Faq Rman

DBA FAQ
RMAN
How do you enable the encryption for RMAN backups?

A:If you wish to modify your existing backup environment so that all RMAN
backups are encrypted perform the following steps:
Set up the Oracle Encryption Wallet
Issue the following RMAN command:
RMAN> CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES256'; -- use 256 bit encryption
RMAN> CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE ON; -- encrypt backups
In catalog database, if some of the blocks are corrupted due to system crash, How will you recover?
A:using RMAN BLOCK RECOVER command
List some of the RMAN catalog view names which contains the catalog information ?
A:RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION
RC_BACKUP_COPY_DETAILS
RC_BACKUP_CORRUPTION
RC_BACKUP-DATAFILE_SUMMARY
How do you install the RMAN recovery catalog?

A:1) Create connection string at catalog database.
2) At catalog database, create one new user or use existing user and give that user a
recovery_catalog_owner privilege.
3) Login into RMAN with connection string
a) export ORACLE_SID=
b) rman target catalog@connection string
4)rman> create catalog;
5)register database;
How do you setup the RMAN tape backups?

A:RMAN Target /
run
{
Allocate channel ch1 device type sbt_tape maxpiecesize 4g
Format' D_ U_ T_ t';
sql 'alter system switch logfile';
Backup database;
backup archivelog from time 'sysdate-7';
Backup Format ' D_CTLFILE_P_ U_ T_ t' Current controlfile;
release channel ch1;
}
This is backup script for Tivoli Backup Server
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What are the various tape backup solutions available in the market?
A:There are various Media Management Layer (MML) solutions available for Oracle.
1) EMC's Legato Networker Module for Oracle
2) Symantec's Netbackup Database Agent for Oracle
3) IBM's Tivoli Storage Management (TSM) Database Agent
4) and others in the market.
What is Channel? How do you enable the parallel backups with RMAN?
A:Channel is a link that RMAN requires to link to target database. This link
is required when backup and recovery operations are performed and recorded.
This channel can be allocated manually or can be preconfigured by using
automatic channel allocation.
The number of allocated channels determines the maximum degree of
parallelism that is used during backup restore or recovery. For example if
you allocate 4 channels for a backup operation 4 background processes for the
operation can run concurrently.
Parallelization of backup sets allocates multiple channels and assigns
files to specific channels. You can configure parallel backups by setting a
PARALLELISM option of the CONFIGURE command to a value greater than 1 or by
manually allocating multiple channels.
RMAN> CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED
BACKUPSET;
What is the difference between obsolete RMAN backups and expired RMAN backups?
A:The term obsolete does not mean the same as expired. In short obsolete means "not needed " whereas
expired means "not found."
How do you clone the database using RMAN software? Give brief steps? When do you use crosscheck
command?
A:Check whether backup pieces proxy copies or disk copies still exist.
Two commands available in RMAN to clone database:
1) Duplicate
2) Restore.
Where RMAN keeps information of backups if you are using RMAN without Catalog?
A:RMAN keeps information of backups in the control file.
CATALOG vs NOCATALOG
the difference is only who maintains the backup records like
when is the last successful backup incremental differential etc.
In CATALOG mode another database (TARGET database) stores all the information.
In NOCATALOG mode controlfile of Target database is responsible.
How RMAN improves backup time?

A:RMAN backup time consumption is very less than compared to regular online backup as RMAN
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copies only modified blocks

Add channel to improve the performance of rman but it create session on DB and I/O on disk will
increase so configure channel at proper number.
What is the advantage of RMAN utility?

A:Advantage over tradition backup system:
1). copies only the filled blocks i.e. even if 1000 blocks is allocated to datafile but 500 are filled with
data then RMAN will only create a backup for that 500 filled blocks.
2). incremental and accumulative backup.
3). catalog and no catalog option.
4). detection of corrupted blocks during backup;
5). can create and store the backup and recover scripts.
6). increase performance through automatic parallelization( allocating channels), less redo generation.
Can a schema be restored in oracle 9i RMAN when the schema having numerous table spaces?
A:RMAN gives the command to find all the tablespaces and hence the datafiles belonging to different
schemas as:
REPORT SCHEMA;
This command lists all the schemas tablespace names and the corresponding data files.
After listing we can restore the datafiles or the tablespaces corresponding to a particular schema.
What are the steps required to perform in $ORACLE_HOME for enabling the RMAN backups with
netbackup or TSM tape library software?
A:1.Install TDPO (default path /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/)
2.Once u installed the TDPO automatically one link is created from TDPO directory to /usr/lib.Now we
need to Create soft link between OS to ORACLE_HOME
ln -s /usr/lib/libiobk64.a $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libobk.a(very imporatant)
3.Uncomment and Modify tdpo.opt file which in /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin/tdpo.opt as follows
DSMI_ORC_CONFIG /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64/dsm.opt
DSMI_LOG /home/tmp/oracle
TDPO_NODE backup
TDPO_PSWDPATH /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64
4.create dsm.sys file in same path and add the entries
SErvername <Server name >
TCPPort 1500
passwordacess prompt
nodename backup
enablelanfree yes
TCPSERVERADDRESS <Server Address>
5.Create dsm.opt file add an entry
SErvername <Server name >
5.Then take backup
RMAN>run
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{
allocate channel t1 type 'sbt_tape' parms
'ENV (TDPO_OPTFILE /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64/tdpo.opt)';
backup database include current controlfile;
release channel t1;
}
How do you identify the block corruption in RMAN database? How do you fix it?
A:using v$block_corruption view u can find which blocks corrupted.
Rman>> block recover datafile <fileid> block <blockid>;
Using the above statement u recover the corrupted blocks.
How do you see information about backups in RMAN?

A:Use this SQL to check
SQL> SELECT sid,totalwork,sofar FROM v$session_longops WHERE sid=153;
Here give SID when back start it will show SID
RMAN> List Backup;
What is the significance of incarnation and DBID in the RMAN backups?

A:DBIDmeans database id.
Incunation means: Database incarnation is effectively a new “version” of the database that happens
when you reset the online redo logs using “alter database open resetlogs;”.
Database incarnation falls into following category Current, Parent, Ancestor and Sibling
i) Current Incarnation: The database incarnation in which the database is currently generating redo.
ii) Parent Incarnation: The database incarnation from which the current incarnation branched following
an OPEN RESETLOGS operation.
iii) Ancestor Incarnation: The parent of the parent incarnation is an ancestor incarnation. Any parent of
an ancestor incarnation is also an ancestor incarnation.
Sibling Incarnation: Two incarnations that share a common ancestor are sibling incarnations if neither
one is an ancestor of the other.
Outline the steps for changing the DBID in a cloned environment?

A:Mount the databse
$export ORACLE_SID test
$ nid target system/manager
It will change and automaticaly generate new id and asign it to the database.
How do you verify the integrity of the image copy in RMAN environment?
A:rman> catalog datafilecopy 'f:testsystem.dbf';
rman> backup validate check logical datafile 'f:testsystem.dbf';
SQL> SELECT * FROM v$database_block_corruption;
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List atleast 6 advantages of RMAN backups compare to traditional hot backups?

A:RMAN has the following advantages over Traditional backups:
1. Ability to perform INCREMENTAL backups
2. Ability to Recover one block of datafile
3. Ability to automatically backup CONTROLFILE and SPFILE
4. Ability to delete the older ARCHIVE REDOLOG files, with the new one's automatically.
5. Ability to perform backup and restore with parallelism.
6. Ability to report the files needed for the backup.
7. Ability to RESTART the failed backup, without starting from beginning.
8. Much faster when compared to other TRADITIONAL backup strategies.
Can RMAN be used to backup flashback logs?

A: No. Flashback Logs are not backed up.Flashback Logs are considered to be transient files
and cannot be backed up by RMAN. They are not needed for media recovery.
Is there a separate background process for writing flashback logs?

A: Yes. RVWR (Recovery Writer, a.k.a Flashback Writer) was introduced in Oracle 10g to write
flashback data from the Flashback Buffer in the SGA to the flashback database logs on disk.
How to list restore points in RMAN?

A: You can use either the RC_RESTORE_POINT view in the recovery catalog or the command
LIST RESTORE POINT [ALL|restore_point_name] in RMAN.
How do you backup the entire database?

A:RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE;
How do you backup an individual tablespaces?

A:RMAN> CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
RMAN> BACKUP TABLESPACE system;
How do you backup datafiles and control files?

A:
RMAN> BACKUP DATAFILE 3;
RMAN> BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE
Why do need to use the flashback?

A: It eliminates restore process and it is faster than traditional point-in-time recovery.
When are you not able to Flashback Database?

● The control file has been restored or recreated,
● A tablespace has been dropped,
● A data file has been shrunk.
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How do you test that your recovery was successful?

SQL> SELECT count(*) FROM flashback_table;
How do you backup the Flash Recovery Area?

A:
RMAN> BACKUP RECOVERY FILES;
The files on disk that have not previously been backed up will be backed up. They are full and
incremental backup sets, control file auto-backups, archive logs, and datafile copies.
How to enable Fast Incremental Backup to backup only those data blocks that have changed?
A:
SQL> ALTER DATABASE enable BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING;
How do you set the flash recovery area?

A:
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET db_recovery_file_dest_size = 100G;
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET db_recovery_file_dest = ‘/u10/oradata/school’;
How can you use the CURRENT_SCN column in the V$DATABASE view to obtain the current
SCN?
A:
SQL> SELECT current_scn FROM v$database;

Add channelto improve the performance of rman, but it create session on DB and I/O on disk will
increase, so configure channel at proper number

Use this SQL to checkSQL> SELECT sid,totalwork,sofar FROM v$session_longops WHERE sid=153;
Here give SID when back start it will show SID
CATALOG vs NOCATALOGthe difference is only, who maintains the backup records like,when is the
lastsuccessfulbackup, incremental,differential,etc.,In CATALOG mode, another database (TARGET
database) stores all the information.In NOCATALOG
You have taken a manual backup of a datafile using o/s. How RMAN will know about it?
You have to catalog that manual backup in RMAN's repository by commandRMAN> catalog
datafilecopy '/DB01/BACKUP/users01.dbf';restrictions:> Accessible on disk> A complete image copy
of a single file
In catalog database, if some of the blocks are corrupted due to system crash, How will you recover?
using RMAN BLOCK RECOVER command
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List advantages of RMAN backups compare to traditional hot backups?

