Rman Command Examples

Oracle® Database
Recovery Manager Reference

10g Release 1 (10.1)
Part No. B10770-01
December 2003
Oracle Database Recovery Manager Reference, 10g Release 1 (10.1)
Part No. B10770-01
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Contents
Send Us Your Comments .................................................................................................................. vii
Preface............................................................................................................................................................ ix
1 About RMAN Commands

Conventions Used in this Reference............................................................................................... 1-2
RMAN Command Entries ................................................................................................................. 1-7
2 RMAN Commands
Summary of RMAN Commands...................................................................................................... 2-2
@ ............................................................................................................................................................. 2-6
@@ .......................................................................................................................................................... 2-7
ALLOCATE CHANNEL .................................................................................................................... 2-8
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE........................................................................ 2-12
allocOperandList............................................................................................................................... 2-15
ALTER DATABASE.......................................................................................................................... 2-19
archivelogRecordSpecifier .............................................................................................................. 2-22
BACKUP ............................................................................................................................................. 2-28
BLOCKRECOVER............................................................................................................................ 2-61
CATALOG .......................................................................................................................................... 2-66
CHANGE............................................................................................................................................ 2-70
cmdLine .............................................................................................................................................. 2-74
completedTimeSpec ......................................................................................................................... 2-79
CONFIGURE ..................................................................................................................................... 2-81
iii
CONNECT.......................................................................................................................................... 2-99
connectStringSpec........................................................................................................................... 2-102
CONVERT ........................................................................................................................................ 2-104
CREATE CATALOG ....................................................................................................................... 2-111
CREATE SCRIPT............................................................................................................................. 2-113
CROSSCHECK................................................................................................................................ 2-116
datafileSpec ...................................................................................................................................... 2-119
DELETE............................................................................................................................................. 2-121
DELETE SCRIPT............................................................................................................................. 2-125
deviceSpecifier................................................................................................................................. 2-127
DROP CATALOG ........................................................................................................................... 2-129
DROP DATABASE ......................................................................................................................... 2-131
DUPLICATE..................................................................................................................................... 2-133
EXECUTE SCRIPT .......................................................................................................................... 2-143
EXIT ................................................................................................................................................... 2-145
fileNameConversionSpec .............................................................................................................. 2-146
FLASHBACK ................................................................................................................................... 2-149
formatSpec........................................................................................................................................ 2-154
HOST................................................................................................................................................. 2-158
keepOption....................................................................................................................................... 2-161
LIST ................................................................................................................................................... 2-163
listObjList......................................................................................................................................... 2-184
maintQualifier ................................................................................................................................. 2-187
maintSpec ......................................................................................................................................... 2-189
obsOperandList ............................................................................................................................... 2-192
PRINT SCRIPT................................................................................................................................ 2-194
QUIT.................................................................................................................................................. 2-196
recordSpec ........................................................................................................................................ 2-197
RECOVER......................................................................................................................................... 2-199
REGISTER........................................................................................................................................ 2-211
RELEASE CHANNEL .................................................................................................................... 2-213
releaseForMaint............................................................................................................................... 2-215
REPLACE SCRIPT .......................................................................................................................... 2-216
REPORT ............................................................................................................................................ 2-219
RESET DATABASE ........................................................................................................................ 2-227
iv
RESTORE ......................................................................................................................................... 2-230
RESYNC............................................................................................................................................ 2-245
RUN ................................................................................................................................................... 2-248
SEND................................................................................................................................................. 2-251
SET..................................................................................................................................................... 2-253
SHOW ............................................................................................................................................... 2-262
SHUTDOWN................................................................................................................................... 2-265
SPOOL .............................................................................................................................................. 2-268
SQL .................................................................................................................................................... 2-270
STARTUP.......................................................................................................................................... 2-272
SWITCH ........................................................................................................................................... 2-275
UNREGISTER DATABASE .......................................................................................................... 2-279
untilClause ....................................................................................................................................... 2-281
UPGRADE CATALOG .................................................................................................................. 2-284
VALIDATE ....................................................................................................................................... 2-286
3 Recovery Catalog Views

Summary of RMAN Recovery Catalog Views .............................................................................. 3-2
RC_ARCHIVED_LOG....................................................................................................................... 3-4
RC_BACKUP_CONTROLFILE........................................................................................................ 3-6
RC_BACKUP_CORRUPTION......................................................................................................... 3-8
RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE ............................................................................................................... 3-10
RC_BACKUP_FILES ........................................................................................................................ 3-12
RC_BACKUP_PIECE ....................................................................................................................... 3-15
RC_BACKUP_REDOLOG .............................................................................................................. 3-17
RC_BACKUP_SET............................................................................................................................ 3-19
RC_BACKUP_SPFILE...................................................................................................................... 3-21
RC_CHECKPOINT........................................................................................................................... 3-22
RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY............................................................................................................ 3-23
RC_COPY_CORRUPTION............................................................................................................. 3-25
RC_DATABASE ................................................................................................................................ 3-26
RC_DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION ................................................................................. 3-27
RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION................................................................................................ 3-28
RC_DATAFILE .................................................................................................................................. 3-29
RC_DATAFILE_COPY ..................................................................................................................... 3-31
v
RC_LOG_HISTORY ......................................................................................................................... 3-33
RC_OFFLINE_RANGE .................................................................................................................... 3-34
RC_PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG ....................................................................................................... 3-35
RC_PROXY_CONTROLFILE ......................................................................................................... 3-37
RC_PROXY_DATAFILE................................................................................................................... 3-39
RC_REDO_LOG................................................................................................................................ 3-41
RC_REDO_THREAD ....................................................................................................................... 3-42
RC_RESYNC ...................................................................................................................................... 3-43
RC_RMAN_CONFIGURATION ................................................................................................... 3-44
RC_RMAN_STATUS........................................................................................................................ 3-45
RC_STORED_SCRIPT..................................................................................................................... 3-47
RC_STORED_SCRIPT_LINE ......................................................................................................... 3-48
RC_TABLESPACE............................................................................................................................. 3-49
A Deprecated RMAN Commands
B RMAN Compatibility
About RMAN Compatibility............................................................................................................ B-2
RMAN Compatibility Matrix ........................................................................................................... B-3
RMAN Compatibility: Scenario....................................................................................................... B-4
Index
vi
Send Us Your Comments
Oracle Database Recovery Manager Reference, 10g Release 1 (10.1)
Part No. B10770-01
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Preface
This preface contains these topics:

■ Audience
■ Organization
■ Related Documentation
■ Conventions
■ Documentation Accessibility
ix
Audience
Recovery Manager Reference is intended for database administrators who perform
the following tasks:
■ Back up, restore, and recover Oracle databases
■ Perform maintenance on backups and copies of database files
To use this document, you need to know the following:
■ Relational database concepts and basic database administration as described in
Oracle Database Concepts and the Oracle Database Administrator's Guide
■ Basic RMAN concepts and tasks as described in Oracle Database Backup and
Recovery Basics
■ The operating system environment under which you are running Oracle
Organization
This document contains:
Chapter 1, "About RMAN Commands"

This chapter describes the basic conventions of RMAN syntax.
Chapter 2, "RMAN Commands"

This chapter displays the RMAN syntax diagrams, describes the elements of the
syntax, and provides examples.
Chapter 3, "Recovery Catalog Views"

This chapter describes the recovery catalog views.
Appendix A, "Deprecated RMAN Commands"

This appendix describes RMAN syntax that is deprecated (that is, no longer
supported) but still functional.
Appendix B, "RMAN Compatibility"

This appendix shows the compatible combinations of the RMAN client, target
database, recovery catalog database, and recovery catalog schema.
x
Related Documentation
For more information, see these Oracle resources:
■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics
■ Oracle Database Utilities
■ http://www.oracle.com/database/recovery
Many of the examples in this book use the sample schemas of the seed database,
which is installed by default when you install Oracle. Refer to Oracle Database
Sample Schemas for information on how these schemas were created and how you
can use them yourself.
Printed documentation is available for sale in the Oracle Store at
http://oraclestore.oracle.com/
To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other

collateral, please visit the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). You must register
online before using OTN; registration is free and can be done at
http://otn.oracle.com/membership/
If you already have a username and password for OTN, then you can go directly to
the documentation section of the OTN Web site at
http://otn.oracle.com/documentation/
Conventions
This section describes the conventions used in the text and code examples of this
documentation set. It describes:
■ Conventions in Text
■ Conventions in Code Examples
Conventions in Text
We use various conventions in text to help you more quickly identify special terms.
The following table describes those conventions and provides examples of their use.
xi
Convention Meaning Example
Bold Bold typeface indicates terms that are When you specify this clause, you create an
defined in the text or terms that appear in index-organized table.
a glossary, or both.
Italics Italic typeface indicates book titles or Oracle Database Concepts
emphasis.
Ensure that the recovery catalog and target
database do not reside on the same disk.
UPPERCASE Uppercase monospace typeface indicates You can specify this clause only for a NUMBER
monospace elements supplied by the system. Such column.
(fixed-width) elements include parameters, privileges,
You can back up the database by using the
font datatypes, RMAN keywords, SQL
BACKUP command.
keywords, SQL*Plus or utility commands,
packages and methods, as well as Query the TABLE_NAME column in the USER_
system-supplied column names, database TABLES data dictionary view.
objects and structures, usernames, and
Use the DBMS_STATS.GENERATE_STATS
roles.
procedure.
lowercase Lowercase monospace typeface indicates Enter sqlplus to open SQL*Plus.
monospace executables, filenames, directory names,
The password is specified in the orapwd file.
(fixed-width) and sample user-supplied elements. Such
font elements include computer and database Back up the datafiles and control files in the
names, net service names, and connect /disk1/oracle/dbs directory.
identifiers, as well as user-supplied
The department_id, department_name,
database objects and structures, column
and location_id columns are in the
names, packages and classes, usernames
hr.departments table.
and roles, program units, and parameter
values. Set the QUERY_REWRITE_ENABLED
initialization parameter to true.
Note: Some programmatic elements use a
mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase. Connect as oe user.
Enter these elements as shown.
The JRepUtil class implements these
methods.
lowercase Lowercase italic monospace font You can specify the parallel_clause.
italic represents placeholders or variables.
Run Uold_release.SQL where old_
monospace
release refers to the release you installed
(fixed-width)
prior to upgrading.
font
Conventions in Code Examples

Code examples illustrate SQL, PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, or other command-line
statements. They are displayed in a monospace (fixed-width) font and separated
from normal text as shown in this example:
xii
SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = ’MIGRATE’;
The following table describes typographic conventions used in code examples and
provides examples of their use.

[ ] Brackets enclose one or more optional DECIMAL (digits [ , precision ])
items. Do not enter the brackets.
{ } Braces enclose two or more items, one of {ENABLE | DISABLE}
which is required. Do not enter the braces.
| A vertical bar represents a choice of two {ENABLE | DISABLE}
or more options within brackets or braces. [COMPRESS | NOCOMPRESS]
Enter one of the options. Do not enter the
vertical bar.
... Horizontal ellipsis points indicate either:
■ That we have omitted parts of the CREATE TABLE ... AS subquery;
code that are not directly related to
the example SELECT col1, col2, ... , coln FROM
employees;
■ That you can repeat a portion of the
code
. Vertical ellipsis points indicate that we SQL> SELECT NAME FROM V$DATAFILE;
. have omitted several lines of code not NAME
. directly related to the example. ------------------------------------
/fsl/dbs/tbs_01.dbf
/fs1/dbs/tbs_02.dbf
.
.
.
/fsl/dbs/tbs_09.dbf
9 rows selected.
Other notation You must enter symbols other than acctbal NUMBER(11,2);
brackets, braces, vertical bars, and ellipsis acct CONSTANT NUMBER(4) := 3;
points as shown.
Italics Italicized text indicates placeholders or CONNECT SYSTEM/system_password
variables for which you must supply DB_NAME = database_name
particular values.
xiii
UPPERCASE Uppercase typeface indicates elements SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM
supplied by the system. We show these employees;
terms in uppercase in order to distinguish SELECT * FROM USER_TABLES;
them from terms you define. Unless terms DROP TABLE hr.employees;
appear in brackets, enter them in the
order and with the spelling shown.
However, because these terms are not
case sensitive, you can enter them in
lowercase.
lowercase Lowercase typeface indicates SELECT last_name, employee_id FROM
programmatic elements that you supply. employees;
For example, lowercase indicates names sqlplus hr/hr
of tables, columns, or files. CREATE USER mjones IDENTIFIED BY ty3MU9;
Note: Some programmatic elements use a
mixture of UPPERCASE and lowercase.
Enter these elements as shown.
Documentation Accessibility
Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation
accessible, with good usability, to the disabled community. To that end, our
documentation includes features that make information available to users of
assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains
markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Standards will continue to
evolve over time, and Oracle Corporation is actively engaged with other
market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our
documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For additional information,
visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at
http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/
Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation JAWS, a Windows screen

reader, may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The
conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an
otherwise empty line; however, JAWS may not always read a line of text that
consists solely of a bracket or brace.
Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation This

documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations
that Oracle Corporation does not own or control. Oracle Corporation neither
xiv
evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web
sites.
xv
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1
About RMAN Commands
This chapter describes the basic elements of RMAN syntax. It includes the following
sections:
■ Conventions Used in this Reference
■ RMAN Command Entries
About RMAN Commands 1-1

Conventions Used in this Reference

This section explains the conventions used in this chapter including:
■ RMAN Text Conventions
■ RMAN Syntax Diagrams and Notation
■ RMAN Code Examples
RMAN Text Conventions

The text in this reference adheres to the following conventions:
■ UPPERCASE monospace : Calls attention to RMAN keywords, SQL
keywords, column headings in tables and views, and initialization parameters.
■ lowercase monospace : Calls attention to variable text in RMAN examples.
■ italics : Calls attention to RMAN or SQL placeholders, that is, text that
should not be entered as-is but represents a value to be entered by the user.
RMAN Syntax Diagrams and Notation

This section describes the conventions for RMAN command syntax.
Syntax Diagrams
This reference uses syntax diagrams to show Recovery Manager commands. These
syntax diagrams use lines and arrows to show syntactic structure, as shown in
Figure 1–1.
1-2 Recovery Manager Reference

Figure 1–1 CATALOG Command

catalog::=
catalog
ARCHIVELOG
, =
BACKUPPIECE LEVEL integer
’ filename ’
CONTROLFILECOPY
DATAFILECOPY
CATALOG ;
RECOVERY AREA
NOPROMPT
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST
START WITH ’ string_pattern ’
This section describes the components of syntax diagrams and gives examples of
how to write RMAN commands. Syntax diagrams are made up of these items:
■ Keywords
■ Placeholders
Keywords Keywords have special meanings in Recovery Manager syntax. In the

syntax diagrams, keywords appear in rectangular boxes and an uppercase font, like
the word CATALOG in Figure 1–1. When used in text and code examples, RMAN
keywords appear in uppercase, monospace font, for example, CATALOG
DATAFILECOPY. You must use keywords in RMAN statements exactly as they
appear in the syntax diagram, except that they can be either uppercase or lowercase.
The RMAN language is free-form. Keywords must be separated by at least one
white space character, but otherwise there are no restrictions. A command can span
multiple lines.
Placeholders Placeholders in syntax diagrams indicate non-keywords. In the syntax

diagrams, they appear in ovals, as in the word integer in Figure 1–1. When
described in text, RMAN placeholders appear in lowercase italic, for example,
'filename'. Placeholders are usually:
■ Names of database objects (tablespace_name)
■ Oracle datatype names (date_string)
■ Subclauses (datafileSpec)

When you see a placeholder in a syntax diagram, substitute an object or expression

of the appropriate type in the RMAN statement. For example, to write a
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO ’database_name’ command, use the name
of the duplicate database you want to create, such as dupdb, in place of the
database_name placeholder in the diagram.
Some placeholder values are enclosed in required or optional quotes. The syntax
diagrams show single quotes, though in all cases double quotes are also legal in
RMAN syntax. For example, you specify either 'filename' or "filename". For
the SQL command, it is recommended that you use double quotes because the SQL
statement itself may also contain a quote, and the most common type of quote in a
SQL statement is a single quote. Single and double quotes do not mean the same in
SQL as they do in RMAN.
The only system-independent, legal environment variables in RMAN quoted
strings are ? for the Oracle home and @ for the SID. However, you can use operating
system specific environment variables on the target system within quoted strings.
The environment variables are interpreted by the database server and not the
RMAN client.
The following table shows placeholders that appear in the syntax diagrams and
provides examples of the values you might substitute for them in your statements.
Placeholder Description Examples

Quoted strings such as A string of characters "?/dbs/cf.f"
'filename', contained in either single or
'dev1'
'tablespace_name', double quotes. A quoted
'channel_name', string may contain white
'channel_parms' space, punctuation, and
RMAN and SQL keywords.
Nonquoted strings such as A sequence of characters ch1
channel_id, tag_name, containing no white space
date_string and no punctuation
characters and starting with
an alphabetic character.
integer Any sequence of only 67843
number characters.
RMAN Reserved Words

This section describes the RMAN reserved words. If you use one of these words by
itself without surrounding it in quotes, then RMAN generates an error. These are
examples of correct and incorrect entries:

ALLOCATE CHANNEL backup DEVICE TYPE DISK; # incorrect

ALLOCATE CHANNEL ’backup’ DEVICE TYPE DISK; # correct
BACKUP DATABASE TAG full; # incorrect
BACKUP DATABASE TAG ’full’; # correct
Reserved Reserved Reserved Reserved

Word Reserved Word Word Reserved Word Word Word
ABORT CONSISTENT FORMAT MAXPIECESIZE PLSQL SETLIMIT
AFFINITY CONTROLFILE FROM MAXSEQ PLUS SETSIZE
AFTER CONTROLFILECOPY FULL MAXSETSIZE POLICY SHOW
ALL COPIES G MAXSIZE POOL SHUTDOWN
ALLOCATE COPY GET MISC PRINT SINCE
ALTER CORRUPTION GROUP MOUNT PROXY SIZE
AND CREATE HIGH MSGLOG PUT SKIP
APPEND CROSSCHECK HOST MSGNO QUIT SLAXDEBUG
ARCHIVELOG CUMULATIVE ID NAME RATE SNAPSHOT
AT CURRENT IDENTIFIER NEED RCVCAT SPFILE
ATALL DATABASE IMMEDIATE NEW RCVMAN SPOOL
AUTOBACKUP DATAFILE INACCESSIBLE NEW-LINE READONLY SQL
AUTOLOCATE DATAFILECOPY INCARNATION NEWNAME READRATE STANDBY
AUXILIARY DAYS INCLUDE NOCATALOG RECOVER STARTUP
AUXNAME DBA INCREMENTAL NOCFAU RECOVERABLE STEP
AVAILABLE DBID INPUT NOCHECKSUM RECOVERY SUMMARY
BACKED DEBUG IO NOEXCLUDE REDUNDANCY SWITCH
BACKUP DEFAULT JOB NOFILENAMECHECK REGISTER TABLESPACE
BACKUPPIECE DEFINE K NOFILEUPDATE RELEASE TAG
BACKUPSET DELETE KBYTES NOKEEP RELOAD TARGET
BEFORE DESTINATION KEEP NOLOGS REMOVE TEST
BETWEEN DEVICE LEVEL NOMOUNT RENORMALIZE THREAD
BLOCK DISK LIBNAME NONE REPLACE TIME
BLOCKRECOVER DISKRATIO LIBPARM NOPROMPT REPLICATE TIMEOUT

Reserved Reserved Reserved Reserved

Word Reserved Word Word Reserved Word Word Word
BLOCKS DISPLAY LIBRARY NOREDO REPORT TIMES
BY DORECOVER LIBTEXT NORMAL RESET TO
CANCEL DROP LIKE NOT RESETLOGS TRACE
CATALOG DUMP LIMIT NULL RESTART TRANSACTIONAL
CHANGE DUPLEX LIST OBSOLETE RESTORE TXT
CHANNEL DUPLICATE LOG OF RESYNC TYPE
CHARSET ECHO LOGFILE OFF RETENTION UNAVAILABLE
CHECK EXCLUDE LOGICAL OFFLINE REUSE UNCATALOG
CLEAR EXECUTE LOGS ON RPC UNLIMITED
CLONE EXIT LOGSCN ONLY RPCTEST UNRECOVERABLE
CLONENAME EXPIRED LOGSEQ OPEN RUN UNTIL
CLONE_CF FILE LOW OPTIMIZATION SAVE UNUSED
CMDFILE FILES M ORPHAN SCHEMA UP
COMMAND FILESPERSET MAINTENANCE PACKAGES SCN UPGRADE
COMPATIBLE FINAL MASK PARALLELISM VALIDATE
COMPLETED FOR MAXCORRUPT PARMS SEND VERBOSE
CONFIGURE FORCE MAXDAYS PFILE SEQUENCE WINDOW
CONNECT FOREVER MAXOPENFILES PIPE SET
RMAN Code Examples

This reference contains many examples of RMAN commands. These examples show
you how to use elements of RMAN. This example shows the use of a BACKUP
command:
BACKUP DATABASE;
Note that examples are set off from the text and appear in a monospace font.

