured by incremental backups. ■ Synchronize a physical standby database with the primary database. You can use the RMAN BACKUP INCREMENTAL FROM SCN command to create a backup on the primary database that starts at the current SCN of the standby database, which you can then use to roll forward the standby database. See Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to apply incremental backups to a standby database. See Also: ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn about archived redo log management with standby databases ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY command ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the DELETE ARCHIVELOG command ■ "Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs" on page 12-17
- 175. Making and Updating Incremental Backups Backing Up the Database 9-15 Planning an Incremental Backup Strategy Choose a backup strategy according to an acceptable MTTR (mean time to recover). For example, you can implement a three-level backup scheme so that a level 0 backup is taken monthly, a cumulative level 1 is taken weekly, and a differential level 1 is taken daily. In this strategy, you never have to apply more than a day of redo for complete recovery. When deciding how often to take level 0 backups, a general rule is to take a new level 0 backup whenever 20% or more of the data has changed. If the rate of change to your database is predictable, then you can observe the size of your incremental backups to determine when a new level 0 backup is appropriate. The following SQL query determines the number of blocks written to an incremental level 1 backup of each data file with at least 20% of its blocks backed up: SELECT FILE#, INCREMENTAL_LEVEL, COMPLETION_TIME, BLOCKS, DATAFILE_BLOCKS FROM V$BACKUP_DATAFILE WHERE INCREMENTAL_LEVEL > 0 AND BLOCKS / DATAFILE_BLOCKS > .2 ORDER BY COMPLETION_TIME; Compare the number of blocks in level 1 backups to a level 0 backup. For example, if you create only level 1 cumulative backups, then take a new level 0 backup when the most recent level 1 backup is about half of the size of the level 0 backup. An effective way to conserve disk space is to make incremental backups to disk, and then offload the backups to tape with the BACKUP AS BACKUPSET command. Incremental backups are generally smaller than full backups, which limits the space required to store them until they are moved to tape. When the incremental backups on disk are backed up to tape, the tape is more likely to stream because all blocks of the incremental backup are copied to tape. There is no possibility of delay due to time required for RMAN to locate changed blocks in the datafiles. Another strategy is to use incrementally updated backups as explained in "Incrementally Updating Backups" on page 9-16. In this strategy, you create an image copy of each data file, then periodically roll forward this copy by making and then applying a level 1 incremental backup. In this way you avoid the overhead of making repeated full image copies of your data files, but enjoy all of the advantages. In a Data Guard environment, you can offload incremental backups to a physical standby database. Incremental backups of a standby and primary database are interchangeable. Thus, you can apply an incremental backup of a standby database to a primary database, or apply an incremental backup of a primary database to a standby database. Making Incremental Backups After starting RMAN, run the BACKUP INCREMENTAL command at the RMAN prompt. By default incremental backups are differential. See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about NOLOGGING mode See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to back up a standby database with RMAN. In particular, consult Chapter 9, "Managing Physical and Snapshot Standby Databases"
- 176. Making and Updating Incremental Backups 9-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide To make an incremental backup: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and a recovery catalog (if used). 2. Ensure that the target database is mounted or open. 3. Execute the BACKUP INCREMENTAL command with the desired options. Use the LEVEL parameter to indicate the incremental level. The following example makes a level 0 incremental database backup. BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 DATABASE; The following example makes a differential incremental backup at level 1 of the SYSTEM and tools tablespaces. It only backs up those data blocks changed since the most recent level 1 or level 0 backup. BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 TABLESPACE SYSTEM, tools; The following example makes a cumulative incremental backup at level 1 of the tablespace users, backing up all blocks changed since the most recent level 0 backup. BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 CUMULATIVE TABLESPACE users; Making Incremental Backups of a VSS Snapshot You can use the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) with the Oracle VSS writer to make a shadow copy or snapshot of files in a database. You must use a third-party backup program other than RMAN to make VSS snapshots with the Oracle VSS writer. In this case, the fast recovery area automates management of files that are backed up in a VSS snapshot and deletes them as needed. You can use the BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 ... FROM SCN command in RMAN to create incremental backups in the fast recovery area. Thus, you can use this command to create an incremental level 1 backup of a VSS shadow copy. RMAN can apply incremental backups during recovery transparently. Incrementally Updating Backups By incrementally updating backups, you can avoid the overhead of making full image copy backups of datafiles, while also minimizing time required for media recovery of your database. For example, if you run a daily backup script, then you never have more than 1 day of redo to apply for media recovery. To incrementally update data file backups: 1. Create a full image copy backup of a data file with a specified tag. 2. At regular intervals (such as daily), make a level 1 differential incremental backup of the data file and use the same tag as the base data file copy. 3. Apply the incremental backup to the most recent backup with the same tag. See Also: Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows to learn how to make VSS backups with RMAN
- 177. Making and Updating Incremental Backups Backing Up the Database 9-17 This technique rolls forward the backup to the time when the level 1 incremental backup was made. RMAN can restore this incrementally updated backup and apply changes from the redo log. The result is the same as restoring a data file backup taken at the SCN of the most recently applied incremental level 1 backup. Incrementally Updating Backups: Basic Example To create incremental backups for use in an incrementally updated backups strategy, use the BACKUP ... FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG form of the BACKUP command. The command is best understood in a sample script that implements the strategy. The script in Example 9–9, run regularly, is all that is required to implement a strategy based on incrementally updated backups. Example 9–9 Basic Incremental Update Script RUN { RECOVER COPY OF DATABASE WITH TAG 'incr_update'; BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG 'incr_update' DATABASE; } To understand the script and the strategy, you must understand the effects of these two commands when no data file copies or incremental backups exist. Note two important features: ■ The BACKUP command in Example 9–9 does not always create a level 1 incremental backup. ■ The RECOVER command in Example 9–9 causes RMAN to apply any available incremental level 1 backups with the specified tag to a set of data file copies with the same tag. Table 9–2 shows the effect of the script when it is run once per day starting Monday. Note: If you run RECOVER COPY daily without specifying an UNTIL TIME, then a continuously updated image copy cannot satisfy a recovery window of more than a day. The incrementally updated backup feature is an optimization for fast media recovery.
- 178. Making and Updating Incremental Backups 9-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Note the following additional details about Example 9–9: ■ Each time a data file is added to the database, an image copy of the new data file is created the next time the script runs. The next run makes the first level 1 incremental for the added data file. On all subsequent runs the new data file is processed like any other data file. ■ You must use tags to identify the data file copies and incremental backups in this strategy so that they do not interfere with other backup strategies. If you use multiple incremental backup strategies, then RMAN cannot unambiguously create incremental level 1 backups unless you tag level 0 backups. The incremental level 1 backups to apply to those image copies are selected based upon the tag of the image copy datafiles and the available incremental level 1 backups. The tag is essential in the selection of the incremental level backups. ■ After the third run of the script, the following files would be available for a point-in-time recovery: – An image copy of the database, as of the checkpoint SCN of the preceding run of the script, 24 hours earlier – An incremental backup for the changes after the checkpoint SCN of the preceding run – Archived redo logs including all changes between the checkpoint SCN of the image copy and the current time If you must restore and recover your database during the following 24 hours, then you can restore the data files from the incrementally updated data file copies. You can then apply changes from the most recent incremental level 1 and the redo logs to reach the desired SCN. At most, you have 24 hours of redo to apply, which limits how long point-in-time recovery takes to finish. Table 9–2 Effect of Basic Script When Run Daily Command Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Onward RECOVER Because no incremental backup or data file copy exists, the command generates a message (but not an error). That is, the command has no effect. A database copy now exists, but no incremental level 1 backup exists with which to recover it. Thus, the RECOVER command has no effect. The level 1 incremental backup made on Tuesday is applied to the database copy, bringing the copy up to the checkpoint SCN of the level 1 incremental backup. The level 1 incremental backup made yesterday is applied to the database copy, bringing the copy up to the checkpoint SCN of the level 1 incremental backup. BACKUP No level 0 image copy exists, so the command creates an image copy of the database and applies the tag incr_update. This copy is needed to begin the cycle of incremental updates. Note: If the script sets DEVICE TYPE sbt, then the first run creates the copy on disk, not on tape. Subsequent runs make level 1 backups on tape. The command makes an incremental level 1 backup and assigns it the tag incr_update. This backup contains blocks that changed between Monday and Tuesday. The command makes an incremental level 1 backup and assigns it the tag incr_ update. This backup contains blocks that changed between Tuesday and Wednesday. The command makes an incremental level 1 backup and assigns it the tag incr_update. This backup contains blocks that changed between now and the most recent backup with the tag incr_ update. See Also: Oracle Database 2 Day DBA to see how this technique is used in the Oracle backup strategy with Enterprise Manager
- 179. Making and Updating Incremental Backups Backing Up the Database 9-19 Incrementally Updated Backups: Advanced Example You can extend the basic script in Example 9–9 to provide fast recoverability to a window greater than 24 hours. Example 9–10 shows how to maintain a window of seven days by specifying the beginning time of your window of recoverability in the RECOVER command. Example 9–10 Advanced Incremental Update Script RUN { RECOVER COPY OF DATABASE WITH TAG 'incr_update' UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE - 7'; BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG 'incr_update' DATABASE; } Table 9–3 shows the effect of the script when it is run once per day starting Monday, January 1. As with the basic script in Example 9–9, you have fast recoverability to any point in time between the SCN of the data file copies and the present. RMAN can use both block changes from the incremental backups and individual changes from the redo logs. Because you have the daily level 1 incremental backups, you never need to apply more than 1 day of redo. Table 9–3 Effect of Advanced Script When Run Daily Command Monday 1/1 Tuesday 1/2 - Monday 1/8 Tuesday 1/9 Wednesday 1/10 Onward RECOVER Because no incremental backup or data file copy exists, the command generates a message (but not an error). That is, the command has no effect. A database copy exists, but SYSDATE-7 specifies a time before the base copy was created. For example, on Wednesday SYSDATE-7 specifies the Wednesday before Monday 1/1. Thus, the RECOVER command has no effect. SYSDATE-7 now specifies a date after the base copy was created. The database copy made on Monday 1/1 is updated with the incremental backup made on Tuesday 1/2, bringing the copy up to the checkpoint SCN of the level 1 incremental backup. The database copy is updated with the incremental backup made 7 days ago, bringing the copy up to the checkpoint SCN of the level 1 incremental backup. BACKUP No level 0 image copy exists, so the command creates an image copy of the database and applies the tag incr_update. This copy is needed to begin the cycle of incremental updates. Note: If the script sets DEVICE TYPE sbt, then the first run creates the copy on disk, not on tape. Subsequent runs make level 1 backups on tape. The command makes an incremental level 1 backup and assigns it the tag incr_update. This backup contains blocks that changed between yesterday and today. The command makes an incremental level 1 backup and assigns it the tag incr_ update. This backup contains blocks that changed between Monday 1/8 and Tuesday 1/9. The command makes an incremental level 1 backup and assigns it the tag incr_update. This backup contains blocks that changed between yesterday and today. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the RECOVER command
- 180. Making and Updating Incremental Backups 9-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Using Block Change Tracking to Improve Incremental Backup Performance The block change tracking feature for incremental backups improves backup performance by recording changed blocks for each data file. About Block Change Tracking If block change tracking is enabled on a primary or standby database, then RMAN uses a block change tracking file to identify changed blocks for incremental backups. By reading this small bitmap file to determine which blocks changed, RMAN avoids having to scan every block in the data file that it is backing up. Block change tracking is disabled by default. Nevertheless, the benefits of avoiding full data file scans during backup are considerable, especially if only a small percentage of data blocks are changed between backups. If your backup strategy involves incremental backups, then block change tracking is recommended. Block change tracking does not change the commands used to perform incremental backups. The change tracking file requires no maintenance after initial configuration. You can only enable block change tracking at a physical standby database if a license for the Oracle Active Data Guard option is enabled. Space Management in the Block Change Tracking File The change tracking file maintains bitmaps that mark changes in the datafiles between backups. The database performs a bitmap switch before each backup. Oracle Database automatically manages space in the change tracking file to retain block change data that covers the eight most recent backups. After the maximum of eight bitmaps is reached, the oldest bitmap is overwritten by the bitmap that tracks the current changes. The first level 0 incremental backup scans the entire data file. Subsequent incremental backups use the block change tracking file to scan only the blocks that have been marked as changed since the last backup. An incremental backup can be optimized only when it is based on a parent backup that was made after the start of the oldest bitmap in the block change tracking file. Consider the eight-bitmap limit when developing your incremental backup strategy. For example, if you make a level 0 database backup followed by seven differential incremental backups, then the block change tracking file now includes eight bitmaps. If you then make a cumulative level 1 incremental backup, then RMAN cannot optimize the backup, because the bitmap corresponding to the parent level 0 backup is overwritten with the bitmap that tracks the current changes. Location of the Block Change Tracking File One block change tracking file is created for the whole database. By default, the change tracking file is created as an Oracle managed file in the destination specified by the DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST initialization parameter. You can also place the change tracking file in any location that you choose, by specifying its name when enabling block change tracking. Oracle recommends against using a raw device (that is, a disk without a file system) as a change tracking file. RMAN does not support backup and recovery of the change tracking file. The database resets the change tracking file when it determines that the change tracking file is invalid. If you restore and recover the whole database or a subset, then the database resets the block change tracking file and starts tracking changes again. After Note: In an Oracle RAC environment, the change tracking file must be located on shared storage accessible from all nodes in the cluster.
- 181. Making and Updating Incremental Backups Backing Up the Database 9-21 you make a level 0 incremental backup, the next incremental backup can use change tracking data. Size of the Block Change Tracking File The size of the block change tracking file is proportional to the size of the database and the number of enabled threads of redo. The size of the block change tracking file can increase and decrease as the database changes. The size is not related to the frequency of updates to the database. Typically, the space required for block change tracking for a single instance is approximately 1/30,000 the size of the data blocks to be tracked. For an Oracle RAC environment, it is 1/30,000 of the size of the database, times the number of enabled threads. The following factors that may cause the file to be larger than this estimate suggests: ■ To avoid the overhead of allocating space as your database grows, the block change tracking file size starts at 10 megabytes. New space is allocated in 10 MB increments. Thus, for any database up to approximately 300 gigabytes, the file size is no smaller than 10 MB, for up to approximately 600 gigabytes the file size is no smaller than 20 megabytes, and so on. ■ For each data file, a minimum of 320 kilobytes of space is allocated in the block change tracking file, regardless of the size of the data file. Thus, if you have a large number of relatively small data files, the change tracking file is larger than for databases with a smaller number of larger data files containing the same data. Enabling and Disabling Block Change Tracking You can enable block change tracking when the database is either open or mounted. This section assumes that you intend to create the block change tracking file as an Oracle Managed File in the database area, which is where the database maintains active database files such as data files, control files, and online redo log files. See "Overview of the Fast Recovery Area" on page 5-15 to learn about the database area and fast recovery area. To enable block change tracking: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to a target database with administrator privileges. 2. Ensure that the DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST initialization parameter is set. SHOW PARAMETER DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST If the parameter is not set, and if the database is open, then you can set the parameter with the following form of the ALTER SYSTEM statement: ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST = '/disk1/bct/' SCOPE=BOTH SID='*'; 3. Enable block change tracking. Execute the following ALTER DATABASE statement: ALTER DATABASE ENABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING; You can also create the change tracking file in a location that you choose yourself by using the following form of SQL statement: ALTER DATABASE ENABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING USING FILE '/mydir/rman_change_track.f' REUSE;
- 182. Making and Updating Incremental Backups 9-22 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The REUSE option tells Oracle Database to overwrite any existing block change tracking file with the specified name. Disabling Block Change Tracking This section assumes that the block change tracking feature is currently enabled. When you disable block change tracking, the database removes the block change tracking file from the operating system. To disable block change tracking: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to a target database with administrator privileges. 2. Ensure that the target database is mounted or open. 3. Disable block change tracking. Execute the following ALTER DATABASE statement: ALTER DATABASE DISABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING; Checking Whether Change Tracking is Enabled You can query the V$BLOCK_CHANGE_TRACKING view to determine whether change tracking is enabled, and if it is, the file name of the block change tracking file. To determine whether change tracking is enabled: Enter the following query in SQL*Plus (sample output included): COL STATUS FORMAT A8 COL FILENAME FORMAT A60 SELECT STATUS, FILENAME FROM V$BLOCK_CHANGE_TRACKING; STATUS FILENAME -------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ENABLED /disk1/bct/RDBMS/changetracking/o1_mf_2f71np5j_.chg Changing the Location of the Block Change Tracking File To move the change tracking file, use the ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE statement. The database must be mounted. The statement updates the control file to refer to the new location and preserves the contents of the change tracking file. If you cannot shut down the database, then you can disable and enable block change tracking. In this case, you lose the contents of the existing block change tracking file. To change the location of the change tracking file: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to a target database. 2. If necessary, determine the current name of the change tracking file: SQL> SELECT FILENAME FROM V$BLOCK_CHANGE_TRACKING; 3. If possible, shut down the database. For example: SQL> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE If you shut down the database, then skip to the next step. If you choose not to shut down the database, then execute the following SQL statements and skip all remaining steps:
- 183. Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage Backing Up the Database 9-23 SQL> ALTER DATABASE DISABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING; SQL> ALTER DATABASE ENABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING USING FILE 'new_location'; In this case you lose the contents of the block change tracking file. Until the next time you complete a level 0 incremental backup, RMAN must scan the entire file. 4. Using host operating system commands, move the change tracking file to its new location. 5. Mount the database and move the change tracking file to a location that has more space. For example: ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE '/disk1/bct/RDBMS/changetracking/o1_mf_2f71np5j_.chg' TO '/disk2/bct/RDBMS/changetracking/o1_mf_2f71np5j_.chg'; This statement changes the location of the change tracking file while preserving its contents. 6. Open the database: SQL> ALTER DATABASE OPEN; Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage This section explains the basic concepts and tasks involved in making backups for long-term storage. Purpose of Archival Backups You can use BACKUP ... KEEP to create a backup that is both all-inclusive and exempt from the backup retention policy. The backup is all-inclusive because every file needed to restore and recover the database is backed up to a single disk or tape location. The KEEP option also specifies that the backup should be exempt from the retention policy either forever or for a specified period of time. The general name for a backup created with BACKUP ... KEEP is an archival backup. As explained in "Data Preservation" on page 1-3, one purpose of a backup and recovery strategy is to preserve data. You can use BACKUP ... KEEP to retain a database backup for longer than the time dictated by the retention policy. For example, you can back up the database on the first day of every year to satisfy a regulatory requirement and store the media offsite. Years after you make the archival backup, you could restore and recover it to query the data as it appeared at the time of the backup. Another purpose of an archival backup is to create a backup to restore for testing purposes and then delete. For example, you can back up the database, restore the database in a test environment, and then discard the archival backup after the test database is operational. A related purpose is to create a self-contained backup that you can delete after transferring it to another user or host. For example, another user might want a copy of the database for reporting or testing. Basic Concepts of Archival Backups You can exempt a backup from the retention policy by using the KEEP option with the BACKUP command. You can also use the KEEP and NOKEEP options of the CHANGE See Also: Oracle Database SQL Language Reference to learn about the ALTER DATABASE statement and the ALTER SYSTEM statement
- 184. Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage 9-24 Backup and Recovery User's Guide command to change the status of an existing backup. Backups with KEEP attributes are valid backups that can be recovered like any other backups. You can specify an end date for an archival backup with the KEEP UNTIL TIME clause, or specify that the backup should be kept FOREVER. If you specify UNTIL, then RMAN marks the backup as obsolete when the UNTIL time has passed, regardless of any configured retention policy. For example, if you specify KEEP UNTIL TIME '01-JAN-08', then the backup is obsolete one second after midnight on January 1. If you specify an UNTIL TIME of 9:00 p.m, then the backup is obsolete at 9:01 p.m. When you specify KEEP on the BACKUP command, RMAN generates multiple backup sets. Note the following characteristics of the BACKUP ... KEEP command: ■ It automatically backs up the data files, control file (even if the control file autobackup is disabled), and the server parameter file. ■ It automatically generates an archived redo log backup to ensure that the database backup can be recovered to a consistent state. ■ If the FORMAT, POOL, or TAG parameters are specified, then they are used for all backups. For this reason, the FORMAT string must allow for the creation of multiple backup pieces. Specifying the %U substitution variable is the easiest way to meet this requirement. ■ It supports an optional RESTORE POINT clause that creates a normal restore point, which is a label for an SCN to which the backup must be recovered to be made consistent. The SCN is captured just after the data file backups complete. RMAN resynchronizes restore points with the recovery catalog and maintains the restore points as long as the backup exists. "Listing Restore Points" on page 7-8 explains how to display restore points. Making an Archival Backup for Long-Term Storage Typically, you make an archival backup to tape. Because your data protection backups are most likely to be on a set of tapes that remain accessible and are recycled, it is advisable to earmark a set of tapes for the archival backup. You can write the archival backup to this special set of tapes and then place them in offsite storage. You can vary the procedure for creating an archival backup by creating a stored script or shell script that updates dynamically. When you run the script, you can dynamically set the name of the restore point, backup format, and so on. Making an Archival Backup This scenario makes a long-term archival backup with a backup tag of QUARTERLY and assigns it to a special family of Oracle Secure Backup tapes reserved for long-term storage. Note the following features of this example: See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CHANGE syntax and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP ... KEEP syntax See Also: ■ "Backup-Based Duplication Without a Target Connection: Example" on page 24-15 to learn the recommended technique for restoring an archival backup ■ "Using Substitution Variables in Command Files" on page 4-4 and "Creating and Executing Dynamic Stored Scripts" on page 13-19 to learn how to make archival backups with RMAN command files.
- 185. Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage Backing Up the Database 9-25 ■ The FOREVER keyword indicates that this backup is never eligible for deletion by the backup retention policy. ■ The BACKUP command creates the restore point named FY06Q4 to match the SCN at which point this backup is consistent. To make a long-term archival backup: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. The target database can be open or mounted. A recovery catalog is required for KEEP FOREVER, but is not required for any other KEEP option. 2. Run BACKUP ... KEEP to make the backup. The following example generates a data file and archived log backup and creates a normal restore point. The specified restore point must not already exist. The log backup contains just those archived logs needed to restore this backup to a consistent state. The database performs a online redo log switch to archive the redo that is in the current online logs and is necessary to make this new backup consistent. The control file autobackup has a copy of the restore point, so it can be referenced as soon as the control file is restored. RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=archival_backup)'; BACKUP DATABASE TAG quarterly KEEP FOREVER RESTORE POINT FY06Q4; } The following variation keeps the backup for 365 days instead of keeping it forever. After a year has passed, the backup becomes obsolete regardless of the backup retention policy settings. RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=archival_backup)'; BACKUP DATABASE TAG quarterly KEEP UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE+365' RESTORE POINT FY06Q4; } Making a Temporary Archival Backup One purpose of an archival backup is for creating a test database. The technique for making a test database is essentially the same as the technique described in "Making an Archival Backup for Long-Term Storage" on page 9-24. The difference is that you intend to delete the backup soon after creating it. You can specify the temporary status of the backup with the BACKUP ... KEEP UNTIL parameter. Assume that you want to make a backup and then restore it to a new host the same day. In this case, you can specify KEEP UNTIL TIME SYSDATE+1 to indicate that See Also: "Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points" on page 7-1 to learn about restore points
- 186. Backing Up RMAN Backups 9-26 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN should override the retention policy for this backup for only one day. After one day, the backup becomes obsolete, regardless of any configured backup retention policy. The command in Example 9–11 makes an archival backup on a temporary disk with the tag TESTDB. The example creates a normal restore point, which is a label for the time to which the backup should be recovered. RMAN only backs up the archived redo logs if the database is open during the backup. Archived logs are not needed for offline backups and so are not backed up. Example 9–11 Creating a Temporary Archival Backup BACKUP DATABASE FORMAT '/disk1/oraclebck/%U' TAG TESTDB KEEP UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE+1' RESTORE POINT TESTDB06; The recommended technique for restoring an archival backup is to use the DUPLICATE command. Refer to "Backup-Based Duplication Without a Target Connection: Example" on page 24-15. Backing Up RMAN Backups This section explains how to back up backup sets and image copies. About Backups of Backups You can use the BACKUP BACKUPSET command to back up backup sets produced by other backup jobs. You can also use BACKUP RECOVERY AREA to back up recovery files created in the current and all previous fast recovery area destinations. Recovery files are full and incremental backup sets, control file autobackups, data file copies, and archived redo logs. SBT and disk backups are supported for BACKUP RECOVERY AREA. For disk backups of the recovery files, you must use the TO DESTINATION option. The preceding commands are especially useful in the following scenarios: ■ Ensuring that all backups exist both on disk and on tape. ■ Moving backups from disk to tape and then freeing space on disk. This task is especially important when the database uses a fast recovery area so that the space can be reused as needed. You can also use the BACKUP COPY OF command to back up image copies of datafiles, control files, and archived redo logs. The output of this command can be either backup sets or image copies, so you can generate backup sets from image copies. This form of backup is used to back up a database backup created as image copies on disk to tape. Multiple Copies of Backup Sets BACKUP BACKUPSET creates additional copies of backup pieces in a backup set, but does not create a new backup set. Thus, BACKUP BACKUPSET is similar to using the DUPLEX or MAXCOPIES option of BACKUP (see "Duplexing Backup Sets" on page 10-6). The extra copy of a backup set created by BACKUP BACKUPSET is not a new backup set, just as copies of a backup set produced by other forms of the BACKUP command are not separate backup sets.
- 187. Backing Up RMAN Backups Backing Up the Database 9-27 Effect of a Backup Retention Policy on Backups of Backups For a backup retention policy based on redundancy, a backup set is counted as one instance of a backup. This statement is true even if there are multiple copies of the backup pieces that form the backup set, such as when a backup set has been backed up from disk to tape. For a recovery window retention policy, either all of the copies of a backup set are obsolete, or none of them are. This point is easiest to grasp when viewing the output of the LIST and REPORT commands. To view the effect of a backup retention policy on backups of backups: 1. Back up a data file. The following example backs up data file 5: BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DATAFILE 5; 2. Run the LIST command for the data file backup from Step 1. For example, run the following command (sample output included). LIST BACKUP OF DATAFILE 5 SUMMARY; List of Backups =============== Key TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ------- -- -- - ----------- --------------- ------- ------- ---------- --- 18 B F A DISK 04-AUG-07 1 1 NO TAG20070804T160 134 3. Use the backup set key from the previous step to back up the backup set. For example, enter the following command: BACKUP BACKUPSET 18; 4. Run the same LIST command that you ran in Step 2. For example, run the following command (sample output included). LIST BACKUP OF DATAFILE 5 SUMMARY; List of Backups =============== Key TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ------- -- -- - ----------- --------------- ------- ------- ---------- --- 18 B F A DISK 04-AUG-07 1 2 NO TAG20070804T160 134 Only one backup set is shown in this output, but there are now two copies of it. 5. Generate a report to see the effect of these copies under a redundancy-based backup retention policy. For example, issue the following command: REPORT OBSOLETE REDUNDANCY 1; None of the copies is reported as obsolete because both copies of the backup set have the same values for set_stamp and set_count. 6. Generate a report to see the effect of these copies under a recovery window-based backup retention policy.
- 188. Backing Up RMAN Backups 9-28 Backup and Recovery User's Guide For example, issue the following command: REPORT OBSOLETE RECOVERY WINDOW 1 DAY; None of the copies of the backup set is reported as obsolete or based on the CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# of this backup set, for the current time and the availability of other backups. Backing Up Backup Sets with RMAN This section explains how to use the BACKUP BACKUPSET command to copy backup sets from disk to tape. The procedure assumes that you have configured an SBT device as your default device. To back up backup sets from disk to tape: 1. If you are backing up a subset of available backup sets, then execute the LIST BACKUPSET command to obtain their primary keys. The following example lists the backup sets in summary form: RMAN> LIST BACKUPSET SUMMARY; List of Backups =============== Key TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Comp Tag --- -- -- - ----------- --------------- ------- ------- ---- --- 1 B F A DISK 28-MAY-07 1 1 NO TAG20070528T132432 2 B F A DISK 29-MAY-07 1 1 NO TAG20070529T132433 3 B F A DISK 30-MAY-07 1 1 NO TAG20070530T132434 The following example lists details about backup set 3: RMAN> LIST BACKUPSET 3; List of Backup Sets =================== BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time ------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ --------------- 3 Full 8.33M DISK 00:00:01 30-MAY-07 BP Key: 3 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20070530T132434 Piece Name: /disk1/oracle/dbs/c-35764265-20070530-02 Control File Included: Ckp SCN: 397221 Ckp time: 30-MAY-07 SPFILE Included: Modification time: 30-MAY-07 SPFILE db_unique_name: PROD 2. Execute the BACKUP BACKUPSET command. The following example backs up all disk backup sets to tape and then deletes the input disk backups: BACKUP BACKUPSET ALL DELETE INPUT; See Also: ■ "Configuring a Redundancy-Based Retention Policy" on page 5-23 ■ Chapter 11, "Reporting on RMAN Operations" to learn how to use the LIST and REPORT commands
- 189. Backing Up RMAN Backups Backing Up the Database 9-29 The following example backs up only the backup sets with the primary key 1 and 2 to tape and then deletes the input disk backups: BACKUP BACKUPSET 1,2 DELETE INPUT; 3. Optionally, execute the LIST command to see a listing of backup sets and pieces. The output lists all copies, including backup piece copies created by BACKUP BACKUPSET. Backing Up Image Copy Backups with RMAN This section explains how to use the BACKUP command to back up image copies to tape. It is assumed that you have configured an SBT device as your default device. When backing up image copies that have multiple copies of the datafiles, specifying tags for the backups makes it easier to identify the input image copy. All image copies of datafiles have tags. The tag of an image copy is inherited by default when the image copy is backed up as a new image copy. To back up image copies from disk to tape: 1. Issue the BACKUP ... COPY OF or BACKUP DATAFILECOPY command. The following example backs up data file copies that have the tag DBCopy: BACKUP DATAFILE COPY FROM TAG monDBCopy; The following example backs up the latest image copies of a database to tape, assigns the tag QUARTERLY_BACKUP, and deletes the input disk backups: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt TAG "quarterly_backup" COPY OF DATABASE DELETE INPUT; 2. Optionally, issue the LIST command to see a listing of backup sets. The output lists all copies, including backup piece copies created by the BACKUP BACKUPSET command.
- 190. Backing Up RMAN Backups 9-30 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 191. 10 Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-1 10 Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics This chapter explains advanced RMAN backup procedures. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Limiting the Size of RMAN Backup Sets ■ Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files ■ Skipping Offline, Read-Only, and Inaccessible Files ■ Duplexing Backup Sets ■ Making Split Mirror Backups with RMAN ■ Encrypting RMAN Backups ■ Restarting RMAN Backups ■ Managing Backup Windows Limiting the Size of RMAN Backup Sets As explained in "Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Sets" on page 6-4, you can use the CONFIGURE command to create persistent settings that govern backup set size. This control is helpful when backing up very large files. If you do not have a backup set size persistently configured, then you can also use the BACKUP ... MAXSETSIZE command to limit the size of backup sets. You can use the CONFIGURE command, but not the BACKUP command, to set a limit for the size of individual backup pieces. This control is especially useful when you use a media manager that has restrictions on the sizes of files, or when you must back up very large files. See "Configuring the Maximum Size of Backup Pieces" on page 6-4 for more information. About Backup Set Size The MAXSETSIZE parameter of the BACKUP command specifies a maximum size for a backup set in units of bytes (default), kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. Thus, to limit a backup set to 305 MB, specify MAXSETSIZE 305M. RMAN attempts to limit all backup sets to this size. You can use BACKUP ... MAXSETSIZE to limit the size of backup sets so that the database is divided among multiple backup sets. If the backup fails partway through, then you can use the restartable backup feature to back up only those files that were See Also: Chapter 9, "Backing Up the Database" for basic backup procedures
- 192. Limiting the Size of RMAN Backup Sets 10-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide not backed up during the previous attempt. See "Restarting RMAN Backups" on page 10-12 to learn how to restart RMAN backups. In some cases the MAXSETSIZE value may be too small to contain the largest file that you are backing up. When determining whether MAXSETSIZE is too small, RMAN uses the size of the original data file rather than the file size after compression. RMAN displays an error stack such as the following: RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of backup command at 11/03/06 14:40:33 RMAN-06182: archive log larger than MAXSETSIZE: thread 1 seq 1 /oracle/oradata/trgt/arch/archive1_1.dbf Limiting the Size of Backup Sets with BACKUP ... MAXSETSIZE Backup piece size is an issue in those situations where it exceeds the maximum file size of the file system or media management software. Use the MAXSETSIZE parameter of the CONFIGURE CHANNEL or ALLOCATE CHANNEL command to limit the size of backup pieces. To limit the size of backup sets: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the BACKUP command with the MAXSETSIZE parameter. The following example backs up archived logs to tape, limiting the size of each backup set to 100 MB: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt MAXSETSIZE 100M ARCHIVELOG ALL; Dividing the Backup of a Large Data File into Sections If you specify the SECTION SIZE parameter on the BACKUP command, then RMAN creates a backup set in which each backup piece contains the blocks from one file section. A file section is a contiguous range of blocks in a file. This type of backup is called a multisection backup. The purpose of multisection backups is to enable RMAN channels to back up a single large file in parallel. RMAN divides the work among multiple channels, with each channel backing up one file section in a file. Backing up a file in separate sections can improve the performance of backups of large datafiles. If a multisection backup completes successfully, then none of the backup sets generated during the backup contain a partial data file. If a multisection backup is unsuccessful, then it is possible for the RMAN metadata to contain a record for a partial backup set. RMAN does not consider partial backups for restore and recovery. You must use the DELETE command to delete the partial backup set. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE command Note: You cannot specify SECTION SIZE with MAXPIECESIZE.
- 193. Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-3 If you specify a section size that is larger than the size of the file, then RMAN does not use multisection backup for the file. If you specify a small section size that would produce more than 256 sections, then RMAN increases the section size to a value that results in exactly 256 sections. To make a multisection backup: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. If necessary, configure channel parallelism so that RMAN can make the backup parallel. 3. Execute BACKUP with the SECTION SIZE parameter. For example, suppose that the users tablespace contains a single data file of 900 MB. Also assume that three SBT channels are configured, with the parallelism setting for the SBT device set to 3. You can break up the data file in this tablespace into file sections as shown in the following example: BACKUP SECTION SIZE 300M TABLESPACE users; In this example, each of the three SBT channels backs up a 300 MB file section of the users data file. Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files As explained in "Backup Optimization and the CONFIGURE command" on page 5-25, you run the CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION command to enable backup optimization. When certain criteria are met, RMAN skips backups of files that are identical to files that are already backed up. For the following scenarios, assume that you configure backup optimization and a retention policy as shown in the following example. Example 10–1 Configuring Backup Optimization CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt; CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON; CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 4 DAYS; With RMAN configured as shown in Example 10–1, you run the following command every night to back up the database to tape: BACKUP DATABASE; Because backup optimization is configured, RMAN skips backups of offline and read-only data files only if the most recent backups were made on or after the earliest point in the recovery window. RMAN does not skip backups when the most recent backups are older than the window. For example, optimization ensures you do not end up with a new backup of a read-only data file every night, so long as one backup set containing this file exists within the recovery window. See Also: "Make Parallel the Validation of a Data File" on page 16-5 to learn how to validate sections of a large data file
- 194. Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files 10-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Optimizing a Daily Archived Log Backup to a Single Tape: Scenario Assume that you want to back up all the archived logs every night, but you do not want to have multiple copies of each log sequence number. With RMAN configured as shown in Example 10–1, you run the following command in a script nightly at 1 a.m.: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt ARCHIVELOG ALL; RMAN skips all logs except those produced in the last 24 hours. In this way, you keep only one copy of each archived log on tape. Optimizing a Daily Archived Log Backup to Multiple Media Families: Scenario In Oracle Secure Backup, a media family is a named group of volumes with a set of shared, user-defined attributes. In this scenario, you back up logs that are not on tape to one media family, then back up the same logs to a second media family. Finally, you delete old logs. With RMAN configured as shown in Example 10–2, run the following script at the same time every night to back up the logs generated during the previous day to two separate media families. Example 10–2 Backing Up Archived Redo Logs to Multiple Media Families # The following command backs up just the logs that are not on tape. The # first copies are saved to the tapes from the media family "log_family1". RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=log_family1)'; BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL; } # Make one more copy of the archived logs and save them to tapes from a # different media family RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c2 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=log_family2)'; BACKUP ARCHIVELOG NOT BACKED UP 2 TIMES; } If your goal is to delete logs from disk that have been backed up two times to SBT, then the simplest way to achieve the goal is with an archived redo log deletion policy. The following one-time configuration specifies that archived redo logs are eligible for deletion from disk if two archived log backups exist on tape: CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY See Also: ■ "Backup Optimization for SBT Backups with Recovery Window Retention Policy" on page 5-26 for a scenario involving backup optimization and recovery windows ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a detailed description of criteria used by CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION to determine whether a file is identical and can potentially be skipped
- 195. Using Backup Optimization to Skip Files Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-5 TO BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE sbt; After running the script in Example 10–2, you can delete unneeded logs by executing DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL. Creating a Weekly Secondary Backup of Archived Logs: Example Assume a more sophisticated scenario in which your goal is to back up the archived logs to tape every day. You are worried about tape failure, however, so you want to ensure that you have more than one copy of each log sequence number on an separate tape before you perform your weekly deletion of logs from disk. This scenario assumes that the database is not using a fast recovery area. First, perform a one-time configuration as follows: CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON; CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 1; CONFIGURE default DEVICE TYPE TO sbt; CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=first_copy); Because you have optimization enabled, you can run the following command every evening to back up all archived logs to the first_copy media family that have not been backed up: BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL TAG first_copy; Every Friday evening you create an additional backup of all archived logs in a different media family. At the end of the backup, you want to delete all archived logs that have at least two copies on tape. So you run the following script: RUN { # manually allocate a channel, to specify that the backup run by this # channel should go to both media families "first_copy" and "second_copy" ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=second_copy)'; ALLOCATE CHANNEL c2 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=first_copy)'; BACKUP CHANNEL c1 ARCHIVELOG UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE' NOT BACKED UP 2 TIMES # back up only logs without 2 backups on tape TAG SECOND_COPY; BACKUP CHANNEL c2 ARCHIVELOG UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE' NOT BACKED UP 2 TIMES # back up only logs without 2 backups on tape TAG FIRST_COPY; } # now delete from disk all logs that have been backed up to tape at least twice DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE sbt; The following table explains the effects of the daily and weekly backup scripts.
- 196. Skipping Offline, Read-Only, and Inaccessible Files 10-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide After the weekly backup, you can send the tape from the media family second_copy to offsite storage. You should use this tape backup only if the primary tape from pool first_copy is damaged. Because the secondary tape is offsite, you do not want RMAN to use it for recovery, so you can mark the backup as unavailable: CHANGE BACKUP OF ARCHIVELOG TAG SECOND_COPY UNAVAILABLE; Skipping Offline, Read-Only, and Inaccessible Files By default, the BACKUP command terminates when it cannot access a data file. You can specify parameters to prevent termination, as listed in Table 10–2. The following example uses an automatic channel to back up the database, and skips all datafiles that might cause the backup job to terminate. Example 10–3 Skipping Files During an RMAN Backup BACKUP DATABASE SKIP INACCESSIBLE SKIP READONLY SKIP OFFLINE; Duplexing Backup Sets RMAN can make up to four copies of a backup set simultaneously, each an exact duplicate of the others. A copy of a duplexed backup set is a copy of each backup piece in the backup set, with each copy getting a unique copy number (for example, 0tcm8u2s_1_1 and 0tcm8u2s_1_2). It is not possible to duplex backup sets to the fast recovery area. Table 10–1 Effects of Daily and Weekly Scripts Script Tape Contents After Script Disk Contents After Script Daily Archived logs that have not yet been backed up are now in media family first_copy. All archived logs created since the last DELETE command are still on disk. Weekly Archived logs that have fewer than two backups on tape are now in media families first_copy and second_copy. All archived logs that have been backed up at least twice to tape are deleted. See Also: ■ Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records" to learn how to change the status of and delete backups ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CHANGE and DELETE commands Table 10–2 BACKUP ... SKIP Options If you specify . . . Then RMAN skips . . . SKIP INACCESSIBLE Data files that RMAN cannot read. SKIP OFFLINE Offline data files. Some offline data files can still be read because they exist on disk. Others have been deleted or moved and so cannot be read, making them inaccessible. SKIP READONLY Datafiles in read-only tablespaces.
- 197. Duplexing Backup Sets Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-7 You can use BACKUP ... COPIES or CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES to duplex backup sets. RMAN can duplex backups to either disk or tape, but cannot duplex backups to tape and disk simultaneously. For DISK channels, specify multiple values in the FORMAT option to direct the multiple copies to different physical disks. For SBT channels, if you use a media manager that supports Version 2 of the SBT API, then the media manager automatically writes each copy to a separate medium (for example, a separate tape). When backing up to tape, ensure that the number of copies does not exceed the number of available tape devices. Duplexing applies only to backup sets, not image copies. It is an error to specify the BACKUP... COPIES when creating image copy backups, and the CONFIGURE... BACKUP COPIES setting is ignored for image copy backups. Duplexing Backup Sets with CONFIGURE BACKUP COPIES As explained in "Configuring Backup Duplexing" on page 6-5, the CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES command specifies the number of identical backup sets to create on the specified device type. This setting applies to all backup sets except control file autobackups (because the autobackup of a control file always produces one copy) and backup sets when backed up with the BACKUP BACKUPSET command. To duplex a backup with CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES: 1. Configure the number of copies on the desired device type for datafiles and archived redo logs on the desired device types. By default, CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES is set to 1 for each device type. The following example configures duplexing for datafiles and archived logs on tape and also duplexing for datafiles (but not archived redo logs) on disk: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 1; CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt; CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/%U', '/disk2/%U'; CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO 2; CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO 2; CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 2; 2. Execute the BACKUP command. The following command backs up the database and archived logs to tape, making two copies of each data file and archived log: BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; Because of the configured formats for the disk channel, the following command backs up the database to disk, placing one copy of the backup sets produced in the /disk1 directory and the other in the /disk2 directory: BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK AS BACKUPSET DATABASE; If the FORMAT clause were not configured on CONFIGURE CHANNNEL, then you specify FORMAT on the BACKUP command itself. For example, you issue the following command: BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DATABASE FORMAT '/disk1/%U', '/disk2/%U'; See Also: "Multiple Copies of RMAN Backups" on page 8-10 for a conceptual overview of RMAN backup copies
- 198. Making Split Mirror Backups with RMAN 10-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 3. Issue a LIST BACKUP command to see a listing of backup sets and pieces. For example, enter the following command: LIST BACKUP SUMMARY; The #Copies column shows the number of backup sets, which may have been produced by duplexing or by multiple backup commands. Duplexing Backup Sets with BACKUP ... COPIES The COPIES option of the BACKUP command overrides every other COPIES or DUPLEX setting to control duplexing of backup sets. To duplex a backup with BACKUP ... COPIES: 1. Specify the number of identical copies with the COPIES option of the BACKUP command. For example, run the following to make three copies of each backup set in the default DISK location: BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DEVICE TYPE DISK COPIES 3 INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 DATABASE; Because you specified COPIES in the BACKUP command, RMAN makes three backup sets of each data file regardless of the CONFIGURE DATAFILE COPIES setting. 2. Issue a LIST BACKUP command to see a listing of backup sets and pieces (the #Copies column shows the number of copies, which may have been produced through duplexing or through multiple invocations of the BACKUP command). For example, enter: LIST BACKUP SUMMARY; Making Split Mirror Backups with RMAN Many sites keep a backup of the database stored on disk in case a media failure occurs on the primary database or an incorrect user action requires point-in-time recovery. A data file backup on disk simplifies the restore step of recovery, making recovery much quicker and more reliable. One way of creating a data file backup on disk is to use disk mirroring. For example, the operating system can maintain three identical copies of each file in the database. In this configuration, you can split off a mirrored copy of the database to use as a backup. See Also: "Configuring Backup Duplexing" on page 6-5 to learn about the CONFIGURE BACKUP COPIES command, and "Configuring the Environment for RMAN Backups" on page 5-1 to learn about basic backup configuration options Caution: Never make backups, split mirror or otherwise, of online redo logs. Restoring online redo log backups can create two archived logs with the same sequence number but different contents. Also, it is best to use the BACKUP CONTROLFILE command rather than a split mirror to make control file backups.
- 199. Making Split Mirror Backups with RMAN Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-9 RMAN does not automate the splitting of mirrors, but can make use of split mirrors in backup and recovery. For example, RMAN can treat a split mirror of a data file as a data file copy, and can also back up this copy to disk or tape. The procedure in this section explains how to make a split mirror backup with the ALTER SYSTEM SUSPEND/RESUME functionality. Some mirroring technology does not require Oracle Database to suspend all I/O before a mirror can be separated and used as a backup. Refer to your storage manager, volume manager, or file system documentation for information about whether you must suspend I/O from the database instance. To make a split mirror backup of a tablespace by using SUSPEND/RESUME: 1. Start RMAN and then place the tablespaces to back up into backup mode with the ALTER TABLESPACE ... BEGIN BACKUP statement. (To place all tablespaces in backup mode, you can the ALTER DATABASE BEGIN BACKUP instead.) For example, to place tablespace users in backup mode, you connect RMAN to a target database and run the following SQL command: SQL 'ALTER TABLESPACE users BEGIN BACKUP'; 2. Suspend I/O if your mirroring software or hardware requires it. For example, enter the following command in RMAN: SQL 'ALTER SYSTEM SUSPEND'; 3. Split the mirrors for the underlying datafiles contained in these tablespaces. 4. Take the database out of the suspended state. For example, enter the following command in RMAN: SQL 'ALTER SYSTEM RESUME'; 5. Take the tablespaces out of backup mode. For example, enter: SQL 'ALTER TABLESPACE users END BACKUP'; You can also use ALTER DATABASE END BACKUP to take all tablespaces out of backup mode. 6. Catalog the user-managed mirror copies as data file copies with the CATALOG command. For example, enter: CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '/dk2/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'; # catalog split mirror 7. Back up the data file copies. For example, run the BACKUP DATAFILECOPY command at the prompt: BACKUP DATAFILECOPY '/dk2/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'; 8. When you are ready to resilver a split mirror, first use the CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command to uncatalog the data file copies you cataloged in Step 6. For example, enter: CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/dk2/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf' UNCATALOG; 9. Resilver the split mirror for the affected datafiles.
- 200. Encrypting RMAN Backups 10-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Encrypting RMAN Backups As explained in "Configuring Backup Encryption" on page 6-8, you can protect RMAN backup sets with backup encryption. Encrypted backups cannot be read if they are obtained by unauthorized users. The RMAN backup encryption feature requires the Enterprise Edition of the database. About RMAN Backup Encryption Settings Backup encryption is performed based on the encryption settings specified with the following commands: ■ CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION You can use this command to persistently configure transparent encryption. You cannot persistently configure dual mode or password mode encryption. ■ SET ENCRYPTION You can use this command to configure dual mode or password mode encryption at the RMAN session level. The database uses a new encryption key for every encrypted backup. The backup encryption key is then encrypted with either the password, the database master key, or both, depending on the chosen encryption mode. Individual backup encryption keys or passwords are never stored in clear text. A single restore operation can process backups encrypted in different modes. For each backup piece that it restores, RMAN checks whether it is encrypted. Transparently encrypted backups need no intervention if the Oracle wallet is open and available. If password encryption is detected, then RMAN searches for a matching key in the list of passwords entered in the SET DECRYPTION command. If RMAN finds a usable key, then the restore operation proceeds. Otherwise, RMAN searches for a key in the Oracle wallet. If RMAN finds a usable key, then the restore operation proceeds; otherwise, RMAN signals an error that the backup piece cannot be decrypted. See Also: ■ "Making User-Managed Backups in SUSPEND Mode" on page 28-11 ■ Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about the SUSPEND/RESUME feature ■ Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for the ALTER SYSTEM SUSPEND syntax Note: Wallet-based encryption is more secure than password-based encryption because no passwords are involved. You should use password-based encryption only when absolutely necessary because your backups must be transportable. Note: If RMAN restores a set of backups created with different passwords, then all required passwords must be included with SET DECRYPTION.
- 201. Encrypting RMAN Backups Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-11 RMAN encryption is a CPU-intensive operation and can affect backup performance. The actual amount of CPU utilization during encryption depends on whether both input and output devices for disk and SBT produce and consume data faster than the CPU can encrypt it. Here are a few guidelines for managing and trying to maximize CPU performance: ■ Because encrypted backups consume more CPU resources than unencrypted backups, you can improve performance of encrypted backups to disk by using more RMAN channels. A general rule is to use the same number of channels as the number of CPU cores in your system. For example, use two channels for a dual-core processor. ■ If both the disk subsystem and SBT-subsystem are fast, you can expect very high CPU utilization. You may want to consider slowing the rate of the backup by setting the RMAN READRATE parameter. For example, you can set an upper limit for block reads so that RMAN does not consume excessive disk bandwidth and thereby degrade online performance. Making Transparent-Mode Encrypted Backups If you have configured transparent encryption with the CONFIGURE command as explained in "Configuring RMAN Backup Encryption Modes" on page 6-10, then no additional commands are required to make encrypted backups. Make RMAN backups as normal. Making Password-Mode Encrypted Backups You can set an encryption password in an RMAN session by executing the SET ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD command. If transparent encryption is configured, then specify the ONLY keyword to indicate that the backups should be protected with a password and not with the configured transparent encryption. To make password-mode encrypted backups: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the SET ENCRYPTION ON IDENTIFIED BY password ONLY command. The following example sets the encryption password for all tablespaces (where password is a placeholder for the actual password that you enter) in the backup and specifies ONLY to indicate that the encryption is password-only: SET ENCRYPTION IDENTIFIED BY password ONLY ON FOR ALL TABLESPACES; 3. Back up the database. See Also: ■ "Performing Complete Database Recovery" on page 17-10 to learn how to restore password-encrypted backups ■ "Determining the Encryption Status of Backup Pieces" on page 11-16 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the ENCRYPTION and DECRYPTION options of the SET command Note: Create a password that is secure. See Oracle Database Security Guide for more information.
- 202. Restarting RMAN Backups 10-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide For example, enter the following command: BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; Making Dual-Mode Encrypted Backups Use the SET ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD command at the RMAN prompt to make password-protected backups. If transparent encryption is configured, then omit the ONLY keyword to indicate that the backups should be protected with a password and also with the configured transparent encryption. To make dual-mode encrypted backups: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the SET ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD command, making sure to omit the ONLY keyword. The following example sets the encryption password for all tablespaces (where password is a placeholder for the actual password that you enter) in the backup and omits ONLY to indicate dual-mode encryption: SET ENCRYPTION IDENTIFIED BY password ON FOR ALL TABLESPACES; 3. Back up the database. For example, enter the following command: BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; Restarting RMAN Backups With the restartable backup feature, RMAN backs up only those files that were not backed up after a specified date. About Restartable Backups The minimum unit of restartability is a data file. However, if a backup set contains one backup piece, and if this piece contains blocks from multiple data files, then the unit of restartability is the backup piece. The unit of restartability for image copies is a data file. The benefit of restartable backups is that if the backup generates multiple backup sets, then the backup sets that completed successfully do not have to be rerun. However, if the entire database is written into one backup set, and if the backup fails halfway through, then the entire backup has to be restarted. Any I/O errors that RMAN encounters when reading files or writing to the backup pieces or image copies cause RMAN to terminate the backup job in progress. For example, if RMAN tries to back up a data file but the data file is not on disk, then RMAN terminates the backup. If multiple channels are being used or redundant copies of backups are being created, however, then RMAN may be able to continue the backup without user intervention. Note: Create a password that is secure. See Oracle Database Security Guide for more information.
- 203. Managing Backup Windows Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-13 RMAN can back up only those files that have not been backed up since a specified date. Use this feature after a backup fails to back up the parts of the database missed by the failed backup. You can restart a backup by specifying the SINCE TIME clause on the BACKUP command. If the SINCE TIME is later than the completion time, then RMAN backs up the file. If you use BACKUP DATABASE NOT BACKED UP without the SINCE TIME parameter, then RMAN only backs up files that have never been backed up. Restarting a Backup After It Partially Completes Use the SINCE TIME parameter of the BACKUP command to specify a date after which a new backup is required. If the SINCE TIME is later than the completion time, then RMAN backs up the file. If you use BACKUP DATABASE NOT BACKED UP without the SINCE TIME parameter, then RMAN only backs up files that have never been backed up. To only back up files that were not backed up after a specified date: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the BACKUP ... NOT BACKED UP SINCE TIME command. Specify a valid date in the SINCE TIME parameter. The following example uses the default configured channel to back up all database files and archived redo logs that have not been backed up in the last two weeks: BACKUP NOT BACKED UP SINCE TIME 'SYSDATE-14' DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; Managing Backup Windows This section explains how to use backup windows to set limits for the time span in which a backup job can complete. About Backup Windows A backup window is a period of time during which a backup must complete. For example, you may want to restrict your database backups to a window of time when user activity on your system is low, such as between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. RMAN backs up the least recently backed up files first. By default, RMAN backs up the files at the maximum possible speed. Specifying a window does not mean that RMAN backs up data faster than normal to ensure that the backup completes before the window ends. By default, if the backup is not complete within the DURATION time, then RMAN interrupts the backup and reports an error. If the BACKUP command is in a RUN command, then the RUN command terminates. Any completed backup sets are retained and can be used in restore operations, even if the entire backup is not complete. Thus, if you retry a job that was interrupted when the available duration See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP ... NOT BACKED UP syntax See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for an example of how to use the BACKUP command to restart a backup that did not complete
- 204. Managing Backup Windows 10-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide expired, each successive attempt covers more of the files needing backup. Any incomplete backup sets are discarded. Specifying a Backup Duration Use the DURATION parameter of the BACKUP command to specify how long a given backup job is allowed to run. To specify a backup duration: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the BACKUP DURATION command. For example, run the following command at 2:00 a.m. to specify that the backup should run until 6:00 a.m.: BACKUP DURATION 4:00 TABLESPACE users; Permitting Partial Backups in a Backup Window When you specify PARTIAL, RMAN does not report an error when a backup is interrupted because of the end of the backup window. Instead, RMAN displays a message showing which files are not backed up. If the BACKUP command is part of a RUN block, then the remaining commands in the RUN block continue to execute. If you specify FILESPERSET 1, then RMAN puts each file into its own backup set. When a backup is interrupted at the end of the backup window, only the backup of the file currently being backed up is lost. All backup sets completed during the window are saved, minimizing the lost work caused by the end of the backup window. To prevent RMAN from issuing an error when a backup partially completes: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the BACKUP DURATION command with the PARTIAL option. For example, you run the following command at 2:00 a.m. to specify that the backup should run until 6:00 a.m. and that each data file should be in a separate backup set: BACKUP DURATION 4:00 PARTIAL TABLESPACE users FILESPERSET 1; Minimizing Backup Load and Duration When using DURATION you can run the backup with the maximum possible performance, or run as slowly as possible while still finishing within the allotted time, to minimize the performance impact of backup tasks. To maximize performance, use the MINIMIZE TIME option with DURATION, as shown in Example 10–4. Example 10–4 Using MINIMIZE TIME with BACKUP DURATION BACKUP DURATION 4:00 PARTIAL See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for the syntax of the BACKUP command
- 205. Managing Backup Windows Backing Up the Database: Advanced Topics 10-15 MINIMIZE TIME DATABASE FILESPERSET 1; To extend the backup to use the full time available, use the MINIMIZE LOAD option, as in Example 10–5. Example 10–5 Using MINIMIZE LOAD with BACKUP DURATION BACKUP DURATION 4:00 PARTIAL MINIMIZE LOAD DATABASE FILESPERSET 1; In Example 10–5, RMAN monitors the progress of the running backup, and periodically estimates how long the backup takes to complete at its present rate. If RMAN estimates that the backup will finish before the end of the backup window, then it slows down the rate of backup so that the full available duration is used. This reduces the overhead on the database associated with the backup. Note these issues when using DURATION and MINIMIZE LOAD with a tape backup: ■ Efficient backup to tape requires tape streaming. If you use MINIMIZE LOAD, then RMAN may reduce the rate of backup to the point where tape streaming is not optimal. ■ RMAN holds the tape resource for the entire duration of the backup window. This prevents the use of the tape resource for any other purpose during the backup window. Because of these concerns, it is not recommended that you use MINIMIZE LOAD when backing up to tape. See Also: "Media Manager Component of the Write Phase for SBT" on page 22-8 for more details on efficient tape handling
- 206. Managing Backup Windows 10-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 207. Part IV Part IV Managing RMAN Backups The following chapters describe how to manage RMAN backups. This part of the book contains these chapters: ■ Chapter 11, "Reporting on RMAN Operations" ■ Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records" ■ Chapter 13, "Managing a Recovery Catalog"
- 209. 11 Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-1 11Reporting on RMAN Operations This chapter describes how to report on RMAN operations. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of RMAN Reporting ■ Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects ■ Reporting on Backups and Database Schema ■ Using V$ Views to Query Backup Metadata ■ Querying Recovery Catalog Views Overview of RMAN Reporting This section explains the purpose and basic concepts of RMAN reporting. Purpose of RMAN Reporting As part of your backup and recovery strategy, you should periodically run reports that indicate what you have backed up. You should determine which datafiles need backups or which files have not been backed up recently. Also, you can preview which backups RMAN would need to restore if a problem were to occur. Another important aspect of backup and recovery is monitoring space usage. If you back up to disk, then it is possible for the disk to fill, which can create performance problems or even cause the database to halt. You can use RMAN to determine whether a backup is an obsolete backup and can therefore be deleted. You may also need to obtain historical information about RMAN jobs. For example, you may want to know how many backup jobs have been issued, the status of each backup job (for example, whether it failed or completed), when a job started and finished, and what type of backup was performed. Basic Concepts of RMAN Reporting RMAN always stores its RMAN repository of metadata in the control file of each target database on which it performs operations. For example, suppose that you use RMAN to back up the prod1 and prod2 databases. RMAN stores the metadata for backups of prod1 in the control file of prod1, and the metadata for backups of prod2 in the control file of prod2. Optionally, you can use RMAN with a recovery catalog. In this case, RMAN maintains an additional repository of metadata in a set of tables in a separate recovery catalog database. For example, you could create a recovery catalog in prod3. You can register
- 210. Overview of RMAN Reporting 11-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide multiple target databases in this recovery catalog. For example, if you register prod1 and prod2 in the recovery catalog stored in prod3, then RMAN stores metadata about its backups of prod1 and prod2 in the recovery catalog schema. You can access metadata from the RMAN repository in several different ways: ■ The RMAN LIST and REPORT commands provide extensive information about available backups and how they can be used to restore and recover your database. The LIST command is described in "Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects" on page 11-3 and REPORT is described in "Reporting on Backups and Database Schema" on page 11-9. ■ When the database is open, several V$ views provide direct access to RMAN repository records in the control file of each target database. Some V$ views such as V$DATAFILE_HEADER, V$PROCESS, and V$SESSION contain information not found in the recovery catalog views. The V$ views are documented in Oracle Database Reference. ■ If your database is registered in a recovery catalog, then RC_ views provide direct access to the RMAN repository data stored in the recovery catalog. The RC_ views mostly correspond to the V$ views. The RC_ views are documented in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference. ■ The RESTORE ... PREVIEW and RESTORE ... VALIDATE HEADER commands list the backups that RMAN can restore to the specified time. RESTORE ... PREVIEW queries the metadata but does not read the backup files. The RESTORE ... VALIDATE HEADER command performs the same work, but in addition to listing the files needed for restore and recovery operations, the command validates the backup file headers to determine whether the files on disk or in the media management catalog correspond to the metadata in the RMAN repository. These commands are documented in "Previewing Backups Used in Restore Operations" on page 17-5. As explained in Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records," the RMAN repository can sometimes fail to reflect the reality on disk and tape. For example, a user may delete a backup with an operating system utility, so that the RMAN repository incorrectly reports the backup as available. You can use commands such as CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE to update the RMAN repository to reflect the actual state of available backups. Otherwise, the output of the commands and views may be misleading, which means that RMAN may not be able to find the backups to restore and recover your database. Reporting in a Data Guard Environment As explained in "RMAN File Management in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-8, every backup is associated with the primary or standby database that created it. For See Also: ■ "Crosschecking the RMAN Repository" on page 12-10 to learn how to keep the RMAN repository current ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for LIST syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for REPORT syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RESTORE syntax
- 211. Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-3 example, if you backed up the database with the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of standby1, then the standby1 database is associated with this backup. In a Data Guard environment, you can use the LIST, REPORT, and SHOW commands just as you can when not using Data Guard. You can run these commands with the FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME clause to show the backups associated with a specified database. For example, the following command lists archived redo logs associated only with sfstandby: LIST ARCHIVELOG ALL FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME sfstandby; If you use the LIST, REPORT, and SHOW commands in a Data Guard environment without specifying the FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME clause, then RMAN shows the files that are accessible to the target database. "Association of Backups in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-8 explains when backups are considered accessible to RMAN. In a Data Guard environment, you must use RMAN with a recovery catalog. RMAN stores the metadata for all backup and recovery files in the Data Guard environment in the recovery catalog. When running the RMAN reporting commands, you can either connect RMAN as TARGET to a mounted or open database, or identify the database with the SET DBID command. Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects The LIST command uses the information in the RMAN repository to provide lists of backups and other objects relating to backup and recovery. This section contains the following topics: ■ About the LIST Command ■ Listing All Backups and Copies ■ Listing Selected Backups and Copies ■ Listing Database Incarnations About the LIST Command The primary purpose of the LIST command is to list backup and copies. For example, you can list: ■ Backups and proxy copies of a database, tablespace, data file, archived redo log, or control file ■ Backups that have expired ■ Backups restricted by time, path name, device type, tag, or recoverability ■ Archived redo log files and disk copies Besides backups and copies, RMAN can list other types of data. Table 11–1 summarizes several useful objects that you can list. See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to report on RMAN operations in a Data Guard environment
- 212. Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects 11-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The LIST command supports several options that control how output is displayed. Table 11–2 summarizes the most common LIST options. Table 11–1 LIST Objects Contents of List Command Description Backup sets and proxy copies LIST BACKUP You can list all backup sets, copies, and proxy copies of a database, tablespace, data file, archived redo log, control file, or server parameter file. Image copies LIST COPY You can list data file copies and archived redo log files. By default, LIST COPY displays copies of all database files and archived redo logs. Both usable and unusable image copies are included in the output, even those that cannot be restored or are expired or unavailable. Archived redo log files LIST ARCHIVELOG You can list archive redo log files. You can list all archive log redo log files or specify individual archive log files through SCN, time, or sequence number ranges. If you specify a range you can further restrict the list returned by specifying an incarnation number. Database incarnations LIST INCARNATION You can list all incarnations of a database. A new database incarnation is created when you open with the RESETLOGS option. Databases in a Data Guard environment LIST DB_UNIQUE_ NAME A database in a Data Guard environment is distinguished by its DB_UNIQUE_NAME initialization parameter setting. You can list all databases that have the same DBID. Backups and copies for a primary or standby database in a Data Guard environment LIST ... FOR DB_ UNIQUE_NAME You can list all backups and copies for a specified database in a Data Guard environment or for all databases in the environment. RMAN restricts the output to files or objects associated exclusively with the database with the specified DB_UNIQUE_ NAME. For example, you can use LIST with FOR DB_UNIQUE_ NAME to display the list of archived redo log files associated with a particular standby or primary database. Objects that are not owned by any database (SITE_KEY column in the recovery catalog view is null) are not listed. Restore points LIST RESTORE POINT You can list restore points known to the RMAN repository. Names of stored scripts LIST SCRIPT NAMES You can list the names of recovery catalog scripts created with the CREATE SCRIPT or REPLACE SCRIPT command. A recovery catalog is required. Failures for use with Data Recovery Advisor LIST FAILURE A failure is a persistent data corruption mapped to a repair option. Chapter 15, "Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor" explains how to use LIST FAILURE with the ADVISE and REPAIR commands. Table 11–2 Most Common LIST Options LIST Option Description LIST EXPIRED Lists backups or copies that are recorded in the RMAN repository but that were not present at the expected location on disk or tape during the most recent crosscheck. Such backups may have been deleted outside of RMAN. LIST ... BY FILE Lists backups of each data file, archived redo log file, control file, and server parameter file. Each row describes a backup of a file. LIST ... SUMMARY Provides a one-line summary of each backup.