RMAN has the following advantages over Traditional backups:1. Ability to perform INCREMENTAL
backups2. Ability to Recover one block of datafile3. Ability to automatically backup CONTROLFILE
and SPFILE4. Ability to delete the older ARCHIVE REDOLOG files
How do you identify the expired, active, obsolete backups? Which RMAN command you use?
Use command:Rman > crosscheck backup; Rman > crosscheck archivelog all; Rman > list
backup;Rman > list archive logall
How do you enable the autobackup for the controlfile using RMAN?
issue command at rman prompt..... RMAN> configure controlfile autobackup on;also we can configure
controlfile backup format......RMAN> configure controlfile autobackup format for device type disk
How do you identify what are the all the target databases that are being backed-up with RMAN
database?
You dont have any view to identifiy whether it is backed up or not . The only option is connect to the
target database and give list backup, this will give you the backup information with date and timining
What is the difference between cumulative incremental and differential incremental backups?
Differencial backup: This is the default type of incremental backup which backs up all blocks changed
after the most recent backup at level n or lower.Cumulative backup: Backup all blocks cahnged after
the most recent backup at level n-1 or lower
Explain how to setup the physical stand by database with RMAN?

$ Export ORACLE_SID=TEST $ rman target / RMAN> show all; Using target database controlfile
instead of recovery catalog RMAN configuration parameters are: CONFIGURE RETENTION
POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 1 DAYS; CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION
What is auxiliary channel in RMAN? When do you need this?

An auxiliary channel is a link to auxiliary instance. If you do not have automatic channels configured,
then before issuing the DUPLICATE command, manually allocate at least one auxiliary channel within
the same RUN command.
What is backup set?

RMAN can also store its backups in an RMAN-exclusive format which is called backup set. A backup
set is a collection of backup pieces, each of which may contain one or more datafile backups
What is RMAN and how does one use it?

Recovery Manager (or RMAN) is an Oracle provided utility for backing-up, restoring and recovering
Oracle Databases. RMAN ships with the database server and doesn't require a separate installation. The
RMAN executable is located in your ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.
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What kind of backup are supported by RMAN?

Backup Sets
Datafiles Copies
OS Backup
What is the Flash Recovery Area?

A: It is a unified storage location for all recovery-related files and activities in an Oracle Database. It
includes Control File, Archived Log Files, Flashback Logs, Control File Autobackups, Data Files, and
RMAN files.
How do you define a Flash Recovery Area?

A: To define a Flash Recovery Area set the following Oracle Initialization Parameters.
How do you use the V$RECOVERY_FILE_DEST view to display information regarding the flash
recovery area?
A:
SQL> SELECT name, space_limit, space_used,
space_reclaimable, number_of_files
FROM v$recovery_file_dest;
How can you display warning messages?

A:
SQL> SELECT object_type, message_type,
message_level, reason, suggested_action
FROM dba_outstanding_alerts;
How do you backup the Flash Recovery Area?

A:
RMAN> BACKUP RECOVERY FILES;
The files on disk that have not previously been backed up will be backed up. They are full and
incremental backup sets, control file auto-backups, archive logs, and datafile copies.
How to use the best practice to use Oracle Managed File (OMF) to let Oracle database to create and
manage the underlying operating system files of a database?
A:
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET
db_create_file_dest = ‘/u03/oradata/school’;
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET
db_create_online_dest_1 = ‘/u04/oradata/school’;
How to enable Fast Incremental Backup to backup only those data blocks that have changed?
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A:
SQL> ALTER DATABASE enable BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING;
How do you monitor block change tracking?

A:
SQL> SELECT filename, status, bytes
FROM v$block_change_tracking;
It shows where the block change-tracking file is located, the status of it and the size.
How do you use the V$BACKUP_DATAFILE view to display how effective the block change tracking
is in minimizing the incremental backup I/O?
A:
SQL> SELECT file#, AVG(datafile_blocks), AVG(blocks_read),
AVG (blocks_read/datafile_blocks), AVG(blocks)
FROM v$backup_datafile
WHERE used_change_tracking = ‘YES’ AND incremental_level > 0
GROUP BY file#;
If the AVG (blocks_read/datafile_blocks) column is high then you may have to decrease the time
between the incremental backups.
How do you backup the entire database?

A:
RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE;
How do you backup an individual tablespaces?

A:
RMAN> CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
RMAN> BACKUP TABLESPACE system;
How do you backup datafiles and control files?

A:
RMAN> BACKUP DATAFILE 3;
RMAN> BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE;
Use a fast recovery without restoring all backups from their backup location to the location specified in
the controlfile.
A:
RMAN> SWITCH DATABASE TO COPY;
RMAN will adjust the control file so that the data files point to the backup file location and then starts
recovery.
Why use Rman ?

A. 1. No Extra Costs.. It is available free.
2.RMAN introduced in Oracle 8 it has become simpler with new version and easier
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that user managed backups.

3.Proper Security
4.You are 100% sure your database has been backed up .
5.It contains details of backup taken in the central repository
6.Facility of Testing validity of backups also command like cross check to check
the status of backup.
7.Oracle 10g has got further optimized incremental backups with has resulted in
improvement of performance during backup
8.and recovery time
9.Parrallel operation are supported
10.Better Querying facility for knowing different details of backup.
11.No Extra redo generated when backup is taken. compared to online backup
12.Without rman.which results in saving of space in hard disk.
13.RMAN is an intelligent tool
14.Maintains repository of backup metadata.
15.Remembers backup locations
16.Knows what needs backup set locations
17.Knows what needs to be backed up
18.Knows what is required for recovery
19.Know what backups are redundant
20.It handles database corruptions
Oracle Enhancement for Rman in 10g

A. 1.Flash Recovery Area
2.Incrementally Updated Backups
3.Faster Incremental Backups
4.SWITCH DATABASE COMMAND.
5.Binary Compression
6.Global Scripting
7.Duration Clause
8.Configure This
9.Oracle Enhancement for Rman in 10g
10.Automatic Channel Failover
11.Compress Backup Sets
12.Recovery Through Reset Logs
13.Cross Backup Sets
Global Scripting
A.RMAN> print script full_backup to file 'my_script_file.txt'
Oracle Database 10g provides a new concept of global scripts, which you can execute
against any database registered in the recovery catalog, as long as your RMAN client is
connected to the recovery catalog and a target database simultaneously.
CPISOLUTION.COM
RMAN> create global script global_full_backup
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{ backup database plus archivelog;

delete obsolete;
delete global script ‘full_backup’;
List Script Names;
Run { Execute Global Script global_backup_db;}
Global RMAN Scripts
Auto Backp of Control file

A.Whenever there is a structure change ,Aditonally It Supports
1.Backup of Server Parameter File
2.Parrallel Operation Supported
3.Extensive Reporting Available
4.Scripting
5.Duplex Backup sets
6.Corrupt Block Detection
7.Backup archive Logs
Speed Of Backup Devices

A.The maximum speed at which a backup can run will be dictated by:
Max Mb/Sec = min(disk read Mb/s, tape write Mb/s)
It is not possible to make a backup to go faster than this, period.
Identifying RMAN Processes

Problem
An RMAN backup job is running too long. You would like to identify and monitor the RMAN
processes associated with the backup job.
Solution
Inspect RMAN’s output messages to your terminal to identify your session identifier (SID). If
you’re sending output to a log file, then look for the session ID in that file.
When you start an RMAN job, you should see output similar to this on your screen. In this
example, the SID is 146:
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: sid=146 devtype=DISK
Next, use the V$SESSION and V$PROCESS views to identify which database server
sessions correspond to RMAN channels:
SQL> SELECT b.sid, b.serial#, a.spid, b.client_info
2 FROM v$process a, v$session b
3 WHERE a.addr = b.paddr
4 AND b.client_info LIKE '%rman%';
This output shows that there is currently one RMAN channel allocated:
SID SERIAL# SPID CLIENT_INFO
---------- ---------- ------------ -------------------------
146 29 4376 rman channel=ORA_DISK_1
How It Works
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When you first connect to RMAN, Oracle will start two sessions and two corresponding OS
processes. There will also be a session and process started for each subsequent channel that
is allocated. You can monitor and view these channel processes via the V$SESSION and
V$PROCESS views.
The SID and SERIAL# values are useful when querying from other V$ views where you
want to select and return rows just for your session identifier or serial number (and not hundreds
of unrelated rows). The SPID column in V$PROCESS identifies the OS process ID.
You can also use set command id to label a process. This will help you identify a channel
process if you have many RMAN jobs running at the same time. You must put set command id
after the allocate channel command, or your specified identifier will not be included in the
CLIENT_INFO output. This example sets the command ID to my_session:
RMAN> run{
2> allocate channel d1 type disk;
3> set command id to 'my_session';
4> backup database;
5> }
The output (of the previous SQL statement) now includes the ID of my_session:
SID SERIAL# SPID CLIENT_INFO
---------- ---------- ------------ ------------------------------
146 29 4376 id=my_session,rman channel=d1
Measuring Backup Performance

Problem
You want to determine whether backups are taking longer and longer.
Solution
Use information in V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS for statistics on backups. The
following
query displays the time taken for recent backup jobs:
SQL> SELECT session_recid, input_bytes_per_sec_display,
2 output_bytes_per_sec_display,
3 time_taken_display, end_time
4 FROM v$rman_backup_job_details
5 ORDER BY end_time;
You should see output similar to the following:
SESSION_RECID INPUT_BYTES_PER OUTPUT_BYTES_PE TIME_TAKEN_DISPLAY
END_TIME
------------- --------------- --------------- -------------------- ---------
1096 8.60M 7.69M 00:14:25 20-DEC-06
1101 1.88M 1.78M 00:42:03 21-DEC-06
1110 9.59M 8.56M 00:14:56 22-DEC-06
1114 9.75M 8.71M 00:14:52 23-DEC-06
1116 10.73M 9.58M 00:14:31 24-DEC-06
This output indicates that there might have been some sort of a snafu on December 21,
possibly related to the sun being directly over the tropic of Capricorn at the time of the
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backup. Seriously, the job showing a duration of 42 minutes is most likely the result of a DBA
doing some experimentation and running several backups interactively, from the command
prompt, during one connected session, whereas the other sessions were small backup jobs
that connected, ran the backup, and then disconnected from RMAN.
How It Works
Measuring the duration of your backups provides a good starting point from which you can
begin tuning your RMAN backups. The V$RMAN_BACKUP_JOB_DETAILS view contains a
plethora of information about backup durations and I/O rates.
Tuning Media Recovery