RMAN Command Entries

The description of each command or subclause contains the following sections:
Table 1–1
Section Content
Syntax Shows the keywords and parameters that make up the
statement. Note: Not all keywords and parameters are
valid in all circumstances. Be sure to refer to the
"Keywords and Parameters" section of each statement to
learn about any restrictions on the syntax.
Purpose Describes the basic uses of the statement.
Restrictions and Usage Lists requirements, restrictions, and guidelines for
Notes proper use of the command.
Keywords and Describes the purpose of each keyword and parameter.
Parameters Restrictions and usage notes can also appear in this
section.
Examples Shows how to use various clauses and options of the
statement.
Note: Optional sections following the examples provide more information on how
and when to use the statement.


2
RMAN Commands
This chapter describes, in alphabetical order, Recovery Manager commands and

subclauses. For a summary of the RMAN commands and command-line options,
refer to "Summary of RMAN Commands" on page 2-2.
RMAN Commands 2-1

Summary of RMAN Commands

Table 2–1 provides a functional summary of RMAN commands that you can
execute at the RMAN prompt, within a RUN command, or both. All commands from
previous RMAN releases work with the current release.
For command line options for the RMAN client, refer to "cmdLine" on page 2-74.
Table 2–1 Recovery Manager Commands

Command Purpose
"@" on page 2-6 Run a command file.
"@@" on page 2-7 Run a command file in the same directory as another command file that is
currently running. The @@ command differs from the @ command only when
run from within a command file.
"ALLOCATE CHANNEL" on Establish a channel, which is a connection between RMAN and a database
page 2-8 instance.
"ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR Allocate a channel in preparation for issuing maintenance commands such
MAINTENANCE" on page 2-12 as DELETE.
"allocOperandList" on page 2-15 A subclause that specifies channel control options such as PARMS and
FORMAT.
"ALTER DATABASE" on Mount or open a database.
page 2-19
"archivelogRecordSpecifier" on Specify a range of archived redo logs files.
page 2-22
"BACKUP" on page 2-28 Back up database files, copies of database files, archived logs, or backup sets.
"BLOCKRECOVER" on Recover an individual data block or set of data blocks within one or more
page 2-61 datafiles.
"CATALOG" on page 2-66 Add information about a datafile copy, archived redo log, or control file copy
to the repository.
"CHANGE" on page 2-70 Mark a backup piece, image copy, or archived redo log as having the status
UNAVAILABLE or AVAILABLE; remove the repository record for a backup or
copy; override the retention policy for a backup or copy.
"completedTimeSpec" on Specify a time range during which the backup or copy completed.
page 2-79
"CONFIGURE" on page 2-81 Configure persistent RMAN settings. These settings apply to all RMAN
sessions until explicitly changed or disabled.
"CONNECT" on page 2-99 Establish a connection between RMAN and a target, auxiliary, or recovery
catalog database.


Command Purpose
"connectStringSpec" on Specify the username, password, and net service name for connecting to a
page 2-102 target, recovery catalog, or auxiliary database. The connection is necessary to
authenticate the user and identify the database.
"CONVERT" on page 2-104 Converts datafile formats for transporting tablespaces across platforms.
"CREATE CATALOG" on Create the schema for the recovery catalog.
page 2-111
"CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113 Create a stored script and store it in the recovery catalog.
"CROSSCHECK" on page 2-116 Determine whether files managed by RMAN, such as archived logs, datafile
copies, and backup pieces, still exist on disk or tape.
"datafileSpec" on page 2-119 Specify a datafile by filename or absolute file number.
"DELETE" on page 2-121 Delete backups and copies, remove references to them from the recovery
catalog, and update their control file records to status DELETED.
"DELETE SCRIPT" on page 2-125 Delete a stored script from the recovery catalog.
"deviceSpecifier" on page 2-127 Specify the type of storage device for a backup or copy.
"DROP CATALOG" on Remove the schema from the recovery catalog.
page 2-129
"DROP DATABASE" on Deletes the target database from disk and unregisters it.
page 2-131
"DUPLICATE" on page 2-133 Use backups of the target database to create a duplicate database that you
can use for testing purposes or to create a standby database.
"EXECUTE SCRIPT" on Run an RMAN stored script.
page 2-143
"EXIT" on page 2-145 Quit the RMAN executable.
"fileNameConversionSpec" on Specify patterns to transform source to target filenames during BACKUP AS
page 2-146 COPY, CONVERT and DUPLICATE.
"FLASHBACK" on page 2-149 Returns the database to its state at a previous time or SCN.
"formatSpec" on page 2-154 Specify a filename format for a backup or copy.
"HOST" on page 2-158 Invoke an operating system command-line subshell from within RMAN or
run a specific operating system command.
"keepOption" on page 2-161 Specify that a backup or copy should or should not be exempt from the
current retention policy.
"LIST" on page 2-163 Produce a detailed listing of backup sets or copies.
RMAN Commands 2-3


Command Purpose
"listObjList" on page 2-184 A subclause used to specify which items will be displayed by the LIST
command.
"maintQualifier" on page 2-187 A subclause used to specify additional options for maintenance commands
such as DELETE and CHANGE.
"maintSpec" on page 2-189 A subclause used to specify the files operated on by maintenance commands
such as CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE.
"obsOperandList" on page 2-192 A subclause used to determine which backups and copies are obsolete.
"PRINT SCRIPT" on page 2-194 Display a stored script.
"QUIT" on page 2-196 Exit the RMAN executable.
"recordSpec" on page 2-197 A subclause used to specify which objects the maintenance commands
should operate on.
"RECOVER" on page 2-199 Apply redo logs and incremental backups to datafiles restored from backup
or datafile copies, in order to update them to a specified time.
"REGISTER" on page 2-211 Register the target database in the recovery catalog.
"RELEASE CHANNEL" on Release a channel that was allocated with an ALLOCATE CHANNEL
page 2-213 command.
"releaseForMaint" on page 2-215 Release a channel allocated with an ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR
MAINTENANCE command.
"REPLACE SCRIPT" on Replace an existing script stored in the recovery catalog. If the script does
page 2-216 not exist, then REPLACE SCRIPT creates it.
"REPORT" on page 2-219 Perform detailed analyses of the content of the recovery catalog.
"RESET DATABASE" on Inform RMAN that the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS
page 2-227 has been executed and that a new incarnation of the target database has been
created, or reset the target database to a prior incarnation.
"RESTORE" on page 2-230 Restore files from backup sets or from disk copies to the default or a new
location.
"RESYNC" on page 2-245 Perform a full resynchronization, which creates a snapshot control file and
then copies any new or changed information from that snapshot control file
to the recovery catalog.
"RUN" on page 2-248 Execute a sequence of one or more RMAN commands, which are one or
more statements executed within the braces of RUN.
"SEND" on page 2-251 Send a vendor-specific quoted string to one or more specific channels.


Command Purpose
"SET" on page 2-253 Sets the value of various attributes that affect RMAN behavior for the
duration of a RUN block or a session.
"SHOW" on page 2-262 Displays the current CONFIGURE settings.
"SHUTDOWN" on page 2-265 Shut down the target database. This command is equivalent to the SQL*Plus
SHUTDOWN command.
"SPOOL" on page 2-268 Write RMAN output to a log file.
"SQL" on page 2-270 Execute a SQL statement from within Recovery Manager.
"STARTUP" on page 2-272 Start up the target database. This command is equivalent to the SQL*Plus
STARTUP command.
"SWITCH" on page 2-275 Specify that a datafile copy is now the current datafile, that is, the datafile
pointed to by the control file. This command is equivalent to the SQL
statement ALTER DATABASE RENAME FILE as it applies to datafiles.
"UNREGISTER DATABASE" on Unregisters a database from the recovery catalog.
page 2-279
"untilClause" on page 2-281 A subclause specifying an upper limit by time, SCN, or log sequence
number. This clause is usually used to specify the desired point in time for
an incomplete recovery.
"UPGRADE CATALOG" on Upgrade the recovery catalog schema from an older version to the version
page 2-284 required by the RMAN executable.
"VALIDATE" on page 2-286 Examine a backup set and report whether its data is intact. RMAN scans all
of the backup pieces in the specified backup sets and looks at the checksums
to verify that the contents can be successfully restored.
RMAN Commands 2-5

@
Syntax
at::=
@ filename
Purpose
To execute a series of RMAN commands stored in an operating system file with the
specified full path name, for example, @/oracle/dbs/cmd/cmd1.rman. If you do
not specify the full path name, then the current working directory is assumed, for
example, @cmd1.rman. Do not use quotes around the string or leave whitespace
between the @ and filename. RMAN processes the specified file as if its contents had
appeared in place of the @ command.
Note: The file must contain complete RMAN commands; partial

commands generate syntax errors.
Restrictions and Usage Notes

None.
Example
Running a Command File from the Command Line: Example This example
creates a command file and then runs it from the operating system command line:
echo "BACKUP DATABASE;" > backup_db.rman
rman TARGET / @backup_db.rman
Running a Command File Within RMAN: Example This example runs a command
file from the RMAN prompt and from within a RUN command:
@backup_db.rman
RUN { @backup_db.rman }

@@
@@
Syntax
atat::=
@@ filename
Purpose
To execute a series of RMAN commands stored in an operating system file with the
specified filename, for example, @@cmd2.rman. If @@ is contained in a command
file, then @@filename directs RMAN to look for the specified filename in the same
directory as the command file from which it was called. If not used within a
command file, the @@ command is identical to the @ command. For example,
assume that you invoke RMAN as follows:
% rman @$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/dba/scripts/cmd1.rman
Assume that the command @@cmd2.rman appears inside the cmd1.rman script. In
this case, the @@ command directs RMAN to look for the file cmd2.rman in the
directory $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/dba/scripts/. Note that the file must
contain complete RMAN commands.

None.
Example
Calling a Command File Within Another Command File: Example Assume that
you create command files called backup_logs.rman and backup_db.rman as in
the following example. Then, you execute bkup_db.rman from the command line,
which specifies that RMAN should look for the bkup_logs.rman script in the
Oracle home directory:
echo "BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL;" > $ORACLE_HOME/bkup_logs.rman
echo "BACKUP DATABASE;" > $ORACLE_HOME/bkup_db.rman
echo "@@bkup_logs.rman" >> $ORACLE_HOME/bkup_db.rman
rman TARGET / @$ORACLE_HOME/bkup_db.rman
RMAN Commands 2-7

ALLOCATE CHANNEL
ALLOCATE CHANNEL
Syntax
allocate::=
allocate
AUXILIARY = ’ ’
ALLOCATE CHANNEL channel_id
allocate1
= allocOperandList
DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier ;
Purpose
To manually allocate a channel, which is a connection between RMAN and a
database instance. Each connection initiates an database server session on the target
or auxiliary instance: this server session performs the work of backing up, restoring,
or recovering RMAN backups.
Manually allocated channels (allocated by using ALLOCATE) should be
distinguished from automatically allocated channels (specified by using
CONFIGURE). Manually allocated channels apply only to the RUN job in which you
issue the command. Automatic channels apply to any RMAN job in which you do
not manually allocate channels. You can always override automatic channel
configurations by manually allocating channels within a RUN command.
Each channel operates on one backup set or image copy at a time. RMAN
automatically releases the channel at the end of the job.
You can control the degree of parallelism within a job by allocating the desired
number of channels. Allocating multiple channels simultaneously allows a single
job to read or write multiple backup sets or disk copies in parallel. If you establish
multiple connections, then each connection operates on a separate backup set or
disk copy.
Whether ALLOCATE CHANNEL causes operating system resources to be allocated
immediately depends on the operating system. On some platforms, operating
system resources are allocated at the time the command is issued. On other

ALLOCATE CHANNEL
platforms, operating system resources are not allocated until you open a file for
reading or writing.
Note: When you specify DEVICE TYPE DISK, no operating system

resources are allocated other than for the creation of the server
session.

■ Execute ALLOCATE CHANNEL only within the braces of a RUN command.
■ The target instance must be started.
■ You cannot make a connection to a shared server session.
■ You must either allocate a channel manually or configure a channel for
automatic allocation before executing a BACKUP, DUPLICATE, CREATE
CATALOG, RESTORE, RECOVER, or VALIDATE command.
■ You cannot use BACKUP DEVICE TYPE or RESTORE DEVICE TYPE to use
automatic channels after specifying manual channels with ALLOCATE CHANNEL.
■ You must use a recovery catalog when backing up a standby database.
■ You cannot prefix ORA_ to a channel name. RMAN reserves channel names
beginning with the ORA_ prefix for its own use.
Keywords and Parameters
Syntax Element Description

AUXILIARY Specifies a connection between RMAN and an auxiliary database instance. An
auxiliary instance is used when executing the DUPLICATE command or
performing TSPITR. An auxiliary database can reside on the same host as its
parent or on a different host. When specifying this option, the auxiliary
database must be mounted but not open.
See Also: "DUPLICATE" on page 2-133 to learn how to duplicate a database,
and "CONNECT" on page 2-99 to learn how to connect to a duplicate database
CHANNEL ’channel_id’ Specifies a connection between RMAN and the target database instance. Each
connection initiates a server session on the database instance: this server
session performs the work of backing up, restoring, and recovering backups
and copies.
Specify a channel id, which is the case-sensitive name of the channel, after the
CHANNEL keyword. The database uses the channel_id to report I/O errors.
RMAN Commands 2-9

ALLOCATE CHANNEL

DEVICE TYPE = Specifies the type of storage device.
deviceSpecifier
See Also: "deviceSpecifier" on page 2-127
Note: If you do not specify the DEVICE TYPE parameter, then you must
specify the NAME parameter to identify a particular sequential I/O device.
Query the V$BACKUP_DEVICE view for information about available device
types and names.
allocOperandList Specifies control options for the allocated channel.
See Also: "allocOperandList" on page 2-15
Examples
Allocating a Single Channel for a Backup: Example This command allocates a

tape channel for a whole database and archived redo log backup:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG;
}
Spreading a Backup Across Multiple Disks: Example When backing up to disk,

you can spread the backup across several disk drives. Allocate one DEVICE TYPE
DISK channel for each disk drive and specify the format string so that the filenames
are on different disks:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL disk1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/backups/%U';
ALLOCATE CHANNEL disk2 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk2/backups/%U';
BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; # AS COPY is default when backing up to disk
}
Creating Multiple Copies of a Backup: Example When creating multiple copies of

a backup, you can specify the SET BACKUP COPIES command. The following
example generates a single backup of the database to disk, and then creates two
identical backups of datafile 1 to two different file systems:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE DISK MAXPIECESIZE 5M;
BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; # AS COPY is the default, so RMAN creates image copies
SET BACKUP COPIES = 2;

ALLOCATE CHANNEL
BACKUP DATAFILE 1 FORMAT '/disk1/backups/%U', '/disk2/backups/%U';

}
Allocating an Auxiliary Channel for Database Duplication: Example When

creating a duplicate database, allocate a channel by using the AUXILIARY option:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c2 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO ndbnewh
LOGFILE
'?/oradata/aux1/redo01.log' SIZE 200K,
'?/oradata/aux1/redo02.log' SIZE 200K
'?/oradata/aux1/redo03.log' SIZE 200K
SKIP READONLY
NOFILENAMECHECK;
}
RMAN Commands 2-11

ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE
Syntax
allocateForMaint::=
allocateForMaint
allocate1
= allocOperandList
DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier ;
Purpose
To manually allocate a channel in preparation for issuing a CHANGE, DELETE,or
CROSSCHECK command. Note that if you use CONFIGURE to set up automatic
channels, then RMAN can use these automatic channels for maintenance
operations; you do not have to manually allocate them.
If RMAN allocates the automatic maintenance channel for you, then it uses the
same naming convention as any other automatically allocated channel. If you
explicitly invoke ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE, then RMAN uses the
following convention for channel naming: ORA_MAINT_devicetype_n, where
devicetype refers to DISK or sbt and n refers to the channel number. For example,
RMAN uses these names for two manually allocated disk channels:
ORA_MAINT_DISK_1
ORA_MAINT_DISK_2
You can allocate multiple maintenance channels for a single job, but you should
only use this feature in these scenarios:
■ To allow crosschecking or deletion of all backup pieces or proxy copies, both on
disk and tape, with a single command
■ To make crosschecking and deleting work correctly in an Oracle Real
Application Clusters configuration in which each backup piece or proxy copy
exists only on one node

See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's

Guide to learn how to crosscheck and delete on multiple channels

■ Execute this command only at the RMAN prompt. This command cannot be
used within a RUN block.
■ Do not specify a channel ID.
■ You cannot allocate a maintenance channel to a shared session.
■ You cannot prefix ORA_ to a channel name. RMAN reserves channel names
beginning with the ORA_ prefix for its own use.
■ Manually allocated and automatic channels are never mixed. To perform
maintenance on both disk and SBT simultaneously using manually allocated
maintenance channels, you must allocate both channels explicitly.