- 213. Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-5 The LIST objects and options are not exhausted by the contents of the preceding tables. For example, you can list backups restricted by time, path name, device type, tag, or recoverability. Listing All Backups and Copies Specify the desired objects with the listObjList or recordSpec clause (refer to Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference). If you do not specify an object, then RMAN displays copies of all database files and archived redo log files. By default, RMAN serially lists each backup or proxy copy and then identifies the files included in the backup. You can also list backups by file. By default, RMAN lists in verbose mode, which means that it provides extensive, multiline information. You can also list backups in a summary mode if the verbose mode generates too much output. To list backups and copies: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. To view a summary report of all backups and copies, execute the LIST command with the SUMMARY option. The following command prints a summary of all RMAN backups: LIST BACKUP SUMMARY; Sample output follows: List of Backups =============== Key TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ------- -- -- - ----------- --------------- ------- ------- ---------- --- 1 B A A SBT_TAPE 21-OCT-07 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094505 2 B F A SBT_TAPE 21-OCT-07 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094513 3 B A A SBT_TAPE 21-OCT-07 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094624 4 B F A SBT_TAPE 21-OCT-07 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094639 5 B F A DISK 04-NOV-07 1 1 YES TAG20071104T195949 3. To view verbose output for backups and copies, execute the LIST command without the SUMMARY option. The following commands list RMAN backups and copies with the default verbose output: LIST BACKUP; LIST COPY; Sample output for LIST BACKUP and LIST COPY follows: List of Backup Sets =================== BS Key Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a complete description of the LIST command
- 214. Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects 11-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ------- ---------- ----------- ------------ --------------- 7 136M DISK 00:00:20 04-NOV-06 BP Key: 7 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20071104T200759 Piece Name: /d2/RDBMS/backupset/2007_11_04/o1_mf_annnn_ TAG20071104T200759_ztjxx3k8_.bkp List of Archived Logs in backup set 7 Thrd Seq Low SCN Low Time Next SCN Next Time ---- ------- ---------- --------- ---------- --------- 1 1 173832 21-OCT-06 174750 21-OCT-06 1 2 174750 21-OCT-06 174755 21-OCT-06 1 3 174755 21-OCT-06 174758 21-OCT-06 BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time ------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ --------------- 8 Full 2M DISK 00:00:01 04-NOV-06 BP Key: 8 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20071104T200829 Piece Name: /disk1/oracle/dbs/c-774627068-20071104-01 Controlfile Included: Ckp SCN: 631510 Ckp time: 04-NOV-06 SPFILE Included: Modification time: 21-OCT-06 List of Datafile Copies ======================= Key File S Completion Time Ckp SCN Ckp Time ------- ---- - --------------- ---------- --------------- 1 7 A 11-OCT-06 360072 11-OCT-06 Name: /work/orcva/RDBMS/datafile/o1_mf_tbs_2_2lv7bf82_.dbf Tag: DF7COPY 2 8 A 11-OCT-06 360244 11-OCT-06 Name: /work/orcva/RDBMS/datafile/o1_mf_tbs_2_2lv7qmcj_.dbf Tag: TAG20071011T184835 List of Control File Copies =========================== Key S Completion Time Ckp SCN Ckp Time ------- - --------------- ---------- --------------- 3 A 11-OCT-06 360380 11-OCT-06 Name: /d2/RDBMS/controlfile/o1_mf_TAG20071011T185335_2lv80zqd_.ctl Tag: TAG20071011T185335 List of Archived Log Copies for database with db_unique_name RDBMS ===================================================================== Key Thrd Seq S Low Time ------- ---- ------- - --------- 1 1 1 A 11-OCT-06 Name: /work/arc_dest/arcr_1_1_603561743.arc 2 1 2 A 11-OCT-06 Name: /work/arc_dest/arcr_1_2_603561743.arc 3 1 3 A 11-OCT-06 Name: /work/arc_dest/arcr_1_3_603561743.arc 4. To list backups by file, execute LIST with the BY FILE option, specifying the desired objects to list and options. For example, you can enter: LIST BACKUP BY FILE;
- 215. Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-7 Sample output follows: List of Datafile Backups ======================== File Key TY LV S Ckp SCN Ckp Time #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ---- ------- - -- - ---------- --------- ------- ------- ---------- --- 1 5 B F A 631092 04-NOV-06 1 1 YES TAG20071104T195949 2 B F A 175337 21-OCT-06 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094513 2 5 B F A 631092 04-NOV-06 1 1 YES TAG20071104T195949 2 B F A 175337 21-OCT-06 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094513 ... some rows omitted List of Archived Log Backups ============================ Thrd Seq Low SCN Low Time BS Key S #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ---- ------- ---------- --------- ------- - ------- ------- ---------- --- 1 1 173832 21-OCT-06 7 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200759 1 A 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094505 1 2 174750 21-OCT-06 7 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200759 1 A 1 1 NO TAG20071021T094505 ... some rows omitted 1 38 575472 03-NOV-06 7 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200759 1 39 617944 04-NOV-06 7 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200759 List of Controlfile Backups =========================== CF Ckp SCN Ckp Time BS Key S #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ---------- --------- ------- - ------- ------- ---------- --- 631510 04-NOV-06 8 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200829 631205 04-NOV-06 6 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200432 List of SPFILE Backups ====================== Modification Time BS Key S #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag ----------------- ------- - ------- ------- ---------- --- 21-OCT-06 8 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200829 21-OCT-06 6 A 1 1 NO TAG20071104T200432 Listing Selected Backups and Copies You can specify several different conditions to narrow your LIST output. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for an explanation of the various column headings in the LIST output
- 216. Listing Backups and Recovery-Related Objects 11-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide To list selected backups and copies: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run LIST COPY or LIST BACKUP with the listObjList or recordSpec clause. For example, enter any of the following commands: # lists backups of all files in database LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE; # lists copy of specified datafile LIST COPY OF DATAFILE 'ora_home/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf'; # lists specified backup set LIST BACKUPSET 213; # lists datafile copy LIST DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/tools01.dbf'; You can also restrict the search by specifying the maintQualifier or RECOVERABLE clause. For example, enter any of the following commands: # specify a backup set by tag LIST BACKUPSET TAG 'weekly_full_db_backup'; # specify a backup or copy by device type LIST COPY OF DATAFILE 'ora_home/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf' DEVICE TYPE sbt; # specify a backup by directory or path LIST BACKUP LIKE '/tmp/%'; # specify a backup or copy by a range of completion dates LIST COPY OF DATAFILE 2 COMPLETED BETWEEN '10-DEC-2002' AND '17-DEC-2002'; # specify logs backed up at least twice to tape LIST ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE sbt; 3. Examine the output. The output depends upon the options that you pass to the LIST command. For example, the following lists copies of data file 1 contained in backup sets. RMAN> LIST BACKUP OF DATAFILE 1; List of Backup Sets =================== BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time ------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ --------------- 2 Full 230M SBT_TAPE 00:00:49 21-OCT-06 BP Key: 2 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20071021T094513 Handle: 02f4eatc_1_1 Media: /smrdir List of Datafiles in backup set 2 File LV Type Ckp SCN Ckp Time Name ---- -- ---- ---------- --------- ---- 1 Full 175337 21-OCT-06 /oracle/dbs/tbs_01.f BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time ------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ --------------- 5 Full 233M DISK 00:04:30 04-NOV-06 BP Key: 5 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20071104T195949 Piece Name: /disk1/2007_11_04/o1_mf_nnndf_TAG20071104T195949_ztjxfvgz_ .bkp List of Datafiles in backup set 5 File LV Type Ckp SCN Ckp Time Name ---- -- ---- ---------- --------- ---- 1 Full 631092 04-NOV-06 /oracle/dbs/tbs_01.f
- 217. Reporting on Backups and Database Schema Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-9 Listing Database Incarnations Each time an OPEN RESETLOGS operation is performed on a database, this operation creates a new incarnation of the database. Database incarnations and their effect on database recovery are explained in "Database Incarnations" on page 14-5. When performing incremental backups, RMAN can use a backup from a previous incarnation or the current incarnation as a basis for subsequent incremental backups. When performing restore and recovery operations, RMAN can use backups from a previous incarnation just as it would use backups from the current incarnation, if all archived logs are available. To list database incarnations: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the LIST INCARNATION command, as shown in the following example: LIST INCARNATION; If you are using a recovery catalog, and if you register multiple target databases in the same catalog, then you can distinguish them by using the OF DATABASE option: LIST INCARNATION OF DATABASE prod3; See Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for an explanation of the various column headings in the LIST output). Sample output follows: RMAN> LIST INCARNATION OF DATABASE trgt; List of Database Incarnations DB Key Inc Key DB Name DB ID STATUS Reset SCN Reset Time ------- ------- -------- ---------------- ------ ---------- ---------- 1 1 RDBMS 774627068 PARENT 1 21-OCT-06 2 2 RDBMS 774627068 CURRENT 173832 21-OCT-06 The preceding output indicates that a RESETLOGS operation was performed on database trgt at SCN 164378, resulting in a new incarnation. The incarnation is distinguished by incarnation key (represented in the Inc Key column). Reporting on Backups and Database Schema The RMAN REPORT command analyzes the available backups and your database. This section contains the following topics: ■ About Reports of RMAN Backups ■ Reporting on Files Needing a Backup Under a Retention Policy ■ Reporting on Datafiles Affected by Unrecoverable Operations ■ Reporting on Obsolete Backups ■ Reporting on the Database Schema See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for listObjList and recordSpec syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for an explanation of the columns in the LIST output
- 218. Reporting on Backups and Database Schema 11-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide About Reports of RMAN Backups You can use the REPORT command to answer important questions, such as: ■ Which files need a backup? ■ Which files have had unrecoverable operations performed on them? ■ Which backups are obsolete and can be deleted? ■ What was the physical schema of the target database or a database in the Data Guard environment at some previous time? ■ Which files have not been backed up recently? Reports enable you to confirm that your backup and recovery strategy is in fact meeting your requirements for database recoverability. The two major forms of REPORT used to determine whether your database is recoverable are: ■ REPORT NEED BACKUP Reports which database files must be backed up to meet a configured or specified retention policy ■ REPORT UNRECOVERABLE Reports which database files require backup because they have been affected by some NOLOGGING operation such as a direct-path INSERT The RMAN repository contains other information that you can access with the REPORT command. Table 11–3 summarizes the REPORT options. Reporting on Files Needing a Backup Under a Retention Policy Use the REPORT NEED BACKUP command to determine which database files need backup under a specific retention policy. With no arguments, REPORT NEED BACKUP reports which objects need backup under the currently configured retention policy. The output for a configured retention policy of REDUNDANCY 1 is similar to this example: RMAN> REPORT NEED BACKUP; RMAN retention policy will be applied to the command RMAN retention policy is set to redundancy 1 Report of files with less than 1 redundant backups Table 11–3 REPORT Options Contents of Report Command Description Obsolete backups REPORT OBSOLETE Full backups, data file copies, and archived redo logs recorded in the RMAN repository that can be deleted because they are no longer needed Database schema REPORT SCHEMA The names of all datafiles (permanent and temporary) and tablespaces for the target database at the specified point in time. If you use RMAN in a Data Guard environment, then you can report the schema for a specified DB_UNIQUE_NAME. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a description of the REPORT command
- 219. Reporting on Backups and Database Schema Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-11 File #bkps Name ---- ----- ----------------------------------------------------- 2 0 /oracle/oradata/trgt/undotbs01.dbf Using RMAN REPORT NEED BACKUP with Different Retention Policies You can specify different criteria for REPORT NEED BACKUP, using one of the following forms of the command: ■ REPORT NEED BACKUP RECOVERY WINDOW OF n DAYS Displays objects requiring backup to satisfy a recovery window-based retention policy ■ REPORT NEED BACKUP REDUNDANCY n Displays objects requiring backup to satisfy a redundancy-based retention policy ■ REPORT NEED BACKUP DAYS n Displays files that require more than n days' worth of archived redo log files for recovery ■ REPORT NEED BACKUP INCREMENTAL n Displays files that require application of more than n incremental backups for recovery Using RMAN REPORT NEED BACKUP with Tablespaces and Datafiles The REPORT NEED BACKUP command can check the entire database, skip specified tablespaces, or check only specific tablespaces or datafiles against different retention policies, as shown in the following examples: REPORT NEED BACKUP RECOVERY WINDOW OF 2 DAYS DATABASE SKIP TABLESPACE TBS_2; REPORT NEED BACKUP REDUNDANCY 2 DATAFILE 1; REPORT NEED BACKUP TABLESPACE TBS_3; # uses configured retention policy REPORT NEED BACKUP INCREMENTAL 2; # checks entire database Using REPORT NEED BACKUP with Backups on Tape or Disk Only You can limit the backups tested by the REPORT NEED BACKUP command to disk-based or tape-based backups only, as shown in these examples: REPORT NEED BACKUP RECOVERY WINDOW OF 2 DAYS DATABASE DEVICE TYPE sbt; REPORT NEED BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK; REPORT NEED BACKUP TABLESPACE TBS_3 DEVICE TYPE sbt; Reporting on Datafiles Affected by Unrecoverable Operations When a data file has been changed by an unrecoverable operation, such as a direct load insert, normal media recovery cannot be used to recover the file, because an Note: If you disable the retention policy using CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO NONE, then REPORT NEED BACKUP returns an error message, because without a retention policy, RMAN cannot determine which files must be backed up. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for all possible options for REPORT NEED BACKUP and an explanation of the various column headings in the output
- 220. Reporting on Backups and Database Schema 11-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide unrecoverable operation does not generate redo. You must perform either a full or incremental backup of affected data files after such operations, to ensure that data blocks affected by the unrecoverable operation can be recovered using RMAN. To identify datafiles affected by an unrecoverable operation: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the REPORT UNRECOVERABLE command. The following example includes sample output: RMAN> REPORT UNRECOVERABLE; Report of files that need backup due to unrecoverable operations File Type of Backup Required Name ---- ----------------------- ----------------------------------- 1 full /oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf Reporting on Obsolete Backups You can report backup sets, backup pieces, and data file copies that are obsolete that is, not needed to meet a specified retention policy by specifying the OBSOLETE keyword. To report obsolete backups: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute the CROSSCHECK command to update the status of backups in the repository compared to their status on disk. In the simplest case, you could crosscheck all backups on disk, tape or both, using any one of the following commands: CROSSCHECK BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK; CROSSCHECK BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt; CROSSCHECK BACKUP; # crosschecks all backups on all devices See Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records" for more details on how to update the RMAN repository record to contain the actual set of available backups. 3. Run REPORT OBSOLETE to identify which backups are obsolete because they are no longer needed for recovery. If you do not specify any other options, then REPORT OBSOLETE displays the backups that are obsolete according to the current retention policy, as shown in the following example: RMAN> REPORT OBSOLETE; Datafile Copy 44 08-FEB-06 /backup/ora_df549738566_s70_s1 Datafile Copy 45 08-FEB-06 /backup/ora_df549738567_s71_s1 Datafile Copy 46 08-FEB-06 /backup/ora_df549738568_s72_s1 Backup Set 26 08-FEB-06 Backup Piece 26 08-FEB-06 /backup/ora_df549738682_s76_s1 . . . You can also check which backups are obsolete under different recovery window-based or redundancy-based retention policies, by using REPORT
- 221. Reporting on Backups and Database Schema Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-13 OBSOLETE with RECOVERY WINDOW and REDUNDANCY options, as shown in these examples: REPORT OBSOLETE RECOVERY WINDOW OF 3 DAYS; REPORT OBSOLETE REDUNDANCY 1; Reporting on the Database Schema The REPORT SCHEMA command lists and displays information about the database files, tablespaces, and so on. See Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a description of the REPORT SCHEMA output. If you do not specify FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME with REPORT SCHEMA, then a recovery catalog connection is optional, but a target database connection is required. In a Data Guard environment, you can specify REPORT SCHEMA FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME to report the schema for a database in the environment. In this case, an RMAN connection to a target database is not required. You can connect RMAN to the recovery catalog and set the DBID instead. To report on the database schema: 1. Start RMAN and connect to the desired databases. 2. If you did not connect RMAN to a target database in the previous step, and you intend to specify the FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME clause on REPORT SCHEMA, then set the database DBID. For example, enter the following command: RMAN> SET DBID 28014364; 3. Run the REPORT SCHEMA command as shown in the following example: RMAN> REPORT SCHEMA; Report of database schema for database with db_unique_name DGRDBMS List of Permanent Datafiles =========================== File Size(MB) Tablespace RB segs Datafile Name ---- -------- -------------------- ------- ------------------------ 1 450 SYSTEM YES /disk1/oracle/dbs/t_db1.f 2 141 SYSAUX NO /disk1/oracle/dbs/t_ax1.f 3 50 UD1 YES /disk1/oracle/dbs/t_undo1.f 4 50 TBS_11 NO /disk1/oracle/dbs/tbs_111.f 5 50 TBS_11 NO /disk1/oracle/dbs/tbs_112.f List of Temporary Files ======================= File Size(MB) Tablespace Maxsize(MB) Tempfile Name ---- -------- -------------------- ----------- -------------------- 1 40 TEMP 32767 /disk1/oracle/dbs/t_tmp1.f If you use a recovery catalog, then you can use the atClause to specify a past time, SCN, or log sequence number, as shown in these examples of the command: See Also: ■ "Configuring the Backup Retention Policy" on page 5-23 for a conceptual overview of RMAN backup retention policy ■ "Deleting Expired RMAN Backups and Copies" on page 12-21 for information about deleting RMAN backups and deleting records of RMAN backups from the RMAN repository
- 222. Using V$ Views to Query Backup Metadata 11-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN> REPORT SCHEMA AT TIME 'SYSDATE-14'; # schema 14 days ago RMAN> REPORT SCHEMA AT SCN 1000; # schema at scn 1000 RMAN> REPORT SCHEMA AT SEQUENCE 100 THREAD 1; # schema at sequence 100 RMAN> REPORT SCHEMA FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME standby1; # schema for database standby1 Using V$ Views to Query Backup Metadata In some cases, V$ views supply information that is not available through use of the LIST and REPORT commands. This section describes cases in which V$ views are particularly useful. Querying Details of Past and Current RMAN Jobs An RMAN job is the set of commands executed within an RMAN session. Thus, one RMAN job can contain multiple commands. For example, you may execute two separate BACKUP commands and a RECOVER COPY command in a single session. An RMAN backup job is the set of BACKUP commands executed in one RMAN job. For example, a BACKUP DATABASE and BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL command executed in the same RMAN job constitute a single RMAN backup job. The views V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS and V$RMAN_BACKUP_SUBJOB_ DETAILS and their corresponding recovery catalog versions provide details of RMAN backup jobs. For example, the views show how long a backup took, how many backup jobs have been issued, the status of each backup job (for example, whether it failed or completed), when a job started and finished, and what type of backup was performed. The SESSION_KEY column is the unique key for the RMAN session in which the backup job occurred. RMAN backups often write less than they read. Because of RMAN compression, the OUTPUT_BYTES_PER_SEC column cannot be used as the measurement of backup speed. The appropriate column to measure backup speed is INPUT_BYTES_PER_SEC. The ratio between read and written data is described in the COMPRESSION_RATIO column. To query details about past and current RMAN jobs: 1. Connect SQL*Plus to the database whose backup history you intend to query. 2. Query the V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS view for information about the backup type, status, and start and end time. The following query shows the backup job history ordered by session key, which is the primary key for the RMAN session: COL STATUS FORMAT a9 COL hrs FORMAT 999.99 SELECT SESSION_KEY, INPUT_TYPE, STATUS, TO_CHAR(START_TIME,'mm/dd/yy hh24:mi') start_time, TO_CHAR(END_TIME,'mm/dd/yy hh24:mi') end_time, ELAPSED_SECONDS/3600 hrs FROM V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS ORDER BY SESSION_KEY; The following sample output shows the backup job history: SESSION_KEY INPUT_TYPE STATUS START_TIME END_TIME HRS ----------- ------------- --------- -------------- -------------- ------- 9 DATAFILE FULL COMPLETED 04/18/07 18:14 04/18/07 18:15 .02 16 DB FULL COMPLETED 04/18/07 18:20 04/18/07 18:22 .03 113 ARCHIVELOG COMPLETED 04/23/07 16:04 04/23/07 16:05 .01
- 223. Using V$ Views to Query Backup Metadata Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-15 3. Query the V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS view for the rate of backup jobs in an RMAN session. The following query shows the backup job speed ordered by session key, which is the primary key for the RMAN session. The columns IN_SEC and OUT_SEC display the data input and output per second. COL in_sec FORMAT a10 COL out_sec FORMAT a10 COL TIME_TAKEN_DISPLAY FORMAT a10 SELECT SESSION_KEY, OPTIMIZED, COMPRESSION_RATIO, INPUT_BYTES_PER_SEC_DISPLAY in_sec, OUTPUT_BYTES_PER_SEC_DISPLAY out_sec, TIME_TAKEN_DISPLAY FROM V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS ORDER BY SESSION_KEY; The following sample output shows the speed of the backup jobs: SESSION_KEY OPT COMPRESSION_RATIO IN_SEC OUT_SEC TIME_TAKEN ----------- --- ----------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- 9 NO 1 8.24M 8.24M 00:01:14 16 NO 1.32732239 6.77M 5.10M 00:01:45 113 NO 1 2.99M 2.99M 00:00:44 4. Query the V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS view for the size of the backups in an RMAN session. If you run BACKUP DATABASE, then V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS.OUTPUT_ BYTES shows the total size of backup sets written by the backup job for the database that you are backing up. To view backup set sizes for all registered databases, query V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS. The following query shows the backup job size and throughput ordered by session key, which is the primary key for the RMAN session. The columns IN_SIZE and OUT_SIZE display the data input and output per second. COL in_size FORMAT a10 COL out_size FORMAT a10 SELECT SESSION_KEY, INPUT_TYPE, COMPRESSION_RATIO, INPUT_BYTES_DISPLAY in_size, OUTPUT_BYTES_DISPLAY out_size FROM V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS ORDER BY SESSION_KEY; The following sample output shows the size of the backup jobs: SESSION_KEY INPUT_TYPE COMPRESSION_RATIO IN_SIZE OUT_SIZE ----------- ------------- ----------------- ---------- ---------- 10 DATAFILE FULL 1 602.50M 602.58M 17 DB FULL 1.13736669 634.80M 558.13M See Also: Oracle Database Reference to learn about the V$RMAN_ BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS view
- 224. Querying Recovery Catalog Views 11-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Determining the Encryption Status of Backup Pieces The ENCRYPTED column of the V$BACKUP_PIECE and V$RMAN_BACKUP_PIECE views indicates whether a backup piece is encrypted (YES) or unencrypted (NO). For example, you can run the following query in SQL*Plus to determine which backup pieces are encrypted: COL BS_REC FORMAT 99999 COL BP_REC FORMAT 99999 COL MB FORMAT 9999999 COL ENCRYPTED FORMAT A7 COL TAG FORMAT A25 SELECT S.RECID AS "BS_REC", P.RECID AS "BP_REC", P.ENCRYPTED, P.TAG, P.HANDLE AS "MEDIA_HANDLE" FROM V$BACKUP_PIECE P, V$BACKUP_SET S WHERE P.SET_STAMP = S.SET_STAMP AND P.SET_COUNT = S.SET_COUNT; The following sample output shows that the backups are encrypted: BS_REC BP_REC ENCRYPT TAG ------ ------ ------- ------------------------- MEDIA_HANDLE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1 YES TAG20070711T140124 /disk1/c-39525561-20070711-00 2 2 YES TAG20070711T140128 /disk1/c-39525561-20070711-01 3 3 YES TAG20070711T140130 /disk1/c-39525561-20070711-02 Querying Recovery Catalog Views The LIST, REPORT, and SHOW commands provide the easiest means of accessing the data in the control file and the recovery catalog. Nevertheless, you can sometimes also obtain useful information from the recovery catalog views, which reside in the recovery catalog schema and use the RC_ prefix. About Recovery Catalog Views RMAN obtains backup and recovery metadata from a target database control file and stores it in the tables of the recovery catalog. The recovery catalog views are derived from these tables. The recovery catalog views are not normalized or optimized for user queries. In general, the recovery catalog views are not as user-friendly as the RMAN reporting commands. For example, when you start RMAN and connect to a target database, you obtain the information for this target database only when you issue LIST, REPORT, and SHOW commands. If you have 10 different target databases registered in the same recovery catalog, then any query of the catalog views shows the metadata for all incarnations of all 10 databases. You often must perform complex selects and joins among the views to extract usable information about a database incarnation. See Also: Oracle Database Reference to learn about the V$BACKUP_ PIECE view
- 225. Querying Recovery Catalog Views Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-17 Most of the catalog views have a corresponding V$ view in the database. For example, RC_BACKUP_PIECE corresponds to V$BACKUP_PIECE. The primary difference between the recovery catalog view and corresponding V$ view is that each recovery catalog view contains metadata about all the target databases registered in the recovery catalog. The V$ view contains information only about itself. Unique Identifiers for Registered Databases Most recovery catalog views contain the columns DB_KEY and DBINC_KEY. Each database registered in the recovery catalog can be uniquely identified by either the primary key, which is the DB_KEY column value, or the DBID, which is the 32-bit unique database identifier. Each incarnation of a database is uniquely identified by the DBINC_KEY column. You can use DB_KEY and DBINC_KEY to retrieve the records of a specific incarnation of a target database. Then, you can perform joins with most of the other catalog views to isolate records belonging to this incarnation. An important difference between catalog and V$ views is that a different system of unique identifiers is used for backup and recovery files. For example, many V$ views such as V$ARCHIVED_LOG use the RECID and STAMP columns to form a concatenated primary key. The corresponding recovery catalog view uses a derived value as its primary keys and stores this value in a single column. For example, the primary key in RC_ARCHIVED_LOG is the AL_KEY column. The AL_KEY column value is the primary key that RMAN displays in the LIST command output. Unique Identifiers in a Data Guard Environment Special considerations apply when querying the recovery catalog in a Data Guard environment. In a Data Guard environment, multiple databases share the same DBID. Several views contain a DB_UNIQUE_NAME column, which indicates the DB_UNIQUE_ NAME of the database incarnation to which the record belongs. All databases in a Data Guard environment share the same DBID but have different DB_UNIQUE_NAME values. The value of DB_UNIQUE_NAME is null when the database name is not known to the catalog, as for Oracle9i databases that are registered in a recovery catalog. Also, the column value is null when a database is upgraded to Oracle Database 11g but the recovery catalog schema has not reconciled the database names for all files. In the recovery catalog views, the primary database and its associated standby databases share the same DB_KEY. However, every database in a Data Guard environment has a unique RC_SITE.SITE_KEY value. For example, a primary database prod and its standby database standby1 might both have the DB_KEY value of 1, whereas the SITE_KEY of prod is 3 and the SITE_KEY of standby1 is 30. Some recovery catalog views do not have a DB_UNIQUE_NAME column, but include a SITE_KEY column. You can use the SITE_KEY column to join with RC_SITE.SITE_ KEY to determine the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of the database associated with a file. As explained in "RMAN File Management in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-8, every file in a Data Guard environment is associated with the primary or standby database that created it. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a description of recovery catalog views See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to report on and manage files in a Data Guard environment
- 226. Querying Recovery Catalog Views 11-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Querying Catalog Views for the Target DB_KEY or DBID Values The DB_KEY value, which is the primary key for a registered database, is used only in the recovery catalog. The easiest way is to obtain the DB_KEY is to use the DBID of the target database, which is displayed whenever you connect RMAN to a database as TARGET. The DBID distinguishes databases registered in the RMAN recovery catalog. Assume that you want to obtain information about a database registered in the recovery catalog. To query the catalog for information about the current incarnation of a database: 1. Determine the DBID for the database whose records you want to view. You can obtain the DBID by looking at the output displayed when RMAN connects to the database, querying V$RMAN_OUTPUT, or querying a V$DATABASE view. The following example connects SQL*Plus to the desired database and queries the DBID: SQL> CONNECT / AS SYSDBA SQL> SELECT DBID 2 FROM V$DATABASE; DBID --------- 598368217 2. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the recovery catalog database as the owner of the recovery catalog. 3. Obtain the database key for the database whose DBID you obtained in Step 1. To obtain the DB_KEY for a database run the following query, where dbid_of_ target is the DBID obtained in Step 1: SELECT DB_KEY FROM RC_DATABASE WHERE DBID = dbid_of_target; 4. Query the records for the current incarnation of the database whose DBID you obtained in Step 1. To obtain information about the current incarnation of a target database, specify the target database DB_KEY value and perform a join with the RC_DATABASE_ INCARNATION view. Use a WHERE condition to specify that the CURRENT_ INCARNATION column value is set to YES. For example, to obtain information about backup sets in the current incarnation of a target database with the DB_KEY value of 1, query as follows: SELECT BS_KEY, BACKUP_TYPE, COMPLETION_TIME FROM RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION i, RC_BACKUP_SET b WHERE i.DB_KEY = 1 AND i.DB_KEY = b.DB_KEY AND i.CURRENT_INCARNATION = 'YES'; See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for details about the RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION view ■ "Database Incarnations" on page 14-5
- 227. Querying Recovery Catalog Views Reporting on RMAN Operations 11-19 Querying RC_BACKUP_FILES You can query the view RC_BACKUP_FILES for information about all backups of any database registered in the recovery catalog. Before querying RC_BACKUP_FILES, however, you must call the DBMS_RCVMAN.SETDATABASE procedure. Specify the DBID of a database registered in the recovery catalog, as shown in the following example: SQL> CALL DBMS_RCVMAN.SETDATABASE(null,null,null,2283997583); The fourth parameter must be the DBID of a database registered in the recovery catalog. The other parameters must all be NULL. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for details about the RC_BACKUP_FILES view ■ "Determining the DBID of the Database" on page 17-5 for techniques for determining the DBID of a database
- 228. Querying Recovery Catalog Views 11-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 229. 12 Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-1 12 Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records This chapter describes how to manage the RMAN repository records and RMAN backups and copies. This chapter also explains maintenance tasks related to the fast recovery area. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of RMAN Backup and Repository Maintenance ■ Maintaining the Control File Repository ■ Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area ■ Updating the RMAN Repository ■ Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs ■ Dropping a Database Overview of RMAN Backup and Repository Maintenance This section explains the purpose and basic concepts of RMAN repository maintenance. Purpose of Backup and Repository Maintenance The recommended maintenance strategy is to configure a fast recovery area, a backup retention policy, and an archived redo log deletion policy. In this case, the database automatically maintains and deletes backups and archived redo logs as needed. However, manual maintenance of database backups and archived redo logs is sometimes necessary. Managing RMAN backups involves the following related tasks: ■ Managing the database backups that are stored on disk or tape ■ Managing the records of those backups in the RMAN repository An important part of RMAN maintenance is deleting backups that are no longer needed. If you configure a fast recovery area, then the database automatically deletes unneeded files in this area automatically; even so, you may want to delete backups and copies from tape. You may even need to delete an entire database. You can use an RMAN command to perform these tasks. See Also: Chapter 13, "Managing a Recovery Catalog" for RMAN maintenance issues that are specific to a recovery catalog
- 230. Overview of RMAN Backup and Repository Maintenance 12-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The fast recovery area may require occasional maintenance. For example, the fast recovery area may become full, in which case you can add space to it. Alternatively, you may want to change the location of the recovery area. It is possible for the RMAN repository to fail to reflect the true state of files on disk or tape. For example, a user may delete a backup from disk with an operating system utility. In this case, the RMAN repository shows that the file exists when it does not. In a similar situation, a tape containing RMAN backups may be corrupted. You can use RMAN maintenance commands to update the repository with accurate information. Basic Concepts of Backup and Repository Maintenance The RMAN maintenance commands are summarized as follows: ■ The CATALOG command enables you to add records about RMAN and user-managed backups that are currently not recorded in the RMAN repository, or to remove records for backups that are recorded. ■ The CHANGE command enables you to update the status of records in the RMAN repository. ■ The CROSSCHECK command enables you to synchronize the logical backup records with the physical reality of files in backup storage. ■ The DELETE command enables you to delete backups from the operating system. Maintenance Commands and RMAN Repository Metadata RMAN always stores its metadata in the control file of each target database on which it performs operations. If you register a target database in the recovery catalog, then RMAN stores the metadata for this target database in the recovery catalog. All of the RMAN maintenance commands work with or without a recovery catalog. Maintenance Commands in a Data Guard Environment The database in a Data Guard environment that creates a backup or copy is associated with the file. For example, if RMAN is connected to target database standby1 and backs it up, then this backup is associated with standby1. If backups are accessible to RMAN according to the criteria specified in "RMAN File Management in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-8, you can use RMAN maintenance commands such as CHANGE, DELETE, and CROSSCHECK for backups when connected to any primary or standby database. Crosschecks in a Data Guard Environment For a crosscheck, RMAN can only update the status of a file from AVAILABLE to EXPIRED when connected to the database associated with the file. Thus, if RMAN crosschecks a file and does not find it, and if the file is associated with a database to which it is not connected as TARGET, then RMAN prompts you to perform the crosscheck when connected to the target database associated with the file. RMAN performs a crosscheck when you run the CROSSCHECK or CHANGE ... AVAILABLE command. Deletion in a Data Guard Environment RMAN can delete files when connected to any database. If RMAN is not connected as TARGET to the database associated with a file, and if RMAN cannot delete a file successfully, then RMAN prompts you to connect as TARGET to the database associated with the file. You must then use DELETE ... FORCE to delete the file metadata. See Also: "Maintaining a Recovery Catalog" on page 13-21
- 231. Maintaining the Control File Repository Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-3 Updates to RMAN Metadata in a Data Guard Environment If a maintenance command changes RMAN metadata only, then you can connect RMAN as TARGET to any database in the Data Guard environment. Commands that change only metadata include: ■ CHANGE ... UNAVAILABLE or CHANGE ... UNCATALOG ■ CHANGE ... KEEP or CHANGE ... NOKEEP ■ CHANGE ... RESET DB_UNIQUE_NAME By default, the CHANGE command only operates on files that are accessible according to the rules specified in "Accessibility of Backups in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-8. However, you can change the status of files associated with a database other than the target database by using the FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME option. Files Not Associated with a Database In some cases the DB_UNIQUE_NAME may not be known for a specific file. For example, the value of DB_UNIQUE_NAME is null when the database name is not known to the recovery catalog, as for Oracle9i databases that are registered in a recovery catalog. Also, rows can have a DB_UNIQUE_NAME of null because a database has been upgraded to the current version, but the recovery catalog schema has not reconciled the DB_UNIQUE_NAME values for all files. By default, RMAN associates files whose SITE_KEY is null with the database to which RMAN is connected as TARGET. A backup remains associated with a database unless you explicitly use the CHANGE ... RESET DB_UNIQUE_NAME to associate the backup with a different database. Maintaining the Control File Repository RMAN is designed to work without a recovery catalog. If you choose not to use a recovery catalog, however, then the control file of each target database is the exclusive repository for RMAN metadata. You should know how information is stored in the control file and ensure that your backup and recovery strategy protects the control file. About Control File Records The control file contains two types of records: circular reuse records and noncircular reuse records. Circular reuse records contain noncritical information that is eligible to be overwritten if needed. These records contain information that is continually generated by the database. When all available record slots are full, the database either expands the control file to make room for a new record or overwrites the oldest record. The CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME initialization parameter specifies the minimum age in days of a record before it can be reused. Noncircular reuse records contain critical information that does not change often and cannot be overwritten. Some examples of information in noncircular reuse records include datafiles, online redo log files, and redo threads. See Also: ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to use RMAN to back up and restore files in a Data Guard environment ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for descriptions of the RMAN maintenance commands See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for an overview of the control file and more details about managing control files
- 232. Maintaining the Control File Repository 12-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide As you make backups of a target database, the database records these backups in the control file. To prevent the control file from growing too large because of the addition of new records, records can be reused if they are older than a threshold that you specify. The CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME initialization parameter determines the minimum age in days of a record before it can be overwritten: CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME = integer For example, if the parameter value is 14, then any record of age 14 days or older is a candidate for reuse. Information in an overwritten record is lost. The oldest record available for reuse is used first. When the database must add new RMAN repository records to the control file, but no record is older than the threshold, the database attempts to expand the size of the control file. If the underlying operating system prevents the expansion of the control file (due to a disk full condition, for instance), then the database overwrites the oldest record in the control file. The database records the overwrite in the alert log located in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR). For each record that it overwrites, the database records an entry in the alert log similar to the following: kccwnc: following control file record written over: RECID #72 Recno 72 Record timestamp 07/28/06 22:15:21 Thread=1 Seq#=3460 Backup set key: stamp=372031415, count=17 Low scn: 0x0000.3af33f36 07/27/06 21:00:08 Next scn: 0x0000.3af3871b 07/27/06 23:23:54 Resetlogs scn and time scn: 0x0000.00000001 Fast Recovery Area and Control File Records When a control file record containing information about a file created in the fast recovery area is about to be reused, the database attempts to delete the file from the fast recovery area when the file is eligible for deletion. Otherwise, the database expands the size of the control file section containing the record for this file. The database logs the expansion in the alert log with a message like this example, where nnnn is the number of the control file record type: kccwnc: trying to expand control file section nnnn for Oracle Managed Files If the control file is at the maximum size supported under the host operating system, then the database cannot expand the control file. In such a situation, this warning appears in the alert log: WARNING: Oracle Managed File filename is unknown to control file. This is the result of limitation in control file size that could not keep all recovery area files. The preceding message means that the control file cannot hold a record of all fast recovery area files needed to satisfy the configured retention policy. The next section explains how to respond to this situation. See Also: Oracle Database Reference for information about the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME initialization parameter
- 233. Maintaining the Control File Repository Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-5 Preventing the Loss of Control File Records The best way to prevent the loss of RMAN metadata because of overwritten control file records is to use a recovery catalog. If you cannot use a recovery catalog, then you can take the following measures: ■ Set the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME value to slightly longer than the oldest file that you must keep. For example, if you back up the whole database once a week, then you must keep every backup for at least 7 days. Set CONTROL_ FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME to a value such as 10 or 14. The default value of CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME is 7 days. ■ Store the control file in a file system rather than on a raw device so that it can expand. ■ Monitor the alert log to ensure that Oracle Database is not overwriting control file records. The alert log is located in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR). If you use a fast recovery area, then follow these guidelines to avoid a situation in which the control file cannot hold a record of all fast recovery area files needed to satisfy the backup retention policy: ■ If the block size of the control file is not at its maximum, then use a larger block size, preferably 32 kilobytes. To achieve this aim, you must set the SYSTEM tablespace block size to be greater than or equal to the control file block size, and re-create the control file after changing DB_BLOCK_SIZE. The files in the fast recovery area are recataloged, but the records for files on tape are lost. ■ Make the files in the fast recovery area eligible for deletion by backing them up to tertiary storage such as tape. For example, you can use BACKUP RECOVERY AREA to specifically back up files in the fast recovery area to a media manager. ■ If the backup retention policy is keeping backups and archived logs longer than your business requirements, then you can make more files in the fast recovery area eligible for deletion by changing the retention policy to a shorter recovery window or lower degree of redundancy. Protecting the Control File If you are not using a recovery catalog to store RMAN metadata, then it is doubly important that you protect each target database control file. You can use the following strategy to protect the control file. To protect the control file: 1. Create redundant copies of control files through multiplexing or operating system mirroring. In this way, the database can survive the loss of a subset of the control files without requiring you to restore a control file from backup. Oracle recommends that you use a minimum of two multiplexed or mirrored control files on separate disks. Caution: Regardless of whether you use a recovery catalog, never use RMAN when CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME is set to 0. If you do, then you may lose backup records.
- 234. Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area 12-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 2. Configure the control file autobackup feature. In this case, RMAN automatically backs up the control file when you run certain RMAN commands. If a control file autobackup is available, RMAN can restore the server parameter and backup control file, and mount the database. After the control file is mounted, you can restore the remainder of the database. 3. Keep a record of the database DBID. If you lose the control files, then you can use the DBID to recover the database. Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area Although the fast recovery area is largely self-managing, some situations may require database administration intervention. Deletion Rules for the Fast Recovery Area "Overview of the Fast Recovery Area" on page 5-15 explains the contents of the fast recovery area and the difference between permanent and transient files. Review this section before proceeding. The following rules govern when files become eligible for deletion from the recovery area: ■ Permanent files are never eligible for deletion. ■ Files that are obsolete under the retention policy are eligible for deletion. "Configuring the Backup Retention Policy" on page 5-23 explains how to configure the retention policy. ■ Transient files that have been copied to tape are eligible for deletion. ■ Archived redo logs are not eligible for deletion until all the consumers of the logs have satisfied their requirements. "Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy" on page 5-28 explains how to configure an archived redo log deletion policy that determines when logs are eligible to be deleted. Consumers of logs can include RMAN, standby databases, Oracle Streams databases, and the Flashback Database feature. See Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn about archived redo log management in a Data Guard environment. ■ Foreign archived logs that have been mined by a LogMiner session on a logical standby database are eligible for deletion. Because it is generated from a different database than the current database, a foreign archived redo log has a different DBID than the current archived redo logs. The safe and reliable way to control deletion of from the fast recovery area is to configure your retention policy ( on page 5-23) and archived log deletion policy (see "Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy" on page 5-28). To increase the likelihood that files moved to tape are retained on disk, increase the fast recovery area quota. See Also: ■ "Backing Up Control Files with RMAN" on page 9-8 to learn about manual and automatic control file backups ■ "Control File and Server Parameter File Autobackups" on page 8-12
- 235. Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-7 Monitoring Fast Recovery Area Space Usage You can use the V$RECOVERY_FILE_DEST and V$RECOVERY_AREA_USAGE views to determine whether you have allocated enough space for your fast recovery area. Query the V$RECOVERY_FILE_DEST view to discover the current location, disk quota, space in use, space reclaimable by deleting files, and total number of files in the fast recovery area. For example, enter the query shown in Example 12–1 (sample output included). The space columns specify the amount in bytes. Example 12–1 Fast Recovery Area Space Consumption SELECT * FROM V$RECOVERY_FILE_DEST; NAME SPACE_LIMIT SPACE_USED SPACE_RECLAIMABLE NUMBER_OF_FILES -------------- ----------- ---------- ----------------- --------------- /mydisk/rcva 5368709120 109240320 256000 28 Query the V$RECOVERY_AREA_USAGE view to discover the percentage of the total disk quota used by different types of files. Also, you can determine how much space for each type of file can be reclaimed by deleting files that are obsolete, redundant, or backed up to tape. For example, enter the following query (sample output included): SELECT * FROM V$RECOVERY_AREA_USAGE; FILE_TYPE PERCENT_SPACE_USED PERCENT_SPACE_RECLAIMABLE NUMBER_OF_FILES ------------ ------------------ ------------------------- --------------- CONTROLFILE 0 0 0 ONLINELOG 2 0 22 ARCHIVELOG 4.05 2.01 31 BACKUPPIECE 3.94 3.86 8 IMAGECOPY 15.64 10.43 66 FLASHBACKLOG .08 0 1 When guaranteed restore points are defined on your database, you should monitor the amount of space used in your fast recovery area for files required to meet the guarantee. Use the query for viewing guaranteed restore points in "Listing Restore Points" on page 7-8 and see the STORAGE_SIZE column to determine the space required for files related to each guaranteed restore point. Managing Space for Flashback Logs in the Fast Recovery Area "Logging for Flashback Database with Guaranteed Restore Points Defined" on page 7-7 explains the rules for flashback log deletion. You cannot manage the flashback logs in the fast recovery area directly other than by setting the flashback retention target or using guaranteed restore points. Nevertheless, you can manage fast recovery area space as a whole to maximize the space available for retention of flashback logs. In this way you increase the likelihood of achieving the flashback target. To make space for flashback logs, back up the other contents of your fast recovery area to tape with commands such as BACKUP RECOVERY AREA, BACKUP BACKUPSET, and so on. Oracle Database automatically removes obsolete files from the fast recovery area. If offloading backups to tape still does not create enough space to satisfy the backup retention policy and flashback retention target, then allocate more space in the fast recovery area. See Also: Oracle Database Reference for more details on the V$RECOVERY_FILE_DEST and V$RECOVERY_AREA_USAGE views
- 236. Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area 12-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Responding to a Full Fast Recovery Area If the RMAN retention policy requires keeping a set of backups larger than the fast recovery area disk quota, or if the retention policy is set to NONE, then the fast recovery area can fill completely with no reclaimable space. The database issues a warning alert when reclaimable space is less than 15% and a critical alert when reclaimable space is less than 3%. To warn the DBA of this condition, an entry is added to the alert log and to the DBA_OUTSTANDING_ALERTS table (used by Enterprise Manager). Nevertheless, the database continues to consume space in the fast recovery area until there is no reclaimable space left. When the recovery area is completely full, the error displayed is as follows, where nnnnn is the number of bytes required and mmmmm is the disk quota: ORA-19809: limit exceeded for recovery files ORA-19804: cannot reclaim nnnnn bytes disk space from mmmmm limit You have several choices for how to resolve a full fast recovery area when no files are eligible for deletion: ■ Make more disk space available and increase DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE to reflect the additional space. ■ Move backups from the fast recovery area to tertiary storage such as tape. One convenient way to back up all of your recovery area files to tape at once is the BACKUP RECOVERY AREA command. After you transfer backups from the recovery area to tape, you can delete files from the fast recovery area (see "Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs" on page 12-17). Flashback logs cannot be backed up outside the recovery area and are not backed up by BACKUP RECOVERY AREA. ■ Run DELETE for any files that have been removed with an operating system utility. If you use host operating system commands to delete files, then the database is not aware of the resulting free space. You can run the RMAN CROSSCHECK command to have RMAN recheck the contents of the fast recovery area and identify expired files, and then use the DELETE EXPIRED command to delete every expired backup from the RMAN repository. ■ Ensure that your guaranteed restore points are necessary. If not, delete them as described in "Dropping Restore Points" on page 7-9. Flashback logs that are not needed for a guaranteed restore point are deleted automatically to gain space for other files in the fast recovery area. A guaranteed restore point forces the retention of flashback logs required to perform Flashback Database to the restore point SCN. ■ Review your backup retention policy and, if using Data Guard, your archived redo log deletion policy. Note: You cannot back up flashback logs. Thus, the BACKUP RECOVERY AREA operation does not include the flashback logs when backing up the fast recovery area contents to tape.
- 237. Maintaining the Fast Recovery Area Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-9 Changing the Fast Recovery Area to a New Location If you must move the fast recovery area of your database to a new location, then follow this procedure: 1. Start a SQL*Plus on the target database and change the DB_RECOVERY_FILE_ DEST initialization parameter. For example, enter the following command to set the destination to the ASM disk group disk1: ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST='+disk1' SCOPE=BOTH SID='*'; After you change this parameter, all new fast recovery area files are created in the new location. 2. Either leave or move the permanent files, flashback logs, and transient files in the old flash recovery location. If you leave the existing files in the flash recovery, then the database deletes the transient files from the old fast recovery area as they become eligible for deletion. If you must move the old files to the new fast recovery area, then see the Oracle Database Storage Administrator's Guide. The procedure for moving database files into and out of an ASM disk group with RMAN works when moving files into and out of a fast recovery area. Disabling the Fast Recovery Area Before disabling the fast recovery area, you must first drop all guaranteed restore points and then turn off Flashback Database. Once these prerequisites have been met, you can disable the fast recovery area by setting the DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST initialization parameter to a null string. For example, use the following SQL statement to change the parameter on a running database: ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST='' SCOPE=BOTH SID='*'; The database no longer provides the space management features of the fast recovery area for the files stored in the old DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST location. The files are still known to the RMAN repository, however, and available for backup and restore activities. Responding to an Instance Crash During File Creation As a rule, the fast recovery area is self-maintaining. When an instance crashes during the creation of a file in the fast recovery area, however, the database may leave the file in the fast recovery area. When this situation occurs, the alert log contains the following error, where location is the location of the fast recovery area: ORA-19816: WARNING: Files may exist in location that are not known to database. In such a situation, use the RMAN command CATALOG RECOVERY AREA to recatalog any such files. If the file header of the file in question is corrupted, then delete the file manually with an operating system utility. See Also: Chapter 9, "Backing Up the Database" to decide on a retention policy, and Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration for more information about archived log deletion policy with Data Guard
- 238. Updating the RMAN Repository 12-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Updating the RMAN Repository This section explains how to ensure that the RMAN repository accurately reflects the reality of the RMAN-related files stored on disk and tape. Several situations can cause a discrepancy between the repository and the files that it records, including tape or disk failures and user-managed copies or deletions of RMAN-related files. This section contains the following topics: ■ Crosschecking the RMAN Repository ■ Changing the Repository Status of Backups and Copies ■ Adding Backup Records to the RMAN Repository ■ Removing Records from the RMAN Repository Crosschecking the RMAN Repository To ensure that data about backups in the recovery catalog or control file is synchronized with corresponding data on disk or in the media management catalog, perform a crosscheck. The CROSSCHECK command operates only on files that are currently recorded in the RMAN repository. If you use a fast recovery area, backup retention policy, and archived redo log deletion policy, then you should not need to perform crosschecks very often. If you delete files by means other than RMAN, then you should perform a crosscheck periodically to ensure that the repository data stays current. About RMAN Crosschecks Crosschecks update outdated RMAN repository information about backups whose repository records do not match their physical status. For example, if a user removes archived logs from disk with an operating system command, the repository still indicates that the logs are on disk, when in fact they are not. Figure 12–1 illustrates a crosscheck of a media manager. RMAN queries the RMAN repository for the names and locations of the four backup sets to be checked. RMAN sends this information to the target database server, which queries the media management software about the backups. The media management software then checks its media catalog and reports back to the server that backup set 3 is missing. RMAN updates the status of backup set 3 to EXPIRED in the repository. The record for backup set 3 is deleted once you run DELETE EXPIRED. Figure 12–1 Crosschecking a Media Manager Recovery Manager Media manager Oracle Server Backup set 3 Backup set 2 Backup set 1 Backup set 4 Media Management Library Recovery Catalog Control file
- 239. Updating the RMAN Repository Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-11 Crosschecks are useful because they can do the following: ■ Update outdated information about backups that disappeared from disk or tape or became corrupted ■ Update the repository if you delete archived redo logs or other files with operating system commands Use the crosscheck feature to check the status of a backup on disk or tape. If the backup is on disk, then CROSSCHECK checks whether the header of the file is valid. If a backup is on tape, then the command checks that the backups exist in the media management software catalog. Backup pieces and image copies can have the status AVAILABLE, EXPIRED, or UNAVAILABLE. You can view the status of backups by running the RMAN LIST command or by querying V$BACKUP_FILES or recovery catalog views such as RC_ DATAFILE_COPY or RC_ARCHIVED_LOG. A crosscheck updates the RMAN repository so that all of these techniques provide accurate information. RMAN updates each backup in the RMAN repository to status EXPIRED if the backup is no longer available. If a new crosscheck determines that an expired backup is available again, then RMAN updates its status to AVAILABLE. You can issue the DELETE EXPIRED command to delete all expired backups. RMAN removes the record for the expired file from the repository. If for some reason the file still exists on the media, then RMAN issues warnings and lists the mismatched objects that cannot be deleted. Crosschecking All Backups and Copies After connecting to the target database and recovery catalog (if you use one), run CROSSCHECK commands as needed to verify the status and availability of backups known to RMAN. You can configure or manually allocate multiple channels before issuing CROSSCHECK or DELETE commands. RMAN searches for each backup on all channels that have the same device type as the channel used to create the backup. The multichannel feature is primarily intended for use when crosschecking or deleting backups on both disk and tape within a single command. For example, assume that you have an SBT channel configured as follows: CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 1; CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE sbt; In this case you can run the following commands to crosscheck both disk and SBT: CROSSCHECK BACKUP; CROSSCHECK COPY; Note: The CROSSCHECK command does not delete operating system files or remove repository records. You must use the DELETE command for these operations. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CROSSCHECK syntax and a description of the possible status values ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for DELETE syntax
- 240. Updating the RMAN Repository 12-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN uses both the SBT channel and the preconfigured disk channel to perform the crosscheck. Sample output follows: allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: sid=12 devtype=SBT_TAPE channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: WARNING: Oracle Test Disk API using channel ORA_DISK_1 crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE' backup piece handle=/oracle/dbs/16c5esv4_1_1 recid=36 stamp=408384484 crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE' backup piece handle=/oracle/dbs/c-674966176-20000915-01 recid=37 stamp=408384496 crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE' backup piece handle=12c5erb2_1_1 recid=32 stamp=408382820 . . . If you do not have an automatic SBT channel configured, then you can manually allocate maintenance channels on disk and tape. ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt; CROSSCHECK BACKUP; CROSSCHECK COPY; You do not have to manually allocate a disk channel because RMAN uses the preconfigured disk channel. Crosschecking Specific Backup Sets and Copies You can use the LIST command to report your backups and then use the CROSSCHECK command to check that specific backups described in the LIST output still exist. The DELETE EXPIRED command deletes repository records for backups that fail the crosscheck. To crosscheck specified backups: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run a LIST command to identify the backups to be checked. For example, run the following command: LIST BACKUP; # lists all backup sets, proxy copies, and image copies 3. Crosscheck the desired backups or copies. The following sample commands illustrate different types of crosschecks: CROSSCHECK BACKUP; # checks backup sets, proxy copies, and image copies CROSSCHECK COPY OF DATABASE; CROSSCHECK BACKUPSET 1338, 1339, 1340; CROSSCHECK BACKUPPIECE TAG 'nightly_backup'; CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF ARCHIVELOG ALL SPFILE; CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF DATAFILE "?/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf" COMPLETED AFTER 'SYSDATE-14'; CROSSCHECK CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl'; CROSSCHECK DATAFILECOPY 113, 114, 115; CROSSCHECK PROXY 789; See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for more details on using CROSSCHECK to check backups of specific files
- 241. Updating the RMAN Repository Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-13 Changing the Repository Status of Backups and Copies This section explains how to change the repository records for backups and copies. You can change the status of a backup if it becomes temporarily available or unavailable. For example, if a mounted disk undergoes maintenance, then you can update the records for backups on the disk to status UNAVAILABLE. Updating a Backup to Status AVAILABLE or UNAVAILABLE Run the CHANGE ... UNAVAILABLE command when a backup cannot be found or has migrated offsite. RMAN does not use files with status UNAVAILABLE in RESTORE or RECOVER commands. If the file is later found or returns to the main site, then you can update its status again by issuing CHANGE ... AVAILABLE. The files in the fast recovery area cannot be marked as UNAVAILABLE. To update the status of a file in the repository to UNAVAILABLE or AVAILABLE: 1. Issue a LIST command to determine the availability status of RMAN backups. For example, issue the following command to list all backups: LIST BACKUP; 2. Run CHANGE with the UNAVAILABLE or AVAILABLE keyword to update its status in the RMAN repository. The following examples illustrate forms of the CHANGE command: CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl' UNAVAILABLE; CHANGE COPY OF ARCHIVELOG SEQUENCE BETWEEN 1000 AND 1012 UNAVAILABLE; CHANGE BACKUPSET 12 UNAVAILABLE; CHANGE BACKUP OF SPFILE TAG "TAG20020208T154556" UNAVAILABLE; CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/system01.dbf' AVAILABLE; CHANGE BACKUPSET 12 AVAILABLE; CHANGE BACKUP OF SPFILE TAG "TAG20020208T154556" AVAILABLE; Changing the Status of an Archival Backup As explained in "Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage" on page 9-23, you can designate backups as exempt from the retention policy. This technique is useful for archiving backups to comply with business requirements. An archival backup is still a fully valid backup, however, and can be restored just as any other RMAN backup. You can use the CHANGE command to alter the KEEP status of an existing backup. For example, you may decide that you no longer want to keep a long-term backup. The same options available for BACKUP ... KEEP are available with CHANGE ... KEEP. You cannot set KEEP attributes for backup sets or files stored in the fast recovery area. To alter the KEEP status of an archival backup: 1. Issue a LIST command to list the backups. For example, issue the following command to list all backups: See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CHANGE command syntax Note: The KEEP FOREVER clause requires the use of a recovery catalog, because the control file cannot contain an infinitely large set of RMAN repository data.
