NetVault Plug-in for Oracle 13.0


	TIP: To run a job that you have already created and saved, select Manage Job Definitions in the Navigation pane, select the applicable job, and click Run Now.

You can monitor progress on the Job Status page and view the logs on the View Logs page. For more information, see the Quest NetVault Administrator’s Guide.

Performing RMAN backups

The RMAN backup procedure includes the following steps:

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Selecting data for a backup

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Setting backup options

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Finalizing and submitting the job

Selecting data for a backup

You must use sets — Backup Selection Set, Backup Options Set, Schedule Set, Target Set, and Advanced Options Set — to create a backup job.

Backup Selection Sets are essential for Incremental and Differential Backups. Create the Backup Selection Set during a Full Backup, and use it for Full, Incremental, and Differential Backups. The backup job reports an error if you do not use a Selection Set for the Incremental or Differential Backup. For more information, see the Quest NetVault Administrator’s Guide.


	TIP: To use an existing set, click Create Backup Job, and select the set from the Selections list.

In the Navigation pane, click Create Backup Job.

You can also start the wizard from the Guided Configuration link. In the Navigation pane, click Guided Configuration. On the NetVault Configuration Wizard page, click Create backup jobs.

In Job Name, specify a name for the job.

Assign a descriptive name that lets you easily identify the job when monitoring its progress or restoring data. The job name can contain alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non-Latin characters. On Linux, the name can have a maximum of 200 characters. On Windows, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms.

Next to the Selections list, click

In the list of plug-ins, open Plug‑in for Oracle, and then open the database you want to back up.

If you have not configured the plug-in’s authentication details, enter the required information when the prompt appears, and then click OK.

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Account Name: Specify an Oracle database user with SYSDBA privileges.

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Password: Enter the password associated with the name specified in the preceding field.

After the plug-in connects to the database and lists the supported file types for selection, select the data that you want to back up.

The plug-in supports the following file types for RMAN backups:

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Database Node: When this node is selected and no individual sub-nodes are cleared, the whole Oracle database is backed up with the equivalent RMAN BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVE LOG command. Unless performing specialized individual backups that only include Parameter File, Control Files, or Archive Logs, Quest recommends that you select this node when performing Full and Incremental Backups.

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Parameter File: This node is only available for selection if the Control File Autobackup Enabled option on the RMAN Details tab of the Add, or Edit, Oracle Database dialog box is not selected. Select this node to include the PFILE or the SPFILE for the Oracle database in the backup. If the Control File Autobackup Enabled option or the Use RMAN Commands to Backup SPFILE option on the Add, or Edit, Oracle Database dialog box is enabled, the Parameter File node does not expand; otherwise, the Parameter File name is displayed when the Parameter File node is expanded.

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Control File: This node is only available for selection if the Control File Autobackup Enabled option on the RMAN Details tab of the Add, or Edit, Oracle Database dialog box is not selected. Select this node to perform a Manual Backup of the Control File. To ensure that a recent copy of the Control File is always available, include it with each RMAN-based backup. If you are not using a Recovery Catalog, you cannot restore a Manual Control File backup by using the plug-in. For more information on Manual Control File backups versus Control File Autobackups, see Manual Backups of Control File.

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Archive Logs: Because archived redo logs are essential for PIT Recovery and should be backed up regularly, Quest recommends that you select this node to include the Archive Logs in a Full or Incremental backup job. Additionally, the Archive Logs can be independently protected with the Archive Log backup type.

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All Tablespaces: Select this node to back up all the tablespaces within the database, or open it and select individual tablespaces to include in the backup. In addition, you can expand the individual tablespaces to select individual datafiles. This option is useful for backing up a subset of datafiles because performing whole-database backups takes longer than the allowed backup window.

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External Configuration Files (for RMAN Backup Method only): Select this node to include the External Configuration Files in the backup, or open it and select individual Oracle Network Configuration or Oracle Password files for backup. Plug‑in for Oracle uses Quest NetVault Plug-in for FileSystem (Plug-in for FileSystem) functionality to back up and restore the Oracle Network Configuration and Oracle Password files.

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Post-Backup Scripts: To run a post-backup RMAN script using the plug-in, open this node and select the individual script to be run. For more information on post-backup scripts, see Using RMAN Post-Backup Scripts.


	IMPORTANT: The Database must be in an OPEN state to back up the tablespaces and datafiles. However, the Control Files, SPFILE, and Archive Logs can be backed up with the database in a MOUNT state.

Click Save, enter a name in the Create New Set dialog box, and click Save.

