Recovery Manager (RMAN) RMAN can do everything a normal backup can do, however RMAN has its own

backup c atalog to record the backups that took place. The database can be in two formats archivelog mode or nonarchivelog mode archivelog - Oracle saves the filled redo logs files, which means you can recove ry the database to any point in time using the archived logs nonarchivelog - the redo logs are overwritten and not saved, but can only be rec overy from the last backup. There are several types of backup whole backup - you backup the database as a whole which includes the controlfile s and spfile partial backup - you back only a part of the database such a tablespace, one dat a file consistent - a consistent backup does not need to go through recover when being restored, normally associated with a closed backup inconsistent - a inconsistent backup always needs to be recovered open - is backup taken when the database is running, also known as a hot, warm, online backup closed - is a backup taken when the database is shutdown also know as a cold, of fline backup The benefits to using RMAN are Human error is minimized as RMAN keeps tracks of all the backups Simple command interface Unused block compression lets you skip unused data blocks, thus saving space and time. RMAN can be fully automated Supports high-speed incremental backups Can perform error checking when backing up or during recovery Can perform image copies which are similar to operating system backup Can be used with 3rd party backup management software like Veritas Netbackup It is well integrated into OEM, so you can make use of Oracle's scheduler RMAN Architecture RMAN operates via a server session connecting to the target database, it gets th e metadata from the target, this is called the RMAN repository. The repository w ill contain information on Data file backup sets and copies Archived redo log copies and backup sets Tablespaces and data file information Stored scripts (only can be used if using a recovery catalog) RMAN configuration settings The Recovery Catalog RMAN will use the controlfile on the target database to store repository informa tion regarding any backups for that server, this information can also be stored in a recovery catalog (optional) which resides on a rman server its own database (default size should be about 115MB) which should be dedicated to RMAN, informa tion is still written to controlfile even if a recovery catalog is used. The information stored in the controlfile is stored in the reusable sections cal led circular reuse records and non-circular reuse records. The circular reuse re cords have non-critical information that can be overwritten if needed. Some of t he non-circular re-useable sections consists of data files and redo log informat ion. RMAN can backup archive logs, controlfile, data files, spfile and tablespac es it does not backup temporary tablespaces, redo logs, password file, init.ora.

The controlfile based repository will retain data for only the time specified by the instance parameter CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME this defaults to seven day s. Useful View V$CONTROLFILE_RECORD_SECTION rd sections Media Management Layer displays information about the control file reco

If you backup to tapes you require additional software called MML (media managem ent layer) or media manager. MML is a API that interfaces with different vendors tape libraries. RMAN terminology backup piece - operating system file containing the backup of a data file, contr olfile, etc backup set - logical structure that contains one or more backup pieces, all rele vant backup pieces are contained in a backup set image copy - similar to operating system copies like cp or dd, they will contain all block if if not used (disk only) proxy copy - media manger is given control of the copying process channel - Channel allocation is a method of connecting rman and the target datab ase while also specifying the type of backup i.e. disk or tape, they can created manually or automatically. Connecting to RMAN There are a number of ways to connect to RMAN and it depends on where the recove ry catalog is set the Oracle SID c:\> set ORACLE_SID=D01 ORACLE_SID=D01; export ORACLE_SID connect to the target server use oracle_sid and local controlfile c:\> rman rman> connect target / c:\> rman target=sys/<password>@d01 connect the recovery manager catalog rman> connect catalog rman_user/password @d01 connect target & recovery manager catalog rman> connect target orcl catal og rman_user/password@d01 Configuring RMAN persistent settings RMAN s persistent settings which are stored in the controlfile (reason why must be in mount mode) of the target database (#default means that parameter is at defa ult setting) or a recovery catalog if used Format options You can use format options with backup commands to specify a location and name f or backup pieces %F %U %u %d combines database identifier (DBID), day, month, year and sequence number Specifies a system generated unique filename (default) specifies an 8 character name name of database