Problem
You want to manually adjust the degree of parallelism that Oracle uses for media recovery to
match the number of CPUs on your database server.
Solution
Starting with Oracle Database 10g, when you issue an RMAN recover command from either
within RMAN or within SQL*Plus, Oracle’s default behavior is to automatically perform media
recovery operations in parallel. However, if you want to override this default behavior, you can
use the recover parallel or recover noparallel command. This next line of code instructs
Oracle to spawn four parallel processes to apply redo:
RMAN> recover database parallel 4;
If you don’t want Oracle to recover in parallel, then specify the noparallel clause as
shown here:
RMAN> recover database noparallel;
How It Works
Ordinarily you don’t need to adjust the degree of parallelism for media recovery. This is
because Oracle automatically parallelizes media recovery for you. Oracle determines the
number of parallel processes to spawn for media recovery from the initialization parameter
cpu_count. This parameter is set by default to the number of CPUs on your database server.
For example, if your server has two CPUS, then by default cpu_count will be set to 2 when
you create your database. For this server, Oracle will spawn two processes to apply redo anytime
you issue a recover command (from either RMAN or SQL*Plus).
Oracle’s documentation states that systems with efficient asynchronous I/O see little benefit
from parallel media recovery. You should test whether adjusting the degree of parallelism
improves performance before you attempt this in a production environment.
Note :The initialization parameter recovery_parallelism has no effect on media recovery. The
recovery_parallelism parameter affects only crash recovery.
Slowing RMAN Down

Problem
You’ve noticed that your application performance degrades when the RMAN backups are running.
You want to reduce RMAN’s I/O rate so that it spreads out its impact on the system over a
period of time.
Solution
Use one of the following to control RMAN’s I/O rate:
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• The backup duration ... minimize load command

• The rate clause of the allocate channel or configure channel command
Using backup duration ... minimize load
Use the backup duration ... minimize load command to evenly distribute RMAN I/O
over a period of time. This example shows how to spread the I/O of an RMAN backup over a
45-minute period:
RMAN> backup duration 00:45 minimize load database;
RMAN will report the time taken for the backup operation in the output, as shown in this
snippet:
channel ORA_DISK_1: throttle time: 0:44:43
Finished backup at 10-MAR-07
Using rate
You can also use the rate clause of the allocate channel command or the configure channel
command to control RMAN’s I/O rate. This example configures channel 1 to have a maximum
read rate of 5MB per second:
RMAN> configure channel 1 device type disk rate=5M;
The rate can be set using M, K, or G (for megabytes, kilobytes, and gigabytes).
How It Works
The duration clause specifies the amount of time you want an RMAN backup to take. When
you use the minimize load clause, this instructs RMAN to spread out the I/O load over the
duration of the specified time. When minimizing the load, RMAN will monitor and adjust the
I/O rate so that the resources are consumed evenly across the duration of the backup. The format
for the time value of the duration clause is HH:MM (HH is hours and MM is minutes). You
must specify the hour and colon components of the time even if the hour component is zero.
If a backup does not complete within the specified duration period, then RMAN will abort
the backup. If you are running backup commands from within a run{} block, then RMAN will
not execute subsequent commands. You can use the partial clause to instruct RMAN to continue
running subsequent commands within a run{} block (even if the backup doesn’t finish
in the specified time).
In this example, the partial clause instructs RMAN to execute all subsequent commands
in the run{} block even if the first command doesn’t finish within the specified time:
RMAN {
2> backup duration 1:00 partial minimize load database;
3> backup archivelog all;
3> backup current controlfile;
4> }
Whether you use the partial clause or not, RMAN will still consider any backup sets that
were created successfully (before the time limit was exceeded) to be usable for restore operations.
If you want to force RMAN to include only one datafile per backup set, then you can use
the filesperset parameter as shown here:
RMAN> backup duration 01:00 minimize load database filesperset 1;
When you set the filesperset parameter to 1, it forces RMAN to create each backup set
with only one datafile within it. Any backup sets that complete before the duration time is
exceeded will be marked as successful.
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Note: Oracle does not recommend using backup duration ... minimize load when using tape
devices. When using minimize load, RMAN could reduce its I/O to a rate that is too low to keep
the tape device streaming.
Configure Retention policy to redundancy 3;

A.All backups older than the most recent backup that satisfied the above conditions are
obsolete.
The recovery window always keeps in pace with the current time.
Specifying redundancy by using the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO
REDUNDANCY command:
The REDUNDANCY parameter specifies that any number of backups or copies beyond
a specified number does not need to be retained.
For example, the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 3; command
specifies that a maximum of three backups or copies of a data file or control file can be
retained. Redundancy is the default type of retention policy.
Block Media Recovery

A.Allows specified blocks to be recovered without affecting the entire datafile.. It is only
intended for use where a known and limited number of block is affected. This results in
a reduced mean time to recover (MTTR) and higher availability as only the affected
blocks are offline during operation
The information regarding which block has to be recovered in found in
The alert log file, Trace File,Analyze Table Command, Dbverify
utility,V$Backup_Corruption & V$Copy_Corruption command.
Example of Using Block Recovery in RMAN.
BLOCKRECOVER DATAFILE 3 BLOCK 121;
What is RMAN ?
Recovery Manager (RMAN) is a utility that can manage your entire Oracle backup and recovery
activities.
Which Files must be backed up?
Database Files (with RMAN)
Control Files (with RMAN)
Offline Redolog Files (with RMAN)
INIT.ORA (manually)
Password Files (manually)
When you take a hot backup putting Tablespace in begin backup mode, Oracle records SCN # from
header of a database file. What happens when you issue hot backup database in RMAN at block level
backup? How does RMAN mark the record that the block has been backed up ? How does RMAN
know what blocks were backed up so that it doesn't have to scan them again?
In 11g, there is Oracle Block Change Tracking feature. Once enabled; this new 10g feature records the
modified since last backup and stores the log of it in a block change tracking file. During backups
RMAN uses the log file to identify the specific blocks that must be backed up. This improves RMAN's
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performance as it does not have to scan whole datafiles to detect changed blocks.
Logging of changed blocks is performed by the CTRW process which is also responsible for writing
data to the block change tracking file. RMAN uses SCNs on the block level and the archived redo logs
to resolve any inconsistencies in the datafiles from a hot backup. What RMAN does not require is to
put the tablespace in BACKUP mode, thus freezing the SCN in the header. Rather, RMAN keeps this
information in either your control files or in the RMAN repository (i.e., Recovery Catalog).
What are the Architectural components of RMAN?

1.RMAN executable
2.Server processes
3.Channels
4.Target database
5.Recovery catalog database (optional)
6.Media management layer (optional)
7.Backups, backup sets, and backup pieces
What are Channels?

A channel is an RMAN server process started when there is a need to communicate with an I/O device,
such as a disk or a tape. A channel is what reads and writes RMAN backup files. It is through the
allocation of channels that you govern I/O characteristics such as:
Type of I/O device being read or written to, either a disk or an sbt_tape
Number of processes simultaneously accessing an I/O device
Maximum size of files created on I/O devices
Maximum rate at which database files are read
Maximum number of files open at a time
Why is the catalog optional?

Because RMAN manages backup and recovery operations, it requires a place to store necessary
information about the database. RMAN always stores this information in the target database control
file. You can also store RMAN metadata in a recovery catalog schema contained in a separate database.
The recovery catalog
schema must be stored in a database other than the target database.
What does complete RMAN backup consist of ?

A backup of all or part of your database. This results from issuing an RMAN backup command. A
backup consists of one or more backup sets.
What is a Backup set?

A logical grouping of backup files -- the backup pieces -- that are created when you issue an RMAN
backup command. A backup set is RMAN's name for a collection of files associated with a backup. A
backup set is composed of one or more backup pieces.
What is a Backup piece?

A physical binary file created by RMAN during a backup. Backup pieces are written to your backup
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medium, whether to disk or tape. They contain blocks from the target database's datafiles, archived
redo log files, and control files. When RMAN constructs a backup piece from datafiles, there are a
several rules that it follows:
A datafile cannot span backup sets
A datafile can span backup pieces as long as it stays within one backup set
Datafiles and control files can coexist in the same backup sets
Archived redo log files are never in the same backup set as datafiles or control files RMAN is the only
tool that can operate on backup pieces. If you need to restore a file from an RMAN backup, you must
use RMAN to do it. There's no way for you to manually reconstruct database files from the backup
pieces. You must use RMAN to restore files from a backup piece.
What are the benefits of using RMAN?

1.Incremental backups that only copy data blocks that have changed since the last backup.
2. Tablespaces are not put in backup mode, thus there is noextra redo log generation during online
backups.
3. Detection of corrupt blocks during backups.
4. Parallelization of I/O operations.
5. Automatic logging of all backup and recovery operations.
6. Built-in reporting and listing commands.
What 1 is the advantage of RMAN utility?

6). increase performance through automatic parallelization( allocating channels) less redo generation.

RMAN backup time consumption is very less than compared to regular online backup as RMAN
copies only modified blocks
Can you take Offline backups using RMAN?

RMAN Offline Backup is possiable
Recall that an offline backup is a backup of the database while it is not running. Hence, to perform our
backup we will shutdown the database from RMAN and then mount the database. We will perform the
backup. Once the backup is complete we will restart the database again. Here is an example of this
process:
RMAN>shutdown immediate
RMAN>startup mount
RMAN>backup database;
RMAN>sql ’alter database open’;
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List Backup;
What is a Recovery Catalog?

A recovery catalog is a set of tables and views that Recovery Manager (RMAN) uses to store metadata
(information about a database structure, archived redo logs, backup sets, and data file copies) about a
target database (database that RMAN backups or restores). RMAN uses this metadata to conduct its
backup, recovery, and maintenance operations. Recovery catalog is optional, i.e., if a recovery catalog
is not created, RMAN uses the target database’s control file to store the metadata about the target
database. Although RMAN can conduct all major backup and recovery operations by using the control
file, some RMAN commands work only if a recovery catalog exists.
Should you place Recovery C 1 atalog in the Same DB?

No ,Recovery catalog should be place in separated database
for security reason as recommended by oracle.
we can use RMAN without RC,by using Target Database control
file.
Can you use RMAN without Recovery catalog?

Yes we can use rman without recovery catalog as the metadata information is stored in controlfile
Can you take Image Backups using RMAN?

yes we can take image backup using rman by issuing the following command
RMAN> backup as copy database;
Can you use Back upsets created by RMAN with any other utility?
No. The backup Sets created by RMAN utility cannot be used in other utility other than RMAN.
RMAN keeps information of backups in the control file
you should use CATALOG command to make RMAN know about it Catalog datafile'/path' if catalog
is used
Can you start and shutdown DB using RMAN?

When an RMAN procedure requires that your database be started, shut down or brought to MOUNT or
NOMOUNT state, you can use the RMAN client to start up and shut down the target database. The
following example uses the RMAN SHUTDOWN and STARTUP commands to shut the target
database down cleanly, and then mount it in preparation for a backup:
% rman TARGET /
RMAN> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE # closes database consistently
RMAN> STARTUP MOUNT
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Is it possible to take backup of catalog database using RMAN? If Yes, How?