- 242. Updating the RMAN Repository 12-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide LIST BACKUP; 2. Issue a CHANGE ... KEEP command to define a different retention period for this backup, or a CHANGE ... NOKEEP command to let the retention policy apply to this file. This example allows a backup set to be subject to the backup retention policy: CHANGE BACKUPSET 231 NOKEEP; This example makes a data file copy exempt from the retention policy for 180 days: CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/system01.dbf' KEEP UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE+180'; Adding Backup Records to the RMAN Repository You can use the CATALOG command to make RMAN aware of the existence of archived logs not recorded in the repository or copies of database files that are created through means other than RMAN. This section contains the following topics: ■ About Cataloging Operations ■ Cataloging User-Managed Data File Copies ■ Cataloging Backup Pieces ■ Cataloging All Files in a Disk Location About Cataloging Operations The target database control file keeps records of all archived redo logs generated by the target database and all RMAN backups. The purpose of the CATALOG command is to add metadata to the repository when it does not have a record of files for RMAN. Run the RMAN CATALOG command when: ■ You use an operating system utility to make copies of datafiles, archived logs, or backup pieces. In this case, the repository has no record of them. ■ You perform recovery with a backup control file and you change the archiving destination or format during recovery. In this situation, the repository does not have information about archived logs needed for recovery, and you must catalog these logs. ■ You want to catalog data file copy as a level 0 backup, thus enabling you to perform an incremental backup later by using the data file copy as the base of an incremental backup strategy. ■ You want to catalog user-managed copies of Oracle7 database files created before you migrated to a higher release, or of Oracle8 and higher database files created before you started to use RMAN. These data file copies enable you to recover the database if it fails after migration but before you have a chance to take a backup of the migrated database. Whenever you make a user-managed copy, for example, by using the UNIX cp command to copy a data file, be sure to catalog it. When making user-managed copies, you can use the ALTER TABLESPACE ... BEGIN/END BACKUP statement to make data file copies off an online tablespace. Although RMAN does not create such data file copies, you can use the CATALOG command to add them to the recovery catalog so that RMAN is aware of them. For a user-managed copy to be cataloged, it must be:
- 243. Updating the RMAN Repository Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-15 ■ Accessible on disk ■ A complete image copy of a single file ■ Either a data file copy, control file copy, archived redo log copy, or backup piece copy For example, if you store datafiles on mirrored disk drives, then you can create a user-managed copy by breaking the mirror. In this scenario, use the CATALOG command to notify RMAN of the existence of the user-managed copy after breaking the mirror. Before reforming the mirror, run a CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command to notify RMAN that the file copy no longer exists. Cataloging User-Managed Data File Copies Use the CATALOG command to propagate information about user-managed copies to the RMAN repository. After the files are cataloged, you can run the LIST command or query V$BACKUP_FILES view to confirm the information is contained in the RMAN repository. To create and catalog a user-managed copy of a data file: 1. Make a data file copy with an operating system utility. ALTER TABLESPACE BEGIN/END BACKUP is necessary if the database is open and the data files are online while the backup is in progress. This example backs up an online data file, using the SQL*Plus HOST command to issue an operating system command. SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE users BEGIN BACKUP; SQL> host cp $ORACLE_HOME/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf /tmp/users01.dbf; SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE users END BACKUP; 2. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 3. Run the CATALOG command. For example, enter the following command to catalog a user-managed data file copy: CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/users01.dbf'; If you try to catalog a data file copy from a database other than the connected target database, then RMAN issues an error such as the following: RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03009: failure of catalog command on default channel at 08/29/2007 14:44:34 ORA-19563: datafile copy header validation failed for file /tmp/tools01.dbf Cataloging Backup Pieces You can catalog backup pieces on disk. This technique is useful if you use an operating system utility to copy backup pieces from one location to another on the same host, or from one host to another. You can even catalog a backup piece from a prior incarnation of the database. RMAN can determine whether that backup piece can be used during a subsequent restore and recovery operation. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CATALOG command syntax
- 244. Updating the RMAN Repository 12-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide To catalog a backup piece: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Catalog the file names of the backup pieces. For example, enter the following command: CATALOG BACKUPPIECE '/disk2/09dtq55d_1_2', '/disk2/0bdtqdou_1_1'; 3. Optionally, run a LIST command or query V$ views to verify your changes. Views include V$BACKUP_PIECE, V$BACKUP_SET, V$BACKUP_DATAFILE, V$BACKUP_REDOLOG, and V$BACKUP_SPFILE. The following query shows the names of backup pieces: SELECT HANDLE FROM V$BACKUP_PIECE; Cataloging All Files in a Disk Location If you use Automatic Storage Management (ASM), an Oracle Managed Files framework, or the fast recovery area, then you may want to recatalog files that are known to the disk management system but are no longer listed in the RMAN repository. This situation can occur when the intended mechanism for tracking file names fails due to media failure, software bug, or user error. The CATALOG START WITH command enables you to search through all files in an ASM disk group, Oracle Managed Files location, or traditional file system directory and investigate those that are not recorded in the RMAN repository. If the command can catalog a file, then it does so. If it cannot catalog the file, then it makes its best guess about the contents of the skipped file. The CATALOG RECOVERY AREA command enables you to catalog all files in the recovery area. Typically, you would not need to run this command manually because RMAN automatically runs it when it is needed, for example, when you restore or create a control file. You can run this command when files are copied into the fast recovery area by operating system utilities. To catalog all files in a disk location: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the CATALOG command, specifying the disk location whose files you want to catalog. For example, enter the following commands: CATALOG START WITH '+disk'; # catalog all files from an ASM disk group CATALOG START WITH '/fs1/datafiles/'; # catalog all files in directory You can use the CATALOG RECOVERY AREA command to catalog all files in the recovery area. During this operation, any files in the recovery area not listed in the RMAN repository are added. For example: CATALOG RECOVERY AREA; See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CATALOG BACKUPPIECE restrictions Note: Wildcard characters are not legal in the START WITH clause.
- 245. Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-17 3. Run a LIST command to verify that the files were cataloged. Removing Records from the RMAN Repository This section explains how to remove records for files from the RMAN repository. About Uncataloging Operations Run the CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command to perform the following actions on RMAN repository records: ■ Update a backup record in the control file repository to status DELETED ■ Delete a specific backup record from the recovery catalog (if you use one) RMAN does not change the specified physical files: it only alters the repository records for these files. You can use this command when you have deleted a backup through a means other than RMAN. For example, if you delete archived redo logs with an operating system utility, then remove the record for this log from the repository by issuing a CHANGE ARCHIVELOG ... UNCATALOG command. Removing Records for Files Deleted with Operating System Utilities In some circumstances, users may have removed backups or archived redo logs with operating system utilities. Unless you run CROSSCHECK, RMAN does not know about the deletion. You can use the CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command to update the RMAN repository for the absent files. To remove the catalog record for a backup or archived redo log: 1. Run a CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command for the backups that you deleted from the operating system with operating system commands. This example deletes repository references to disk copies of the control file and data file 1: CHANGE CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl' UNCATALOG; CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/system01.dbf' UNCATALOG; 2. Optionally, view the relevant recovery catalog view, for example, RC_DATAFILE_ COPY or RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY, to confirm that a given record was removed. This query confirms that the record of copy 4833 was removed: SELECT CDF_KEY, STATUS FROM RC_DATAFILE_COPY WHERE CDF_KEY = 4833; CDF_KEY STATUS ---------- ------ 0 rows selected. Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs You can use the RMAN DELETE command to delete archived redo logs and RMAN backups. For backups on disk, deleting backups physically removes the backup file from disk. For backups on SBT devices, the RMAN DELETE command instructs the media manager to delete the backup pieces or proxy copies on tape. In either case, RMAN updates the RMAN repository to reflect the deletion.
- 246. Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs 12-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Overview of RMAN Deletion Every RMAN backup produces a corresponding record in the RMAN repository. This record is stored in the control file. If a recovery catalog is used, then the record can also be found in the recovery catalog after the recovery catalog is resynchronized from the control file. For example, if you generate a full database backup set, then you can view the record for this backup set in V$BACKUP_SET. If you use a recovery catalog, then you can also access the record in the RC_BACKUP_SET catalog view. The V$ control file views and recovery catalog views differ in the way that they store information, and this affects how RMAN handles repository records. The recovery catalog RMAN repository is stored in actual database tables, while the control file version of the repository is stored in an internal structure in the control file. When you use an RMAN command to delete a backup or archived redo log file, RMAN does the following: ■ Removes the physical file from the operating system (if the file is still present) ■ Updates the file records in the control file to status DELETED ■ Removes the file records from the recovery catalog tables (if RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog) Because of the way that control file data is stored, RMAN cannot remove the record from the control file, only update it to DELETED status. Because the recovery catalog tables are ordinary database tables, however, RMAN deletes rows from them in the same way that rows are deleted from any table. RMAN Deletion Commands Table 12–1 describes the RMAN commands that can delete backups. Table 12–1 RMAN Deletion Commands Command Purpose DELETE To delete backups, update the control file records to status DELETED, and remove their records from the recovery catalog (if a recovery catalog is used). You can specify that DELETE should remove backups that are EXPIRED or OBSOLETE. If you run DELETE EXPIRED on a backup that exists, then RMAN issues a warning and does not delete the backup. If you use the DELETE command with the optional FORCE keyword, then RMAN deletes the specified backups, but ignores any I/O errors, including those that occur when a backup is missing from disk or tape. It then updates the RMAN repository to reflect the fact that the backup is deleted, regardless of whether RMAN was able to delete the file or whether the file was missing. RMAN uses all configured channels to perform the deletion. If you use DELETE for files on devices that are not configured for automatic channels, then you must first use ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE command. For example, if you made a backup with the SBT channel, but only a disk channel is configured, then you must manually allocate an SBT channel for DELETE. An automatic or manually allocated maintenance channel is required when you use DELETE command on a disk-only file. BACKUP ... DELETE [ALL] INPUT To back up archived logs, data file copies, or backup sets, then delete the input files from the operating system after the successful completion of the backup. RMAN also deletes and updates repository records for the deleted input files. If you specify DELETE INPUT (without ALL), then RMAN deletes only the specific files that it backs up. If you specify ALL INPUT, then RMAN deletes all copies of the files recorded in the RMAN repository. CHANGE ... UNCATALOG To delete recovery catalog records for specified backups and change their control file records to status DELETED. The CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command only changes the RMAN repository record of backups, and does not actually delete backups.
- 247. Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-19 The RMAN repository record for an object can sometimes fail to reflect the physical status of the object. For example, you back up an archived redo log to disk and then use an operating system utility to delete it. If you run DELETE without first running CROSSCHECK, then the repository erroneously lists the log as AVAILABLE. See Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a description of DELETE behavior when mismatches occur between the RMAN repository and physical media. If you run RMAN interactively, then RMAN asks for confirmation before deleting any files. You can suppress these confirmations by using the NOPROMPT keyword with any form of the BACKUP command: DELETE NOPROMPT ARCHIVELOG ALL; Deletion of Archived Redo Logs As explained in "Basic Concepts of Backup and Repository Maintenance" on page 12-2, the recommended maintenance strategy is to configure a fast recovery area, a backup retention policy, and an archived redo log deletion policy. By default, the archived redo logs deletion policy is configured to NONE. In this case, the fast recovery area considers the logs eligible for deletion if they have been backed up at least once to disk or tape or the logs are obsolete according to the backup retention policy. Archived redo logs can be deleted automatically by the database or by any of the user-initiated RMAN commands listed in Table 12–1. For logs in the recovery area, the database retains them as long as possible and automatically deletes eligible logs when disk space is required. You can delete eligible logs from any location, inside or outside the recovery area, with BACKUP ... DELETE INPUT or DELETE ARCHIVELOG. Both of these commands obey the archive redo log deletion policy when the policy is any setting other than NONE. You can override the archived redo log deletion policy settings by using the FORCE option in the DELETE command. Deleting All Backups and Copies In some circumstances, you may need to delete all backup sets, proxy copies, and image copies associated with a database. For example, you no longer need a database and want to remove all related files from the system. An image copy is a file generated with BACKUP AS COPY command, a log archived by the database, or a file cataloged with the CATALOG command. To delete all backups and copies: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. If necessary, allocate maintenance channels for the devices containing the backups to be deleted. As explained in Table 12–1, RMAN uses all configured channels to perform the deletion. If channels are configured, then you do not need to manually allocate maintenance channels. 3. Crosscheck the backups and copies to ensure that the logical records are synchronized with the physical media. See Also: ■ "Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy" on page 5-28 ■ The CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY entry in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for detailed information about policy options
- 248. Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs 12-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide CROSSCHECK BACKUP; CROSSCHECK COPY; 4. Delete the backups and copies. For example, enter the following commands and then enter YES when prompted: DELETE BACKUP; DELETE COPY; If disk and tape channels are configured, then RMAN uses both the configured SBT channel and the preconfigured disk channel when deleting. RMAN prompts you for confirmation before deleting any files. Deleting Specified Backups and Copies You can use both the DELETE and BACKUP ... DELETE commands to delete specific backups and copies. The BACKUP ... DELETE command backs up the files first, typically to tape, and then deletes the input files afterward. The DELETE command supports a wide range of options to identify objects to delete. For complete information about these options, see Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference. When deleting archived redo logs, RMAN uses the configured settings to determine whether a log can be deleted (see "Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy" on page 5-28). To delete specified backups and copies: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. If necessary, allocate maintenance channels for the devices containing the backups to be deleted. As explained in Table 12–1, RMAN uses all configured channels to perform the deletion. If channels are configured, then you do not need to manually allocate maintenance channels. 3. Delete the specified backups and copies. The following examples show many of the common ways to specify backups and archived logs to delete with the DELETE command: ■ Deleting backups using primary keys from LIST output: DELETE BACKUPPIECE 101; ■ Deleting backups by file name on disk: DELETE CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl'; ■ Deleting archived redo logs: DELETE NOPROMPT ARCHIVELOG UNTIL SEQUENCE 300; ■ Deleting backups based on tags: DELETE BACKUP TAG 'before_upgrade'; ■ Delete backups based on the objects backed up and the media or disk location where the backup is stored: DELETE BACKUP OF TABLESPACE users DEVICE TYPE sbt; # delete only from tape DELETE COPY OF CONTROLFILE LIKE '/tmp/%';
- 249. Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records 12-21 ■ Delete backups and archived redo logs from disk based on whether they are backed up on tape: DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP 3 TIMES TO sbt; Deleting Specified Files with BACKUP ... DELETE You can use BACKUP ... DELETE to back up archived redo logs, data file copies, or backup sets and then delete the input files after successfully backing them up. Specifying the DELETE INPUT option is equivalent to issuing the DELETE command for the input files. As explained in "Configuring an Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy" on page 5-28, RMAN uses the configured settings to determine whether an archived redo log can be deleted. The ALL option in the DELETE ALL INPUT clause applies only to archived redo logs. If you run BACKUP ... DELETE ALL INPUT, then the command deletes all copies of corresponding archived redo logs or data file copies that match the selection criteria in the BACKUP command. Deleting Expired RMAN Backups and Copies If you run CROSSCHECK, and if RMAN cannot locate the files, then it updates their records in the RMAN repository to EXPIRED status. You can then use the DELETE EXPIRED command to remove records of expired backups and copies from the RMAN repository. The DELETE EXPIRED command issues warnings if any files marked as EXPIRED actually exist. In rare cases, the repository can mark a file as EXPIRED even though it exists. For example, a directory containing a file is corrupted at the time of the crosscheck, but is later repaired, or the media manager was not configured properly and reported some backups as not existing when they really existed. To delete expired repository records: 1. If you have not performed a crosscheck recently, then issue a CROSSCHECK command. For example, issue: CROSSCHECK BACKUP; 2. Delete the expired backups. For example, issue: DELETE EXPIRED BACKUP; Deleting Obsolete RMAN Backups Based on Retention Policies The RMAN DELETE command supports an OBSOLETE option, which deletes backups that are no longer needed to satisfy specified recoverability requirements. You can delete files that are obsolete according to the configured default retention policy, or another retention policy that you specify as an option to the DELETE OBSOLETE command. As with other forms of the DELETE command, the files deleted are removed from backup media, deleted from the recovery catalog, and marked as DELETED in the control file. If you specify the DELETE OBSOLETE command with no arguments, then RMAN deletes all obsolete backups defined by the configured retention policy. For example: DELETE OBSOLETE;
- 250. Dropping a Database 12-22 Backup and Recovery User's Guide DELETE OBSOLETE Behavior When KEEP UNTIL TIME Expires If the KEEP UNTIL TIME period has not expired for an archival backup, RMAN does not consider the backup as obsolete. As soon as the KEEP UNTIL period expires, however, the backup is immediately considered to be obsolete, regardless of any configured backup retention policy. Thus, DELETE OBSOLETE deletes any backup created with BACKUP ... KEEP UNTIL TIME if the KEEP time has expired. Dropping a Database To remove a database from the operating system, you can use the DROP DATABASE command in RMAN. RMAN removes all datafiles, online redo logs, and control files belonging to the target database. DROP DATABASE requires that RMAN be connected to the target database, and that the target database be mounted. The command does not require connection to the recovery catalog. If RMAN is connected to the recovery catalog, and if you specify the option INCLUDE COPIES AND BACKUPS, then RMAN also unregisters the database. To delete a database: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Catalog all backups that are associated with the database. For example, the following commands catalog files in the fast recovery area, and then in a secondary archiving destination: CATALOG START WITH '+disk1'; # all files from recovery area on ASM disk CATALOG START WITH '/arch_dest2'; # all files from second archiving location 3. Delete all backups and copies associated with the database. For example: DELETE BACKUPSET; # deletes all backups DELETE COPY; # deletes all image copies (including archived logs) 4. Remove the database from the operating system. The following command deletes the database and automatically unregisters it from the recovery catalog (if used). RMAN prompts for confirmation. DROP DATABASE; See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for keepOption syntax See Also: ■ "Dropping a Database with SQL*Plus" on page 30-16 to learn how to use the SQL DROP DATABASE statement ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for the RMAN DROP DATABASE command syntax
- 251. 13 Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-1 13 Managing a Recovery Catalog This chapter explains how to manage an RMAN recovery catalog. The catalog is a database schema that contains the RMAN repository data for one or more target databases. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of the Recovery Catalog ■ Creating a Recovery Catalog ■ Registering a Database in the Recovery Catalog ■ Cataloging Backups in the Recovery Catalog ■ Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs ■ Protecting the Recovery Catalog ■ Managing Stored Scripts ■ Maintaining a Recovery Catalog ■ Dropping a Recovery Catalog Overview of the Recovery Catalog This section explains the basic concepts related to managing a recovery catalog. Purpose of the Recovery Catalog A recovery catalog is a database schema used by RMAN to store metadata about one or more Oracle databases. Typically, you store the catalog in a dedicated database. A recovery catalog provides the following benefits: ■ A recovery catalog creates redundancy for the RMAN repository stored in the control file of each target database. The recovery catalog serves as a secondary metadata repository. If the target control file and all backups are lost, then the RMAN metadata still exists in the recovery catalog. See Also: ■ Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records"to learn how to manage the RMAN repository as stored in the control file, without a recovery catalog ■ The compatibility matrix in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for descriptions of supported interoperability scenarios
- 252. Overview of the Recovery Catalog 13-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ A recovery catalog centralizes metadata for all your target databases. Storing the metadata in a single place makes reporting and administration tasks easier to perform. ■ A recovery catalog can store metadata history much longer than the control file. This capability is useful if you must do a recovery that goes further back in time than the history in the control file. The added complexity of managing a recovery catalog database can be offset by the convenience of having the extended backup history available. Some RMAN features function only when you use a recovery catalog. For example, you can store RMAN scripts in a recovery catalog. The chief advantage of a stored script is that it is available to any RMAN client that can connect to the target database and recovery catalog. Command files are only available if the RMAN client has access to the file system on which they are stored. A recovery catalog is required when you use RMAN in a Data Guard environment. By storing backup metadata for all primary and standby databases, the catalog enables you to offload backup tasks to one standby database while enabling you to restore backups on other databases in the environment. Basic Concepts for the Recovery Catalog The recovery catalog contains metadata about RMAN operations for each registered target database. When RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog, RMAN obtains its metadata exclusively from the catalog. The catalog includes the following types of metadata: ■ Data file and archived redo log backup sets and backup pieces ■ Data file copies ■ Archived redo logs and their copies ■ Database structure (tablespaces and datafiles) ■ Stored scripts, which are named user-created sequences of RMAN commands ■ Persistent RMAN configuration settings Database Registration The process of enrolling of a database in a recovery catalog for RMAN use is called registration. The recommended practice is to register every target database in your environment in a single recovery catalog. For example, you can register databases prod1, prod2, and prod3 in a single catalog owned by catowner in the database catdb. Centralization of Metadata in a Base Recovery Catalog The owner of a centralized recovery catalog, which is also called the base recovery catalog, can grant or revoke restricted access to the catalog to other database users. Each restricted user has full read/write access to his own metadata, which is called a virtual private catalog. The RMAN metadata is stored in the schema of the virtual private catalog owner. The owner of the base recovery catalog determines which objects each virtual private catalog user can access. See Also: "Registering a Database in the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-7
- 253. Overview of the Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-3 You can use a recovery catalog in an environment in which you use or have used different versions of Oracle Database. As a result, your environment can have different versions of the RMAN client, recovery catalog database, recovery catalog schema, and target database. "Importing and Moving a Recovery Catalog" on page 13-31 explains how to merge multiple recovery catalog schemas into one. Recovery Catalog Resynchronization For RMAN operations such as backup, restore, and crosscheck, RMAN always first updates the control file and then propagates the metadata to the recovery catalog. This flow of metadata from the mounted control file to the recovery catalog, which is known as recovery catalog resynchronization, ensures that the metadata that RMAN obtains from the control file is current. Stored Scripts You can use a stored script as an alternative to a command file for managing frequently used sequences of RMAN commands. The script is stored in the recovery catalog rather than on the file system. A local stored script is associated with the target database to which RMAN is connected when the script is created, and can only be executed when you are connected to this target database. A global stored script can be run against any database registered in the recovery catalog. A virtual private catalog user has read-only access to global scripts. Creating or updating global scripts must be done while connected to the base recovery catalog. Recovery Catalog in a Data Guard Environment As explained in "RMAN in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-7, you must use a recovery catalog to manage RMAN metadata for all physical databases, both primary and standby databases, in the Data Guard environment. RMAN uses the recovery catalog as the single source of truth for the Data Guard environment. RMAN can use the recovery catalog to update a primary or standby control file in a reverse resynchronization. In this case, the metadata flows from the catalog to the control file rather than the other way around. RMAN automatically performs resynchronizations in most situations in which they are needed. Thus, you should not need to use the RESYNC command to manually resynchronize very often. Basic Steps of Managing a Recovery Catalog The basic steps for setting up a recovery catalog for use by RMAN are as follows: 1. Create the recovery catalog. "Creating a Recovery Catalog" on page 13-4 explains how to perform this task. 2. Register your target databases in the recovery catalog. See Also: "Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs" on page 13-10 See Also: "Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-22 See Also: "Managing Stored Scripts" on page 13-16 See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to configure the RMAN environment for use with a standby database
- 254. Creating a Recovery Catalog 13-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide This step enables RMAN to store metadata for the target databases in the recovery catalog. "Registering a Database in the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-7 explains this task. 3. If needed, catalog any older backups whose records are no longer stored in the target control file. "Cataloging Backups in the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-9 explains how to perform this task. 4. If needed, create virtual private catalogs for specific users and determine the metadata to which they are permitted access. "Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs" on page 13-10 explains how to perform this task. 5. Protect the recovery catalog by including it in your backup and recovery strategy. "Protecting the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-13 explains how to back up and recover the catalog and increase its availability. The remainder of the chapter explains how to manage the recovery catalog after it is operational. You can perform the following tasks: ■ "Managing Stored Scripts" on page 13-16 explains how to store RMAN scripts in the recovery catalog and manage them. ■ Chapter 11, "Reporting on RMAN Operations" explains how to report on RMAN operations. You can use the LIST and REPORT commands with or without a recovery catalog. "Querying Recovery Catalog Views" on page 11-16 explains how to report on RMAN operations with fixed views in the recovery catalog. ■ "Maintaining a Recovery Catalog" on page 13-21 explains a variety of tasks for ongoing recovery catalog maintenance, including how to import one recovery catalog into another recovery catalog. If you no longer want to maintain a recovery catalog, then see "Dropping a Recovery Catalog" on page 13-33. Creating a Recovery Catalog This section explains the phases of recovery catalog creation. This section contains the following topics: ■ Configuring the Recovery Catalog Database ■ Creating the Recovery Catalog Schema Owner ■ Executing the CREATE CATALOG Command Configuring the Recovery Catalog Database When you use a recovery catalog, RMAN requires that you maintain a recovery catalog schema. The recovery catalog is stored in the default tablespace of the schema. The SYS user cannot be the owner of the recovery catalog. Decide which database you will use to install the recovery catalog schema, and also how you will back up this database. Also, decide whether to operate the catalog database in ARCHIVELOG mode, which is recommended.
- 255. Creating a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-5 Planning the Size of the Recovery Catalog Schema You must allocate space to be used by the catalog schema. The size of the recovery catalog schema depends upon the number of databases monitored by the catalog. The schema also grows as the number of archived redo log files and backups for each database increases. Finally, if you use RMAN stored scripts stored in the catalog, some space must be allocated for those scripts. For example, assume that the trgt database has 100 files, and that you back up the database once a day, producing 50 backup sets containing 1 backup piece each. If you assume that each row in the backup piece table uses the maximum amount of space, then one daily backup consumes less than 170 kilobytes in the recovery catalog. So, if you back up once a day for a year, then the total storage in this period is about 62 megabytes. Assume approximately the same amount for archived logs. Thus, the worst case is about 120 megabytes for a year for metadata storage. For a more typical case in which only a portion of the backup piece row space is used, 15 MB for each year is realistic. If you plan to register multiple databases in your recovery catalog, then remember to add up the space required for each one based on the previous calculation to arrive at a total size for the default tablespace of the recovery catalog schema. Allocating Disk Space for the Recovery Catalog Database If you are creating your recovery catalog in an existing database, then add enough room to hold the default tablespace for the recovery catalog schema. If you are creating a new database to hold your recovery catalog, then in addition to the space for the recovery catalog schema itself, allow space for other files in the recovery catalog database: ■ SYSTEM and SYSAUX tablespaces ■ Temporary tablespaces ■ Undo tablespaces ■ Online redo log files Most of the space used in the recovery catalog database is devoted to supporting tablespaces, for example, the SYSTEM, temporary, and undo tablespaces. Table 13–1 describes typical space requirements. Note: Do not use the target database to be backed up as the database for the recovery catalog. The recovery catalog must be protected if the target database is lost. Table 13–1 Typical Recovery Catalog Space Requirements for 1 Year Type of Space Space Requirement SYSTEM tablespace 90 MB Temp tablespace 5 MB Rollback or undo tablespace 5 MB Recovery catalog tablespace 15 MB for each database registered in the recovery catalog Online redo logs 1 MB each (three groups, each with two members)
- 256. Creating a Recovery Catalog 13-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Creating the Recovery Catalog Schema Owner After choosing the recovery catalog database and creating the necessary space, you are ready to create the owner of the recovery catalog and grant this user necessary privileges. Assume the following background information for the instructions in the following sections: ■ User SYS has SYSDBA privileges on the recovery catalog database catdb. ■ A tablespace called tools in the recovery catalog database catdb stores the recovery catalog. If you use an RMAN reserved word as a tablespace name, you must enclose it in quotes and put it in uppercase. (See Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a list of RMAN reserved words.) ■ A tablespace called temp exists in the recovery catalog database. To create the recovery catalog schema in the recovery catalog database: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect with administrator privileges to the database containing the recovery catalog. In this example, the database is catdb. 2. Create a user and schema for the recovery catalog. For example, you could enter the following SQL statement (replacing password with a user-defined password): CREATE USER rman IDENTIFIED BY password TEMPORARY TABLESPACE temp DEFAULT TABLESPACE tools QUOTA UNLIMITED ON tools; 3. Grant the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role to the schema owner. This role provides the user with all privileges required to maintain and query the recovery catalog. GRANT RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER TO rman; Executing the CREATE CATALOG Command After creating the catalog owner, create the catalog tables with the RMAN CREATE CATALOG command. The command creates the catalog in the default tablespace of the catalog owner. To create the recovery catalog: 1. Start RMAN and connect to the database that will contain the catalog. Connect to the database as the recovery catalog owner. Caution: Ensure that the recovery catalog and target databases do not reside on the same disk. If both your recovery catalog and your target database suffer hard disk failure, then your recovery process is much more difficult. If possible, take other measures as well to eliminate common points of failure between your recovery catalog database and the databases that you are backing up. Note: Create a password that is secure. See Oracle Database Security Guide for more information.
- 257. Registering a Database in the Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-7 2. Run the CREATE CATALOG command to create the catalog. The creation of the catalog can take several minutes. If the catalog tablespace is this user's default tablespace, then you can run the following command: RMAN> CREATE CATALOG; You can specify the tablespace name for the catalog in the CREATE CATALOG command. For example: RMAN> CREATE CATALOG TABLESPACE cat_tbs; 3. You can check the results by using SQL*Plus to query the recovery catalog to see which tables were created: SQL> SELECT TABLE_NAME FROM USER_TABLES; Registering a Database in the Recovery Catalog This section describes how to maintain target database records in the recovery catalog. It contains the following sections: ■ About Registration of a Database in the Recovery Catalog ■ Registering a Database with the REGISTER DATABASE Command About Registration of a Database in the Recovery Catalog The process of enrolling of a target database in a recovery catalog is called registration. If a target database is not registered in the recovery catalog, then RMAN cannot use the catalog to store metadata for operations on this database. You can still perform RMAN operations on an unregistered database: RMAN always stores its metadata in the control file of the target database. If you are not using the recovery catalog in a Data Guard environment, then use the REGISTER command to register each database. Each database must have a unique DBID. If you use the RMAN DUPLICATE command or the CREATE DATABASE statement in SQL, then the database is assigned a unique DBID automatically. If you create a database by other means, then the copied database may have the same DBID as its source database. You can change the DBID with the DBNEWID utility so that you can register the source and copy databases in the same catalog. You can use the UNREGISTER command to unregister a database from the recovery catalog. Note: If the tablespace name that you want to use for the recovery catalog is an RMAN reserved word, then it must be uppercase and enclosed in quotes. For example: CREATE CATALOG TABLESPACE 'CATALOG'; See Also: Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for the SQL syntax for the GRANT and CREATE USER statements, and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CREATE CATALOG command syntax
- 258. Registering a Database in the Recovery Catalog 13-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide About Standby Database Registration In a Data Guard environment, the primary and standby databases share the same DBID and database name. To be eligible for registration in the recovery catalog, each database in the Data Guard environment must have different DB_UNIQUE_NAME values. The DB_UNIQUE_NAME parameter for a database is set in its initialization parameter file. If you use RMAN in a Data Guard environment, then you can use the REGISTER DATABASE command only for the primary database. You can use the following techniques to register a standby database in the recovery catalog: ■ When you connect to a standby database as TARGET, RMAN automatically registers the database in the recovery catalog. ■ When you run the CONFIGURE DB_UNIQUE_NAME command for a standby database that is not known to the recovery catalog, RMAN automatically registers this standby database if its primary database is registered. Registering a Database with the REGISTER DATABASE Command The first step in using a recovery catalog with a target database is registering the target database in the recovery catalog. If you use the catalog in a Data Guard environment, then you can only register the primary database in this way. Use the following procedure: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. The recovery catalog database must be open. For example, issue the following command to connect to the catalog database with the net service name catdb as user rman (who owns the catalog schema): % rman TARGET / CATALOG rman@catdb 2. If the target database is not mounted, then mount or open it: STARTUP MOUNT; 3. Register the target database in the connected recovery catalog: REGISTER DATABASE; RMAN creates rows in the catalog tables to contain information about the target database, then copies all pertinent data about the target database from the control file into the catalog, synchronizing the catalog with the control file. 4. Verify that the registration was successful by running REPORT SCHEMA: REPORT SCHEMA; See Also: ■ "Unregistering a Target Database from the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-26 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for DUPLICATE command syntax ■ Oracle Database Utilities to learn how to use the DBNEWID utility to change the DBID ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn about using RMAN in a Data Guard environment
- 259. Cataloging Backups in the Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-9 Report of database schema File Size(MB) Tablespace RB segs Datafile Name ---- ---------- ---------------- ------- ------------------- 1 307200 SYSTEM NO /oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf 2 20480 UNDOTBS YES /oracle/oradata/trgt/undotbs01.dbf 3 10240 CWMLITE NO /oracle/oradata/trgt/cwmlite01.dbf 4 10240 DRSYS NO /oracle/oradata/trgt/drsys01.dbf 5 10240 EXAMPLE NO /oracle/oradata/trgt/example01.dbf 6 10240 INDX NO /oracle/oradata/trgt/indx01.dbf 7 10240 TOOLS NO /oracle/oradata/trgt/tools01.dbf 8 10240 USERS NO /oracle/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf Cataloging Backups in the Recovery Catalog If you have data file copies, backup pieces, or archived logs on disk, then you can catalog them in the recovery catalog with the CATALOG command. When using a recovery catalog, cataloging older backups that have aged out of the control file lets RMAN use the older backups during restore operations. The following commands illustrate this technique: CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '/disk1/old_datafiles/01_01_2003/users01.dbf'; CATALOG ARCHIVELOG '/disk1/arch_logs/archive1_731.dbf', '/disk1/arch_logs/archive1_732.dbf'; CATALOG BACKUPPIECE '/disk1/backups/backup_820.bkp'; You can also catalog multiple backup files in a directory at once by using the CATALOG START WITH command, as shown in the following example: CATALOG START WITH '/disk1/backups/'; RMAN lists the files to be added to the RMAN repository and prompts for confirmation before adding the backups. Be careful when creating your prefix with CATALOG START WITH. RMAN scans all paths for all files on disk that begin with the specified prefix. The prefix is not just a directory name. Using the wrong prefix can cause the cataloging of the wrong set of files. For example, assume that a group of directories /disk1/backups, /disk1/backups-year2003, /disk1/backupsets, and /disk1/backupsets/test and so on, all contain backup files. The following command catalogs all files in all of these directories, because /disk1/backups is a prefix for the paths for all of these directories: CATALOG START WITH '/disk1/backups'; To catalog only backups in the /disk1/backups directory, the correct command would be as follows: CATALOG START WITH '/disk1/backups/'; See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for REGISTER syntax ■ Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for issues relating to database migration
- 260. Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs 13-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs About Virtual Private Catalogs By default, all of the users of an RMAN recovery catalog have full privileges to insert, update, and delete any metadata in the catalog. For example, if the administrators of two unrelated databases share the same recovery catalog, each administrator could, whether inadvertently or maliciously, destroy catalog data for the other's database. In many enterprises, this situation is tolerated because the same people manage many different databases and also manage the recovery catalog. But in other enterprises where clear separation of duty exists between administrators of various databases, and between the DBA and the administrator of the recovery catalog, you may desire to restrict each database administrator to modify only backup metadata belonging to those databases that they are responsible for, while still keeping the benefits of a single, centrally-managed, RMAN recovery catalog. This goal can be achieved by implementing virtual private catalogs. Every 11g recovery catalog supports virtual private catalogs, but they are not used unless explicitly created. There is no restriction to the number of virtual private catalogs that can created beneath one recovery catalog. Each virtual private catalog is owned by a database schema user which is different than the user who owns the recovery catalog. After creating one or more virtual private catalogs, using the directions that follow, the administrator for the recovery catalog grants each virtual private catalog the privilege to use that catalog for one or more databases that are currently registered in the recovery catalog. The administrator of the recovery catalog can also grant the privilege to register new databases while using a virtual private catalog. The basic steps for creating a virtual private catalog are as follows: 1. Create the database user who will own the virtual private catalog (if this user does not exist) and grant this user access privileges. This task is described in "Creating and Granting Privileges to a Virtual Private Catalog Owner" on page 13-11. 2. Create the virtual private catalog. This task is described in "Creating a Virtual Private Catalog" on page 13-12. After the virtual private catalog is created, you can revoke catalog access privileges as necessary. This task is described in "Revoking Privileges from a Virtual Private Catalog Owner" on page 13-12. "Dropping a Virtual Private Catalog" on page 13-13 explains how to drop a virtual private catalog. If the recovery catalog is a virtual private catalog, then the RMAN client connecting to it must be at patch level 10.1.0.6 or 10.2.0.3. Oracle9i RMAN clients cannot connect to a virtual private catalog. This version restriction does not affect RMAN client Note: Every virtual private catalog has access to all global stored scripts and those non-global stored scripts that belong to those databases for which this virtual private catalog has privileges. Virtual private catalogs cannot access non-global stored scripts that belong to databases that they do not have privileges for, and they cannot create global stored scripts.
- 261. Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-11 connections to an Oracle Database 11g base recovery catalog, even if it has some virtual private catalog users. Creating and Granting Privileges to a Virtual Private Catalog Owner This section assumes that you created the base recovery catalog. Assume that the following databases are registered in the base recovery catalog: prod1, prod2, and prod3. The database user who owns the base recovery catalog is catowner. You want to create database user vpc1 and grant this user access privileges only to prod1 and prod2. By default, a virtual private catalog owner has no access to the base recovery catalog. To create and grant privileges to a virtual private catalog owner: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the recovery catalog database with administrator privileges. 2. If the user that will own the virtual private catalog does not exist, then create the user. For example, if you want to create database user vpc1 to own the catalog, then you could execute the following command (replacing password with a user-defined password): SQL> CREATE USER vpc1 IDENTIFIED BY password 2 DEFAULT TABLESPACE vpcusers 3 QUOTA UNLIMITED ON vpcusers; 3. Grant the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role to the database user that will own the virtual private catalog, and then exit SQL*Plus. The following example grants the role to user vpc1: SQL> GRANT recovery_catalog_owner TO vpc1; SQL> EXIT; 4. Start RMAN and connect to the recovery catalog database as the base recovery catalog owner (not the virtual private catalog owner). The following example connects to the base recovery catalog as catowner: % rman RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG catowner@catdb; recovery catalog database Password: password connected to recovery catalog database 5. Grant desired privileges to the virtual private catalog owner. The following example gives user vpc1 access to the metadata for prod1 and prod2 (but not prod3): RMAN> GRANT CATALOG FOR DATABASE prod1 TO vpc1; RMAN> GRANT CATALOG FOR DATABASE prod2 TO vpc1; See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for details about RMAN version compatibility Note: Create a password that is secure. See Oracle Database Security Guide for more information.
- 262. Creating and Managing Virtual Private Catalogs 13-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide You can also use a DBID rather than a database name. The virtual private catalog user does not have access to the metadata for any other databases registered in the recovery catalog. You can also grant the user the ability to register new target databases in the recovery catalog. For example: RMAN> GRANT REGISTER DATABASE TO vpc1; Creating a Virtual Private Catalog This section assumes that the virtual private catalog owner has been given the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER database role. Also, the base recovery catalog owner used the GRANT command to give the virtual private catalog owner access to metadata in the base recovery catalog. To create a virtual private catalog: 1. Start RMAN and connect to the recovery catalog database as the virtual private catalog owner (not the base recovery catalog owner). The following example connects to the recovery catalog as vpc1: % rman RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG vpc1@catdb; 2. Create the virtual private catalog. The following command creates the virtual private catalog: RMAN> CREATE VIRTUAL CATALOG; 3. If you intend to use a 10.2 or earlier release of RMAN with this virtual private catalog, then execute the following PL/SQL procedure (where base_catalog_owner is the database user who owns the base recovery catalog): SQL> EXECUTE base_catalog_owner.DBMS_RCVCAT.CREATE_VIRTUAL_CATALOG; Revoking Privileges from a Virtual Private Catalog Owner This section assumes that you have created a virtual private catalog. Assume that two databases are registered in the base recovery catalog: prod1 and prod2. As owner of the base recovery catalog, you have granted the vpc1 user access privileges to prod1. You have also granted this user the right to register databases in his virtual private catalog. Now you want to revoke privileges from vpc1. To revoke privileges from a virtual private catalog owner: 1. Start RMAN and connect to the recovery catalog database as the recovery catalog owner (not the virtual private catalog owner). The following example connects to the recovery catalog as catowner: % rman RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG catowner@catdb; 2. Revoke specified privileges from the virtual private catalog owner. The following command revokes access to the metadata for prod1 from virtual private catalog owner vpc1: REVOKE CATALOG FOR DATABASE prod1 FROM vpc1;
- 263. Protecting the Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-13 You can also specify a DBID rather than a database name. The catalog vpc1 retains all other granted catalog privileges. You can also revoke the privilege to register new target databases in the recovery catalog. For example: REVOKE REGISTER DATABASE FROM vpc1; Dropping a Virtual Private Catalog This section assumes that you have created a virtual private catalog and now want to drop it. When you drop a virtual private catalog, you do not remove the base recovery catalog itself, but only drop the synonyms and views that refer to the base recovery catalog. To drop a virtual private catalog: 1. Start RMAN and connect to the recovery catalog database as the virtual private catalog owner (not the base recovery catalog owner). The following example connects to the recovery catalog as user vpc1: % rman RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG vpc1@catdb; 2. Drop the catalog. If you are using an Oracle Database 11g or later RMAN executable, then drop the virtual private catalog with the DROP CATALOG command: RMAN> DROP CATALOG; If you are using an Oracle Database 10g or earlier RMAN executable, then you cannot use the DROP CATALOG command. Instead, connect SQL*Plus to the catalog database as the virtual private catalog user, then execute the following PL/SQL procedure (where base_catalog_owner is the database user who owns the base recovery catalog): SQL> EXECUTE base_catalog_owner.DBMS_RCVCAT.DELETE_VIRTUAL_CATALOG; Protecting the Recovery Catalog Include the recovery catalog database in your backup and recovery strategy. If you do not back up the recovery catalog and a disk failure occurs that destroys the recovery catalog database, then you may lose the metadata in the catalog. Without the recovery catalog contents, recovery of your other databases is likely to be more difficult. Backing Up the Recovery Catalog A single recovery catalog can store metadata for multiple target databases. Consequently, loss of the recovery catalog can be disastrous. You should back up the recovery catalog frequently. This section provides general guidelines for developing a strategy for protecting the recovery catalog. Backing Up the Recovery Catalog Frequently The recovery catalog database is a database like any other, and is also a key part of your backup and recovery strategy. Protect the recovery catalog as you would protect
- 264. Protecting the Recovery Catalog 13-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide any other part of your database, by backing it up. The backup strategy for your recovery catalog database should be part of your overall backup and recovery strategy. Back up the recovery catalog with the same frequency that you back up a target database. For example, if you make a weekly whole database backup of a target database, then back up the recovery catalog after the backup of the target database. This backup of the recovery catalog can help you in a disaster recovery scenario. Even if you must restore the recovery catalog database with a control file autobackup, you can use the full record of backups in your restored recovery catalog database to restore the target database. Choosing the Appropriate Technique for Physical Backups When backing up the recovery catalog database, you can use RMAN to make the backups. As illustrated in Figure 13–1, start RMAN with the NOCATALOG option so that the repository for RMAN is the control file in the catalog database. Figure 13–1 Using the Control File as the Repository for Backups of the Recovery Catalog Follow these guidelines when developing an RMAN backup strategy for the recovery catalog database: ■ Run the recovery catalog database in ARCHIVELOG mode so that you can do point-in-time recovery if needed. ■ Set the retention policy to a REDUNDANCY value greater than 1. ■ Back up the database to two separate media (for example, disk and tape). ■ Run BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG at regular intervals, to a media manager if available, or just to disk. ■ Do not use another recovery catalog as the repository for the backups. ■ Configure the control file autobackup feature to ON. Catalog databaseTarget database Store metadata about backups of target catalog Back up using RMAN Control file Control file autobackup Back up using RMAN Target database Store metadata about backups of catalog
- 265. Protecting the Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-15 With this strategy, the control file autobackup feature ensures that the recovery catalog database can always be recovered, so long as the control file autobackup is available. Separating the Recovery Catalog from the Target Database A recovery catalog is only effective when separated from the data that it is designed to protect. Thus, you should never store a recovery catalog containing the RMAN repository for a database in the same database as the target database. Also, do not store the catalog database on the same disks as the target database. To illustrate why data separation is advised, assume that you store the catalog for database prod1 in prod1. If prod1 suffers a total media failure, and if the recovery catalog for prod1 is also stored in prod1, then if you lose the database you also lose the recovery catalog. At this point the only option is to restore an autobackup of the control file for prod1 and use it to restore and recover the database without the benefit of any information stored in the recovery catalog. Exporting the Recovery Catalog Data for Logical Backups Logical backups of the RMAN recovery catalog created with the Data Pump Export utility can be a useful supplement for physical backups. If a recovery catalog database is damaged, you can use Data Pump Import to quickly reimport the exported recovery catalog data into another database and rebuild the catalog. Recovering the Recovery Catalog Restoring and recovering the recovery catalog database is much like restoring and recovering any other database with RMAN. You can restore the control file and server parameter file for the recovery catalog database from an autobackup, then restore and perform complete recovery on the rest of the database. If you are in a situation where you are using multiple recovery catalogs, then you can also use another recovery catalog to record metadata about backups of this recovery catalog database. If recovery of the recovery catalog database through the normal Oracle recovery procedures is not possible, then you must re-create the catalog. Examples of this worst-case scenario include: ■ A recovery catalog database that has never been backed up ■ A recovery catalog database that has been backed up, but cannot be recovered because the data file backups or archived logs are not available You have the following options for partially re-creating the contents of the missing recovery catalog: ■ Use the RESYNC CATALOG command to update the recovery catalog with any RMAN repository information from the control file of the target database or a control file copy. Any metadata from control file records that aged out of the control file is lost. ■ Issue CATALOG START WITH... commands to recatalog any available backups. To minimize the likelihood of this worst-case scenario, your backup strategy should at least include backing up the recovery catalog. This technique is described in "Backing Up the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-13. See Also: "Performing Disaster Recovery" on page 20-8 for more information for recovery with a control file autobackup
- 266. Managing Stored Scripts 13-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Managing Stored Scripts As explained in "About Stored Scripts" on page 13-16, you can store scripts in the recovery catalog. This section explains how to create and manage stored scripts. About Stored Scripts You can use a stored script as an alternative to a command file for managing frequently used sequences of RMAN commands. The script is stored in the recovery catalog rather than on the file system. Stored scripts can be local or global. A local script is associated with the target database to which RMAN is connected when the script is created, and can only be executed when you are connected to that target database. A global stored script can be run against any database registered in the recovery catalog, if the RMAN client is connected to the recovery catalog and a target database. The commands allowable within the brackets of the CREATE SCRIPT command are the same commands supported within a RUN block. Any command that is legal within a RUN command is permitted in the stored script. The following commands are not legal within stored scripts: RUN, @, and @@. When specifying a script name, RMAN permits but generally does not require that you use quotes around the name of a stored script. If the name begins with a digit or is an RMAN reserved word, however, then you must put quotes around the name to use it as a stored script name. Consider avoiding stored script names that begin with nonalphabetic characters or that are the same as RMAN reserved words. Consider using a naming convention to avoid confusion between global and local stored scripts. For the EXECUTE SCRIPT, DELETE SCRIPT and PRINT SCRIPT commands, if the script name passed as an argument is not the name of a script defined for the connected target instance, then RMAN looks for a global script by the same name. For example, if the global script global_backup is in the recovery catalog, but no local stored script global_backup is defined for the target database, then the following command deletes the global script: DELETE SCRIPT global_backup; To use commands related to stored scripts, even global scripts, you must be connected to both a recovery catalog and a target database instance. Creating Stored Scripts You can use the CREATE SCRIPT command to create a stored script. If GLOBAL is specified, then a global script with this name must not exist in the recovery catalog. If GLOBAL is not specified, then a local script must not exist with the same name for the same target database. You can also use the REPLACE SCRIPT to create a script or update an existing script. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for information about the CATALOG command ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for information about the CROSSCHECK command
- 267. Managing Stored Scripts Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-17 To create a stored script: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the CREATE SCRIPT command. The following example illustrates creation of a local script: CREATE SCRIPT full_backup { BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; DELETE OBSOLETE; } For a global script, the syntax is similar: CREATE GLOBAL SCRIPT global_full_backup { BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; DELETE OBSOLETE; } Optionally, you can provide a COMMENT with descriptive information: CREATE GLOBAL SCRIPT global_full_backup COMMENT 'use only with ARCHIVELOG mode databases' { BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; DELETE OBSOLETE; } You can also create a script by reading its contents from a text file. The file must begin with a left brace ({) character, contain a series of commands valid within a RUN block, and end with a right brace (}) character. Otherwise, a syntax error is signalled, just as if the commands were entered at the keyboard. CREATE SCRIPT full_backup FROM FILE '/tmp/my_script_file.txt'; 3. Examine the output. If no errors are displayed, then RMAN successfully created the script and stored in the recovery catalog. Replacing Stored Scripts To update stored scripts, use the REPLACE SCRIPT command. If you are replacing a local script, then you must be connected to the target database that you connected to when you created the script. If the script does not exist, then RMAN creates it. To replace a stored script: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Execute REPLACE SCRIPT. This following example updates the script full_backup with new contents: REPLACE SCRIPT full_backup { BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for the list of RMAN reserved words
- 268. Managing Stored Scripts 13-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide } You can update global scripts by specifying the GLOBAL keyword as follows: REPLACE GLOBAL SCRIPT global_full_backup COMMENT 'A script for full backup to be used with any database' { BACKUP AS BACKUPSET DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; } As with CREATE SCRIPT, you can update a local or global stored script from a text file with the following form of the command: REPLACE GLOBAL SCRIPT global_full_backup FROM FILE '/tmp/my_script_file.txt'; Executing Stored Scripts Use the EXECUTE SCRIPT command to run a stored script. If GLOBAL is specified, then a global script with this name must exist in the recovery catalog; otherwise, RMAN returns error RMAN-06004. If GLOBAL is not specified, then RMAN searches for a local stored script defined for the current target database. If no local script with this name is found, then RMAN searches for a global script by the same name and executes it if one is found. To execute a stored script: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. If needed, use SHOW to examine your configured channels. Your script uses the automatic channels configured at the time you execute the script. Use ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands in the script if you must override the configured channels. Because of the RUN block, if an RMAN command in the script fails, subsequent RMAN commands in the script do not execute. 3. Run EXECUTE SCRIPT. This command requires a RUN block, as shown in the following example: RUN { EXECUTE SCRIPT full_backup; } The preceding command invokes a local script if one exists with the name specified. If no local script is found, but there is a global script with the name specified, then RMAN executes the global script. You can also use EXECUTE GLOBAL SCRIPT to control which script is invoked if a local and a global script have the same name. If there is no local script called global_full_backup, the following two commands have the same effect: RUN { EXECUTE GLOBAL SCRIPT global_full_backup; } RUN { See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for REPLACE SCRIPT command syntax
- 269. Managing Stored Scripts Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-19 EXECUTE SCRIPT global_full_backup; } Creating and Executing Dynamic Stored Scripts You can specify substitution variables in the CREATE SCRIPT command. When you start RMAN on the command line, the USING clause specifies one or more values for use in substitution variables in a command file. As in SQL*Plus, &1 indicates where to place the first value, &2 indicates where to place the second value, and so on. To create and use a dynamic stored script: 1. Create a command file that contains a CREATE SCRIPT statement with substitution variables for values that must be dynamically updated. The following example uses substitution variables for the name of the tape set, for a string in the FORMAT specification, and for the name of the restore point. CREATE SCRIPT quarterly { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=&1)'; BACKUP TAG &2 FORMAT '/disk2/bck/&1%U.bck' KEEP FOREVER RESTORE POINT &3 DATABASE; } 2. Connect RMAN to a target database (which must be mounted or open) and recovery catalog, specifying the initial values for the recovery catalog script. For example, enter the following command: % rman TARGET / CATALOG rman@catdb USING arc_backup bck0906 FY06Q3 A recovery catalog is required for KEEP FOREVER, but is not required for any other KEEP option. 3. Run the command file created in the first step to create the stored script. For example, run the /tmp/catscript.rman command file as follows: RMAN> @/tmp/catscript.rman This step creates but does not execute the stored script. 4. Every quarter, execute the stored script, passing values for the substitution variables. The following example executes the recovery catalog script named quarterly. The example specifies arc_backup as the name of the media family (set of tapes), bck1206 as part of the FORMAT string and FY06Q4 as the name of the restore point. RUN { EXECUTE SCRIPT quarterly See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for EXECUTE SCRIPT command syntax
- 270. Managing Stored Scripts 13-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide USING arc_backup bck1206 FY06Q4; } Printing Stored Scripts The PRINT SCRIPT command displays a stored script or writes it out to a file. To print stored scripts: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. 2. Run the PRINT SCRIPT command as follows: PRINT SCRIPT full_backup; To send the contents of a script to a file, use this form of the command: PRINT SCRIPT full_backup TO FILE '/tmp/my_script_file.txt'; For global scripts, the analogous syntax would be as follows: PRINT GLOBAL SCRIPT global_full_backup; PRINT GLOBAL SCRIPT global_full_backup TO FILE '/tmp/my_script_file.txt'; Listing Stored Script Names Use the LIST ... SCRIPT NAMES command to display the names of scripts defined in the recovery catalog. LIST GLOBAL SCRIPT NAMES and LIST ALL SCRIPT NAMES are the only commands that work when RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog without connecting to a target instance; the other forms of the LIST ... SCRIPT NAMES command require a recovery catalog connection. To list stored script names: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. 2. Run the LIST ... SCRIPT NAMES command. For example, run the following command to list the names of all global and local scripts that can be executed for the currently connected target database: LIST SCRIPT NAMES; The following example lists only global script names: LIST GLOBAL SCRIPT NAMES; To list the names of all scripts stored in the current recovery catalog, including global scripts and local scripts for all target databases registered in the recovery catalog, use the following form of the command: LIST ALL SCRIPT NAMES; See Also: "Making Database Backups for Long-Term Storage" on page 9-23 See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for PRINT SCRIPT command syntax
- 271. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-21 For each script listed, the output indicates which target database the script is defined for (or whether a script is global). Deleting Stored Scripts Use the DELETE GLOBAL SCRIPT command to delete a stored script from the recovery catalog. To delete a stored script: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. 2. Enter the DELETE SCRIPT command. If you use DELETE SCRIPT without GLOBAL, and there is no stored script for the target database with the specified name, then RMAN looks for a global stored script by the specified name and deletes the global script if it exists. For example, suppose you enter the following command: DELETE SCRIPT 'global_full_backup'; In this case, RMAN looks for a script global_full_backup defined for the connected target database, and if it did not find one, it searches the global scripts for a script called global_full_backup and delete that script. To delete a global stored script, use DELETE GLOBAL SCRIPT: DELETE GLOBAL SCRIPT 'global_full_backup'; Executing a Stored Script at RMAN Startup To run the RMAN client and start a stored script in the recovery catalog on startup, use the SCRIPT argument when starting the RMAN client. For example, you could enter the following command to execute script /tmp/fbkp.cmd: % rman TARGET / CATALOG rman@catdb SCRIPT '/tmp/fbkp.cmd'; You must connect to a recovery catalog, which contains the stored script, and target database, to which the script applies, when starting the RMAN client. If local and global stored scripts are defined with the same name, then RMAN always executes the local script. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog This section describes various management and maintenance tasks. This section contains the following topics: ■ About Recovery Catalog Maintenance ■ Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for LIST SCRIPT NAMES command syntax and output format See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for DELETE SCRIPT command syntax See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for full RMAN client command line syntax
- 272. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog 13-22 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ Updating the Recovery Catalog After Changing a DB_UNIQUE_NAME ■ Unregistering a Target Database from the Recovery Catalog ■ Resetting the Database Incarnation in the Recovery Catalog ■ Upgrading the Recovery Catalog ■ Importing and Moving a Recovery Catalog About Recovery Catalog Maintenance After you have created a recovery catalog and registered your target databases, you must maintain this catalog. For example, you must run the RMAN maintenance commands, which are explained in Chapter 12, "Maintaining RMAN Backups and Repository Records", to update backup records and to delete backups that are no longer needed. You must perform this type of maintenance regardless of whether you use RMAN with a recovery catalog. Other types of maintenance, such as upgrading a recovery catalog schema, are specific to use of RMAN with a recovery catalog. If you use a recovery catalog in a Data Guard environment, then special considerations apply for backups and database files recorded in the catalog. See "RMAN File Management in a Data Guard Environment" on page 3-8 for an explanation of when backups are accessible to RMAN and how RMAN maintenance commands work with accessible backups. Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog When RMAN performs a resynchronization, it compares the recovery catalog to either the current or backup control file of the target database and updates the catalog with metadata that is missing or changed. Most RMAN commands perform a resynchronization automatically when the target control file is mounted and the catalog is available. In a Data Guard environment, RMAN can perform a reverse resynchronization to update a database control file with metadata from the catalog. About Resynchronization of the Recovery Catalog Resynchronization of the recovery catalog ensures that the metadata that RMAN obtains from the control file stays current. Resynchronizations can be full or partial. In a partial resynchronization, RMAN reads the current control file of the target database to update changed metadata about new backups, new archived redo logs, and so on. RMAN does not resynchronize metadata about the database physical schema. In a full resynchronization, RMAN updates all changed records, including those for the database schema. RMAN performs a full resynchronization after structural changes to database (adding or dropping database files, creating new incarnation, and so on) or after changes to the RMAN persistent configuration. RMAN creates a snapshot control file, which is a temporary backup control file, when it performs a full resynchronization. The database ensures that only one RMAN session accesses a snapshot control file at any point in time. RMAN creates the snapshot control file in an operating system-specific location on the target database host. You can specify the name and location of the snapshot control file, as explained in "Configuring the Snapshot Control File Location" on page 6-12. This snapshot control file ensures that RMAN has a consistent view of the control file. Because the control file is intended for short-term use, it is not registered in the
- 273. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-23 catalog. RMAN records the control file checkpoint in the recovery catalog to indicate the currency of the catalog. Recovery Catalog Resynchronization in a Data Guard Environment RMAN only automatically resynchronizes the recovery catalog with a database when connected to this database as TARGET. Thus, RMAN does not automatically resynchronize every database in a Data Guard environment when connected as TARGET to one database in the environment. You can use the RESYNC CATALOG FROM DB_UNIQUE_NAME command to manually resynchronize the recovery catalog with a database in the Data Guard environment. For an example of a manual resynchronization, assume that RMAN is connected as TARGET to production database prod, and that you have used CONFIGURE to create a configuration for dgprod3. If you run RESYNC CATALOG FROM DB_UNIQUE_NAME dgprod3, then RMAN resynchronizes the recovery catalog with the dgprod3 control file. In this case RMAN performs both a normal resynchronization, in which metadata flows from the dgprod3 control file to the catalog, and a reverse resynchronization. In a reverse resynchronization, RMAN uses the persistent configurations in the recovery catalog to update the dgprod3 control file. Deciding When to Resynchronize the Recovery Catalog RMAN automatically resynchronizes the recovery catalog when RMAN is connected to a target database and recovery catalog and you have executed RMAN commands. Thus, you should not need to manually run the RESYNC CATALOG command very often. The following sections describe situations requiring a manual catalog resynchronization. Resynchronizing After the Recovery Catalog is Unavailable If the recovery catalog is unavailable when you issue RMAN commands that cause a partial resynchronization, then open the catalog database later and resynchronize it manually with the RESYNC CATALOG command. For example, the target database may be in New York while the recovery catalog database is in Japan. You may not want to make daily backups of the target database in CATALOG mode, to avoid depending on the availability of a geographically distant database. In such a case you could connect to the catalog as often as feasible and run the RESYNC CATALOG command. Resynchronizing in ARCHIVELOG Mode When You Back Up Infrequently Assume that a target database runs in ARCHIVELOG mode. Also assume that you do the following: ■ Back up the database infrequently (for example, hundreds of redo logs are archived between database backups) ■ Generate a high number of log switches every day (for example, 1000 switches between catalog resynchronizations) In this case, you may want to manually resynchronize the recovery catalog regularly because the recovery catalog is not updated automatically when a redo log switch occurs or when a redo log is archived. The database stores metadata about redo log switches and archived redo logs only in the control file. You must periodically resynchronize to propagate this information into the recovery catalog. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for more information about the RESYNC command See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration
- 274. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog 13-24 Backup and Recovery User's Guide How frequently you must resynchronize the recovery catalog depends on the rate at which the database archives redo logs. The cost of the operation is proportional to the number of records in the control file that have been inserted or changed since the previous resynchronization. If no records have been inserted or changed, then the cost of resynchronization is very low; if many records have been inserted or changed, then the resynchronization is more time-consuming. Resynchronizing After Configuring a Standby Database You can create or change an RMAN configuration for a standby database even when not connected to this database as TARGET. You perform this task with the CONFIGURE DB_UNIQUE_NAME or CONFIGURE ... FOR DB_UNIQUE_NAME command. As explained in "Manually Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-25, you can resynchronize the standby database manually to update the control file of the standby database. Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog Before Control File Records Age Out Your goal is to ensure that the metadata in the recovery catalog is current. Because the recovery catalog obtains its metadata from the target control file, the currency of the data in the catalog depends on the currency of the data in the control file. You must make sure that the backup metadata in the control file is recorded in the catalog before it is overwritten with new records. The CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME initialization parameter determines the minimum number of days that records are retained in the control file before they are candidates for being overwritten. Thus, you must ensure that you resynchronize the recovery catalog with the control file records before these records are erased. You should perform either of the following actions at intervals less than the CONTROL_ FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME setting: ■ Make a backup, thereby performing an implicit resynchronization of the recovery catalog ■ Manually resynchronize the recovery catalog with the RESYNC CATALOG command Make sure that CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME is longer than the interval between backups or resynchronizations. Otherwise, control file records could be reused before they are propagated to the recovery catalog. An extra week is a safe margin in most circumstances. One problem can arise if the control file becomes too large. The size of the target database control file grows depending on the number of: ■ Backups that you perform ■ Archived redo logs that the database generates ■ Days that this information is stored in the control file If the control file grows so large that it can no longer expand because it has reached either the maximum number of blocks or the maximum number of records, then the database may overwrite the oldest records even if their age is less than the CONTROL_ FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME setting. In this case, the database writes a message to the alert log. If you discover that this situation occurs frequently, then reducing the value Caution: Never set CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME to 0. If you do, then backup records may be overwritten in the control file before RMAN can add them to the catalog.
