simon pane first4 database partners simon.pane@first4db
TRANSCRIPT
Quick overview
Real world tips and suggestions throughout
Ideas of “Advanced Topics” for future consideration
Now more powerful yet simpler to use More compatible than ever:
◦ Handles Data De-duplication (i.e. DataDomain)◦ Handles disk snapshots/mirror splits (i.e. NetApp)◦ ASM (RAC or Grid Infrastructure)
Backups themselves are smaller:◦ Unused blocks, tempfiles, possibly read-only
tablespaces, etc are skipped
Block level restores Compressed backups Encrypted backups for additional protection
Possibly misses things:◦ New tablespaces
◦ Control files after changes
Possibly includes things it shouldn’t◦ Online redo logs – do you back those up or not?
Requires tablespaces to be put into hot-backup mode (if you’re doing it right)
Shell scripting failures:# Clean out the last backup
rm -rf $LAST_BACKUP_FILE_BASE
The RMAN executable is just a CLI◦ Work is all done by DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE
◦ Hence can run client/server (like SQLPlus)
RMAN CLI can also do◦ Startup/Shutdown commands
◦ SQL commands via “SQL ‘<…>’” syntax
Does not provide any feedback/output
Not recommended – use SQLPlus instead
Persistent configuration settings are stored in the control files
Also visible through dynamic performance views:◦ v$rman_configuration Query through SQL statements or make a GC report
History also kept in the control files◦ Increase CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME Defaults to 7 days
Not really a one-to-one correlation of database files◦ Can be – depends on how RMAN is configured
◦ (File copies are also possible)
Think of them like ZIP files◦ Datafiles may be in spread among backup pieces
FILE_NAME
---------------
1.txt
2.txt
cmdb_login.sql
connecttest.sql
norun.sql
nosysdba.sql
oraexecute.txt
pat_list.txt
privs.sql
runit.cmd
temp.sql
tns.txt
tnsnames.ora
tns_orig.txt
backup [as compressed backupset] [check logical]
[full] database [force]
[include current controlfile]
[format '$Backup_Base/%d_FULL_%I_%T_%s_%p.bak'] tag
['$RMAN_tag']
[plus archivelog]
[format '$Backup_Base/%d_ARCH_%I_%T_%s_%p.bak'] tag
['$RMAN_tag']
delete [noprompt] backup;
delete [noprompt] obsolete redundancy 2;
delete [noprompt] obsolete recovery window of 7 days;
delete [noprompt] archivelog all;
delete [noprompt] archivelog all backed up 1 times to
disk;
delete [noprompt] expired backup of tablespace SYSTEM
completed before 'SYSDATE-14';
list backup summary;
list backup by file;
list backup;
list expired backup;
list backup of tablespace SYSTEM;
list backup of datafile 3;
list archivelog all;
list backup of archivelog all;
report need backup days = 1;
report need backup redundancy = 2;
report unrecoverable;
report obsolete;
CROSSCHECK◦ Check if what RMAN “thinks” is there is still actually
there
CATALOG◦ Let RMAN know about new backup pieces or file copies
it’s currently not aware of Don’t confuse the “catalog” command with the “Repository
Catalog” – they’re not related
Examples:◦ crosscheck backup;
◦ catalog start with ‘/tmp/restored/’;
Usually there’s no need to manually manage channels (parallelism) anymore in “run” blocks:◦ Usually configuring a default parallelism of 4
channels is optimal
Use Simple Commands◦ I rarely ever use “run” blocks
Don't panic about the catalog◦ Use it if it’s there, don’t if it’s not
Always include the controlfile autobackups
Give pieces meaningful names
Must restore from the same location -> use a symbolic link (even for the FRA) for all backups
Example:◦ ln –s /u01/oracle/backups/PRD1/hot /database_backups
◦ backup full database format ‘/database_backups/
/%d_%I_%T_%s_%p.bak';’
Regardless of whether you’re restoring onto a rebuilt/replaced machine or a copy on a test server, the directories must be the same
Backup to: /u03/orabackups/PRD1
Restore from: /u01/orabackups/PRD1
Backup to: D:\ORA_BACKUPS\PRD1
Restore from: E:\ORA_BACKUPS\PRD1
Can have one or many – highest release version
I consider it a "nice to have"
Does not require a separate license◦ Search "Infrastructure Repository Databases" (E10594-11)
◦ http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E11882_01/license.112/e10594/editions.htm#CJAHFHBJ
If it's not there, it will resync automatically the next time
To move, just re-REGISTER (new 11g IMPORT command)
Useful when you have a very small environment
Remember, the catalog is simply an Oracle Schema (for backup history)
PROD1 TEST1
Catalog Into
Catalog Into
Catalog expires them when removed◦ Details are lost when they become “expired”
◦ Should be doing “DELETE EXPIRED”
Keep a long term history yourself◦ Sometimes needed for auditor reporting
◦ Makes it easier to pull old files from tape
◦ Use a trigger or Scheduler Job to populate
Oracle 10g◦ Must have the backup pieces written to a shared
location or copy them manually if duplicating to a different machine
◦ DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO TEST1;
Oracle 11g◦ New FROM ACTIVE DATABASE clause
Not as easy to restart if interrupted
Uses file copies so doesn’t take into account compression and backup optimization
Old DBID information is still present in:◦ Statspack Data
◦ Automatic Workload Repository
◦ Feature Usage Views
◦ High Water Mark Views
Cleanup if desired:◦ dbms_swrf_internal.unregister_database
◦ wri$_dbu_usage_sample
◦ wri$_dbu_feature_usage
◦ wri$_dbu_high_water_mark
Even if the password is well known or hardcoded in scripts, encryption can provide off-site/vendor protection
set encryption on identified by
passwd only;
backup full database;
I’ll argue that cloud services are safe and reliable◦ But upload bandwidth can be an issue
Simple Approach: backup to disk and then upload using a commercial tool:◦ Mozy, Carbonite, BackBlaze, etc.
Amazon Web Service (AWS) Integration:◦ The Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) Cloud Module allows for
RMAN backups to be written directly to the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)
◦ The OSB Cloud Module appears in RMAN as a tape device
◦ Check with Oracle regarding OSB licensing requirements
Main download page:◦ http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/cloud/down
loads/index.html
Readme:◦ http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/cloud/osbw
s-readme-083624.html
Download the library:◦ http://rman.s3.amazonaws.com/osbws_install.jar
Install JAR file into Oracle Home
In RMAN◦ Configure SBT channel device specifying the library
options◦ Perform backup
Catalog saved scripts◦ Makes the Catalog more important!!
Tablespace Point In Time Recovery (TSPITR)
Schedule the RMAN backups from within the Database!◦ Use the Oracle Scheduler to call the RMAN APIs or
an external OS script
Password files
OraInventory and oraInst.loc Networking files:
◦ sqlnet.ora tnsnames.ora ldap.ora listener.ora
Oratab file Startup/Shutdown scripts:
◦ /etc/inittab, /etc/init.d/dbora
CRS/CSS/ HAS files OCR/OLR files
◦ backups and /etc/oracle/ files
ASM Instances (metadata)
Keep your commands/scripts handy◦ Can’t remember all of the commands
Practice in a test environment regularly
Review the new features in each major release and adjust your strategy accordingly