Answer: Yes, you can perform backup of catalog database using RMAN with below steps:
1. Start the RMAN with NOCATALOG option.
2. Run the recovery catalog database in ARCHIVELOG mode.
3. set the retention policy to a REDUNDANCY value greater than 1.
4. Backup the database onto two separate media(disk and tape), You can use BACKUP COPIES 2.
5. Don't use another recovery catalog as the repository for these backups.
6. configure the controlfile autoback feature to ON.
Answer: You have to catalog those backups with RMAN using catalog.
Can a schema be restored in oracle 9i RMAN when the schema having numerous table spaces?
Answer: RMAN gives the command to find all the tablespaces and hence the datafiles belonging to
different schemas as:
RMAN>REPORT SCHEMA;
This command lists all the schemas tablespace names and the corresponding data files.
After listing we can restore the datafiles or the tablespaces corresponding to a particular schema.
What is the significance of incarnation and DBID in the RMAN backups?

DBID means database id.
Incunation means: Database incarnation is effectively a new “version” of the database that happens
Database incarnation falls into following category Current Parent Ancestor and Sibling
i) Current Incarnation: The database incarnation in which the database is currently generating redo.
ii) Parent Incarnation: The database incarnation from which the current incarnation branched following
an OPEN RESETLOGS operation.
iii) Ancestor Incarnation: The parent of the parent incarnation is an ancestor incarnation. Any parent of
an ancestor incarnation is also an ancestor incarnation.
iv) Sibling Incarnation: Two incarnations that share a common ancestor are sibling incarnations if
neither one is an ancestor of the other.
You loss one datafile and DB is running in ARCHIVELOG mode. You have full database backup of 1
week old and partial backup of this datafile which is just 1 day old. From which backup should you
restore this file?
Answer: Partail Backup
Some datafiles were there on a secondary disk and that disk has become damaged and it will take
some days to get a new disk. How will you recover from this situation?
Answer: check whether there is sufficient space available in Primary disk. If it so, Restore the files in it
and recover the datafiles. or you have to mount to another server file system.
Only some blocks are damaged in a datafile. Can you just recover these blocks if you are using
RMAN?
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Answer: query the SELECT * FROM V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view and get the
status. From the RMAN prompt execute the Blockrecover command by mention the File#,Block#,
Blocks.
Some user has accidentally dropped one table and you realize this after two days. Can you recover
this table if the DB is running in ARCHIVELOG mode?
Answer: we can use Flashback with time based option.
Can you use Backupsets created by RMAN with any other utility?
Answer: No.
Can we do Offline backups with RMAN ? How?

Answer: Yes we can do it RMAN regardless of Archive Log/NO Archive log modes. Startup the
databse in Mount stage and take the full backup .

Answer: RMAN improving this by allocation by more channels and also Rman backups the modified
blocks only.
if we loss our catalog in our RMAN setup then what is the procedure to recover the catalog ?
Answer: Even the catalog is lost, target conrol files have the metadata of this catalog. we can restore
this particular catalog from the catalog DB (Tablespace/ Datafile) from the backup and recover it.
How does RMAN perform corruption detection?

Answer: Corruption detection is actually performed by the Oracle server.
RMAN does NOT perform the backup, but just directs the server to backup a specified list of datafiles.
During backup, the Oracle server detects certain types of corruptions.
If a block is detected as newly corrupted, it will be identified as such in the alert log and also in the
database controlfile. You can view this information by querying the V$COPY_CORRUPTION or
V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION views.
Can I perform Block Media Recovery (BMR) if I did not use RMAN for backups?
Answer: If you have image copies or OS backups of the datafiles you can perform BMR. You must first
register the datafile image copies or OS backups to RMAN as well as the current archive log and all
logs since the image backup time. This can be accomplished by using the RMAN CATALOG
command.
15. Answer:Yes. Infact a configuration many customers may choose, is to create the Recovery Catalog
in
the same database that stores the Oracle Enterprise Manager repository.
I have noticed the shadow (or server) processes spawned for "allocate channel" command wouldn't
go away after rman completed and released the channel (at least the message in RMAN showed they
were released), I noticed the shadow stayed for at least 8 minutes. I did wait for too long. As soon as I
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exit from rman, they disappeared. Were they waiting pmon to clean them up? How long does this
usually take?
Server processes for channels will not disappear until RMAN exists. The idea is that these processes
will be reused for further backup jobs.
Can RMAN backup Real Application Cluster databases?

Answer: Absolutely. RMAN can be configured to connect to all nodes within the cluster to parallelize
the backup of the database files and archive logs. If files need to be restored, using set AUTOLOCATE
ON alerts RMAN to search for backed up files and archive logs on all nodes.
Is there any method to encrypt a Recovery Manager(RMAN) backup while the backup is being
written out to tape?
Answer: RMAN does not use an explicit encryption method, although the binary format of backup files
offers some security.
What is the recommended method for backing up the RMAN repository?
Here is how we recommend deploying the Recovery Catalog:
* It should be a separate database, not contained in any of the target databases whose backup data it
contains.
* Create a new schema in the Enterprise Manager Database to house the Recovery Manager catalog
* High availability of the catalog can be achieved by any of the following techniques:
o standy database
o replication
o maintaining two separate Recovery Catalog databases: one is kept in sync as it is used for
everyday production operation, and the other is kept in sync manually, by periodically issuing the
RESYNC CATALOG command.
* Use RMAN to back up the Recovery Catalog database, but for these backups, start RMAN with
the NOCATALOG option, so that the backup repository for the Recovery Catalog is its own control
file. The CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME parameter should be set to a value which is high
enough to store an adequate amount of historical backup data for the Recovery Catalog.
* Back up the Recovery Catalog controlfile, so that you can restore it if you ever need to restore the
Recovery Catalog.
How do you run a RMAN script using an OS file?

There are two ways to do this.
1. To run the script and connect in the same command (as you might want to do in a CRON job):
rman target / nocatalog cmdfile "fullback.rmn"
this will startup RMAN, connect to the target database, and run the script fullback.rmn
2. If already in an RMAN session, from the RMAN prompt: @fullback.rmn
You can find some sample scripts in $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/demo. Search for rman*.sh.
HOW TO TURN ON BLOCK CHECKING?

The aim is to detect, very early the presence of corrupt blocks in the database. This has a slight
performance overhead, but Checksums allow Oracle to detect early corruption caused by
underlying disk, storage system, or I/O system problems.
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SQL> alter system set db_block_checking = true scope=both;
Can you use Backupsets created by RMAN with any other utility?
NO, 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.
ONLY SOME BLOCKS ARE DAMAGED IN A DATAFILE,HOW TO RECOVER USING RMAN?

RMAN> BLOCKRECOVER DATAFILE <datafile path> BLOCK <block id>;
HOW RMAN IMPROVES BACKUP TIME?

Adding channel to improve the performance of rman but it create session on DB and I/O on disk
will increase so configure channel at proper number.
RMAN-06089: ARCHIVED LOG XYZ NOT FOUND OR OUT OF SYNC WITH CATALOG?
Execute from RMAN: RMAN> change archivelog all validate;
WHAT IS THE USE OF FORMAT_STRING IN RMAN?

%d The name of the database.
%t The backup set time stamp.
%s The backup set number.
%D The current day of the month (in format DD)
RMAN ADVANTAGES?
* only the used blocks can be backed up.
* detected the corrupted blocks.
* space and time saves.
* full database,tablespace,controlfile can be taken separately
* less redo generated.
• incremental backup.
HOW DO YOU SEE INFORMATION ABOUT BACKUPS IN RMAN?

RMAN> List Backup;
HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY WHAT ARE THE ALL THE TARGET DATABASES THAT ARE BEING BACKEDUP
WITH RMAN DATABASE?
You dont have any view to identifiy whether it is backed up or not . The only option is connect to
the target database and give list backup this will give you the backup information with date and
timining.
RMAN> list backup;
List of Backup Sets
===================
BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time
------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
WHAT IS INCARNATION IN RMAN?

Database incarnation is effectively a new “version” of the database that happens
Database incarnation falls into following category Current and Parent.
i) Current Incarnation: The database incarnation in which the database is currently generating
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redo.
ii) Parent Incarnation: The database incarnation from which the current incarnation branched
following an OPEN RESETLOGS operation.
LIST SOME OF THE RMAN CATALOG VIEW NAMES WHICH CONTAINS THE
CATALOG INFORMATION ?
RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION
RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE_SUMMARY to name a few
WHAT IS FRA ? WHEN DO YOU USE THIS ?

Flash Recovery Area:
* Flash recovery area where you can store not only the traditional components
found in a backup strategy such as control files archived log files and
Recovery Manager (RMAN) datafile copies but also a number of other file
components such as flashback logs.
* The flash recovery area simplifies backup
operations and it increases the availability of the database because many
backup and recovery operations using the flash recovery area can be performed
when the database is open and available to users.
* Because the space in the flash recovery area is limited by the
initialization parameter DB_ RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE
13) * Server processes

* Channels
* Target database
* Recovery catalog database (optional)
* Media management layer (optional)
* Backups, backup sets, and backup pieces.
WHAT DOES COMPLETE RMAN BACKUP CONSIST OF ?

A backup of all or part of your database. This results from issuing an RMAN backup command.
A backup consists of one or more backup sets.
WHAT IS A BACKUP SET?

A logical grouping of backup files -- the backup pieces -- that are created when you issue an
RMAN backup command. A backup set is RMAN's name for a collection of files associated with
a backup. A backup set is composed of one or more backup pieces.
WHAT IS A BACKUP PIECE?

* A physical binary file created by RMAN during a backup.
* Backup pieces are written to your backup medium, whether to disk or tape.
* They contain blocks from the target database's datafiles, archived redo log files, and control
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files. When RMAN constructs a backup piece from datafiles, there are a several rules that it
follows:
● A datafile cannot span backup sets
● A datafile can span backup pieces as long as it stays within one backup set
● Datafiles and control files can coexist in the same backup sets
● Archived redo log files are never in the same backup set as datafiles or control files
RMAN is the only tool that can operate on backup pieces. If you need to restore a file from
an RMAN backup, you must use RMAN to do it. There's no way for you to manually
reconstruct database files from the backup pieces. You must use RMAN to restore files
from a backup piece.
HOW TO ENABLE FAST INCREMENTAL BACKUP IN RMAN?

Now we can enable block change tracking
SQL> alter database enable block change tracking;
Database altered.
SQL> alter database enable block change tracking using file ‘/home/oracle/change.trc’;
NOW,
SQL> select * from v$block_change_tracking;
STATUS FILENAME BYTES
———- ————————————————– ———-
ENABLED /home/oracle/change.trc 11599872
change traking writter ctwr process writes the information in that file.....
WHAT IS THE USE OF V$SESSION_LONGOPS ?

Displays the status of various operations that run for longer than 6 seconds (in absolute time).
These operations currently include many backup and recovery functions, statistics gathering, and
query execution, and more operations are added for every Oracle release.
VARIOUS CROSSCHECK COMMANDS ?