DEVICE TYPE = Specifies the type of storage device.
deviceSpecifier See Also: "deviceSpecifier" on page 2-127
Note: If you do not specify the DEVICE TYPE parameter, then you must
specify the NAME parameter to identify a particular sequential I/O device.
Query the V$BACKUP_DEVICE view for information about available device
types and names.
allocOperandList Specifies control options for the allocated channel.
Examples
Deleting a Backup Set: Example This example deletes backup sets from tape
created more than a week ago:
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
DELETE NOPROMPT BACKUP OF DATABASE COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-7';
RMAN Commands 2-13

Crosschecking Archived Logs: Example This example crosschecks all archived

logs on disk (by using the preconfigured disk channel) and tape. If the logs are not
found, then RMAN marks them as EXPIRED in the repository:
CROSSCHECK ARCHIVELOG ALL;
Crosschecking on Multiple Nodes of an Oracle Real Application Clusters

Configuration: Example In this example, you perform a crosscheck of backups on
two nodes of an Oracle Real Application Clusters configuration:
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/change_on_install@inst1';
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/change_on_install@inst2';
CROSSCHECK BACKUP;
Deleting on Disk and sbt Channels with One Command: Example In this
example, you delete a backup from both disk and tape:
# back up datafile to disk and tape
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK DATAFILE 1 TAG "weekly_bkup";
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt DATAFILE 1 TAG "weekly_bkup";
# manually allocate sbt channel and disk channel

ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
DELETE BACKUPSET TAG "weekly_bkup";

allocOperandList
allocOperandList
Syntax
allocOperandList::=
allocOperandList
=
CONNECT ’ connect_string ’
,
=
FORMAT formatSpec
=
MAXOPENFILES integer
=
MAXPIECESIZE sizeSpec
=
PARMS ’ channel_parms ’
=
RATE sizeSpec
=
SEND ’ command ’
Purpose
A subclause specifying control options on a channel, which is a connection between
RMAN and a database instance. Specify this clause on the following commands:
■ ALLOCATE CHANNEL
■ ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE
■ CONFIGURE
RMAN Commands 2-15

allocOperandList

CONNECT = Specifies a connect string to the database instance where RMAN should
connectStringSpec conduct the backup or restore operations. Use this parameter to spread the
work of backup or restore operations across different instances in an Oracle
Real Application Clusters configuration.
If you do not specify this parameter, and if you did not specify the
AUXILIARY option, then RMAN conducts all operations on the target
database instance specified by the command-line CONNECT parameter or the
instance connected to when you issued the CONNECT command. Typically,
you should not use the CONNECT parameter in conjunction with the
AUXILIARY option.
See Also: "connectStringSpec" on page 2-102 and "cmdLine" on page 2-74
FORMAT = formatSpec Specifies the format to use for the names of backup pieces that are created on
this channel.
If you do not specify FORMAT, RMAN uses %U by default, which guarantees a
unique identifier. If the flash recovery area is configured, then the files are
created in the default disk location. Otherwise, the default disk location is
operating system specific (for example, ?/dbs on Solaris).
Because the channels correspond to server sessions on the target database,
the FORMAT string must use the conventions of the target host, not the client
host. For example, if the RMAN client runs on a Windows machine and the
target database runs on a UNIX machine, then the FORMAT string must
adhere to the naming conventions of a UNIX file system or raw device.
You can specify up to four FORMAT strings. RMAN uses the second, third,
and fourth values only when BACKUP COPIES, SET BACKUP COPIES, or
CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES is in effect. When choosing which format
to use for each backup piece, RMAN uses the first format value for copy 1,
the second format value for copy 2, and so forth. If the number of format
values exceeds the number of copies, then the extra formats are not used. If
the number of format values is less than the number of copies, then RMAN
reuses the format values, starting with the first one.
This parameter is useful if you allocate multiple disk channels and want each
channel to write to a different directory. If you specify the FORMAT parameter
in the BACKUP command, then it overrides the FORMAT parameter specified
in CONFIGURE CHANNEL or ALLOCATE CHANNEL.
See Also: "formatSpec" on page 2-154 for available FORMAT parameters
MAXOPENFILES = integer Controls the maximum number of input files that a BACKUP command can
have open at any given time (the default is 8). Use this parameter to prevent
"Too many open files" error messages when backing up a large number of
files into a single backup set.

allocOperandList

MAXPIECESIZE = integer Specifies the maximum size of each backup piece created on this channel.
Specify the size in bytes, kilobytes (K), megabytes (M), or gigabytes (G). The
default setting is in bytes and is rounded down into kilobytes. For example,
if you set MAXPIECESIZE to 5000, RMAN sets the maximum piece size at 4
kilobytes, which is the lower kilobyte boundary of 5000 bytes.
PARMS = 'channel_parms' Specifies parameters for the device to allocate. Do not use this port-specific
string if you have specified DEVICE TYPE DISK.
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide to learn
how to integrate media management libraries
'ENV=(var1=val1, Specifies one or more environment variables required by the media
var2=val2,...)' management vendor in the server session corresponding to this RMAN
client. Because RMAN is a client program, the ENV parameter can be used to
set server session specific variables that perform backup and restore
operations on behalf of the RMAN client. For example:
PARMS="ENV=(TAPE_SERVER=srv1)"
'SBT_LIBRARY = Specifies which media library should be used on this sbt channel. The
lib_name' default library is operating system specific (for example, libobk.so in the
Solaris Operating Environment and ORASBT.DLL on Windows NT). For
example:
PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=/oracle/lib/mmv.so"
RATE = integer Sets the maximum number of bytes (default), kilobytes (K), megabytes (M), or
gigabytes (G) that RMAN reads each second on this channel. This parameter
sets an upper limit for bytes read so that RMAN does not consume too much
disk bandwidth and degrade performance.
SEND 'command' Sends a vendor-specific command string to all allocated channels.
See Also: Your media manager documentation to see whether this feature is
supported and when it should be used.
Examples
Configuring an Automatic Channel: Example This example configures a

persistent disk channel:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT = '?/oradata/bkup_%U';
Configuring a Channel for a Backup: Example This example manually allocates

an sbt channel and then runs a whole database backup:
RUN
{
RMAN Commands 2-17

allocOperandList
ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt MAXPIECESIZE 800M;

BACKUP DATABASE;
}
Allocating a Channel for a Backup: Example This example configures a default

media management library, then makes a database backup by using this library.
Then, the example backs up the database again using a different library, then finally
makes a third backup using the default library:
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=/mediavendor/lib/mm_lib1.so";
BACKUP DATABASE;
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=/mediavendor/lib/mm_lib2.so";
BACKUP DATABASE;
}
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL;

ALTER DATABASE
ALTER DATABASE
Syntax
alterDatabase::=
alterDatabase
MOUNT
ALTER DATABASE RESETLOGS ;
OPEN
Purpose
To mount or open a database.
See Also: Oracle Database SQL Reference for ALTER DATABASE

syntax

■ Execute this command either within the braces of a RUN command or at the
RMAN prompt.

MOUNT Mounts the database without opening it. This option is equivalent to the SQL
statement ALTER DATABASE MOUNT.
OPEN Opens the database.
RMAN Commands 2-19

ALTER DATABASE

RESETLOGS Archives the current online redo logs (or up to the last redo record before redo
corruption if corruption is found), clears the contents of the online redo logs,
and resets the online redo logs to log sequence 1. The RMAN RESETLOGS
option is equivalent to the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE OPEN
RESETLOGS.
If you use a recovery catalog, then RMAN performs an implicit RESET
DATABASE after the database is opened to make this new incarnation the
current one in the catalog. If you execute the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE
OPEN RESETLOGS (not the RMAN command of the same name), then you
must manually run the RESET DATABASE command.
Examples
Opening the Database After a Backup: Example This example mounts the
database, takes a whole database backup, then opens the database. At the RMAN
prompt enter:
STARTUP MOUNT;
BACKUP DATABASE;
# now that the backup is complete, open the database.
ALTER DATABASE OPEN;
Mounting the Database After Restoring the Control File: Example To restore the
control file to its default location when connected to a recovery catalog, enter the
following:
STARTUP NOMOUNT;
RESTORE CONTROLFILE;
ALTER DATABASE MOUNT;
# you must run the RECOVER command after restoring a control file even if no datafiles
# require recovery
RECOVER DATABASE;
ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS;
# if the database uses locally-managed temporary tablespaces, then you must add tempfiles
# to these tablespaces after restoring a backup control file
SQL " ALTER TABLESPACE temp ADD TEMPFILE ''?/oradata/trgt/temp01.dbf'' REUSE";
Performing RESETLOGS After Incomplete Recovery: Example This example uses

a manually allocated channel to perform incomplete recovery and then resets the
online redo logs:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;

ALTER DATABASE
SET UNTIL SCN 1024;

RESTORE DATABASE;
RECOVER DATABASE;
}
RMAN Commands 2-21

archivelogRecordSpecifier
Syntax
archivelogRecordSpecifier::=
ALL
=
THREAD integer
ARCHIVELOG
LIKE ’ string_pattern ’
archlogRange
archlogRange::=
archlogRange
=
FROM SCN integer
SCN BETWEEN integer AND integer
=
UNTIL SCN integer
=
FROM SEQUENCE integer
= =
SEQUENCE integer THREAD integer
SEQUENCE BETWEEN integer AND integer
=
UNTIL SEQUENCE integer
=
FROM TIME ’ date_string ’
TIME BETWEEN ’ date_string ’ AND ’ date_string ’
=
UNTIL TIME ’ date_string ’

Purpose
A subclause used to specify an archived log or range of archived redo logs files for
use in backup, restore, recovery, and maintenance operations.
When backing up archived redo logs, RMAN can perform archived log failover
automatically. RMAN backs up the log when at least one archived log
corresponding to a given log sequence number and thread is available. Also, if the
copy that RMAN is backing up contains corrupt blocks, then it searches for good
copies of these blocks in other copies of the same archived logs.
Specifying a range of archived redo logs does not guarantee that RMAN includes all
redo data in the range: for example, the last available archived log file may end
before the end of the range, or an archived log file in the range may be missing from
all archiving destinations. RMAN includes the archived redo logs it finds and does
not issue a warning for missing files.
Note: Query the V$ARCHIVED_LOG view or RC_ARCHIVED_LOG

recovery catalog view to determine the time stamps, SCNs, and log
sequence numbers for an archived log. For information on how to
use the NLS_LANG and NLS_DATE_FORMAT environment variables
to specify the format for the time, see Oracle Database Reference.


ALL Specifies all available archived logs.
LIKE 'string_pattern' Specifies all archived logs that match the specified string_pattern. The
same pattern matching characters that are valid in the LIKE operator in the
SQL language can be used to match multiple files.
See Also: Oracle Real Application Clusters Administrator's Guide to learn about
using RMAN in a RAC configuration
RMAN Commands 2-23

archlogRange

FROM SCN = integer Specifies the beginning SCN for a sequence of archived redo log files. If you
do not specify the UNTIL SCN parameter, RMAN will include all available log
files beginning with SCN specified in the from SCN parameter.
SCN BETWEEN integer AND Specifies a range of SCNs. SCN BETWEEN integer1 AND integer2 is exactly
integer equivalent to FROM SCN integer1 UNTIL SCN integer2.
UNTIL SCN = integer Specifies the ending SCN for a sequence of archived redo log files. If you do
not specify the FROM SCN parameter, then RMAN will start with the earliest
available archived log.
If the database is open when you run BACKUP ARCHIVELOG, and if the UNTIL
clause is specified, then RMAN does not run ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG
CURRENT.
FROM SEQUENCE integer Specifies the beginning log sequence number for a sequence of archived redo
log files. If you do not specify the UNTIL SEQUENCE parameter, RMAN will
include all available log files beginning with log sequence number specified in
the FROM SEQUENCE parameter.
Note: You can specify all log sequence numbers in a thread by using the
following syntax, where thread_number is an integer referring to the thread:
... ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 0 THREAD thread_number
SEQUENCE Specifies either a single log sequence number or a range of sequence numbers.
If the database is open when you run BACKUP ARCHIVELOG, and if the
SEQUENCE keyword is specified, then RMAN does not run ALTER SYSTEM
ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT.
integer Specifies a single log sequence number.
BETWEEN integer Specifies a range of log sequence numbers. SEQUENCE BETWEEN integer1
AND integer AND integer2 is exactly equivalent to FROM SEQUENCE integer1 UNTIL
SEQUENCE integer2.
UNTIL SEQUENCE = integer Specifies the terminating log sequence number for a sequence of archived
redo log files. If you do not specify the FROM SEQUENCE parameter, RMAN
uses the lowest available log sequence number to begin the sequence.
CURRENT.


FROM TIME = 'date_string' Specifies the beginning date for a sequence of archived redo log files. The
clause specifies those logs that could be used in a recovery starting at the
indicated time.
The time specified in the string must be formatted according to the
Globalization Technology date format specification currently in effect, but can
also be any SQL expression with the DATE datatype, such as SYSDATE. The
TO_DATE function can be used to specify hard-coded dates that work
regardless of the current Globalization Technology settings.
If you do not specify the UNTIL TIME parameter, RMAN will include all
available log files beginning with the date specified in the FROM TIME
parameter. Use the V$ARCHIVED_LOG data dictionary view to determine the
time stamps for the first and last entries in a log file.
Note: The FROM TIME clause is not the same as the COMPLETED AFTER clause.
FROM TIME specifies logs that could be used to recover starting at the indicated
time, whereas COMPLETED AFTER specifies logs that were created after the
indicated time (refer to "completedTimeSpec" on page 2-79).
See Also: Oracle Database Reference for information on how to use the NLS_
LANG and NLS_DATE_FORMAT environment variables to specify the format for
the time
TIME BETWEEN 'date_ Specifies a range of times. Note that TIME BETWEEN 'date_string' AND
string' AND 'date_string' 'date_string' is exactly equivalent to FROM TIME 'date_string' UNTIL
TIME 'date_string'.
UNTIL TIME = 'date_string' Specifies the end date for a sequence of archived redo log files. The clause
specifies those logs that could be used to recover to the indicated time.
The time specified in the string must be formatted according to the
Globalization Technology date format specification currently in effect, but can
also be any SQL expression with the DATE datatype, such as SYSDATE. The
TO_DATE function can be used to specify hard-coded dates that work
regardless of the current Globalization Technology settings.
If you do not specify the FROM TIME parameter, then the beginning time for
the sequence will be the earliest available archived redo log.
CURRENT.
Note: The UNTIL TIME clause is not the same as the COMPLETED BEFORE
clause. UNTIL TIME specifies logs that could be used to recover to the
indicated time, whereas COMPLETED BEFORE specifies logs that were created
before the indicated time (refer to "completedTimeSpec" on page 2-79).
See Also: Oracle Database Reference for information on how to use the NLS_
LANG and NLS_DATE_FORMAT environment variables to specify the format for
the time
RMAN Commands 2-25


THREAD = integer Specifies the thread containing the archived redo log files you wish to include.
You only need to specify this parameter when running the database in an
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) configuration.
THREAD is only valid when SEQUENCE is also specified. Although the
SEQUENCE parameter does not require that THREAD be specified, a given log
sequence always implies a thread. The thread defaults to 1 if not specified.
Query V$ARCHIVED_LOG to check the thread number for a log.
Examples
Specifying Records by Time: Example This example backs up all logs that could
be used to recover to a point one week ago, and then deletes all archived redo logs
that were created more than two weeks ago:
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-7';
DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-14';
Specifying Records by SCN: Example This example restores backup archived

redo log files from tape that fall within a range of SCNs:
RESTORE ARCHIVELOG SCN BETWEEN 94097 AND 106245;
Specifying a Single Log Sequence Number: Example This example backs up only
archived log 30 of thread 1 and then deletes it.
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG SEQUENCE 30 DELETE INPUT;
Specifying a Range of Records by Log Sequence Number: Example This

example backs up all archived logs from sequence 431 to sequence 440 on thread 1
and deletes the archived logs after the backup is complete. If the backup fails, the
logs are not deleted.
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL dev1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG
SEQUENCE BETWEEN 31 AND 40 THREAD 1
# delete original archived redo logs after backup completes
DELETE INPUT;
}

Specifying All Log Sequence Numbers in a Thread This example crosschecks all
archived redo logs in thread 1:
CROSSCHECK ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 0 THREAD 1;
RMAN Commands 2-27

BACKUP
BACKUP
Syntax
backup::=
backup
backupOperand
BACKUP backupSpec
backup1
backupSpecOperand
PLUS ARCHIVELOG
;

BACKUP
backupOperand::=
backupOperand
backupTypeSpec
= ’ ’
CHANNEL channel_id
CHECK LOGICAL
=
COPIES integer
CUMULATIVE
=
DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
=
DISKRATIO integer
duration
fileNameConversionSpec
=
FILESPERSET integer
FORCE
,
=
FORMAT formatSpec
forRecoveryOfSpec
FULL
=
INCREMENTAL LEVEL integer
keepOption
=
MAXSETSIZE sizeSpec
notBackedUpSpec
NOCHECKSUM
NOEXCLUDE
=
POOL integer
ONLY
PROXY
REUSE
skipSpec
= ’ ’
TAG tag_name
VALIDATE
RMAN Commands 2-29

BACKUP
backupSpec::=
backupSpec
ALL
completedTimeSpec
BACKUPSET ,
primaryKey
’ filename ’
CONTROLFILECOPY ALL
copyOfSpec
FOR STANDBY
( CURRENT CONTROLFILE backupSpecOperand )
DATABASE
datafileCopySpec
,
DATAFILE datafileSpec
RECOVERY AREA
RECOVERY FILES
SPFILE
,
’ ’
TABLESPACE tablespace_name

BACKUP
backupSpecOperand::=
backupSpecOperand
= ’ ’
CHANNEL channel_id
ALL
DELETE INPUT
=
DISKRATIO integer
=
FILESPERSET integer
FORCE
,
=
FORMAT formatSpec
= ’ ’
FROM TAG tag_name
FOR STANDBY
INCLUDE CURRENT CONTROLFILE
keepOption
=
MAXSETSIZE sizeSpec
notBackedUpSpec
NOEXCLUDE
=
POOL integer
REUSE
skipSpec
= ’ ’
TAG tag_name
RMAN Commands 2-31

BACKUP
backupTypeSpec::=
backupTypeSpec
COMPRESSED
BACKUPSET
AS
COPY
copyOfSpec::=
copyOfSpec
DATABASE
,
COPY OF
,
’ ’
datafileCopySpec::=
datafileCopySpec
,
’ filename ’
ALL
DATAFILECOPY
LIKE ’ string_pattern ’ NODUPLICATES
,
= ’ ’
FROM TAG tag_name

BACKUP
duration::=
duration
LOAD
MINIMIZE
TIME
PARTIAL
DURATION integer : integer
forRecoveryOfSpec::=
forRecoveryOfSpec
=
DATAFILECOPY FORMAT formatSpec
= ’ ’
WITH TAG tag_name
COPY
FOR RECOVER OF = ’ ’
TAG tag_name
notBackedUpSpec::=
notBackedUpSpec
integer TIMES
UP
NOT BACKED =
UP SINCE TIME ’ date_string ’
sizeSpec::=
sizeSpec
G
K
M
integer
RMAN Commands 2-33