- 275. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-25 of CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME and increase the frequency of resynchronizations. Manually Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog Use RESYNC CATALOG to force a full resynchronization of the recovery catalog with a target database control file. You can specify a database unique name with RESYNC FROM DB_UNIQUE_NAME or ALL, depending on whether you want to resynchronize a specific database or all databases in the Data Guard environment. Typically, you would perform this operation after you have run the CONFIGURE command for a standby database, but have not yet connected to this standby database. 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. 2. Mount or open the target database: STARTUP MOUNT; 3. Resynchronize the recovery catalog. Run the RESYNC CATALOG command at the RMAN prompt as follows: RESYNC CATALOG; The following example resynchronizes the control file of standby1: RESYNC CATALOG FROM DB_UNIQUE_NAME standby1; The following variation resynchronizes the control files for all databases in the Data Guard environment: RESYNC CATALOG FROM DB_UNIQUE_NAME ALL; Updating the Recovery Catalog After Changing a DB_UNIQUE_NAME You may decide to change the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of a database in a Data Guard environment. In this case, you can run the CHANGE DB_UNIQUE_NAME command to associate the metadata stored in recovery catalog for the old DB_UNIQUE_NAME to the new DB_UNIQUE_NAME. The CHANGE DB_UNIQUE_NAME command does not actually change the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of the database itself. Instead, it updates the catalog metadata for the database whose unique name has been or will be changed. The following procedure assumes that the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of the primary database is prodny, and that you have changed the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of a standby database See Also: ■ Oracle Database Reference for more information about the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME parameter ■ Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more detailed information on other aspects of control file management ■ "Preventing the Loss of Control File Records" on page 12-5 to learn how to monitor the overwriting of control file records See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RESYNC CATALOG command syntax ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to configure the RMAN environment for use with a standby database
- 276. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog 13-26 Backup and Recovery User's Guide from prodsf1 to prodsf2. You can use the same procedure after changing the DB_ UNIQUE_NAME of a primary database, except in Step 1 connect RMAN as TARGET to a standby database instead of a primary database. To update the recovery catalog after a DB_UNIQUE_NAME is changed: 1. Connect RMAN to the primary database as TARGET and also to the recovery catalog. For example, enter the following commands: % rman RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG catowner@catdb recovery catalog database Password: password connected to recovery catalog database RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS@prodny target database Password: password connected to target database: PRODNY (DBID=39525561) 2. List the DB_UNQUE_NAME values known to the recovery catalog. Run the following LIST command: RMAN> LIST DB_UNIQUE_NAME OF DATABASE; 3. Change the DB_UNIQUE_NAME in the RMAN metadata. The following example changes the database unique name from standby database prodsf1 to prodsf2: RMAN> CHANGE DB_UNIQUE_NAME FROM prodsf1 TO prodsf2; Unregistering a Target Database from the Recovery Catalog You can use the UNREGISTER DATABASE command to unregister a database from the recovery catalog. When a database is unregistered from the recovery catalog, all RMAN repository records in the recovery catalog are lost. The database can be registered again, but the recovery catalog records for that database are then based on the contents of the control file at the time of reregistration. Records older than the CONTROLFILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME setting in the target database control file are lost. Stored scripts, which are not stored in the control file, are also lost. Unregistering a Target Database When Not in a Data Guard Environment This scenario assumes that you are not using the recovery catalog to store metadata for primary and standby databases. To unregister a database: 1. Start RMAN and connect as TARGET to the database to unregister. Also connect to the recovery catalog. It is not necessary to connect to the target database, but if you do not, then you must specify the name of the target database in the UNREGISTER command. If multiple databases have the same name in the recovery catalog, then you must create a RUN block around the command and use SET DBID to set the DBID for the database. 2. Make a note of the DBID as displayed by RMAN at startup.
- 277. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-27 For example, RMAN outputs a line of the following form when it connects to a target database that is open: connected to target database: PROD (DBID=39525561) 3. As a precaution, it may be useful to list all of the backups recorded in the recovery catalog using LIST BACKUP SUMMARY and LIST COPY SUMMARY. This way, you can recatalog backups not known to the control file if you later decide to reregister the database. 4. If your intention is to actually delete all backups of the database completely, then run DELETE statements to delete all existing backups. Do not delete all backups if your intention is only to remove the database from the recovery catalog and rely on the control file to store the RMAN metadata for this database. The following commands illustrate how to delete backups: DELETE BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt; DELETE BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK; DELETE COPY; RMAN lists the backups that it intends to delete and prompts for confirmation before deleting them. 5. Run the UNREGISTER DATABASE command. For example: UNREGISTER DATABASE; RMAN displays the database name and DBID, and prompts you for a confirmation: database name is "RDBMS" and DBID is 931696259 Do you really want to unregister the database (enter YES or NO)? yes When the process is complete, RMAN outputs the following message: database unregistered from the recovery catalog Unregistering a Standby Database The UNREGISTER command supports a DB_UNIQUE_NAME clause for use in a Data Guard environment. You can use this clause to remove metadata for a specific database. The recovery catalog associates a backup with a particular database. When you unregister a database, RMAN updates the database name for these backup files to null. Thus, the backups are still recorded but have no owner. You can execute the CHANGE ... RESET DB_UNIQUE_NAME command to associate ownership of the currently ownerless backups to a different database. If you specify INCLUDING BACKUPS on the UNREGISTER command, then RMAN removes the backup metadata for the unregistered database as well. In this scenario, assume that primary database lnx3 has an associated standby database standby. You want to unregister the standby database. To unregister a standby database: 1. Start RMAN and connect as TARGET to the primary database. Also, connect RMAN to a recovery catalog. For example, enter the following commands:
- 278. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog 13-28 Backup and Recovery User's Guide % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS@lnx3 target database Password: password connected to target database: LNX3 (DBID=781317675) RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG rman@catdb 2. List the database unique names. For example, execute the LIST DB_UNIQUE_NAME command as follows: RMAN> LIST DB_UNIQUE_NAME OF DATABASE; List of Databases DB Key DB Name DB ID Database Role Db_unique_name ------- ------- ----------------- --------------- ------------------ 1 LNX3 781317675 STANDBY STANDBY 1 LNX3 781317675 PRIMARY LNX3 3. Run the UNREGISTER DB_UNIQUE_NAME command. For example, execute the UNREGISTER command as follows to unregister database standby: RMAN> UNREGISTER DB_UNIQUE_NAME standby; RMAN displays the database name and DBID, and prompts you for a confirmation: database db_unique_name is "standby", db_name is "LNX3" and DBID is 781317675 Do you really want to unregister the database (enter YES or NO)? yes When the process is complete, RMAN outputs the following message: database with db_unique_name standby unregistered from the recovery catalog Resetting the Database Incarnation in the Recovery Catalog As explained in "Database Incarnations" on page 14-5, you create an incarnation of the database when you open the database with the RESETLOGS option. You can access a record of the new incarnation in the V$DATABASE_INCARNATION view. If you open the database with the RESETLOGS option, then a new database incarnation record is automatically created in the recovery catalog. The database also implicitly and automatically issues a RESET DATABASE command, which specifies that this new incarnation of the database is the current incarnation. All subsequent backups and log archiving done by the target database is associated with the new database incarnation. Whenever RMAN returns the database to an SCN before the current RESETLOGS SCN, using either RESTORE and RECOVER or FLASHBACK DATABASE, the RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION command is required. However, you do not need to execute RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION explicitly in the following scenarios because RMAN runs the command implicitly with Flashback. ■ You use FLASHBACK DATABASE to rewind the database to an SCN in the direct ancestral path (see "Database Incarnations" on page 14-5 for an explanation of the direct ancestral path). ■ You use FLASHBACK DATABASE to rewind the database to a restore point.
- 279. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-29 The following procedure explains how to reset the database incarnation when recovering through a RESETLOGS. To reset the recovery catalog to an older incarnation for media recovery: 1. Determine the incarnation key of the desired database incarnation. Obtain the incarnation key value by issuing a LIST command: LIST INCARNATION OF DATABASE trgt; List of Database Incarnations DB Key Inc Key DB Name DB ID STATUS Reset SCN Reset Time ------- ------- ------- ------ ------- ---------- ---------- 1 2 TRGT 1224038686 PARENT 1 02-JUL-02 1 582 TRGT 1224038686 CURRENT 59727 10-JUL-02 The incarnation key is listed in the Inc Key column. 2. Reset the database to the old incarnation. For example, enter: RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION 2; 3. If the control file of the previous incarnation is available and mounted, then skip to Step 6 of this procedure. Otherwise, shut down the database and start it without mounting. For example: SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE STARTUP NOMOUNT 4. Restore a control file from the old incarnation. If you have a control file tagged, then specify the tag. Otherwise, you can run the SET UNTIL command, as in this example: RUN { SET UNTIL 'SYSDATE-45'; RESTORE CONTROLFILE; # only if current control file is not available } 5. Mount the restored control file: ALTER DATABASE MOUNT; 6. Run RESTORE and RECOVER commands to restore and recover the database files from the prior incarnation, then open the database with the RESETLOGS option. For example, enter: RESTORE DATABASE; RECOVER DATABASE; ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; Upgrading the Recovery Catalog This section explains what a recovery catalog upgrade is and when you must do it. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RESET DATABASE syntax, Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for LIST syntax
- 280. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog 13-30 Backup and Recovery User's Guide About Recovery Catalog Upgrades If you use a version of the recovery catalog schema that is older than that required by the RMAN client, then you must upgrade it. The compatibility matrix in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference explains which schema versions are compatible with which versions of RMAN. For example, you must upgrade the catalog if you use an Oracle Database 11g RMAN client with a release 10.2 version of the recovery catalog schema. The Oracle Database 10gR1 version of the recovery catalog schema requires the CREATE TYPE privilege. If you created the recovery catalog owner in a release before 10gR1, and if you granted the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role when it did not include the CREATE TYPE privilege, then you must grant CREATE TYPE to this user explicitly before upgrading the catalog. You receive an error when issuing UPGRADE CATALOG if the recovery catalog is at a version greater than that required by the RMAN client. RMAN permits the UPGRADE CATALOG command to be run if the recovery catalog is current and does not require upgrading, however, so that you can re-create packages at any time if necessary. Check the message log for error messages generated during the upgrade. Special Considerations in a Data Guard Environment Assume that you upgrade the recovery catalog schema to Oracle Database 11g in a Data Guard environment. When RMAN connects to a standby database, it automatically registers the new database information and resynchronizes to obtain the file names from the control file. During the resynchronization, RMAN associates the names with the target database name. Because the recovery catalog contains historical metadata, some records in the catalog are not known to the control file. For example, the standby1 control file does not know about all backups made on primary1. The database unique names for these old records is null. As explained in "About Recovery Catalog Maintenance" on page 13-22, you can use CROSSCHECK to fix these records. Determining the Schema Version of the Recovery Catalog The schema version of the recovery catalog is stored in the recovery catalog itself. The information is important in case you maintain multiple databases of different versions in your production system, and must determine whether the catalog schema version is usable with a specific target database version. To determine the schema version of the recovery catalog: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the recovery catalog database as the catalog owner. 2. Query the RCVER table to obtain the schema version, as in the following example (sample output included): SELECT * FROM rcver; VERSION ------------ 10.02.00 If the table displays multiple rows, then the highest version in the RCVER table is the current catalog schema version. The table stores only the major version numbers and not the patch numbers. For example, assume that the rcver table displays the following rows: VERSION ------------
- 281. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-31 08.01.07 09.00.01 10.02.00 These rows indicate that the catalog was created with a release 8.1.7 executable, then upgraded to release 9.0.1, and finally upgraded to release 10.2.0. The current version of the catalog schema is 10.2.0. Using the UPGRADE CATALOG Command This scenario assumes that you are upgrading a recovery catalog schema to the current version. To upgrade the recovery catalog: 1. If you created the recovery catalog owner in a release before 10gR1, and if the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role did not include the CREATE TYPE privilege, then grant it. For example, start SQL*Plus and connect to the recovery catalog database with administrator privileges. You can then execute the following GRANT statement: SQL> GRANT CREATE TYPE TO rman; SQL> EXIT; 2. Start RMAN and connect RMAN to the recovery catalog database. 3. Run the UPGRADE CATALOG command: RMAN> UPGRADE CATALOG; recovery catalog owner is rman enter UPGRADE CATALOG command again to confirm catalog upgrade 4. Run the UPDATE CATALOG command again to confirm: RMAN> UPGRADE CATALOG; recovery catalog upgraded to version 11.01.00 DBMS_RCVMAN package upgraded to version 11.01.00 DBMS_RCVCAT package upgraded to version 11.01.00 Importing and Moving a Recovery Catalog You can use the IMPORT CATALOG command in RMAN to merge one recovery catalog schema into another. This command is useful in the following situations: See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for the complete set of compatibility rules governing the RMAN environment See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for UPGRADE CATALOG command syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for information about recovery catalog compatibility ■ Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for complete compatibility and migration information
- 282. Maintaining a Recovery Catalog 13-32 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ You have multiple recovery catalog schemas for different versions of the database. You want to merge all existing schemas into one without losing backup metadata. ■ You want to move a recovery catalog from one database to another database. About Recovery Catalog Imports When using IMPORT CATALOG, the source catalog schema is the catalog schema that you want to import into a different schema. The destination catalog schema is the catalog schema into which you intend to import the source catalog schema. By default, RMAN imports metadata from all target databases registered in the source recovery catalog. Optionally, you can specify the list of database IDs to be imported from the source catalog schema. By default, RMAN unregisters the imported databases from the source catalog schema after a successful import. To indicate whether the unregister was successful, RMAN prints messages before and after unregistering the merged databases. You can also specify the NO UNREGISTER option to specify that the databases should not be unregistered from the destination catalog. A stored script is either global or local. It is possible for global scripts, but not local scripts, to have name conflicts during import because the destination schema contains the script name. In this case, RMAN renames the global script name to COPY OF script_name. For example, RMAN renames bp_cmd to COPY OF bp_cmd. If the renamed global script is still not unique, then RMAN renames it to COPY(2) OF script_name. If this script name also exists, then RMAN renames the script to COPY(3) OF script_name. RMAN continues the COPY(n) OF pattern until the script is uniquely named. Prerequisites for Importing a Recovery Catalog As shown in compatibility matrix in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference, a target database, recovery catalog database, and recovery catalog schema can be at different database versions. The recommended practice is to import all existing recovery catalogs into a single recovery catalog at the latest version of the recovery catalog schema. "Determining the Schema Version of the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-30 explains how to determine the catalog version. Check the compatibility matrix to determine which schema versions are compatible in your environment. When using IMPORT CATALOG, the version of the source recovery catalog schema must be equal to the current version of the RMAN executable with which you run the command. If the source catalog schema is a lower version, then upgrade it to the current version before importing the schema. "Upgrading the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-29 explains how to upgrade. If the source recovery catalog schema is a higher version, then retry the import with a higher version RMAN executable. No database can be registered in both the source and destination catalog schema. If a database is currently registered in both catalog schemas, then unregister the database from source catalog schema before performing the import. Importing a Recovery Catalog When importing one recovery catalog into another, no connection to a target database is necessary. RMAN only needs connectivity to the source and destination catalogs. In this example, database srcdb contains a 10.2 recovery catalog schema owned by user 102cat, while database destdb contains an 11.1 recovery catalog schema owned by user 111cat.
- 283. Dropping a Recovery Catalog Managing a Recovery Catalog 13-33 To import a recovery catalog: 1. Start RMAN and connect as CATALOG to the destination recovery catalog schema. For example: % rman RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG 111cat@destdb; 2. Import the source recovery catalog schema, specifying the connection string for the source catalog. For example, enter the following command to import the catalog owned by 102cat on database srcdb: IMPORT CATALOG 102cat@srcdb; A variation is to import metadata for a subset of the target databases registered in the source catalog. You can specify the databases by DBID or database name, as shown in the following examples: IMPORT CATALOG 102cat@srcdb DBID=1423241, 1423242; IMPORT CATALOG 102cat@srcdb DB_NAME=prod3, prod4; 3. Optionally, connect to a target database to check that the metadata was successfully imported. For example, the following commands connect to database prod1 as TARGET and list all backups for this database: LIST BACKUP; Moving a Recovery Catalog The procedure for moving a recovery catalog from one database to another is a variation of the procedure for importing a catalog. In this scenario, the source database is the database containing the existing recovery catalog, while the destination database will contain the moved recovery catalog. To move a recovery catalog from the source database to the destination database: 1. Create a recovery catalog on the destination database, but do not register any databases in the new catalog. "Creating a Recovery Catalog" on page 13-4 explains how to perform this task. 2. Import the source catalog into the catalog created in the preceding step. "Importing a Recovery Catalog" on page 13-32 explains how to perform this task. Dropping a Recovery Catalog The DROP CATALOG command removes those objects that were created by the CREATE CATALOG command. If the user who owns the recovery catalog also owns objects that were not created by CREATE CATALOG, then the DROP CATALOG command does not remove these objects. If you drop a recovery catalog, and if you have no backups of the recovery catalog schema, then backups of all target databases registered in this catalog may become unusable. However, the control file of every target database still retains a record of recent backups of this database. The DROP CATALOG command is not appropriate for unregistering a single database from a recovery catalog that has multiple target databases registered. Dropping the recovery catalog deletes the recovery catalog record of backups for all target databases registered in the catalog.
- 284. Dropping a Recovery Catalog 13-34 Backup and Recovery User's Guide To drop a recovery catalog schema: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. Connect to the recovery catalog as the owner of the catalog schema to be dropped. The following example connects to a recovery catalog as user catowner: % rman TARGET / CATALOG catowner@catdb 2. Run the DROP CATALOG command: DROP CATALOG; recovery catalog owner is catowner enter DROP CATALOG command again to confirm catalog removal 3. Run the DROP CATALOG command again to confirm: DROP CATALOG; Note: Even after you drop the recovery catalog, the control file still contains records about the backups. To purge RMAN repository records from the control file, re-create the control file. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for DROP CATALOG command syntax, and "Unregistering a Target Database from the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-26 to learn how to unregister a database from the catalog
- 285. Part V Part V Diagnosing and Responding to Failures The following chapters describe how to diagnose and respond to media failures and data corruptions. This part of the book contains the following chapters: ■ Chapter 14, "RMAN Data Repair Concepts" ■ Chapter 15, "Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor" ■ Chapter 16, "Validating Database Files and Backups" ■ Chapter 17, "Performing Complete Database Recovery" ■ Chapter 18, "Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery" ■ Chapter 19, "Performing Block Media Recovery" ■ Chapter 20, "Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios" ■ Chapter 21, "Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR)"
- 287. 14 RMAN Data Repair Concepts 14-1 14 RMAN Data Repair Concepts This chapter describes the general concepts that you must understand to perform data repair. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of RMAN Data Repair ■ RMAN Restore Operations ■ RMAN Media Recovery Overview of RMAN Data Repair As explained in "Data Protection" on page 1-2, a principal purpose of a backup and recovery strategy is data protection. The key to an effective, efficient strategy is to understand the basic options of data repair. Problems Requiring Data Repair While several problems can halt the normal operation of an Oracle database or affect database I/O operations, only the following typically require DBA intervention and data repair: user errors, application errors, and media failures. User Errors User errors occur when, either due to an error in application logic or a manual mistake, data in your database is changed or deleted incorrectly. For example, a user logs in to the wrong database and drops a database table. User errors are estimated to be the greatest single cause of database downtime. Application Errors Sometimes a software malfunction can corrupt data blocks. In a physical corruption, which is also called a media corruption, the database does not recognize the block. Media Failures A media failure occurs when a problem external to the database prevents it from reading from or writing to a file during normal operations. Typical media failures include disk failures and the deletion of database files. Media failures are less common than user or application errors, but your backup and recovery strategy should prepare for them.
- 288. Overview of RMAN Data Repair 14-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN Data Repair Techniques Depending on the situations you anticipate, consider incorporating each of the following options into your strategy for responding to data loss, and then set up your database to make these options possible. ■ Data Recovery Advisor This Oracle Database infrastructure can diagnose failures, advise you on how to respond to them, and repair the failures automatically. "Overview of Data Recovery Advisor" on page 15-1 explains the basic concepts of Data Recovery Advisor. ■ logical flashback features This subset of Oracle Flashback Technology features enables you to view or rewind individual database objects or transactions to a past time. These features do not require use of RMAN. "Overview of Oracle Flashback Technology and Database Point-in-Time Recovery" on page 18-1 explains the basic concepts of the logical flashback features and provides pointers where appropriate. ■ Oracle Flashback Database Flashback Database is a block-level recovery mechanism that is similar to media recovery, but is generally faster and does not require a backup to be restored. You can return your whole database to a previous state without restoring old copies of your data files from backup, as long as you have enabled flashback logging in advance. You must have a fast recovery area configured for logging for flashback database or guaranteed restore points. "Basic Concepts of Point-in-Time Recovery and Flashback Features" on page 18-1 explains the basic concepts of Flashback Database. ■ data file media recovery This form of media recovery enables you to restore data file backups and apply archived redo logs or incremental backups to recover lost changes. You can either recover a whole database or a subset of the database. Data file media recovery is the most general-purpose form of recovery and can protect against both physical and logical failures. The general concepts of data file media recovery are explained in this chapter. The techniques are described in Chapter 17, "Performing Complete Database Recovery" and "Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery" on page 18-15. ■ block media recovery This form of media recovery enables you to recover individual blocks within a data file rather than the whole data file. "Overview of Block Media Recovery" on page 19-1 explains the basic concepts of block media recovery. ■ tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR) This is a specialized form of point-in-time recovery in which you recover one or more tablespaces to a time earlier than the rest of the database. "Overview of RMAN TSPITR" on page 21-1 explains the basic concepts of TSPITR.
- 289. RMAN Restore Operations RMAN Data Repair Concepts 14-3 In general, the concepts required to use the preceding repair techniques are explained along with the techniques. This chapter explains concepts that are common to several RMAN data repair solutions. RMAN Restore Operations In an RMAN restore operation, you select files to be restored and then run the RESTORE command. Typically, you restore files in preparation for media recovery. You can restore the following types of files: ■ Database (all datafiles) ■ Tablespaces ■ Control files ■ Archived redo logs ■ Server parameter files You can specify either the default location or a new location for restored datafiles and control files. If you restore to the default location, then RMAN overwrites any files with the same name that currently exist in this location. Alternatively, you can use the SET NEWNAME command to specify new locations for restored datafiles. You can then run a SWITCH command to update the control file to indicate that the restored files in their new locations are now the current datafiles. Backup Selection RMAN uses the records of available backup sets or image copies in the RMAN repository to select the best available backups for use in the restore operation. The most recent backup available, or the most recent backup satisfying any UNTIL clause specified in the RESTORE command, is the preferred choice. If two backups are from the same point in time, then RMAN prefers image copies over backup sets because RMAN can restore more quickly from image copies than from backup sets (especially those stored on tape). All specifications of the RESTORE command must be satisfied before RMAN restores a backup. Unless limited by the DEVICE TYPE clause, the RESTORE command searches for backups on all device types of configured channels. If no available backup in the repository satisfies all the specified criteria, then RMAN returns an error indicating that the file cannot be restored. If you use only manually allocated channels, then a backup job may fail if there is no usable backup on the media for which you allocated channels. Configuring automatic channels makes it more likely that RMAN can find and restore a backup that satisfies the specified criteria. If backup sets are protected with backup encryption, then RMAN automatically decrypts them when their contents are restored. Transparently encrypted backups require no intervention to restore, as long as the Oracle wallet is open and available. Password-encrypted backups require the correct password to be entered before they can be restored. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RESTORE syntax and prerequisites, Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SET NEWNAME syntax, and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SWITCH syntax See Also: "Configuring Advanced Channel Options" on page 6-1
- 290. RMAN Restore Operations 14-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Restore Failover RMAN automatically uses restore failover to skip corrupted or inaccessible backups and look for usable backups. When a backup is not found, or contains corrupt data, RMAN automatically looks for another backup from which to restore the desired files. RMAN generates messages that indicate the type of failover that it is performing. For example, when RMAN fails over to another backup of the same file, it generates a message similar to the following: failover to piece handle=/u01/backup/db_1 tag=BACKUP_031009 If no usable copies are available, then RMAN searches for previous backups. The message generated is similar to the following example: ORA-19624: operation failed, retry possible ORA-19505: failed to identify file "/u01/backup/db_1" ORA-27037: unable to obtain file status SVR4 Error: 2: No such file or directory Additional information: 3 failover to previous backup RMAN performs restore failover repeatedly until it has exhausted all possible backups. If all of the backups are unusable or no backups exists, then RMAN attempts to re-create the data file. Restore failover is also used when there are errors restoring archived redo logs during RECOVER, RECOVER ... BLOCK, and FLASHBACK DATABASE commands. Restore Optimization RMAN uses restore optimization to avoid restoring data files from backup when possible. If a data file is present in the correct location and its header contains the expected information, then RMAN does not restore the data file from backup. You can use the FORCE option of the RESTORE command to override this behavior and restore the requested files unconditionally. Restore optimization is particularly useful when an operation that restores several data files is interrupted. For example, assume that a full database restore encounters a power failure after all except one data file have been restored. If you run the same RESTORE command again, then RMAN only restores the single data file that was not restored during the previous attempt. Restore optimization is also used when duplicating a database. If a data file at the duplicate is in the correct place with the correct header contents, then the data file is not duplicated. Unlike RESTORE, DUPLICATE does not support a FORCE option. To force RMAN to duplicate a data file that is skipped due to restore optimization, delete the data file from the duplicate before running the DUPLICATE command. Note: Restore optimization only checks the data file header. It does not the scan the data file body for corrupted blocks. See Also: Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide for description of RESTORE behavior in an Oracle RAC configuration
- 291. RMAN Media Recovery RMAN Data Repair Concepts 14-5 RMAN Media Recovery In media recovery, RMAN applies changes to restored data to roll forward this data in time. RMAN can perform either data file media recovery or block media recovery. Data file media recovery is the application of redo logs or incremental backups to a restored data file to update it to the current time or some other specified time. As explained in Oracle Database Concepts, you can use RMAN to perform complete recovery, database point-in-time recovery (DBPITR), or tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR). You can use the RESTORE command to restore backups of lost and damaged data files or control files and the RECOVER command to perform media recovery. Block media recovery is the recovery of individual data blocks rather than entire data files. This section explains data file media recovery only. Block media recovery, which is a specialized form of media recovery, is explained in "Overview of Block Media Recovery" on page 19-1. Selection of Incremental Backups and Archived Redo Logs RMAN automates media recovery. RMAN automatically restores and applies both incremental backups and archived redo logs in whatever combination is most efficient. If the RMAN repository indicates that no copies of a required log sequence number exist on disk, then it automatically restores the required log from backup. By default, RMAN restores the archived logs to the fast recovery area, if an archiving destination is set to USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST. Otherwise, RMAN restores the logs to the first local archiving destination specified in the initialization parameter file. Database Incarnations A database incarnation is created whenever you open the database with the RESETLOGS option. After complete recovery, you can resume normal operations without an OPEN RESETLOGS. After a DBPITR or recovery with a backup control file, however, you must open the database with the RESETLOGS option, thereby creating a new incarnation of the database. The database requires a new incarnation to avoid confusion when two different redo streams have the same SCNs, but occurred at different times. If you apply the wrong redo to your database, then you corrupt it. The existence of multiple incarnations of a single database determines how RMAN treats backups that are not in the current incarnation path. Usually, the current database incarnation is the correct one to use. Nevertheless, in some cases resetting the database to a previous incarnation is the best approach. For example, you may be dissatisfied with the results of a point-in-time recovery that you have performed and want to return the database to a time before the RESETLOGS. An understanding of database incarnations is helpful to prepare for such situations. OPEN RESETLOGS Operations When you open the database with the RESETLOGS option, the database performs the following actions: ■ Archives the current online redo logs (if they are accessible) and then erases the contents of the online redo logs and resets the log sequence number to 1. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for CROSSCHECK syntax
- 292. RMAN Media Recovery 14-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide For example, if the current online redo logs are sequence 1000 and 1001 when you open RESETLOGS, then the database archives logs 1000 and 1001 and then resets the online redo logs to sequence 1 and 2. ■ Creates the online redo log files if they do not currently exist. ■ Initializes redo thread records and online redo log records in the control file to the beginning of the new database incarnation. More specifically, the database sets the redo thread status to closed, sets the current thread sequence in the redo thread records to 1, sets the thread checkpoint of each redo thread to the beginning of log sequence 1, chooses one redo log from each thread and initialize its sequence to 1, and so on. ■ Updates all current datafiles and online redo logs and all subsequent archived redo logs with a new RESETLOGS SCN and time stamp. Because the database does not apply an archived redo log to a data file unless the RESETLOGS SCN and time stamps match, the RESETLOGS requirement prevents you from corrupting data files with archived logs that are not from direct parent incarnations of the current incarnation. The relationship among incarnations is explained more fully in the following section. In previous releases, it was recommended that you back up the database immediately after the OPEN RESETLOGS. Because you can now easily recover a pre-RESETLOGS backup like any other backup, making a new database backup is optional. To perform recovery through RESETLOGS you must have all archived logs generated after the most recent backup and at least one control file (current, backup, or created). Relationship Among Database Incarnations Database incarnations can stand in the following relationships to each other: ■ The current incarnation is the one in which the database is currently operating. ■ The incarnation from which the current incarnation branched following an OPEN RESETLOGS operation is the parent incarnation of the current incarnation. ■ The parent of the parent incarnation is an ancestor incarnation. Any parent of an ancestor incarnation is also an ancestor of the current incarnation. ■ The direct ancestral path of the current incarnation begins with the earliest incarnation and includes only the branches to an ancestor of the current incarnation, the parent incarnation, or the current incarnation. An incarnation number is used to uniquely tag and identify a stream of redo. Figure 14–1 illustrates a database that goes through several incarnations, each with a different incarnation number.
- 293. RMAN Media Recovery RMAN Data Repair Concepts 14-7 Figure 14–1 Database Incarnation History Incarnation 1 of the database starts at SCN 1 and continues through SCN 1000 to SCN 2000. Suppose that at SCN 2000 in incarnation 1, you perform a point-in-time recovery back to SCN 1000, and then open the database with the RESETLOGS option. Incarnation 2 now begins at SCN 1000 and continues to SCN 3000. In this example, incarnation 1 is the parent of incarnation 2. Suppose that at SCN 3000 in incarnation 2, you perform a point-in-time recovery to SCN 2000 and open the database with the RESETLOGS option. In this case, incarnation 2 is the parent of incarnation 3. Incarnation 1 is an ancestor of incarnation 3. When DBPITR or Flashback Database has occurred in database, an SCN can refer to multiple points in time, depending on which incarnation is current. For example, SCN 1500 in Figure 14–1 could refer to an SCN in incarnation 1 or 2. You can use the RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION command to specify that SCNs are to be interpreted in the frame of reference of a specific database incarnation. The RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION command is required when you use FLASHBACK, RESTORE, or RECOVER to return to an SCN in a noncurrent database incarnation. However, RMAN executes the RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION command implicitly with Flashback, as explained in "Resetting the Database Incarnation in the Recovery Catalog" on page 13-28. Orphaned Backups When a database goes through multiple incarnations, some backups can become orphaned backups. Orphaned backups are backups created during incarnations of the database that are not in the direct ancestral path. See Also: ■ "Recovering the Database to an Ancestor Incarnation" on page 18-20 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for details about the RESET DATABASE command Incarnation 3 Incarnation 1 Incarnation 2 SCN 1 SCN 1000 SCN 2000 SCN 3000 SCN 3000 SCN 2000 Direct Ancestral Path
- 294. RMAN Media Recovery 14-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Assume the scenario shown in Figure 14–1 on page 14-7. If incarnation 3 is the current incarnation, then the following backups are orphaned: ■ All backups from incarnation 1 after SCN 1000 ■ All backups from incarnation 2 after SCN 2000 In contrast, the following backups are not orphaned because they are in the direct ancestral path: ■ All backups from incarnation 1 before SCN 1000 ■ All backups from incarnation 2 before SCN 2000 ■ All backups from incarnation 3 You can use orphaned backups when you intend to restore the database to an SCN not in the direct ancestral path. RMAN can restore backups from parent and ancestor incarnations and recover to the current time, even across OPEN RESETLOGS operations, as long as a continuous path of archived logs exists from the earliest backups to the point to which you want to recover. If you restore a control file from an incarnation in which the changes represented in the backups had not been abandoned, then RMAN can also restore and recover orphaned backups.
- 295. 15 Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-1 15 Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor This chapter explains how to use the Data Recovery Advisor tool in RMAN to diagnose and repair database failures. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of Data Recovery Advisor ■ Listing Failures ■ Checking for Block Corruptions by Validating the Database ■ Determining Repair Options ■ Repairing Failures ■ Changing Failure Status and Priority Overview of Data Recovery Advisor This section explains the purpose and basic concepts of the Data Recovery Advisor. Purpose of Data Recovery Advisor Data Recovery Advisor is an Oracle Database tool that automatically diagnoses data failures, determines and presents appropriate repair options, and executes repairs at the user's request. In this context, a data failure is a corruption or loss of persistent data on disk. By providing a centralized tool for automated data repair, Data Recovery Advisor improves the manageability and reliability of an Oracle database and thus helps reduce the MTTR. Diagnosing a data failure and devising an optimal strategy for repair requires a high degree of training and experience. Data Recovery Advisor provides the following advantages over traditional repair techniques: ■ Data Recovery Advisor can potentially detect, analyze, and repair data failures before a database process discovers the corruption and signals an error. Early warnings help limit damage caused by corruption. ■ Manually assessing symptoms of data failures and correlating them into a problem statement can be complex, error-prone, and time-consuming. Data Recovery Advisor automatically diagnoses failures, assesses their impact, and reports these findings to the user. ■ Traditionally, users must manually determine repair options along with the repair impact. If multiple failures are present, then users must determine the right sequence of repair execution and try to consolidate repairs. In contrast, Data
- 296. Overview of Data Recovery Advisor 15-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Recovery Advisor automatically determines the best repair options and runs checks to make sure that these options are feasible in your environment. ■ Execution of a data repair can be complex and error-prone. If you choose an automated repair option, then Data Recovery Advisor executes the repair and verifies its success. Basic Concepts of Data Recovery Advisor This section explains the concepts that you must familiarize yourself with before using Data Recovery Advisor. User Interfaces to Data Recovery Advisor Data Recovery Advisor has both a command-line and GUI interface. The GUI interface is available in Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control and Grid Control. You can click Perform Recovery in the Availability tab of the Database Home page to navigate to the page shown in Figure 15–1. Figure 15–1 Data Recovery Advisor In the RMAN command-line interface, the Data Recovery Advisor commands are LIST FAILURE, ADVISE FAILURE, REPAIR FAILURE, and CHANGE FAILURE. A failure is detected either automatically by the database or through a manual check such as the VALIDATE command. You can use the LIST FAILURE command to view problem statements for failures and the effect of these failures on database operations. Each failure is uniquely identified by a failure number. In the same RMAN session, you can then use the ADVISE FAILURE command to view repair options, which typically include both automated and manual options. After executing ADVISE FAILURE, you can either repair failures manually or run the REPAIR FAILURE command to repair the failures automatically. A repair is an action that fixes one or more failures. Examples of repairs include block media recovery, data file media recovery, and Oracle Flashback Database. When you choose an automated repair option, Data Recovery Advisor verifies the repair success and closes the relevant repaired failures. See Also: Oracle Database 2 Day DBA to learn how to perform backup and recovery with Enterprise Manager
- 297. Overview of Data Recovery Advisor Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-3 Data Integrity Checks A checker is a diagnostic operation or procedure registered with the Health Monitor to assess the health of the database or its components. The health assessment is known as a data integrity check and can be invoked reactively or proactively. Failures are normally detected reactively. A database operation involving corrupted data results in an error, which automatically invokes a data integrity check that searches the database for failures related to the error. If failures are diagnosed, then they are recorded in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR), which is a directory structure stored outside of the database. You can use Data Recovery Advisor to generate repair advice and repair failures only after failures have been detected by the database and stored in ADR. You can also invoke a data integrity check proactively. You can execute the check through the Health Monitor, which detects and stores failures in the same way as when the checks are invoked reactively. You can also check for block corruption with the VALIDATE and BACKUP VALIDATE commands, as explained in "Checking for Block Corruptions by Validating the Database" on page 15-8. Failures A failure is a persistent data corruption that is detected by a data integrity check. A failure can manifest itself as observable symptoms such as error messages and alerts, but a failure is different from a symptom because it represents a diagnosed problem. After a problem is diagnosed by the database as a failure, you can obtain information about the failure and potentially repair it with Data Recovery Advisor. Because failure information is not stored in the database itself, the database does not need to be open or mounted for you to access it. You can view failures when the database is started in NOMOUNT mode. Thus, the availability of the control file and recovery catalog does not affect the ability to view detected failures, although it may affect the feasibility of some repairs. Data Recovery Advisor can diagnose failures such as the following: ■ Components such as datafiles and control files that are not accessible because they do not exist, do not have the correct access permissions, have been taken offline, and so on ■ Physical corruptions such as block checksum failures and invalid block header field values ■ Inconsistencies such as a data file that is older than other database files ■ I/O failures such as hardware errors, operating system driver failures, and exceeding operating system resource limits (for example, the number of open files) The Data Recovery Advisor may detect or handle some logical corruptions. In general, corruptions of this type require help from Oracle Support Services. Failure Status Every failure has a failure status: OPEN or CLOSED. The status of a failure is OPEN until the appropriate repair action is invoked. The status changes to CLOSED after the failure is repaired. Every time you execute LIST FAILURE, Data Recovery Advisor revalidates all open failures and closes failures that no longer exist. Thus, if you fixed some failures as part of a separate procedure, or if the failures were transient problems that disappeared by themselves, running LIST FAILURE automatically closes them. See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn how to use the Health Monitor
- 298. Overview of Data Recovery Advisor 15-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide You can use CHANGE FAILURE to change the status of an open failure to CLOSED if you have fixed it manually. However, it makes sense to use CHANGE FAILURE ... CLOSED only if for some reason the failure was not closed automatically. If a failure still exists when you use CHANGE to close it manually, then Data Recover Advisor re-creates it with a different failure ID when the appropriate data integrity check is executed. Failure Priority Every failure has a failure priority: CRITICAL, HIGH, or LOW. Data Recovery Advisor only assigns CRITICAL or HIGH priority to diagnosed failures. Failures with CRITICAL priority require immediate attention because they make the whole database unavailable. For example, a disk containing a current control file may fail. Failures with HIGH priority make a database partly unavailable or unrecoverable and usually have to be repaired quickly. Examples include block corruptions and missing archived redo logs. If a failure was assigned a HIGH priority, but the failure has little impact on database availability and recoverability, then you can downgrade the priority to LOW. A LOW priority indicates that a failure can be ignored until more important failures are fixed. By default LIST FAILURE displays only failures with CRITICAL and HIGH priority. You can use the CHANGE command to change the status for LOW and HIGH failures, but you cannot change the status of CRITICAL failures. The main reason for changing a priority to LOW is to reduce the LIST FAILURE output. If a failure cannot be revalidated at this time (for example, because of another failure), then LIST FAILURE shows the failure as open. Failure Grouping For clarity, Data Recovery Advisor groups related failures together. For example, if 20 different blocks in a file are corrupted, then these failures are grouped under a single parent failure. By default, Data Recovery Advisor lists information about the group of failures, although you can specify the DETAIL option to list information about the individual subfailures. A subfailure has the same format as a failure. You can get advice on a subfailure and repair it separately or in combination with any other failure. Manual Actions and Automatic Repair Options The ADVISE FAILURE command can present both manual and automatic repair options. Data Recovery Advisor categorizes manual actions as either mandatory or optional. In some cases, the only possible actions are manual. Suppose that no backups exist for a lost control file. In this case, the manual action is to execute the CREATE CONTROLFILE statement. Data Recovery Advisor presents this manual action as mandatory because no automatic repair is available. In contrast, suppose that RMAN backups exist for a missing data file. In this case, the REPAIR FAILURE command can perform the repair automatically by restoring and recovering the data file. An optional manual action would be to restore the data file if it was unintentionally renamed or moved. Data Recovery Advisor suggests optional manual actions if they might prevent a more extreme form of repair such as data file restore and recovery. In contrast to manual actions, automated repairs can be performed by Data Recovery Advisor. The ADVISE FAILURE command presents an option ID for each automated repair option and summarizes the action. Data Recovery Advisor performs feasibility checks before recommending an automated repair. For example, Data Recovery Advisor checks that all backups and archived redo logs needed for media recovery are present and consistent. Data
- 299. Overview of Data Recovery Advisor Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-5 Recovery Advisor may need specific backups and archived redo logs. If the files needed for recovery are not available, then recovery is not possible. Consolidated Repairs When possible, Data Recovery Advisor consolidates repairs to fix multiple failures into a single repair. A consolidated repair may contain multiple steps. Sometimes a consolidated repair is not possible, as when one failure prevents the creation of repairs for other failures. For example, the feasibility of a data file repair cannot be determined when the control file is missing. In such cases, Data Recovery Advisor generates a repair option for failures that can be repaired and prints a message stating that some selected failures cannot be repaired at this time. After executing the proposed repair, you can repeat the LIST, ADVISE, and REPAIR sequence to repair remaining failures. Repair Scripts Whenever Data Recovery Advisor generates an automated repair option, it creates a script that explains which commands RMAN intends to use to repair the failure. Data Recovery Advisor prints the location of this script, which is a text file residing on the operating system. Example 15–1 shows a sample repair script, which shows how Data Recovery Advisor plans to repair the loss of data file 27. Example 15–1 Sample Repair Script # restore and recover data file sql 'alter database datafile 27 offline'; restore datafile 27; recover datafile 27; sql 'alter database datafile 27 online'; If you do not want Data Recovery Advisor to automatically repair the failure, then you can copy the script, edit it, and execute it manually. Supported Database Configurations In the current release, Data Recovery Advisor only supports single-instance databases. Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) databases are not supported. If a data failure occurs that brings down all Oracle RAC instances, then you can mount the database in single-instance mode and use Data Recovery Advisor to detect and repair control file, SYSTEM data file, and data dictionary failures. You can also invoke data recovery checks proactively to test other database components for data failures. This approach does not detect data failures that are local to other cluster instances, for example, an inaccessible data file. In a Data Guard environment, Data Recovery Advisor cannot do the following: ■ Use files transferred from a physical standby database to repair failures on a primary database ■ Diagnose and repair failures on a standby database However, if the primary database is unavailable, then Data Recovery Advisor may recommend a failover to a standby database. After the failover you can repair the old primary database. If you are using Enterprise Manager Grid Control in a Data Guard Note: For performance reasons, Data Recovery Advisor does not exhaustively check every byte in every file. Thus, a feasible repair may still fail because of a corrupted backup or archived redo log file.
- 300. Listing Failures 15-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide configuration, then you can initiate a failover through the Data Recovery Advisor recommendations page. Basic Steps of Diagnosing and Repairing Failures The Data Recovery Advisor workflow begins when you either suspect or discover a failure. You can discover failures in many ways, including error messages, alerts, trace files, and failed data integrity checks. As explained in "Data Integrity Checks" on page 15-3, the database can automatically diagnose failures when errors occur. The basic process for responding to failures is to start an RMAN session and perform all of the following steps in the same session: 1. List failures by running the LIST FAILURE command. This task is explained in "Listing Failures" on page 15-6. 2. If you suspect that failures exist that have not been automatically diagnosed by the database, then run VALIDATE DATABASE to check for corrupt blocks and missing files. If VALIDATE detects a problem, then RMAN triggers execution of a failure assessment. If a failure is detected, then RMAN logs it into the Automated Diagnostic Repository, where is can be accessed by Data Recovery Advisor. This task is explained in "Checking for Block Corruptions by Validating the Database" on page 15-8. 3. Determine repair options by running the ADVISE FAILURE command. This task is explained in "Determining Repair Options" on page 15-10. 4. Choose a repair option. You can repair the failures manually or run the REPAIR FAILURE command to fix them automatically. This task is explained in "Repairing Failures" on page 15-12. 5. Return to the first step to confirm that all failures were repaired or determine which failures remain. Performing the steps for diagnosing and repairing failures in an order that is different from the one listed in this section may result in errors. If appropriate, you can use CHANGE FAILURE command at any time in the Data Recovery Advisor workflow to change the priority of a failure from LOW to HIGH or HIGH to LOW, or close a failure that has been fixed manually. This task is explained in "Changing Failure Status and Priority" on page 15-14. Listing Failures If you suspect or know that one or more database failures have occurred, then use LIST FAILURE to obtain information about them. You can list all or a subset of failures and restrict output in various ways. Failures are uniquely identified by failure numbers. These numbers are not consecutive, so gaps between failure numbers have no significance. The LIST FAILURE command does not execute data integrity checks to diagnose new failures; rather, it lists the results of previously executed assessments. Thus, repeatedly executing LIST FAILURE reveals new failures only if the database automatically See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to use RMAN in a Data Guard configuration
- 301. Listing Failures Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-7 diagnosed them in response to errors that occurred in between command executions. However, executing LIST FAILURE causes Data Recovery Advisor to revalidate all existing failures. If a user fixed failures manually, or if transient failures disappeared, then Data Recovery Advisor removes these failures from the LIST FAILURE output. If a failure cannot be revalidated at this moment (for example, because of another failure), LIST FAILURE shows the failure as open. Listing All Failures The easiest way to determine problems that your database is encountering is to use the LIST FAILURE command. To list all failures: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. The target database instance must be started. 2. Execute the LIST FAILURE command. The following example reports all failures known to Data Recovery Advisor (the output has been reformatted to fit on the page). RMAN> LIST FAILURE; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 142 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 One or more non-system datafiles are missing 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks In this example, RMAN reports two different failures: a group of missing data files and a data file with corrupt blocks. The output indicates the unique identifier for each failure (142 and 101), the priority, status, and detection time. 3. Optionally, execute LIST FAILURE ... DETAIL to list failures individually. As explained in "Failure Grouping" on page 15-4, Data Recovery Advisor consolidates failures when possible. Specify the DETAIL option to list failures individually. For example, if multiple block corruptions exist in a file, then specifying the DETAIL option would list each of the block corruptions. The following example lists detailed information about failure 101. RMAN> LIST FAILURE 101 DETAIL; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks List of child failures for parent failure ID 101 Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 104 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Block 56416 in datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' is media corrupt Impact: Object BLKTEST owned by SYS might be unavailable
- 302. Checking for Block Corruptions by Validating the Database 15-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 4. Proceed to "Determining Repair Options" on page 15-10 to determine how to repair the failures displayed by the LIST FAILURE command. Listing a Subset of Failures Besides providing more verbose output, LIST FAILURE also enables you to restrict output. For example, you can execute LIST FAILURE with the CRITICAL, HIGH, LOW, or CLOSED options to list only failures with a particular status or priority. You can also exclude specified failures from the output by specifying EXCLUDE FAILURE. To list a subset of failures: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. The target database instance must be started. 2. Execute LIST FAILURE with the desired options. The following examples illustrate some LIST FAILURE commands: LIST FAILURE LOW; LIST FAILURE CLOSED; LIST FAILURE EXCLUDE FAILURE 234234; Checking for Block Corruptions by Validating the Database As explained in "Data Integrity Checks" on page 15-3, the database invokes data integrity checks reactively when a user transaction is trying to access corrupted data. In some cases, latent failures can go undetected. For example, when a data block corruption error occurs, the database reactively execute a data integrity check that validates the block on which the error occurred and other blocks in its immediate vicinity. However, blocks outside of the vicinity may be corrupted. Also, corrupted blocks that are never read by the database are never detected by a reactive data integrity check. One effective way to execute a data integrity check proactively is to run the VALIDATE or BACKUP VALIDATE commands in RMAN. These commands can check datafiles and control files for physical and logical corruption. If RMAN discovers block corruptions, then it logs them into the Automatic Diagnostic Repository and creates one or more failures. You can then use Data Recovery Advisor to list information about the failures and repair them. To validate the database: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. The target database must be mounted. 2. Validate the desired database files. The following example uses VALIDATE DATABASE to check for physical and logical corruption in the whole database (partial sample output included). Because "Listing Failures" on page 15-6 indicates that some data files are missing, the SKIP INACCESSIBLE clause is specified. The output shows that the system01.dbf database file has one newly corrupt block (Blocks Failing) and no blocks previously marked corrupt by the database (Marked Corrupt). RMAN> VALIDATE CHECK LOGICAL SKIP INACCESSIBLE DATABASE; See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the LIST FAILURE command
- 303. Checking for Block Corruptions by Validating the Database Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-9 Starting validate at 23-APR-07 allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=103 device type=DISK could not access datafile 28 skipping inaccessible file 28 RMAN-06060: WARNING: skipping datafile compromises tablespace USERS recoverability RMAN-06060: WARNING: skipping datafile compromises tablespace USERS recoverability channel ORA_DISK_1: starting validation of datafile channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) for validation input datafile file number=00001 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf input datafile file number=00002 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/sysaux01.dbf input datafile file number=00022 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/undotbs01.dbf input datafile file number=00023 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/cwmlite01.dbf input datafile file number=00024 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/drsys01.dbf input datafile file number=00025 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/example01.dbf input datafile file number=00026 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/indx01.dbf input datafile file number=00027 name=/disk1/oradata/prod/tools01.dbf channel ORA_DISK_1: validation complete, elapsed time: 00:00:25 List of Datafiles ================= File Status Marked Corrupt Empty Blocks Blocks Examined High SCN ---- ------ -------------- ------------ --------------- ---------- 1 FAILED 0 3536 57600 637711 File Name: /disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf Block Type Blocks Failing Blocks Processed ---------- -------------- ---------------- Data 1 41876 Index 0 7721 Other 0 4467 . . . File Status Marked Corrupt Empty Blocks Blocks Examined High SCN ---- ------ -------------- ------------ --------------- ---------- 27 OK 0 1272 1280 400914 File Name: /disk1/oradata/prod/tools01.dbf Block Type Blocks Failing Blocks Processed ---------- -------------- ---------------- Data 0 0 Index 0 0 Other 0 8 validate found one or more corrupt blocks See trace file /disk1/oracle/log/diag/rdbms/prod/prod/trace/prod_ora_2596.trc for details channel ORA_DISK_1: starting validation of datafile channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) for validation including current control file for validation including current SPFILE in backup set channel ORA_DISK_1: validation complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01 List of Control File and SPFILE =============================== File Type Status Blocks Failing Blocks Examined ------------ ------ -------------- --------------- SPFILE OK 0 2 Control File OK 0 512 Finished validate at 23-APR-07
- 304. Determining Repair Options 15-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Determining Repair Options Use the ADVISE FAILURE command to display repair options after running LIST FAILURE in an RMAN session. This command prints a summary of the failures and implicitly closes all open failures that are repaired. Where appropriate, the ADVISE FAILURE command presents a list of manual and automated repair options. Manual options, which are categorized as either mandatory or optional, appear first. In some cases, an optional manual fix can avoid more extreme actions such as restoring and recovering datafiles. As a rule, use the repair technique that has the least effect on the database and the least possibility for error. Determining Repair Options for All Failures If one or more failures exist, then you should typically use LIST FAILURE to show information about the failures and then use ADVISE FAILURE in the same RMAN session to obtain a report of your repair options. To determine repair options for all failures: 1. List failures as described in "Listing All Failures" on page 15-7. 2. In the same RMAN session, execute ADVISE FAILURE. The following example requests repair options for all failures known to Data Recovery Advisor and includes sample output (reformatted to fit the page). RMAN> ADVISE FAILURE; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 142 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 One or more non-system datafiles are missing 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks analyzing automatic repair options; this may take some time using channel ORA_DISK_1 analyzing automatic repair options complete Mandatory Manual Actions ======================== no manual actions available Optional Manual Actions ======================= 1. If file /disk1/oradata/prod/users01.dbf was unintentionally renamed or moved, restore it See Also: ■ Chapter 16, "Validating Database Files and Backups" ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the VALIDATE command ■ Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn about how Oracle Database manages diagnostic data
- 305. Determining Repair Options Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-11 Automated Repair Options ======================== Option Repair Description ------ ------------------ 1 Restore and recover datafile 28; Perform block media recovery of block 56416 in file 1 Strategy: The repair includes complete media recovery with no data loss Repair script: /disk1/oracle/log/diag/rdbms/prod/prod/hm/reco_660500184.hm In the preceding example, ADVISE FAILURE reports two failures: a missing data file and a data file with corrupt blocks. The command does not list mandatory manual actions, but it suggests making sure that the missing data file was not accidentally renamed or removed. The automated repair option involves block media recovery and restoring and recovering the missing data file. ADVISE FAILURE lists the location of the repair script. The following variation of the same example shows the output when the RMAN backups or archived redo logs needed for the automated repair are not available. The command ADVISE FAILURE now shows mandatory manual actions. RMAN> ADVISE FAILURE; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 142 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 One or more non-system datafiles are missing 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks analyzing automatic repair options; this may take some time allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=103 device type=DISK analyzing automatic repair options complete Mandatory Manual Actions ======================== 1. If file /disk1/oradata/prod/users01.dbf was unintentionally renamed or moved, restore it 2. Contact Oracle Support Services if the preceding recommendations cannot be used, or if they do not fix the failures selected for repair Optional Manual Actions ======================= no manual actions available Automated Repair Options ======================== Option Repair Description ------ ------------------ 1 Perform block media recovery of block 56416 in file 1 Strategy: The repair includes complete media recovery with no data loss Repair script: /disk1/oracle/log/diag/rdbms/prod/prod/hm/reco_1863891774.hm 3. Proceed to "Repairing Failures" on page 15-12 to determine how to repair the failures shown in the LIST FAILURE output.