RMAN> CROSSCHECK BACKUP;
RMAN> CROSSCHECK COPY;
RMAN> CROSSCHECK backup of database;
RMAN> CROSSCHECK backup of controlfile;
RMAN> CROSSCHECK archivelog all;
WHAT IS THE USE OF CONFIG RECOVERY WINDOW COMMAND ?

Ensure that RMAN retains all backups needed to recover the database to any point in time in the
last 7 days:
RMAN> CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS;
HOW TO CONNECT TO OTHER SERVER TO THE TARGET DATABASE IN RMAN?

$rman target sys/target_pwd@db01
WHAT PARAMETER SPECIFIES DURATION OFTHE RMAN INFORMATION TO BE
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STORED IN CONTROLFILE?
control_file_record_keep_time
HOW CAN WE LIST HE CURRENT CONFIGURATION OF THE TARGET DATABASE IN

RMAN?
Using REPORT COMMAND
REPORT SCHEMA
HOW CAN WE GET THE DETAILED REPORT OF THE BACKUP SETS

LIST COMMAND.
CAN WE MAKE A IMAGE COPY OF THE WHOLE DATABASE?

YES,.....STEPS
STARTUP MOUNT
REPORT SCHEMA
COPY DATAFILE1 TO '/BACKUP/DF2.CPY'(for all datafiles)
LIST COPY
HOW CAN WE DETECT BLOCK CORRUPTION

by querrying views V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION and V$COPY_CORRUPTION.
When you take a hot backup putting Tablespace in begin backup mode, Oracle records SCN #
from header of a database file. What happens when you issue hot backup database in RMAN at
block level backup? How does RMAN mark the record that the block has been backed up ? How
does RMAN know what blocks were backed up so that it doesn't have to scan them again?
In 11g, there is Oracle Block Change Tracking feature. Once enabled; this new 10g feature
records the modified since last backup and stores the log of it in a block change tracking
file. During backups RMAN uses the log file to identify the specific blocks that must be
backed up. This improves RMAN's performance as it does not have to scan whole
datafiles to detect changed blocks.
Logging of changed blocks is performed by the CTRW process which is also responsible
for writing data to the block change tracking file. RMAN uses SCNs on the block level
and the archived redo logs to resolve any inconsistencies in the datafiles from a hot
backup. What RMAN does not require is to put the tablespace in BACKUP mode, thus
freezing the SCN in the header. Rather, RMAN keeps this information in either your
control files or in the RMAN repository (i.e., Recovery Catalog).
why we use dbid in rman

When you have multiple databases you have to set your DBID (Database Id) which is
unique to each database. You have to set this before you do any restore operation from
RMAN.
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how can we remove the invalid backup pieces from the backup sets
crosscheck backup
delete expired backup

An auxiliary channel is a link to auxiliary instance. If you do not have automatic channels configured
then before issuing the DUPLICATE command manually allocate at least one auxiliary channel within
When a Duplicate Database created or tablespace point in time recovery is performed Auxiliary
database is used. this database can either on the same host or a different host.
what are different encryption modes in rman

transparentmode ,dual mode and password mode
how can we recover corrupted blocks .

Rman>block recover datafile <dbfileid> block <blockid>;
how can we make a backupset unavailable

LIST BACKUPSET bs_key;
CHANGE BACKUPSET bs_key UNAVAILABLE;
does RMAN delete Standby Archivelogs

SQL> select thread#, sequence#, ARCHIVED, APPLIED, STATUS from
v$archived_log;
THREAD# SEQUENCE# ARC APP S
---------- --- --- -
1 1 YES NO D
1 2 YES NO D
::
1 1636 YES NO A
1 1637 YES NO A
--
But if you check, it shows that APPLIED shows as status NO even from the 1st sequence.
how can we restore from last week backup

run {
restore controlfile from autobackup;
sql 'alter database mount';
SET UNTIL TIME "TO_DATE('define_time','yyyy-mm-dd:hh24:mi:ss')";
restore database;
recover database;
sql 'alter database open resetlogs';
}
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how can we take automatic controlfile backup

RMAN does it automatically if you set CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON on RMAN configuration
what view helps to create equal sized backup sets determining the no.of blocks in each datafile
v$backup_datafile
how can we retrieve info about archive logs in backupsets

v$backup_redolog
how can we monitor the progress of backups and copies

v$session_longops
20.which files are recoverable because of unrecoverable operations

report unrecoverable.
What is the advantage of RMAN utility?

Advantage over tradition backup system:
6). increase performance through automatic parallelization( allocating channels), less redo generation.

An auxiliary channel is a link to auxiliary instance. If you do not have automatic channels configured
then before issuing the DUPLICATE command manually allocate at least one auxiliary channel within
When a Duplicate Database created or tablespace point in time recovery is performed Auxiliary
database is used. this database can either on the same host or a different host.
RUN
{
ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL ch1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL aux1 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
.
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO dupdb;
}
What is Channel? How do you enable the parallel backups with RMAN?
Channel is a link that RMAN requires to link to target database. This link
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is required when backup and recovery operations are performed and recorded.
This channel can be allocated manually or can be preconfigured by using
automatic channel allocation.
The number of allocated channels determines the maximum degree of
parallelism that is used during backup restore or recovery. For example if
you allocate 4 channels for a backup operation 4 background processes for the
operation can run concurrently.
RMAN> CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED
BACKUPSET;
Can you take online backup of a Control file if yes, how?

RMAN>backup current controlfile;
Should you take the backup of Logfiles if the database is running in ARCHIVELOG mode?
Yes,
RMAN>backup archivelog all;

RMAN>list backup;
Can you use RMAN without Recovery catalog?

YES, Then controlfile behaves has a recovery catalog.

Add channel to improve the performance of rman but it create session on DB and I/O on disk will
increase so configure channel at proper number.
Can you take Offline backups using RMAN?

YES,but put the database is in mount state.
Should you place Recovery Catalog in the Same DB?

Recovery catalog can be in the same database. but its
recommended by oracle that we need to have recovery catalog
in other DB
Which is more efficient Incremental Backups using RMAN or Incremental Export?

RMAN in more efficient than incremental Export
12)How do you find out from the RMAN catalog if a particular archive log has been backed-up?
RMAN> list archivelog all;
How do you add new database to catalog database?

Follow the following steps to register the new database in catalog
RMAN>connect taget username/password@ connect_string catalog
cataloguser/password@connect_string
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RMAN>register database
How do you find out from the RMAN catalog if a particular archive log has been backed-up?
RMAN>list archivelog all;
Can I have my target database on a Sun box and the recovery catalog on a WinNT machine?
A: Yes.
Why do tablespaces not require hot backup mode or extra logging when using RMan for backups?
A: To understand why RMAN does not require extra logging or backup mode, you must first understand why
those features are required for non-RMAN online backups.
A non-RMAN online backup consists of a non-Oracle tool, such as cp or dd, backing up a datafile at the same
time that DBWR is updating the file. We can't prevent the tool from reading a particular block at the exact same
time that DBWR is updating that block. When that happens, the non-Oracle tool might read a block in a
halfupdated
state, so that the block which is copied to the backup media might only have been updated in its first
half, while the second half contains older data. This is called a "fractured block". If this backup needs to be
restored later, and that block needs to be recovered, recovery will fail because that block is not usable.
The 'alter tablespace begin backup' command is our solution for the fractured block problem. When a tablespace
is in backup mode, and a change is made to a data block, instead of logging just the changed bytes to the redo
log, we also log a copy of the entire block image before the change, so that we can reconstruct this block if
media recovery finds that this block was fractured. That block image logging is what causes extra redo to be
generated while files are in backup mode.
The reason that RMAN does not require extra logging is that it guarantees that it will never back up a fractured
block. We can make that guarantee because we know the format of Oracle data blocks, and we verify that each
block that we read is complete before we copy it to the backup. If we read a fractured block, we read the block
again to obtain a complete block before backing it up. non-Oracle tools are not able to do the same thing because
they do not know how to verify the contents of an Oracle data block. Backup mode has another effect, which is
to 'freeze' the checkpoint in the header of the file until the file is removed from backup mode. We do this because
we cannot guarantee that the third-party backup tool will copy the file header prior to copying the data blocks.
RMAN does not need to freeze the file header checkpoint because we know the order in which we will read the
blocks, which enables us to capture a known good checkpoint for the file.
Registering a database gives error messages including:

ORA-04067: not executed, stored procedure "SYS.DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE" does not exist
A: An error message stack like the following indicates that CATPROC.SQL did NOT execute successfully on the
target database, as required before attempting backups of that target database.
RMAN-00569: ================error message stack follows================
RMAN-00600: internal error, arguments [10053] [1] [] [] []
RMAN-03008: error while performing automatic resync of recovery catalog
RMAN-07004: unhandled exception during command execution on channel default
RMAN-10032: unhandled exception during execution of job step 1: ORA-04067: not executed,
stored procedure "SYS.DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE" does not exist
ORA-01403: no data found
ORA-06512: at line 221
RMAN-10035: exception raised in RPC: ORA-04067: not executed, stored procedure
"SYS.DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE" does not exist
RMAN-10031: ORA-4067 occurred during call to DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.GETPARM
Diffarance between increamental and cumulative backups
29 ORAFACT
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A differential backup, which backs up all blocks changed after the most recent incremental backup at
level 1 or. 0
A cumulative backup, which backs up all blocks changed after the most recent incremental backup at
level 0.
Incremental backups are differential by default.
Recovering a block using RMAN

If we can restore a few blocks rather than an entire file we only need few blocks.
We even dont need to bring the data file offline.
Syntax for it as follows
Block Recover datafile 8 block 22;
Give me some of the RMAN catalog view names which contains the catalog information ?
Ans:RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION
RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE_SUMMARY to name a few
What is RMAN ?
Recovery Manager (RMAN) is a utility that can manage your entire Oracle backup and recovery
activities.
Diffarance b/t, When you take a hot backup putting Tablespace in begin backup mode and
RMAN backup
Oracle records SCN # from header of a database file. What happens when you issue hot backup
database in RMAN at block level backup? How does RMAN mark the record that the block has
been backed up ? How does RMAN know what blocks were backed up so that it doesn't have to
scan them again?
In 11g, there is Oracle Block Change Tracking feature. Once enabled; this new 10g feature
records the modified since last backup and stores the log of it in a block change tracking file.
During backups RMAN uses the log file to identify the specific blocks that must be backed up.
This improves RMAN's performance as it does not have to scan whole datafiles to detect changed
blocks.
Logging of changed blocks is performed by the CTRW process which is also responsible for writing
data to the block change tracking file. RMAN uses SCNs on the block level and the archived redo
logs to resolve any inconsistencies in the datafiles from a hot backup. What RMAN does not
require is to put the tablespace in BACKUP mode, thus freezing the SCN in the header. Rather,
RMAN keeps this information in either your control files or in the RMAN repository (i.e.,
Recovery Catalog).
What are the Architectural components of RMAN?