BACKUP
skipSpec::=
skipSpec
INACCESSIBLE
SKIP OFFLINE
READONLY
Purpose
To back up a database, tablespace, datafile (current or copy), control file (current or
copy), SPFILE, archived log, or backup set. (These are the only file types that can be
backed up by RMAN.) can back up a target or standby database. The term backup
refers to the files created by an RMAN BACKUP command.
Control File Autobackups

If CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP is set to ON, then RMAN automatically
backs up the control file after BACKUP commands. "CONFIGURE" on page 2-81
describes the complete set of circumstances in which autobackups occur.
Backup Sets, Backup Pieces, Image Copies, and Proxy Copies

When the AS BACKUPSET option is used, RMAN generates one or more backup
sets, which are RMAN-specific logical structures. The backup set is the smallest unit
of a backup. By default, each backup set contains 4 or fewer datafiles or 16 or fewer
archived logs.
Note: RMAN only records complete backup sets in the RMAN

repository. There are no partial backup sets. When a BACKUP
command creates backup pieces but does not produce a complete
backup set for any reason, the backup pieces are discarded.
Each backup set contains at least one backup piece, which is an RMAN-specific
physical file containing the backed up data. You can also use the BACKUP command
to generate a proxy copy, which is a backup to a third-party medium in which the
entire data transfer is conducted by a media manager.
Backup sets can be created on disk, or on media manager devices such as tape
drives.
When the AS COPY option is used, RMAN generates image copies of the input files.
An image copy is a byte-for-byte identical copy of the original file. You can create

BACKUP
image copy backups of datafiles, datafile copies, and archived redo log files. Image
copy files can only exist on disk.
You can create and restore image copy backups with RMAN, or with a native
operating system command for copying files. However, when you use RMAN to
create image copies, they are recorded in the RMAN repository, and are more easily
available for use in restore and recovery operations. Otherwise, you must use the
CATALOG command to add the image copies to the RMAN repository before RMAN
can use them.
By default, RMAN creates all backups as backup sets, on tape or on disk. You can
change the default backup type for disk backups to be image copies using the
CONFIGURE command. Backups to tape can only be backup sets.
Incremental Backups
Incremental backups copy only those blocks that have changed since a previous
backup. A level 0 incremental backup captures all data blocks in a datafile. Level 1
incremental backups capture changes since a previous backup. Level 1 backups can
be cumulative, in which case they capture changes since the last level 0 incremental
backup, or differential, in which case they capture changes since the last level 0 or
level 1 incremental backup.
Block Change Tracking for Incremental Backups

You can improve incremental backup performance by enabling block change
tracking, in which case RMAN keeps a record of which blocks have changed, and
uses this record whenever possible to avoid scanning entire datafiles.
For details on block change tracking, including how to enable and disable it, see
Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics.
Incrementally Updated Backups: Rolling Forward Datafile Image Copies

By using the BACKUP INCREMENTAL... FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG...
syntax you can create level 1 incremental backups suitable for rolling forward a
level 0 incremetal image copy backup of your database. RECOVER COPY OF...
WITH TAG... is used to perform incremental update of a backup. This technique is
used in Enterprise Manager’s Oracle-suggested Strategy for backups to disk.
For more details on incrementally updated backups, see Oracle Database Backup and
Recovery Basics.
Backup Optimization
The BACKUP command optimizes backups, that is, does not back up files that are
identical to files that are already backed up, when the following conditions are met:
RMAN Commands 2-35

BACKUP
■ The CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON command has been run.

■ You run BACKUP DATABASE, BACKUP ARCHIVELOG with ALL or LIKE options,
or BACKUP BACKUPSET ALL.
■ You specify a channel of only one device type, that is, you do not mix channels
that use different device types.
Channel Failover
A BACKUP command is decomposed into multiple independent backup steps by
RMAN. Each independent step can be executed on any channel allocated for a
specific device. If you have multiple channels allocated, and one channel fails or
encounters a problem during a backup step, then RMAN attempts to complete the
work on another channel. RMAN reports a message in V$RMAN_OUTPUT and in the
output to the interactive session or log file when channel failover occurs.

When using the BACKUP command you must:
■ Mount or open the target database. RMAN can make an inconsistent backup
when the database is in ARCHIVELOG mode, but you must apply redo logs to
make the backups consistent for use in restore operations.
■ Use a current control file.
■ Manually allocate a channel for each execution of the BACKUP command if no
automatic channel is configured for the specified device type. If no manual
channel is allocated, then RMAN uses the default channels (refer to description
of CONFIGURE command). RMAN comes with a preconfigured DISK channel.
Note: Backups that use the disk test API are not supported for
production backups. Instead, use the preconfigured DISK channel
or manually allocate a DISK channel.
■ Give each backup piece a unique name.

■ Back up files onto valid media. If you specify DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN
will back up to random access disks. You can make a backup on any device that
can store a datafile: in other words, if the statement CREATE TABLESPACE
tablespace_name DATAFILE 'filename' works, then 'filename' is a valid
backup path name. If you specify DEVICE TYPE sbt, then you can back up to
any media supported by the media manager.

BACKUP
When using the RMAN BACKUP command, you cannot perform any of the
following actions:
■ Make a backup (either normal or incremental) in NOARCHIVELOG mode when
the database is open or is closed after an instance failure or SHUTDOWN ABORT.
You can only backup a database running in NOARCHIVELOG mode after a
consistent shutdown.
■ Stripe a single backup set across multiple channels.
■ Stripe a single input file across multiple backup sets.
■ Combine archived redo log files and datafiles into a single backup set.
■ Specify multiple, identical FORMAT strings within a single backupSpec (for
example, BACKUP DATAFILE 3 TO '/tmp/foo', DATAFILE 4 TO
'/tmp/foo'). However, RMAN permits a single FORMAT string to exist in
multiple backupSpec clauses.
■ Back up files with different block sizes into the same backup set. RMAN can
back up tablespaces with different block sizes, but puts each differently sized
datafile into its own backup set.
■ Back up locally-managed temporary tablespaces (although you can back up
dictionary-managed tablespaces)
■ Back up transportable tablespaces that were not made read-write after being
transported.
■ Use the DELETE INPUT option when backing up objects other than datafile
copies, archived redo logs, or backup sets.
■ Specify the number of backup pieces that should go in a backup set.
■ Create image copies (BACKUP AS COPY) on a nondisk media device.
■ Create incremental level 1 backups as image copies.
■ Back up a backup set on tape to disk or on tape to tape.
■ Make an image copy of a backup set, although you can make an image copy of
an image copy.
■ Specify the PLUS ARCHIVELOG clause on the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command.
■ Open a NOARCHIVELOG mode database while it is being backed up. If you do,
and some data blocks in the files being backed up are modified before being
read by the backup session, then the backup is not usable after being restored
because it requires recovery.
RMAN Commands 2-37

BACKUP
■ Make the length of a backup piece filename longer than the platform-specific
length limit. If you use a media manager, then the length is also limited by the
limit in the supported version of the media management API. Vendors
supporting SBT 1.1 must support filenames up to 14 characters, and may
support longer filenames. Vendors supporting SBT 2.0 must support filenames
up to 512 characters, but may support longer filenames.
■ Specify the DEVICE TYPE option for a device other than DISK if you have not
already run CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE for this device.
■ Manually allocate channels and run BACKUP with the DEVICE TYPE option.
■ Validate the backup of backup sets.
■ Specify DEVICE TYPE DISK when running the BACKUP RECOVERY AREA
command.
■ Back up the change-tracking file with RMAN.

BACKUP

backup
backupOperand Specifies various options for the BACKUP command.
backupSpec A BACKUP specification list contains a list of one or more backupSpec
clauses. A backupSpec clause minimally contains a list of one or more
objects to be backed up.
Each backupSpec clause generates one or more backup sets (AS BACKUPSET)
or image copies (AS COPY). For AS BACKUPSET, the backupSpec clause
generates multiple backup sets if the number of datafiles specified in or
implied by its list of objects exceeds the default limit of 4 datafiles or 16
archived logs in each backup set.
PLUS ARCHIVELOG When you specify PLUS ARCHIVELOG, RMAN performs these steps:
1. Runs an ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT statement.
2. Runs the BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL command. Note that if backup
optimization is enabled, then RMAN only backs up logs that have not yet
been backed up.
3. Backs up the files specified in the BACKUP command.
4. Runs an ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT statement.
5. Backs up any remaining archived redo logs.
backupSpecOperand Specifies a variety of options and parameters that affect the backupSpec
clause.
backupOperand
backupOperand Specifies various options for the BACKUP command.
backupTypeSpec Specifies the type of backup being created, either backup sets or image copies.
See "backupTypeSpec" on page 2-51 for details.
CHANNEL channel_id Specifies the case-sensitive name of a channel to use when creating backups.
Use any name that is meaningful, for example ch1 or dev1. The database
uses the channel ID to report I/O errors. If you do not set this parameter, then
RMAN dynamically assigns the backup sets to any available channels during
execution.
Note: You can also specify this parameter in the backupSpec clause.
RMAN Commands 2-39

BACKUP

CHECK LOGICAL Tests data and index blocks that pass physical corruption checks for logical
corruption, for example, corruption of a row piece or index entry. If RMAN
finds logical corruption, then it logs the block in the alert.log and server
session trace file.
If the sum of physical and logical corruptions detected for a file is no more
than its MAXCORRUPT setting, then the command completes, and
V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION is populated with any corrupt block
ranges. If MAXCORRUPT is exceeded, then the command terminates without
updating the view.
If the initialization parameter DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM=TRUE, and if
MAXCORRUPT and NOCHECKSUM are not set, then specifying CHECK LOGICAL
detects all types of corruption that are possible to detect.
Note: The MAXCORRUPT setting specifies the total number of physical and
logical corruptions permitted on a file.
COPIES = integer Sets the number of identical backups (1 - 4) that RMAN should create. The
default value is 1. You can specify duplexing on more than one command. The
order of precedence is as follows, with settings higher on the list overriding
lower settings:
1. BACKUP COPIES
2. SET BACKUP COPIES
3. CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES
Note: This option does not apply with AS COPY and results in an error
message.
Note: Duplexing cannot be used when creating files in the flash recovery area.
CUMULATIVE Copies the data blocks used since the most recent backup at level 0 or lower,
where n is 1. For example, in a cumulative level 1 backup RMAN backs up all
blocks used since the most recent level 0 backup.
message.
DEVICE TYPE Allocates automatic channels for the specified device type only. This option is
deviceSpecifier valid only if you have configured channels and have not manually allocated
channels. For example, if you configure disk and tape channels, then configure
sbt as the default device type, this command allocates disk channels only:
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK DATABASE;
DISKRATIO [=] integer Deprecated???
duration Specifies options related to the maximum time for a backup command to run.
See Also: "duration" on page 2-53

BACKUP

filenameConversionSpec This option is valid only when BACKUP is creating image copies. Files being
copied are renamed according to the specified patterns. If a file being backed
up has a name that does not match any of the specified rename patterns, then
RMAN uses FORMAT to name the output image copies. If no FORMAT was
specified, then RMAN uses the default format %U.
See "fileNameConversionSpec" on page 2-146 for details about file renaming
patterns.
FILESPERSET [=] integer Specifies the maximum number of files to back up in each backupset created
by this command (for commands that create backupsets).
FORCE Causes RMAN to ignore backup optimization. In other words, even if
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION is set to ON, RMAN backs up all
specified files.
Note: You can also specify this option in the backupSpecOperand clause.
FORMAT = formatSpec Specifies a pattern to use in creating a filename for the backup pieces or image
copies created by this command. For AS COPY, if one or more of the directories
mentioned in the specified format do not exist, then RMAN signals an error.
See Also: "formatSpec" on page 2-154 for legal substitution variables
forRecoveryOfSpec Identifies the backup being created as an incremental backup to be used in
rolling forward an image copy. See "forRecoveryOfSpec" on page 2-54 for
details.
FULL Copies all blocks into the backup set or image copy, skipping only datafile
blocks that have never been used. FULL is the opposite of INCREMENTAL.
RMAN makes full backups by default if neither FULL nor INCREMENTAL is
specified. Unused block compression causes never-written blocks to be
skipped when backing up datafiles to backupsets, even for full backups.
A full backup has no effect on subsequent incremental backups, and is not
considered a part of any incremental backup strategy (though a full image
copy backup can be incrementally updated by applying incremental backups
with the RECOVER command).
RMAN Commands 2-41

BACKUP

INCREMENTAL LEVEL [=] Copies only those data blocks that have changed since the last incremental
integer integer backup, where integer is 0 or 1. An incremental backup at level 0
backs up all data blocks in datafiles being backed up. An incremental backup
at level 1 backs up only changed blocks. An incremental backup can be either
differential or cumulative.In a cumulative level 1 incremental backup, RMAN
backs up all blocks changed since the most recent level 0 backup. In a
differential level 1 incremental backup, RMAN backs up blocks updated since
the last level 0 or level 1 incremental backup.
Incremental backups at level 0 can be either backup sets or image copies.
Incremental backups at level 1 can only be backup sets.
A level 0 backup must exist as the base backup for an incremental strategy. An
incremental backup at level 0 is identical in content to a full backup, but
unlike a full backup the level 0 backup is considered a part of the incremental
strategy. If no level 0 backup exists when you run a level 1 backup, then
RMAN makes a level 0 backup automatically.
The database performs checks when attempting to create a level 1 incremental
backup, to ensure that the incremental backup is usable by a subsequent
RECOVER command. Among the checks performed are:
■ A level 0 backup must exist for each datafile in the BACKUP command.
These backups must not have status UNAVAILABLE. If no level 0 backup
exists, then RMAN makes one.
■ Sufficient incremental backups taken since the level 0 must exist and be
available such that the incremental backup to be created is usable.
If you specify INCREMENTAL, then in the backupSpec clause you must set
one of the following parameters: DATAFILE, DATAFILECOPY, TABLESPACE,
or DATABASE. RMAN does not support incremental backups of control files,
archived redo logs, or backup sets.
Note: You cannot make inconsistent incremental backups when the database
is in NOARCHIVELOG mode. Hence, you cannot generate incremental backups
when a NOARCHIVELOG database is open and in use.
Note: When creating an incremental backup, RMAN considers backups from
parent incarnations as valid. For example, assume you make a level 0 backup
and then OPEN RESETLOGS. If you make a level 1 incremental backup, then
RMAN backs up all blocks changed since the pre-RESETLOGS level 0 backup.
See Also: "CHANGE" on page 2-70
keepOption Overrides any configured retention policy for this backup so that the backup
is not considered obsolete. You can use CHANGE to alter the keep status. Note
that you must be connected to a recovery catalog when you specify KEEP
FOREVER.
See Also: "keepOption" on page 2-161

BACKUP

MAXSETSIZE = Specifies a maximum size for a backup set.RMAN limits all backup sets to this
integer [ K | M | G ] size. Use MAXSETSIZE to configure backup sets so that each fits on one tape
rather than spanning multiple tapes. Otherwise, if one tape of a multivolume
backup set fails, then you lose the data on all the tapes rather than just one.
Specify size in bytes (default), kilobytes (K), megabytes (M), or gigabytes (G).
Thus, to limit a backup set to 3 MB, specify MAXSETSIZE = 3M. The default
size is in bytes, rounded down from kilobytes. For example, MAXSETSIZE =
3000 is rounded down to 2 KB (2048 bytes). The minimum value must be
greater than or equal to the database block size.
The default number of files in each backup set is 4 for datafiles and 16 for
archived logs. When you specify MAsXSETSIZE, RMAN attempts to limit the
size in bytes of the backup sets according to the MAXSETSIZE parameter. The
limit on the number of files in a backup set will apply even if the total size of
the resulting backup set is less than MAXSETSIZEs.
Note: This option cannot be used with BACKUP AS COPY and results in an
error message. If you run BACKUP AS COPY on a channel that has
MAXSETSIZE set, then MAXSETSIZE is silently ignored.
NOCHECKSUM Suppresses block checksums. A checksum is a number that is computed from
the contents of a data block. If the DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM initialization
parameter is true, then the database computes a checksum for each block
during normal operations and stores it in the block before writing the block to
disk. When the database reads the block from disk later, it recomputes the
checksum and compares it to the stored value. If they do not match, then the
block is damaged.
By default, the database also computes a checksum for each block and stores it
in the backup. The checksum is verified when restoring from the backup and
written to the datafile when restored.
If the database is already maintaining block checksums, then this flag has no
effect. The checksum is always verified and stored in the backup in this case.
If you wish to prevent the use of block checksums in your backup, use the
NOCHECKSUM option.
See Also: Oracle Database Reference for more information about the DB_
BLOCK_CHECKSUM initialization parameter
notBackedUpSpec Limits the set of files to be backed up according to whether a specified
number of backups are already present (and not obsolete), or whether the files
have been backed up since a specified date. See "notBackedUpSpec" on
page 2-54 for details.
NOEXCLUDE When specified on BACKUP DATABASE or BACKUP COPY OF DATABASE
command, RMAN backs up all tablespaces, including any for which a
CONFIGURE EXCLUDE command has been entered. This option does not
override SKIP OFFLINE or SKIP READONLY.
RMAN Commands 2-43

BACKUP

POOL = integer Specifies the media pool in which the backup should be stored. Consult your
media management documentation to see whether the POOL option is
supported.
message.
PROXY Backs up the specified files by means of the proxy copy functionality, which
gives the media management software control over the data transfer between
storage devices and the datafiles on disk. The media manager—not
RMAN—decides how and when to move data.
When you run BACKUP with the PROXY option, RMAN performs these steps:
1. Searches for a channel of the specified device type that is proxy-capable.
If no such channel is found, then RMAN issues a warning and attempts a
a conventional (that is, non-proxy) backup of the specified files.
2. If RMAN locates a proxy-capable channel, it calls the media manager to
check if it can proxy copy the files. If the media manager cannot proxy
copy, then RMAN uses conventional backup sets to back up the files.
If you do not want RMAN to try a conventional copy when a proxy copy fails,
use the ONLY option.
Note: If you specify PROXY, then the %p variable must be included in the
FORMAT string either explicitly or implicitly within %U.
Note: This option cannot be used with BACKUP AS COPY and results in an
error message.
ONLY Causes the database to issue an error message when it cannot proxy copy
rather than creating conventional backup sets.
REUSE Enables RMAN to overwrite an already existing backup or copy with the
same filename as the file that BACKUP is currently creating.
skipSpec Excludes datafiles or archived redo logs from the backup if they are
inaccessible, offline or read-only. See "skipSpec" on page 2-56 for details.