- 306. Repairing Failures 15-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Determining Repair Options for a Subset of Failures You can also request repair options for specific failures. You can specify failures by status (CRITICAL, HIGH, or LOW) or by failure number. You can also use EXCLUDE FAILURE to exclude one or more failures from the report. To determine repair options for a subset of failures: 1. List failures as described in "Listing All Failures" on page 15-7. 2. In the same RMAN session, execute ADVISE FAILURE with the desired options. The following example requests repair options for failure 101 only. RMAN> ADVISE FAILURE 101; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 1: '/disk1/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks analyzing automatic repair options; this may take some time using channel ORA_DISK_1 analyzing automatic repair options complete Mandatory Manual Actions ======================== no manual actions available Optional Manual Actions ======================= no manual actions available Automated Repair Options ======================== Option Repair Description ------ ------------------ 1 Perform block media recovery of block 56416 in file 1 Strategy: The repair includes complete media recovery with no data loss Repair script: /disk1/oracle/log/diag/rdbms/prod/prod/hm/reco_708819503.hm 3. Proceed to "Repairing Failures" on page 15-12 to determine how to repair the failures displayed by the LIST FAILURE command. Repairing Failures This section explains how to use Data Recovery Advisor to repair failures automatically. About Repairing Failures If ADVISE FAILURE suggests manual repairs, then try these first. If manual repairs are not possible, or if they do not repair all failures, then you can use REPAIR See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the ADVISE FAILURE command
- 307. Repairing Failures Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-13 FAILURE to automatically fix failures suggested in the most recent ADVISE FAILURE command in your current RMAN session. By default, REPAIR FAILURE prompts for confirmation before it begins executing. You can suppress the confirmation prompt by specifying the NOPROMPT option. After it starts executing, the command indicates the current phase of repair. Depending on the circumstances, RMAN may prompt for a response. After executing a repair, RMAN reevaluates all existing failures on the chance that they may have been fixed during this repair. Before performing a repair, it is typically advisable to preview it by specifying the PREVIEW option. RMAN does not make any repairs and generates a script with all repair actions and comments. If you do not specify a particular repair option, then RMAN uses the first repair option of the most recent ADVISE FAILURE command in the current session. By default the repair script is displayed to standard output. You can use the SPOOL command to write the script to an editable file. Repairing a Failure By default the script is displayed to standard output. You can use the SPOOL command to write the script to an editable file. To repair a failure: 1. List failures as described in "Listing All Failures" on page 15-7. 2. Display repair options as described in "Determining Repair Options" on page 15-10. 3. Optionally, execute REPAIR FAILURE PREVIEW. The following example previews the first repair options displayed by the previous ADVISE FAILURE command in the RMAN session. RMAN> REPAIR FAILURE PREVIEW; Strategy: The repair includes complete media recovery with no data loss Repair script: /disk1/oracle/log/diag/rdbms/prod/prod/hm/reco_475549922.hm contents of repair script: # restore and recover data file sql 'alter database datafile 28 offline'; restore datafile 28; recover datafile 28; sql 'alter database datafile 28 online'; # block media recovery recover datafile 1 block 56416; 4. Execute REPAIR FAILURE. The following repair restores and recovers one data file and performs block media recovery on one corrupt block. RMAN prompts for confirmation that it should perform the repair. The user-entered text is in bold. RMAN> REPAIR FAILURE; See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the REPAIR FAILURE command ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the SPOOL command
- 308. Changing Failure Status and Priority 15-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Strategy: The repair includes complete media recovery with no data loss Repair script: /disk1/oracle/log/diag/rdbms/prod/prod/hm/reco_475549922.hm contents of repair script: # restore and recover data file sql 'alter database datafile 28 offline'; restore datafile 28; recover datafile 28; sql 'alter database datafile 28 online'; # block media recovery recover datafile 1 block 56416; Do you really want to execute the above repair (enter YES or NO)? YES executing repair script sql statement: alter database datafile 28 offline Starting restore at 23-APR-07 using channel ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: starting datafile backup set restore channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) to restore from backup set channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring datafile 00028 to /disk1/oradata/prod/users01.dbf channel ORA_DISK_1: reading from backup piece /disk2/PROD/backupset/2007_04_ 18/o1_mf_nnndf_TAG20070418T182042_32fjzd3z_.bkp channel ORA_DISK_1: piece handle=/disk2/PROD/backupset/2007_04_18/o1_mf_nnndf_ TAG20070418T182042_32fjzd3z_.bkp tag=TAG20070418T182042 channel ORA_DISK_1: restored backup piece 1 channel ORA_DISK_1: restore complete, elapsed time: 00:00:03 Finished restore at 23-APR-07 Starting recover at 23-APR-07 using channel ORA_DISK_1 starting media recovery media recovery complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01 Finished recover at 23-APR-07 sql statement: alter database datafile 28 online Starting recover at 23-APR-07 using channel ORA_DISK_1 searching flashback logs for block images until SCN 429690 finished flashback log search, restored 1 blocks starting media recovery media recovery complete, elapsed time: 00:00:03 Finished recover at 23-APR-07 repair failure complete 5. Optionally, execute LIST FAILURE to confirm Changing Failure Status and Priority In some situations, you may want to use the CHANGE FAILURE command to alter the status or priority of a failure. For example, if a block corruption has HIGH priority, you may want to change it to LOW temporarily if the block is in a little-used tablespace.
- 309. Changing Failure Status and Priority Diagnosing and Repairing Failures with Data Recovery Advisor 15-15 If you repair a failure by a means other than the REPAIR FAILURE command, then Data Recovery Advisor closes it implicitly the next time you execute LIST FAILURE. For this reason, you do not normally need to execute the CHANGE FAILURE ... CLOSED command. You should need to use this command only if the automatic failure revalidation fails, but you believe the failure no longer exists. If you use CHANGE FAILURE to close a failure that still exists, then Data Recovery Advisor re-creates it with a different failure ID when the appropriate data integrity check is executed. Typically, you specify the failures by failure number. You can also change failures in bulk by specifying ALL, CRITICAL, HIGH, or LOW. You can change a failure to CLOSED or to PRIORITY HIGH or PRIORITY LOW. To change the status or priority of a failure: 1. List failures as described in "Listing All Failures" on page 15-7. The following example lists one failure involving corrupt data blocks. RMAN> LIST FAILURE; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 142 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 One or more non-system datafiles are missing 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 25: '/disk1/oradata/prod/example01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks 2. Execute CHANGE FAILURE with the desired options. The following example changes the priority of a block corruption failure from HIGH to LOW. RMAN> CHANGE FAILURE 101 PRIORITY LOW; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 101 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 25: '/disk1/oradata/prod/example01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks Do you really want to change the above failures (enter YES or NO)? YES changed 1 failures to LOW priority 3. Optionally, execute LIST FAILURE ALL to view the change. If you execute LIST FAILURE without ALL, then the command lists failures with LOW priority only if no CRITICAL or HIGH priority failures exist. RMAN> LIST FAILURE ALL; List of Database Failures ========================= Failure ID Priority Status Time Detected Summary ---------- -------- --------- ------------- ------- 142 HIGH OPEN 23-APR-07 One or more non-system datafiles are missing
- 310. Changing Failure Status and Priority 15-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 101 LOW OPEN 23-APR-07 Datafile 25: '/disk1/oradata/prod/example01.dbf' contains one or more corrupt blocks See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the CHANGE command
- 311. 16 Validating Database Files and Backups 16-1 16Validating Database Files and Backups This chapter explains how to check the integrity of database files and backups. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of RMAN Validation ■ Checking for Block Corruption with the VALIDATE Command ■ Validating Database Files with BACKUP VALIDATE ■ Validating Backups Before Restoring Them Overview of RMAN Validation This section explains the basic concepts and tasks involved in RMAN validation. Purpose of RMAN Validation The main purpose of RMAN validation is to check for corrupt blocks and missing files. You can also use RMAN to determine whether backups can be restored. You can use the following RMAN commands to perform validation: ■ VALIDATE ■ BACKUP ... VALIDATE ■ RESTORE ... VALIDATE Basic Concepts of RMAN Validation The database prevents operations that result in unusable backup files or corrupted restored datafiles. The database automatically does the following: ■ Blocks access to datafiles while they are being restored or recovered ■ Permits only one restore operation for each data file at a time ■ Ensures that incremental backups are applied in the correct order See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for VALIDATE syntax ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RESTORE ... VALIDATE syntax
- 312. Overview of RMAN Validation 16-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ Stores information in backup files to allow detection of corruption ■ Checks a block every time it is read or written in an attempt to report a corruption as soon as it has been detected Checksums and Corrupt Blocks A corrupt block is a block that has been changed so that it differs from what Oracle Database expects to find. Block corruptions can be caused by various failures including, but not limited to the following: ■ Faulty disks and disk controllers ■ Faulty memory ■ Oracle Database software defects DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM is a database initialization parameter that controls the writing of checksums for the blocks in datafiles and online redo log files in the database (not backups). If DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM is typical, then the database computes a checksum for each block during normal operations and stores it in the header of the block before writing it to disk. When the database reads the block from disk later, it recomputes the checksum and compares it to the stored value. If the values do not match, then the block is corrupt. By default, the BACKUP command computes a checksum for each block and stores it in the backup. The BACKUP command ignores the values of DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM because this initialization parameter applies to datafiles in the database, not backups. Physical and Logical Block Corruption In a physical corruption, which is also called a media corruption, the database does not recognize the block at all: the checksum is invalid, the block contains all zeros, or the header and footer of the block do not match. In a logical corruption, the contents of the block are logically inconsistent. Examples of logical corruption include corruption of a row piece or index entry. If RMAN detects logical corruption, then it logs the block in the alert log and server session trace file. By default, RMAN does not check for logical corruption. If you specify CHECK LOGICAL on the BACKUP command, however, then RMAN tests data and index blocks for logical corruption, such as corruption of a row piece or index entry, and log them in the alert log located in the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR). If you use RMAN with the following configuration when backing up or restoring files, then it detects all types of block corruption that are possible to detect: ■ In the initialization parameter file of a database, set DB_BLOCK_ CHECKSUM=typical so that the database calculates data file checksums automatically (not for backups, but for data files in use by the database) ■ Do not precede the BACKUP command with SET MAXCORRUPT so that RMAN does not tolerate any unmarked block corruptions. ■ In a BACKUP command, do not specify the NOCHECKSUM option so that RMAN calculates a checksum when writing backups Note: By default, the BACKUP command computes a checksum for each block and stores it in the backup. If you specify the NOCHECKSUM option, then RMAN does not perform a checksum of the blocks when creating the backup.
- 313. Overview of RMAN Validation Validating Database Files and Backups 16-3 ■ In BACKUP and RESTORE commands, specify the CHECK LOGICAL option so that RMAN checks for logical and physical corruption Limits for Corrupt Blocks in RMAN Backups You can use the SET MAXCORRUPT command to set the total number of unmarked corruptions permitted in a file for RMAN backups. The default is zero, meaning that RMAN does not tolerate unmarked corrupt blocks of any kind. If the MAXCORRUPT limit is exceeded when RMAN encounters an unmarked corrupt block during a backup, then RMAN terminates the backup. Otherwise, RMAN writes the newly detected corrupt block to the backup with a special header indicating that the block is marked corrupt. You can use the VALIDATE command to determine which blocks are already marked as corrupt and to find any previously unmarked corrupt blocks. Because RMAN allows previously marked corrupt blocks in a backup, and because RMAN can be instructed to allow previously unmarked corrupt blocks to be marked as corrupt in the backup (when MAXCORRUPT is used), it is possible to restore a data file that has several blocks marked as corrupt. If you backup this restored data file (assuming no new corruptions have happened), even without MAXCORRUPT setting, then the backup succeeds. This is because the previously marked corruptions do not stop RMAN from completing the backup. Detection of Block Corruption Oracle Database supports different techniques for detecting, repairing, and monitoring block corruption. The technique depends on whether the corruption is interblock corruption or intrablock corruption. In intrablock corruption, the corruption occurs within the block itself. This corruption can be either physical or logical. In an interblock corruption, the corruption occurs between blocks and can only be logical. For example, the V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view records intrablock corruptions, while the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR) tracks all types of corruptions. Table 16–1 summarizes how the database treats different types of block corruption. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SET MAXCORRUPT syntax Table 16–1 Detection, Repair, and Monitoring of Block Corruption Response Intrablock Corruption Interblock Corruption Detection All database utilities detect intrablock corruption, including RMAN (for example, the BACKUP command) and the DBVERIFY utility. If a database process can encounter the ORA-1578 error, then it can detect the corruption and monitor it. Only DBVERIFY and the ANALYZE statement detect interblock corruption. Tracking The V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view displays blocks marked corrupt by Oracle Database components such as RMAN commands, ANALYZE, dbv, SQL queries, and so on. Any process that encounters an intrablock corruption records the block corruption in this view and in ADR. The database monitors this type of block corruption in ADR.
- 314. Checking for Block Corruption with the VALIDATE Command 16-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Checking for Block Corruption with the VALIDATE Command You can use the VALIDATE command to manually check for physical and logical corruptions in database files. This command performs the same types of checks as BACKUP VALIDATE, but VALIDATE can check a larger selection of objects. For example, you can validate individual blocks with the VALIDATE DATAFILE ... BLOCK command. When validating whole files, RMAN checks every block of the input files. If the backup validation discovers previously unmarked corrupt blocks, then RMAN updates the V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view with rows describing the corruptions. Use VALIDATE BACKUPSET when you suspect that one or more backup pieces in a backup set are missing or have been damaged. This command checks every block in a backup set to ensure that the backup can be restored. If RMAN finds block corruption, then it issues an error and terminates the validation. The command VALIDATE BACKUPSET enables you to choose which backups to check, whereas the VALIDATE option of the RESTORE command lets RMAN choose. To use VALIDATE to check database files and backups: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Execute the VALIDATE command with the desired options. For example, to validate all datafiles and control files (and the server parameter file if one is in use), execute the following command at the RMAN prompt: RMAN> VALIDATE DATABASE; Alternatively, you can validate a particular backup set by using the form of the command shown in the following example (sample output included). RMAN> VALIDATE BACKUPSET 22; Starting validate at 17-AUG-06 using channel ORA_DISK_1 allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 Repair Repair techniques include block media recovery, restoring data files, recovering with incremental backups, and block newing. Block media recovery can repair physical corruptions, but not logical corruptions. Any RMAN command that fixes or detects that a block is repaired updates V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION. For example, RMAN updates the repository at end of successful block media recovery. If a BACKUP, RESTORE, or VALIDATE command detects that a block is no longer corrupted, then it removes the repaired block from the view. You must fix interblock corruption with manual techniques such as dropping an object, rebuilding an index, and so on. See Also: ■ Chapter 17, "Performing Complete Database Recovery" ■ Chapter 19, "Performing Block Media Recovery" ■ Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn about ADR Table 16–1 (Cont.) Detection, Repair, and Monitoring of Block Corruption Response Intrablock Corruption Interblock Corruption
- 315. Checking for Block Corruption with the VALIDATE Command Validating Database Files and Backups 16-5 channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: SID=89 device type=SBT_TAPE channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: Oracle Secure Backup channel ORA_DISK_1: starting validation of datafile backup set channel ORA_DISK_1: reading from backup piece /disk1/oracle/work/orcva/RDBMS/backupset/2007_08_16/o1_mf_nnndf_ TAG20070816T153034_2g774bt2_.bkp channel ORA_DISK_1: piece handle=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/RDBMS/backupset/2007_ 08_16/o1_mf_nnndf_TAG20070816T153034_2g774bt2_.bkp tag=TAG20070816T153034 channel ORA_DISK_1: restored backup piece 1 channel ORA_DISK_1: validation complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01 Finished validate at 17-AUG-06 The following example illustrates how you can check individual data blocks within a data file for corruption. RMAN> VALIDATE DATAFILE 1 BLOCK 10; Starting validate at 17-AUG-06 using channel ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: starting validation of datafile channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) for validation input datafile file number=00001 name=/disk1/oracle/dbs/tbs_01.f channel ORA_DISK_1: validation complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01 List of Datafiles ================= File Status Marked Corrupt Empty Blocks Blocks Examined High SCN ---- ------ -------------- ------------ --------------- ---------- 1 OK 0 2 127 481907 File Name: /disk1/oracle/dbs/tbs_01.f Block Type Blocks Failing Blocks Processed ---------- -------------- ---------------- Data 0 36 Index 0 31 Other 0 58 Finished validate at 17-AUG-06 Make Parallel the Validation of a Data File If you must validate a large data file, then RMAN can make the work parallel by dividing the file into sections and processing each file section in parallel. If multiple channels are configured or allocated, and if you want the channels to make parallel the validation, then specify the SECTION SIZE parameter of the VALIDATE command. If you specify a section size that is larger than the size of the file, then RMAN does not create file sections. If you specify a small section size that would produce more than 256 sections, then RMAN increases the section size to a value that results in exactly 256 sections. To make parallel the validation of a data file: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. The target database must be mounted or open. 2. Run VALIDATE with the SECTION SIZE parameter. The following example allocates two channels and validates a large data file. The section size is 1200 MB. RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
- 316. Validating Database Files with BACKUP VALIDATE 16-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ALLOCATE CHANNEL c2 DEVICE TYPE DISK; VALIDATE DATAFILE 1 SECTION SIZE 1200M; } Validating Database Files with BACKUP VALIDATE You can use the BACKUP VALIDATE command to do the following: ■ Check datafiles for physical and logical block corruption ■ Confirm that all database files exist and are in the correct locations When you run BACKUP VALIDATE, RMAN reads the files to be backed up in their entirety, as it would during a real backup. RMAN does not, however, actually produce any backup sets or image copies. You cannot use the BACKUPSET, MAXCORRUPT, or PROXY parameters with BACKUP VALIDATE. To validate specific backup sets, run the VALIDATE command. To validate files with the BACKUP VALIDATE command: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog (if used). 2. Run the BACKUP VALIDATE command. For example, you can validate that all database files and archived logs can be backed up by running a command as shown in the following example. This command checks for physical corruptions only. BACKUP VALIDATE DATABASE ARCHIVELOG ALL; To check for logical corruptions in addition to physical corruptions, run the following variation of the preceding command: BACKUP VALIDATE CHECK LOGICAL DATABASE ARCHIVELOG ALL; In the preceding examples, the RMAN client displays the same output that it would if it were really backing up the files. If RMAN cannot back up one or more of the files, then it issues an error message. For example, RMAN may show output similar to the following: RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of backup command at 08/29/2007 14:33:47 ORA-19625: error identifying file /oracle/oradata/trgt/arch/archive1_6.dbf ORA-27037: unable to obtain file status SVR4 Error: 2: No such file or directory Additional information: 3 See Also: ■ "Dividing the Backup of a Large Data File into Sections" on page 10-2 ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the VALIDATE command
- 317. Validating Backups Before Restoring Them Validating Database Files and Backups 16-7 Validating Backups Before Restoring Them You can run RESTORE ... VALIDATE to test whether RMAN can restore a specific file or set of files from a backup. RMAN chooses which backups to use. The database must be mounted or open for this command. You do not have to take datafiles offline when validating the restore of datafiles, because validation of backups of the datafiles only reads the backups and does not affect the production datafiles. When validating files on disk or tape, RMAN reads all blocks in the backup piece or image copy. RMAN also validates offsite backups. The validation is identical to a real restore operation except that RMAN does not write output files. To validate backups with the RESTORE command: 1. Run the RESTORE command with the VALIDATE option. This following example illustrates validating the restore of the database and all archived redo logs: RESTORE DATABASE VALIDATE; RESTORE ARCHIVELOG ALL VALIDATE; If you do not see an RMAN error stack, then skip the subsequent steps. The lack of error messages means that RMAN had confirmed that it can use these backups successfully during a real restore and recovery. 2. If you see error messages in the output and the RMAN-06026 message, then investigate the cause of the problem. If possible, correct the problem that is preventing RMAN from validating the backups and retry the validation. The following error means that RMAN cannot restore one or more of the specified files from your available backups: RMAN-06026: some targets not found - aborting restore The following sample output shows that RMAN encountered a problem reading the specified backup: RMAN-03009: failure of restore command on c1 channel at 12-DEC-06 23:22:30 ORA-19505: failed to identify file "oracle/dbs/1fafv9gl_1_1" ORA-27037: unable to obtain file status SVR4 Error: 2: No such file or directory Additional information: 3 See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for BACKUP syntax ■ Chapter 19, "Performing Block Media Recovery"to learn how to repair corrupt blocks discovered by BACKUP VALIDATE Note: As an additional test measure, you can perform a trial recovery with the RECOVER ... TEST command. A trial recovery applies redo in a way similar to normal recovery, but it is in memory only and it rolls back its changes after the trial. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the RESTORE ... VALIDATE command
- 318. Validating Backups Before Restoring Them 16-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 319. 17 Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-1 17 Performing Complete Database Recovery This chapter explains how to use RMAN to return your database to normal operation after the loss of one or more data files. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of Complete Database Recovery ■ Preparing for Complete Database Recovery ■ Performing Complete Database Recovery Overview of Complete Database Recovery This section explains the purpose of complete restore and recovery of the database and specifies the scope of the chapter. Purpose of Complete Database Recovery This chapter assumes that some or all of your data files are lost or damaged. Typically, this situation is caused by a media failure or accidental deletion. Your goal is to return the database to normal operation by restoring the damaged files from RMAN backups and recovering all database changes. Scope of This Chapter This chapter explains how to use complete recovery to fix the most common database problems. This chapter makes the following assumptions: ■ You have lost some or all data files and your goal is to recover all changes, but you have not lost all current control files or an entire online redo log group. Chapter 18, "Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery" explains how to recover some but not all database changes. Chapter 30, "Performing User-Managed Recovery: Advanced Scenarios" explains how to respond when some but not all current control files or members of an online redo log group are lost. "Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File" on page 20-4 explains how to recover the database when all control files are lost. ■ Your database is using the current server parameter file. To restore a backup server parameter file, see "Restoring the Server Parameter File" on page 20-2. ■ You have the complete set of archived redo logs and incremental backups needed for recovery of your data file backups. Every data file either has a backup, or a complete set of online and archived redo logs goes back to the creation of a data file with no backup.
- 320. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery 17-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN can handle lost data files without user intervention during restore and recovery. When a data file is lost, the possible cases can be classified as follows: – The control file knows about the data file, that is, you backed up the control file after data file creation, but the data file itself is not backed up. If the data file record is in the control file, then RESTORE creates the data file in the original location or in a user-specified location. The RECOVER command can then apply the necessary logs to the data file. – The control file does not have the data file record, that is, you did not back up the control file after data file creation. During recovery, the database detects the missing data file and reports it to RMAN, which creates a new data file and continues recovery by applying the remaining logs. If the data file was created in a parent incarnation, then it is created during the restore or recovery phase as appropriate. ■ You are not restoring and recovering an encrypted tablespace. If you perform media recovery on an encrypted tablespace, then the Oracle wallet must be open when performing media recovery of this tablespace. See Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn about encrypted tablespaces. ■ Your database runs in a single-instance configuration. While RMAN can restore and recover databases in Oracle RAC and Data Guard configurations, these scenarios are beyond the scope of this manual. ■ You are using the RMAN client rather than Oracle Enterprise Manager. Enterprise Manager provides access to RMAN through a set of wizards. These wizards lead you through a variety of recovery procedures based on an analysis of your database, your available backups, and your data recovery objectives. By using Enterprise Manager, you can perform the simpler restore and recovery scenarios outlined in this chapter. You can also use more sophisticated restore and recovery techniques such as point-in-time recovery and database flashback, which allow for efficient repair of media failures and user errors. Typically, using Enterprise Manager is simpler than using the RMAN command-line client directly. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery While RMAN simplifies most database restore and recovery tasks, you must still plan your database restore and recovery strategy based on which database files have been lost and your recovery goal. This section contains the following topics: ■ Identifying the Database Files to Restore or Recover ■ Determining the DBID of the Database ■ Previewing Backups Used in Restore Operations See Also: ■ Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide for more information about using RMAN with Oracle RAC ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration for more information about using RMAN with Data Guard ■ Oracle Database 2 Day DBA for more details on the restore and recovery features of Enterprise Manager
- 321. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-3 ■ Validating Backups Before Restoring Them ■ Restoring Archived Redo Logs Needed for Recovery Identifying the Database Files to Restore or Recover The techniques for determining which files require restore or recovery depend upon the type of file that is lost. Identifying a Lost Control File It is usually obvious when the control file of your database is lost. The database shuts down immediately when any of the multiplexed control files becomes inaccessible. Also, the database reports an error if you try to start it without a valid control file at each location specified in the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter. Loss of some but not all copies of your control file does not require you to restore a control file from backup. If at least one control file remains intact, then you can either copy an intact copy of the control file over the damaged or missing control file, or update the initialization parameter file so that it does not refer to the damaged or missing control file. After the CONTROL_FILES parameter references only present, intact copies of the control file, you can restart your database. If you restore the control file from backup, then you must perform media recovery of the whole database and then open it with the OPEN RESETLOGS option, even if no data files must be restored. This technique is described in "Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File" on page 20-4. Identifying Datafiles Requiring Media Recovery When and how to recover depends on the state of the database and the location of its data files. Identifying Datafiles with RMAN An easy technique for determining which data files are missing is to run a VALIDATE DATABASE command, which attempts to read all specified data files. For example, start the RMAN client and run the following commands to validate the database (sample output included). Example 17–1 BACKUP VALIDATE DATABASE RMAN> VALIDATE DATABASE; Starting validate at 20-OCT-06 allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=90 device type=DISK could not read file header for datafile 7 error reason 4 RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of backup command at 10/20/2007 13:05:43 RMAN-06056: could not access datafile 7 The output in Example 17–1 indicates that data file 7 is inaccessible. You can then run the REPORT SCHEMA command to obtain the tablespace name and file name for data file 7 as follows (sample output included): RMAN> REPORT SCHEMA; Report of database schema for database with db_unique_name RDBMS
- 322. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery 17-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide List of Permanent Datafiles =========================== File Size(MB) Tablespace RB segs Datafile Name ---- -------- -------------------- ------- ------------------------ 1 450 SYSTEM *** +DATAFILE/tbs_01.f 2 86 SYSAUX *** +DATAFILE/tbs_ax1.f 3 15 UD1 *** +DATAFILE/tbs_undo1.f 4 2 SYSTEM *** +DATAFILE/tbs_02.f 5 2 TBS_1 *** +DATAFILE/tbs_11.f 6 2 TBS_1 *** +DATAFILE/tbs_12.f 7 2 TBS_2 *** +DATAFILE/tbs_21.f List of Temporary Files ======================= File Size(MB) Tablespace Maxsize(MB) Tempfile Name ---- -------- -------------------- ----------- -------------------- 1 40 TEMP 32767 +DATAFILE/tbs_tmp1.f Identifying Datafiles with SQL Although VALIDATE DATABASE is a good technique for determining whether files are inaccessible, you may want to use SQL queries to obtain more detailed information. To determine whether data files require media recovery: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database instance with administrator privileges. 2. Determine the status of the database by executing the following SQL query: SELECT STATUS FROM V$INSTANCE; If the status is OPEN, then the database is open. Nevertheless, some data files may require media recovery. 3. Query V$DATAFILE_HEADER to determine the status of your data files. Run the following SQL statements to check the data file headers: SELECT FILE#, STATUS, ERROR, RECOVER, TABLESPACE_NAME, NAME FROM V$DATAFILE_HEADER WHERE RECOVER = 'YES' OR (RECOVER IS NULL AND ERROR IS NOT NULL); Each row returned represents a data file that either requires media recovery or has an error requiring a restore. Check the RECOVER and ERROR columns. RECOVER indicates whether a file needs media recovery, and ERROR indicates whether there was an error reading and validating the data file header. If ERROR is not NULL, then the data file header cannot be read and validated. Check for a temporary hardware or operating system problem causing the error. If there is no such problem, you must restore the file or switch to a copy. If the ERROR column is NULL and the RECOVER column is YES, then the file requires media recovery (and may also require a restore from backup). Note: Because V$DATAFILE_HEADER only reads the header block of each data file, it does not detect all problems that require the data file to be restored. For example, this view cannot tell whether a data file contains corrupt data blocks.
- 323. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-5 4. Optionally, query V$RECOVER_FILE to list data files requiring recovery by data file number with their status and error information. For example, execute the following query: SELECT FILE#, ERROR, ONLINE_STATUS, CHANGE#, TIME FROM V$RECOVER_FILE; To find data file and tablespace names, you can also perform useful joins using the data file number and the V$DATAFILE and V$TABLESPACE views. For example: SELECT r.FILE# AS df#, d.NAME AS df_name, t.NAME AS tbsp_name, d.STATUS, r.ERROR, r.CHANGE#, r.TIME FROM V$RECOVER_FILE r, V$DATAFILE d, V$TABLESPACE t WHERE t.TS# = d.TS# AND d.FILE# = r.FILE#; The ERROR column identifies the problem for each file requiring recovery. Determining the DBID of the Database In situations requiring the recovery of your server parameter file or control file from autobackup, you must know the DBID. You should record the DBID along with other basic information about your database. If you do not have a record of the DBID of your database, then you can find it in the following places without opening your database: ■ The DBID is used in forming the file name for the control file autobackup. Locate this file, and then refer to "Configuring the Control File Autobackup Format" on page 5-7 to determine where the DBID appears in the file name. ■ If you have any text files that preserve the output from an RMAN session, then the DBID is displayed by the RMAN client when it starts up and connects to your database. Typical output follows: % rman TARGET / Recovery Manager: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Wed Jul 11 17:51:30 2007 Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved. connected to target database: PROD (DBID=36508508) Previewing Backups Used in Restore Operations You can apply RESTORE ... PREVIEW to any RESTORE operation to create a detailed list of every backup to be used in the requested RESTORE operation, and the necessary target SCN for recovery after the RESTORE operation is complete. This command Note: You cannot use V$RECOVER_FILE with a control file restored from backup or a control file that was re-created after the time of the media failure affecting the data files. A restored or re-created control file does not contain the information needed to update V$RECOVER_FILE accurately. See Also: Oracle Database Reference for information about the V$ views
- 324. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery 17-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide accesses the RMAN repository to query the backup metadata, but does not actually read the backup files to ensure that they can be restored. As an alternative to RESTORE ... PREVIEW, you can use the RESTORE ... VALIDATE HEADER command. In addition to listing the files needed for restore and recovery, the RESTORE ... VALIDATE HEADER command validates the backup file headers to determine whether the files on disk or in the media management catalog correspond to the metadata in the RMAN repository. When planning your restore and recovery operation, use RESTORE ... PREVIEW or RESTORE ... VALIDATE HEADER to ensure that all required backups are available or to identify situations in which you may want to direct RMAN to use or avoid specific backups. To preview backups to be used in a restore operation: 1. Run a RESTORE command with the PREVIEW option. For example, run one of the following commands: RESTORE DATABASE PREVIEW; RESTORE ARCHIVELOG FROM TIME 'SYSDATE-7' PREVIEW; If the report produced by RESTORE ... PREVIEW provides too much information, then specify the SUMMARY option as shown in the following example: RESTORE DATABASE PREVIEW SUMMARY; If satisfied with the output, then stop here. If the output indicates that RMAN will request a backup from a tape that you know is temporarily unavailable, then continue with this procedure. If the output indicates that a backup is stored offsite, then skip to "Recalling Offsite Backups" on page 17-6. 2. If needed, use the CHANGE command to set the backup status of any temporarily unavailable backups to UNAVAILABLE. "Updating a Backup to Status AVAILABLE or UNAVAILABLE" on page 12-13 explains how to perform this task. 3. Optionally, run RESTORE ... PREVIEW again to confirm that the restore does not attempt to use unavailable backups. Recalling Offsite Backups Some media managers provide status information to RMAN about which backups are offsite. An offsite backup is stored in a remote location, such as a secure storage facility, and cannot be restored unless the media manager retrieves the media. Offsite backups are marked as AVAILABLE in the RMAN repository even though the media must be retrieved from storage before the backup can be restored. If RMAN attempts to restore a offsite backup, then the restore job fails. You can use RESTORE ... PREVIEW to identify offsite backups. The command output indicates whether backups are stored offsite, as shown by the text at the end of the sample output in Example 17–2. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for details on interpreting RESTORE ... PREVIEW output, which is in the same format as the output of the LIST command
- 325. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-7 Example 17–2 RESTORE ... PREVIEW Output List of Backup Sets =================== BS Key Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time ------- ---------- ----------- ------------ --------------- 9 2.25M SBT_TAPE 00:00:00 21-MAY-07 BP Key: 9 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20070521T144258 Handle: 0aii9k7i_1_1 Media: 0aii9k7i_1_1 List of Archived Logs in backup set 9 Thrd Seq Low SCN Low Time Next SCN Next Time ---- ------- ---------- --------- ---------- --------- 1 1 392314 21-MAY-07 392541 21-MAY-07 1 2 392541 21-MAY-07 392545 21-MAY-07 1 3 392545 21-MAY-07 392548 21-MAY-07 1 4 392548 21-MAY-07 395066 21-MAY-07 1 5 395066 21-MAY-07 395095 21-MAY-07 1 6 395095 21-MAY-07 395355 21-MAY-07 List of remote backup files ============================ Handle: aii9k7i_1_1 Media: 0aii9k7i_1_1 validation succeeded for backup piece Finished restore at 21-MAY-07 released channel: dev1 You can use RESTORE ... PREVIEW RECALL to instruct the media manager to make offsite backups available. To recall offsite backups: 1. If backups are stored offsite, then execute a RESTORE ... PREVIEW command with the RECALL option. The following example initiates recall for the offsite archived log backups shown in Example 17–2 (sample output included): RESTORE ARCHIVELOG ALL PREVIEW RECALL; The following sample output indicates that RMAN initiated a recall: List of Backup Sets =================== BS Key Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time ------- ---------- ----------- ------------ --------------- 9 2.25M SBT_TAPE 00:00:00 21-MAY-07 BP Key: 9 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20070521T144258 Handle: VAULT0aii9k7i_1_1 Media: /tmp,VAULT0aii9k7i_1_1 List of Archived Logs in backup set 9 Thrd Seq Low SCN Low Time Next SCN Next Time ---- ------- ---------- --------- ---------- --------- 1 1 392314 21-MAY-07 392541 21-MAY-07 1 2 392541 21-MAY-07 392545 21-MAY-07 1 3 392545 21-MAY-07 392548 21-MAY-07 1 4 392548 21-MAY-07 395066 21-MAY-07 1 5 395066 21-MAY-07 395095 21-MAY-07
- 326. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery 17-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 1 6 395095 21-MAY-07 395355 21-MAY-07 Initiated recall for the following list of remote backup files ========================================================== Handle: VAULT0aii9k7i_1_1 Media: /tmp,VAULT0aii9k7i_1_1 validation succeeded for backup piece Finished restore at 21-MAY-07 released channel: dev1 2. Run the RESTORE ... PREVIEW command. If necessary, return to the previous step until no backups needed for the restore are reported as offsite. Validating Backups Before Restoring Them While the procedures in "Previewing Backups Used in Restore Operations" on page 17-5 indicate which backups will be restored, they do not verify that the backups are actually usable. You can run RMAN commands to test the availability of usable backups for any RESTORE operation, or test the contents of a specific backup for use in RESTORE operations. The contents of the backups are actually read and checked for corruption. You have the following validation options: ■ RESTORE ... VALIDATE tests whether RMAN can restore a specific object from a backup. RMAN chooses which backups to use. ■ VALIDATE BACKUPSET tests the validity of a backup set that you specify. Restoring Archived Redo Logs Needed for Recovery RMAN restores archived redo log files from backup automatically as needed to perform recovery. You can also restore archived redo logs manually to save the time needed to restore these files later during the RECOVER command, or if you want to store the restored archived redo log files in some new location. RMAN also gives you the flexibility of restoring all archive redo log files, the current ones or archive redo log files from a specified previous incarnation of the database. By default, RMAN restores archived redo logs with names constructed using the LOG_ ARCHIVE_FORMAT and the highest LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameters of the target database. These parameters are combined in a platform-specific fashion to form the name of the restored archived log. Restoring Archived Redo Logs to a New Location You can override the default location for restored archived redo logs with the SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION command. This command manually stages archived logs to different locations while a database restore is occurring. During recovery, RMAN knows where to find the newly restored archived logs; it does not require them to be in the location specified in the initialization parameter file. To restore archived redo logs to a new location: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Ensure that the database is mounted or open. 3. Perform the following operations within a RUN command: a. Specify the new location for the restored archived redo logs using SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION. See Also: Chapter 16, "Validating Database Files and Backups"
- 327. Preparing for Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-9 b. Either explicitly restore the archived redo logs or execute commands that automatically restore the logs. The following sample RUN command explicitly restores all backup archived logs to a new location: RUN { SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION TO '/oracle/temp_restore'; RESTORE ARCHIVELOG ALL; # restore and recover datafiles as needed . . . } The following example sets the archived log destination and then uses RECOVER DATABASE to restore archived logs from this destination automatically: RUN { SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION TO '/oracle/temp_restore'; RESTORE DATABASE; RECOVER DATABASE; # restores and recovers logs automatically } Restoring Archived Redo Logs to Multiple Locations You can specify restore destinations for archived logs multiple times in one RUN block, to distribute restored logs among several destinations. (You cannot, however specify multiple destinations simultaneously to produce multiple copies of the same log during the restore operation.) You can use this feature to manage disk space used to contain the restored logs. This example restores 300 archived redo logs from backup, distributing them across the directories /fs1/tmp, /fs2/tmp, and /fs3/tmp: RUN { # Set a new location for logs 1 through 100. SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION TO '/fs1/tmp'; RESTORE ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 1 UNTIL SEQUENCE 100; # Set a new location for logs 101 through 200. SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION TO '/fs2/tmp'; RESTORE ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 101 UNTIL SEQUENCE 200; # Set a new location for logs 201 through 300. SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION TO '/fs3/tmp'; RESTORE ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 201 UNTIL SEQUENCE 300; # restore and recover datafiles as needed . . . } When you issue a RECOVER command, RMAN finds the needed restored archived logs automatically across the destinations to which they were restored, and applies them to the data files.
- 328. Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Performing Complete Database Recovery This section assumes that you have already performed the tasks in "Preparing for Complete Database Recovery" on page 17-2. This section describes the basic outline of complete database recovery, which is intended to encompass a wide range of different scenarios. About Complete Database Recovery You use the RESTORE and RECOVER commands to restore and recover the database. During the recovery, RMAN automatically restores backups of any needed archived redo logs. If backups are stored on a media manager, then channels must be configured in advance or a RUN block with ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands must be used to enable access to backups stored there. If RMAN restores archived redo logs to the fast recovery area during a recovery, then it automatically deletes the restored logs after applying them to the data files. Otherwise, you can use the DELETE ARCHIVELOG command to delete restored archived redo logs from disk when they are no longer needed for recovery. For example, you can enter the following command: RECOVER DATABASE DELETE ARCHIVELOG; Restoring Datafiles to a Nondefault Location If you cannot restore data files to their default locations, then you must update the control file to reflect the new locations of the data files. Use the RMAN SET NEWNAME command within a RUN command to specify the new file name. Afterward, use a SWITCH command, which is equivalent to using the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE, to update the names of the data files in the control file. SWITCH DATAFILE ALL updates the control file to reflect the new names for all data files for which a SET NEWNAME has been issued in a RUN command. Decryption of Backups If RMAN is restoring encrypted backups, then RMAN automatically decrypts backup sets when their contents are restored. Transparently encrypted backups require no intervention to restore, as long as the Oracle wallet is open and available. Password-encrypted backups require the correct password to be entered before they can be restored. You must enter the encryption password with the SET DECRYPTION command. If restoring from a group of backups that were created with different passwords, then specify all of the required passwords on the SET DECRYPTION command. RMAN automatically uses the correct password with each backup set. Performing Complete Recovery of the Whole Database This scenario assumes that database trgt has lost most or all of its data files. It also assumes that the database uses a fast recovery area. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SWITCH syntax See Also: ■ "Configuring Backup Encryption" on page 6-8 to learn how to configure transparent backup encryption ■ "Encrypting RMAN Backups" on page 10-10 to learn how to create encrypted backups
- 329. Performing Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-11 After restore and recovery of a whole database, when the database is open, missing temporary tablespaces that were recorded in the control file are re-created with their previous creation size, AUTOEXTEND, and MAXSIZE attributes. Only temporary tablespaces that are missing are re-created. If a temp file exists at the location recorded in the RMAN repository but has an invalid header, then RMAN does not re-create the temp file. If the temp files were created as Oracle managed files, then they are re-created in the current DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST location. Otherwise, they are re-created at their previous locations. If RMAN cannot re-create the file due to an I/O error or some other cause, then the error is reported in the alert log and the database open operation continues. To restore and recover the whole database: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. For example, enter the following command: % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / RMAN displays the database status when it connects: not started, not mounted, not open (when the database is mounted but not open), or none (when the database is open). 2. If the database is not mounted, then mount but do not open the database. For example, enter the following command: STARTUP MOUNT; 3. Use the SHOW command to see which channels are preconfigured. For example, enter the following command (sample output is included): SHOW ALL; RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name PROD1 are: . . . CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARMS "SBT_ LIBRARY=/usr/local/oracle/backup/lib/libobk.so"; If the necessary devices and channels are already configured, then no action is necessary. Otherwise, you can use the CONFIGURE command to configure automatic channels, or include ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands within a RUN block. 4. If restoring password-protected encrypted backups, then specify the password. Use the SET DECRYPTION IDENTIFIED BY command to specify a password for password-protected backups, as shown in the following example (where password represents the actual password that you enter): SET DECRYPTION IDENTIFIED BY password;
- 330. Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide If you created backups with different passwords, then you can run the SET DECRYPTION IDENTIFIED BY password command multiple times, specifying all of the possible passwords that might be required to restore the backups. 5. Restore and recover the database. Do one of the following: ■ If you are restoring all data files to their original locations, then execute RESTORE DATABASE and RECOVER DATABASE sequentially at the RMAN prompt. For example, enter the following commands if automatic channels are configured (sample output included): RMAN> RESTORE DATABASE; Starting restore at 20-JUN-06 allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=35 device type=DISK allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: SID=34 device type=SBT_TAPE channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: Oracle Secure Backup channel ORA_DISK_1: starting datafile backup set restore channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) to restore from backup set channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring datafile 00001 to /disk1/oracle/dbs/tbs_01.f channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring datafile 00002 to /disk1/oracle/dbs/tbs_ax1.f . . . Finished restore at 20-JUN-06 RMAN> RECOVER DATABASE; Starting recover at 20-JUN-06 using channel ORA_DISK_1 allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: SID=34 device type=SBT_TAPE channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: Oracle Secure Backup starting media recovery channel ORA_DISK_1: starting archived log restore to default destination channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring archived log archived log thread=1 sequence=5 channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring archived log archived log thread=1 sequence=6 . . . channel ORA_DISK_1: reading from backup piece /disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/backupset/2007_06_20/o1_mf_annnn_ TAG20070620T113128_29jhr197_.bkp channel ORA_DISK_1: piece handle=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/backupset/2007_06_20/o1_mf_annnn_ TAG20070620T113128_29jhr197_.bkp tag=TAG20070620T113128 channel ORA_DISK_1: restored backup piece 1 channel ORA_DISK_1: restore complete, elapsed time: 00:00:02 archived log file name=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/archivelog/2007_06_ 20/o1_mf_1_5_29jhv47k_.arc thread=1 sequence=5 channel default: deleting archived log(s) .
- 331. Performing Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-13 . . media recovery complete, elapsed time: 00:00:15 Finished recover at 20-JUN-06 If you manually allocate channels, then you must issue the RESTORE and RECOVER commands together within a RUN block as shown in the following example: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt; RESTORE DATABASE; RECOVER DATABASE; } ■ If you are restoring some data files to new locations, then execute RESTORE DATABASE and RECOVER DATABASE sequentially in a RUN command. Use the SET NEWNAME to rename data files, as described in "Restoring Datafiles to a Nondefault Location" on page 17-10. The following example restores the database, specifying new names for three of the data files, and then recovers the database: RUN { SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 2 TO '/disk2/df2.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 3 TO '/disk2/df3.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 4 TO '/disk2/df4.dbf'; RESTORE DATABASE; SWITCH DATAFILE ALL; RECOVER DATABASE; } 6. Examine the output to see if media recovery was successful. If so, open the database. For example, enter the following command: ALTER DATABASE OPEN; Performing Complete Recovery of a Tablespace In the basic scenario, the database is open, and some but not all of the data files are damaged. You want to restore and recover the damaged tablespace while leaving the database open so that the rest of the database remains available. This scenario assumes that database trgt has lost tablespace users. To restore and recover a tablespace: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. If the database is open, then take the data file requiring recovery offline. For example, enter the following command to take users offline: SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users OFFLINE IMMEDIATE"; 3. Use the SHOW command to see which channels are preconfigured. For example, enter the following command (sample output is included): SHOW ALL;
- 332. Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name PROD1 are: . . . CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARMS "SBT_ LIBRARY=/usr/local/oracle/backup/lib/libobk.so"; If the necessary devices and channels are already configured, then no action is necessary. Otherwise, you can use the CONFIGURE command to configure automatic channels, or include ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands within a RUN block. 4. If restoring password-protected encrypted backups, then specify the password. Use the SET DECRYPTION IDENTIFIED BY command to specify a password for password-protected backups, as shown in the following example (where password represents the actual password that you enter): SET DECRYPTION IDENTIFIED BY password; 5. Restore and recover the tablespace. Do one of the following: ■ If you are restoring data files to their original locations, then run the RESTORE TABLESPACE and RECOVER TABLESPACE commands at the RMAN prompt. For example, enter the following command if automatic channels are configured (sample output included): RMAN> RESTORE TABLESPACE users; Starting restore at 20-JUN-06 allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1 channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=37 device type=DISK allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: SID=38 device type=SBT_TAPE channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: Oracle Secure Backup channel ORA_DISK_1: starting datafile backup set restore channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) to restore from backup set channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring datafile 00012 to /disk1/oracle/dbs/users01.f channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring datafile 00013 to /disk1/oracle/dbs/users02.f channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring datafile 00021 to /disk1/oracle/dbs/users03.f channel ORA_DISK_1: reading from backup piece /disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/backupset/2007_06_20/o1_mf_nnndf_ TAG20070620T105435_29jflwor_.bkp channel ORA_DISK_1: piece handle=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/backupset/2007_06_20/o1_mf_nnndf_ TAG20070620T105435_29jflwor_.bkp tag=TAG20070620T105435 channel ORA_DISK_1: restored backup piece 1 channel ORA_DISK_1: restore complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01 Finished restore at 20-JUN-06 RMAN> RECOVER TABLESPACE users; Starting recover at 20-JUN-06 using channel ORA_DISK_1 using channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1
- 333. Performing Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-15 starting media recovery archived log for thread 1 with sequence 27 is already on disk as file /disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/archivelog/2007_06_20/o1_mf_1_27_29jjmtc9_ .arc archived log for thread 1 with sequence 28 is already on disk as file /disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/archivelog/2007_06_20/o1_mf_1_28_29jjnc5x_ .arc . . . channel ORA_DISK_1: starting archived log restore to default destination channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring archived log archived log thread=1 sequence=5 channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring archived log archived log thread=1 sequence=6 channel ORA_DISK_1: restoring archived log archived log thread=1 sequence=7 . . . channel ORA_DISK_1: reading from backup piece /disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/backupset/2007_06_20/o1_mf_annnn_ TAG20070620T113128_29jhr197_.bkp channel ORA_DISK_1: piece handle=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/backupset/2007_06_20/o1_mf_annnn_ TAG20070620T113128_29jhr197_.bkp tag=TAG20070620T113128 channel ORA_DISK_1: restored backup piece 1 channel ORA_DISK_1: restore complete, elapsed time: 00:00:02 archived log file name=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/archivelog/2007_06_ 20/o1_mf_1_5_29jkdvjq_.arc thread=1 sequence=5 channel default: deleting archived log(s) archived log file name=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/archivelog/2007_06_ 20/o1_mf_1_5_29jkdvjq_.arc RECID=91 STAMP=593611179 archived log file name=/disk1/oracle/work/orcva/TKRM/archivelog/2007_06_ 20/o1_mf_1_6_29jkdvbz_.arc thread=1 sequence=6 channel default: deleting archived log(s) . . . media recovery complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01 Finished recover at 20-JUN-06 ■ If you are restoring some data files to new locations, then execute RESTORE TABLESPACE and RECOVER TABLESPACE in a RUN command. Use the SET NEWNAME to rename data files, as described in "Restoring Datafiles to a Nondefault Location" on page 17-10. The following example restores the data files in tablespaces users to a new location, then performs recovery. Assume that the old data files were stored in the /disk1 path and the new ones are stored in the /disk2 path. RUN { # specify the new location for each datafile SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '/disk1/oracle/dbs/users01.f' TO '/disk2/users01.f'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '/disk1/oracle/dbs/users02.f' TO '/disk2/users02.f'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '/disk1/oracle/dbs/users03.f' TO
- 334. Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide '/disk2/users03.f'; RESTORE TABLESPACE users; SWITCH DATAFILE ALL; # update control file with new file names RECOVER TABLESPACE users; } 6. Examine the output to see if recovery was successful. If so, bring the recovered tablespace back online. For example, enter the following command: SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users ONLINE"; Performing Complete Recovery After Switching to a Copy If you have image copies of the inaccessible data files in the fast recovery area, then you can use the SWITCH DATAFILE ... TO COPY command to point the control file at the data file copy and then use RECOVER to recover lost changes. You can also use the SWITCH DATABASE TO COPY command to point the control file at a copy of the whole database. Because you do not need to restore backups, this recovery technique takes less time than traditional restore and recovery. Switching to a Data File Copy In the basic scenario, the database is open, and some but not all of the data files are damaged. During the course of the day, a data file goes missing due to storage failure. You must repair this file, but cannot afford the time to do a restore and recovery from a backup. You decide to use a recent image copy backup as the new file, thus eliminating restore time. This scenario assumes that database trgt has lost data file 4. To switch to a data file copy and perform recovery: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. If the database is open, then take the tablespace requiring recovery offline. Enter the following command to take data file 4 offline: SQL "ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE 4 OFFLINE"; 3. Switch the offline data file to the latest copy. Enter the following command to point the control file to the latest image copy of data file 4: SWITCH DATAFILE 4 TO COPY; 4. Recover the data file with the RECOVER DATAFILE command. Enter the following command: RECOVER DATAFILE 4; RMAN automatically restores archived redo logs and incremental backups. Because the database uses a fast recovery area, RMAN automatically deletes them after they have been applied. Note: A SWITCH TABLESPACE ... TO COPY command is also supported for cases when all data files in a tablespace are lost and copies of all data files exist. The same restriction exists for SWITCH DATABASE TO COPY.
- 335. Performing Complete Database Recovery Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-17 5. Examine the output to see if recovery was successful. If so, bring the recovered data file back online. Enter the following command to bring data file 4 online: SQL "ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE 4 ONLINE"; Switching to a Database Copy In this scenario, the database is shut down, and all of the data files are damaged. You have image copies of all the damaged data files. You decide to use the existing image copies as the new data files, thus eliminating restore time. To switch to a database copy and perform recovery: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Mount the database. 3. Switch the database to the latest copy. Enter the following command to point the control file to the latest image copy of the database: SWITCH DATABASE TO COPY; 4. Recover the database with the RECOVER DATABASE command. Enter the following command: RECOVER DATABASE; RMAN automatically restores archived redo logs and incremental backups. Because the database uses a fast recovery area, RMAN automatically deletes them after they have been applied. 5. Examine the output to see if recovery was successful. If so, open the database. Enter the following command to open the database: ALTER DATABASE OPEN;
- 336. Performing Complete Database Recovery 17-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 337. 18 Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-1 18 Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery This chapter explains how to investigate unwanted database changes, and select and perform an appropriate recovery strategy based upon Oracle Flashback Technology and database backups. It includes the following topics: ■ Overview of Oracle Flashback Technology and Database Point-in-Time Recovery ■ Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table ■ Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop ■ Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database ■ Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery ■ Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios Overview of Oracle Flashback Technology and Database Point-in-Time Recovery This section explains the purpose and basic concepts of Flashback Technology and database point-in-time recovery. Purpose of Flashback and Database Point-in-Time-Recovery Typically, the following situations call for flashback features or point-in-time recovery: ■ A user error or corruption removes needed data or introduces corrupted data. For example, a user or DBA might erroneously delete or update the contents of one or more tables, drop database objects that are still needed during an update to an application, or run a large batch update that fails midway. ■ A database upgrade fails or an upgrade script goes awry. ■ A complete database recovery after a media failure cannot succeed because you do not have all of the needed redo logs or incremental backups. In either situation, you can use point-in-time recovery or flashback features to return the database or database object to its state at a previous point in time. Basic Concepts of Point-in-Time Recovery and Flashback Features The most basic solution to unwanted database changes is RMAN database point-in-time recovery (DBPITR). DBPITR is sometimes called incomplete recovery because it does not use all of the available redo or completely recover all changes to
- 338. Overview of Oracle Flashback Technology and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide your database. In this case, you restore a whole database backup and then apply redo logs or incremental backups to re-create all changes up to a point in time before the unwanted change. If unwanted database changes are extensive but confined to specific tablespaces, then you can use tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR) to return these tablespaces to an earlier SCN while the unaffected tablespaces remain available. RMAN TSPITR is an advanced technique described in Chapter 21, "Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR)". Oracle Database also provides a set of features collectively known as Flashback Technology that supports viewing past states of data, and winding and rewinding data back and forth in time, without requiring the restore of the database from backup. Depending on the changes to your database, Flashback Technology can often reverse the unwanted changes more quickly and with less impact on database availability. Basic Concepts of Database Point-in-Time Recovery DBPITR works at the physical level to return the data files to their state at a target time in the past. In an RMAN DBPITR operation, you specify a target SCN, log sequence, restore point, or time. RMAN restores the database from backups created before the target time, and then applies incremental backups and logs to re-create all changes between the time of the data file backups and the end point of recovery. When the end point is specified as an SCN, the database applies the redo logs and stops at the end of each redo thread or the specified SCN, whichever occurs first. When the end point is specified as a time, the database internally determines a suitable SCN for the specified time and then recovers to this SCN. If your backup strategy is properly designed and your database is running in ARCHIVELOG mode, then DBPITR is an option in nearly all circumstances. RMAN simplifies DBPITR in comparison to the user-managed DBPITR described in "Performing Incomplete Database Recovery" on page 29-13. Given a target SCN, data files are restored from backup and recovered efficiently with no intervention from the user. Nevertheless, RMAN DBPITR has the following disadvantages: ■ You cannot return selected objects to their earlier state, only the entire database. ■ Your entire database is unavailable during the DBPITR. ■ DBPITR can be time-consuming because RMAN must restore all data files. Also, RMAN may need to restore redo logs and incremental backups to recover the data files. If backups are on tape, then this process can take even longer. Basic Concepts of Flashback Technology The flashback features of Oracle are more efficient than media recovery in most circumstances in which they are available. You can use them to investigate past states of the database. Physical Flashback Features Useful in Backup and Recovery Oracle Flashback Database, which is explained in "Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database" on page 18-11, is the most efficient alternative to DBPITR. Unlike the other flashback features, it operates at a physical level and reverts the current data files to their contents at a past time. The result is like the result of a DBPITR, including the OPEN RESETLOGS, but Flashback Database is typically faster because it does not require you to restore data files and requires only limited application of redo compared to media recovery. As explained in "Configuring the Fast Recovery Area" on page 5-14, a fast recovery area is required for Flashback Database. To enable logging for Flashback Database, you
- 339. Overview of Oracle Flashback Technology and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-3 must set the DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET initialization parameter and issue the ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK ON statement. During normal operation, the database periodically writes old images of data file blocks to the flashback logs. Flashback logs are written sequentially and often in bulk. In some respects, flashback logging is like a continuous backup. The database automatically creates, deletes, and resizes flashback logs in the recovery area. Flashback logs are not archived. You need only be aware of flashback logs for monitoring performance and determining disk space allocation for the recovery area. When you perform a Flashback Database operation, the database uses flashback logs to access past versions of data blocks and also uses some data in the archived redo logs. Consequently, you cannot enable Flashback Database after a failure is discovered and then use Flashback Database to rewind through this failure. You can use the related capability of guaranteed restore points to protect the contents of your database at a fixed point in time, such as immediately before a risky database change. Logical Flashback Features Useful in Backup and Recovery The remaining flashback features operate at the logical level. The logical features documented in this chapter are as follows: ■ Flashback Table You can recover a table or set of tables to a specified point in time in the past without taking any part of the database offline. In many cases, Flashback Table eliminates the need to perform more complicated point-in-time recovery operations. Flashback Table restores tables while automatically maintaining associated attributes such as current indexes, triggers and constraints, and not requiring you to find and restore application-specific properties. "Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table" on page 18-4 explains how to use this feature. ■ Flashback Drop You can reverse the effects of a DROP TABLE statement. "Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop" on page 18-7 explains how to use this feature. All logical flashback features except Flashback Drop rely on undo data. Used primarily for providing read consistency for SQL queries and rolling back transactions, undo records contain the information required to reconstruct data as it existed at a past time and examine the record of changes since that past time. Flashback Drop relies on a mechanism called the recycle bin, which the database uses to manage dropped database objects until the space they occupied is needed for new data. There is no fixed amount of space allocated to the recycle bin, and no guarantee about how long dropped objects remain in the recycle bin. Depending on system activity, a dropped object may remain in the recycle bin for seconds or for months. Note: Because the logical flashback features have uses not specific to backup and recovery, some documentation for them is located elsewhere in the documentation set.
- 340. Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table 18-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table Flashback Table uses information in the undo tablespace rather than restored backups to retrieve the table. When a Flashback Table operation occurs, new rows are deleted and old rows are reinserted. The rest of your database remains available while the flashback of the table is being performed. Prerequisites of Flashback Table To use the Flashback Table feature on one or more tables, use the FLASHBACK TABLE SQL statement with a target time or SCN. You must have the following privileges to use the Flashback Table feature: ■ You must have been granted the FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system privilege or you must have the FLASHBACK object privilege on the table. ■ You must have SELECT, INSERT, DELETE, and ALTER privileges on the table. ■ To flash back a table to a restore point, you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY or FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system privilege or the SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role. For an object to be eligible to be flashed back, the following prerequisites must be met: ■ The object must not be included the following categories: tables that are part of a cluster, materialized views, Advanced Queuing (AQ) tables, static data dictionary tables, system tables, remote tables, object tables, nested tables, or individual table partitions or subpartitions. ■ The structure of the table must not have been changed between the current time and the target flash back time. The following DDL operations change the structure of a table: upgrading, moving, or truncating a table; adding a constraint to a table, adding a table to a cluster; modifying or dropping a column; adding, dropping, merging, splitting, coalescing, or truncating a partition or subpartition (except adding a range partition). ■ Row movement must be enabled on the table, which indicates that rowids will change after the flashback occurs. This restriction exists because if rowids before the flashback were stored by the application, then there is no guarantee that the rowids correspond to the same See Also: ■ Oracle Database Concepts and Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about undo data and automatic undo management ■ Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide to learn how to use the logical flashback features ■ "Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points" on page 7-1 for more information on setting up your database to use Flashback Database, and on the related restore points feature See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information on Automatic Undo Management
- 341. Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-5 rows after the flashback. If your application depends on rowids, then you cannot use Flashback Table. ■ The undo data in the undo tablespace must extend far enough back in time to satisfy the flashback target time or SCN. The point to which you can perform Flashback Table is determined by the undo retention period, which is the minimal time for which undo data is kept before being recycled, and tablespace characteristics. The undo data contains information about data blocks before they were changed. The flashback operation uses undo to re-create the original data. To ensure that the undo information is retained for Flashback Table operations, Oracle suggests setting the UNDO_RETENTION parameter to 86400 seconds (24 hours) or greater for the undo tablespace. Performing a Flashback Table Operation In this scenario, assume that you want to perform a flashback of the hr.temp_employees table after a user made some incorrect updates. The perform a flashback of temp_employees: 1. Connect SQL*Plus to the target database and identify the current SCN. You cannot roll back a FLASHBACK TABLE statement, but you can issue another FLASHBACK TABLE statement and specify a time just before the current time. Therefore, it is advisable to record the current SCN. You can obtain it by querying V$DATABASE as follows: SELECT CURRENT_SCN FROM V$DATABASE; 2. Identify the time, SCN, or restore point to which you want to return the table. If you have created restore points, then you can list available restore points by executing the following query: SELECT NAME, SCN, TIME FROM V$RESTORE_POINT; 3. Ensure that enough undo data exists to rewind the table to the specified target. If the UNDO_RETENTION intialization parameter is set, and the undo retention guarantee is on, then you can use the following query to determine how long undo data is being retained: SELECT NAME, VALUE/60 MINUTES_RETAINED FROM V$PARAMETER WHERE NAME = 'undo_retention'; 4. Ensure that row movement is enabled for all objects that you are rewinding with Flashback Table. You can enable row movement for a table with the following SQL statement, where table is the name of the table that you are rewinding: Note: FLASHBACK TABLE ... TO BEFORE DROP is a use of the Flashback Drop feature, not Flashback Table, and therefore is not subject to these prerequisites. See "Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop" on page 18-7 for more information.