1.RMAN executable
2.Server processes
3.Channels
4.Target database
5.Recovery catalog database (optional)
6.Media management layer (optional)
30 ORAFACT
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7.Backups, backup sets, and backup pieces
What are Channels?

A channel is an RMAN server process started when there is a need to communicate with an I/O
device, such as a disk or a tape. A channel is what reads and writes RMAN backup files. It is
through the allocation of channels that you govern I/O characteristics such as:
· Type of I/O device being read or written to, either a disk or an sbt_tape
· Number of processes simultaneously accessing an I/O device
· Maximum size of files created on I/O devices
· Maximum rate at which database files are read
· Maximum number of files open at a time
Why is the catalog optional?

Because RMAN manages backup and recovery operations, it requires a place to store necessary
information about the database. RMAN always stores this information in the target database
control file. You can also store RMAN metadata in a recovery catalog schema contained in a
separate database. The recovery catalog
schema must be stored in a database other than the target database.
What does complete RMAN backup consist of ?

A backup of all or part of your database. This results from issuing an RMAN backup command. A
backup consists of one or more backup sets.
What is a Backup set?

A logical grouping of backup files the
backup pieces that
are created when you issue an
RMAN backup command. A backup set is RMAN's name for a collection of files associated with a
backup. A backup set is composed of one or more backup pieces.
What is a Backup piece?

A physical binary file created by RMAN during a backup. Backup pieces are written to your
backup medium, whether to disk or tape. They contain blocks from the target database's
datafiles, archived redo log files, and control files. When RMAN constructs a backup piece from
datafiles, there are a several rules that it follows:
· A datafile cannot span backup sets
· A datafile can span backup pieces as long as it stays within one backup set
· Datafiles and control files can coexist in the same backup sets
· Archived redo log files are never in the same backup set as datafiles or control files RMAN
is the only tool that can operate on backup pieces. If you need to restore a file from an
RMAN backup, you must use RMAN to do it. There's no way for you to manually
reconstruct database files from the backup pieces. You must use RMAN to restore files
from a backup piece.
What are the benefits of using RMAN?

1 Incremental backups that only copy data blocks that have changed since the last backup.
2. Tablespaces are not put in backup mode, thus there is noextra redo log generation
during online backups.
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3. Detection of corrupt blocks during backups.

4. Parallelization of I/O operations.
5. Automatic logging of all backup and recovery operations.
6. Builtin
reporting and listing commands.
what is recovery catalog?

Recovery catalog holds RMAN repository data for one or more databases in a separate database
schema, in addition to using the control files of the databases.
Start by creating a database schema (usually called rman). Assign an appropriate tablespace to it
and grant it the recovery_catalog_owner role. Look at this example:
sqlplus sys/ as sysdba
SQL> create user rman identified by rman;
SQL> alter user rman default tablespace tools temporary tablespace temp;
SQL> alter user rman quota unlimited on tools;
SQL> grant connect, resource, recovery_catalog_owner to rman;
SQL> exit;
Next, log in to rman and create the catalog schema. Prior to Oracle 8i this was done by running
the catrman.sql script.
> rman catalog rman/rman
RMAN> create catalog tablespace tools;
RMAN> exit;
You can now continue by registering your databases in the catalog. Look at this example:
rman catalog rman/rman target backdba/backdba
RMAN> register database;
You want to retain only last 3 backups of datafiles. How do you go for it in RMAN?
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 3
how many days RMAN keeps the information in controlfile?

It is depends upon the retention polocy we configured
Which Files must be backed up?

Database Files (with RMAN)
Control Files (with RMAN)
Offline Redolog Files (with RMAN)
INIT.ORA (manually)
Password Files (manually)
How to take differential incremental and cumulative backups in RMAN?

RMAN>backup incremental level2 database;
RMAN>backup incremental level 1 database;
Using RMAN how to restore a database in archivelog

rman target /
RMAN>startup mount
RMAN>restore database
RMAN>recover database
32 ORAFACT
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RMAN>alter database open

16.How to checkup backups,pieces in RMAN?
RMAN>crosscheck backupset of database;
RMAN>crosscheck copy;
17.How to configure channels in RMAN?
RMAN>configure channel device type disk format '/d01/backup/%U';
18.How to configure retention policy in RMAN?
RMAN>configure retention policy to recovery window of 7 days;
what is meant by DBMS_RCVCAT and DBMS_RCVMAN

these are internal, undocumented packages created by the create catalaog command
DBMS_RCVMAN is create din the target database by the scripts dbmsrman.sql and prvtrmns.plb
which are called by catproc.sql
DBMS_RCVCAT is used by recovery manager to maintain information in the recovery catalog and
DBMS_RCVMAN quesries the controlfile or recovery catalog
what is REPORT command in RMAN

what files need to be backup
RMAN>report need backup
which backups can be delted
RMAN>report obsolete;
What is RMAN and how does one use it?

Recovery Manager (or RMAN) is an Oracle provided utility for backingup,
restoring and
recovering Oracle Databases. RMAN ships with the database server and doesn't require a
separate installation. The RMAN executable is located in your ORACLE_HOME/bin
directory.
In fact RMAN, is just a Pro*C application that translates commands to a PL/SQL
interface. The PL/SQL calls are stallically linked into the Oracle kernel, and does not
require the database to be opened (mapped from the ?/rdbms/admin/recover.bsq file).
RMAN can do offline
and online
database backups. It cannot, however, write directly to
tape, but various 3rdparty
tools (like Veritas, Omiback, etc) can integrate with RMAN to
handle tape library management.
RMAN can be operated from Oracle Enterprise Manager, or from command line. Here are
the command line arguments:
Argument Value Description
target
quotedstring
connectstring
for target database
catalog quotedstring
connectstring
33 ORAFACT
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for recovery catalog

nocatalog none if specified, then no recovery catalog
cmdfile quotedstring
name of input command file
log quotedstring
name of output message log file
trace quotedstring
name of output debugging message log file
append none if specified, log is opened in append mode
debug optionalargs
activate debugging
msgno none show RMANnnnn
prefix for all messages
send quotedstring
send a command to the media manager
pipe string building block for pipe names
timeout integer number of seconds to wait for pipe input
Here
is an example:
[oracle@localhost oracle]$ rman
Recovery Manager: Release 10.1.0.2.0 Production
Copyright (c) 1995, 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.
RMAN> connect target;
connected to target database: ORCL (DBID=1058957020)
RMAN> backup database;
...
How does one backup and restore a database using RMAN?

The biggest advantage of RMAN is that it only backup used space in the database. RMAN
doesn't put tablespaces in backup mode, saving on redo generation overhead. RMAN will
reread
database blocks until it gets a consistent image of it. Look at this simple backup
example.
rman target sys/*** nocatalog
run {
allocate channel t1 type disk;
backup
format '/app/oracle/backup/%d_t%t_s%s_p%p'
(database);
release channel t1;
}
Example RMAN restore:
rman target sys/*** nocatalog
run {
34 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
allocate channel t1 type disk;

# set until time 'Aug 07 2000 :51';
restore tablespace users;
recover tablespace users;
release channel t1;
}
The examples above are extremely simplistic and only useful for illustrating basic
concepts. By default Oracle uses the database controlfiles to store information about
backups. Normally one would rather setup a RMAN catalog database to store RMAN
metadata in. Read the Oracle Backup and Recovery Guide before implementing any
RMAN backups.
Note: RMAN cannot write image copies directly to tape. One needs to use a thirdparty
media manager that integrates with RMAN to backup directly to tape. Alternatively one
can backup to disk and then manually copy the backups to tape.
How does one backup and restore archived log files?

One can backup archived log files using RMAN or any operating system backup utility.
Remember to delete files after backing them up to prevent the archive log directory from
filling up. If the archive log directory becomes full, your database will hang! Look at this
simple RMAN backup scripts:
RMAN> run {
2> allocate channel dev1 type disk;
3> backup
4> format '/app/oracle/archback/log_%t_%sp%p'
5> (archivelog all delete input);
6> release channel dev1;
7> }
The "delete input" clause will delete the archived logs as they as backedup.
List all archivelog backups for the past 24 hours:
RMAN> LIST BACKUP OF ARCHIVELOG FROM TIME 'sysdate1';
Here is a restore example:
RMAN> run {
2> allocate channel dev1 type disk;
3> restore (archivelog low logseq 78311 high logseq 78340 thread 1 all);
4> release channel dev1;
5> }
How does one create a RMAN recovery catalog?

Start by creating a database schema (usually called rman). Assign an appropriate
tablespace to it and grant it the recovery_catalog_owner role. Look at this example:
sqlplus sys
SQL> create user rman identified by rman;
35 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ

SQL> exit;
Next, log in to rman and create the catalog schema. Prior to Oracle 8i this was done by
running the catrman.sql script.
rman catalog rman/rman
RMAN> create catalog tablespace tools;
RMAN> exit;
One can also use the "upgrade catalog;" command to upgrade to a new RMAN
release, or the "drop catalog;" command to remove an RMAN catalog. These
commands need to be entered twice to confirm the operation.
How does one integrate RMAN with thirdparty

Media Managers?
The following Media Management Software Vendors have integrated their media
management software with RMAN (Oracle Recovery Manager):
· Veritas NetBackup http://
www.veritas.com/
· EMC Data Manager (EDM) http://
www.emc.com/
· HP OMNIBack/ DataProtector http://
www.hp.com/
· IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager (formerly ADSM) http://
www.tivoli.com/storage/
· EMC Networker http://
www.emc.com/
· BrightStor ARCserve Backup http://
www.ca.com/us/datalossprevention.
aspx
· Sterling Software's SAMS:Alexandria (formerly from Spectralogic) http://
www.sterling.com/sams/
· SUN's Solstice Backup http://
www.sun.com/software/whitepapers/backupnstorage/
· CommVault Galaxy http://
www.commvault.com/
· etc...
The above Media Management Vendors will provide first line technical support (and
installation guides) for their respective products.
A complete list of supported Media Management Vendors can be found at:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/deploy/availability/htdocs/bsp.htm
When allocating channels one can specify Media Management spesific parameters. Here
are some examples:
36 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
Netbackup on Solaris:
allocate channel t1 type 'SBT_TAPE'
PARMS='SBT_LIBRARY=/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/libobk.so.1';
Netbackup on Windows:
allocate channel t1 type 'SBT_TAPE' send "NB_ORA_CLIENT=client_machine_name";
Omniback/ DataProtector on HPUX:
allocate channel t1 type 'SBT_TAPE' PARMS='SBT_LIBRARY=
/opt/omni/lib/libob2oracle8_64bit.sl';
or:
allocate channel 'dev_1' type 'sbt_tape' parms
'ENV=OB2BARTYPE=Oracle8,OB2APPNAME=orcl,OB2BARLIST=machinename_orcl_a
rchlogs)';
How does one clone/duplicate a database with RMAN?