%s - backup set number %t - backup set timestamp %p - piece number within the backup set Displaying rman> show all CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 1; # default CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION OFF; # default CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP OFF; CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '%F'; CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET PARALLELISM 1; CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT 'z:/orabackup/%U'; 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 'C:\ORACLE\PRODUCT\10.2.0\DB_1\DATABASE\S NCFD01.ORA';#default set default device to be a tape drive configure default device type to sbt; set default device to be a disk drive configure default device type to disk; set default backup to be a image copy configure device type disk backup type t o copy; default disk backup to a compressed backupset (upto 20% ratio) configure devic e type disk backup type to compressed backupset; default tape backup to a compressed backupset (upto 20% ratio) configure device type sbt backup type to compressed backupset; Set degree of parallelism configure device type disk parallelism 4; configure device type sbt parallelism 4; Backup optimization configure backup optimization on; Note: this will ensure that RMAN doesn't perform a backup if it has already back ed up identical versions. My basic rman config CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 30 DAYS CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET PARALLELISM 1 CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 's:\ora_backup\c ontrolfile_%F' CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT 's:\ora_backup\ora_%d_T%t_S%s_P%p' Channel Parameters/Options The parameters/options are use to control the resources used by RMAN, there are many options probably best to consult the oracle documentation. channel channel channel channel channel device type - set default location of backups can be disk or sbt rate - limits i/o bandwith KB, MB or GB maxpiecesize - limits the size of the backup pieces maxsetsize - limits the size of the backup sets connect - instructs a specific instance to perform an operation

duration - controls time for backup job (hours/mins) parms - send specific instructions to tape library examples rman> configure channel device type disk format s:\ora_backup\ora_dev_f%t_s%s_s%p ; rman> configure channel device type disk rate = 5m; rman> configure channel device type disk maxpiecesize = 2g; rman> configure channel device type disk maxsetsize = 10g; Backup Retention Default is redundancy 1 which means always attempt to have one backup image or b ackupset of every data file, archive log and controlfile keep backups for 30 days rman> configure retention policy to recover win dow of 30 days; keep aleast 2 copies rman> configure retention policy to redundancy 2; reset back to 1 (default) rman> configure retention policy clear; extend the retention period rman> change backupset tag monthly_backup keep until time 01-dec-07 logs; Backup Tagging examples rman> backup database tag monthly_backup ; rman> backup database as copy tag monthly_backup ; Controlfile Backup examples rman> backup current controlfile; rman> configure controlfile autobackup on; (default location flash recovery area ) rman> configure controlfile autobackup format for device type disk to abackup\controlfile_%F ; Tablespace Excludes examples rman> configure exclude from tablespace test; (exclude test tablespace from back up) rman> configure exclude from tablespace test clear; (remove the exclude test tab lespace from backup) rman> backup database noexeclude (ignore any exclude settings) Creating Backups Backup Sets rman> run { allocate channel c1 type disk; backup database format db_%u_%d_%s ; (the backup set name for the data file) backup format log_t%t_s%s_p%p ; (the backup set name from the archive logs) (archivelog all); } rman> run { allocate channel c1 type disk; allocate channel c2 type disk; backup (datafile 1,2,3 channel c1) z:\or

(archivelog all channel c2); } rman> backup as compressed backupset database; rman> backup incremental level 0 database; - baseline incremental backup (a full backup ) rman> backup incremental level 1 database; - incremental backup must have baseli ne backup rman> backup incremental level 1 cumulative database; - backs up from last level 0 backup (NOT FULL) rman> backup as backupset copy of tablespace sysaux; (create a backupset from a image copy) ## make that all redo logs are archived - see redo rman> backup database (archivelog all); Backup Images rman> run { allocate channel c1 type disk; copy datafile 1 to z:\orabackup\system01.dbf , current controlfile to \control01.ctl ; } rman> rman> rman> rman> backup backup backup backup as copy as copy copy as as copy database; copy of database; copy tablespace sysaux; datafile 2;

