NetVault Plug-in for Oracle 10.0.5


	CAUTION: To avoid overwriting the database and losing data, use caution when selecting any of the options described in the following sections and before performing disaster recovery.

The following methods are available for performing a disaster recovery:

•

Using the Stepwise Disaster Recovery process

•

Disaster recovery to same server

•

Retrieving a Control File manually

Important notes

When performing a disaster recovery of any kind, be aware of the following:

•

When performing a test recovery, do not connect to the Recovery Catalog during datafile restoration. Otherwise, RMAN records information about the restored datafiles to the Recovery Catalog. This recording interferes with future attempts to restore and recover the primary database. If you must use a Recovery Catalog because the Control File is not large enough to contain the RMAN repository data on all the backups that you need to restore, export the catalog. After exporting the catalog, import it into a different schema or database, and use the copied Recovery Catalog for the test restore. Otherwise, the catalog considers the restored database as the current target database.

•

Using a disaster recovery procedure in an Oracle® Database environment that is not intended for disaster recovery might result in data loss in the database. Do not use a disaster recovery procedure to restore or recover individual datafiles or archive logs, or if you only intend to restore an Oracle Database SPFILE or a Control File.

•

Perform a disaster recovery only when it involves the whole database, SPFILE, and Control File. Existing data might be lost in the database, because a disaster recovery procedure overwrites it.

•

The Stepwise Disaster Recovery feature issues commands that include a small subset of the options available in an Oracle Database Server to perform a disaster recovery. For more advanced options, or a targeted disaster recovery, Dell recommends that you use the plug-in's documented RMAN CLI procedures. Because the Stepwise Disaster Recovery feature does not use the full range of recovery options, it might not complete successfully. If not, use the RMAN CLI process to perform the recovery.

Using the Stepwise Disaster Recovery process

This process runs a restore of the Control File from an Autobackup and restores the database datafiles using the same restore task. If you use this process, be aware of the following:

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Objects selected the Create Selection Set page are ignored.

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All other restore- and recovery-related options are ignored.

•

Only the options selected on the Stepwise Disaster Recovery tab are run.

To use this process:

In the Navigation pane, click Create Restore Job.

On the Create Restore Job — Choose Saveset page, select Plug‑in for Oracle from the Plugin Type list.

To filter the items displayed in the saveset table further, use the Client, Date, and Job ID lists.

The table displays the saveset name (Job Title and Saveset ID), creation date and time, and size. By default, the list is sorted alphabetically by saveset name.

In the saveset table, select the applicable item.

When you select a saveset, the following details are displayed in the Saveset Information area: Job ID, Job Title, server name, client name, plug-in name, saveset date and time, retirement setting, Incremental Backup or not, Archive or not, and saveset size.

Click Next.

On the Create Selection Set page, select any item.

As explained earlier, selections on this page are ignored for this process.

Click Edit Plugin Options, and then click the Stepwise Disaster Recovery tab.

Select the Perform the following Step-by-Step Disaster Recovery option, and then select the applicable suboptions:

•

Set Dbid: If you want to specify the DBID, select this option. The plug-in automatically enters the DBID of the Oracle® Database for which the backup was taken in this field. The DBID is needed when a parameter file or SPFILE is not available to start the Oracle Database in a NOMOUNT state.

•

Restore Spfile from Autobackup; Look Back Max Days: If the Oracle Control File Autobackup option was enabled in your scheduled backups and you want to restore the SPFILE from an Autobackup, select this option. (If Oracle Control File Autobackup was not enabled, you cannot restore the SPFILE from an Autobackup. For more information, see Enabling Control File Autobackups.) By default, this option looks for Autobackups in the last seven days; update it as applicable. This option issues the following RMAN commands:

STARTUP NOMOUNT;

restore spfile from autobackup maxdays <NumberOfDays>;

•

Restore Controlfile from Autobackup; Look Back Max Days: If the Oracle Control File Autobackup option was enabled in your scheduled backups and you want to restore the Control File from an Autobackup, select this option. (If Oracle Control File Autobackup was not enabled, you cannot restore the Control File from an Autobackup. For more information, see Enabling Control File Autobackups.) By default, this option looks for Autobackups in the last seven days; update it as applicable. This option issues the following RMAN commands:

STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT;

restore controlfile from autobackup maxdays <NumberOfDays>;

•

Restore Database: If you want to restore all datafiles included in the Oracle Database, select this option. A restore database command attempts to restore all the datafiles in the Oracle database. This option issues the following RMAN command:

RESTORE DATABASE;

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Recover Database: If you want to recover all datafiles included in the Oracle Database, select this option. A recover database command attempts to recover all the datafiles in the Oracle database. This recovery might include automatically restoring and applying archived transaction logs. This option issues the following RMAN command:

RECOVER DATABASE;

•

Alter Database Open Resetlogs: If you want to open the database with the RESETLOGS option, select this option. This option issues the following SQL*Plus command:

ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS;


	NOTE: With the database restored, you have the option of opening an RMAN CLI prompt and issuing the recovery commands from the prompt. This option eliminates the need to select the Recover Database and Alter Database Open Resetlogs options and lets you issue advanced recovery options.