The first step to clone or duplicate a database with RMAN is to create a new INIT.ORA
and password file (use the orapwd utility) on the machine you need to clone the database
to. Review all parameters and make the required changed. For example, set the
DB_NAME parameter to the new database's name.
Secondly, you need to change your environment variables, and do a STARTUP
NOMOUNT from sqlplus. This database is referred to as the AUXILIARY in the script
below.
Lastly, write a RMAN script like this to do the cloning, and call it with "rman cmdfile
dupdb.rcv":
connect target sys/secure@origdb
connect catalog rman/rman@catdb
connect auxiliary /
run {
set newname for datafile 1 to '/ORADATA/u01/system01.dbf';
set newname for datafile 2 to '/ORADATA/u02/undotbs01.dbf';
set newname for datafile 3 to '/ORADATA/u03/users01.dbf';
set newname for datafile 4 to '/ORADATA/u03/indx01.dbf';
set newname for datafile 5 to '/ORADATA/u02/example01.dbf';
allocate auxiliary channel dupdb1 type disk;
set until sequence 2 thread 1;
duplicate target database to dupdb
logfile
GROUP 1 ('/ORADATA/u02/redo01.log') SIZE 200k REUSE,
GROUP 2 ('/ORADATA/u03/redo02.log') SIZE 200k REUSE;
}
The above script will connect to the "target" (database that will be cloned), the recovery
catalog (to get backup info), and the auxiliary database (new duplicate DB). Previous
backups will be restored and the database recovered to the "set until time" specified in
the script.
Notes: the "set newname" commands are only required if your datafile names will
37 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
different from the target database.

The newly cloned DB will have its own unique DBID.
Can one restore RMAN backups without a CONTROLFILE and RECOVERY

CATALOG?
Details of RMAN backups are stored in the database control files and optionally a
Recovery Catalog. If both these are gone, RMAN cannot restore the database. In such a
situation one must extract a control file (or other files) from the backup pieces written out
when the last backup was taken. Let's look at an example:
Let's take a backup (partial in our case for ilustrative purposes):
$ rman target / nocatalog
Recovery Manager: Release 10.1.0.2.0 64bit
Production
Copyright (c) 1995, 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved.
connected to target database: ORCL (DBID=1046662649)
using target database controlfile instead of recovery catalog
RMAN> backup datafile 1;
Starting backup at 20AUG04
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: sid=146 devtype=DISK
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backupset
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backupset
input datafile fno=00001 name=/oradata/orcl/system01.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 20AUG04
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 20AUG04
piece handle=
/
flash_recovery_area/ORCL/backupset/2004_08_20/o1_mf_nnndf_TAG20040820T153256_0
lczd9tf_.bkp comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:45
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backupset
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backupset
including current controlfile in backupset
including current SPFILE in backupset
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 20AUG04
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 20AUG04
piece handle=
/
flash_recovery_area/ORCL/backupset/2004_08_20/o1_mf_ncsnf_TAG20040820T153256_0l
czfrx8_.bkp comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:04
Finished backup at 20AUG04[/
code]
Now, let's destroy one of the control files:
38 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
SQL> show parameters CONTROL_FILES

NAME TYPE VALUE
control_
files string /oradata/orcl/control01.ctl,
/oradata/orcl/control02.ctl,
/oradata/orcl/control03.ctl
SQL> shutdown abort;
ORACLE instance shut down.
SQL> ! mv /oradata/orcl/control01.ctl /tmp/control01.ctl</pre>
Now, let's see if we can restore it. First we need to start the databaase in NOMOUNT
mode:
SQL> startup NOMOUNT
ORACLE instance started.
Total System Global Area 289406976 bytes
Fixed Size 1301536 bytes
Variable Size 262677472 bytes
Database Buffers 25165824 bytes
Redo Buffers 262144 bytes</pre>
Now, from SQL*Plus, run the following PL/SQL block to restore the file:
DECLARE
v_devtype VARCHAR2(100);
v_done BOOLEAN;
v_maxPieces NUMBER;
TYPE t_pieceName IS TABLE OF varchar2(255) INDEX BY binary_integer;
v_pieceName t_pieceName;
BEGIN
Define
the backup pieces... (names from the RMAN Log file)
v_pieceName(1) :=
'/flash_recovery_area/ORCL/backupset/2004_08_20/o1_mf_ncsnf_TAG20040820T15325
6_0lczfrx8_.bkp';
v_pieceName(2) :=
'/flash_recovery_area/ORCL/backupset/2004_08_20/o1_mf_nnndf_TAG20040820T1532
56_0lczd9tf_.bkp';
v_maxPieces := 2;
Allocate
a channel... (Use type=>null for DISK, type=>'sbt_tape' for TAPE)
v_devtype := DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.deviceAllocate(type=>NULL, ident=>'d1');
Restore
the first Control File...
DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.restoreSetDataFile;
CFNAME
mist be the exact path and filename of a controlfile taht was backedup
DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.restoreControlFileTo(cfname=>'/app/oracle/oradata/orcl/co
39 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
ntrol01.ctl');
dbms_output.put_line('Start restoring '||v_maxPieces||' pieces.');
FOR i IN 1..v_maxPieces LOOP
dbms_output.put_line('Restoring from piece '||v_pieceName(i));
DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.restoreBackupPiece(handle=>v_pieceName(i),
done=>v_done, params=>null);
exit when v_done;
END LOOP;
Deallocate
the channel...
DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.deviceDeAllocate('d1');
EXCEPTION
WHEN OTHERS THEN
DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.deviceDeAllocate;
RAISE;
END;
/
Let's see if the controlfile was restored:
SQL> ! ls l
/oradata/orcl/control01.ctl
rwr1
oracle dba 3096576 Aug 20 16:45 /oradata/orcl/control01.ctl[/code]
We should now be able to MOUNT the database and continue recovery...
SQL> ! cp /oradata/orcl/control01.ctl /oradata/orcl/control02.ctl
SQL> ! cp /oradata/orcl/control01.ctl /oradata/orcl/control03.ctl
SQL> alter database mount
SQL> recover database using backup controlfile;
ORA00279:
change 7917452 generated at 08/20/2004 16:40:59 needed for thread 1
ORA00289:
suggestion :
/flash_recovery_area/ORCL/archivelog/2004_08_20/o1_mf_1_671_%u_.arc
ORA00280:
change 7917452 for thread 1 is in sequence #671
Specify log: {<RET>=suggested | filename | AUTO | CANCEL}
/oradata/orcl/redo02.log
Log applied.
Media recovery complete.
Database altered.
SQL> alter database open resetlogs;
Database altered.
What are the Advantage over tradition backup system?

Advantage over tradition backup system:
40 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
1). copies only the filled blocks i.e. even if 1000 blocks is allocated to datafile but 500 are
filled with data then RMAN will only create a backup for that 500 filled blocks.
6). increase performance through automatic parallelization( allocating channels), less
redo generation.
how many days RMAN retain the info in controlfil?

Depending upon the retention polocy it will retain the copies
How do you install the RMAN recovery catalog?

Steps to be followed:
1 Create connection string at catalog database.
2 At catalog database, create one new user or use existing user and give that user a
recovery_catalog_owner privilege.
3 Login into RMAN with connection string.
What are the differences between EBU and RMAN?

Enterprise Backup Utility (EBU) is a functionally rich, high performance interface for
backing up Oracle7 databases. It is sometimes referred to as OEBU for Oracle Enterprise
Backup Utility. The Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) utility that ships with Oracle8
and above is similar to Oracle7's EBU utility. However, there is no direct upgrade path
from EBU to RMAN.
How does one create a RMAN recovery catalog?

Start by creating a database schema (usually called rman). Assign an appropriate
tablespace to it and grant it the recovery_catalog_owner role. Look at this example:
sqlplus sys
SQL>create user rman identified by rman;
SQL> exit;
Next, log in to rman and create the catalog schema. Prior to Oracle 8i this was done by
running the catrman.sql script. rman catalog rman/rman
RMAN>create catalog tablespace tools;
RMAN> exit;
How can a group in a cross products be visually distinguished from a group
41 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
that does not form a cross product?

A group that forms part of a cross product will have a thicker border.
Changes to the ALTER DATABASE END BACKUP Command You

can issue the
ALTER DATABASE END BACKUP command when the database is open.
Change-Aware Incremental Backups - By using a new type of log file to track blocks that have
changed in the database, Recovery Manager (RMAN) can avoid scanning the entire datafile during an
incremental backup. Instead, the amount of data scanned is proportional to the amount of data changed.
Automated Disk-Based Backup and Recovery - This release supports automated disk-based
backup and recovery. The result is a simplified and unified storage location for backups, archivelogs,
and any other files needed for Oracle recovery. It also provides automatic deletion of the files after they
have been successfully backed up by RMAN, and the equivalent of a disk cache for tape, which
reduces the time needed to restore a file from tape. It reduces the risk of an out-of-space condition on
disk by deleting files that are no longer necessary for successful database recovery.
RMAN Database Dropping and Deregistration - The new DROP DATABASE and
UNREGISTER DATABASE RMAN commands remove the database and its entry from the RMAN
recovery catalog.
Automated TSPITR Instantiation - This feature automatically creates the auxiliary instance
needed to perform tablespace point-in-time recovery (TSPITR) and incorporates the RMAN TSPITR
operations.
Simplified Recovery Manager Cataloging of Backup Files - You can now catalog RMAN
proprietary backup metadata into a backup repository. If a backup is overwritten in the control file, or a
backup file is moved to a new location on disk, then you can easily uncatalog the backup metadata
from the repository.
FLASHBACK
How do you set the flash recovery area?
A:
How do you gather information regarding the flash recovery area?

A:
SQL> SELECT name, space_limit, space_used,
space_reclaimable, number_of_files
FROM v$recovery_file_dest;
What is the flashback?
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DBA FAQ
A: The flashback gives users the capability to query past version of schema objects, query historical
data, and perform change analysis.
How it works?
A: Every transaction logically generates a new version of the database. You can navigate through these
versions to find an error and its cause.
Why do need to use the flashback?

A: It eliminates restore process and it is faster than traditional point-in-time recovery.
What is its architecture?

A: Now, one more log was added as Flashback Database log. The Oracle database server regularly logs
before images of data blocks in the Flashback Database logs from Flashback buffer in the SGA Oracle
memory. The Flashback Database must be enabled. When it is enabled, the new RVWR (Recovery
Version Writer) background process will be started. The RVWR background process sequentially writes
Flashback Database data from the flashback buffer to the Flashback Database logs which are circularly
reused.
How do you configure Flashback Database?