BACKUP

TAG tag_name Creates a user-specified tag name for a backup. The tag is not case sensitive.
If you do not specify a tag name, then by default RMAN creates a tag for
backups (except for control file autobackups) in the format
TAGYYYYMMDDTHHMMSS, where YYYY is the year, MM is the month, DD is the
day, HH is the hour (in 24-hour format), MM is the minutes, and SS is the
seconds. For example, a backup of datafile 1 can receive the tag
TAG20020208T133437. The date and time refer to when RMAN started the
backup. If multiple backup sets are created by one BACKUP AS BACKUPSET
command, then each backup piece is assigned the same default tag.
A tag applies to each backup piece in a given copy of a backup set (for AS
BACKUPSET) or each image copy (for AS COPY). For example, if you run
BACKUP AS BACKUPSET COPIES 1 DATABASE TAG TUE_PM, then only one
copy of the backup set exists and each piece in the backup set has tag TUE_PM.
Assume that this backup set has primary key 1234. If you then run BACKUP
BACKUPSET 1234 TAG WED_PM, then the first copy of the backup set has tag
TUE_PM and the second copy of the backup set has tag WED_PM.
Typically, a tag is a meaningful name such as MONDAY_EVENING_BACKUP or
WEEKLY_FULL_BACKUP. Tags must be 30 characters or less. Tags are reusable,
so that backup set 100 can have the tag MONDAY_EVENING_BACKUP one week
while backup set 105 has the same tag the next week.
You can also specify the tag at the backupSpec level. If you specify the tag at:
■ The command level, then all backup sets created by the command have
the tag.
■ The backupSpec level, then backup sets created as a result of different
backup specifications can have different tags.
■ Both levels, then the tag in the backupSpec takes precedence.
VALIDATE Causes RMAN to scan the specified files and verify their contents, testing
whether this file can be backed up. RMAN creates no output files. Use this
command periodically to check for physical and logical errors in database
files.
Note: You cannot validate backups of backup sets.
RMAN Commands 2-45

BACKUP
backupSpec
backupSpec A BACKUP specification list contains a list of one or more backupSpec
clauses. A backupSpec clause contains, at a minimum, a list of one or more
objects to be backed up.
Each backupSpec clause generates one or more backup sets (AS BACKUPSET)
or image copies (AS COPY). For AS BACKUPSET, the backupSpec clause
generates multiple backup sets if the number of datafiles specified in or
implied by its list of objects exceeds the default limit of 4 datafiles or 16
archived logs in each backup set.
archivelogRecordSp Specifies a range of archived redo logs to be backed up. RMAN does not
ecifier signal an error if the command finds no logs to back up, because this situation
probably exists because no new logs were generated after the previous
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE INPUT command.
If you specify BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL, then RMAN backs up exactly one
copy of each distinct log sequence number. For example, if you archive to
multiple destinations, RMAN backs up one copy of each log sequence
number—not each copy of each log sequence number. For other commands,
such as DELETE, ALL does refer to every log, even duplicate log sequences.
clause or SEQUENCE parameter is not specified, then RMAN runs ALTER
SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT.
Note: If you run BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL, or if the specified log range
includes logs from prior incarnations, then RMAN backs up logs from prior
incarnations to ensure availability of all logs that may be required for recovery
through an OPEN RESETLOGS.
See Also: "archivelogRecordSpecifier" on page 2-22 for syntax, and Oracle
Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide explanations of backup
failover for logs and automatic log switching

BACKUP

BACKUPSET { Backs up either ALL backup sets or backup sets specified by primary_key or
ALL completion time. Use this parameter in conjunction with the DEVICE TYPE
| completedTimeSpec sbt clause to back up all backups on disk to tape. You cannot back up from
| tape to tape or from tape to disk: only from disk to disk or disk to tape.
primaryKey
[, primaryKey Note if you specify the DELETE INPUT option, then RMAN deletes all copies
] of the backup set that exist on disk. For example, if you duplexed a backup to
} 4 locations, then RMAN deletes all 4 backup sets. The ALL option is
redundant, that is, it does not add any functionality.
RMAN performs backup set failover when backing up backup sets. RMAN
searches for all available backup copies when the copy that it is trying to back
up is corrupted or missing. This behavior is similar to RMAN’s behavior
when backing up archived logs that exist in multiple archiving destinations.
Note: You can duplex backups of backup sets by using BACKUP COPIES and
SET BACKUP COPIES.
See Also: "completedTimeSpec" on page 2-79
CONTROLFILECOPY { Specifies a control file copy in one of the following ways:
'filename'
■ ’filename’ specifies a control file copy by filename
| ALL
| LIKE ■ ALL specifies that all control file copies should be backed up
’string_pattern’ }
■ LIKE ’pattern’ specifies a filename pattern. The percent sign (%) as a
wildcard meaning 0 o r more characters; an underscore (_) is a wildcard
meaning 1 character.
The control file copy can be:
■ A copy of a normal control file (that is, not a standby control file) created
with the BACKUP AS COPY CURRENT CONTROLFILE command or the SQL
statement ALTER DATABASE BACKUP CONTROLFILE TO ’...’
■ A standby control file copy created with the BACKUP AS COPY STANDBY
CONTROLFILE command or the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE
CREATE STANDBY CONTROLFILE
RMAN inspects the header of the control file copy to determine whether it is a
standby or nonstandby control file.
copyOfSpec Makes a backup of previous image copies of datafiles and possibly control
files. See "copyOfSpec" on page 2-52 for details.
CURRENT CONTROLFILE Specifies the current control file.
[FOR STANDBY]
If you specify FOR STANDBY, then RMAN generates a backup of the control
file that is usable during creation of a standby database. The backup contains
only the standby control file.
Note: You cannot assign a tag to a backup of the current control file.
RMAN Commands 2-47

BACKUP

DATABASE Creates a backup set (AS BACKUPSET) or group of image copies (AS COPY) for
all datafiles in the database. If generating a backup set, then RMAN can
include only datafiles and control files: it cannot include archived redo logs.
If the backupSpec includes datafile 1, and if CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE
AUTOBACKUP is OFF, then RMAN automatically includes the control file in the
backup. If the instance is started with a server parameter file, then RMAN also
includes this parameter file in the backup.
If the backupSpec includes datafile 1, and if CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP is
ON, then RMAN does not automatically include the control file in the output.
Instead, RMAN generates a separate control file autobackup piece. If the
instance is started with a server parameter file, then RMAN includes this
parameter file in the autobackup piece.
Note: To force RMAN to include the current control file in the backup when
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP is ON, specify the INCLUDE CURRENT
CONTROLFILE clause.
datafileCopySpec Specifies the filenames of one or more datafile image copies. See
"datafileCopySpec" on page 2-53 for details.
DATAFILE datafileSpec Specifies a list of one or more datafiles. Refer to description of BACKUP
DATABASE for RMAN behavior when datafile 1 is backed up.
See Also: "datafileSpec" on page 2-119
RECOVERY AREA Backs up recovery files created in the current and all previous flash recovery
| DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST area destinations. Recovery files are full and incremental backup sets, control
file autobackups, archived logs, and datafile copies. Flashback logs, the
current control file, and online redo logs are not backed up.
RECOVERY AREA and DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST are synonyms.
Backup optimization is always ON for this option. The backup must go to sbt,
so RMAN issues an error if no sbt channels are allocated or configured.
Note: If the flash recovery area is not enabled but has been enabled in the past,
then files that were created in the previous flash recovery area location are
backed up.
RECOVERY FILES Backs up all recovery files on disk, whether they are stored in the flash
recovery area or another locations on disk. Recovery files include full and
incremental backup sets, control file autobackups, archived logs, and datafile
copies. Backup optimization is always ON for this option. The backup must go
to sbt, so RMAN issues an error if no sbt channels are allocated or
configured.
SPFILE Backs up the server parameter file currently used by the database. RMAN
cannot back up other copies of the server parameter file, and cannot back up
the server parameter file when the instance was started with an initialization
parameter file. RMAN cannot make incremental backups of the SPFILE.

BACKUP

TABLESPACE Specifies the names of one or more tablespaces. RMAN backs up all datafiles
tablespace_name that are currently part of the tablespaces. If the SYSTEM tablespace (and thus
[, tablespace_name] datafile 1) is included in the backup, and if CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP is
not configured, then RMAN creates a copy of the control file.
The TABLESPACE keyword is merely a convenience; tablespace names are
translated internally into a list of datafiles. If you rename a tablespace (for
example, from users to customers), then RMAN detects that the tablespace
has changed its name and updates the recovery catalog on the next
resynchronization.
backupSpecOperand The backupSpecOperand that follows a backupSpec specifies options that
apply to the backupSpec.
RMAN Commands 2-49

BACKUP
backupSpecOperand
backupSpecOperand Specifies a variety of options and parameters that affect the backupSpec
clause. Many subclauses of backupSpecOperand are also used with
backupOperand. For those, see the description of "backupOperand" on
page 2-39. Those which are not shared in common with backupOperand are
listed here.
DELETE [ALL] INPUT Deletes the input files upon successful creation of the backup. Specify this
option only when backing up archived logs, datafile copies (COPY OF or
DATAFILECOPY), or backup sets. It is equivalent to issuing DELETE for the
input files.
The ALL option applies only to archived logs. If you run DELETE ALL INPUT,
then the command deletes all copies of corresponding archived redo logs or
datafile copies that match the selection criteria. For example, if you specify the
SEQUENCE n clause, then RMAN deletes all archive logs with same sequence
number n, including duplicate archived logs (that is, logs with same log
sequence number and thread).
Note: The BACKUP ARCHIVELOG command only backs up one copy of each
distinct log sequence number, so if the DELETE INPUT option is used without
the ALL keyword, RMAN only deletes the copy of the file that it backs up.
See Also: "CONNECT" on page 2-99 for information on the effect of recovery
catalog compatibility on this command
FROM TAG = ’tag_name’ Allows specifying a backup by tag. Defined in context with several other
commands.
INCLUDE CURRENT Creates a snapshot of the current control file and places it into each backup set
CONTROLFILE produced by this clause.
[FOR STANDBY]
If you specify FOR STANDBY, then RMAN creates a backup of the control file
usable for creation of a standby database. The backup set includes the standby
control file and the object backed up.
message.

BACKUP
backupTypeSpec
AS [ COMPRESSED ] Creates backup sets (rather than image copies) on the specified device type.
BACKUPSET
AS BACKUPSET is the only possibility when backing up to tape, and for
creating level 1 incremental backups to any destination.
With the COMPRESSED option, binary compression is used. The data written
into the backup set is compressed to reduce the overall size of the backup set.
All backups that create backup sets can create compressed backup sets.
Restoring compressed backup sets is no different from restoring
uncompressed backup sets.
Note:
■ There is some CPU overhead associated with compressing backup sets. If
the database being backed up is running at or near its maximum load,
you may find the overhead from using AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET
unacceptable. In most other circumstances, compressing backupsets saves
enough disk space to be worth the CPU overhead.
■ When backing up to a locally attached tape device, compression provided
by the media management vendor is usually preferable to the binary
compression integraed into the database, so use uncompressed backup
sets and turn on the compression provided by the media management
vendor. In any case, you should not use both forms of compression
together.
■ When using incrementally updated backups, the level 0 incremental
must be an image copy backup.
■ Full database backups should usually be either image copies or
compressed backupsets. Image copies are more flexible than backup sets
for some purposes (such as use in an incrementally updated backups
strategy), and compressed backupsets make more efficient use of storage
space, if you can tolerate the CPU overhead.
AS COPY Creates image copies (rather than backup sets). Can only be used with
backups created on disk.
RMAN Commands 2-51

BACKUP
copyOfSpec
COPY OF DATABASE Makes a backup of previous image copies of all datafiles and control files in
the database. All datafiles that would normally be included by BACKUP
DATABASE are expected to have copies: if not, then RMAN signals an error. It
is not necessary for all copies to have been produced by a single BACKUP
command. If multiple copies exist of datafile, then RMAN backs up the latest.
Optionally, specify the copies by tag name (for example, FULL_COLD_COPY).
Note: The output of this command can be image copies or backup sets.
COPY OF TABLESPACE Makes a backup of previous image copies of the datafiles in one or more
tablespace_name specified tablespaces. All datafiles that would normally be included by
BACKUP TABLESPACE should have copies: if not, then RMAN signals an error.
It is not necessary for all copies to have been produced by a single BACKUP
command. If multiple copies exist of datafile, then RMAN backs up the latest.
Specify the tablespaces in the list by tablespace name (for example, users) or
specify a particular copy by tag name (for example, 0403_CPY_OF_USERS). If
you do not specify TAG, then RMAN backs up the most recent datafile copy
for each datafile in the tablespace.
COPY OF DATAFILE Makes a backup of a previous image copy of one or more datafiles. Specify the
datafileSpec datafile by file number (DATAFILE 3) or filename (DATAFILE
'?/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'). You specify the datafile filename and
not the filename of the copy of the datafile. If more than one copy exists of a
given datafile, then RMAN backs up the most recent copy.
Note: It is not necessary for the image copies that you are backing up to have
been created by a single BACKUP command.

BACKUP
datafileCopySpec
DATAFILECOPY { Specifies the filenames of one or more datafile image copies. You can use the
filename [,filename...] following parameters:
|{ ALL
■ ’filename’ specifies an image copy by filename
| LIKE ’string_pattern’
| FROM TAG ’tag_name’ ■ ALL specifies that all datafile image copies should be backed up
}
■ LIKE ’pattern’ specifies a filename pattern. The percent sign (%) is a
} wildcard that means zero or more characters; an underscore (_) is a
wildcard that means one character.
■ FROM TAG ’tag_name’ specifies a list of one or more datafile copies,
identified by the tag tag_name. If multiple datafile copies with this tag
exist, then RMAN backs up only the most current datafile copy of any
particular datafile. Tags are not case sensitive.
NODUPLICATES Prevents the inclusion of identical datafile copies in a backup
operation. For each set of duplicate datafile copies, the file with the
most recent timestamp will be selected.
duration
DURATION hh:mm Specifies a maximum time for a backup command to run. If a backup
command does not complete in the specified duration, the backup being taken
[PARTIAL]
stops.
[MINIMIZE
(TIME|LOAD)] With the PARTIAL option, the command is considered to have completed
successfully and no error is reported by RMAN even if the whole backup is
not completed in the specified duration.
Without the PARTIAL option, the backup command is considered to have
failed if it does not complete in the specified duration, and RMAN reports an
error. If the backup command is part of a RUN block, subsequent commands
in the RUN block do not execute.
Whether PARTIAL is used or not, all backupsets completed before the backup
is interrupted are retained and can be used in restore and recover operations.
With disk backups, you can use MINIMIZE TIME run the backup at
maximum speed (default) , or MINIMIZE LOAD to slow the rate of backup to
lessen the load on the system. With MINIMIZE LOAD the backup will take the
full specified duration.
When DURATION is used with MINIMIZE TIME, the file most recently backed
up is given the lowest priority to back up. This scheduling mechanism
provides for the eventual complete backup of the database during successive
backup windows, as different datafiles are backed up in round-robin fashion.
RMAN Commands 2-53

BACKUP
forRecoveryOfSpec
FOR RECOVER OF TAG [=] Lets you identify any tagged level 0 incremental to serve as the basis for this
’tag_name’ level 1 incremental. Useful in strategies other than the incrementally updated
backups strategy.
FOR RECOVER OF COPY Lets you specify that this incremental should contain all changes since the
SCN of a datafile copy (level 0 incremental backup) of your database. The
datafile copies should be identified with either a DATAFILE COPY or WITH
TAG clause, to keep the incremental backup strategy for which this backup
will be used separate from the rest of your backup strategies. Otherwise, the
most recent copy of each datafile will be used as the basis for the incremetal.
WITH TAG [=] Used with FOR RECOVER OF COPY, specifies a tag to identify the level 0
’tag_name’ incremental backup to serve as the basis of the incremental. If no level 0 with
the tag specified in WITH TAG option is found, then FOR RECOVER OF COPY
option will create a level 0 datafile copy tagged with the value specified in the
WITH TAG option. BACKUP... FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG... is
key to backup strategies based on incrementally updated backups, as
described in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics and used in some
Enterprise Manager backup strategies.
DATAFILE COPY [=] Used with FOR RECOVER OF COPY, identifies the datafile copies to use as the
formatSpec basis for this incremental.
notBackedUpSpec
NOT BACKED UP Backs up only those files (of the files specified on the command) that RMAN
has never backed up. This option is a convenient way to back up new files
after adding them to the database.

BACKUP

SINCE TIME = 'date_ Specifies the date after which RMAN should back up files that have no
string' backups. The date_string is either a date in the current NLS_DATE_
FORMAT, or a SQL date expression such as 'SYSDATE-1'. When calculating
the number of backups for a file, RMAN only considers backups created on
the same device type as the current backup.
This option is a convenient way to back up files that were not backed up
during a previous failed backup. For example, you back up the database, but
the instance fails halfway through. You can restart the backup with the NOT
BACKED UP SINCE TIME clause and avoid backing up those files that you
already backed up. If AS BACKUPSET is set, then this feature is only useful if
RMAN generates multiple backup sets during the backup.
When determining whether a file has been backed up, the SINCE date is
compared with the completion time of the most recent backup. For BACKUP
AS BACKUPSET, the completion time for a file in a backup set is the
completion time of the entire backup set. In other words, all files in the same
backup set have the same completion time.
integer TIMES Backs up only those archived logs that have not been backed up at least
integer times. To determine the number of backups for a file, RMAN only
considers backups created on the same device type as the current backup.
This option is a convenient way to back up archived logs on a specified media
(for example, you want to keep at least three copies of each log on tape).
RMAN Commands 2-55

BACKUP
sizeSpec
integer [K|M|G] Specifies the size of data, such as a file, in kilobytes (K), megabytes (M) or
gigabytes (G).
skipSpec
SKIP Excludes datafiles or archived redo logs from the backup according to the
criteria specified by the following keywords.
Note: You can also specify this option in the backupSpec clause.
INACCESSIBLE Specifies that datafiles or archived redo logs that cannot be read due to I/O
errors should be excluded from the backup.
A datafile is only considered inaccessible if it cannot be read. Some offline
datafiles can still be read because they still exist on disk. Others have been
deleted or moved and so cannot be read, making them inaccessible.
OFFLINE Specifies that offline datafiles should be excluded from the backup.
READONLY Specifies that read-only datafiles should be excluded from the backup.
Examples
Backing Up a Database: Example This example assumes that CONFIGURE

CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP is OFF. The command backs up all datafiles to tape, as
well as the current control file, the server parameter file, and archived logs:
Scripting Incremental Backups: Example This example shows a series of scripts

that you can run to make regular incremental backups of the database:
# Run once a week to back up database to disk as level 0:
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 DATABASE;
# Run every day to back up blocks that have changed since most recent level 0 or 1:
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 CUMULATIVE DATABASE;
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 DIFFERENTIAL TABLESPACE users;
Performing a Cumulative Incremental Backup: Example This example backs up

all blocks changed in the database since the most recent level 0 backup:
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 CUMULATIVE SKIP INACCESSIBLE DATABASE;