The name can contain alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non-Latin characters. On Linux, the name can have a maximum of 200 characters. On Windows, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms.

Setting backup options

The next step involves creating the Backup Options Set or selecting an existing one.


	TIP: To use an existing set, in the Plugin Options list, select the set that you want to use.

Next to the Plugin Options list, click

In the Backup Method section, select the RMAN option to perform RMAN backups.


	IMPORTANT: For backups that use the RMAN backup method, do not select the Ensure this backup is the first on the media option on the Target Storage section. The RMAN backup method generates more than one data stream. If you select the Ensure this backup is the first on the media option for such backups, each data stream targets a separate piece of media and assumes that it is the first backup on the media.

Select the backup destination.

When Flash Recovery Area is enabled on the Add, or Edit, Oracle Database dialog box, the following options let you select the destination for the backup:

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NetVault Media Manager: Selecting this option sends the backup to whatever media you designated on the Target tab, such as a physical tape, a NetVault VTL stored on the disk, or a NetVault SmartDisk. When you select this option, the plug-in allocates “SBT_TAPE” channels to perform the backup.

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Disk (Backup to FRA): Selecting this option sends the backup to the Oracle drive instead of the NetVault Media. When you select this option, the plug-in allocates DISK channels to perform the backup.

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Both NetVault Media Manager and Disk (Backup to FRA then Backup FRA to NetVault Media): Selecting this option sends the backup to the Oracle drive and then to whatever media you designated on the Target tab in NetVault.

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Delete File Copies from Disk After Successful Backup to NetVault Media Manager: Available only when a FRA backup type is selected. When selected, RMAN deletes the recovery files from the FRA after a successful backup. Selecting this option is equivalent to the following RMAN command:

BACKUP BACKUPSET ALL NOT BACKED UP SINCE TIME 'SYSDATE' DELETE INPUT;


	IMPORTANT: If you select the Delete File Copies from Disk After Successful Backup to NetVault Media Manager option, RMAN deletes the recovery files in the FRA even if the backup job fails. Therefore, ensure that the option selected for Incomplete Backup of ALL Items Selected includes retaining a backup saveset to ensure that the backup to disk can still be restored. Selecting the Backup Destination of Disk (Backup to FRA) is not supported for External Configuration Files or Parameter Files that are manually input on the Add, or Edit, Oracle Database dialog box. This is not supported because the FRA is a portion of disk managed by Oracle. External Configuration Files and Parameter Files that are manually input on the Add, or Edit, Oracle Database dialog box are backed up through Plug-in for FileSystem functionality.

These options let you implement a media destination strategy that balances requirements while speeding up restores. For more information, see Defining a Backup Destination strategy. For instructions on enabling FRA, see the bullet item Flash Recovery Area Enabled in Configuring default settings.

Specify the backup type.

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Flash Recovery Area (only available for Oracle 10g and later)

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Delete Recovery Files from Flash Recovery Area After Successful Backup: Available only when the FRA backup type is selected. When selected, RMAN will delete the recovery files from the FRA after a successful backup. Selecting this option is equivalent to the following RMAN commands:

BACKUP RECOVERY AREA DELETE INPUT

BACKUP RECOVERY FILES DELETE INPUT

For more information on these backup types, see Defining an RMAN backup strategy.


	IMPORTANT: FRA backups fail if previous backups have not been performed with a Backup Destination of Disk or Both NetVault Media Manager and Disk. You must use the FRA as a Backup Destination before you can back up the FRA using the Flash Recovery Area backup type. When NetVault instructs backups to Disk (Backup to FRA), Incremental Level 0 backups (INCR LVL0) are stored in separate backup sets. Additionally, the first Incremental Level 1 backup (INCR LVL1) — Differential or Cumulative — generates the base Incremental Level 0 backup copy image, as well as the Incremental Level 1 backup copy image. Subsequent Incremental Level 1 backups generate only the necessary Level 1 backup copy image update. For Incremental Backups to Disk (Backup to FRA), NetVault uses the Oracle-recommended strategy backup copy image method to maintain incrementally updated copies of the datafiles included in the selection set. For Incremental Level 0 to Disk (Backup to FRA), NetVault instructs Oracle to perform a backupset backup type.

Set the RMAN backup options.

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Delete Archive Logs After Successful Backup: If you want to delete the archive logs automatically after they are backed up, thus eliminating the need to delete them manually, select this option. This option is useful when backing up the archive logs from disk to NetVault Media Manager. This option is equivalent to the RMAN command:

BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE ALL INPUT;

The plug-in backs up each log sequence number and then delete the file that it has backed up. If you have multiple archive destinations for your redo logs, the backed-up archived redo logs are deleted from all log-archiving destinations.