z:\orabackup

Parallel Streams rman> configure device type disk parallelism 3; (must have 3 channels) Note : You only configure the number of streams to the number of channels, if yo u configure more they will not start. Remember that you need multiple channels c onfigured to use the streams. Backup controlfile and spfile to flash recovery area # need to clear the 'con trolfile autoback format' then the flash recovery area will be used. rman> configure controlfile autobackup format for device type disk clear rman> backup current controlfile; Other examples rman> backup device type disk copies 2 datafile 1 format ''disk1/df1_%U', '/disk 2/df1_%U'; rman> backup as copy copy of database from tag 'test' check logical tag 'duptest '; rman> backup database plus archivelog; rman> backup as copy duration 04:00 minimize time database; rman> backup as compressed backupset database plus archivelog; Note: logical - perform logical check of the backup files duration - time limit to perform the backup minimize - perform the backup as fast as it can compressed - compress the backup set, remember it will take longer to recovery a s it needs to uncompress Validating/Cross Checking Backups You can validate a backup set before you restore which ensures that backup files

exist in the proper locations and that they are readable and free from any logi cal and physical corruptions, you can also crosscheck backup sets to make sure t hey are available and have not been deleted (backup sets can be deleted from the operating system level). Validate a backup rman> validate backupset 1; crosscheck rman> crosscheck backupset 1; Viewing backups The v$ views information regarding backups is always located in the target datab ase s or target database s controlfile. The list commands are used to determine files impacted by the change, crosscheck and delete commands. The report command is accurate when the control and RMAN r epository are synchronized which can be performed by the change, crosscheck and delete commands list all image copies rman> list copy; rman> list archivelog all; list all backups rman> list backup; rman> list backupset by backup [summary|verbose]; list backed up files rman> list backupset by file; list backed up databases; rman> list backup of database; list all datafile number 1 backups rman> list backup of datafile 1; list backed up controlfiles rman> list backup of controlfile; list backup scripts rman> list script names; rman> list global script names; list all backups no longer required according to retention policy rman> r eport obsolete; list all the physical datafiles rman> report schema; list files that require backing up rman> report need backup Useful Views v$controlfile_record_Section displays information about the control file rec ord sections v$backup_files lists each file backed up, also has compressed option v$backup_set lists backup sets v$backup_piece lists backup pieces v$backup_redolog lists archived backup logs v$backup_spfile lists spfiles v$backup_device names of SBT devices that have been linked to rman v$rman_configuration lists all changed configurations settings (good point to check config) v$rman_status Status of all completed rman jobs v$backup_corruption provides important corruption information v$copy_corruption provides important corruption information Deleting Backups To removed old archive logs use "delete all" option, if all is missed only the archive logs in the primary destination will be deleted. Examples rman> delete rman> delete rman> delete rman> delete rman> delete backupset 12; backupset tag=monthly_backup; copy of datafile 6; copy of archivelog all; obsolete;

Note: obsolete - delete all backups no longer needed due to retention levels

Catalog commands The catalog command helps you identify and catalog any files that aren't recorde d in RMAN's repository and thus are known to RMAN catalog all data files copies rman> catalog datafilecopy 'c:\oracle\backup\use rs01.dbf'; catalog all backup pieces copies rman> catalog backuppiece ':c\oracle\ba ckup\backup_20.bkp'; Search for uncatalog files in a directory rman> catalog start with ':c\ora cle\backup'; Delete discrepancy in catalog rman> delete force noprompt archivelog sequence 40; Block change tracking Block change tracking is used to backup very large databases,when you enable cha nge block tracking a new process CTWR is then started: Enabling alter database enable block change tracking using file c:\oracle\tracking\block_t racking.log Viewing select filename, status, bytes from v$block_change_tracking; Disabling alter database disable block change tracking;