BACKUP
Backing Up Tablespaces and Datafiles to Disk: Example This command uses two
backupSpec clauses to back up tablespaces and datafiles and lets RMAN perform
automatic parallelization of the backup:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL dev1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/%U';
BACKUP
(TABLESPACE SYSTEM, tools, users, undotbs MAXSETSIZE 5M)
(DATAFILE 2,4,5);
}
Backing Up Tablespaces and Datafiles to Disk: Example This command uses two
backupSpec clauses to back up tablespaces and datafiles and lets RMAN perform
automatic parallelization of the backup:
RUN
{
BACKUP AS COPY
(TABLESPACE SYSTEM, tools, users, undotbs MAXSETSIZE 5M)
(DATAFILE 2,4,5);
}
Backing Up Datafile Copies: Example This example finds three datafile copies
with the tag LATESTCOPY, copies them to directory /copies and names the copies
by means of subsitution variables:
BACKUP AS COPY
FROM TAG 'LATESTCOPY'
COPY OF DATAFILE 4, 6, 14
FORMAT '/copies/Datafile%f_Database%d';
Backing Up Archived Logs and Deleting the Input: Example This example
assumes that you have two archive destinations set: /arch1 and /arch2. The
command backs up one log for each unique sequence number and then deletes all
logs from both archiving directories.
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG LIKE '/arch%' DELETE ALL INPUT;
Backing Up Backup Sets to Tape: Example In this example, the goal is to keep
recent backup sets on disk and older backup sets on tape, and to avoid keeping
copies of the same backup set on disk and tape simultaneously. This command
RMAN Commands 2-57

BACKUP
backs up backup sets created more than two weeks ago to tape and then deletes the
backed-up backup pieces from disk:
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt BACKUPSET COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-14'
DELETE INPUT;
Specifying DEVICE TYPE on the BACKUP Command: Example This example

configures DISK as the default device type, then backs up the server parameter file
and all archived logs to tape:
# when disk is the default device and you do not specify a FORMAT parameter, then the
# default backup location is the flash recovery area (if configured) or
# a platform-specific default location (if not configured)
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt SPFILE ARCHIVELOG ALL;
Duplexing a Backup Set: Example This example duplexes a backup of datafile 1

(which includes the current control file and server parameter file) to separate disks:
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK
COPIES 2 DATAFILE 1
FORMAT '/disk1/df1_%U', '/disk2/df1_%U';
Specifying How Channels Divide Workload: Example This example parallelizes a

backup operation by specifying which channels should back up which files and to
which location:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS="ENV=(NSR_SERVER=tape_server_1)";
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch2 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch3 DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS="ENV=(NSR_SERVER=tape_server_2)";
BACKUP
(DATAFILE 1,2,3,4 # channel ch1 backs up datafiles to tape drive #1
CHANNEL ch1)
(CONTROLFILECOPY '/oracle/copy/cf.f'
CHANNEL ch2) # channel ch2 backs up control file copy to disk
(ARCHIVELOG FROM TIME 'SYSDATE-14'
CHANNEL ch3); # channel ch3 backs up archived redo logs to tape drive #2
}
Creating a Control File for a Standby Database: Example This example creates a
backup of the current control file that can be used to create a standby database:
BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE FOR STANDBY;

BACKUP
Checking for Corruption: Example This example backs up datafile 3 and specifies
that no more than two blocks with corruption should be tolerated:
RUN
{
SET MAXCORRUPT FOR DATAFILE 3 TO 2;
BACKUP CHECK LOGICAL
DATAFILE 3;
}
Making an Image Copy of a Database Copy: Example This example makes an

image copy of the database copy with tag TEST to the default destination, gives the
output copy the tag DUPTEST, and performs logical checking:
BACKUP AS COPY COPY OF DATABASE FROM TAG 'TEST' CHECK LOGICAL TAG 'DUPTEST';
Creating a Long-Term Database Backup: Example This example creates a

consistent backup of the database and server parameter file that is exempt from the
retention policy. The command instructs RMAN to keep the backup for the next
year, but not to keep the archived logs necessary to recover it:
SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
STARTUP MOUNT;
BACKUP DATABASE
KEEP UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE+365'
NOLOGS;
Exempting Copies from the Retention Policy: Example The following example
copies the control file and two datafiles and exempts them from the retention policy
forever. (Note that KEEP FOREVER requires a recovery catalog.)
rman TARGET / CATALOG rman/rman@rcat
RMAN> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
RMAN> STARTUP MOUNT;
RMAN> BACKUP AS COPY
KEEP FOREVER NOLOGS
CURRENT CONTROLFILE FORMAT '?/oradata/cf_longterm.cpy',
DATAFILE 1 FORMAT ’?/oradata/df1_longterm.cpy’,
DATAFILE 2 FORMAT ’?/oradata/df2_longterm.cpy’;
Backing Up Files That Need Backups: Example This example backs up all
datafiles that have not been backed up to tape in the last month, and then backs up
all archived logs that do not have at least two backups on tape:
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt DATABASE NOT BACKED UP SINCE TIME 'SYSDATE-31';
RMAN Commands 2-59

BACKUP
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt ARCHIVELOG ALL NOT BACKED UP 2 TIMES;
Using NODUPLICATES To Back Up Datafile Copies: Example This example

creates several duplicate datafiles, and then backs up only the most recent of the
duplicates:
RMAN> backup as copy datafile 10 format 'foo' tag my_tag;
RMAN> backup as copy datafilecopy 'foo' format 'bar';
RMAN> backup as copy datafilecopy 'bar' format 'foobar';
RMAN> backup as backupset datafilecopy all noduplicates; # backs up only ’foobar’
RMAN> backup as backupset datafilecopy all; # backs up all files
Backing Up a Noncurrent Server Parameter File: Example The following UNIX

example backs up an older version of the server parameter file. RMAN can only
back up the copy of the server parameter file currently in use by the target database:
# create temporary initialization parameter file that points to old SPFILE
echo "SPFILE=/tmp/old_spfile.ora" > /tmp/initTEMP.ora
rman TARGET /
# start database with old SPFILE
STARTUP FORCE PFILE=/tmp/initTEMP.ora
# backup old SPFILE
BACKUP SPFILE TAG "old_spfile.bak";
# restart database with current SPFILE
STARTUP FORCE;
EXIT

BLOCKRECOVER
BLOCKRECOVER
Syntax
blockrecover::=
blockrecover
,
=
DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier bmrOption
BLOCKRECOVER bmrBlockSpec ;
bmrBlockSpec::=
bmrBlockSpec
CORRUPTION LIST
,
DATAFILE datafileSpec BLOCK integer
,
TABLESPACE tablespace_name DBA integer
bmrOption::=
bmrOption
BACKUPSET
FROM
DATAFILECOPY
= ’ ’
FROM TAG tag_name
RESTORE untilClause
Purpose
Block media recovery recovers an individual data block or set of data blocks within
a datafile. This type of recovery is useful if the data loss or corruption applies to a
small number of blocks rather than to an entire datafile.
RMAN Commands 2-61

BLOCKRECOVER
You can also use block media recovery to validate the integrity of redo generated
after a backup. For example, you can do a trial-run block media recovery to detect
problems in the archived redo stream.
Typically, block corruption is reported in error messages in trace files. Block-level
data loss usually results from:
■ I/O errors causing minor data loss
■ Memory corruptions that get flushed to disk
You need to specify the datafile number and block number or the tablespace and
data block address (DBA) when executing the BLOCKRECOVER command, or use the
CORRUPTION LIST keyword to recover all blocks reported in the V$DATABASE_
BLOCK_CORRUPTION view.

■ This command is available only in the Enterprise Edition.
■ The target database must be mounted or open. You do not have to take a
datafile offline if you are performing block media recovery on it.
■ You can only perform complete media recovery of individual blocks.
Point-in-time recovery of individual data blocks is not supported.
■ You can only perform block media recovery on corrupt blocks.
■ Blocks marked media corrupt are not accessible until recovery completes.
■ You cannot perform block media recovery when using a backup control file.
■ You cannot use proxy backups to perform block media recovery. If the only
backups that you have are proxy backups, then you can restore them to a
nondefault location on disk, which causes RMAN to view the restored files as
datafile copies. You can then use the datafile copies for block media recovery.
■ You must have a full backup of the file containing the corrupt blocks: block
media recovery cannot use incremental backups.
■ If RMAN fails to access a specific archived redo log file needed for block media
recovery, it performs restore failover, trying all other backups listed in the
RMAN repository that are suitable for use in this operation, and only fails if no
suitable backup is available. See Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced
User's Guide for details on restore failover.

BLOCKRECOVER
■ Block media recovery cannot survive a missing or inaccessible archived log,

although it can sometimes survive missing or inaccessible records (Oracle
Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide).
■ The datafile header block (block 1) cannot be recovered.
■ You cannot perform block media recovery in NOARCHIVELOG mode.

blockrecover

DEVICE TYPE Specifies the device type for the backup used in the block recovery.
deviceSpecifier
bmrBlockSpec

bmrBlockSpec Specifies the data blocks that require recovery.
CORRUPTION LIST Recovers all blocks listed in the V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view.
This view displays blocks marked corrupt by the most recent BACKUP (with or
without the VALIDATE option), VALIDATE, or CREATE CATALOG command.
The following types of corruption result in rows added to this view:
■ Physical corruption (sometimes called media corruption). The database
does not recognize the block at all: the checksum is invalid, the block
contains all zeros, or the header and footer of the block do not match.
Physical corruption checking is on by default, and can be turned off with
the NOCHECKSUM option.
■ Logical corruption. The block has a valid checksum, the header and footer
match, and so forth, but the contents are logically inconsistent. Logical
corruption checking is off by default, and can be turned on with the
CHECK LOGICAL option.
DATAFILE Specifies a list of one or more datafiles that contain blocks requiring recovery.
datafileSpec
BLOCK integer Specifies the block number of the block requiring media recovery. Typically,
the block number is obtained from error message output.
TABLESPACE Specifies the tablespace name or number containing the corrupt blocks.
tablespace_name
RMAN Commands 2-63

BLOCKRECOVER

DBA integer Specifies the data block address (DBA) of the corrupt block.
bmrOption

bmrOption Specifies various restore options relating to the block recovery.
FROM BACKUPSET Indicates that only backup sets should be restored.
FROM DATAFILECOPY Indicates that only datafile image copies should be restored.
FROM TAG= Indicates that only the copy of the backup with the specified tag should be
'tag_name' restored. Tag names are not case sensitive.
See Also: "BACKUP" on page 2-28 to learn how a tag is applied to a copy of a
backup.
RESTORE Specifies that only backups and copies created before the specified time, SCN,
untilClause or log sequence number should be restored.
See Also: "untilClause" on page 2-281
Examples
Recovering a Group of Corrupt Blocks: Example This example recovers corrupt

blocks in three datafiles:
BLOCKRECOVER DATAFILE 2 BLOCK 12, 13 DATAFILE 3 BLOCK 5, 98, 99 DATAFILE 4 BLOCK 19;
Limiting Block Media Recovery by Type of Restore: Example The following

example recovers a series of blocks and restores only from datafile copies:
RUN
{
BLOCKRECOVER DATAFILE 3 BLOCK 2,3,4,5 TABLESPACE sales DBA 4194405, 4194409, 4194412
FROM DATAFILECOPY;
}
Limiting Block Media Recovery by Backup Tag: Example This example recovers
blocks and restores only from the backup with the tag weekly_backup:
BLOCKRECOVER TABLESPACE SYSTEM DBA 4194404, 4194405 FROM TAG "weekly_backup";

BLOCKRECOVER
Limiting Block Media Recovery by Time: Example The following example

recovers two blocks in the SYSTEM tablespace. It restores only from backups that
could be used to recover the database to a point two days ago:
BLOCKRECOVER TABLESPACE SYSTEM DBA 4194404, 4194405 RESTORE UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-2';
The following example

Repairing All Block Corruption in the Database: Example
runs a backup validation to populate V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION, then
repairs any corrupt blocks recorded in the view:
BACKUP VALIDATE DATABASE;
BLOCKRECOVER CORRUPTION LIST;
RMAN Commands 2-65

CATALOG
CATALOG
Syntax
catalog::=
catalog
ARCHIVELOG
, =
BACKUPPIECE LEVEL integer
’ filename ’
CONTROLFILECOPY
DATAFILECOPY
CATALOG ;
RECOVERY AREA
NOPROMPT
START WITH ’ string_pattern ’
Purpose
Use the CATALOG command to do the following:
■ Add metadata about a user-managed datafile copy, control file copy, archived
log or backup piece to the RMAN repository.
■ Record a datafile copy as a level 0 incremental backup in the RMAN repository,
which enables you to use it as part of an incremental backup strategy.
■ Record the existence of the last user-managed datafile copies made after the
final shutdown in Oracle7, before migrating the database to Oracle8.
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics to learn how
to manage target database records stored in the catalog

■ You must be connected to the target database, which must be mounted or open.
■ If RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog, then the catalog database must be
open.
■ For a user-managed copy to be cataloged, it must be:
– Accessible on disk.

CATALOG
– A datafile copy, control file copy, archived log, or backup piece.

RMAN treats all user-managed backups as image copies. Note that during
cataloging, RMAN does not check whether the file was correctly copied by the
operating system utility: it just checks the header.
■ You cannot catalog any datafile copies that were created in Oracle7 unless they
were made after the final consistent shutdown in Oracle7 and before running
the migration utility, or were made of a tablespace that was offline normal or
read-only at the time of the migration. In other words, no Oracle7 archived logs
must need to be applied to the backups to roll them forward.
■ You cannot use CATALOG to catalog a file that belongs to a different database.
■ You cannot use CATALOG to catalog a backup piece that exists on an sbt device.

ARCHIVELOG 'filename' Specifies the filename of an archived log to be added to or updated in the
RMAN repository.
BACKUPPIECE Specifies the name of a backup piece to be added to the RMAN repository. The
backup piece must be on disk. RMAN verifies the backup piece header before
cataloging it. RMAN can catalog a backup piece from a prior incarnation.
Typically, you would catalog a backup piece in the following situations:
■ You have copied a backup piece with an operating system utility. In this
case, the original backup piece is cataloged but the piece copy is not.
■ You want to move a backup piece from one disk to another under a
different absolute filename.
■ You run in NOCATALOG mode and must re-create the control file, thereby
losing all RMAN metadata.
If you specify a list of backup pieces, RMAN catalogs all pieces in the given
list even if one of them fails. Cataloging a backup piece creates a new row in
V$BACKUP_PIECE. A backup set is only usable when all backup pieces are
cataloged. Otherwise it would be in partially available state.
Note: When cataloging backup pieces from releases prior to Oracle9i,
performance improves when you catalog higher copy numbers first. For
example, if you need to catalog copies 1, 2, and 3 of a backup piece, then
specify copy 3 as the first item in the CATALOG list.
RMAN Commands 2-67

CATALOG

CONTROLFILECOPY Specifies the filename of a control file copy to be added to or updated in the
'filename' RMAN repository. The control file copy can be:
■ A copy of a normal control file (that is, not a standby control file) created
with the RMAN command BACKUP AS COPY CURRENT CONTROLFILE
command or the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE BACKUP
CONTROLFILE
■ A standby control file copy created with the RMAN command BACKUP
AS COPY STANDBY CONTROLFILE or the SQL statement ALTER
DATABASE CREATE STANDBY CONTROLFILE
DATAFILECOPY 'filename' Specifies the filename of a datafile copy to be added to or updated in the
RMAN repository.
LEVEL = 0 For datafile copies only, indicates that the copy should be recorded as a level 0
incremental backup. You can perform incremental backups by using this
datafile copy as the base level 0 backup.
(RECOVERY AREA | Catalogs all valid backup sets, datafile copies, and archived redo logs in the
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST) flash recovery area. RMAN must be connected to the target database and the
[ NOPROMPT ] target database must be mounted or open. Specify NOPROMPT if you do not
want to be prompted after every match. The keywords RECOVERY AREA and
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST are exact synonyms.
START WITH ’string_ Catalogs all valid backups in the specified location, which can be an
pattern’ Automatic Storage Management disk group, Oracle Managed Files directory,
or part of a filename. RMAN will report any files in the disk location that
[ NOPROMPT ]
cannot be cataloged. RMAN must be connected to the target database and the
target database must be mounted. Specify NOPROMPT if you do not want to be
prompted after every match.
If the string pattern specifies a filename, then it matches the left part of the
filename pattern. For example, /tmp/arc matches everything in directory
/tmp/arc_dest and /tmp/archive/january as well as a file
/tmp/arc.cpy.
Note: You cannot use wildcard characters.
Examples
Cataloging an Archived Redo Log: Example This example assumes that you
made operating system copies of archived logs or transferred them from another
location, and then added them to the RMAN repository:
CATALOG ARCHIVELOG '?/oradata/archive1_30.dbf', '?/oradata/archive1_31.dbf',
'?/oradata/archive1_32.dbf';

CATALOG
Cataloging a File Copy as an Incremental Backup: Example The following

example catalogs datafile copy users01.bak as an incremental level 0 backup:
CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '?/oradata/users01.bak' LEVEL 0;
Note that you can create datafile copies both with the RMAN BACKUP AS COPY
command and by using operating system utilities in conjunction with ALTER
TABLESPACE BEGIN/END BACKUP.
Cataloging Multiple Copies in a Directory: Example The following example

catalogs a directory full of archived logs that were copied into the /tmp/arch_
logs directory with an operating system utility:
CATALOG START WITH ’/tmp/arch_logs’;
Cataloging File in the Flash Recovery Area: Example The following example
catalogs all files in the currently enabled flash recovery area without prompting the
user for each one:
CATALOG RECOVERY AREA NOPROMPT;
Cataloging Backup Pieces: Example The following example catalogs a backup

piece that was copied with an operating system utility:
CATALOG BACKUPPIECE ’?/oradata/01dmsbj4_1_1.bcp’;
RMAN Commands 2-69

CHANGE
CHANGE
Syntax
change::=
change
AVAILABLE ,
=
keepOption DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
CHANGE maintSpec ;
UNAVAILABLE
UNCATALOG
maintSpec::=
maintSpec
OF listObjList
BACKUP
maintQualifier
OF listObjList
COPY
,
=
recordSpec
Purpose
To make the following changes:
■ Change the status of backups, copies, and archived logs in the repository to
AVAILABLE or UNAVAILABLE. This feature is useful when a previously
unavailable file is made available again, or you do not want a specific backup or
copy to be eligible to be restored but also do not want to delete it.
■ The CHANGE command can alter the repository status of usable backups and
copies from prior incarnations.

CHANGE
■ Remove catalog records for backups and copies, and update the corresponding
records in the target control file to status DELETED. This feature is useful when
you remove a file by using an operating system command rather than the
RMAN CHANGE command, and want to remove its repository record as well.
■ Specify that a backup or copy should either abide by the currently configured
retention policy or be exempt from it.
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics to change the
availability status of a backup or copy

■ The KEEP FOREVER clause requires use of a recovery catalog.
■ You cannot use CHANGE... UNAVAILABLE or KEEP attributes for files stored
in the flash recovery area.
■ The only CHANGE command that requires either a manual or automatic
maintenance channel is the CHANGE ... AVAILABLE command. However, a
maintenance channel is not required when CHANGE ... AVAILABLE is used
with a file that is disk only (that is, an ARCHIVELOG, DATAFILECOPY, or
CONTROLFILECOPY).
If you use CHANGE ... AVAILABLE on files that are not disk-only, and have
objects created on device types that are not configured for automatic channels,
then issue manual maintenance commands on these channels. For example, if
you created a backup on an sbt channel, but have only a DISK channel
automatically configured, then you must manually allocate an sbt channel
before CHANGE ... AVAILABLE can operate on the backup.

