Using Recovery Manager

Objectives

Commands
BACKUP
Block C.T.
Inc. Update
LIST
REPORT
DELETE

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do

the following:
Use the RMAN BACKUP command to create backup
sets and image copies
Manage the backups and image copies taken with
RMAN

Issuing Recovery Manager Commands

Interactive client
Enter commands at RMAN prompt.
Use when performing analysis, or when running
reports or stored scripts.

Batch mode
Use with automated jobs.
Specify a command file when starting RMAN.
Specify the log file name to capture session log.

Pipe interface
Specify the PIPE command-line argument.
Use to communicate data between sessions or
between RMAN and an external application.

Types of RMAN Commands

RMAN commands are of the following types:
Stand-alone command:
Is executed individually at the RMAN prompt
Cannot appear as subcommands within RUN

Job command:
Must be within the braces of a RUN command
Is executed as a group

Some commands can be executed as either a

stand-alone or a job command.

Job Commands: Example

Job commands appear inside a RUN command block:
RMAN>
2>
3>
4>
5>
6>

RUN {
BACKUP AS BACKUPSET
FORMAT '/u01/db01/backup/%d_%s_%p'
DURATION 10:00 MINIMIZE LOAD
(DATABASE);
SQL 'alter system archive log current';

7> }

RMAN Commands: Overview

RESTORE
RECOVER
FLASHBACK

SPFILE
Target
database

Control
file

Archived
log files

Enterprise
Manager

RMAN

BACKUP

Stored
scripts

Catalog maintenance
CROSSCHECK
DELETEEXPIRED
CHANGE

REPORT
LIST

Catalog
database

BACKUP Command

RMAN> BACKUP AS BACKUPSET

2>
FORMAT '/BACKUP/df_%d_%s_%p.bus'
3>
TABLESPACE hr_data;
Data file
1

Data file
1

Data file
2

Data file
2

Data file
3

Data file
3

Tablespace
HR_DATA

Backup
set

Commands
> BACKUP
Block C.T.
Inc. Update
LIST
REPORT
DELETE

Backup Constraints

The database must be mounted or open.

You cannot back up online redo logs.
Only clean backups are usable in NOARCHIVELOG
mode.
Only current data file backups are usable in
ARCHIVELOG mode.

Parallelization of Backup Sets

For performance, allocate multiple channels and assign
files to specific channels.
Data file
1

Data file
4

Data file
5

Channel
MML

Data file
2

Data file
3

Data file
9

Channel
MML

Data file
6

Data file
7

Data file
8

Backup
piece 1

Backup
piece 2

Channel
MML

Backup
Piece 3

Compressed Backups

RMAN> BACKUP AS
2> COMPRESSED BACKUPSET
3> DATABASE;
Database files

RMAN>
2>
3>
4>

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE

DISK PARALLELISM 2
BACKUP TYPE TO
COMPRESSED BACKUPSET;

Compressed
backup files

Image Copy
RMAN>
2>
3>
RMAN>
4>
5>

BACKUP AS COPY
DATAFILE '/ORADATA/users_01_db01.dbf'
FORMAT '/BACKUP/users01.dbf';
BACKUP AS COPY
ARCHIVELOG LIKE 'arch_1060.arc'
FORMAT 'arch_1060.bak';
Copy of data file 3

Data file 3

Data file 3

Copy of archived log

Archived
log file

Archived
log file

Tags for Backups and Image Copies

A tag is a logical name assigned to a backup set or
image copy.
month_full_backup

week_full_backup

Data files
1,3

Data file
3

Data files
2,4

Data file
4

Backup set

Backup set

BACKUP Command Options

Check for physical block corruptions.

Scan for logical corruptions and physical
corruptions.
Set a threshold on the number of detected
corruptions allowed before aborting.
Validate the target input files before performing a
backup operation.
Duplex the backup set.
Overwrite an existing backup set or image copy.
Pass control of the data transfer between storage
devices and the data files on disk to the media
management layer.
Encrypt the backup files.

Backing Up Archived Redo Logs

Online redo log file switch is automatic.

Archived log failover is performed.
You can specify a range of archived redo logs to
back up.
Backup sets of archived redo log files cannot
contain any other type of file.

RMAN> BACKUP
2>
FORMAT '/disk1/backup/ar_%t_%s_%p'
3>
ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE=234
4>
DELETE INPUT;

Whole Database Backup

RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE

PLUS ARCHIVELOG;

Archived log
file copies

Data file
copies

Control
file

SPFILE

RMAN Backup Types

A full backup contains all used

data file blocks.
A level 0 incremental backup is
equivalent to a full backup that
has been marked as level 0.
A cumulative level 1
incremental backup contains
only blocks modified since the
last level 0 incremental
backup.
A differential level 1
incremental backup contains
only blocks modified since the
last incremental backup.