Complete the steps in Finalizing and submitting the job.

Disaster recovery to same server

The following procedure details the steps to perform disaster recovery to the same server where the source database resided. This procedure would be used in the scenario in which a complete media failure occurred and either the damaged host was rebuilt using the same configuration or a new server was configured imitating the original host’s configuration, including host name.


	NOTE: You can also use the following procedure to restore the Oracle® Server to a different host (one that is not the original production server) while the production server is still active. However, as stated previously, if your goal is create a copy of the target production database for ongoing use on a new host, do not use this procedure. Instead, use the Duplicate Database backup type. For more information, see Duplicate Database backup.

The same procedure should be used whether a Recovery Catalog was being used as part of the backup strategy for the RMAN Repository. RMAN always stores information concerning the backups in records in the Control File. The version of this information in the Control File is the authoritative record of RMAN’s backups of your database. RMAN can conduct all necessary backup and recovery operations using just the repository information in the Control File.

For variations on the following disaster recovery procedure, see Performing Disaster Recovery in the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User’s Guide.

To perform a disaster recovery without a Recovery Catalog, the following requirements must be met:

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Oracle Database software installed: Install the same version of the Oracle database software on the system as existed on the damaged server. The ORACLE_HOME should be identical on both the source and destination Oracle server. You do not have to create the database.

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Oracle password file created: Use the orapwd utility to create the Oracle password file.

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On Linux®:

orapwd file=<Oracle_Home>/dbs/orapw<SID> password=<password>

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On Windows®:

orapwd file=<Oracle_Home>\database\orapw<SID> password=<password>

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Oracle service on Windows created and started: Create the Oracle Service on Windows with Oracle’s oradim utility. The Oracle SID should be identical to the original or source database. This option creates an identical Oracle Service name. For example, from an OS prompt run:

oradim -new -sid <sid_name>

After the Windows service is created, start the service with the following command from an OS prompt:

net start oracleservice<sid_name>

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NetVault Backup software and Plug‑in for Oracle installed: The same version of NetVault Backup software and the plug-in must be installed and configured as it originally existed on the damaged server. Ensure that the plug-in’s default attributes are defined as specified in Configuring default settings.

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DBID of the source database identified: Identify the DBID of the damaged database. If the DBID was not recorded as part of the initial Plug‑in for Oracle installation, look for it in the NetVault Backup binary logs for RMAN-based backups of the source database. The DBID is also available on the Details dialog box or the Backup Contents tab.

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Default location for SPFILE must exist: Verify that the default location for the SPFILE exists. Failure to do so results in an ORA-17502 Failed to create file error during the SPFILE restore.

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Backups of all tablespaces made available: Verify that you have the latest backups of all the tablespaces.

To perform the recovery:

Restore the Oracle Net Services Configuration Files.

If the External Configuration Files were included in a previous RMAN backup or the Plug-in for FileSystem was used to back up the Oracle Net Services configuration files (such as “listener.ora,” “sqlnet.ora,” and “tnsnames.ora”), restore the files to the destination Oracle Database Server. Otherwise, configure the Oracle Net Services on the destination Oracle server.

Start the Oracle listener.

For example, from an OS command prompt run:

lsnrctl start

Start RMAN with no catalog, and connect to the target database:

RMAN TARGET / NOCATALOG

Set the DBID to the damaged database DBID.

SET DBID <Source_DBID>;

Start the target instance without mounting the database.


	IMPORTANT: A series of Oracle errors might appear if a PFILE is not available when you run the following command. This process is acceptable, and you can ignore the errors. Oracle uses a default PFILE to ensure that the restore process for the SPFILE continues (“starting Oracle instance without parameter file for retrieval of spfile”).

STARTUP NOMOUNT;

Restore the SPFILE from Autobackup.

RUN {

ALLOCATE CHANNEL C1 TYPE 'SBT_TAPE';

RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP;

}

Restart the database with the restored SPFILE.

STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT;

Restore the Control File from Autobackup.

If you are restoring the Control File from the last Autobackup, run:

RUN {

ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH1 TYPE 'SBT_TAPE';

RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP;

}


	IMPORTANT: If you do not have an Autobackup of the Control File, complete the steps in Retrieving a Control File manually before continuing.