To obtain the primary keys of the records whose status you want to change, run a
LIST command or query the recovery catalog views.

maintSpec Specifies which files you want to CHANGE. Refer to "maintSpec" on page 2-189
for descriptions of the options in this caluse.
AVAILABLE Changes the status of a backup or copy to AVAILABLE in the repository. View
the status in the LIST output or recovery catalog views.
RMAN Commands 2-71

CHANGE

keepOption Changes the exemption status of a backup or copy in relation to the
configured retention policy. For example, specify CHANGE ... NOKEEP to
make a backup that is currently exempt from the retention policy eligible for
OBSOLETE status.
You can also specify KEEP in the backupSpec clause.
Note: You cannot use this option with flash recovery area files.
See Also: "keepOption" on page 2-161
UNAVAILABLE Changes the status of a backup or copy to UNAVAILABLE in the repository.
View the status in the LIST output or recovery catalog views. This option is
provided for cases when the file cannot be found or has migrated offsite.
RMAN does not use a file that is marked UNAVAILABLE in a RESTORE or
RECOVER command. If the file is later found or returns to the main site, then
use the AVAILABLE option to update its status.
UNCATALOG Removes references to a datafile copy, backup piece, or archived redo log from
the recovery catalog, and updates records in the target control file to status
DELETED. The CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command does not touch physical
backups and copies. Use this command to notify RMAN when a file is deleted
by some means other than a DELETE command.
Caution: If you resynchronize from a backup control file, or upgrade the
recovery catalog, then uncataloged records can sometimes reappear in the
catalog metadata.
DEVICE TYPE Executes the CHANGE for the specified device type only (see "deviceSpecifier"
deviceSpecifier on page 2-127). This option is valid only if you have configured automatic
channels and have not manually allocated channels. For example, if you run
CHANGE UNCATALOG ... DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN only uncatalogs
files on disk.
Examples
Updating Backups to Status UNAVAILABLE: Example This example changes the

status of backup set 100 as well as all backups of server parameter files created
more than a day ago to UNAVAILABLE:
CHANGE BACKUPSET 100 UNAVAILABLE;
CHANGE BACKUP OF SPFILE COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-1' UNAVAILABLE;
You do not need to allocate a maintenance channel.

CHANGE
Uncataloging and Cataloging Archived Logs: Example In this example, you move
all archived logs to a new directory, uncatalog them, and then recatalog them in the
new location:
HOST 'mv $ORACLE_HOME/oradata/trgt/arch/* /fs2/arch';
CHANGE ARCHIVELOG ALL UNCATALOG;
CATALOG START WITH ’/fs2/arch’;
Changing the Retention Status of a Backupset: Example This example, which

requires a recovery catalog, changes an ordinary backup into a long-term backup:
CHANGE BACKUP TAG 'consistent_db_bkup'
KEEP FOREVER NOLOGS;
RMAN Commands 2-73

cmdLine
cmdLine
Syntax
cmdLine::=
cmdLine
APPEND
=
AUXILIARY connectStringSpec
=
CATALOG connectStringSpec
=
CMDFILE
’ ’
@
filename
=
LOG
MSGNO
NOCATALOG
=
SEND ’ command ’
= ’
PIPE pipe_name ’
= ’
SCRIPT script_name
=
TARGET connectStringSpec
=
TIMEOUT integer
RMAN
Purpose
To start RMAN from the operating system command line. Use these arguments to:
■ Connect to the target, recovery catalog, or auxiliary database.

cmdLine
Note: On some platforms, you may not want to connect at the

operating system command line because the password is visible to
other users on the system. The CONNECT command is an alternative
method that avoids this problem.
■ Specify whether you are using RMAN without a recovery catalog.

■ Run a command file (text file containing commands) or stored script (from the
recovery catalog) on startup, and exit on completion, instead of starting an
interactive session.
■ Specify the file in which RMAN records the results of processed commands.
■ Append output to the existing RMAN log file.
■ Send a command to the media manager.
■ Cause RMAN to print message numbers in the RMAN output.
If you start RMAN without specifying either CATALOG or NOCATALOG on the
command line, then RMAN makes no connection to a repository. If you run a
command that requires the repository, and if no CONNECT CATALOG command has
been issued yet, then RMAN automatically connects in the default NOCATALOG
mode. After that point, the CONNECT CATALOG command is not valid in the session.
to connect RMAN to database instances

Use these arguments at the operating system command line rather than at the
RMAN prompt.

APPEND Causes new output to be appended to the end of the message log file. If you
do not specify this parameter, and if a file with the same name as the message
log file already exists, then RMAN overwrites it.
AUXILIARY = Specifies a connect string to an auxiliary database, for example, AUXILIARY
connectStringSpec SYS/change_on_install@dupdb.
See Also: "connectStringSpec" on page 2-102
RMAN Commands 2-75

cmdLine

CATALOG = Specifies a connect string to the database containing the recovery catalog, for
connectStringSpec example, CATALOG rman/rman@inst2.
CMDFILE = 'filename' Parses and compiles all RMAN commands in a file and then sequentially
executes each command in the file. RMAN exits if it encounters a syntax error
during the parse phase or if it encounters a runtime error during the execution
phase. If no errors are found, then RMAN exits after the job completes.
If the first character of the filename is alphabetic, then you can omit the quotes
around the filename. The contents of the command file should be identical to
commands entered at the RMAN prompt.
Note: If you run a command file at the RMAN prompt rather than as an
option on the operating system command line, then RMAN does not run the
file as a single job. RMAN reads each line sequentially and executes it, only
exiting when it reaches the last line of the script.
@filename Equivalent to CMDFILE.
LOG = 'filename' Specifies the file where RMAN records its output, that is, the commands that
were processed and their results. If you do not specify this argument, then
RMAN writes its message log file to standard output. The RMAN output is
also stored in the V$RMAN_OUTPUT view (a memory-only view for jobs in
progress) and in V$RMAN_STATUS (a control file view for completed jobs and
jobs in progress).
The LOG parameter does not cause RMAN to terminate if the specified file
cannot be opened. Instead, RMAN writes to standard output.
MSGNO Causes RMAN to print message numbers, that is, RMAN-xxxx, for the output
of all commands. By default, RMAN does not print the RMAN-xxxx prefix.
NOCATALOG Indicates that you are using RMAN without a recovery catalog.
Note: If you do not specify either CATALOG or NOCATALOG on the command
line, then RMAN defaults to NOCATALOG mode when it requires a repository
connection (assuming that you have not issued CONNECT CATALOG).
SEND = 'command' Sends a vendor-specific command string to all allocated channels.
See Also: Your media management documentation to determine whether this
feature is supported, and "SEND" on page 2-251

cmdLine

PIPE = 'pipe_name' Invokes the RMAN pipe interface. RMAN uses two public pipes: one for
receiving commands and the other for sending output. The names of the pipes
are derived from the value of the PIPE parameter. For example, you can
invoke the RMAN pipe interface with the following options: PIPE rpi
TARGET SYS/pwd@tdb.
RMAN opens the following pipes in the target database:
■ ORA$RMAN_RPI_IN, which RMAN uses to receive user commands
■ ORA$RMAN_RPI_OUT, which RMAN uses to send all output
All messages on both the input and output pipes are of type VARCHAR2.
how to pass commands to RMAN through a pipe
SCRIPT = 'script_name' Once connected to the target database and recovery catalog (which must be
specified using the TARGET and CATALOG options), RMAN will run the
named stored script from the recovery catalog against the target database. If
there are both a global script.and a local stored script on the target database
with the name script_name, RMAN will run the local script.
The single-quotes around the stored script name are required when the script
name either begins with a number or is an RMAN reserved word. You should
avoid creating script names that begin with a number or that match RMAN
reserved words.
See "CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113 for more details about stored scripts.
TARGET = Specifies a connect string to the target database, for example, TARGET
connectStringSpec SYS/mypassword@inst1.
TIMEOUT = integer Causes RMAN to exit automatically if it does not receive input from an input
pipe within integer seconds. The PIPE parameter must be specified when
using TIMEOUT.
how to pass commands to RMAN through a pipe
Examples
Connecting Without a Recovery Catalog: Example This example connects to the

target database prod1 without a recovery catalog:
% rman TARGET SYS/oracle@inst1 NOCATALOG
RMAN Commands 2-77

cmdLine
Connecting in Default NOCATALOG Mode: Example This example connects to the

target database prod1 without specifying catalog options. Because CONNECT
CATALOG is not run at the RMAN prompt, RMAN connects in default NOCATALOG
mode when the first command requiring a repository connection is run:
% rman
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET
RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE;
Connecting to an Auxiliary Instance: Example This example connects to target

database prod1, recovery catalog database rcat, and auxiliary instance aux1:
% rman TARGET SYS/sys_pwd@prod1 CATALOG rman/rman@rcat AUXILIARY sys/aux_pwd@aux1
Specifying a Command File: Example This example connects to the target

database prod1 and the recovery catalog database rcat, and then runs the
command file b_whole_10.rcv:
% rman TARGET SYS/sys_pwd@prod1 CATALOG rman/rman@rcat @'/oracle/dbs/b_whole_l0.rcv'
Specifying a Stored Script: Example This example connects to the target database
prod1 and the recovery catalog database rcat, and then runs the stored script
full_backup:
% rman TARGET SYS/sys_pwd@prod1 CATALOG rman/rman@rcat SCRIPT full_backup
Specifying a Message Log in Append Mode: Example This example connects to

the target database prod1 without a recovery catalog and then specifies that
RMAN should append messages to the message log:
% rman TARGET / NOCATALOG LOG = $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/log/msglog.f APPEND
Invoking the RMAN Pipe Interface: Example This example invokes the RMAN
pipe newpipe with a 90 second timeout option:
% rman PIPE newpipe TARGET SYS/oracle@inst1 TIMEOUT = 90

completedTimeSpec
completedTimeSpec
Syntax
completedTimeSpec::=
completedTimeSpec
=
AFTER ’ date_string ’
=
COMPLETED
BEFORE ’ date_string ’
BETWEEN ’ date_string ’ AND ’ date_string ’
Purpose
A subclause that specifies when a backup or copy completed.

All date strings must be either:
■ Formatted according to the Global Technology date format specification
currently in effect.
■ Created by a SQL expression that returns a DATE value, as in the following
examples:
– 'SYSDATE-30'
– TO_DATE('09/30/2000 08:00:00','MM/DD/YY HH24:MI:SS').
The TO_DATE technique specifies dates independently of the current Global
Technology environment variable settings.
Note: In Oracle8i, the FROM/UNTIL ... TIME syntax in the LIST,

CROSSCHECK, and DELETE commands was replaced with
completedTimeSpec. If you are adapting an RMAN script from
before Oracle8i for use in the current release, then you must update
these commands for the script to work correctly.
RMAN Commands 2-79

completedTimeSpec

AFTER 'date_string' Specifies the time after which the backup was completed.
BEFORE 'date_string' Specifies the time before which the backup was completed.
BETWEEN 'date_string' AND Specifies a time range during which the backup was completed. Note that
'date_string' BETWEEN 'date1' AND 'date2' is exactly equivalent to AFTER 'date1' BEFORE
'date2'.
Examples
Crosschecking Backups Within a Time Range: Example This example

crosschecks the backup sets of the database made last month:
CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF DATABASE COMPLETED BETWEEN 'SYSDATE-62' AND 'SYSDATE-31';
Deleting Expired Backups: Example This example deletes expired backup sets of
datafile 1 made in the last two weeks:
DELETE EXPIRED BACKUP OF DATAFILE 1 COMPLETED AFTER 'SYSDATE-14';
Listing Copies: Example This example lists image copies of datafile

?/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf made before September 27, 2001:
LIST COPY OF DATAFILE '?/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'
COMPLETED BEFORE '27-SEP-01';

CONFIGURE
CONFIGURE
Syntax
configure::=
configure
APPLIED ON STANDBY
TO
ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY NONE
CLEAR
CLEAR
AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE datafileSpec
TO ’ filename ’
CONFIGURE backupConf ;
cfauConf
deviceConf
CLEAR
SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME
TO ’ filename ’
RMAN Commands 2-81

CONFIGURE
backupConf::=
backupConf
ARCHIVELOG = CLEAR
BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
DATAFILE TO integer
CLEAR
BACKUP OPTIMIZATION OFF
ON
CLEAR
EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE tablespace_name
CLEAR
MAXSETSIZE sizeSpec
TO
UNLIMITED
CLEAR
RETENTION POLICY NONE

RECOVERY WINDOW OF integer DAYS
TO
=
REDUNDANCY integer
cfauConf::=
cfauConf
CLEAR
= CLEAR
FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP TO formatSpec
OFF
ON

CONFIGURE
deviceConf::=
deviceConf
AUXILIARY integer = allocOperandList
CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
CLEAR
CLEAR
DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE
TO deviceSpecifier
CLEAR
= COMPRESSED
DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier BACKUPSET
BACKUP TYPE TO
COPY
PARALLELISM integer
Purpose
To configure persistent settings affecting RMAN backup, restore, duplication, and
maintenance jobs. These configurations are in effect for any RMAN session until the
configuration is cleared or changed.
Use CONFIGURE to set the following:
■ An ongoing retention policy that automatically determines which backups and
copies are eligible for deletion because they are no longer needed
■ The device type (for example, DISK or sbt) for RMAN jobs
■ The default number of channels of each device type that RMAN should allocate
for automated backup and restore jobs
■ The settings for automatic channels for a specified device type
■ The maximum size of backup pieces and sets created on automatic channels
■ Backup optimization either ON or OFF
■ The exclusion policy for tablespaces in whole database backups
■ The filename of the snapshot control file
■ Filenames for files in an auxiliary database
■ The control file autobackup feature to ON or OFF
■ The default format for the control file autobackup output files
RMAN Commands 2-83

CONFIGURE
RMAN uses default settings for CONFIGURE options. You can return to the default
value for any CONFIGURE command by running the same command with the
CLEAR option.
to configure the RMAN environment

■ Execute this command at the RMAN prompt. CONFIGURE cannot be used
within a RUN block.
■ The target database must be mounted or open.
■ Channels allocated with ALLOCATE CHANNEL override any configured
automatic channels.
■ RMAN does not simultaneously allocate automatic channels for multiple device
types in BACKUP command.
■ To direct backups or restores to specific channels, use the RMAN-generated
channel names. If you specify channel numbers in the CONFIGURE CHANNEL
command, then RMAN uses the same numbers in the system-generated
channel names.
■ If you configure channels by using the nondefault CONNECT or PARMS options
to create backups or copies, then you must either use the same configured
channels or manually allocate channels with the same options to restore or
crosscheck these backups.
■ You cannot exclude the SYSTEM tablespace from whole database backups.
■ The REDUNDANCY and RECOVERY WINDOW options are mutually exclusive. Only
one type of retention policy can be in effect at any time.
■ You cannot clear individual parameters when running CONFIGURE ... CLEAR.
For example, you can run CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt CLEAR but
not CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt MAXPIECESIZE 5M CLEAR.
■ The channel number in a manually numbered channel must be less than 255.
■ You must specify at least one channel option when running CONFIGURE
CHANNEL. In other words, you cannot issue a command such as CONFIGURE
CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE DISK, but you can issue a command such as
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE DISK MAXPIECESIZE 2500K.

CONFIGURE
■ The CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT format string must

include the %F substitution variable. It cannot contain any other substitution
variable.
RMAN Commands 2-85

CONFIGURE
■ With Oracle Database Release 10g in a Data Guard environment, configurations

can be set for standby databases as well as primary databases. All
configurations except for retention policy, tablespace exclude and auxiliary
names can be set to node-specific values. This means that the primary and
standby databases can have different channel configurations, autobackup
locations, and so on.

CONFIGURE

configure
ARCHIVELOG DELETION Governs archived redo log deletion policy for the flash recovery area. Possible
POLICY TO [ settings are:
APPLIED ON STANDBY |
■ APPLIED ON STANDBY - enables flash recovery area to delete
NONE |
archivelogs that are applied on mandatory standby. See Oracle Data Guard
CLEAR
Concepts and Administration for details.
]
■ NONE - enables flash recovery area to delete archivelogs that are backed
up to tertiary device and that are obsolete based on the configured
backup retention policy. This is the default configuration.
■ CLEAR - clears the deletion policy and returns the specified configuration
to default value. The default value is NONE.
AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE Configures the auxiliary filename for the specified target datafile to
datafileSpec TO 'filename'. For example, you can set the auxiliary name for datafile 2 to
'filename' /df2.f, and then unspecify this auxiliary name by running CONFIGURE
AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE 2 CLEAR.
If you are performing TSPITR or running the DUPLICATE command, then by
setting AUXNAME you can preconfigure the filenames for use on the auxiliary
database without manually specifying the auxiliary filenames during the
procedure.
For example, use this command during TSPITR if the datafiles are on raw disk
and you need to restore auxiliary datafiles to raw disk for performance
reasons. Typically, you set the AUXNAME parameter in TSPITR for the datafiles
of the SYSTEM tablespace and the tablespaces containing rollback segments.
Do not overlay files which are in use by the production database and can be
discarded after TSPITR completes. In essence, the AUXNAME of a datafile is the
location where TSPITR can create a temporary copy of it.
When renaming files with the DUPLICATE command, CONFIGURE AUXNAME
is an alternative to SET NEWNAME. The difference is that after you set the
AUXNAME the first time, you do not need to reset the filename when you issue
another DUPLICATE command: the AUXNAME setting remains in effect until
you issue CONFIGURE AUXNAME ... CLEAR. In contrast, you must reissue the
SET NEWNAME command every time you rename files.
how to perform RMAN TSPITR, and Oracle Database Backup and Recovery
Advanced User's Guide to learn how to duplicate a database with RMAN
backupConf Configures default backup options such as duplexing, optimization, excluding
tablespaces, backup set sizes, and retention policies.
cfauConf Configures control file autobackup settings
RMAN Commands 2-87

CONFIGURE

deviceConf Configures default backup settings for devices, such as the default backup
device, channel configurations for devices, default backup types for each
device, and parallelism.
SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME Configures the snapshot control file filename to 'filename'. If you run
[ TO 'filename' | CLEAR ] CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME CLEAR, then RMAN sets the
snapshot control file name to its default.
The default value for the snapshot control file name is platform-specific and
dependent on the Oracle home. For example, the default on some UNIX
system is ?/dbs/[email protected]. If you clear the control file name, and you
change the Oracle home, then the default location of the snapshot control file
changes as well.
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide for more
information about snapshot control files