- 342. Rewinding a Table with Flashback Table 18-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ALTER TABLE table ENABLE ROW MOVEMENT; 5. Determine whether the table that you intend to flash back has dependencies on other tables. If dependencies exist, then decide whether to flash back these tables as well. You can issue the following SQL query to determine the dependencies, where schema_name is the schema for the table to be flashed back and table_name is the name of the table: SELECT other.owner, other.table_name FROM sys.all_constraints this, sys.all_constraints other WHERE this.owner = schema_name AND this.table_name = table_name AND this.r_owner = other.owner AND this.r_constraint_name = other.constraint_name AND this.constraint_type='R'; 6. Execute a FLASHBACK TABLE statement for the objects that you want to flash back. The following SQL statement returns the hr.temp_employees table to the restore point named temp_employees_update: FLASHBACK TABLE hr.temp_employees TO RESTORE POINT temp_employees_update; The following SQL statement rewinds the hr.temp_employees table to its state when the database was at the time specified by the SCN: FLASHBACK TABLE hr.temp_employees TO SCN 123456; As shown in the following example, you can also specify the target point in time with TO_TIMESTAMP: FLASHBACK TABLE hr.temp_employees TO TIMESTAMP TO_TIMESTAMP('2007-10-17 09:30:00', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS'); 7. Optionally, query the table to check the data. Keeping Triggers Enabled During Flashback Table By default, the database disables triggers on the affected table before performing a FLASHBACK TABLE operation. After the operation, the database returns the triggers to the state they were in before the operation (enabled or disabled). To keep triggers enabled during the flashback of the table, add an ENABLE TRIGGERS clause to the FLASHBACK TABLE statement in Step 6 on page 18-6. For example, assume that at 17:00 an HR administrator discovers that an employee is missing from the hr.temp_employees table. This employee was included in the table at 14:00, the last time the report was run. Therefore, someone accidentally deleted Note: The mapping of timestamps to SCNs is not always exact. When using timestamps with the FLASHBACK TABLE statement, the time to which the table is flashed back can vary by up to approximately three seconds of the time specified for TO_TIMESTAMP. If an exact point in time is required, then use an SCN rather than a time.
- 343. Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-7 the record for this employee between 14:00 and 17:00. She uses Flashback Table to return the table to its state at 14:00, respecting any triggers set on the hr.temp_employees table, by using the SQL statement in the following example: FLASHBACK TABLE temp_employees TO TIMESTAMP TO_TIMESTAMP('2005-03-03 14:00:00' , 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS') ENABLE TRIGGERS; Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop This section explains how to retrieve objects from the recycle bin with the FLASHBACK TABLE ... TO BEFORE DROP statement. About Flashback Drop Flashback Drop reverses the effects of a DROP TABLE operation. Flashback Drop is faster than other recovery mechanisms that can be used in this situation, such as point-in-time recovery, and does not lead to downtime or loss of recent transactions. When you drop a table, the database does not immediately remove the space associated with the table. Instead, the table is renamed and, along with any associated objects, placed in the recycle bin. System-generated recycle bin object names are unique. You can query objects in the recycle bin, just as you can query other objects. A flashback operation retrieves the table from the recycle bin. When retrieving dropped tables, you can specify either the original user-specified name of the table or the system-generated name. When you drop a table, the table and all of its dependent objects go into the recycle bin together. Likewise, when you perform Flashback Drop, the objects are generally all retrieved together. When you restore a table from the recycle bin, dependent objects such as indexes do not get their original names back; they retain their system-generated recycle bin names. Oracle Database retrieves all indexes defined on the table except for bitmap join indexes, and all triggers and constraints defined on the table except for referential integrity constraints that reference other tables. Some dependent objects such as indexes may have been reclaimed because of space pressure. In such cases, the reclaimed dependent objects are not retrievable from the recycle bin. Prerequisites of Flashback Drop The following list summarizes the user privileges required for the operations related to Flashback Drop and the recycle bin: ■ DROP Any user with drop privileges over an object can drop the object, placing it in the recycle bin. ■ FLASHBACK TABLE ... TO BEFORE DROP See Also: ■ Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn how to recover tables with the Flashback Table feature ■ Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for a simple Flashback Table scenario
- 344. Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop 18-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Privileges for this statement are tied to the privileges for DROP. That is, any user who can drop an object can perform Flashback Drop to retrieve the dropped object from the recycle bin. ■ PURGE Privileges for a purge of the recycle bin are tied to the DROP privileges. Any user having DROP TABLE or DROP ANY TABLE privileges can purge the objects from the recycle bin. ■ SELECT for objects in the Recycle Bin Users must have SELECT and FLASHBACK privileges over an object in the recycle bin to query the object in the recycle bin. Any users who had the SELECT privilege over an object before it was dropped continue to have the SELECT privilege over the object in the recycle bin. Users must have FLASHBACK privilege to query any object in the recycle bin because these are objects from a past state of the database. Objects must meet the following prerequisites to be eligible for retrieval from the recycle bin: ■ The recycle bin is only available for non-system, locally managed tablespaces. If a table is in a non-system, locally managed tablespace, but one or more of its dependent segments (objects) is in a dictionary-managed tablespace, then these objects are protected by the recycle bin. ■ Tables that have Fine-Grained Auditing (FGA) and Virtual Private Database (VPD) policies defined over them are not protected by the recycle bin. ■ Partitioned index-organized tables are not protected by the recycle bin. ■ The table must not have been purged, either by a user or by Oracle Database because of a space reclamation operation. Performing a Flashback Drop Operation Use the FLASHBACK TABLE ... TO BEFORE DROP statement to recover objects from the recycle bin. You can specify either the name of the table in the recycle bin or the original table name. This section assumes a scenario in which you drop the wrong table. Many times you have been asked to drop tables in the test databases, but in this case you accidentally connect to the production database instead and drop hr.employee_demo. You decide to use FLASHBACK TABLE to retrieve the dropped object. To retrieve a dropped table: 1. Connect SQL*Plus to the target database and obtain the name of the dropped table in the recycle bin. You can use the SQL*Plus command SHOW RECYCLEBIN as follows: SHOW RECYCLEBIN; ORIGINAL NAME RECYCLEBIN NAME TYPE DROP TIME ---------------- --------------------------------- ------------ ------------- EMPLOYEE_DEMO BIN$gk3lsj/3akk5hg3j2lkl5j3d==$0 TABLE 2005-04-11:17:08:54 The ORIGINAL NAME column shows the original name of the object, while the RECYCLEBIN NAME column shows the name of the object as it exists in the bin.
- 345. Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-9 Alternatively, you can query USER_RECYCLEBIN or DBA_RECYCLEBIN to obtain the table name. The following example queries the views to determine the original names of dropped objects: SELECT object_name AS recycle_name, original_name, type FROM recyclebin; RECYCLE_NAME ORIGINAL_NAME TYPE -------------------------------- --------------------- ---------- BIN$gk3lsj/3akk5hg3j2lkl5j3d==$0 EMPLOYEE_DEMO TABLE BIN$JKS983293M1dsab4gsz/I249==$0 I_EMP_DEMO INDEX If you plan to manually restore original names for dependent objects, then ensure that you make note of each dependent object's system-generated recycle bin name before you restore the table. 2. Optionally, query the table in the recycle bin. You must use the recycle bin name of the object in your query rather than the object's original name. The following example queries the table with the recycle bin name of BIN$KSD8DB9L345KLA==$0: SELECT * FROM "BIN$gk3lsj/3akk5hg3j2lkl5j3d==$0"; Quotes are required because of the special characters in the recycle bin name. 3. Retrieve the dropped table. Use the FLASHBACK TABLE ... TO BEFORE DROP statement. The following example restores the BIN$gk3lsj/3akk5hg3j2lkl5j3d==$0 table, changes its name back to hr.employee_demo, and purges its entry from the recycle bin: FLASHBACK TABLE "BIN$gk3lsj/3akk5hg3j2lkl5j3d==$0" TO BEFORE DROP; The table name is enclosed in quotes because of the possibility of special characters appearing in the recycle bin object names. Alternatively, you can use the original name of the table: FLASHBACK TABLE HR.EMPLOYEE_DEMO TO BEFORE DROP; You can also assign a new name to the restored table by specifying the RENAME TO clause. For example: FLASHBACK TABLE "BIN$KSD8DB9L345KLA==$0" TO BEFORE DROP RENAME TO hr.emp_demo; 4. Optionally, verify that all dependent objects retained their system-generated recycle bin names. Note: Object views such as DBA_TABLES do not display the recycle bin objects. Note: If you have the necessary privileges, then you can also use Flashback Query on tables in the recycle bin, but only by using the recycle bin name rather than the original table name. You cannot use DML or DDL statements on objects in the recycle bin.
- 346. Rewinding a DROP TABLE Operation with Flashback Drop 18-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The following query determines the names of the indexes of the retrieved hr.employee_demo table: SELECT INDEX_NAME FROM USER_INDEXES WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'EMPLOYEE_DEMO'; INDEX_NAME ------------------------------ BIN$JKS983293M1dsab4gsz/I249==$0 5. Optionally, rename the retrieved indexes to their original names. The following statement renames the index to its original name of i_emp_demo: ALTER INDEX "BIN$JKS983293M1dsab4gsz/I249==$0" RENAME TO I_EMP_DEMO; 6. If the retrieved table had referential constraints before it was placed in the recycle bin, then re-create them. This step must be performed manually because the recycle bin does not preserve referential constraints on a table. Retrieving Objects When Multiple Objects Share the Same Original Name You can create, and then drop, several objects with the same original name. All the dropped objects are stored in the recycle bin. For example, consider the SQL statements in the following example. Example 18–1 Dropping Multiple Objects with the Same Name CREATE TABLE temp_employees ( ...columns ); # temp_employees version 1 DROP TABLE temp_employees; CREATE TABLE temp_employees ( ...columns ); # temp_employees version 2 DROP TABLE temp_employees; CREATE TABLE temp_employees ( ...columns ); # temp_employees version 3 DROP TABLE temp_employees; In Example 18–1, each table temp_employees is assigned a unique name in the recycle bin when it is dropped. You can use a FLASHBACK TABLE ... TO BEFORE DROP statement with the original name of the table, as shown in this example: FLASHBACK TABLE temp_employees TO BEFORE DROP; The most recently dropped table with this original name is retrieved from the recycle bin, with its original name. Example 18–2 shows the retrieval from the recycle bin of all three dropped temp_employees tables from the previous example, with each assigned a new name. Example 18–2 Renaming Dropped Tables FLASHBACK TABLE temp_employees TO BEFORE DROP RENAME TO temp_employees_VERSION_3; FLASHBACK TABLE temp_employees TO BEFORE DROP RENAME TO temp_employees_VERSION_2; FLASHBACK TABLE temp_employees TO BEFORE DROP RENAME TO temp_employees_VERSION_1;
- 347. Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-11 Because the original name in FLASHBACK TABLE refers to the most recently dropped table with this name, the last table dropped is the first retrieved. You can also retrieve any table from the recycle bin, regardless of any collisions among original names, by using the unique recycle bin name of the table. For example, assume that you query the recycle bin as follows (sample output included): SELECT object_name, original_name, createtime FROM recyclebin; OBJECT_NAME ORIGINAL_NAME CREATETIME ------------------------------ --------------- ------------------- BIN$yrMKlZaLMhfgNAgAIMenRA==$0 TEMP_EMPLOYEES 2007-02-05:21:05:52 BIN$yrMKlZaVMhfgNAgAIMenRA==$0 TEMP_EMPLOYEES 2007-02-05:21:25:13 BIN$yrMKlZaQMhfgNAgAIMenRA==$0 TEMP_EMPLOYEES 2007-02-05:22:05:53 You can use the following command to retrieve the middle table: FLASHBACK TABLE BIN$yrMKlZaVMhfgNAgAIMenRA==$0 TO BEFORE DROP; Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database This section explains the most common scenario for using Flashback Database to reverse unwanted changes to your database. Prerequisites of Flashback Database To use the FLASHBACK DATABASE command to return your database contents to points in time within the flashback window, your database must be configured for flashback logging as described in "Understanding Flashback Database, Restore Points and Guaranteed Restore Points" on page 7-1. To return the database to a guaranteed restore point, you must have defined a guaranteed restore point as described in "Using Normal and Guaranteed Restore Points" on page 7-8. Flashback Database works by undoing changes to the data files that exist at the moment that you run the command. Note the following important prerequisites: ■ No current data files are lost or damaged. You can only use FLASHBACK DATABASE to rewind changes to a data file made by an Oracle database, not to repair media failures. ■ You are not trying to recover from accidental deletion of data files, undo a shrink data file operation, or undo a change to the database name. ■ You are not trying to use FLASHBACK DATABASE to return to a point in time before the restore or re-creation of a control file. If the database control file is restored from backup or re-created, then all accumulated flashback log information is discarded. ■ You are not trying to use FLASHBACK DATABASE to undo a compatibility change. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn how to use Flashback Drop and manage the recycle bin ■ Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for information about the FLASHBACK TABLE statement
- 348. Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database 18-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Performing a Flashback Database Operation This section presents a basic technique for performing a flashback of the database, specifying the desired target point in time with a time expression, the name of a normal or guaranteed restore point, or an SCN. This scenario assumes that you are rewinding the database to a point in time within the current database incarnation. To return the database to the point in time immediately before the most recent OPEN RESETLOGS, see "Rewinding an OPEN RESETLOGS Operation with Flashback Database" on page 18-18. By default, an SCN used in a FLASHBACK DATABASE command refers to an SCN in the direct ancestral path of the database incarnations. As explained in "Database Incarnations" on page 14-5, an incarnation is in this path if it was not abandoned after the database was previously opened with the RESETLOGS option. To retrieve changes in abandoned incarnations, see "Rewinding the Database to an SCN in an Abandoned Incarnation Branch" on page 18-19. To perform a Flashback Database operation: 1. Connect SQL*Plus to the target database and determine the desired SCN, restore point, or point in time for the FLASHBACK DATABASE command. Obtain the earliest SCN in the flashback database window as follows: SELECT OLDEST_FLASHBACK_SCN, OLDEST_FLASHBACK_TIME FROM V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG; The most recent SCN that can be reached with Flashback Database is the current SCN of the database. The following query returns the current SCN: SELECT CURRENT_SCN FROM V$DATABASE; You can query available guaranteed restore points as follows (sample output included): SELECT NAME, SCN, TIME, DATABASE_INCARNATION#, GUARANTEE_FLASHBACK_DATABASE FROM V$RESTORE_POINT WHERE GUARANTEE_FLASHBACK_DATABASE='YES'; NAME SCN TIME DATABASE_INCARNATION# GUA --------------- ---------- --------------------- --------------------- --- BEFORE_CHANGES 5753126 04-MAR-05 12.39.45 AM 2 YES 2. Shut down the database consistently, ensure that it is not opened by any instance, and then mount it: See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for a complete list of command prerequisites and usage notes for FLASHBACK DATABASE Note: If the flashback window does not extend far enough back into the past to reach the desired target time, and if you do not have a guaranteed restore point at the desired time, then you can achieve similar results by using database point-in-time recovery, as described in "Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery" on page 18-15.
- 349. Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-13 SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; STARTUP MOUNT; 3. Repeat the query in Step 1 of this procedure. Some flashback logging data is generated when the database is shut down. If flashback logs were deleted due to space pressure in the fast recovery area, then your target SCN may not be reachable. 4. Start RMAN and connect to the target database. 5. Run the SHOW command to see which channels are preconfigured. During the flashback operation, RMAN may need to restore archived redo logs from backup. Enter the following command to see whether channels are configured (sample output is included): SHOW ALL; RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name PROD1 are: . . . CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE PARALLELISM 1 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET; # default CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARMS "SBT_LIBRARY=/usr/local/oracle/backup/lib/libobk.so"; If the necessary devices and channels are already configured, then no action is necessary. Otherwise, use the CONFIGURE command to configure automatic channels, or include ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands within a RUN block. 6. Run the RMAN FLASHBACK DATABASE command. You can specify the target time by using one of the forms of the command shown in the following examples: FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 46963; FLASHBACK DATABASE TO RESTORE POINT BEFORE_CHANGES; FLASHBACK DATABASE TO TIME "TO_DATE('09/20/05','MM/DD/YY')"; When the FLASHBACK DATABASE command completes, the database is left mounted and recovered to the specified target time. 7. Open the database read-only in SQL*Plus and run some queries to verify the database contents. Open the database read-only as follows: ALTER DATABASE OPEN READ ONLY; Note: If you run FLASHBACK DATABASE when your target SCN is outside the flashback window, then FLASHBACK DATABASE fails with an ORA-38729 error. In this case your database does not change.
- 350. Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database 18-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide If you are satisfied with the state of the database, then end the procedure with Step 8. If you are not satisfied with the state of the database, skip to Step 9. 8. If satisfied with the results, then perform either of the following mutually exclusive actions: ■ Make the database available for updates by opening the database with the RESETLOGS option. If the database is currently open read-only, then execute the following commands in SQL*Plus: SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE STARTUP MOUNT ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; ■ Use Oracle Data Pump Export to make a logical backup of the objects whose state was corrupted. Afterward, use RMAN to recover the database to the present time: RECOVER DATABASE; This step undoes the effect of the Flashback Database by re-applying all changes in the redo logs to the database, returning it to the most recent SCN. After re-opening the database read/write, you can import the exported objects with the Data Pump Import utility. See Oracle Database Utilities to learn how to use Data Pump. 9. If you find that you used the wrong restore point, time, or SCN for the flashback, then mount the database and perform one of the following mutually exclusive options: ■ If your chosen target time was not far enough in the past, then use another FLASHBACK DATABASE command to rewind the database further back in time: FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 42963; #earlier than current SCN ■ If you chose a target SCN that is too far in the past, then use RECOVER DATABASE UNTIL to wind the database forward in time to the desired SCN: RECOVER DATABASE UNTIL SCN 56963; #later than current SCN ■ If you want to completely undo the effect of the FLASHBACK DATABASE command, then you can perform complete recovery of the database by using the RECOVER DATABASE command without an UNTIL clause or SET UNTIL command: RECOVER DATABASE; The RECOVER DATABASE command reapplies all changes to the database, returning it to the most recent SCN. Note: After you perform this OPEN RESETLOGS operation, all changes to the database after the target SCN for FLASHBACK DATABASE are abandoned. Nevertheless, you can use the technique in "Rewinding the Database to an SCN in an Abandoned Incarnation Branch" on page 18-19 to return the database to that range of SCNs while they remain in the flashback window.
- 351. Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-15 Monitoring Flashback Database When you use Flashback Database to rewind a database to a past target time, Flashback Database determines which blocks changed after the target time and restores them from the flashback logs. This is called the restore phase. After this phase completes, Flashback Database then uses redo logs to reapply changes that were made after these blocks were written to the flashback logs. This is called the recovery phase. The progress of Flashback Database during the restore phase can be monitored by querying the V$SESSION_LONGOPS view. The opname is Flashback Database. Under the column TOTALWORK is the number of megabytes of flashback logs that must be read. The column SOFAR in Example 18-3 lists the number of megabytes that have been currently read. Example 18–3 Tracking Flashback Database Progress - Restore Phase SQL> select sofar, totalwork, units from v$session_longops where opname = 'Flashback Database'; SOFAR TOTALWORK UNITS ----- ---------- -------------------------------- 17 60 Megabytes The progress of Flashback Database during the recovery phase can be monitored by querying the view V$RECOVERY_PROGRESS. Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery RMAN DBPITR restores the database from backups before the target time for recovery, then uses incremental backups and redo to roll the database forward to the target time. You can recover to an SCN, time, log sequence number, or restore point. Oracle recommends that you create restore points at important times to make point-in-time recovery more manageable if it ever becomes necessary. Oracle recommends that you perform Flashback Database rather than database point-in-time recovery if possible. Media recovery with backups should be the last option when flashback technologies cannot be used to undo the most recent changes. Prerequisites of Database Point-in-Time Recovery The prerequisites for database point-in-time recovery are as follows: ■ Your database must be running in ARCHIVELOG mode. ■ You must have backups of all data files from before the target SCN for DBPITR and archived logs for the period between the SCN of the backups and the target SCN. For a complete account of command prerequisites and usage notes, refer to the RECOVER entry in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference. Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery This section explains the basic steps of DBPITR. The procedure makes the following assumptions: See Also: The Oracle Database Reference for information on the view V$RECOVERY_PROGRESS.
- 352. Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ You are performing DBPITR within the current database incarnation. If your target time is not in the current incarnation, then see "Recovering the Database to an Ancestor Incarnation" on page 18-20 for more information on DBPITR to ancestor incarnations. ■ The control file is current. If you need to restore a backup control file, then see "Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File" on page 20-4. ■ Your database is using the current server parameter file. If you must restore a backup server parameter file, then see "Restoring the Server Parameter File" on page 20-2. When performing DBPITR, you can avoid errors by using the SET UNTIL command to set the target time at the beginning of the procedure, rather than specifying the UNTIL clause on the RESTORE and RECOVER commands individually. This ensures that the data files restored from backup have timestamps early enough to be used in the subsequent RECOVER operation. To perform DBPITR: 1. Determine the time, SCN, restore point, or log sequence that should end recovery. You can use the Flashback Query features to help you identify when the logical corruption occurred. If you have a flashback data archive enabled for a table, then you can query data that existed far in the past. You can also use the alert log to try to determine the time of the event from which you must recover. Alternatively, you can use a SQL query to determine the log sequence number that contains the target SCN and then recover through this log. For example, run the following query to list the logs in the current database incarnation (sample output included): SELECT RECID, STAMP, THREAD#, SEQUENCE#, FIRST_CHANGE# FIRST_TIME, NEXT_CHANGE# FROM V$ARCHIVED_LOG WHERE RESETLOGS_CHANGE# = ( SELECT RESETLOGS_CHANGE# FROM V$DATABASE_INCARNATION WHERE STATUS = 'CURRENT'); RECID STAMP THREAD# SEQUENCE# FIRST_CHAN FIRST_TIM NEXT_CHANG ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------- ---------- 1 344890611 1 1 20037 24-SEP-05 20043 2 344890615 1 2 20043 24-SEP-05 20045 3 344890618 1 3 20045 24-SEP-05 20046 For example, if you discover that a user accidentally dropped a tablespace at 9:02 a.m., then you can recover to 9 a.m., just before the drop occurred. You lose all changes to the database made after this time. 2. If you are using a target time expression instead of a target SCN, then make sure the time format environment variables are appropriate before invoking RMAN. The following are sample Globalization Support settings: NLS_LANG = american_america.us7ascii NLS_DATE_FORMAT="Mon DD YYYY HH24:MI:SS" 3. Connect RMAN to the target database and, if applicable, the recovery catalog database. Bring the database to a mounted state:
- 353. Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-17 SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; STARTUP MOUNT; 4. Perform the following operations within a RUN block: a. Use SET UNTIL to specify the target time, restore point, SCN, or log sequence number for DBPITR. If specifying a time, then use the date format specified in the NLS_LANG and NLS_DATE_FORMAT environment variables. b. If automatic channels are not configured, then manually allocate disk and tape channels as needed. c. Restore and recover the database. The following example performs DBPITR on the target database until SCN 1000: RUN { SET UNTIL SCN 1000; RESTORE DATABASE; RECOVER DATABASE; } As shown in the following examples, you can also use time expressions, restore points, or log sequence numbers to specify the SET UNTIL time: SET UNTIL TIME 'Nov 15 2004 09:00:00'; SET UNTIL SEQUENCE 9923; SET UNTIL RESTORE POINT before_update; If the operation completes without errors, then DBPITR has succeeded. 5. Open the database read-only in SQL*Plus and perform queries as needed to ensure that the effects of the logical corruption have been reversed. Open the database read-only as follows: ALTER DATABASE OPEN READ ONLY; If you are satisfied with the state of the database, then end the procedure with Step 6. If not satisfied, then you may have chosen the wrong target SCN. In this case, investigate the unwanted change further and determine a new target SCN, then repeat the DBPITR procedure. 6. If satisfied with the results, then perform either of the following mutually exclusive actions: ■ Open your database for read/write, abandoning all changes after the target SCN. In this case, you must shut down the database, mount it, and then execute the following command: ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; The OPEN RESETLOGS operation fails if a data file is offline unless the data file went offline normally or is read-only. You can bring files in read-only or offline normal tablespaces online after the RESETLOGS because they do not need any redo. ■ Export one or more objects from your database with Data Pump Export. You can then recover the database to the current point in time and re-import the exported objects, thus returning these objects to their state before the unwanted change without abandoning all other changes.
- 354. Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios 18-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios This section describes variations on the basic scenarios described in "Rewinding a Database with Flashback Database" on page 18-11 and "Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery" on page 18-15. Rewinding an OPEN RESETLOGS Operation with Flashback Database The procedure for using Flashback Database to reverse an unwanted ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS statement is similar to the general case described in "Performing a Flashback Database Operation" on page 18-12. Rather than specifying a particular SCN or point in time for the FLASHBACK DATABASE command, however, you use FLASHBACK DATABASE TO BEFORE RESETLOGS. To undo an OPEN RESETLOGS operation: 1. Connect SQL*Plus to the target database and verify that the beginning of the flashback window is earlier than the time of the most recent OPEN RESETLOGS. Run the following queries: SELECT RESETLOGS_CHANGE# FROM V$DATABASE; SELECT OLDEST_FLASHBACK_SCN FROM V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG; If V$DATABASE.RESETLOGS_CHANGE# is greater than V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG.OLDEST_FLASHBACK_SCN, then you can use Flashback Database to reverse the OPEN RESETLOGS. 2. Shut down the database, mount it, and recheck the flashback window. If the resetlogs SCN is still within the flashback window, then proceed to the next step. 3. Connect RMAN to the target database and perform a flashback to the SCN immediately before the RESETLOGS. Use the following form of the FLASHBACK DATABASE command: FLASHBACK DATABASE TO BEFORE RESETLOGS; As with other uses of FLASHBACK DATABASE, if the target SCN is before the beginning of the flashback database window, an error is returned and the database is not modified. If the command completes successfully, then the database is left mounted and recovered to the most recent SCN before the OPEN RESETLOGS in the previous incarnation. 4. Open the database read-only in SQL*Plus and perform queries as needed to ensure that the effects of the logical corruption have been reversed. Open the database read-only as follows: ALTER DATABASE OPEN READ ONLY; 5. To make the database available for updates again, shut down the database, mount it, and then execute the following command: ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; Undoing an OPEN RESETLOGS on Standby Databases with Flashback Database Flashback Database across OPEN RESETLOGS may be used to perform the following functions in a Data Guard environment:
- 355. Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-19 ■ Flashback to undo logical standby switchovers In this case, the database reverts to its role (primary or standby) at the target time for the Flashback Database operation. ■ Undo of a physical standby activation You can temporarily activate a physical standby database, use it for testing or reporting purposes, and then use Flashback Database to return it to its role as a physical standby. ■ Ongoing use of a standby database for testing The use of Flashback Database means that you do are not require the use of storage snapshots. Rewinding the Database to an SCN in an Abandoned Incarnation Branch The effect of Flashback Database or DBPITR followed by an OPEN RESETLOGS is to return the database to a previous SCN, and to abandon changes after this point. Therefore, some SCNs after that point can refer either to changes that were abandoned or changes in the current history of the database. In this way, a target SCN specified in FLASHBACK DATABASE can be ambiguous. Unlike SCNs, time expressions and restore points are not ambiguous. A time expression is always associated with the incarnation that was current at that time. A restore point is always associated with the current incarnation when it was created. This is true even for times and restore points that correspond to abandoned database incarnations. The database incarnation is automatically reset to the incarnation that was current at the specified time or when the restore point was created. You may want to use Flashback Database to rewind the database to an SCN in the parent incarnation that is later than the SCN of the OPEN RESETLOGS at which the current incarnation path branched from the old incarnation. Figure 14–1, "Database Incarnation History" on page 14-7 shows how SCNs can be generated in an incarnation branch even after an OPEN RESETLOGS creates a new incarnation. As shown in the diagram, the database could be at SCN 3000 in incarnation 3 when you must return to the abandoned SCN 1500 in incarnation 1. If the SCN to which you are rewinding is in the direct ancestral path, or if you are rewinding the database to a restore point, then an explicit RESET DATABASE is not necessary for Flashback Database. However, an explicit RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION command is required when using FLASHBACK DATABASE to rewind the database to an SCN in an abandoned database incarnation. To rewind the database to an SCN in an abandoned incarnation branch: 1. Use SQL*Plus to connect to the target database and verify that the flashback logs contain enough information to flash back to the SCN. For example, execute the following query: SELECT OLDEST_FLASHBACK_SCN FROM V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG; 2. Determine the target incarnation number for the Flashback Database operation, that is, the incarnation key for the parent incarnation. See Also: Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration for details on these advanced applications of Flashback Database with Data Guard
- 356. Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios 18-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide For example, execute the following query: SELECT PRIOR_INCARNATION# FROM V$DATABASE_INCARNATION WHERE STATUS = 'CURRENT'; 3. Start RMAN and connect to the target database. 4. Shut down the database, and then mount it as follows: SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; STARTUP MOUNT; 5. Set the database incarnation to the parent incarnation. For example, use the following command to return to incarnation 1: RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION 1; 6. Run the FLASHBACK DATABASE command, specifying the target SCN. For example, use the following command to rewind the database to SCN 1500: FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 1500; 7. Open the database read-only in SQL*Plus and perform queries as needed to ensure that the effects of the logical corruption have been reversed. Open the database read-only as follows: ALTER DATABASE OPEN READ ONLY; 8. To make the database available for updates again, shut down the database, mount it, and then execute the following command: ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; Recovering the Database to an Ancestor Incarnation The procedure for DBPITR within the current incarnation is different from DBPITR to an SCN in a noncurrent incarnation. In the latter case, you must explicitly execute the RESET DATABASE to reset the database to the incarnation that was current at the target SCN. Also, you must restore a control file from the database incarnation containing the target SCN. When RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog, a RESTORE CONTROLFILE command only searches the current database incarnation for the closest time specified in the UNTIL clause. To restore a control file from a noncurrent incarnation, you must execute LIST INCARNATION to identify the target database incarnation and specify this incarnation in the RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION command. When RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog, you cannot execute the RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION command before the database is mounted. Thus, you must execute SET UNTIL, restore the control file from autobackup, and then mount it. See Also: ■ "Database Incarnations" on page 14-5 for useful background information about database incarnations, abandoned changes, and the effects of ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for details about the RESET DATABASE command
- 357. Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios Performing Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery 18-21 Assume the following situation: ■ RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog. ■ You have a backup of target database trgt from October 2, 2007. ■ DBPITR was performed on this database on October 10, 2007 to correct an earlier error. The OPEN RESETLOGS operation at the end of that DBPITR started a new incarnation. On October 25, you discover that you need crucial data that was dropped from the database at 8:00 a.m. on October 8, 2007. This time is before the beginning of the current incarnation. To perform DBPITR to a noncurrent incarnation: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. 2. Determine which database incarnation was current at the time of the backup. Use LIST INCARNATION to find the primary key of the incarnation that was current at the target time: LIST INCARNATION OF DATABASE trgt; List of Database Incarnations DB Key Inc Key DB Name DB ID STATUS Reset SCN Reset Time ------- ------- ------- ------ ------- ---------- ---------- 1 2 TRGT 1224038686 PARENT 1 02-OCT-06 1 582 TRGT 1224038686 CURRENT 59727 10-OCT-06 Look at the Reset SCN and Reset Time columns to identify the correct incarnation, and note the incarnation key in the Inc Key column. In this example, the backup was made 2 October 2007. In this case, the incarnation key value is 2. 3. Make sure the database is started but not mounted. STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT 4. Reset the target database to the incarnation obtained in Step 2. In this example, specify the incarnation current at the time of the backup of 2 October. Use the value from the Inc Key column to identify the incarnation. RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION 2; 5. Restore and recover the database, performing the following actions in the RUN command: ■ Set the end time for recovery to the time just before the loss of the data. ■ Allocate any channels required that are not already configured. ■ Restore the control file from the October 2 backup and mount it. ■ Restore the data files and recover the database. Use the RECOVER DATABASE ... UNTIL command to perform DBPITR, bringing the database to the target time of 7:55 a.m. on October 8, just before the data was lost. The following example shows all of the steps required in this case: RUN { SET UNTIL TIME 'Oct 8 2007 07:55:00'; RESTORE CONTROLFILE; # without recovery catalog, use RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP
- 358. Flashback and Database Point-in-Time Recovery Scenarios 18-22 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ALTER DATABASE MOUNT; RESTORE DATABASE; RECOVER DATABASE; } ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for details about the RESET DATABASE command
- 359. 19 Performing Block Media Recovery 19-1 19 Performing Block Media Recovery This chapter explains how to restore and recover individual data blocks within a data file. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Overview of Block Media Recovery ■ Prerequisites for Block Media Recovery ■ Recovering Individual Blocks ■ Recovering All Blocks in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION Overview of Block Media Recovery This section explains the purpose and basic concepts of block media recovery. Purpose of Block Media Recovery You can use block media recovery to recover one or more corrupt data blocks within a data file. Block media recovery provides the following advantages over data file media recovery: ■ Lowers the mean time to recover (MTTR) because only blocks needing recovery are restored and recovered ■ Enables affected data files to remain online during recovery Without block media recovery, if even a single block is corrupt, then you must take the data file offline and restore a backup of the data file. You must apply all redo generated for the data file after the backup was created. The entire file is unavailable until media recovery completes. With block media recovery, only the blocks actually being recovered are unavailable during the recovery. Block media recovery is most useful for physical corruption problems that involve a small, well-known number of blocks. Block-level data loss usually results from intermittent, random I/O errors that do not cause widespread data loss, and memory corruptions that are written to disk. Block media recovery is not intended for cases where the extent of data loss or corruption is unknown and the entire data file requires recovery. In such cases, data file media recovery is the best solution. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RECOVER syntax ■ Oracle Database Reference for details about the V$DATABASE_ BLOCK_CORRUPTION view
- 360. Overview of Block Media Recovery 19-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Basic Concepts of Block Media Recovery Usually, the database marks a block as media corrupt and then writes it to disk when the corruption is first encountered. No subsequent read of the block is successful until the block is recovered. You can perform block recovery only on blocks that are marked corrupt or that fail a corruption check. If the database on which the corruption occurs is associated with a real-time query physical standby database, then the database automatically attempts to perform block media recovery. The primary database searches for good copies of blocks on the standby database and, if they are found, repairs the blocks with no impact to the query that encountered the corrupt block. The Oracle Database physical block corruption message (ORA-1578) is displayed only if the database cannot repair the corruption. Whenever block corruption has been automatically detected, you can perform block media recovery manually with the RECOVER ... BLOCK command. By default, RMAN first searches for good blocks in the real-time query physical standby database, then flashback logs and then blocks in full or level 0 incremental backups. If a corrupt data block is discovered on a real-time query physical standby database, the server attempts to repair the corruption by obtaining a copy of the block from the primary database. The repair is performed in the background, enabling subsequent queries to succeed if the repair is successful. Automatic block repair is attempted if the following database initialization parameters are configured on the standby database as described: ■ The LOG_ARCHIVE_CONFIG parameter is configured with a DG_CONFIG list and a LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n parameter is configured for the primary database with the DB_UNIQUE_NAME attribute or ■ The FAL_SERVER parameter is configured and its value contains an Oracle Net service name for the primary database Identification of Corrupt Blocks The V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view displays blocks marked corrupt by database components such as RMAN, ANALYZE, dbv, and SQL queries. The following types of corruption result in the addition of rows to this view: ■ Physical corruption (sometimes called media corruption) Note: For block media recovery to work automatically, the physical standby database must be in real-time query mode. An Oracle Active Data Guard license is required. Note: If a corrupt block is detected during validation, such as by the RMAN VALIDATE command, then recovery is not initiated automatically. See Also: ■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RECOVER ... BLOCK syntax ■ Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn about the real-time query option for standby databases
- 361. Overview of Block Media Recovery Performing Block Media Recovery 19-3 The database does not recognize the block: the checksum is invalid, the block contains all zeros, or the block header is corrupt. Physical corruption checking is enabled by default. You can turn off checksum checking by specifying the NOCHECKSUM option of the BACKUP command, but other physical consistency checks, such as checks of the block headers and footers, cannot be disabled. ■ Logical corruption The block has a valid checksum, the header and footer match, and so on, but the contents are logically inconsistent. Block media recovery may not be able to repair all logical block corruptions. In these cases, alternate recovery methods, such as tablespace point-in-time recovery, or dropping and re-creating the affected objects, may repair the corruption. Logical corruption checking is disabled by default. You can turn it on by specifying the CHECK LOGICAL option of the BACKUP, RESTORE, RECOVER, and VALIDATE commands. The database can detect some corruptions by validating relationships between blocks and segments, but cannot detect them by a check of an individual block. The V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view does not record at this level of granularity. Missing Redo During Block Recovery Like data file media recovery, block media recovery cannot generally survive a missing or inaccessible archived log, although it attempts restore failover when looking for usable copies of archived redo log files, as described in "Restore Failover" on page 14-4. Also, block media recovery cannot survive physical redo corruptions that result in checksum failure. However, block media recovery can survive gaps in the redo stream if the missing or corrupt redo records do not affect the blocks being recovered. Whereas data file recovery requires an unbroken series of redo changes from the beginning of recovery to the end, block media recovery only requires an unbroken set of redo changes for the blocks being recovered. When RMAN first detects missing or corrupt redo records during block media recovery, it does not immediately signal an error because the block undergoing recovery may create one later in the redo stream. When a block is re-created, all previous redo for that block becomes irrelevant because the redo applies to an old incarnation of the block. For example, the database creates a new a block when users drop or truncate a table and then use the block for other data. Assume that media recovery is performed on block 13 as depicted in Figure 19–1. Note: Each block is recovered independently during block media recovery, so recovery may be successful for a subset of blocks.
- 362. Prerequisites for Block Media Recovery 19-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Figure 19–1 Performing RMAN Media Recovery After block recovery begins, RMAN discovers that change 120 is missing from the redo stream, either because the log block is corrupt or because the log cannot be found. RMAN continues recovery assuming that block 13 will be re-created later in the redo stream. Assume that in change 140 a user drops the table employees stored in block 13, allocates a new table in this block, and inserts data into the new table. At this point, the database formats block 13 as a new block. Recovery can now proceed with this block even though some redo preceding the recreation operation was missing. Prerequisites for Block Media Recovery The following prerequisites apply to the RECOVER ... BLOCK command: ■ The target database must run in ARCHIVELOG mode and be open or mounted with a current control file. ■ If the target database is a standby database, then it must be in a consistent state, recovery cannot be in session, and the backup must be older than the corrupted file. ■ The backups of the data files containing the corrupt blocks must be full or level 0 backups and not proxy copies. If only proxy copy backups exist, then you can restore them to a nondefault location on disk, in which case RMAN considers them data file copies and searches them for blocks during block media recovery. ■ RMAN can use only archived redo logs for the recovery. RMAN cannot use level 1 incremental backups. Block media recovery cannot survive a missing or inaccessible archived redo log, although it can sometimes survive missing redo records. ■ Flashback Database must be enabled on the target database for RMAN to search the flashback logs for good copies of corrupt blocks. If flashback logging is enabled and contains older, uncorrupted versions of the corrupt blocks, then RMAN can use these blocks, possibly speeding up the recovery. ■ The target database must be associated with a real-time query physical standby database for RMAN to search the database for good copies of corrupt blocks. Recovering Individual Blocks Typically, block corruption is reported in the following locations: ■ Results of the LIST FAILURE, VALIDATE, or BACKUP ... VALIDATE command ■ The V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view Block 13 is restored in datafile 4 Missing redo for block 13 Block 13 is newed Last change for block 13 Redo application Change 100 Change 120 Change 160Change 140
- 363. Recovering All Blocks in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION Performing Block Media Recovery 19-5 ■ Error messages in standard output ■ The alert log ■ User trace files ■ Results of the SQL commands ANALYZE TABLE and ANALYZE INDEX ■ Results of the DBVERIFY utility ■ Third-party media management output For example, you may discover the following messages in a user trace file: ORA-01578: ORACLE data block corrupted (file # 7, block # 3) ORA-01110: data file 7: '/oracle/oradata/trgt/tools01.dbf' ORA-01578: ORACLE data block corrupted (file # 2, block # 235) ORA-01110: data file 2: '/oracle/oradata/trgt/undotbs01.dbf' In the following procedure, you identify the blocks that require recovery and then use any available backup to restore and recover these blocks. To recover specific data blocks: 1. Obtain the data file numbers and block numbers of the corrupted blocks. The easiest way to locate trace files and the alert log is to connect SQL*Plus to the target database and execute the following query: SELECT NAME, VALUE FROM V$DIAG_INFO; 2. Start RMAN and connect to the target database, which must be mounted or open. 3. Run the SHOW ALL command to confirm that the appropriate channels are preconfigured. 4. Run the RECOVER ... BLOCK command at the RMAN prompt, specifying the file and block numbers for the corrupted blocks. The following example recovers two blocks. RECOVER DATAFILE 8 BLOCK 13 DATAFILE 2 BLOCK 19; You can also specify various options to control RMAN behavior. The following example indicates that only backups with the tag mondayam are used when searching for blocks. You could use the FROM BACKUPSET option to restrict the type of backup that RMAN searches, or the EXCLUDE FLASHBACK LOG option to restrict RMAN from searching the flashback logs. RECOVER DATAFILE 8 BLOCK 13 DATAFILE 2 BLOCK 199 FROM TAG mondayam; Recovering All Blocks in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION In this scenario, RMAN automatically recovers all blocks listed in the V$DATABASE_ BLOCK_CORRUPTION view. To recover all blocks logged in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database.
- 364. Recovering All Blocks in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION 19-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 2. Query V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION to determine whether corrupt blocks exist. For example, execute the following statement: SQL> SELECT * FROM V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION; 3. Start RMAN and connect to the target database. 4. Recover all blocks marked corrupt in V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION. The following command repairs all physically corrupted blocks recorded in the view: RMAN> RECOVER CORRUPTION LIST; After the blocks are recovered, the database removes them from V$DATABASE_ BLOCK_CORRUPTION. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn about the RECOVER ... BLOCK command
- 365. 20 Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-1 20 Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios The preceding chapters in Part V, "Diagnosing and Responding to Failures" cover the most basic recovery scenarios and are intended to be as generic as possible. The scenarios in this chapter are less common or are more complicated than the basic scenarios. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Recovering a NOARCHIVELOG Database with Incremental Backups ■ Restoring the Server Parameter File ■ Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File ■ Performing Disaster Recovery ■ Restoring a Database on a New Host Recovering a NOARCHIVELOG Database with Incremental Backups Restoring a database running in NOARCHIVELOG mode is similar to restoring a database in ARCHIVELOG mode. The main differences are: ■ Only consistent backups can be used in restoring a database in NOARCHIVELOG mode. ■ Media recovery is not possible because no archived redo logs exist. You can perform limited recovery of changes to a database running in NOARCHIVELOG mode by applying incremental backups. The incremental backups must be consistent, like all backups of a database run in NOARCHIVELOG mode, so you cannot make backups of the database when it is open. When you are recovering a NOARCHIVELOG database, specify the NOREDO option on the RECOVER command to indicate that RMAN should not attempt to apply archived redo logs. Otherwise, RMAN returns an error. To recover a NOARCHIVELOG database with incremental backups: 1. After connecting to the target database and the recovery catalog, place the database in a mounted state: STARTUP FORCE MOUNT 2. Restore and recover the database. For example, you can perform incomplete recovery with the following commands:
- 366. Restoring the Server Parameter File 20-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RESTORE DATABASE FROM TAG "consistent_whole_backup"; RECOVER DATABASE NOREDO; 3. Open the database with the RESETLOGS option. For example, enter the following command: ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; Restoring the Server Parameter File If you lose the server parameter file, then RMAN can restore it to its default location or to a location of your choice. Unlike the loss of the control file, the loss of the server parameter file does not cause the instance to immediately stop. The instance may continue operating, although you must shut it down and restart it after restoring the server parameter file. Note the following considerations when restoring the server parameter file: ■ If the instance is already started with the server parameter file, then you cannot overwrite the existing server parameter file. ■ When the instance is started with a client-side initialization parameter file, RMAN restores the server parameter file to the default location if the TO clause is not used in the restore command. The default location is platform-specific, for example, ?/dbs/spfile.ora on Linux. ■ A recovery catalog simplifies the recovery procedure because you can avoid recording and remembering the DBID. This procedure assumes that you are not using a recovery catalog. To restore the server parameter file from autobackup: 1. Start RMAN and do one of the following: ■ If the database instance is started at the time of the loss of the server parameter file, then connect to the target database. ■ If the database instance is not started when the server parameter file is lost, and if you are not using a recovery catalog, then run the SET DBID command to set the DBID of the target database. See "Determining the DBID of the Database" on page 17-5 for details on determining the DBID. 2. Shut down the database instance and restart it without mounting the database. When the server parameter file is not available, RMAN starts the instance with a dummy parameter file. For example, enter the following command: STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT; 3. Execute a RUN command to restore the server parameter file. Depending on the situation, you may need to execute multiple commands in the RUN command. Note the following considerations: ■ If restoring from tape, then use ALLOCATE CHANNEL to allocate an SBT channel manually. If restoring from disk, then RMAN uses the default disk channel. ■ If the autobackups were not produced with the default format (%F), then use the SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FOR DEVICE TYPE command to specify the format in effect when the autobackup was performed.
- 367. Restoring the Server Parameter File Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-3 ■ If the most recent autobackup was not created today, then use SET UNTIL to specify the date from which to start the search. ■ If RMAN is not connected to a recovery catalog, then use SET DBID to set the DBID for the target database. ■ To restore the server parameter file to a nondefault location, specify the TO clause or TO PFILE clause on the RESTORE SPFILE command. ■ If you know that RMAN never produces more than n autobackups each day, then you can set the RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP ... MAXSEQ parameter to n to reduce the search time. MAXSEQ is set to 255 by default, and RESTORE counts backward from MAXSEQ to find the last backup of the day. To terminate the restore operation if you do not find the autobackup in the current day (or specified day), set MAXDAYS 1 on the RESTORE command. The following example illustrates a RUN command that restores a server parameter file from an autobackup on tape: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS ...; SET UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-7'; SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO '/disk1/control_files/autobackup_%F'; SET DBID 123456789; RESTORE SPFILE TO '/tmp/spfileTEMP.ora' FROM AUTOBACKUP MAXDAYS 10; } 4. Restart the database instance with the restored file. If you are restarting RMAN with a server parameter file in a nondefault location, then create an initialization parameter file with the line SPFILE=new_location, where new_location is the path name of the restored server parameter file. Then, restart the instance with the client-side initialization parameter file. For example, create a file /tmp/init.ora which contains the single line: SPFILE=/tmp/spfileTEMP.ora You can use the following RMAN command to restart the instance with the restored server parameter file: STARTUP FORCE PFILE=/tmp/init.ora; Restoring the Server Parameter File from a Control File Autobackup If you have configured control file autobackups, then the server parameter file is backed up with the control file whenever an autobackup is taken. To restore the server parameter file from the control file autobackup, you must first set the DBID for your database and then use the RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP command. If the autobackup is in a nondefault format, then first use the SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT command to specify the format. Example 20–1 sets the DBID and restores the server parameter file from a control file autobackup in a nondefault location.
- 368. Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File 20-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Example 20–1 Restoring the Server Parameter File from a Control File Autobackup SET DBID 320066378; RUN { SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 'autobackup_format'; RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; } RMAN uses the autobackup format and DBID to hunt for control file autobackups. If a control file autobackup is found, then RMAN restores the server parameter file from that backup to its default location. To learn how to determine the correct value for autobackup_format, see the description of CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT in the entry for the CONFIGURE command in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference. Creating an Initialization Parameter File with RMAN You can also restore the server parameter file as a client-side initialization parameter file with the TO PFILE 'filename' clause. The file name that you specify should be on a file system accessible from the host where the RMAN client is running. This file need not be accessible directly from the host running the instance. The following RMAN command creates an initialization parameter file named /tmp/initTEMP.ora on the system running the RMAN client: RESTORE SPFILE TO PFILE '/tmp/initTEMP.ora'; To restart the instance with the initialization parameter file, use the following command, again running RMAN on the same client host: STARTUP FORCE PFILE='/tmp/initTEMP.ora'; Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File This section explains what to do when all current control files are lost and you must restore a backup control file. About Recovery with a Backup Control File If all copies of the current control file are lost or damaged, then you must restore and mount a backup control file. You must then run the RECOVER command, even if no data files have been restored, and open the database with the RESETLOGS option. If some copies of the current control file are usable, however, then you can follow the procedure in "Responding to the Loss of a Subset of the Current Control Files" on page 30-1 and avoid the recovery and RESETLOGS operation. During recovery, RMAN automatically searches for online and archived logs that are not recorded in the RMAN repository and catalogs any that it finds. RMAN attempts to find a valid archived redo log in any current archiving destination with the current log format. The current format is specified in the initialization parameter file used to start the instance (or all instances in an Oracle RAC configuration). Similarly, RMAN attempts to find the online redo logs by using the file names listed in the control file. See Also: "Determining the DBID of the Database" on page 17-5 for details on how to determine the DBID
- 369. Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-5 If you changed the archiving destination or format during recovery, or if you added new online log members after the backup of the control file, then RMAN may not be able to automatically catalog a needed online or archived log. Whenever RMAN cannot find online redo logs and you did not specify an UNTIL time, RMAN reports errors similar to the following: RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of recover command at 08/29/2007 14:23:09 RMAN-06054: media recovery requesting unknown log: thread 1 scn 86945 In this case, you must use the CATALOG command to manually add the required redo logs to the repository so that recovery can proceed. Control File Locations When you are restoring the control file, the default destination is all of the locations defined in the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter. If you do not set the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter, then the database uses the same rules to determine the destination for the restored control file that it uses when creating a control file if the CONTROL_FILES parameter is not set. These rules are described in Oracle Database SQL Language Reference in the description of the CREATE CONTROLFILE statement. One way to restore the control file to one or more new locations is to change the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter, and then use the RESTORE CONTROLFILE command with no arguments to restore the control file to the default locations. For example, if you are restoring your control file after a disk failure made some but not all CONTROL_FILES locations unusable, you can change CONTROL_FILES to replace references to the failed disk with path names pointing to another disk, and then run RESTORE CONTROLFILE with no arguments. You can also restore the control file to any location that you choose other than the CONTROL_FILES locations, by using the form RESTORE CONTROLFILE TO 'filename': RESTORE CONTROLFILE TO '/tmp/my_controlfile'; You can perform this operation with the database in NOMOUNT, MOUNT, or OPEN states, because you are not overwriting any of the control files currently in use. Any existing file named 'filename' is overwritten. After restoring the control file to a new location, you can then update the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter to include the new location. Recovery With and Without a Recovery Catalog When RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog, the recovery procedure with a backup control file is identical to recovery with a current control file. The RMAN metadata missing from the backup control file is available from the recovery catalog. See Also: The discussion of RESTORE CONTROLFILE in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for more details about restrictions on using RESTORE CONTROLFILE in different scenarios (such as when using a recovery catalog, or restoring from a specific backup) See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for RESTORE CONTROLFILE syntax
- 370. Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File 20-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The only exception is if the database name is not unique in the catalog, in which case you must use SET DBID command before restoring the control file. If you are not using a recovery catalog, then you must restore your control file from an autobackup. To restore the control file from autobackup, the database must be in a NOMOUNT state. As shown in Example 20–2, you must first set the DBID for your database, and then use the RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP command. Example 20–2 Setting the DBID and Restoring the Control File from Autobackup SET DBID 320066378; RUN { SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 'autobackup_format'; RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; } RMAN uses the autobackup format and DBID to determine where to hunt for the control file autobackup. If one is found, RMAN restores the control file to all control file locations listed in the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter. Recovery When Using a Fast Recovery Area The commands for restoring a control file are the same whether or not the database uses a fast recovery area. If the database uses a recovery area, then RMAN updates a control file restored from backup by crosschecking all disk-based backups and image copies recorded in the control file. RMAN catalogs any backups in the recovery area that are not recorded. As a result, the restored control file has a complete and accurate record of all backups in the recovery area and any other backups known to the control file at the time of the backup. RMAN does not automatically crosscheck tape backups after restoring a control file. If you are using tape backups, then you can restore and mount the control file, and optionally crosscheck the backups on tape, as shown in the following example: CROSSCHECK BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt; Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File and No Recovery Catalog This section assumes that you have RMAN backups of the control file, but do not use a recovery catalog. It also assumes that you enabled the control file autobackup feature for the target database and can restore an autobackup of the control file. Because the autobackup uses a well-known format, RMAN can restore it even though it does not have a repository available that lists the available backups. You can restore the autobackup to the default or a new location. RMAN replicates the control file to all CONTROL_FILES locations automatically. See Also: ■ The description of CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT in the entry for CONFIGURE in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference to learn how to determine the correct value for the autobackup format. ■ See "Determining the DBID of the Database" on page 17-5 to learn how to determine your DBID.
- 371. Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-7 Because you are not connected to a recovery catalog, the RMAN repository contains only information about available backups at the time of the control file backup. If you know the location of other usable backup sets or image copies, then add them to the control file RMAN repository with the CATALOG command. To recover the database with a control file autobackup in NOCATALOG mode: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database. 2. Start the target database instance without mounting the database. For example: STARTUP NOMOUNT; 3. Set the database identifier for the target database with the SET DBID command. RMAN displays the DBID whenever you connect to a target database. You can also obtain it by inspecting saved RMAN log files, querying the catalog, or looking at the file names of control file autobackup. For example, run: SET DBID 676549873; 4. Write an RMAN command file to restore the autobackup control file and perform recovery. The command file should contain the following steps: a. Optionally, specify the most recent backup time stamp that RMAN can use when searching for a control file autobackup to restore. b. If you know that a different control file autobackup format was in effect when the control file autobackup was created, then specify a nondefault format for the restore of the control file. c. If an SBT channel created the control file autobackup, then allocate one or more SBT channels. Because no recovery catalog is available, you cannot use preconfigured channels. d. Restore the autobackup of the control file, optionally setting the maximum number of days backward that RMAN can search and the initial sequence number that it should use in its search for the first day. e. If you know that the control file contained information about configured channels that are useful in the rest of the restore process, then you can exit RMAN to clear manually allocated channels from Step c. If you restart the RMAN client and mount the database, then these configured channels are available for your use. If you do not care about using configured channels from your control file, then you can simply mount the database. f. This step depends on whether the online redo logs are available. The option OPEN RESETLOGS is always required after recovery with a backup control file, regardless of whether logs are available. Note: If you know the backup piece name that contains the control file (for example, from the media manager or because the piece is on disk), then you can specify the piece name using the RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM 'filename' command. The database records the location of every autobackup in the alert log.
- 372. Performing Disaster Recovery 20-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide If the online redo logs are usable, then RMAN can find and apply these logs. Perform a complete restore and recovery as described in "Performing Complete Database Recovery" on page 17-10. If the online redo logs are unusable, then perform DBPITR as described in "Performing Database Point-in-Time Recovery" on page 18-15. An UNTIL clause is required to specify a target time, SCN, or log sequence number for the recovery before the first SCN of the online redo logs (otherwise, RMAN issues the RMAN-6054 error). In the following example, the online redo log files have been lost, and the most recent archived redo log sequence number is 13243. This example shows how to restore the control file autobackup and recover through the latest log. RUN { # Optionally, set upper limit for eligible time stamps of control file # backups # SET UNTIL TIME '09/10/2007 13:45:00'; # Specify a nondefault autobackup format only if required # SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK # TO '?/oradata/%F.bck'; ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS '...'; # allocate manually RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP MAXSEQ 100 # start at sequence 100 and count down MAXDAYS 180; # start at UNTIL TIME and search back 6 months ALTER DATABASE MOUNT DATABASE; } # Now use automatic channels configured in restored control file RESTORE DATABASE UNTIL SEQUENCE 13244; RECOVER DATABASE UNTIL SEQUENCE 13244; 5. If recovery was successful, then open the database and reset the online logs: ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; Performing Disaster Recovery Disaster recovery includes the restoration and recovery of the target database after the loss of the entire target database, the recovery catalog database, all current control files, all online redo log files, and all parameter files. Prerequisites of Disaster Recovery To perform a disaster recovery, you must have the following: ■ Backups of all data files ■ All archived redo logs generated after the creation time of the oldest backup that you intend to restore ■ At least one control file autobackup ■ A record of the DBID of the database Note: When specifying log sequences, if the last created archived redo log has sequence n, then specify UNTIL SEQUENCE n+1 so that RMAN applies n and then stops.