On the Create Restore Job — Choose Saveset page, find the latest available backup that included all the tablespaces, and click Next.

On the Create Selection Set page, navigate to the source NetVault Backup Client and database, select the Whole Database node, and click Edit Plugin Options.

Click the Restore Options tab, and select the applicable options:

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To mount the database before the performing the restore, select Mount Database Before Restore.

•

To include read-only datafiles in the restore, select Check Read-Only Datafiles and Restore if Necessary.

Because recovery must be performed in a disaster recovery scenario, on the Perform Recovery tab, select Perform Database Point-in-Time Recovery.

PIT Recovery recovers the database to a specific time, log sequence number, or SCN. If the specific time or log sequence of the failure is not known, Dell recommends that you use the SCN option.

On the Perform Recovery tab, select Check Read-Only Datafiles and Recover if Not Current to include read-only datafiles in the recovery process.

The read-only files are included only if they are needed to complete recovery. If they are not damaged, RMAN omits them.

On the Recovery Catalog tab, clear the Use Catalog option to ensure that the Recovery Catalog is not used for this restore.

Complete the Schedule and Advanced Options tabs, and submit the job.

RMAN automatically chooses the best available Full, Incremental, or Archive Log backups and restore and recover the database.

In RMAN, update the RMAN metadata.

CROSSCHECK ARCHIVELOG ALL;

Exit RMAN.


	IMPORTANT: After completing a disaster recovery, Dell recommends that you perform a Full or Incremental Level 0 backup with the database selected on the Create Selection Set page.

Retrieving a Control File manually

When Control File Autobackups are not available, the RMAN Catalog is not used, and only Control File backups were performed by selecting the Control File node on the NetVault Backup Selections page, you might be able to use the following procedure to extract the Control File from a backup piece.

To recover the most recent (or other, as required) Control File manually from a backup piece:

On the Create Restore Job — Choose Saveset page, find the latest available backup that is marked with “Controlfile Included.”

Recover the Control File.

SQL> STARTUP NOMOUNT;

DECLARE

devtype varchar2(256);

done boolean;

BEGIN

devtype := dbms_backup_restore.deviceallocate('sbt_tape', params=>'');

dbms_backup_restore.restoresetdatafile;

dbms_backup_restore.restorecontrolfileto

('<destination PathAndNameOfControlFile>');

dbms_backup_restore.restorebackuppiece

('<backupSegment NameIdentifiedEarlier>',done=>done);

devtype varchar2(256);

done boolean;

BEGIN

devtype := dbms_backup_restore.deviceallocate('sbt_tape', params=>'');

dbms_backup_restore.restoresetdatafile;

dbms_backup_restore.restorecontrolfileto

('C:\oracle\product\10.1.0\oradata\o10gg\control01.ctl');

dbms_backup_restore.restorebackuppiece

('ZETK2003:#3293:ZETK2003:274_578391288:O10GG_1135958971',done=>done);

END;

Use the replicate controlfile command to copy the restored Control File.

RMAN TARGET / NOCATALOG

SET DBID <Source_DBID>;

connect TARGET /

RUN {

ALLOCATE CHANNEL C1 TYPE 'SBT_TAPE';

replicate controlfile from

'<sourcePathAndNameOfControlFile>';

}

Using advanced procedures with RMAN restores

This section contains sections that describe other restore operations that can be performed with Plug‑in for Oracle.

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Renaming or relocating files (or both)

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Duplicating a database in a non-RAC environment

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Performing table-level recovery

Renaming or relocating files (or both)

With the RMAN backup method, the plug-in lets you rename the Control File and datafiles during restore. Renaming files can be useful if you do not want to overwrite the existing version and want to create a copy of the file. You can also relocate the files to a different directory while restoring it with the plug-in.

To rename or relocate files during restore:

Complete the steps outlined in Preparing the database for recovery.

In the Navigation pane, click Create Restore Job, select Plug‑in for Oracle from the Plugin Type list.

In the saveset table, select the applicable item, and click Next.

For more information, see Selecting data for a restore.

On the Create Selection Set page, select the datafile or Control File to restore.

From the Actions list, select Rename.

In the Rename/Relocate dialog box, enter the applicable information.

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Rename: Enter the new name.

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Relocate: Enter the new path.

The plug-in uses the set newname RMAN command to restore or rename (or both) RMAN backups. The set newname command has precedence over the DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST parameter. If the full path is not specified for a restore or rename, the plug-in behaves as follows:

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SPFILE: The file is restored to the “$ORACLE_HOME/dbs” directory with the new name.

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Datafile:

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If you specify a new location when the file is created, the file is restored or renamed to this location with the new name.

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If you do not specify a new location when the file is created, the file is restored or renamed to “$ORACLE_HOME/dbs” with the new name.