	IMPORTANT: Selecting the Delete Archive Logs After Successful Backup option deletes the archive logs even if the backup job fails. Therefore, ensure that the option selected for Incomplete Backup of ALL Items Selected includes retaining a backup saveset to ensure that the archive logs can still be restored.

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Force Additional Log Switch Before Archive Logs Backup: Selecting this option ensures that another log switch is performed before the backup of the archived redo logs is started by issuing the SQL statement:

ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT

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Skip Offline Tablespaces: Select this option if you want the plug-in to ignore the offline tablespaces and omit them from the backup.

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Skip Read Only Tablespaces: Back up read-only tablespaces after an update is performed, but you can skip them in subsequent backups to reduce the size of the backup. Select this option if you want the plug-in to ignore read-only tablespaces and omit them from the backup.

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Skip Inaccessible Tablespaces: Operations within Oracle might render a tablespace inaccessible. For example, if a datafile has been removed at the OS level, but not dropped inside the Oracle database or if a raw device mount point link is dismounted, the tablespace might become inaccessible. Select this option if you want the plug-in to skip inaccessible databases that were selected on the NetVault Selections page without causing the backup job to fail.

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Skip Inaccessible Archive Logs: Operations within Oracle might render an archive log inaccessible. For example, if an archive log file has been manually moved or renamed, it is not accessible. Select this option if you want the plug-in to skip inaccessible archive logs that were selected on the NetVault Selections page without causing the backup job to fail.

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User Defined Backup Tag: Select this option if you want to create a tag name for the backup set. If you do not specify a tag, RMAN creates a default tag for backups — except for Control File Autobackups — in the format TAGYYYYMMDDTHHMMSS. You can specify the tag rather than the filename when running the RESTORE command. Tags are stored in uppercase, regardless of the case used when entering them. The maximum length of a tag is 30 bytes.

Additionally, use only characters that are allowed in filenames on the target file system. For example, ASM does not support the use of hyphens (-) in filenames that it uses internally, so you cannot use a hyphen in the tag name, such as, weekly-incremental, if you are storing backups in ASM disk groups.

For more information on using this option in a Data Guard environment, see Creating a User Defined Backup Tag.

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Files per Backup Set: Backup information is stored in a logical structure called backup set. A backup set contains the data from one or more datafiles, archived redo logs, Control Files, or SPFILE. Datafiles and archive logs cannot be combined together in the same backup set. By default, each backup set contains 4 or fewer datafiles, or 16 or fewer archive logs. Use the For Tablespaces/Datafiles and For Archive Logs fields to specify the maximum number of files to include in each backup set created by the plug-in.

If you are using deduplication, the default value of one (“1”) requires the plug-in to complete the backup process in a specific order.

If you change the setting to zero (“0”), the plug-in divides files among backup sets to make optimal use of the available channels. The total number of files to be backed up is divided by the number of channels. If the result is less than 64, that value is the number of files placed in each backup set. Otherwise, 64 files are placed in each backup set.

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Number of Channels: You can control the degree of parallelism within a backup job by allocating the desired number of channels. Allocating multiple channels simultaneously allows a single job to read or write multiple backup sets in parallel. The number of channels should be less than or equal to the number of drives for the backup devices specified on the Target tab. For example, if you are targeting a VTL configured with two drives, the number of channels should be 2 or less. Use the For Tablespaces/Datafiles and For Archive Logs fields to specify the number of channels.

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Channel Rate: Use these settings to specify a job-specific RATE for the channels that are used during backups. RATE is part of the ALLOCATE CHANNEL command. While defining this RATE does not determine the actual RATE used, it does establish the maximum level for transfers, which prevents RMAN from consuming excessive bandwidth and then degrading performance. Use the For Tablespaces/Datafiles and For Archive Logs fields, and their associated unit settings, to specify the upper-limits. By default, the unit field is blank, which represents bytes. You can also select K (kilobytes), M (megabytes), or G (gigabytes).

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Backup Piece Max Size (0=max): Use these settings to specify a job-specific backup piece maximum size (MAXPIECESIZE) for the channels that are used during backups. By default, the backup piece maximum size is unlimited if not otherwise configured. To limit the size of the backup pieces generated by Oracle RMAN, set an upper limit in the Backup Piece Max Size (MAXPIECESIZE) settings. To specify the upper limit, use the For Tablespaces/Datafiles and For Archive Logs fields and their associated unit settings. In the unit field, select G (gigabytes), M (megabytes), K (kilobytes), or B (bytes). For example, to limit the backup piece size to 2 GB or less, enter value 2 and select unit G in the Backup Piece Max Size option.