- 373. Performing Disaster Recovery Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-9 Recovering the Database After a Disaster The procedure for disaster recovery is similar to the procedure for recovering the database with a backup control file in NOCATALOG mode. If you are restoring the database to a new host, then you should also review the considerations described in "Restoring a Database on a New Host" on page 20-11. This scenario assumes that the Linux server on which your database was running has been damaged beyond repair. Fortunately, you backed up the database to Oracle Secure Backup and have the tapes available. The scenario assumes the following: ■ Oracle Database is already installed on the new host. ■ You are restoring the database to a new Linux host with the same directory structure as the old host. ■ You have one tape drive containing backups of all the data files and archived redo logs through log 1124, and autobackups of the control file and server parameter file. ■ You do not use a recovery catalog with the database. To recover the database on the new host: 1. If possible, restore or re-create all relevant network files such as tnsnames.ora and listener.ora and a password file. 2. Start RMAN and connect to the target database instance. At this stage, no initialization parameter file exists. If you have set ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME, then you can use operating system authentication to connect as SYSDBA. For example, start RMAN as follows: % rman RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / 3. Specify the DBID for the target database with the SET DBID command, as described in "Restoring the Server Parameter File" on page 20-2. For example, enter the following command: SET DBID 676549873; 4. Run the STARTUP NOMOUNT command. When the server parameter file is not available, RMAN attempts to start the instance with a dummy server parameter file. 5. Allocate a channel to the media manager and then restore the server parameter file from autobackup. For example, enter the following command to restore the server parameter file from Oracle Secure Backup: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt; RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; } 6. Restart the instance with the restored server parameter file. STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT;
- 374. Performing Disaster Recovery 20-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 7. Write a command file to perform the restore and recovery operation, and then execute the command file. The command file should do the following: a. Allocate a channel to the media manager. b. Restore a control file autobackup (see "Performing Recovery with a Backup Control File and No Recovery Catalog" on page 20-6). c. Mount the restored control file. d. Catalog any backups not recorded in the repository with the CATALOG command. e. Restore the data files to their original locations. If volume names have changed, then run SET NEWNAME commands before the restore operation and perform a switch after the restore operation to update the control file with the new locations for the data files, as shown in the following example. f. Recover the data files. RMAN stops recovery when it reaches the log sequence number specified. RMAN> RUN { # Manually allocate a channel to the media manager ALLOCATE CHANNEL t1 DEVICE TYPE sbt; # Restore autobackup of the control file. This example assumes that you have # accepted the default format for the autobackup name. RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; # The set until command is used in case the database # structure has changed in the most recent backups, and you want to # recover to that point in time. In this way RMAN restores the database # to the same structure that the database had at the specified time. ALTER DATABASE MOUNT; SET UNTIL SEQUENCE 1124 THREAD 1; RESTORE DATABASE; RECOVER DATABASE; } The following example of the RUN command shows the same scenario except with new file names for the restored data files: RMAN> RUN { # If you must restore the files to new locations, # use SET NEWNAME commands: SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 1 TO '/dev/vgd_1_0/rlvt5_500M_1'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 2 TO '/dev/vgd_1_0/rlvt5_500M_2'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 3 TO '/dev/vgd_1_0/rlvt5_500M_3'; ALLOCATE CHANNEL t1 DEVICE TYPE sbt; RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; ALTER DATABASE MOUNT; SET UNTIL SEQUENCE 124 THREAD 1; RESTORE DATABASE; SWITCH DATAFILE ALL; # Update control file with new location of data files. RECOVER DATABASE; } 8. If recovery was successful, then open the database and reset the online logs: ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS;
- 375. Restoring a Database on a New Host Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-11 Restoring a Database on a New Host If your goal is to perform a test run of your disaster recovery procedures, or to permanently move a database to a new host, then you can use the procedure in this section. This procedure uses the RESTORE and RECOVER commands. If you use the procedure in this section, then the DBID for the restored database equals the DBID for the original database. Do not register a test database created in this way in the same recovery catalog as the source database. Because the DBID of the two databases is the same, the metadata for the test database can interfere with RMAN's ability to restore and recover the source database. If your goal is to create a new copy of your target database for ongoing use on a new host, then use the RMAN DUPLICATE command instead of this procedure. The DUPLICATE command assigns a new DBID to the database it creates, enabling it to be registered in the same recovery catalog as the original database. Preparing to Restore a Database on a New Host To prepare for the restoration of the database to a new host, take the following steps: ■ Record the DBID for your source database. If you do not know the DBID for your database, then see "Determining the DBID of the Database" on page 17-5 to learn how to determine the DBID. ■ Make the source database initialization parameter file accessible on the new host. Copy the file from the old host to a new host by using an operating system utility. ■ If you perform a test restore operation only, then ensure that RMAN is not connected to the recovery catalog. Otherwise, RMAN records metadata about the restored data files in the recovery catalog. This metadata interferes with future attempts to restore and recover the primary database. If you must use a recovery catalog because the control file is not large enough to contain the RMAN repository data on all of the backups that you must restore, then use Oracle Data Pump to export the catalog and import it into a different schema or database. Afterward, use the copied recovery catalog for the test restore. Otherwise, the recovery catalog considers the restored database as the current target database. ■ Ensure that backups used for the restore operation are accessible on the restore host. For example, if the backups were made with a media manager, then verify that the tape device is connected to the new host. If you are using disk copies, then use the procedure in the following section. ■ If you are performing a trial restore of the production database, then perform either of the following actions before restoring the database in the test environment: – If the test database uses a fast recovery area that is physically different from the recovery area used by the production database, then set DB_RECOVERY_ FILE_DEST in the test database instance to the new location. – If the test database uses a fast recovery area that is physically the same as the recovery area used by the production database, then set DB_UNIQUE_NAME in the test database instance to a different name from the production database. See Also: "Overview of RMAN Database Duplication" on page 24-1 to learn how to duplicate a database
- 376. Restoring a Database on a New Host 20-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide If you do not perform either of the preceding actions, then RMAN assumes that you are restoring the production database and deletes flashback logs from the fast recovery area because they are considered unusable. Restoring Disk Backups to a New Host To move the database to a new host by using data file copies or backup sets on disk, you must transfer the files manually to the new host. This example assumes that RMAN is using a recovery catalog. To restore backup files to a new host: 1. Start RMAN and connect to a target database and recovery catalog. 2. Run a LIST command to see a listing of backups of the data file and control file autobackups. For example, enter the following command to view data file copies: LIST COPY; For example, enter the following command to view control file backups: LIST BACKUP OF CONTROLFILE; The piece name of the autobackup must use the %F substitution variable, so the autobackup piece name includes the string c-IIIIIIIIII-YYYYMMDD-QQ, where IIIIIIIIII stands for the DBID, YYYYMMDD is a time stamp in the Gregorian calendar of the day the backup is generated, and QQ is the sequence in hexadecimal. 3. Copy the backups to the new host with an operating system utility. Enter a command such as the following to copy all data file copies to the ?/oradata/trgt directory on the new host: % cp -r /disk1/*dbf /net/new_host/oracle/oradata/trgt Enter a command such as the following to copy the autobackup backup piece to the /tmp directory on the new host: % cp -r /disk1/auto_bkp_loc/c-1618370911-20070208-00 /net/new_host/tmp As explained in "Restoring the Server Parameter File from a Control File Autobackup" on page 20-3, you must use the SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT command when restoring an autobackup from a nondefault location. Testing the Restore of a Database on a New Host This scenario assumes that you want to test whether you can restore your database to a new host. In this scenario, you have two networked Linux hosts, hosta and hostb. A target database named trgta is on hosta and is registered in recovery catalog catdb. You want to test the restore and recovery of trgta on hostb, while keeping database trgta up and running on hosta. Now, assume that the directory structure of hostb is different from hosta. The target database is located in /net/hosta/dev3/oracle/dbs, but you want to restore the database to /net/hostb/oracle/oradata/test. You have tape backups of data files, control files, archived redo logs, and the server parameter file on a media manager accessible by both hosts. The ORACLE_SID for the trgta database is trgta and does not change for the restored database.
- 377. Restoring a Database on a New Host Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-13 To restore the database on a new host: 1. Ensure that the backups of the target database are accessible on the new host. To test disaster recovery, you must have a recoverable backup of the target database. When preparing your disaster recovery strategy, ensure that the backups of the data files, control files, and server parameter file are restorable on hostb. Thus, you must configure the media management software so that hostb is a media manager client and can read the backup sets created on hosta. Consult the media management vendor for support on this issue. 2. Configure the ORACLE_SID on hostb. This scenario assumes that you want to start the RMAN client on hostb and authenticate yourself through the operating system. However, you must be connected to hostb either locally or through a net service name. After logging in to hostb with administrator privileges, edit the /etc/group file so that you are included in the DBA group: dba:*:614:<your_user_name> Set the ORACLE_SID environment variable on hostb to the same value used on hosta: % setenv ORACLE_SID trgta 3. Start RMAN on hostb and connect to the target database without connecting to the recovery catalog. For example, enter the following command: % rman NOCATALOG RMAN> CONNECT TARGET / 4. Set the DBID and start the database instance without mounting the database. For example, run SET DBID to set the DBID, then run STARTUP NOMOUNT: SET DBID 1340752057; STARTUP NOMOUNT RMAN fails to find the server parameter file, which has not yet been restored, but starts the instance with a "dummy" file. Sample output follows: startup failed: ORA-01078: failure in processing system parameters LRM-00109: could not open parameter file '/net/hostb/oracle/dbs/inittrgta.ora' trying to start the Oracle instance without parameter files ... Oracle instance started 5. Restore and edit the server parameter file. Because you enabled the control file autobackup feature when making your backups, the server parameter file is included in the backup. If you are restoring an autobackup that has a nondefault format, then use the SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT command to indicate the format. Caution: If you are restoring the database for test purposes, then never connect RMAN to the test database and the recovery catalog.
- 378. Restoring a Database on a New Host 20-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Allocate a channel to the media manager, then restore the server parameter file as a client-side parameter file and use the SET command to indicate the location of the autobackup (in this example, the autobackup is in /tmp): RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS '...'; SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '/tmp/%F'; RESTORE SPFILE TO PFILE '?/oradata/test/inittrgta.ora' FROM AUTOBACKUP; SHUTDOWN ABORT; } 6. Edit the restored initialization parameter file. Change any location-specific parameters, for example, those ending in _DEST, to reflect the new directory structure. For example, edit the following parameters: - IFILE - LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1 - CONTROL_FILES 7. Restart the instance with the edited initialization parameter file. For example, enter the following command: STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT PFILE='?/oradata/test/inittrgta.ora'; 8. Restore the control file from an autobackup and then mount the database. For example, enter the following command: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS '...'; RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; ALTER DATABASE MOUNT; } RMAN restores the control file to whatever locations you specified in the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter. 9. Catalog the data file copies that you copied in "Restoring Disk Backups to a New Host" on page 20-12, using their new file names or CATALOG START WITH (if you know all the files are in directories with a common prefix easily addressed with a CATALOG START WITH command). For example, run: CATALOG START WITH '/oracle/oradata/trgt/'; If you want to specify files individually, then you can execute a CATALOG command as follows: CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '/oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf', '/oracle/oradata/trgt/undotbs01.dbf', '/oracle/oradata/trgt/cwmlite01.dbf', '/oracle/oradata/trgt/drsys01.dbf', '/oracle/oradata/trgt/example01.dbf', '/oracle/oradata/trgt/indx01.dbf', '/oracle/oradata/trgt/tools01.dbf', '/oracle/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'; 10. Start a SQL*Plus session on the new database and query the database file names recorded in the control file.
- 379. Restoring a Database on a New Host Performing RMAN Recovery: Advanced Scenarios 20-15 Because the control file is from the trgta database, the recorded file names use the original hosta file names. You can query V$ views to obtain this information. Run the following query in SQL*Plus: COLUMN NAME FORMAT a60 SPOOL LOG '/tmp/db_filenames.out' SELECT FILE# AS "File/Grp#", NAME FROM V$DATAFILE UNION SELECT GROUP#,MEMBER FROM V$LOGFILE; SPOOL OFF EXIT 11. Write the RMAN restore and recovery script. The script must include the following steps: a. For each data file on the destination host that is restored to a different path than it had on the source host, use a SET NEWNAME command to specify the new path on the destination host. If the file systems on the destination system are set up to have the same paths as the source host, then do not use SET NEWNAME for those files restored to the same path as on the source host. b. For each online redo log that is to be created at a different location than it had on the source host, use SQL ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE commands to specify the path name on the destination host. If the file systems on the destination system are set up to have the same paths as the source host, then do not use ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE for those files restored to the same path as on the source host. c. Perform a SET UNTIL operation to limit recovery to the end of the archived redo logs. The recovery stops with an error if no SET UNTIL command is specified. d. Restore and recover the database. e. Run the SWITCH DATAFILE ALL command so that the control file recognizes the new path names as the official new names of the data files. Example 20–3 shows the RMAN script reco_test.rman that can perform the restore and recovery operation. Example 20–3 Restoring a Database on a New Host RUN { # allocate a channel to the tape device ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS '...'; # rename the data files and online redo logs SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 1 TO '?/oradata/test/system01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 2 TO '?/oradata/test/undotbs01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 3 TO '?/oradata/test/cwmlite01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 4 TO '?/oradata/test/drsys01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 5 TO '?/oradata/test/example01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 6 TO '?/oradata/test/indx01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 7 TO '?/oradata/test/tools01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 8 TO '?/oradata/test/users01.dbf'; SQL "ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE ''/dev3/oracle/dbs/redo01.log'' TO ''?/oradata/test/redo01.log'' "; SQL "ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE ''/dev3/oracle/dbs/redo02.log''
- 380. Restoring a Database on a New Host 20-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide TO ''?/oradata/test/redo02.log'' "; # Do a SET UNTIL to prevent recovery of the online logs SET UNTIL SCN 123456; # restore the database and switch the data file names RESTORE DATABASE; SWITCH DATAFILE ALL; # recover the database RECOVER DATABASE; } EXIT 12. Execute the script created in the previous step. For example, start RMAN to connect to the target database and run the @ command: % rman TARGET / NOCATALOG RMAN> @reco_test.rman 13. Open the restored database with the RESETLOGS option. From the RMAN prompt, open the database with the RESETLOGS option: ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS; 14. Optionally, delete the test database with all of its files. Use the DROP DATABASE command to delete all files associated with the database automatically. The following example deletes the database files: STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT PFILE='?/oradata/test/inittrgta.ora'; DROP DATABASE; Because you did not perform the restore and recovery operation when connected to the recovery catalog, the recovery catalog contains no records for any of the restored files or the procedures performed during the test. Likewise, the control file of the trgta database is completely unaffected by the test. Caution: When you re-open your database in the next step, do not connect to the recovery catalog. Otherwise, the new database incarnation created is registered automatically in the recovery catalog, and the file names of the production database are replaced by the new file names specified in the script. Note: If you used an ASM disk group, then the DROP DATABASE command is the only way to safely remove the files of the test database. If you restored to non-ASM storage then you can also use operating system commands to remove the database.
- 381. 21 Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-1 21Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) This chapter explains how to perform RMAN tablespace point-in-time recovery. This chapter contains the following sections: ■ Overview of RMAN TSPITR ■ TSPITR Restrictions, Special Cases, and Limitations ■ Planning and Preparing for TSPITR ■ Running RMAN TSPITR: – Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR – Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance – Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance ■ Troubleshooting RMAN TSPITR Overview of RMAN TSPITR To use RMAN tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR) effectively, it is helpful to understand what types of problems it can resolve, its components, what RMAN does during TSPITR, and the various limitations and restrictions on when and how it can be run. This section explains the basic concepts, preparatory tasks, and modes of running RMAN TSPITR. Purpose of RMAN TSPITR Recovery Manager (RMAN) TSPITR enables quick recovery of one or more tablespaces in a database to an earlier time without affecting the rest of the tablespaces and objects in the database. RMAN TSPITR is most useful for the following situations: ■ To recover a logical database to a point different from the rest of the physical database, when multiple logical databases exist in separate tablespaces of one physical database. For example, you maintain logical databases in the orders and personnel tablespaces. An incorrect batch job or data manipulation language (DML) statement corrupts the data in only one tablespace. ■ To recover data lost after data definition language (DDL) operations that change the structure of tables. You cannot use Flashback Table to rewind a table to before the point of a structural change such as a truncate table operation.
- 382. Overview of RMAN TSPITR 21-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ To recover a table after it has been dropped with the PURGE option. ■ To recover from the logical corruption of a table. ■ To recover dropped tablespaces. In fact, RMAN can perform TSPITR on dropped tablespaces even when a recovery catalog is not used. You can also use Flashback Database to rewind data, but you must rewind the entire database rather than just a subset. Also, unlike TSPITR, the Flashback Database feature necessitates the overhead of maintaining flashback logs. The point in time to which you can flash back the database is more limited than the TSPITR window, which extends back to your earliest recoverable backup. Basic Concepts of RMAN TSPITR The following sections explain RMAN TSPITR fundamentals: ■ Common Terms ■ Modes of RMAN TSPITR ■ How RMAN TSPITR Works With an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance Common Terms Table 21–1 defines some common entities that are used by RMAN TSPITR. Table 21–1 RMAN TSPITR Entities Name Explanation Target instance Contains the tablespace to be recovered to the target time Target time Point in time or SCN of the tablespace after TSPITR completes Auxiliary instance A database instance used in the recovery process to perform the work of recovery. The auxiliary instance has other files associated with it. See auxiliary set for a complete list. Auxiliary destination An optional disk location that RMAN uses to temporarily store the auxiliary set files. The auxiliary destination is used only with an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance. Specifying an auxiliary destination with a user-managed auxiliary instance results in an error. All references to auxiliary destination in this chapter assume use of an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance. Recovery set Data files in the tablespaces that you intend to recover
- 383. Overview of RMAN TSPITR Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-3 Modes of RMAN TSPITR You start RMAN TSPITR with the RMAN RECOVER TABLESPACE command. You have several options for running RMAN TSPITR. The difference between the various modes of operation corresponds to how much automation versus customization you require in your environment. There are three ways to run the utility: ■ Fully Automated (the default) In this mode, RMAN manages the entire TSPITR process including the auxiliary instance. You specify the tablespaces of the recovery set, an auxiliary destination, the target time, and you allow RMAN to manage all other aspects of TSPITR. The default mode is recommended unless you specifically need more control over the location of recovery set files after TSPITR, auxiliary set files during TSPITR, channel settings and parameters or some other aspect of your auxiliary instance. For more information, see "Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR" on page 8. ■ Automated: RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance with User Settings You can override some defaults of RMAN TSPITR while still using an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance and destination. This variation of the default mode enables you to benefit from some built-in management that RMAN TSITR provides while being able to specify: ■ Location of auxiliary set or recovery set files ■ Initialization parameters For more information, see "Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance" on page 10. ■ Non-Automated: TSPITR and User-Managed Auxiliary Instance This mode of RMAN TSPITR requires you to set up and manage all aspects of the auxiliary instance and some aspects of the TSPITR process. This mode may be appropriate if, for example, you must allocate a different number of channels or change the channel parameters for your user-managed auxiliary instance. Auxiliary set Data files required for TSPITR that are not part of the recovery set. The auxiliary set typically includes: ■ The SYSTEM and SYSAUX tablespaces. ■ Data files containing rollback or undo segments from the target database instance. ■ Temporary tablespaces. ■ Control file from source database. ■ Archived redo logs that must be restored to recover the auxiliary instance to specified point in time. ■ Online redo logs of the auxiliary instance. These are not the same logs as the online redo logs from the source database. They are created when the auxiliary instance is opened with the RESETLOGS option. The auxiliary set does not include the parameter file, password file, or associated network files. Table 21–1 (Cont.) RMAN TSPITR Entities Name Explanation
- 384. Overview of RMAN TSPITR 21-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide For more information, see "Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance" on page 21-19. How RMAN TSPITR Works With an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance Having selected tablespaces from the recovery set, an auxiliary destination and a target time, you are now ready to perform Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR (default). The automated mode of RMAN TSPITR shares many of these high-level processing steps. RMAN TSPITR automatically performs the following actions: 1. If the tablespaces in the recovery set have not been dropped, checks to see if they are self-contained by executing the DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK for the recovery set tablespaces and then checking that the view TRANSPORT_SET_ VIOLATIONS is empty. If the query returns rows, RMAN stops TSPITR processing. You must resolve any tablespace containment violations before TSPITR can proceed. Example 21–1 shows you how to set up and run the query before invoking RMAN TSPITR. 2. Checks to see if a connection to a user-managed auxiliary instance was provided. If it is, then RMAN TSPITR uses it. If not, RMAN TSPITR creates the auxiliary instance, starts it, and connects to it. 3. Takes the tablespaces to be recovered offline in the target database, if the tablespaces in the recovery set have not been dropped. 4. Restores a backup control file from a point in time before the target time to the auxiliary instance. 5. Restores the data files from the recovery set and the auxiliary set to the auxiliary instance. Files are restored either in the: ■ Locations that you specify for each file ■ Original location of the file (for recovery set data files) ■ Auxiliary destination (if you used the AUXILIARY DESTINATION argument of RECOVER TABLESPACE and an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance) 6. Recovers the restored data files in the auxiliary instance to the specified time. 7. Opens the auxiliary database with the RESETLOGS option. 8. Makes the recovery set tablespaces read-only in the auxiliary instance. 9. Exports the recovery set tablespaces from the auxiliary instance using the Data Pump utility to produce a transportable tablespace dump file. 10. Shuts down the auxiliary instance. 11. Drops the recovery set tablespaces from the target. 12. Data Pump utility reads the transportable tablespace dump file and plugs the recovery set tablespaces into the target. 13. Makes the tablespaces that were put in the target database read/write and immediately takes them offline. 14. Deletes all auxiliary set files. At this point, RMAN TSPITR has finished. The recovery set data files are returned to their contents at the specified point in time, and belong to the target database.
- 385. TSPITR Restrictions, Special Cases, and Limitations Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-5 The recovery set tablespaces are left offline for you to back up and then bring back online. These last steps follow Oracle's recommendation and best practice of backing up recovered tablespaces as soon as TSPITR completes. TSPITR Restrictions, Special Cases, and Limitations Some database problems cannot be resolved with TSPITR. The following list explains when you cannot perform TSPITR: ■ If there are no archived redo logs or if the database runs in NOARCHIVELOG mode. ■ If TSPITR is used to recover a renamed tablespace to a point in time before it was renamed, you must use the previous name of the tablespace to perform the recovery operation. In this case when TSPITR completes, the target database contains two copies of the same tablespace, the original tablespace with the new name and the TSPITR tablespace with the old name. If this is not your goal, then you can drop the new tablespace with the new name. ■ If constraints for the tables in tablespace tbs1 are contained in tablespace tbs2, then you cannot recover tbs1 without also recovering tbs2. ■ You cannot use TSPITR to recover the current default tablespace. ■ You cannot use TSPITR to recover tablespaces containing any of the following objects: – Objects with underlying objects (such as materialized views) or contained objects (such as partitioned tables) unless all of the underlying or contained objects are in the recovery set – Undo or rollback segments – Oracle8-compatible advanced queues with multiple recipients – Objects owned by the user SYS. Examples of these types of objects are: PL/SQL, Java classes, callout programs, views, synonyms, users, privileges, dimensions, directories, and sequences. Limitations of TSPITR After TSPITR completes, RMAN recovers the data files in the recovery set to the target time. Note the following special cases: ■ TSPITR does not recover query optimizer statistics for recovered objects.You must gather new statistics after TSPITR completes. ■ If you run TSPITR on a tablespace and bring the tablespace online at time t, then backups of the tablespace created before time t are no longer usable for recovery with a current control file. You cannot use the current control file to recover the database to any time less than or equal to t. ■ If one or more data files in the recovery set have Oracle Managed File (OMF) names and the compatibility in the target database is set to version 10.1 or earlier, RMAN cannot reuse the data file. This restriction is true even if no SET NEWNAME command is provided for the data file. A new OMF name is created for the recovery set data file. This action temporarily doubles the space requirements for the data file. This is because DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST has two copies of the data file (the original data file and the one used by TSPITR) until the tablespace is dropped in the target and the original data file is deleted.
- 386. Planning and Preparing for TSPITR 21-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Special Considerations When Not Using a Recovery Catalog You should be aware of following precautions: ■ Because RMAN has no historical record of the undo in the control file, RMAN assumes that the current set of tablespaces with rollback or undo segments were the same set present at the time when recovery was performed. If the tablespace set has changed since that time, then the current rollback or undo segments were the same segments present at the time to which recovery is performed. If the undo segments have changed since that time, then you can use UNDO TABLESPACE to indicate the correct set of tablespaces with undo at the point in time where the tablespaces are being recovered. ■ TSPITR to a time that is too old may not succeed if Oracle Database has reused the control file records for needed backups. (In planning your database, set the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME initialization parameter to a value large enough to ensure that control file records needed for TSPITR are kept.) ■ To rerun TSPITR when you are not using a recovery catalog, you must first drop the tablespace to be used by TSPITR from the target database. Planning and Preparing for TSPITR This section assumes that you have read "TSPITR Restrictions, Special Cases, and Limitations" on page 21-5. You must complete the following steps when preparing for TSPITR: ■ Step 1: Select the Right Target Time for TSPITR ■ Step 2: Determine the Recovery Set ■ Step 3: Identify and Preserve Objects That Are Lost After TSPITR Step 1: Select the Right Target Time for TSPITR It is extremely important that you choose the right target time or SCN for your TSPITR. As noted in "TSPITR Restrictions, Special Cases, and Limitations" on page 21-5, after you bring a tablespace online after TSPITR, you cannot use any backup from a time earlier than the moment you brought the tablespace online. If you have a recovery catalog, then you can perform repeated TSPITR operations to different target times because the catalog contains tablespace history information. If RMAN uses only a control file, however, repeated TSPITR is only possible after dropping the tablespace because the control file does not have the tablespace history. In this case, RMAN only knows about the current set of tablespaces. The tablespace on which TSPITR was performed has a creation time equal to the time it was brought online. To investigate past states of your data to identify the target time for TSPITR, you can use Flashback Query, Oracle Transaction Query, and Flashback Version Query to find the point in time when unwanted database changes occurred. See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information about limitations on transportable tablespaces See Also: Oracle Database Advanced Application Developer's Guide for more information on Flashback Query, Flashback Transaction Query, and Flashback Version Query
- 387. Planning and Preparing for TSPITR Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-7 Step 2: Determine the Recovery Set Initially, your recovery set includes the data files for the tablespaces that you intend to recover. However, if objects in the tablespaces that you need have relationships (such as constraints) to objects in other tablespaces, then you must account for these relationships before you can perform TSPITR. You have the following choices when faced with such a relationship: ■ Add the tablespace including the related objects to your recovery set ■ Remove the relationship ■ Suspend the relationship for the duration of TSPITR Identify and Resolve Dependencies on the Primary Database RMAN TSPITR requires that the tablespace be self-contained and that no SYS -owned objects reside in the tablespace. You can use the DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK procedure to locate objects outside the tablespace and identify relationships between objects that span the recovery set boundaries. If the TRANSPORT_SET_VIOLATIONS view returns rows, you must investigate and correct the problem according to the choices mentioned earlier in this step. Record all actions performed during this step so that you can re-create any suspended or removed relationships after completing TSPITR. Proceed with TSPITR only when the TRANSPORT_SET_VIOLATIONS view is empty for the tablespaces in the recovery set. The query in Example 21–1 illustrates how to use the DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_ CHECK procedure for an initial recovery set consisting of tablespaces tools and users. It queries the transportable tablespace violations table to manage any dependencies. No rows are returned from this query when all dependencies are managed. Example 21–1 Querying DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK for a Subset of Tablespaces BEGIN DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK('USERS,TOOLS', TRUE,TRUE); END; / SELECT * FROM TRANSPORT_SET_VIOLATIONS; Step 3: Identify and Preserve Objects That Are Lost After TSPITR When you perform RMAN TSPITR on a tablespace, objects created after the target recovery time are lost. You can preserve such objects after they are identified by Note: If one or more of the tablespaces in the recovery set have been dropped, RMAN TSPITR cannot run the procedure DBMS_ TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK. In this case, DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_ SET_CHECK is run when the Data Pump export of the auxiliary instance occurs. Just like RMAN TSPITR, the export operation fails if it encounters any tablespaces that are not self-contained. See Also: Oracle Database PL/SQL Packages and Types Reference for more information about the DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK procedure and corresponding view
- 388. Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR 21-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide exporting them before TSPITR with the Data Pump Export utility and reimporting them afterward with Data Pump Import. To determine which objects are lost in TSPITR, query the TS_PITR_OBJECTS_TO_ BE_DROPPED view on the primary database. Table 21–2 describes the contents of the view. Filter the view for objects whose CREATION_TIME is after the target time for TSPITR. For example, with a recovery set consisting of users and tools, and a recovery point in time of November 2, 2007, 7:03:11 am, issue the statement shown in Example 21–2. Example 21–2 Querying TS_PITR_OBJECTS_TO_BE_DROPPED SELECT OWNER, NAME, TABLESPACE_NAME, TO_CHAR(CREATION_TIME, 'YYYY-MM-DD:HH24:MI:SS') FROM TS_PITR_OBJECTS_TO_BE_DROPPED WHERE TABLESPACE_NAME IN ('USERS','TOOLS') AND CREATION_TIME > TO_DATE('02-NOV-07:07:03:11','YY-MON-DD:HH24:MI:SS') ORDER BY TABLESPACE_NAME, CREATION_TIME; The TO_CHAR and TO_DATE functions are used to avoid issues with different national date formats. Of course, you can use local date formats in your own work. Alternatively, if you have the SCN of the tablespaces, you can use conversion functions to determine the time stamp associated with the SCN and the objects that are dropped. For example, if the SCN to recover tablespaces users and tools is 1645870, use the statement outlined in Example 21–3 to determine the objects that are dropped. Example 21–3 Using SCN and TS_PITR_OBJECTS_TO_BE_DROPPED SELECT OWNER, NAME, TABLESPACE_NAME, TO_CHAR(CREATION_TIME,'YYYY-MM-DD:HH24:MI:SS') FROM TS_PITR_OBJECTS_TO_BE_DROPPED WHERE TABLESPACE_NAME IN ('USERS','TOOLS') AND CREATION_TIME > TO_DATE(TO_CHAR(SCN_TO_TIMESTAMP(1645870), 'MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS'), 'MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS') ORDER BY TABLESPACE_NAME, CREATION_TIME; Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR In the default mode, RMAN bases as much of the configuration for TSPITR as possible on the target database. During TSPITR, the recovery set data files are written in their current locations on the target database (For OMF files, see "Limitations of TSPITR" on page 21-5). The same channel configurations for the target database are used on the Table 21–2 TS_PITR_OBJECTS_TO_BE_DROPPED View Column Name Meaning OWNER Owner of the object to be dropped NAME The name of the object that is lost by undergoing TSPITR CREATION_TIME Creation time stamp for the object TABLESPACE_NAME Name of the tablespace containing the object See Also: Oracle Database Reference for more information about the TS_PITR_OBJECTS_TO_BE_DROPPED view
- 389. Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-9 auxiliary instance when restoring files from backup. Auxiliary set data files and other auxiliary instance files, however, are stored in the auxiliary destination. Use the AUXILIARY DESTINATION parameter to set a location for RMAN to use for the auxiliary set data files. The auxiliary destination must be a location on disk with enough space to hold auxiliary set data files. Even if you use other techniques to rename some or all of the auxiliary set data files, specifying an AUXILIARY DESTINATION parameter provides a default location for auxiliary set data files for which names are not specified. TSPITR does not fail if you inadvertently omit some names of the auxiliary set data files. To perform fully automated RMAN TSPITR, the user performing TSPITR should be able to connect as SYSDBA using operating system authentication. To perform fully automated RMAN TSPITR: 1. Review the information in "TSPITR Restrictions, Special Cases, and Limitations" on page 21-5. 2. Perform the tasks in "Planning and Preparing for TSPITR" on page 21-6. 3. Start an RMAN session on the target database and, if applicable, connect to a recovery catalog. 4. Configure any channels required for TSPITR on the target instance. The auxiliary instance uses the same channel configuration as the target instance when performing TSPITR. 5. Run the RECOVER TABLESPACE command, specifying both the UNTIL clause and the AUXILIARY DESTINATION parameter. Example 21–4 returns the users and tools tablespaces to the end of log sequence number 1299, and stores the auxiliary set files in the /disk1/auxdest directory. Example 21–4 Performing TSPITR on Two Tablespaces RECOVER TABLESPACE users, tools UNTIL LOGSEQ 1300 THREAD 1 AUXILIARY DESTINATION '/disk1/auxdest'; The next step depends on the results of the RECOVER command: ■ If no error occurs during TSPITR, then proceed to Step 6. The tablespaces are taken offline by RMAN, restored from backup and recovered to the desired point in time on the auxiliary instance, and then reimported to the target database. The tablespaces are left offline. All auxiliary set data files and other auxiliary instance files are cleaned up from the auxiliary destination. Note: Do not connect to an auxiliary instance when starting the RMAN client for automated TSPITR. If RMAN is connected to an auxiliary instance when you run RECOVER TABLESPACE, then RMAN assumes that you are trying to manage your own auxiliary instance, as described in "Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance" on page 21-19, and tries to use the connected auxiliary for TSPITR.
- 390. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance 21-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ If an error occurs during TSPITR, then proceed to "Troubleshooting RMAN TSPITR" on page 21-24. 6. If TSPITR completes successfully, then back up the recovered tablespaces before bringing them online. For example, enter the following command: BACKUP TABLESPACE users, tools; After you perform TSPITR on a tablespace, you can no longer use previous backups of that tablespace once TSPITR successfully completes. If you use the recovered tablespaces without taking a backup, then you run your database without a usable backup of these tablespaces. 7. Bring the tablespaces back online. For example, enter the following command: RMAN> SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users, tools ONLINE"; Your recovered tablespaces are now ready for use. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance You can customize the following aspects of RMAN TSPITR while still mostly following the procedure described in "Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR" on page 21-8: ■ Rename or relocate your recovery set data files so that the data files making up the recovered tablespaces are not stored in the original locations after TSPITR. This may be necessary if the disk that originally contained the tablespace is not usable. This task is described in "Renaming TSPITR Recovery Set Data Files with SET NEWNAME" on page 21-10. ■ Specify a location other than the auxiliary destination for some or all auxiliary set data files. You might choose this option if no single location on disk has enough space for all auxiliary set files. This task is described in "Naming TSPITR Auxiliary Set Data Files" on page 21-11. ■ Rename files in an Oracle Managed Files format. This task is described in "Considerations When Renaming OMF Auxiliary Set Files in TSPITR" on page 21-12. ■ Set up image copy backups of your auxiliary set data files in advance to avoid having to restore data files during TSPITR. This task is described in "Using Image Copies for Faster RMAN TSPITR Performance" on page 21-15. ■ Customize initialization parameters for your RMAN-managed auxiliary instance. This task is described in "Customizing Initialization Parameters for the Automatic Auxiliary Instance in TSPITR" on page 21-17. Renaming TSPITR Recovery Set Data Files with SET NEWNAME You may not want the recovery set data files restored and recovered in their original locations. The SET NEWNAME command enables you to specify a new destination.
- 391. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-11 When you specify a new destination for the recovery set, RMAN does not remove the original data files of the tablespaces. To specify new recovery set file names, create a RUN block and use SET NEWNAME commands within it. Be sure to assign names that do not conflict with each other or with the names of your current data files. Example 21–5 illustrates the basic technique. Example 21–5 Renaming Recovery Set Files RUN { . . . SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 'ORACLE_HOME/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf' TO '/newfs/users01.dbf'; ...other SET NEWNAME commands... RECOVER TABLESPACE users, tools UNTIL SEQUENCE 1300 THREAD 1; } In this example, RMAN takes the following actions: ■ Restores each specified data file to the new location during TSPITR. ■ Uses the image copy if one exists at the specified location and its checkpoint is before the specified point in time. If this criteria is not met, then RMAN overwrites the image copy. ■ Plugs the newly recovered data file into the target control file. RMAN does not detect conflicts between names set with SET NEWNAME and current data file names on the target database until the actual recovery. If RMAN detects a conflict, then TSPITR fails and RMAN reports an error. The valid data file is not overwritten. Naming TSPITR Auxiliary Set Data Files Unlike recovery set data files, which are usually stored in their original locations, auxiliary set data files must not overwrite the corresponding original files in the target database. If you do not specify an auxiliary set file location that is different from its original location, then TSPITR fails. The failure occurs when RMAN attempts to overwrite the corresponding file in the original database and discovers the file in use. The simplest way to provide locations for auxiliary set data files is to specify an auxiliary destination for TSPITR. However, RMAN supports the following alternatives for controlling the location of auxiliary set data files, which are listed in order of precedence shown in Table 21–3. Table 21–3 Order of Precedence for Naming Files Order Technique Section 1 SET NEWNAME "Using SET NEWNAME to Name Auxiliary Set Data Files" on page 21-13 2 CONFIGURE AUXNAME "Using SET NEWNAME and CONFIGURE AUXNAME with Auxiliary Set Image Copies" on page 21-15
- 392. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance 21-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Settings higher on the list override settings lower on the list in situations where both have been applied. For example, you might run RECOVER TABLESPACE... AUXILIARY DESTINATION on a target database when some auxiliary set data files have auxiliary names configured with CONFIGURE AUXNAME. Even if you intend to use either of the preceding techniques to provide locations for specific files, Oracle recommends that you provide an AUXILIARY DESTINATION argument to RECOVER TABLESPACE when using an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance. If you overlook renaming some auxiliary set data files, then TSPITR still succeeds. Any files not otherwise renamed are placed in the auxiliary destination. Considerations When Renaming OMF Auxiliary Set Files in TSPITR Auxiliary set data files can have Oracle Managed Files (OMF) in the target and can use Automatic Storage Management (ASM) or non-ASM storage. TSPITR performs name conversion differently when the DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT initialization parameter is set and the OMF files are in ASM or non-ASM storage. Using ASM Storage For Oracle Managed Files (OMF) that use ASM storage, the database converts only disk group names as in: +DISK1 to +DISK2. You can use DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT and LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT initialization parameters for the auxiliary instance to specify the conversion of the disk group. RMAN uses the pattern to convert the ASM disk group name and generates a valid OMF file name in the converted disk group. The following command demonstrates this point: LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT='+onlinelogs','+tmpasm' If the DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT and LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT parameters change a substring other than the disk group name, the conversion is ignored and the resulting disk group name is used, for example: DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT='+DATAFILE/prod','+DATAFILE/tspitr' The preceding command results in an invalid ASM OMF file name and the change is ignored. Instead, the files are created in disk group name +DATAFILE and the following message is issued: 3 DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT "Using DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT to Name Auxiliary Set Data Files" on page 21-14. If the target database uses OMF names for auxiliary set, then you cannot use DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT. See "Considerations When Renaming OMF Auxiliary Set Files in TSPITR" on page 21-12. 4 AUXILIARY DESTINATION argument to RECOVER TABLESPACE when using an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance Note: You can view any current CONFIGURE AUXNAME settings by running the SHOW AUXNAME command, which is described in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference. Table 21–3 (Cont.) Order of Precedence for Naming Files Order Technique Section
- 393. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-13 WARNING: DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT resulted in invalid ASM names; names changed to disk group only If auxiliary set data files are stored in ASM disk groups, then you can use the SET NEWNAME command to redirect individual files to a specific disk group accessible from the auxiliary instance (and allow the database to generate the file name within the disk group). Example 21–6 shows how to do this. Example 21–6 Redirecting ASM files RUN { SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 1 TO "+DISK2"; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 2 TO "+DISK3"; RECOVER TABLESPACE users, tools UNTIL LOGSEQ 1300 THREAD 1 AUXILIARY DESTINATION '/disk1/auxdest'; } Using Non-ASM Storage The initialization parameters DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT and LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT cannot be used to rename OMF (non-ASM) file names for the auxiliary instance because this method generates invalid OMF file names. If you must control the generation of new OMF file names that do not use ASM storage, you must rename them using one of the following alternate techniques. The various naming options are listed in order from most recommended to least recommended. 1. Use an auxiliary destination, as described in "Performing Fully Automated RMAN TSPITR" on page 21-8. 2. Specify locations for new OMF files with one or more of the OMF initialization parameters for the auxiliary instance so that all of the necessary OMF files are handled: ■ DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST for the auxiliary set data files ■ DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_DEST_n with DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST for the online redo logs of the auxiliary instance if the online logs are not created in the DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST Using SET NEWNAME to Name Auxiliary Set Data Files To specify a new name for an auxiliary set data file, you can enclose RECOVER TABLESPACE in a RUN command and use a SET NEWNAME command within the RUN block to rename the file. Example 21–7 illustrates the basic technique. Example 21–7 Renaming Auxiliary Set Oracle Managed Files (OMF) in TSPITR RUN { SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' TO '/disk1/auxdest/system01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/prod/sysaux01.dbf' TO '/disk1/auxdest/sysaux01.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/prod/undotbs01.dbf' TO '/disk1/auxdest/undotbs01.dbf'; RECOVER TABLESPACE users, tools UNTIL LOGSEQ 1300 THREAD 1 AUXILIARY DESTINATION '/disk1/auxdest'; }
- 394. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance 21-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The result depends on whether /disk1/auxdest/system01.dbf exists when RECOVER TABLESPACE is executed. If ?/oradata/system01.dbf exists at the specified location and was created at an SCN before the UNTIL time for TSPITR, then the DATAFILECOPY is used and the restore operation is not necessary. For more information, see "Using SET NEWNAME and CONFIGURE AUXNAME with Auxiliary Set Image Copies" on page 21-15. Otherwise, RMAN restores the auxiliary set data file to the NEWNAME instead of the default location. If your intention is to control where the auxiliary set data files are stored, then ensure that no file is stored at the location specified by SET NEWNAME before performing TSPITR. Using DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT to Name Auxiliary Set Data Files Assume that you do not want to use an auxiliary destination for all of your auxiliary set data files, but you also do not want to name every file individually. In this case, you can include a DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT initialization parameter in the initialization parameter file used by the auxiliary instance. You can use this technique only in the following circumstances: One of the following situations exists: ■ - You create your own initialization parameter file for an automatically managed auxiliary instance, as described in "Customizing Initialization Parameters for the Automatic Auxiliary Instance in TSPITR" on page 21-17 ■ - You create your own auxiliary instance, as described in "Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance" on page 21-19 The DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT initialization parameter in the auxiliary instance specifies how to derive names for files in the auxiliary instance from the original names of the corresponding files in the target database instance. The parameter consists of a list of pairs of strings. For any file name that contains the first string of a pair as a substring, the name of the corresponding file in the auxiliary instance is generated by substituting the second string of the pair into the original file name. For example, assume that the target instance contains the following files: ■ ?/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf of the SYSTEM tablespace ■ ?/oradata/trgt/sysaux01.dbf of the SYSAUX tablespace ■ ?/oradata/trgt/undotbs01.dbf of the undotbs tablespace To place the corresponding files of the auxiliary instance in /bigtmp, you would add the following line to the auxiliary instance parameter file: DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT=('?/oradata/trgt', '/bigtmp') New file names for the corresponding auxiliary instance files would be /bigtmp/trgt/system01.dbf, /bigtmp/trgt/sysaux01.dbf, and /bigtmp/trgt/undotbs01.dbf. The most important point to remember is that DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT must be present in the auxiliary instance parameter file. If the auxiliary instance was manually created, then add DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT to the auxiliary instance parameter file. You can still rename individual auxiliary set data files with the SET NEWNAME or CONFIGURE AUXNAME command. Also, files that do not match the patterns provided in DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT are not renamed. When using RMAN-managed auxiliary instance, you can use the AUXILIARY DESTINATION parameter of RECOVER TABLESPACE command to ensure that all auxiliary set data files are sent to some destination. If none of the renaming methods used provide a new name for a file at the auxiliary instance, then TSPITR fails.
- 395. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-15 Renaming Temp Files During TSPITR Temp files are considered part of the auxiliary set for your database. When the auxiliary instance is instantiated, RMAN re-creates the temporary tablespaces of the target database and generates their names using the regular rules for the auxiliary data file names. To rename temp files, you can use one of the following: ■ SET NEWNAME FOR TEMPFILE command ■ DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT initialization parameter of the auxiliary instance. See the previous example. If the temporary files have non-ASM Oracle Managed File names, you cannot use this parameter option. See "Considerations When Renaming OMF Auxiliary Set Files in TSPITR" on page 21-12. ■ AUXILIARY DESTINATION clause of the RECOVER command when using an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance Using Image Copies for Faster RMAN TSPITR Performance You can enhance TSPITR performance by redirecting RMAN to use existing image copies of the recovery set and auxiliary set data files. In this case, RMAN does not need to restore the data files from backup. You can use the following techniques to tell RMAN about the possible existence of an image copy of a data file: ■ Use the CONFIGURE AUXNAME command with image copies of auxiliary set data files ■ Use the SET NEWNAME command with image copies of recovery set data files or auxiliary set data files In general, if a suitable image copy is available in the specified location, then RMAN uses the image copy to perform TSPITR, and the data file copy is uncataloged from the target control file. Using SET NEWNAME with Recovery Set Image Copies During TSPITR, RMAN looks in the specified NEWNAME location for the data file. RMAN checks whether an image copy backup of the data file exists with a data file checkpoint SCN early enough that it can be recovered to the target time. If RMAN finds a usable image copy, then RMAN uses it in TSPITR. Otherwise, RMAN restores the data file to the NEWNAME location. Any file in the location specified by the NEWNAME is overwritten. The specified NEWNAME becomes the name of the data file in the target database once TSPITR completes. Example 21–8 illustrates this technique. Example 21–8 Using SET NEWNAME RUN { SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE 'ORACLE_HOME/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf' TO '/newfs/users1.dbf'; ...other RMAN commands, if any... RECOVER TABLESPACE users, tools UNTIL SEQUENCE 1300 THREAD 1; } Using SET NEWNAME and CONFIGURE AUXNAME with Auxiliary Set Image Copies The CONFIGURE AUXNAME command sets a persistent alternative location for an auxiliary set data file image copy, whereas the SET NEWNAME command sets an alternative location for the duration of a RUN command.
- 396. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance 21-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Assume that you use SET NEWNAME or CONFIGURE AUXNAME to specify a new location for an auxiliary set data file. Also assume that there is an image copy at that location with an SCN that can be used in TSPITR. In this case, RMAN uses the image copy. If there is no usable image copy at that location, however, then RMAN restores a usable copy from backup. (If an image copy is present but the SCN is after the target time for TSPITR, then the data file is overwritten by the restored file.) As with all auxiliary set files, the file is deleted after TSPITR. This behavior occurs regardless of whether it was an image copy created before TSPITR or restored by RMAN during TSPITR. The primary use of CONFIGURE AUXNAME is to make TSPITR faster by eliminating restore times. If you anticipate performing TSPITR, then you can include in your backup routine the maintenance of a set of image copies of the auxiliary set data files, and update these periodically to the earliest point to which you expect to perform TSPITR. The recommended usage model is: 1. Configure the AUXNAME for the files once, when setting up this strategy. 2. Perform BACKUP AS COPY DATAFILE n FORMAT auxname regularly to maintain the updated image copy. For better performance, use an incrementally updated backup strategy to keep the image copies up-to-date without performing full backups of the data files. 3. When TSPITR is needed, specify a target time after the last update of the image copy. Performing TSPITR with CONFIGURE AUXNAME and Image Copies: Scenario Assume that you have enough disk space to save image copies of your entire database for use in TSPITR. In preparation for the possibility of TSPITR, you do the following: ■ Configure an AUXNAME for each data file in the auxiliary set by using a command of the following form: CONFIGURE AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE n TO auxname_n; ■ Take an image copy of the auxiliary set every Sunday by using a command of the following form: BACKUP AS COPY DATAFILE n FORMAT auxname_n If the image copies are all in the same location on disk, and if they are named similarly to the original data files, then you can avoid performing backups of every data file. Instead, you can use the FORMAT or DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT options of the BACKUP command and use BACKUP AS COPY DATABASE. For example, if the configured auxiliary names are a translation of the location maindisk to auxdisk, then you use the following command: BACKUP AS COPY DATABASE DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT (maindisk, auxdisk); Note: Because Oracle managed file names cannot generally be translated using a simple substitution, you cannot typically use DB_ FILE_NAME_CONVERT to generate names for image copies stored in OMF.
- 397. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-17 After these steps, you are prepared for TSPITR without restoring the auxiliary set from backup. For example, if an erroneous batch job, started on November 15, 2007, at 19:00:00, incorrectly updates the tables in the tablespace parts, you use the following command to perform TSPITR on tablespace parts: RECOVER TABLESPACE parts UNTIL TIME 'November 15 2007, 19:00:00'; Because AUXNAME locations are configured and refer to data file copies from an SCN before the TSPITR target time, the auxiliary set is not restored from backup. Instead, the data file copies are used in recovery, which reduces the restore overhead. You can also prevent the recovery set from being restored. You must take frequent image copies of the tablespaces and use SET NEWNAME to specify the location of these copies. This method ensures that the recovery set is not restored, and the tablespace changes location after TSPITR successfully completes. Customizing Initialization Parameters for the Automatic Auxiliary Instance in TSPITR The automatic auxiliary instance uses a set of default initialization parameters as shown in Table 21–4. It also looks for additional initialization parameters to complement the default parameters in a location that is operating system-dependent. For example, in UNIX this location is: ?/rdbms/admin/params_auxinst.ora. RMAN always looks for this additional parameter file for an RMAN-automatic auxiliary instance when performing TSPITR. If the file is not found, then RMAN does not generate an error. Instead, RMAN uses the default parameters in Table 21–4 for the RMAN-managed automatic auxiliary instance. Usually it is not necessary to alter or add to the values of these initialization parameters, especially if you provide an AUXILIARY DESTINATION clause to the RECOVER TABLESPACE command when using a RMAN-managed auxiliary instance. If you override an initialization parameter in Table 21–4 with an inappropriate value, then TSPITR may fail due to problems with the auxiliary instance. Nevertheless, you can add other parameters besides these basic parameters if needed. For example, you can use DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT to specify the names of the data files in the auxiliary and recovery sets. Table 21–4 Default Initialization Parameters for the RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance Initialization Parameter Value DB_NAME Same as DB_NAME of the source database COMPATIBLE Same as the COMPATIBLE setting of the target database DB_UNIQUE_NAME RMAN auto-generated unique value based on DB_NAME DB_BLOCK_SIZE Same as the DB_BLOCK_SIZE of the target database DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST Auxiliary destination (only if the AUXILIARY DESTINATION argument is specified when using an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance). RMAN creates Oracle Managed Files for the auxiliary set files in this location. LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1 Auxiliary destination (only if the AUXILIARY DESTINATION clause is specified when using an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance). Archived logs needed for recovery are restored to this location. SGA_TARGET 280M DB_FILES Same as DB_FILES of the target database PROCESSES 50
- 398. Overriding Defaults for RMAN TSPITR with an RMAN-Managed Auxiliary Instance 21-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide To override or specify parameters for the automatic auxiliary instance, you can do either of the following: ■ - Place the initialization parameters in the operating system specific default auxiliary parameter file name. For example, in UNIX, the file name is ?/rdbms/admin/params_auxinst.ora. ■ Perform these steps: 1. Place the initialization parameters in a file. 2. Specify the location of this file with the SET AUXILIARY INSTANCE PARAMETER FILE command before executing TSPITR. Regardless of the method that you choose, the parameters that you specify take precedence over defaults and can override the value of an AUXILIARY DESTINATION clause. Specifying the Auxiliary Instance Control File Location in TSPITR If you use an initialization parameter file, then you can specify your own location for the control file of your auxiliary instance. Set the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter to specify a location for the control files. If you do not explicitly specify a control file location, and if you use the AUXILIARY DESTINATION clause, then RMAN locates the control file in the auxiliary destination. If you do not use the AUXILIARY DESTINATION clause, then the auxiliary instance control files are stored in an operating system-specific location. No matter where you store your auxiliary instance control file, it is removed at the end of the TSPITR operation. Because control files are relatively small, RMAN seldom encounters a problem creating an auxiliary control file. If there is not enough space to create the control file, however, then TSPITR fails. Specifying the Auxiliary Instance Archived Logs in TSPITR To perform recovery on the auxiliary and recovery sets after restoring them at the auxiliary instance, RMAN may need to restore archived logs. When an auxiliary destination is being used, the archived logs are restored to that location. In the absence of an auxiliary destination and any other initialization parameters, the archived logs are restored to an operating system specific location. For details, consult your operating system specific documentation. You can use the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1 initialization parameter to specify an alternative location where the archived logs are restored. Specifying the Auxiliary Instance Online Log Location in TSPITR If you specify the LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT initialization parameter in your auxiliary instance parameter file and the parameter successfully converts the names of the online redo logs of the target, then this parameter determines the online redo log location. The same restrictions that apply to OMF data files, apply to OMF online redo logs. For more information, see "Considerations When Renaming OMF Auxiliary Set Files in TSPITR" on page 21-12. If RMAN is managing the auxiliary instance and an auxiliary destination is specified, RMAN creates the online redo log in the auxiliary destination. Alternatively, you can use DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST or DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST and DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_1 to specify the location where the auxiliary instance redo logs are created. If you choose the latter option, you must use DB_CREATE_ONLINE_ LOG_1 with DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST.
- 399. Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-19 TSPITR fails to create the online redo logs if you do not specify a location for them by using one of the following: ■ LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT ■ DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST ■ DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST and DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_1 ■ AUXILIARY DESTINATION Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance Although Oracle recommends that you let RMAN manage all aspects of the auxiliary instance, there may be times when you must create and manage your own auxiliary instance. If you select this mode, you are responsible for setting up, starting, stopping and cleaning up the auxiliary instance used in TSPITR. One reason that you might want to create your own instance is to exercise control of channels used in TSPITR. The automatic auxiliary instance uses the configured channels of the target database as the basis for the channels to configure on the auxiliary instance and to use during the restore operation. You may need different channel settings and may not want to use the CONFIGURE command to change the settings on the target database. In this case, you can operate your own auxiliary instance. By connecting to the auxiliary instance before invoking RECOVER, a run block can provide specific channel allocations using the ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL command. Preparing Your Own Auxiliary Instance for RMAN TSPITR Creating an Oracle instance suitable for use as an auxiliary instance requires that you complete all of the following steps: ■ Step 1: Create an Oracle Password File for the Auxiliary Instance ■ Step 2: Create an Initialization Parameter File for the Auxiliary Instance ■ Step 3: Check Oracle Net Connectivity to the Auxiliary Instance Step 1: Create an Oracle Password File for the Auxiliary Instance For instructions on how to create and maintain Oracle password files, refer to Oracle Database Administrator's Guide. Step 2: Create an Initialization Parameter File for the Auxiliary Instance Use a text editor to create an initialization parameter file for the auxiliary instance on the target database host. For this example, assume that your parameter file is placed at /tmp/initAux.ora. Set the parameters described in Table 21–5. Note: For TSPITR, the target and auxiliary database instances must be on the same host.