A:
Assuming:
The database is in archive mode.
The database flash recovery area was configured.
Set the database flashback retention time target.
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET db_flashback_retention_target = 2880; -- Ex: for two days.
Enable Flashback Database. Before altering your database, the database must be in MOUNT
EXCLUSIVE mode, ARCHIVELOG mode, and the Flashback be enabled. To check whether it is
enable do the following SQL statement.
SQL> SELECT flashback_on FROM v$database ;
SQL> ALTER DATABASE FLASHBACK ON;
If you disable the flashback (OFF), all existing Flashback Database logs are deleted automatically.
How do you Flashback a database?

A: The FLASHBACK DATABASE command force the database back to a past time or SCN. See the
following examples:
SQL> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO TIMESTAMP (sysdate-5/24); -- Go back 5 hours from now.
SQL> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 65473;
How do you monitor Flashback Database?

A: Use the V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG view to display the approximate lowest SCN and
time to which you can flash back your database.
SQL> SELECT oldest_flashback_scn, oldest_flashback_time
FROM v$flashback_database_log;
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DBA FAQ
How do you use the V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG view to determine how much disk space is
needed to meet the current flashback retention target?
A:
SQL> SELECT estimated_flashback_size, flashback_size
FROM v$flashback_database_log;
How do you use the V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_STAT view to monitor the overhead of logging
flashback data?
A: You can use this to adjust the retention time or the flash recovery area size.
SQL> SELECT * FROM v$flashback_database_stat;
How do you exclude a tablespace from flashback database?

A: If you do not want the USER tablespace to be included to log Flashback Database data, do the
following SQL statement.
SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE users FLASHBACK OFF;
When are you not able to Flashback Database?

A:
1. The control file has been restored or recreated,
2. A tablespace has been dropped,
3. A data file has been shrunk, and
4. A RESETLOSG operation is required.
How can you query the content of the recycle bin by using the DBA_RECYCLEBIN view?
A:
SQL> SELECT * FROM dba_recyclebin WHERE can_undrop = ‘YES’;
SQL> SHOW RECYCLEBIN
How do you restore from recycle bin?

A: Use the FLASHBACK TABLE command to recover a table and all its possible dependent objects
form the recycle bin.
SQL> DROP TABLE iself.emp;
SQL> SELECT original_name, object_name, type, ts_name,
dropttime, related, space
FROM dba_recyclebin
WHERE original_name = ‘EMP’;
SQL> FLASHBACK TABLE emp TO BEFORE DROP;
SQL> FLASHBACK TABLE emp
TO BEFORE DROP RENAME TO employee;
SQL> FLASHBACK TABLE emp
TO TIMESTAMP to_timestamp (’14:45’,’HH24:MI’);
How do you reclaim the recycle bin?

A: By using PURG option.
44 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
SQL> PURGE TABLE emp; -- Purges the specified table.

SQL> PURGE TABLESPACE scott_ts USER scott; -- All the Scott’s objects.
SQL> PURGE RECYCLEBIN; -- Purges all user objects.
SQL> PURGE DBA_RECYCLEBIN; -- Purges all the objects.
How can you perform queries on the database as of a certain clock time or SCN?
A:
SQL> SELECT versions_xid, sal, versions_operation
FROM emp
VERSIONS BETWEEN TIMESTAMP sysdate-10/24 AND sysdate
WHERE empno = 100;
How can you use the CURRENT_SCN column in the V$DATABASE view to obtain the current SCN?
A:
SQL> SELECT current_scn FROM v$database;
How can you enforce to guaranteed UNDO retention?

A: You can do one of the following SQL statements.
SQL> CREATE UNDO TABLESPACE my_undotbs1
DATAFILE ‘my_undotbs01.dbf’ SIZE 10G AUTOEXTEND ON
RETENTION GUARANTEE;
SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE my_undotbs1
RETENTION GUARANTEE;
How can you check the UNDO retention?

A:
SQL> SELECT tablespace_name, retention FROM dba_tablespaces;
How can you recover deleted file?

A:
Connect as sysdba and flashback the table.
SQL> CONNECT / AS SYSDBA
Use the FLASHBACK TABLE command to recover a table and all its possible dependent objects form
the recycle bin.
Check what do you have in your recycle bin.
SQL> SELECT original_name, object_name, type, ts_name,
dropttime, related, space
FROM dba_recyclebin
WHERE original_name = ‘FLASHBACK_TABLE’
/
SQL> FLASHBACK TABLE iself.emp TO BEFORE DROP;
How do you test that your recovery was successful?

A:
45 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
SQL> SELECT count(*) FROM flashback_table
Managing the Recycle Bin

If the tables are not really dropped in this process--therefore not releasing the tablespace--what
happens when the dropped objects take up all of that space?
A.The answer is simple: that situation does not even arise. When a tablespace is completely filled
up with recycle bin data such that the datafiles have to extend to make room for more data, the
tablespace is said to be under "space pressure." In that scenario, objects are automatically
purged from the recycle bin in a first-in-first-out manner. The dependent objects (such as
indexes) are removed before a table is removed.
Similarly, space pressure can occur with user quotas as defined for a particular tablespace. The
tablespace may have enough free space, but the user may be running out of his or her allotted
portion of it. In such situations, Oracle automatically purges objects belonging to that user in
that tablespace.
In addition, there are several ways you can manually control the recycle bin. If you want to purge
the specific table named TEST from the recycle bin after its drop, you could issue
PURGE TABLE TEST;
or using its recycle bin name:
PURGE TABLE "BIN$04LhcpndanfgMAAAAAANPw==$0";
This command will remove table TEST and all dependent objects such as indexes, constraints,
and so on from the recycle bin, saving some space. If, however, you want to permanently drop an
index from the recycle bin, you can do so using:
purge index in_test1_01;
which will remove the index only, leaving the copy of the table in the recycle bin.
Sometimes it might be useful to purge at a higher level. For instance, you may want to purge all
the objects in recycle bin in a tablespace USERS. You would issue:
PURGE TABLESPACE USERS;
You may want to purge only the recycle bin for a particular user in that tablespace. This
approach could come handy in data warehouse-type environments where users create and drop
many transient tables. You could modify the command above to limit the purge to a specific user
only:
PURGE TABLESPACE USERS USER SCOTT;
A user such as SCOTT would clear his own recycle bin with
PURGE RECYCLEBIN;
You as a DBA can purge all the objects in any tablespace using
PURGE DBA_RECYCLEBIN;
As you can see, the recycle bin can be managed in a variety of different ways to meet your
specific needs.
How do I determine how far back in time I can flash back to?
The actual earliest time to which you could rewind your database using flashback technology is
determined by querying the V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG view. The
V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG view can also help you decide how much space needed in the
flash recovery area for flashback logs to rewind back a specified number of hours.
46 ORAFACT
DBA FAQ
Once I flashback the database, can I flash it back further in time?

You can issue a Flashback Database command and then open the database READ-ONLY. This will
allow you to verify this is the point in which you want to open and start working again. Until you open
the database with a reset logs operation, you can roll-forwards and backwards using the recover
database until and flashback commands.
Is referential integrity maintained during a flashback table operation?

Referential integrity can be enforced by Oracle via constraints. Flashback Table enforces those
constraints for all dependencies. If you do not enforce referential integrity with software, then it is a
manual process.
Can I turn off the Recycle Bin feature?

No. The recycle bin feature is on by default. Flashback Drop is a non-intrusive feature. Objects in the
Recycle Bin will be automatically purged by the space reclamation process if
5. a user creates a new table or adds data that causes their quota to be exceeded.
6. the tablespace needs to extend its file size to accommodate create/insert operations.
A PURGE operation can be issued by any use to remove their objects from the recycle bin.
How far back in time can I view the versions of a row?

You can view all the versions of a row for as long as you have undo information retained in the undo
tablespace to satisfy the specified timestamps or SCN.
How far back can I rewind my database?

There are 2 limiting factors to how far back in time you can rewind.
Specify the how far back to rewind. The setting of the DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET
initialization parameter determines, indirectly, how much flashback data that Oracle should keep. This
limit is contingent upon sufficient space existing in the flash recovery area.
Flash Recovery Area. Flashback Database utilizes the Flash Recovery Area to organize and manage the
flashback logs. If you do not allocated enough space to the Flash Recovery Area, then you will be
limited to how far back in time you will be able to rewind.
Does any of our competitors have any similar feature/product like Flashback Query?
Thanks to our superior multiversioning read consistency technology, Oracle is the only database
product with such a capability.
Does Flashback Database Support all data types?

Yes. All data that is located in the database is supported.
Do you have to enable the Flash Recovery Area to activate Flashback Database?
Yes. Flashback Database utilizes the Flash Recovery Area to organize and manage the flashback logs.
47 ORAFACT

Faq Rman

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DBA FAQ

How do you enable the encryption for RMAN backups?

How do you install the RMAN recovery catalog?

How do you setup the RMAN tape backups?

This is backup script for Tivoli Backup Server

How RMAN improves backup time?

copies only modified blocks

What is the advantage of RMAN utility?

Rman>> block recover datafile <fileid> block <blockid>;

Using the above statement u recover the corrupted blocks.

How do you see information about backups in RMAN?

What is the significance of incarnation and DBID in the RMAN backups?

Outline the steps for changing the DBID in a cloned environment?

List atleast 6 advantages of RMAN backups compare to traditional hot backups?

Can RMAN be used to backup flashback logs?

Is there a separate background process for writing flashback logs?

How to list restore points in RMAN?

How do you backup the entire database?

How do you backup an individual tablespaces?

How do you backup datafiles and control files?

Why do need to use the flashback?

When are you not able to Flashback Database?

How do you test that your recovery was successful?

How do you backup the Flash Recovery Area?

How do you set the flash recovery area?

How RMAN improves backup time?

How do you see information about backups in RMAN?

List advantages of RMAN backups compare to traditional hot backups?

Explain how to setup the physical stand by database with RMAN?

What is auxiliary channel in RMAN? When do you need this?

What is backup set?

What is RMAN and how does one use it?

What kind of backup are supported by RMAN?

What is the Flash Recovery Area?

How do you define a Flash Recovery Area?

How can you display warning messages?

How do you backup the Flash Recovery Area?

How do you monitor block change tracking?

How do you backup the entire database?

How do you backup an individual tablespaces?

How do you backup datafiles and control files?

Why use Rman ?

that user managed backups.

Oracle Enhancement for Rman in 10g

{ backup database plus archivelog;

Auto Backp of Control file

Speed Of Backup Devices

Identifying RMAN Processes

Measuring Backup Performance

Tuning Media Recovery

Slowing RMAN Down

• The backup duration ... minimize load command

Configure Retention policy to redundancy 3;

Block Media Recovery

What are the Architectural components of RMAN?

What are Channels?

Why is the catalog optional?

What does complete RMAN backup consist of ?

What is a Backup set?

What is a Backup piece?

What are the benefits of using RMAN?

What 1 is the advantage of RMAN utility?