	NOTE: To notify Oracle RMAN to use the default configured value, enter 0 in the Backup Piece Max Size (0=max) option. Backup Piece Max Size (MAXPIECESIZE) is a clause of the RMAN ALLOCATE CHANNEL command. If you enter a value other than 0, the MAXPIECESIZE clause is included in the ALLOCATE CHANNEL command. If a value of 0 is entered, the MAXPIECESIZE clause is excluded in the RMAN ALLOCATE CHANNEL command. Here, backup piece maximum size is unlimited if not otherwise configured.

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Backup as Compressed Backupset: To add the “AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET” clause to the RMAN BACKUP command, select this check box. It allows RMAN to perform binary compression of backup sets. The compressed backup sets do not require any additional steps during recovery.

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For Archive Logs Use Backup Not Backed up (number of times): Select this option if you want to skip an Archived Log backup after a specified number of backups have occurred, and then enter the number of backups after which archive logs should be omitted from the backup job.

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Backup <selections> Not Backed up Since (days ago): Select this option if you want to force the plug-in to resume backups automatically after an interruption occurs. Additionally, you can specify the number of days — the default is 1; the range is 0 through 90 — to check backward since the backup was last completed. This feature is useful if your backups are large and prone to possible interruptions.

From the Incomplete Backup of ALL Items Selected list, select the default action for the plug-in.

When multiple items are included in a backup and the plug-in is unable to back up all the items selected, even if RMAN successfully cataloged some of the selected items, the plug-in lets you specify what action the backup should take. For example, if a job includes multiple tablespaces and archive logs, and the backup of the archive logs is unsuccessful while the tablespaces are backed up successfully, you can specify what action the backup job should take.

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Complete with Warnings — Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Completed with warnings” and a backup saveset is created that includes the items that were successfully backed up.

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Complete without Warnings — Saveset Retained: The job completes and returns a status of “Backup Completed.” The errors are logged in the NetVault binary logs and ignored on the Job Status page. A backup saveset is created that includes the items that were backed up.

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Fail — Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Failed.” However, a backup saveset is generated that includes the items that were successfully backed up.

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Fail — No Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Failed” and no saveset of backed-up objects is kept. That is, even if some of the objects were successfully backed up, the saveset is discarded.

Set the Generate RMAN Script options.

Intended for the advanced DBA, the Generate RMAN Script feature lets you generate most of an RMAN script through the WebUI. Later, before using the script, you can edit the script to add more options or parameters. With this option, you do not need to create the script from scratch, which minimizes the risk of syntax errors in the scripts and that backups are not performed correctly.

When the Output RMAN Script to File option is selected, the commands that the plug-in automatically sends to RMAN are stored in a file in a directory specified on the Configure dialog box. The Oracle DBA can then edit the script as needed and run the script through the RMAN CLI. Backup jobs that are performed by using the generated RMAN scripts are stored in the NetVault Job database.

You can set the following options for the Generate RMAN Script feature:

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Output RMAN Script to File: Select this option to use the feature and enable access to the remaining options, and then enter the name of the file to which the RMAN script is written.

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RMAN Script Directory: Enter the name of the directory where the RMAN scripts are saved. The Generate Script Default Directory field defaults to the directory specified on the plug-in’s Configure dialog box. However, you can modify the field on a per-backup-job basis. The full path where the RMAN script is saved is built by concatenating the RMAN Script Directory with the filename provided in the Output RMAN Script to File field.

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If Existing, Overwrite Destination File: Select this option to allow the destination file where the RMAN script is output to be overwritten if the file exists. If the file exists and this option is not selected, Generate RMAN Script fails and does not write output to the existing file. Select this option only if you are sure that you want to overwrite an existing file.

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Generate RMAN Script and Submit Job: With this option selected, in addition to outputting the RMAN script to the specified file, the NetVault Job is scheduled and submitted. Clearing this option ensures that the plug-in just generates the script, which lets you edit and run the script outside of NetVault.

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Do not Include Connect Strings: To exclude connection strings from the file because they might include Oracle passwords, select this option. Selecting this option ensures that Oracle passwords are not included in the RMAN script file.

In Set Name, specify a name for the set, and click Save.

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NetVault Plug-in for Oracle 13.0 - User Guide

Finalizing and submitting the job

Performing RMAN backups

Selecting data for a backup

Setting backup options