- 400. Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance 21-20 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Set other parameters as needed, including the parameters to specify how much memory the auxiliary instance uses. Table 21–5 Initialization Parameters in a User-Managed Auxiliary Instance Parameter Mandatory? Value DB_NAME YES The same name as the target database DB_UNIQUE_NAME YES A value different from any database in the same Oracle home. For simplicity, specify _dbname. For example, if the target database name is trgt, then specify _trgt. REMOTE_LOGIN_PASSWORDFILE YES Set to EXCLUSIVE when connecting to the auxiliary instance with a password file. Otherwise, set to NONE. COMPATIBLE YES The same value as the parameter in the target database DB_BLOCK_SIZE YES If this initialization parameter is set in the target database, then it must be set to the same value in the auxiliary instance. LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT NO Patterns to generate file names for the online redo logs of the auxiliary database based on the online redo log names of the target database. Query V$LOGFILE.MEMBERto obtain target instance online redo log file names, and ensure that the conversion pattern matches the format of the file name shown in the view. Note: Some platforms do not support ending patterns in a forward or backward slash ( or /). See Also: "Specifying the Auxiliary Instance Online Log Location in TSPITR" on page 21-18 for restrictions on possible values for LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT with OMF file names and "Considerations When Renaming OMF Auxiliary Set Files in TSPITR" on page 21-12 DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT NO Patterns to convert file names for the data files of the auxiliary database. You can use this parameter to generate file names for those files that you did not name with SET NEWNAME or CONFIGURE AUXNAME. Obtain the data file names by querying V$DATAFILE.NAME, and ensure that the conversion pattern matches the format of the file name displayed in the view. Note: Some platforms do not support ending patterns in a forward or backward slash ( or /). See Also: "Using DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT to Name Auxiliary Set Data Files" on page 21-14 and "Considerations When Renaming OMF Auxiliary Set Files in TSPITR" on page 21-12. DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST NO Use it to specify a location for all auxiliary set files. LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n NO Use it to specify where archived logs required for recover are created. DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_n NO Use it with DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST to specify a different location where online redo logs are created. CONTROL_FILES NO Filenames that do not conflict with the control file names of the target instance (or any other existing file). SGA_TARGET NO (Recommended) 280M STREAMS_POOL_SIZE NO YES If SGA_TARGET is set If SGA_TARGET is not set
- 401. Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-21 The following example shows possible initialization parameter settings for an auxiliary instance for TSPITR: DB_NAME=trgt DB_UNIQUE_NAME=_trgt CONTROL_FILES=/tmp/control01.ctl DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT=('/oracle/oradata/trgt/','/tmp/') LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT=('/oracle/oradata/trgt/redo','/tmp/redo') REMOTE_LOGIN_PASSWORDFILE=exclusive COMPATIBLE =11.0.0 DB_BLOCK_SIZE=8192 Step 3: Check Oracle Net Connectivity to the Auxiliary Instance The auxiliary instance must have a valid net service name. Before proceeding, use SQL*Plus to ensure that you can establish a SYSDBA connection to the auxiliary instance. Preparing RMAN Commands for TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance If you run your own auxiliary instance, then it is possible for the sequence of commands required for TSPITR to be long. This situation can occur when you allocate a complex channel configuration for restoring from backup and you are not using DB_ CREATE_FILE_DEST to determine file naming of auxiliary set files. You may want to store the series of commands for TSPITR in an RMAN command file. Review the command file carefully to catch any errors. To read the command file into RMAN, use the @ command (or the CMDFILE command-line argument when starting RMAN). The following example runs the command file named /tmp/tspitr.rman: @/tmp/tspitr.rman; Planning Channels for TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance When you run your own auxiliary instance, the default behavior is to use the automatic channel configuration of the target instance. If you decide to allocate your own channels with a different configuration (changing the number of channels or channel parameters), you can include ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL commands in a RUN block along with the RECOVER TABLESPACE command for TSPITR. Plan out these commands, if necessary, and add them to the sequence of commands you run for TSPITR. Note: After setting these initialization parameters, ensure that you do not overwrite the initialization settings for the production files at the target database. See Also: Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide for more information about Oracle Net See Also: "Using Command Files with RMAN" on page 4-3 See Also: "Performing TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance: Scenario" on page 21-23 to learn how to include channel allocation in your TSPITR script
- 402. Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance 21-22 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Planning Data File Names with Your Own Auxiliary Instance: SET NEWNAME You may want to use SET NEWNAME commands to refer to existing image copies of auxiliary set files to improve TSPITR performance, or to assign new names to the recovery set files for after TSPITR. Plan these commands, if necessary, and add them to the sequence of commands that you run for TSPITR. For more information, see "Renaming TSPITR Recovery Set Data Files with SET NEWNAME" on page 21-10. Executing TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance With the preparations complete and your TSPITR commands completely planned, you are now ready to perform TSPITR. The following steps are required: ■ Step 1: Start the Auxiliary Instance in NOMOUNT Mode ■ Step 2: Connect the RMAN Client to Target and Auxiliary Instances ■ Step 3: Execute the RECOVER TABLESPACE Command Step 1: Start the Auxiliary Instance in NOMOUNT Mode Before beginning RMAN TSPITR, start SQL*Plus and connect to the auxiliary instance with SYSOPER privileges. Start the auxiliary instance in NOMOUNT mode, specifying a parameter file if necessary. For example, enter the following SQL*Plus command: SQL> STARTUP NOMOUNT PFILE='/tmp/initAux.ora' Remember that if you specify PFILE, then the path for the PFILE is a client-side path on the host from which you run SQL*Plus. Because the auxiliary instance does not yet have a control file, you can only start the instance in NOMOUNT mode. Do not create a control file or try to mount or open the auxiliary instance for TSPITR. Step 2: Connect the RMAN Client to Target and Auxiliary Instances Start RMAN and connect to the target database and the manually created auxiliary instance. $rman target dba/dbapwd AUXILIARY aux/auxpwd@aux Step 3: Execute the RECOVER TABLESPACE Command In the simplest case, execute the RECOVER TABLESPACE... UNTIL command at the RMAN prompt: RECOVER TABLESPACE ts1, ts2... UNTIL TIME 'time'; If you want to use the ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL or SET NEWNAME commands, then include these commands before the RECOVER TABLESPACE command within a RUN command. The following example illustrates this technique: RUN { ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE DISK; ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c2 DEVICE TYPE sbt; # and so on... RECOVER TABLESPACE ts1, ts2 UNTIL TIME 'time'; }
- 403. Performing RMAN TSPITR Using Your Own Auxiliary Instance Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-23 Performing TSPITR with Your Own Auxiliary Instance: Scenario This scenario shows the execution of a RECOVER TABLESPACE... UNTIL operation. This scenario illustrates the following features of RMAN TSPITR: ■ Managing your own auxiliary instance ■ Configuring channels for restore of backups from disk and SBT devices ■ Using recoverable image copies for some auxiliary set data files using SET NEWNAME ■ Specifying new names for recovery set data files using SET NEWNAME To use TSPITR with your own auxiliary instance: 1. Prepare the auxiliary instance as described in "Preparing Your Own Auxiliary Instance for RMAN TSPITR" on page 21-19. Specify a password for the auxiliary instance in the password file, and set up the auxiliary instance parameter file /bigtmp/init_tspitr_prod.ora with the following settings: DB_NAME=PROD DB_UNIQUE_NAME=tspitr_PROD CONTROL_FILES=/bigtmp/tspitr_cntrl.dbf DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST=/bigtmp COMPATIBLE=11.0.0 BLOCK_SIZE=8192 REMOTE_LOGIN_PASSWORD=exclusive 2. Create service name pitprod for the auxiliary instance, and check for connectivity. 3. Using SQL*Plus, connect to the auxiliary instance with SYSOPER privileges. Start the instance in NOMOUNT mode: SQL> STARTUP NOMOUNT PFILE=/bigtmp/init_tspitr_prod.ora 4. Start RMAN and connect to the target and auxiliary database instances. rman target / auxiliary sys/syspwd@pitprod 5. Enter the following commands in a RUN block to set up and execute TSPITR: RUN { # Specify NEWNAME for recovery set data files SET NEWNAME FOR TABLESPACE clients TO '?/oradata/prod/rec/%b'; # Specify NEWNAMES for some auxiliary set # data files that have a valid image copy to avoid restores: SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/prod/system01.dbf' TO '/backups/prod/system01_monday_noon.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/prod/system02.dbf' TO '/backups/prod/system02_monday_noon.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/prod/sysaux01.dbf' TO '/backups/prod/sysaux01_monday_noon.dbf'; SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/prod/undo01.dbf' TO '/backups/prod/undo01_monday_noon.dbf'; # Specify the types of channels to use ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE DISK; ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL t1 DEVICE TYPE sbt; # Recover the clients tablespace to 24 hours ago:
- 404. Troubleshooting RMAN TSPITR 21-24 Backup and Recovery User's Guide RECOVER TABLESPACE clients UNTIL TIME 'sysdate-1'; } Consider storing this command sequence in a command file and executing the command file. If the TSPITR operation is successful, then the results are: ■ The recovery set data files are registered in the target database control file under the names specified with SET NEWNAME, with their contents as of the time specified time for TSPITR. ■ The auxiliary files are removed by RMAN, including the control files, online logs, and auxiliary set data files of the auxiliary instance. ■ The auxiliary instance is shut down. If the TSPITR operation fails, the auxiliary set files are removed and the auxiliary instance is shut down. The recovery set files are left in the specified location and in an unresolved state from the failed TSPITR run. Troubleshooting RMAN TSPITR A variety of problems can cause RMAN TSPITR to fail. This section lists possible areas to check and fix: ■ Filename conflicts ■ Mismatched or incorrect TSPITR target times for sets of tablespaces and undo segments ■ Management issues with auxiliary instances not created by RMAN Troubleshooting Filename Conflicts Name conflicts can occur between files already in the target database, file names assigned by the SET NEWNAME or CONFIGURE AUXNAME commands, and file names generated by the effect of the DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT parameter. Suppose that SET NEWNAME, CONFIGURE AUXNAME, and DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT cause multiple files in the auxiliary or recovery sets to have the same name. In this case, RMAN reports an error during TSPITR. To correct the problem, use different values for these parameters. Troubleshooting the Identification of Tablespaces with Undo Segments During TSPITR, RMAN needs information about which tablespaces had undo segments at the TSPITR target time. This information is usually available in the recovery catalog, if one is used. If there is no recovery catalog or if the information is not found in the recovery catalog, RMAN assumes that the set of tablespaces with undo segments at the target time is the same as the set of tablespaces with undo segments at the present time. If this assumption is not correct, then TSPITR fails with an error. In this case, use the UNDO TABLESPACE clause to provide a list of tablespaces with undo segments at the target time.
- 405. Troubleshooting RMAN TSPITR Performing RMAN Tablespace Point-in-Time Recovery (TSPITR) 21-25 Troubleshooting the Restart of a Manual Auxiliary Instance After TSPITR Failure If you are managing your own auxiliary instance and TSPITR fails, do not attempt to rerun TSPITR without resolving the errors and following this approach: 1. Identify and fix the problems that prevented TSPITR from a successful run. 2. Start the auxiliary instance in NOMOUNT. 3. Run TSPITR again.
- 406. Troubleshooting RMAN TSPITR 21-26 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 407. Part VI Part VI Tuning and Troubleshooting The following chapters describe how to tune and troubleshoot RMAN operations. This part of the book contains these chapters: ■ Chapter 22, "Tuning RMAN Performance" ■ Chapter 23, "Troubleshooting RMAN Operations"
- 409. 22 Tuning RMAN Performance 22-1 22 Tuning RMAN Performance This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Purpose of RMAN Performance Tuning ■ Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning ■ Using V$ Views to Diagnose RMAN Performance Problems ■ Tuning RMAN Backup Performance Purpose of RMAN Performance Tuning An RMAN backup or restore job can be divided into separate phases or components. The slowest of these phases in any RMAN job is called the bottleneck. The purpose of RMAN tuning is to identify the bottlenecks for a given job and use RMAN commands, initialization parameters, or adjustments to physical media to improve performance. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning Tuning RMAN performance requires a detailed understanding of how RMAN creates a backup. As explained in "RMAN Channels" on page 3-3, the work of a backup is performed by one or more channels. A channel represents a stream of bytes to a storage device. For the purposes of illustration, you can think of the byte stream as passing from the input buffers in memory through the CPU to the output buffers, and from there to the storage device. To direct a backup to two tape devices, you allocate two tape channels so that each byte stream goes to a different device. The work of each channel, whether of type disk or System Backup Tape (SBT), is subdivided into the following distinct phases: 1. Read Phase A channel reads blocks from disk into input I/O buffers. 2. Copy Phase A channel copies blocks from input buffers to output buffers and performs additional processing on the blocks. 3. Write Phase A channel writes the blocks from output buffers to storage media. The write phase can take either of the following mutually exclusive forms, depending on the type of backup media:
- 410. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning 22-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide ■ Write Phase for System Backup Tape (SBT) ■ Write Phase for Disk Figure 22–1 depicts two channels backing up data stored on three disks. Each channel reads the data into the input buffers, processes the data while copying it from the input to the output buffers, and the writes the data from the output buffers to disk. Figure 22–1 Phases of a Multichannel Backup to Disk Figure 22–2 also depicts two channels backing up data stored on three disks, but one disk is mounted remotely over the network. Each channel reads the data into the input buffers, processes the data while copying it from the input buffers to the output buffers, and then writes the data from the output buffers to tape. Channel 1 writes the data to a locally attached tape drive, whereas channel 2 sends the data over the network to a remote media server. Read Copy Write CPU Channel 1 Channel 2 Output buffers Input buffers Disk Subsystem Disk Subsystem Disk Subsystem Disk Subsystem Disk Subsystem
- 411. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning Tuning RMAN Performance 22-3 Figure 22–2 Phases of a Multichannel Backup to Tape When restoring data, a channel performs these steps in reverse order and reverses the reading and writing operations. The following sections explain RMAN tuning concepts in terms of a backup. Read Phase This section explains factors that affect performance when an RMAN channel is reading data from disk: ■ Allocation of Input Disk Buffers ■ Synchronous and Asynchronous Disk I/O ■ Disk I/O Slaves ■ RATE Channel Parameter Allocation of Input Disk Buffers During a backup, an RMAN channel reads the blocks from the input files into I/O disk buffers. The database files on the disk subsystem can be managed by either Automatic Storage Management (ASM) or an alternative volume manager or file system. The considerations for backup tuning change depending on whether you manage database files with ASM. MML Read Copy Write Media NFS Local TCP/IP Media Server Media Output buffers Input buffers Channel 1 Channel 2 CPU Disk Subsystem Disk Subsystem Disk Subsystem
- 412. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning 22-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The allocation of the input buffers depends on how the files are multiplexed. Backup multiplexing is RMAN's ability to read several files in a backup simultaneously from different sources and then write them to a single backup piece. The level of multiplexing, which is the number of input files simultaneously read and then written into the same backup piece, is determined by the algorithm described in "Multiplexed Backup Sets" on page 8-7. Review this section before proceeding. When an RMAN channel backs up files from disk, it uses the rules described in Table 22–1 to determine how large to make the input disk buffers. In the example shown in Figure 22–3, one channel is backing up four data files. MAXOPENFILES is set to 4 and FILESPERSET is set to 4. Thus, the level of multiplexing is 4. So, the total size of the buffers for each data file is 4 MB. The combined size of all the buffers is 16 MB. Figure 22–3 Disk Buffer Allocation If a channel is backing up files stored in ASM, then the number of input disk buffers equals the number of physical disks in the ASM disk group. For example, if a data file is stored in an ASM disk group that contains 16 physical disks, then the channel allocates 16 input buffers for the data file backup. Table 22–1 Data File Read Buffer Sizing Algorithm Level of Multiplexing Input Disk Buffer Size Less than or equal to 4 The RMAN channel allocates 16 buffers of size 1 megabyte (MB) so that the total buffer size for all the input files is 16 MB. Greater than 4 but less than or equal to 8 The RMAN channel allocates a variable number of disk buffers of size 512 kilobytes (KB) so that the total buffer size for all the input files is less than 16 MB. Greater than 8 The RMAN channel allocates 4 disk buffers of 128 KB for each file, so that the total buffer size for each input file is 512 KB. 1 MB 1 MB 1 MB 1 MB Tape driveDatafiles Input disk buffers SGA if BACKUP_DISK_IO_SLAVES = 0 PGA if BACKUP_DISK_IO_SLAVES = 0 or Channel FILESPERSET = 4 MAXOPENFILES = 4 Datafile 2 Datafile 3 Datafile 1 Datafile 4
- 413. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning Tuning RMAN Performance 22-5 If a channel is restoring a backup from disk, then 4 buffers are allocated. The size of the buffers is dependent on the operating system. Synchronous and Asynchronous Disk I/O When a channel reads from or writes to disk, the I/O is either synchronous I/O or asynchronous I/O. When the disk I/O is synchronous, a server process can perform only one task at a time. When the disk I/O is asynchronous, a server process can begin an I/O operation and then perform other work while waiting for the I/O to complete. RMAN can also begin multiple I/O operations before waiting for the first to complete. When reading from an ASM disk group, you should use asynchronous disk I/O if possible. Also, if a channel reads from a raw device managed with a volume manager, then asynchronous disk I/O also works well. Some operating systems support native asynchronous disk I/O. The database takes advantage of this feature if it is available. Disk I/O Slaves On operating systems that do not support native asynchronous I/O, the database can simulate it with special I/O slave processes. These processes are dedicated to performing I/O on behalf of another process. You can control disk I/O slaves by setting the DBWR_IO_SLAVES initialization parameter, which is not dynamic. The parameter specifies the number of I/O server processes used by the database writer process (DBWR). By default, the value is 0 and I/O server processes are not used. If asynchronous I/O is disabled, then RMAN allocates four backup disk I/O slaves for any nonzero value of DBWR_IO_SLAVES. When attempting to get shared buffers for I/O slaves, the database does the following: ■ If the LARGE_POOL_SIZE initialization parameter is set, and if the DBWR_IO_ SLAVES parameter is set to a nonzero value, then the database attempts to get memory from the large pool. If this value is not large enough, then an error is recorded in the alert log, the database does not try to get buffers from the shared pool, and asynchronous I/O is not used. ■ If the LARGE_POOL_SIZE initialization parameter is not set or is set to zero, then the database attempts to get memory from the shared pool. ■ If the database cannot get enough memory, then it obtains I/O buffer memory from the Program Global Area (PGA) and writes a message to the alert.log file indicating that synchronous I/O is used for this backup. The memory from the large pool is used for many features, including the shared server, parallel query, and RMAN I/O slave buffers. Configuring the large pool prevents RMAN from competing with other subsystems for the same memory. Requests for contiguous memory allocations from the shared pool are usually small (under 5 KB). However, a request for a large contiguous memory allocation can either fail or require significant memory housekeeping to release the required amount of contiguous memory. Although the shared pool may be unable to satisfy this memory request, the large pool can do so. The large pool does not have a least recently used (LRU) list; the database does not attempt to age memory out of the large pool. RATE Channel Parameter In the ALLOCATE and CONFIGURE CHANNEL commands, the RATE parameter specifies the bytes per second that are read on a channel. You can use this parameter to set an upper limit for bytes read so that RMAN does not consume excessive disk bandwidth and degrade online performance. Essentially, RATE serves as a backup throttle. For example, if you set RATE 1500K, and if each disk drive delivers 3
- 414. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning 22-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide megabytes per second, then the channel leaves some disk bandwidth available to the online system. Copy Phase In this phase, a channel copies blocks from the input buffers to the output buffers and performs additional processing. For example, if a channel reads data from disk and backs up to tape, then the channel copies the data from the disk buffers to the output tape buffers. The copy phase involves the following types of processing: ■ Validation ■ Compression ■ Encryption When performing validation of the blocks, RMAN checks them for corruption. Validation is explained in Chapter 16, "Validating Database Files and Backups" Typically, this processing is not CPU-intensive. When performing binary compression, RMAN applies a compression algorithm to the data in backup sets. Binary compression can be CPU-intensive. You can choose which compression algorithm RMAN uses for backups. The basic compression level for RMAN has a good compression ratio for most scenarios. If you have the Advanced Compression Option enabled, there are several different levels to choose from that provide trade-offs between compression ratios and required CPU resources. Binary compression is explained in "Binary Compression for Backup Sets" on page 8-4 and in "Making Compressed Backups" on page 9-6. When performing backup encryption, RMAN encrypts backup sets by using an algorithm listed in V$RMAN_ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHMS. RMAN offers three modes of encryption: transparent, password-protected, and dual-mode. Backup encryption is explained in "Encrypting RMAN Backups" on page 10-10. Backup encryption can be CPU-intensive. Write Phase for System Backup Tape (SBT) When backing up to SBT, RMAN gives the media manager a stream of bytes and associates a unique name with this stream. All details of how and where that stream is stored are handled entirely by the media manager. Thus, a backup to tape involves the interaction of both RMAN and the media manager. RMAN Component of the Write Phase for SBT The RMAN-specific factors affecting the SBT write phase are analogous to the factors affecting disk reads. In both cases, the buffer allocation, slave processes, and synchronous or asynchronous I/O affect performance. Allocation of Tape Buffers If you back up to or restore from an SBT device, then by default the database allocates four buffers for each channel for the tape writers (or reads if restoring data as shown in Table 22–4). The size of the tape I/O buffers is platform-dependent. You can change this value with the PARMS and BLKSIZE parameters of the ALLOCATE CHANNEL or CONFIGURE CHANNEL command.
- 415. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning Tuning RMAN Performance 22-7 Figure 22–4 Allocation of Tape Buffers Tape I/O Slaves RMAN allocates the tape buffers in the System Global Area (SGA) or the Program Global Area (PGA), depending on whether I/O slaves are used. If you set the initialization parameter BACKUP_TAPE_IO_SLAVES=true, then RMAN allocates tape buffers from the SGA. Tape devices can only be accessed by one process at a time, so RMAN starts as many slaves as necessary for the number of tape devices. If the LARGE_POOL_SIZE initialization parameter is also set, then RMAN allocates buffers from the large pool. If you set BACKUP_TAPE_IO_SLAVES=false, then RMAN allocates the buffers from the PGA. If you use I/O slaves, then set the LARGE_POOL_SIZE initialization parameter to dedicate SGA memory to holding these large memory allocations. This parameter prevents RMAN I/O buffers from competing with the library cache for SGA memory. If I/O slaves for tape I/O were requested but there is not enough space in the SGA for them, slaves are not used, and a message appears in the alert log. The parameter BACKUP_TAPE_IO_SLAVES specifies whether RMAN uses slave processes rather than the number of slave processes. Tape devices can only be accessed by one process at a time, and RMAN uses the number of slaves necessary for the number of tape devices. Synchronous and Asynchronous I/O When an SBT channel reads or writes data to tape, the I/O is always synchronous. For tape I/O, each channel allocated (whether manually or automatically) corresponds to a server process, called here a channel process. Table 22–5 shows synchronous I/O in a backup to tape. Figure 22–5 Synchronous Tape I/O The following steps occur: 256 256 Channel SGA if BACKUP_TAPE_IO_SLAVES = TRUE PGA if BACKUP_TAPE_IO_SLAVES = FALSE or 256 256 Tape driveOutput tape buffers 1010101 Channel process 1 2Channel process composes tape buffer 3 Media Manger code returns after writing Channel process runs media manager code to internalize buffer for writing 4 Channel Process composes next buffer Tape Buffers 1010101 Media Manager
- 416. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning 22-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide 1. The channel process composes a tape buffer. 2. The channel process executes media manager code that processes the tape buffer and internalizes it for further processing and storage by the media manager. 3. The media manager code returns a message to the server process stating that it has completed writing. 4. The channel process can initiate a new task. Table 22–6 shows asynchronous I/O in a tape backup. Asynchronous I/O to tape is simulated by using tape slaves. In this case, each allocated channel corresponds to a server process, which in the explanation that follows is identified as a channel process. For each channel process, one tape slave is started (or more than one, if multiple copies exist). Figure 22–6 Asynchronous Tape I/O The following steps occur: 1. A channel process writes blocks to a tape buffer. 2. The channel process sends a message to the tape slave process to process the tape buffer. The tape slave process executes media manager code that processes the tape buffer and internalizes it so that the media manager can process it. 3. While the tape slave process is writing, the channel process is free to read data from the data files and prepare more output buffers. 4. After the tape slave channel returns from the media manager code, it requests a new tape buffer, which usually is ready. Thus waiting time for the channel process is reduced, and the backup is completed faster. Media Manager Component of the Write Phase for SBT The following factors affect the speed of the backup to tape: ■ Network Throughput ■ Native Transfer Rate ■ Tape Compression ■ Tape Streaming ■ Physical Tape Block Size Channel process Tape Slave 1010101 1010101 1010101 1 Channel process prepares tape buffer 3 4 2 2 3 22 Channel process prepares more tape buffers while step runs 2 Media Manager Tape Slave internalizes and writes tape buffer Tape slave returns from media manger, requests next buffer
- 417. Basic Concepts of RMAN Performance Tuning Tuning RMAN Performance 22-9 Network Throughput If the tape device is remote, then the media manager must transfer data over the network. For example, an administrative domain in Oracle Secure Backup can contain multiple networked client hosts, media servers, and tape devices. If the database is on one host, but the output tape drive is attached to a different host, then Oracle Secure Backup manages the data transfer over the network. The network throughput is the upper limit for backup performance. Native Transfer Rate The tape native transfer rate is the speed of writing to a tape without compression. This speed represents the upper limit of the backup rate. The upper limit of your backup performance should be the aggregate transfer rate of all of your tape drives. If your backup is already performing at that rate, and if it is not using an excessive amount of CPU, then RMAN performance tuning does not help. Tape Compression The level of tape compression is very important for backup performance. If the tape has good compression, then the sustained backup rate is faster. For example, if the compression ratio is 2:1 and native transfer rate of the tape drive is 6 megabytes per second, then the resulting backup speed is 12 megabytes per second. In this case, RMAN must be able to read disks with a throughput of more than 12 megabytes per second or the disk becomes the bottleneck for the backup. Tape Streaming Tape streaming during write operations has a major effect on tape backup performance. Many tape drives are fixed-speed, streaming tape drives. Because such drives can write data at only one speed, when they run out of data to write to tape, the tape must slow and stop. Typically, when the drive's buffer empties, the tape is moving so quickly that it actually overshoots; to continue writing, the drive must rewind the tape to locate the point where it stopped writing. Multiple speed tape drives are now available that alleviate this problem. Physical Tape Block Size The physical tape block size can affect backup performance. The block size is the amount of data written by media management software to a tape in one write operation. In general, the larger the tape block size, the faster the backup. The physical tape block size is not controlled by RMAN or Oracle database, but by media management software. See your media management software's documentation for details. Write Phase for Disk The principal factor affecting the write phase for disk is the buffer size. When the output of the backup resides on disk, each channel allocates four output buffers of 1 MB each. The disk channel writes the blocks to the disk subsystem. When restoring files, the read phase is similar to the write phase when backing up files, except the blocks move in the opposite direction. If RMAN reads from a disk asynchronously, then it writes to the disk asynchronously. When writing to disk, you can make use of disk I/O slaves just as when reading from disk. Note: You should not use both tape compression provided by the media manager and binary compression provided by RMAN. If the media manager compression is efficient, then it is usually the better choice. Using RMAN-compressed backup sets can be an effective alternative to reduce bandwidth used to move uncompressed backup sets over a network to the media manager, if the CPU overhead required to compress the data in RMAN is acceptable.
- 418. Using V$ Views to Diagnose RMAN Performance Problems 22-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide If RMAN is backing up files to a disk-based output destination striped over multiple disks, then you can allocate multiple channels. The number of channels is limited only to the number of disks over which the destination is striped. ASM is one example of a destination striped over multiple disks. Using V$ Views to Diagnose RMAN Performance Problems Typically, you begin the tuning process by using V$ views to determine where RMAN backup and restore operations are encountering problems. Monitoring RMAN Job Progress with V$SESSION_LONGOPS You can monitor the progress of backups and restore jobs by querying the view V$SESSION_LONGOPS. RMAN uses two types of rows in V$SESSION_LONGOPS: detail rows and aggregate rows. Detail rows describe the files being processed by one job step, whereas aggregate rows describe the files processed by all job steps in an RMAN command. A job step is the creation or restoration of one backup set or data file copy. Detail rows are updated with every buffer that is read or written during the backup step, so their granularity of update is small. Aggregate rows are updated when each job step completes, so their granularity of update is large. Table 22–2 describes the columns in V$SESSION_LONGOPS that are most relevant for RMAN. Typically, you view the detail rows rather than the aggregate rows to determine the progress of each backup set. Table 22–2 Columns of V$SESSION_LONGOPS Relevant for RMAN Column Description for Detail Rows SID The server session ID corresponding to an RMAN channel SERIAL# The server session serial number. This value changes each time a server session is reused. OPNAME A text description of the row. Examples of details rows include RMAN: datafile copy, RMAN: full datafile backup, and RMAN: full datafile restore. Note: RMAN: aggregate input and RMAN: aggregate output are the only aggregate rows. CONTEXT For backup output rows, this value is 2. For all other rows except proxy copy (which does not update this column), the value is 1. SOFAR The meaning of this column depends on the type of operation described by this row: ■ For image copies, the number of blocks that have been read ■ For backup input rows, the number of blocks that have been read from the files being backed up ■ For backup output rows, the number of blocks that have been written to the backup piece ■ For restores, the number of blocks that have been processed to the files that are being restored in this one job step ■ For proxy copies, the number of files that have been copied
- 419. Using V$ Views to Diagnose RMAN Performance Problems Tuning RMAN Performance 22-11 Each server session performing a backup or restore job reports its progress compared to the total work required for a job step. For example, if you restore the database with two channels, and each channel has two backup sets to restore (a total of four sets), then each server session reports its progress through a single backup set. When a set is completely restored, RMAN begins reporting progress on the next set to restore. To monitor RMAN job progress: 1. Before starting the RMAN job, create a script file (called, for this example, longops) containing the following SQL statement: SELECT SID, SERIAL#, CONTEXT, SOFAR, TOTALWORK, ROUND(SOFAR/TOTALWORK*100,2) "%_COMPLETE" FROM V$SESSION_LONGOPS WHERE OPNAME LIKE 'RMAN%' AND OPNAME NOT LIKE '%aggregate%' AND TOTALWORK != 0 AND SOFAR <> TOTALWORK; 2. Start RMAN and connect to the target database and recovery catalog (if used). 3. Start an RMAN job. For example, enter: RMAN> RESTORE DATABASE; 4. While the RMAN job is running, start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database, and execute the longops script to check the progress of the RMAN job. If you repeat the query while the RMAN job progresses, then you see output such as the following: SQL> @longops SID SERIAL# CONTEXT SOFAR TOTALWORK %_COMPLETE ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- 8 19 1 10377 36617 28.34 SQL> @longops SID SERIAL# CONTEXT SOFAR TOTALWORK % COMPLETE ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- 8 19 1 21513 36617 58.75 SQL> @longops SID SERIAL# CONTEXT SOFAR TOTALWORK % COMPLETE ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- 8 19 1 29641 36617 80.95 TOTALWORK The meaning of this column depends on the type of operation described by this row: ■ For image copies, the total number of blocks in the file. ■ For backup input rows, the total number of blocks to be read from all files processed in this job step. ■ For backup output rows, the value is 0 because RMAN does not know how many blocks that it will write into any backup piece. ■ For restores, the total number of blocks in all files restored in this job step. ■ For proxy copies, the total number of files to be copied in this job step. Table 22–2 (Cont.) Columns of V$SESSION_LONGOPS Relevant for RMAN Column Description for Detail Rows
- 420. Using V$ Views to Diagnose RMAN Performance Problems 22-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide SQL> @longops SID SERIAL# CONTEXT SOFAR TOTALWORK % COMPLETE ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- 8 19 1 35849 36617 97.9 SQL> @longops no rows selected 5. If you run the longops script at intervals of 2 minutes or more and the %_ COMPLETE column does not increase, then RMAN is encountering a problem. See "Monitoring RMAN Interaction with the Media Manager" on page 23-7 to obtain more information. If you frequently monitor the execution of long-running tasks, then you could create a shell script or batch file under your host operating system that runs SQL*Plus to execute this query repeatedly. Identifying Bottlenecks with V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO and V$BACKUP_ASYNC_IO You can use the V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO and V$BACKUP_ASYNC_IO views to determine the source of backup or restore bottlenecks and to see detailed progress of backup jobs. V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO contains rows when the I/O is synchronous to the process (or thread on some platforms) performing the backup. V$BACKUP_ASYNC_IO contains rows when the I/O is asynchronous. Asynchronous I/O is obtained either with I/O processes or because it is supported by the underlying operating system. The results of a backup or restore job remain in memory until the database instance shuts down. Thus, you can query the views after the job completes. To determine whether the tape is streaming when the I/O is synchronous: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database. 2. Query the EFFECTIVE_BYTES_PER_SECOND column in the V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO or V$BACKUP_ASYNC_IO view. If EFFECTIVE_BYTES_PER_SECOND is less than the raw capacity of the hardware, then the tape is not streaming. If EFFECTIVE_BYTES_PER_SECOND is greater than the raw capacity of the hardware, the tape may or may not be streaming. Compression may cause the EFFECTIVE_BYTES_PER_SECOND to be greater than the speed of real I/O. Identifying Bottlenecks with Synchronous I/O With synchronous I/O, it is difficult to identify specific bottlenecks because all synchronous I/O is a bottleneck to the process. The only way to tune synchronous I/O is to compare the rate (in bytes per second) with the device's maximum throughput rate. If the rate is lower than the rate that the device specifies, then consider tuning this aspect of the backup and restore process. To determine the rate of synchronous I/O: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database. 2. Query the DISCRETE_BYTES_PER_SECOND column in the V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO view to display the I/O rate. See Also: Oracle Database Reference for more information about these views
- 421. Tuning RMAN Backup Performance Tuning RMAN Performance 22-13 If you see data in V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO, then the problem is that you have not enabled asynchronous I/O or you are not using disk I/O slaves. Identifying Bottlenecks with Asynchronous I/O Long waits are the number of times the backup or restore process told the operating system to wait until an I/O was complete. Short waits are the number of times the backup or restore process made an operating system call to poll for I/O completion in a nonblocking mode. Ready indicates the number of times when I/O was already ready for use, so there was no need to make an operating system call to poll for I/O completion. To determine the rate of asynchronous I/O: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database. 2. Query the LONG_WAITS and IO_COUNT columns in the V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO view to display the I/O rate. The simplest way to identify the bottleneck is to find the data file that has the largest ratio for LONG_WAITS divided by IO_COUNT. For example, you can use the following query: SELECT LONG_WAITS/IO_COUNT, FILENAME FROM V$BACKUP_ASYNC_IO WHERE LONG_WAITS/IO_COUNT > 0 ORDER BY LONG_WAITS/IO_COUNT DESC; Tuning RMAN Backup Performance Many factors can affect backup performance. Often, finding the solution to a slow backup is a process of trial and error. To obtain the best performance for a backup, follow the steps in this section in sequential order. This section contains the following steps: ■ Step 1: Remove the RATE Parameter from Channel Settings ■ Step 2: If You Use Synchronous Disk I/O, Set DBWR_IO_SLAVES ■ Step 3: If You Fail to Allocate Shared Memory, Set LARGE_POOL_SIZE ■ Step 4: Tune the Read, Write, and Copy Phases Step 1: Remove the RATE Parameter from Channel Settings As explained in "RATE Channel Parameter" on page 22-5, the RATE parameter on a channel is intended to reduce, rather than increase, backup throughput so that more disk bandwidth is available for other database operations. If the backup is not streaming to tape, then confirm that the RATE parameter is not set. Note: If you have synchronous I/O but you have set BACKUP_ DISK_IO_SLAVES, then the I/O is displayed in V$BACKUP_ ASYNC_IO. See Also: Oracle Database Reference for descriptions of the V$BACKUP_SYNC_IO and V$BACKUP_ASYNC_IO views
- 422. Tuning RMAN Backup Performance 22-14 Backup and Recovery User's Guide To remove the RATE parameter: 1. Examine your backup script. 2. Do one of the following: ■ If the backup is in a RUN command, then remove the RATE parameter, if it is specified, from the ALLOCATE command. Skip the remaining steps. ■ If the backup is not in a RUN command, then start RMAN, connect to the target database, and proceed to the next step. 3. Execute the SHOW ALL command to show the currently configured settings. 4. Remove the RATE parameter, if it is set, from the CONFIGURE CHANNEL command. Step 2: If You Use Synchronous Disk I/O, Set DBWR_IO_SLAVES As explained in "Synchronous and Asynchronous Disk I/O" on page 22-5, some operating systems support native asynchronous I/O. If and only if your disk does not support asynchronous I/O, then set DBWR_IO_SLAVES. Any nonzero value for DBWR_ IO_SLAVES causes a fixed number of disk I/O slaves to be used for backup and restore, which simulates asynchronous I/O. To enable disk I/O slaves: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database. 2. Shut down the database. 3. Set DBWR_IO_SLAVES initialization parameter to a nonzero value. Setting DBWR_IO_SLAVES enables the database writer processes to use slaves. Thus, you may need to increase the value of the PROCESSES initialization parameter. 4. Restart the database. 5. Restart the RMAN backup. Step 3: If You Fail to Allocate Shared Memory, Set LARGE_POOL_SIZE Set the LARGE_POOL_SIZE initialization parameter if the database reports an error in the alert log stating that it does not have enough memory and that it cannot start I/O slaves. The message should resemble the following: ksfqxcre: failure to allocate shared memory means sync I/O will be used whenever async I/O to file not supported natively The large pool is used for RMAN and for other purposes, so its total size should accommodate all uses. This is especially true if DBWR_IO_SLAVES has been set and the DBWR process needs buffers. To set the large pool size: 1. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the target database. 2. Optionally, query V$SGASTAT.POOL to determine in which pool (shared pool or large pool) the memory for an object resides. 3. Set the LARGE_POOL_SIZE initialization parameter in the target database. You can execute an ALTER SYSTEM SET statement to set the parameter dynamically. The formula for setting LARGE_POOL_SIZE is as follows:
- 423. Tuning RMAN Backup Performance Tuning RMAN Performance 22-15 LARGE_POOL_SIZE = number_of_allocated_channels * (16 MB + ( 4 * size_of_tape_buffer ) ) 4. Restart the RMAN backup. Step 4: Tune the Read, Write, and Copy Phases There are several tasks that you can perform to identify and remedy bottlenecks that affect backup performance. Using Backup Validation To Distinguish Between Read and Write Bottlenecks One reliable way to determine whether the output device or input disk I/O is the bottleneck in a given backup job is to compare the time required to run backup tasks with the time required to run BACKUP VALIDATE of the same tasks. BACKUP VALIDATE of a backup performs the same disk reads as a real backup but performs no I/O to an output device. To compare backup and validation times: 1. Ensure your NLS environment date format variable is set to show the time. For example, set the NLS variables as follows: setenv NLS_LANG AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8DEC; setenv NLS_DATE_FORMAT "MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS" 2. Edit your backup script to use the BACKUP VALIDATE command instead of the BACKUP command. 3. Run the backup script. 4. Examine the RMAN output and calculate the difference between the times displayed in the Starting backup at and Finished backup at messages. 5. Edit the backup script to use the BACKUP command instead of the BACKUP VALIDATE command. 6. Run the backup script. 7. Examine the RMAN output and calculate the difference between the times displayed in the Starting backup at and Finished backup at messages. 8. Compare the backup times for the validation and real backup. If the time for the BACKUP VALIDATE to tape is about the same as the time for a real backup to tape, then reading from disk is the likely bottleneck. See "Tuning the Read Phase" on page 22-15. If the time for the BACKUP VALIDATE to tape is significantly less than the time for a real backup to tape, then writing to the output device is the likely bottleneck. See "Tuning the Copy and Write Phases" on page 22-16. Tuning the Read Phase RMAN may not be able to send data blocks to the output device fast enough to keep it occupied. For example, during an incremental backup, RMAN only backs up blocks changed since a previous data file backup as part of the same strategy. If you do not turn on block change tracking, then RMAN must scan whole data files for changed See Also: Oracle Database Concepts for more information about the large pool, and Oracle Database Reference for complete information about initialization parameters
- 424. Tuning RMAN Backup Performance 22-16 Backup and Recovery User's Guide blocks, and fill output buffers as it finds such blocks. If few blocks changed, and if RMAN is making an SBT backup, then RMAN may not fill output buffers fast enough to keep the tape drive streaming. You can improve backup performance by adjusting the level of multiplexing, which is number of input files simultaneously read and then written into the same RMAN backup piece. The level of multiplexing is the minimum of the MAXOPENFILES setting on the channel and the number of input files placed in each backup set. The following table makes recommendations for adjusting the level of multiplexing. Tuning the Copy and Write Phases If the read phase is performing well, then the copy or write phases are probably the bottleneck. In particular, if RMAN is sending data blocks to the tape drive fast enough to support streaming, but the tape is not streaming, then the SBT write phase is the bottleneck. Try to improve performance as follows: ■ If the backup is a full backup, then consider using incremental backups. Incremental level 1 backups write only the changed blocks from data files to tape, so that any bottleneck on writing to tape has less impact on your overall backup strategy. In particular, if tape drives are not locally attached to the node of the database being backed up, then incremental backups can be faster. See "Making and Updating Incremental Backups" on page 9-14. ■ If the backup uses the basic compression algorithm, then consider using an Advanced Compression Option. See "Configuring Compression Options" on page 6-6 or "Binary Compression for Backup Sets" on page 8-4. ■ If the database host uses multiple CPUs, and if the backup uses binary compression, then increase the number of channels. ■ If the backup is encrypted, then change the encryption algorithm to AES128. The AES128 algorithm is the least CPU-intensive algorithm. See "Configuring the Backup Encryption Algorithm" on page 6-11. ■ If RMAN is backing up to tape, then try the following adjustments: Table 22–3 Adjusting the Level of Multiplexing ASM Striped Disk Recommendation No Yes Increase the level of multiplexing. Determine which is the minimum, MAXOPENFILES or the number of files in each backup set, and then increase this value. In this way, you increase the rate at which RMAN fills tape buffers, which makes it more likely that buffers are sent to the media manager fast enough to maintain streaming. No No Increase the MAXOPENFILES setting on the channel. Yes Not applicable Set the MAXOPENFILES parameter on the channel to 1 or 2. See Also: ■ "Multiplexed Backup Sets" on page 8-7 to learn how the MAXOPENFILES and FILESPERSET settings affect the level of multiplexing ■ "Incremental Backups" on page 8-13 for a conceptual overview
- 425. Tuning RMAN Backup Performance Tuning RMAN Performance 22-17 – Adjust the size of the tape I/O buffers. Use the PARMS and BLKSIZE parameters of the ALLOCATE CHANNEL or CONFIGURE CHANNEL command to set the size. The size of the tape I/O buffers is platform-dependent. The BLKSIZE setting overrides the default. – Adjust settings in the media management software. Some media manager settings, including the tape block size, may affect backup performance. ■ If RMAN is backing up files to ASM, then increase the number of channels. For example, if RMAN is backing up the database to a single disk group with 16 physical disks, then allocate or configure at least 4 disk channels, up to a maximum of 16.
- 426. Tuning RMAN Backup Performance 22-18 Backup and Recovery User's Guide
- 427. 23 Troubleshooting RMAN Operations 23-1 23Troubleshooting RMAN Operations This chapter describes how to troubleshoot Recovery Manager. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Interpreting RMAN Message Output ■ Using V$ Views for RMAN Troubleshooting ■ Testing the Media Management API ■ Terminating an RMAN Command Interpreting RMAN Message Output Recovery Manager provides detailed error messages that can aid in troubleshooting problems. Also, Oracle Database and the third-party media vendors generate useful debugging output of their own. The following discussion explains how to identify and interpret the different errors that you may encounter. Identifying Types of Message Output Output that is useful for troubleshooting failed or unresponsive RMAN jobs is located in several different places, as explained in Table 23–1. Table 23–1 Types of Message Output Type of Output Produced By Location Description RMAN messages RMAN Completed job information is in V$RMAN_STATUS and RC_RMAN_ STATUS. Current job information is in V$RMAN_OUTPUT. When running RMAN from the command line, you can direct output to the following places: ■ Standard output ■ A log file specified by LOG on the command line or the SPOOL LOG command ■ A file created by redirecting RMAN output (for example, in UNIX, using the'>' operator) Contains actions relevant to the RMAN job and error messages generated by RMAN, the database server, and the media vendor. RMAN error messages have an RMAN- prefix. Normal action descriptions do not have a prefix. You can execute the following PL/SQL to remove all entries from V$RMAN_STATUS: SYS.DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.resetCfileSection(28); The preceding function removes all job-related entries. No rows are visible until new backup jobs are shown in V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS. alert_SID.log Oracle Database The alert subdirectory of the Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR) home Contains a chronological log of errors, initialization parameter settings, and administration operations. Records values for overwritten control file records.
- 428. Interpreting RMAN Message Output 23-2 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Recognizing RMAN Error Message Stacks RMAN reports errors as they occur. If an error is not retrievable, that is, if RMAN cannot perform failover to another channel to complete a particular job step, then RMAN also reports a summary of the errors after all job sets complete. This feature is known as deferred error reporting. One way to determine whether RMAN encountered an error is to examine its return code, as described in "Identifying RMAN Return Codes" on page 23-7. A second way is to search the RMAN output for the string RMAN-00569, which is the message number for the error stack banner. All RMAN errors are preceded by this error message. If you do not see an RMAN-00569 message in the output, then there are no errors. Example 23–1 shows a syntax error. Example 23–1 RMAN Syntax Error RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00558: error encountered while parsing input commands RMAN-01005: syntax error: found ")": expecting one of: "archivelog, backup, backupset, controlfilecopy, current, database, datafile, datafilecopy, (, plus, ;, tablespace" RMAN-01007: at line 1 column 18 file: standard input Identifying Error Codes Typically, you find the following types of error codes in RMAN message stacks: ■ Errors prefixed with RMAN- ■ Errors prefixed with ORA- ■ Errors preceded by the line Additional information: RMAN Error Message Numbers Table 23–2 indicates the error ranges for common RMAN error messages, all of which are described in Oracle Database Error Messages. Oracle trace file Oracle Database The trace subdirectory of the ADR home Contains detailed output generated by Oracle Database processes. This file is created when an ORA-600 or ORA-3113 error message occurs, whenever RMAN cannot allocate a channel, and when the database fails to load the media management library. sbtio.log Third-party media management software The trace subdirectory of the ADR home Contains vendor-specific information written by the media management software. This log does not contain Oracle Database or RMAN errors. Media manager log file Third-party media management software The file names for any media manager logs other than sbtio.log are determined by the media management software. Contains information about the functioning of the media management device See Also: Oracle Database Error Messages for explanations of RMAN and ORA error codes Table 23–1 (Cont.) Types of Message Output Type of Output Produced By Location Description
- 429. Interpreting RMAN Message Output Troubleshooting RMAN Operations 23-3 ORA-19511: Media Manager Errors If a media manager error occurs, ORA-19511 is signaled, and the media manager is expected to provide RMAN a descriptive error. RMAN displays the error passed back to it by the media manager. For example, you might see this: ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text: sbtpvt_open_input: file .* does not exist or cannot be accessed, errno = 2 The message from the media manager should provide you with enough information to let you fix the root problem. If it does not, you should refer to the documentation for your media manager or contact your media management vendor support representative for further information. ORA-19511 errors originate with the media manager, not with Oracle Database. The database just passes the message on from the media manager. The cause can be addressed only by the media management vendor. If you are still using an SBT 1.1-compliant media management layer, you may see some additional error message text. Output from an SBT 1.1-compliant media management layer is similar to the following: ORA-19507: failed to retrieve sequential file, handle="c-140148591-20031014-06", parms="" ORA-27007: failed to open file Additional information: 7000 Additional information: 2 ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text: SBT error = 7000, errno = 0, sbtopen: backup file not found The "Additional information" provided uses error codes specific to SBT 1.1. The values displayed correspond to the media manager message numbers and error text listed in Table 23–3. RMAN again signals the error, as an ORA-19511 Error received from media manager layer error, and a general error message related to the error code returned from the media manager and including the SBT 1.1 error number is then displayed. Table 23–2 RMAN Error Message Ranges Error Range Cause 0550-0999 Command-line interpreter 1000-1999 Keyword analyzer 2000-2999 Syntax analyzer 3000-3999 Main layer 4000-4999 Services layer 5000-5499 Compilation of RESTORE or RECOVER command 5500-5999 Compilation of DUPLICATE command 6000-6999 General compilation 7000-7999 General execution 8000-8999 PL/SQL programs 9000-9999 Low-level keyword analyzer 10000-10999 Server-side execution 11000-11999 Interphase errors between PL/SQL and RMAN 12000-12999 Recovery catalog packages
- 430. Interpreting RMAN Message Output 23-4 Backup and Recovery User's Guide The SBT 1.1 error messages are listed here for your reference. Table 23–3 lists media manager message numbers and their corresponding error text. In the error codes, O/S stands for operating system. The errors marked with an asterisk (*) are internal and should not typically be seen during normal operation. Table 23–3 Media Manager Error Message Ranges Cause No. Message sbtopen 7000 7001 7002* 7003 7004 7005 7006 7007 7008 7009 7010 7011 7012* Backup file not found (only returned for read) File exists (only returned for write) Bad mode specified Invalid block size specified No tape device found Device found, but busy; try again later Tape volume not found Tape volume is in-use I/O Error Can't connect with Media Manager Permission denied O/S error for example malloc, fork error Invalid argument(s) to sbtopen sbtclose 7020* 7021* 7022 7023 7024* 7025 Invalid file handle or file not open Invalid flags to sbtclose I/O error O/S error Invalid argument(s) to sbtclose Can't connect with Media Manager sbtwrite 7040* 7041 7042 7043 7044* Invalid file handle or file not open End of volume reached I/O error O/S error Invalid argument(s) to sbtwrite sbtread 7060* 7061 7062 7063 7064 7065* Invalid file handle or file not open EOF encountered End of volume reached I/O error O/S error Invalid argument(s) to sbtread sbtremove 7080 7081 7082 7083 7084 7085 7086* Backup file not found Backup file in use I/O Error Can't connect with Media Manager Permission denied O/S error Invalid argument(s) to sbtremove
- 431. Interpreting RMAN Message Output Troubleshooting RMAN Operations 23-5 Interpreting RMAN Error Stacks Sometimes you may find it difficult to identify the useful messages in the RMAN error stack. Note the following tips and suggestions: ■ Read the messages from the bottom up, because this is the order in which RMAN issues the messages. The last one or two errors displayed in the stack are often the most informative. ■ When you are using an SBT 1.1 media management layer and you are presented with SBT 1.1 style error messages containing the "Additional information:" numeric error codes, look for the ORA-19511 message that follows for the text of error messages passed back to RMAN by the media manager. These should identify the real failure in the media management layer. ■ Look for the RMAN-03002 or RMAN-03009 message (RMAN-03009 is the same as RMAN-03002 but includes the channel ID), immediately following the error banner. These messages indicate which command failed. Syntax errors generate RMAN-00558. ■ Identify the basic type of error according to the error range chart in Table 23–2 and then refer to Oracle Database Error Messages for information about the most important messages. Interpreting RMAN Errors: Example You attempt a backup of tablespace users and receive the following message: Starting backup at 29-AUG-02 using channel ORA_DISK_1 RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of backup command at 08/29/2002 15:14:03 RMAN-20202: tablespace not found in the recovery catalog RMAN-06019: could not translate tablespace name "USESR" The RMAN-03002 error indicates that the BACKUP command failed. You read the last two messages in the stack first and immediately see the problem: no tablespace usesr appears in the recovery catalog because you mistyped the name. Interpreting Server Errors: Example Assume that you attempt to recover a tablespace and receive the following errors: RMAN> RECOVER TABLESPACE users; sbtinfo 7090 7091 7092 7093 7094 7095* Backup file not found I/O Error Can't connect with Media Manager Permission denied O/S error Invalid argument(s) to sbtinfo sbtinit 7110* 7111 Invalid argument(s) to sbtinit O/S error Table 23–3 (Cont.) Media Manager Error Message Ranges Cause No. Message
- 432. Interpreting RMAN Message Output 23-6 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Starting recover at 29-AUG-07 using channel ORA_DISK_1 starting media recovery media recovery failed RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of recover command at 08/29/2007 15:18:43 RMAN-11003: failure during parse/execution of SQL statement: alter database recover if needed tablespace USERS ORA-00283: recovery session canceled due to errors ORA-01124: cannot recover data file 8 - file is in use or recovery ORA-01110: data file 8: '/oracle/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf' As suggested, you start reading from the bottom up. The ORA-01110 message explains there was a problem with the recovery of data file users01.dbf. The second error indicates that the database cannot recover the data file because it is in use or already being recovered. The remaining RMAN errors indicate that the recovery session was canceled due to the server errors. Hence, you conclude that because you were not already recovering this data file, the problem must be that the data file is online and you must take it offline and restore a backup. Interpreting SBT 2.0 Media Management Errors: Example Assume that you use a tape drive and see the following output during a backup job: RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== ORA-19624: operation failed, retry possible ORA-19507: failed to retrieve sequential file, handle="/tmp/mydir", parms="" ORA-27029: skgfrtrv: sbtrestore returned error ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text: sbtpvt_open_input:file /tmp/mydir does not exist or cannot be accessed, errno=2 The error text displayed following the ORA-19511 error is generated by the media manager and describes the real source of the failure. See the media manager documentation to interpret this error. Interpreting SBT 1.1 Media Management Errors: Example Assume that you use a tape drive and see the following output during a backup job: RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03009: failure of backup command on c1 channel at 09/04/2007 13:18:19 ORA-19506: failed to create sequential file, name="07d36ecp_1_1", parms="" ORA-27007: failed to open file SVR4 Error: 2: No such file or directory Additional information: 7005 Additional information: 1 ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text: SBT error = 7005, errno = 2, sbtopen: system error The main information of interest returned by SBT 1.1 media managers is the error code in the "Additional information" line: Additional information: 7005
- 433. Using V$ Views for RMAN Troubleshooting Troubleshooting RMAN Operations 23-7 Referring to Table 23–3, you discover that error 7005 means that the media management device is busy. So, the media management software is not able to write to the device because it is in use or there is a problem with it. Identifying RMAN Return Codes One way to determine whether RMAN encountered an error is to examine its return code or exit status. The RMAN client returns 0 to the shell from which it was invoked if no errors occurred, and a nonzero error value otherwise. How you access this return code depends upon the environment from which you invoked the RMAN client. For example, if you run UNIX with the C shell, then, when RMAN completes, the return code is placed in a shell variable called $status. The method of returning exit status is a detail specific to the host operating system rather than the RMAN client. Using V$ Views for RMAN Troubleshooting When LIST, REPORT, and SHOW do not provide all the information that you need for RMAN operations, some V$ views can provide more details. Sometimes it is useful to identify exactly what a server session performing a backup and recovery job is doing. The views described in Table 23–4 are useful for obtaining information about RMAN jobs. You can use the preceding views to perform the following tasks: ■ Monitoring RMAN Interaction with the Media Manager ■ Correlating Server Sessions with RMAN Channels Monitoring RMAN Interaction with the Media Manager You can use the event names in the dynamic performance event views to monitor RMAN calls to the media management API. The event names have one-to-one correspondence with SBT functions, as shown in the following examples: Note: The sbtio.log contains information written by the media management software, not Oracle Database. Thus, you must consult your media vendor documentation to interpret the error codes and messages. If no information is written to the sbtio.log, then contact your media manager support to ask whether they are writing error messages in some other location, or whether there are steps you must take to have the media manager errors appear in sbtio.log. Table 23–4 Useful V$ Views for Troubleshooting View Description V$PROCESS Identifies currently active processes V$SESSION Identifies currently active sessions. Use this view to determine which database server sessions correspond to which RMAN allocated channels. V$SESSION_WAIT Lists the events or resources for which sessions are waiting
- 434. Using V$ Views for RMAN Troubleshooting 23-8 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Backup: MML v1 open backup piece Backup: MML v1 read backup piece Backup: MML v1 write backup piece Backup: MML v1 query backup piece Backup: MML v1 delete backup piece Backup: MML v1 close backup piece . . . To obtain the complete list of SBT events, you can use the following query: SELECT NAME FROM V$EVENT_NAME WHERE NAME LIKE '%MML%'; Before making a call to any of functions in the media management API, the server adds a row in V$SESSION_WAIT, with the STATE column including the string WAITING. The V$SESSION_WAIT.SECONDS_IN_WAIT column shows the number of seconds that the server has been waiting for this call to return. After an SBT function is returned from the media manager, this row disappears. A row in V$SESSION_WAIT corresponding to an SBT event name does not indicate a problem, because the server updates these rows at run time. The rows appear and disappear as calls are made and returned. However, if the SECONDS_IN_WAIT column is high, then the media manager may be suspended. To monitor the SBT events, you can run the following SQL query: COLUMN EVENT FORMAT a17 COLUMN SECONDS_IN_WAIT FORMAT 999 COLUMN STATE FORMAT a15 COLUMN CLIENT_INFO FORMAT a30 SELECT p.SPID, s.EVENT, s.SECONDS_IN_WAIT AS SEC_WAIT, sw.STATE, s.CLIENT_INFO FROM V$SESSION_WAIT sw, V$SESSION s, V$PROCESS p WHERE sw.EVENT LIKE '%MML%' AND s.SID=sw.SID AND s.PADDR=p.ADDR; Examine the SQL output to determine which SBT functions are waiting. For example, the following output indicates that RMAN has been waiting for the sbtbackup function to return for 10 minutes: SPID EVENT SEC_WAIT STATE CLIENT_INFO ---- ----------------- ---------- --------------- ------------------------------ 8642 Backup: MML creat 600 WAITING rman channel=ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 Correlating Server Sessions with RMAN Channels To identify which server sessions correspond to which RMAN channels, you can query V$SESSION and V$PROCESS. The SPID column of V$PROCESS identifies the operating system ID number for the process or thread. For example, on UNIX the Note: The V$SESSION_WAIT view shows only database events, not media manager events. See Also: Oracle Database Reference for descriptions of the V$SESSION_WAIT view.
- 435. Using V$ Views for RMAN Troubleshooting Troubleshooting RMAN Operations 23-9 SPID column shows the process ID, whereas on Windows the SPID column shows the thread ID. You have two basic methods for obtaining this information, depending on whether you have multiple RMAN sessions active concurrently. Matching Server Sessions with Channels When One RMAN Session Is Active When only one RMAN session is active, the easiest method for determining the server session ID for an RMAN channel is to execute the following query on the target database while the RMAN job is executing: COLUMN CLIENT_INFO FORMAT a30 COLUMN SID FORMAT 999 COLUMN SPID FORMAT 9999 SELECT s.SID, p.SPID, s.CLIENT_INFO FROM V$PROCESS p, V$SESSION s WHERE p.ADDR = s.PADDR AND CLIENT_INFO LIKE 'rman%'; The following shows sample output: SID SPID CLIENT_INFO ---- ------------ ------------------------------ 14 8374 rman channel=ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 If you set an ID using the RMAN SET COMMAND ID command instead of using the system-generated default ID, then search for that value in the CLIENT_INFO column instead of 'rman%'. Matching Server Sessions with Channels in Multiple RMAN Sessions If more than one RMAN session is active, then it is possible for the V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO column to yield the same information for a channel in each session. For example: SID SPID CLIENT_INFO ---- ------------ ------------------------------ 14 8374 rman channel=ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 9 8642 rman channel=ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 In this case, you have the following methods for determining which channel corresponds to which SID value. Obtaining the Channel ID from the RMAN Output In this method, you must first obtain the sid values from the RMAN output and then use these values in your SQL query. To correlate a process with a channel during a backup: 1. In an active session, run the RMAN job as usual and examine the output to get the sid for the channel. For example, the output may show: Starting backup at 21-AUG-01 allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: sid=14 devtype=SBT_TAPE 2. Start a SQL*Plus session and then query the joined V$SESSION and V$PROCESS views while the RMAN job is executing. For example, enter: COLUMN CLIENT_INFO FORMAT a30 COLUMN SID FORMAT 999 COLUMN SPID FORMAT 9999
- 436. Using V$ Views for RMAN Troubleshooting 23-10 Backup and Recovery User's Guide SELECT s.SID, p.SPID, s.CLIENT_INFO FROM V$PROCESS p, V$SESSION s WHERE p.ADDR = s.PADDR AND CLIENT_INFO LIKE 'rman%' / Use the sid value obtained from the first step to determine which channel corresponds to which server session: SID SPID CLIENT_INFO ---------- ------------ ------------------------------ 14 2036 rman channel=ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 12 2066 rman channel=ORA_SBT_TAPE_1 Correlating Server Sessions with Channels by Using SET COMMAND ID In this method, you specify a command ID string in the RMAN backup script. You can then query V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO for this string. To correlate a process with a channel during a backup: 1. In each session, set the COMMAND ID to a different value after allocating the channels and then back up the desired object. For example, enter the following in session 1: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 TYPE disk; SET COMMAND ID TO 'sess1'; BACKUP DATABASE; } Set the command ID to a string such as sess2 in the job running in session 2: RUN { ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 TYPE sbt; SET COMMAND ID TO 'sess2'; BACKUP DATABASE; } 2. Start a SQL*Plus session and then query the joined V$SESSION and V$PROCESS views while the RMAN job is executing. For example, enter: SELECT SID, SPID, CLIENT_INFO FROM V$PROCESS p, V$SESSION s WHERE p.ADDR = s.PADDR AND CLIENT_INFO LIKE '%id=sess%'; If you run the SET COMMAND ID command in the RMAN job, then the CLIENT_ INFO column displays in the following format: id=command_id,rman channel=channel_id For example, the following shows sample output: SID SPID CLIENT_INFO ---- ------------ ------------------------------ 11 8358 id=sess1 15 8638 id=sess2 14 8374 id=sess1,rman channel=c1 9 8642 id=sess2,rman channel=c1
- 437. Testing the Media Management API Troubleshooting RMAN Operations 23-11 The rows that contain the string rman channel show the channel performing the backup. The remaining rows are for the connections to the target database. Testing the Media Management API On some platforms, Oracle provides a diagnostic tool called sbttest. This utility performs a simple test of the media management software by acting as the Oracle database server and attempting to communicate with the media manager. Obtaining the sbttest Utility On UNIX, the sbttest utility is typically located in $ORACLE_HOME/bin. If for some reason the utility is not included with your platform, then contact Oracle Support Services to obtain the C version of the program. You can compile this version of the program on all UNIX platforms. On platforms such as Solaris, you do not have to relink when using sbttest. On other platforms, relinking may be necessary. Obtaining Online Documentation for the sbttest Utility For online documentation of sbttest, issue the following on the command line: % sbttest The program displays the list of possible arguments for the program: Error: backup file name must be specified Usage: sbttest backup_file_name # this is the only required parameter <-dbname database_name> <-trace trace_file_name> <-remove_before> <-no_remove_after> <-read_only> <-no_regular_backup_restore> <-no_proxy_backup> <-no_proxy_restore> <-file_type n> <-copy_number n> <-media_pool n> <-os_res_size n> <-pl_res_size n> <-block_size block_size> <-block_count block_count> <-proxy_file os_file_name bk_file_name [os_res_size pl_res_size block_size block_count]> <-libname sbt_library_name> The display also indicates the meaning of each argument. For example, following is the description for two optional parameters: Optional parameters: -dbname specifies the database name which will be used by SBT to identify the backup file. The default is "sbtdb" -trace specifies the name of a file where the Media Management software will write diagnostic messages. See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Reference for SET COMMAND ID syntax, and Oracle Database Reference for more information about V$SESSION and V$PROCESS
- 438. Terminating an RMAN Command 23-12 Backup and Recovery User's Guide Using the sbttest Utility Use sbttest to perform a quick test of the media manager. If sbttest returns 0, then the test ran without error, which means that the media manager is correctly installed and can accept a data stream and return the same data when requested. If sbttest returns a nonzero value, then either the media manager is not installed or it is not configured correctly. To use sbttest: 1. Confirm that the program is installed and included in the system path by typing sbttest at the command line: % sbttest If the program is operational, then you should see a display of the online documentation. 2. Execute the program, specifying any of the arguments described in the online documentation. For example, enter the following to create test file some_file.f and write the output to sbtio.log: % sbttest some_file.f -trace sbtio.log You can also test a backup of an existing data file. For example, this command tests data file tbs_33.f of database prod: % sbttest t