Full, or "level 0
incremental backup"

Cumulative
incremental backup

Differential
incremental backup

Differential Versus Cumulative

A differential incremental backup contains all

blocks changed since the last incremental backup.
A cumulative incremental backup contains all
blocks changed since the last level 0 incremental
backup.
Level 0

0
Lvl
Day Sun

Level 0

1c

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

1c

Fri

Sat Sun

Block Change Tracking

Commands
BACKUP
> Block C.T.
Inc. Update
LIST
REPORT
DELETE

The backup process can be streamlined by enabling

block change tracking, which:
Records changed blocks in a change tracking file
Is used automatically by RMAN, if enabled
Optimizes incremental backups by avoiding full
data file scans during backup
List of changed
blocks

CTWR

SGA

Redo
generation

1011001010110
0001110100101
1010101110011

Change
tracking
file
Redo log

Enabling Block Change Tracking

SQL> ALTER DATABASE ENABLE
2> BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING
3> USING FILE '/mydir/rman_change_track.f'
4> REUSE;

Incrementally Updating
Backups

Image copy
of data file

Incremental
backup files

RMAN> RECOVER COPY OF

2> DATAFILE {n|'file_name'}
3> WITH TAG 'incr_upd_df1';
Image copy of data file
updated to a more
recent state
Recovered data file

Commands
BACKUP
Block C.T.
> Inc. Update
LIST
REPORT
DELETE

LIST Command

List backup sets and copies of data files:

Commands
BACKUP
Block C.T.
Inc. Update
> LIST
REPORT
DELETE

RMAN> LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE;

RMAN> LIST BACKUP OF DATAFILE
2>
"/db01/ORADATA/u03/users01.dbf";

List backup sets and copies of any data file for a

specified tablespace:

RMAN> LIST COPY OF TABLESPACE "SYSTEM";

List backup sets and copies containing archive

logs for a specified range:

RMAN> LIST COPY OF DATABASE ARCHIVELOG

2> FROM TIME='SYSDATE-7';

REPORT Command

Produces a detailed analysis of

the repository
Produces reports to answer:
What are the data files in the
database?
Which files need a backup?
Which backups can be
deleted?
Which files are unrecoverable?

Commands
BACKUP
Block C.T.
Inc. Update
LIST
> REPORT
DELETE

REPORT NEED BACKUP Command

Lists all data files that require a backup

Assumes that the most recent backup is used
during a restore
Provides four options:

Incremental
Days
Redundancy
Recovery window

Uses the current retention policy configuration if

no options are specified

REPORT NEED BACKUP: Examples

Files that need more than three incremental

backups for recovery:
RMAN> REPORT NEED BACKUP incremental 3;

Files that have not been backed up for three days:

RMAN> REPORT NEED BACKUP days 3;

Backup needed if there are not two or more

backups already:
RMAN> REPORT NEED BACKUP redundancy 2;

Backup needed to recover to three days ago:

RMAN> REPORT NEED BACKUP

2>
recovery window of 3 days;

REPORT OBSOLETE and

DELETE OBSOLETE

Commands
BACKUP
Block C.T.
Inc. Update
LIST
REPORT
> DELETE

Find all recovery files that are deemed obsolete

according to the current retention policy settings:
RMAN> REPORT OBSOLETE;

List the obsolete recovery files, if no more than

two backup copies are needed:

RMAN> REPORT OBSOLETE REDUNDANCY 2;

Delete the backup set with a backup set key of 4:

RMAN> DELETE BACKUPSET 4;

Delete the recovery files considered obsolete,

because they have more than two backups:

RMAN> DELETE OBSOLETE REDUNDANCY 2;

Managing Backups with EM

Navigation aid:
Database home page > Maintenance > Manage Current Backups

RMAN Dynamic Views

V$ARCHIVED_LOG
V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION
V$BACKUP_DEVICE
V$BACKUP_FILES
V$BACKUP_PIECE
V$BACKUP_REDOLOG
V$BACKUP_SET
V$BACKUP_SPFILE
V$COPY_CORRUPTION
V$RMAN_CONFIGURATION

Monitoring RMAN Backups

Correlate server sessions with channels by using

the SET COMMAND ID command.
Query V$PROCESS and V$SESSION to determine
which sessions correspond to which RMAN
channels.
Query V$SESSION_LONGOPS to monitor the
progress of backups and copies.
Use an operating system utility to monitor the
process or threads.

Summary
In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
Use the RMAN BACKUP command to create backup
sets and image copies
List backups and image copies taken with RMAN
Report and delete obsolete RMAN backups

Practice Overview: Backing Up

Your Database
This practice covers the following topics:
Enabling archival of redo logs for a database
Using RMAN to display the database structure
Using Recovery Manager to back up data files and
the control file
Using Recovery Manager to make image copies of
data files
Creating a compressed backup of a database
Scheduling a backup job