CONFIGURE
backupConf
{ARCHIVELOG | DATAFILE} Specifies the number of copies of each backup set for DATAFILE (both
BACKUP COPIES datafiles and control files) or ARCHIVELOG files on the specified device type,
FOR DEVICE TYPE [=] from 1 (default) to 4. If duplexing is specified in the BACKUP command or in a
deviceSpecifier SET BACKUP COPIES command, then the CONFIGURE setting is overridden.
[CLEAR |TO integer]
Note: Control file autobackups on disk are a special case and are never
duplexed. RMAN always writes one and only copy.
Note: RMAN raises an error if you try to duplex backups to the flash recovery
area. You cannot duplex backups to the flash recovery area.
BACKUP OPTIMIZATION Toggles backup optimization ON or OFF (default). Specify CLEAR to return
[CLEAR | OFF | ON ] optimization to its default value of OFF.
Optimization does not back up a file to a device type if the identical file is
already backed up on the device type. For two files to be identical, their
content must be exactly the same. You can override backup optimization by
using the FORCE option of the BACKUP command.
RMAN does not signal an error if optimization causes all files to be skipped
during a backup. Note that BACKUP ... DELETE INPUT deletes all specified
files whether or not optimization would skip these files during a backup.
Backup optimization is enabled when all of the following conditions are met:
■ The CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON command has been run.
■ You run BACKUP DATABASE, BACKUP ARCHIVELOG with ALL or LIKE
options, or BACKUP BACKUPSET ALL.
■ The RMAN job uses a channel of only one device type.
The retention policy has an effect on which files backup optimization skips.
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide for a
description of how RMAN determines that it can skip the backup of a file
EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE Excludes the specified tablespace from BACKUP DATABASE commands. Note
tablespace_name that you cannot exclude the SYSTEM tablespace. By default, each tablespace is
[ CLEAR ] not excluded, that is, the exclude functionality is disabled. The exclusion is
stored as an attribute of the tablespace, not the individual datafiles, so the
exclusion applies to any files that are added to this tablespace in the future. If
you run CONFIGURE ... CLEAR on a tablespace after excluding it, then it
returns to the default configuration of "not excluded."
You can still back up the configured tablespace by explicitly specifying it in a
BACKUP command or by specifying the NOEXCLUDE option on a BACKUP
DATABASE command.
RMAN Commands 2-89

CONFIGURE

MAXSETSIZE [ Specifies the maximum size of each backup set created on a channel. By
CLEAR | TO default MAXSETSIZE is set to UNLIMITED, meaning that it is disabled.
[ sizeSpec |
Note: This option is ignored by BACKUP AS COPY.
UNLIMITED ]
RETENTION POLICY Specifies a persistent, ongoing policy for datafile and control file backups and
copies that RMAN marks as obsolete, that is, not needed and eligible for
deletion. As time passes, RMAN marks backups and copies as obsolete
according to the criteria you specify in the retention policy. RMAN does not
automatically delete any backups or copies: manually run the DELETE
OBSOLETE command to remove obsolete files. By default, RETENTION
POLICY is configured to REDUNDANCY 1.
For backups, the basic unit of the retention policy is a backup set (not a
backup piece) or image copy. For example, BACKUP AS BACKUPSET COPIES 4
TABLESPACE users generates a single backup set that is duplexed into four
identical backup pieces. The retention policy considers this as one backup, not
four separate backups.
CLEAR Resets the retention policy to its default (REDUNDANCY = 1).
TO RECOVERY WINDOW Specifies a time window in which RMAN should be able to recover the
OF database. The window stretches from the current time (SYSDATE) to the point
integer DAYS of recoverability, which is the earliest date to which you want to recover. The
point of recoverability is SYSDATE - integer days in the past.
TO REDUNDANCY Specifies that RMAN should retain integer backups or copies of each
integer datafile and control file. If more than integer backups or copies exist,
RMAN marks these extra files as obsolete. Then, RMAN determines the oldest
of the retained backups and copies, and marks all archived logs and log
backups older than this backup or copy as obsolete. The DELETE OBSOLETE
command removes obsolete backups and copies as well as archived log
backups and copies.
TO NONE Disables the retention policy feature. RMAN does not consider any backups or
copies as obsolete.

CONFIGURE
cfauConf
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP Controls the control file autobackup feature. By default, this feature is not
enabled.
CLEAR Returns the feature to its default setting of OFF.
FORMAT FOR DEVICE Configures the default filename format for the control file autobackup on the
TYPE specified device type. If a flash recovery area is enabled, then RMAN creates
deviceSpecifier [ the disk autobackup in the flash recovery area. Otherwise, RMAN creates it in
CLEAR | an operating system specific location (?/dbs on Unix and Windows).
TO formatSpec
By default, the initial format is %F for all devices. Any default format string
]
specified with CONFIGURE must include the %F substitution variable.
%F is the only legal substitution variable for use in a control file autobackup
format. Use of any other substitution variable is an error.
Specify CLEAR to return the format to the default %F.
The formatSpec can specify an Automatic Storage Management disk group.
The following example configures a channel for an ASM disk group:
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO ’+dgroup1’;
See Also: "formatSpec" on page 2-154, for the semantics of the %F substitution
variable.
OFF Disables the autobackup feature. (OFF is the default value.) When this
command is OFF, any BACKUP command that includes datafile 1 (including
BACKUP DATABASE) automatically includes the current control file and server
parameter file in the backup set. Otherwise, RMAN does not include these
files.
RMAN Commands 2-91

CONFIGURE

ON If CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP is ON (by default it is OFF), then
RMAN performs a control file autobackup in the following circumstances:
■ After every BACKUP or CREATE CATALOG command issued at the RMAN
prompt.
■ Whenever a BACKUP command within a RUN block is followed by a
command that is not BACKUP.
■ At the end of every RUN block if the last command in the block was
BACKUP.
■ After database structural changes such as adding a new tablespace,
altering the state of a tablespace or datafile (for example, bringing it
online), adding a new online redo log, renaming a file, adding a new redo
thread, and so forth. This type of autobackup, unlike autobackups that
occur in the preceding circumstances, goes only to disk. You can run
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK to set
a nondefault disk location.
The first channel allocated during the backup or copy job creates the
autobackup and places it into its own backup set; for post-structural
autobackups, the default disk channel makes the backup. RMAN writes the
control file and the server parameter file to the same backup piece. After the
control file autobackup completes, the database writes a message containing
the complete path of the backup piece and the device type to the alert log.
The default location for the autobackup on disk is the flash recovery area (if
configured) or a platform-specific location (if not configured). RMAN
automatically backs up the current control file using the default format of %F
(refer to entry for CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT for an
explanation of this substitution variable). You can change the location and
filename format with the CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT
and SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT commands.

CONFIGURE
deviceConf
[AUXILIARY] CHANNEL Specifies the standard or AUXILIARY channel that you are configuring or
[ integer ] DEVICE TYPE clearing, as well as the device type (DISK or sbt) of the channel. Either
deviceSpecifier configure a generic channel or specify a channel number, where integer is
less than 255.
If you configure a generic channel (that is, if you do not specify a channel
number), then RMAN uses the generic settings for every parallelized channel
except any channel number that you have explicitly configured. A generic
channel setting specifies options for all channels not configured explicitly.
For generic channels of a specified device type, a new command erases
previous settings for this device type. Assume that you run these commands:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt MAXPIECESIZE 1G;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt FORMAT ’bkup_%U’;
The second command erases the MAXPIECESIZE setting of the first command.
If AUXILIARY is specified, then this configuration is used only for channels
allocated at the auxiliary instance. Specify configuration information for
auxiliary channels if they require different parameters from the channels
allocated at the target instance. If no auxiliary device configuration is
specified, then RMAN configures any auxiliary channels using the target
database device configuration.
how configure automatic channels specified by channel number
allocOperandList Specifies control options for the allocated channel. Note that the FORMAT
parameter can specify an Automatic Storage Management disk group. The
following example configures a channel for an ASM disk group:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT ’+dgroup1’;
CLEAR Clears the specified channel. For example, CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE
TYPE DISK CLEAR returns only channel 1 to its default, whereas CONFIGURE
CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR returns the generic disk channel to its
default. Note that you cannot specify any other channel options (for example,
PARMS) when you specify CLEAR.
RMAN Commands 2-93

CONFIGURE

DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE [ Specifies the default device type for automatic channels. By default, DISK is
TO deviceSpecifier | the default device type. CLEAR returns the default device type to DISK.
CLEAR
By default, the BACKUP command only allocates channels of the default device
]
type. For example, if you configure automatic channels for DISK and sbt and
set the default device type to DISK, then RMAN only allocates disk channels
when you run the BACKUP DATABASE command. You can override this
behavior either by manually allocating channels in a RUN command, or by
specifying DEVICE TYPE on the BACKUP command itself.
The RESTORE command allocates automatic channels of all configured device
types, regardless of the default device type. The RESTORE command obeys the
PARALLELISM setting for each configured device type.
DEVICE TYPE [ = ] Specifies the device type (disk or sbt) to which to apply the settings specified
deviceSpecifier in this CONFIGURE command.
CLEAR Resets backup type and parallelism settings for this device to their defaults..
BACKUP TYPE TO [ Configures the default backup type for disk or tape backups to either
COPY | BACKUPSET, COMPRESSED BACKUPSET or COPY.
[ COMPRESSED ]
For sbt devices the COPY option is not supported.
BACKUPSET]
The default for DISK is BACKUPSET.
If the backup type is set to BACKUPSET, the BACKUP command always
produces backup sets regardless of which media the backup is produced on.
With the COMPRESSED option, the backupsets produced will use binary
compression.
The default location for disk backups is the flash recovery area, if one is
configured; otherwise, backups are stored in a platform-specific location (for
Unix and Windows, this is $ORACLE_HOME/dbs). The default format for
backup filenames is %U.

CONFIGURE

PARALLELISM Configures the device types that are eligible for use in jobs that use automatic
integer channels and sets the degree of channel parallelism (DISK is the default).
The PARALLELISM parameter sets the number of automatic channels of the
specified device type allocated for RMAN jobs. RMAN always allocates the
number of channels set by PARALLELISM, although it may use only a subset
of these channels.
By default, PARALLELISM = 1. Specifying CLEAR for a device type resets its
settings to the default. For example, you can set PARALLELISM for disk
backups to 3. If you configure automatic channels of type disk and tape, and
set the default device type as disk, then RMAN allocates three disk channels
when you run BACKUP DATABASE at the RMAN prompt.
To change the parallelism for a device type to n, run a new CONFIGURE
DEVICE TYPE ... PARALLELISM n command. For example, you can change
configure PARALLELISM to 3 for sbt and then change it to 2 as follows:
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 3;
Note: If you configure n manually numbered channels, the PARALLELISM
setting can be greater than or less than n. For example, you can manually
number 10 automatic channels and configure PARALLELISM to 2 or 12.
Examples
Configuring Backup Optimization: Example This example configures RMAN so

that the BACKUP command does not back up files to a device type if the identical file
has already been backed up to the device type:
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
Configuring a Retention Policy: Example This example configures a retention

policy with a recovery window of 2 weeks, and then resets the retention policy to its
default value of REDUNDANCY = 1:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 14 DAYS;
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY CLEAR;
Configuring Automatic Disk and Tape Channels: Example This example

configures generic DISK and sbt channels, sets the default device type to sbt, and
sets PARALLELISM to 3:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT ’/?/%U’;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(NSR_SERVER=bksrv1)';
RMAN Commands 2-95

CONFIGURE
Overriding the Default Device Type: Example This example configures the default
device type to sbt, backs up the archived logs on the default sbt channel, and then
backs up the database to disk on the default disk channel:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS 'ENV=(NSR_SERVER=bksrv1)';
Configuring Automatic Channels Across File Systems: Example This example

configures automatic disk channels across three file systems:
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 3;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/backup/%U';
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG;
Configuring Automatic Channels in an Oracle Real Application Clusters

Configuration: Example This example allocates automatic sbt channels for two
nodes of an Oracle Real Application Clusters database:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE sbt CONNECT 'SYS/change_on_install@node1'
PARMS 'ENV=(NSR_SERVER=bkserv1)';
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE sbt CONNECT 'SYS/change_on_install@node2'
PARMS ENV=(NSR_SERVER=bkserv2)';
Clearing Automatic Channels: Example This example clears manually numbered

DISK channels 2 and 3 and the generic sbt channel:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 3 DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt CLEAR;
Configuring and Clearing Parallelism: Example This example sets DISK

parallelism to 2, then changes it to 3, then returns it to the default parallelism of 1:
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK CLEAR;
Configuring Backup Copies: Example This example configures duplexing to 3 for

DISK backups of datafiles and control files (control file autobackups on disk are a

CONFIGURE
special case and are never duplexed) and then runs a database backup, specifying
three different file systems for the copies:
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 3;
BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK DATABASE
FORMAT '/disk1/backup/%U', '/disk2/backup/%U', '/disk3/backup/%U';
Configuring the Snapshot Control File Location: Example This example

configures a new location for the snapshot control file and then resynchronizes the
recovery catalog.
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '?/oradata/snap.cf';
Excluding a Tablespace from a Whole Database Backup: Example This example

excludes the example tablespace from whole database backups, then returns the
tablespace to its default value of "not excluded":
CONFIGURE EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE example;
CONFIGURE EXCLUDE CLEAR;
Specifying Auxiliary Filenames: Example This example duplicates a database to a

remote host with a different directory structure, by using CONFIGURE AUXNAME to
specify new filenames for the datafiles:
# set auxiliary names for the datafiles
CONFIGURE AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE 1 TO '/oracle/auxfiles/aux_1.f';
RUN
{
ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL dupdb1 TYPE DISK;
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO dupdb
LOGFILE
GROUP 1 ('?/dbs/dupdb_log_1_1.f',
'?/dbs/dupdb_log_1_2.f') SIZE 200K,
GROUP 2 ('?/dbs/dupdb_log_2_1.f',
'?/dbs/dupdb_log_2_2.f') SIZE 200K REUSE;
}
# Un-specify the auxiliary names for the datafiles so that they are not overwritten
# by mistake:
CONFIGURE AUXNAME FOR DATAFILE 1 CLEAR;
RMAN Commands 2-97

CONFIGURE
Specifying the Default Format for the Control File Autobackup: Example This
example turns on the autobackup feature, then changes the default format for the
DISK and sbt devices, then clears the autobackup setting:
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '?/oradata/%F';
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO 'cf_auto_%F';
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP CLEAR; # returns to default setting of OFF

CONNECT
CONNECT
Syntax
connect::=
connect
CONNECT AUXILIARY ;
connectStringSpec
CONNECT CATALOG
connectStringSpec ;
CONNECT TARGET
Purpose
To establish a connection between RMAN and a target, auxiliary, or recovery
catalog database.
Note: When connecting from the command line, the password

may be visible to other users on the system. The CONNECT
command avoids this problem.
See Also: "cmdLine" on page 2-74 for command line connection

options

■ You can only run the CONNECT TARGET, CONNECT CATALOG, and CONNECT
AUXILIARY commands if you are at the RMAN prompt and if you are not
already connected to the specified databases.
■ If you need to connect to a different target, catalog, or auxiliary database, then
you must start a new RMAN session.
■ You cannot use the CONNECT CATALOG command when RMAN is in the
default NOCATALOG mode, that is, when these conditions are met:
– You started RMAN without specifying either CATALOG or NOCATALOG.
RMAN Commands 2-99

CONNECT
– You have already run a command such as BACKUP that requires a

repository connection.

CONNECT AUXILIARY Establishes a connection between RMAN and an auxiliary instance. You can
connectStringSpec use an auxiliary instance with the DUPLICATE command or during TSPITR.
CONNECT CATALOG Establishes a connection between RMAN and the recovery catalog database.
connectStringSpec You must run this command before running any command that requires a
repository. Otherwise, RMAN defaults to NOCATALOG mode and invalidates
the use of CONNECT CATALOG in the session.
CONNECT TARGET Establishes a connection between RMAN and the target database.
connectStringSpec
Examples
Connecting Without a Recovery Catalog: Example This example starts RMAN

and then connects to the target database with an Oracle Net service name prod1:
% rman NOCATALOG
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET sys/change_on_install@prod1;
Connecting in the Default NOCATALOG Mode: Example This example starts

RMAN and then connects to the target through Oracle Net. Because BACKUP is run
and no CONNECT CATALOG has been run, RMAN defaults to NOCATALOG mode:
% rman
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET sys/change_on_install@prod1;
RMAN> BACKUP DATAFILE 7;
# You cannot run CONNECT CATALOG after this point because RMAN has defaulted to NOCATALOG
Connecting with a Recovery Catalog: Example This example starts RMAN and
then connects to the target database prod1 by using operating system
authentication and the recovery catalog database rcat by using a password file:
% rman
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET /
RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG rman/rman@rcat

CONNECT
Connecting to Target, Recovery Catalog, and Duplicate Databases: Example This

example connects to three databases specifying a username and password for each:
% rman
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET SYS/sysdba@prod1
RMAN> CONNECT AUXILIARY SYS/sysdba@dupdb
RMAN Commands 2-101

connectStringSpec
connectStringSpec
Syntax
connectStringSpec::=
connectStringSpec
password
’ userid / @ net_service_name ’
Purpose
A subclause specifying the username, password, and net service name for
connecting to a target, recovery catalog, or auxiliary database. The connection is
necessary to authenticate the user and identify the database.

■ You must have SYSDBA privileges on the target and auxiliary databases.
■ Do not connect to the recovery catalog database as user SYS.

/ If you do not specify a user ID or password when connecting to the target
database, then a forward slash establishes a connection as user SYS by using
operating system authentication. For example, enter the following to connect
to the target database:
% rman TARGET /
Note: The forward slash depends on platform-specific environment variables.
userid Establishes a connection to the database for the specified user. If you do not
specify a password, RMAN obtains the password interactively by displaying a
prompt. The characters will not be echoed to the terminal.
You must have SYSDBA authority when connecting to the target or auxiliary
database, but must not connect as SYS to the recovery catalog database.
Note: The connect string must not contain any white space, but it can contain
punctuation characters such as a forward slash (/) and an at sign (@).

connectStringSpec

/password Establishes a connection for the specified user by using a password. If the
target database is not open, then a password file must exist.
@net_service_name Establishes a connection to the database through an optional Oracle Net net
service name.
Examples
Connecting Without a Recovery Catalog: Example This example connects to the

target database by using a password and the Oracle Net service name prod1 in the
default NOCATALOG mode:
% rman TARGET SYS/change_on_install@prod1
Entering the Password Interactively: Example This example connects to the target
database as user SYS but without specifying a password at the command line:
% rman TARGET SYS
Recovery Manager: Release 10.1.0.2.0 - Production
Copyright (c) 1995, 2003, Oracle. All rights reserved.
target database Password:
Connecting with Operating System Authentication: Example This example starts

RMAN and then connects to the target database prod1 by using operating system
authentication and the recovery catalog database rcat using a net service name:
% rman
RMAN> CONNECT TARGET /
Connecting to a Target Database, Recovery Catalog, and Auxiliary Instance:

Example This example connects to three different databases from the command
line, specifying a username, password, and net service name for each:
% rman TARGET SYS/pwd1@prod1 CATALOG rman/rman@rcat AUXILIARY SYS/pwd2@dupdb
RMAN Commands 2-103

CONVERT
CONVERT
Syntax
convert::=
convert
,
DATAFILE ’ filename ’
,
CONVERT convertOptionList ;
’ ’
convertOptionList::=
convertOptionList
=
FORMAT formatSpec
=
FROM PLATFORM ’ platform ’
=
PARALLELISM integer
=
TO PLATFORM ’ platform ’
Purpose
To quickly transport a tablespace across different platforms. Important uses of the
command include:
■ Content providers can publish structured data as transportable tablespaces and
distribute it to customers who can easily and efficiently integrate this data into
their Oracle databases, regardless of their chosen platform.
■ Data from a large data warehouse server can be distributed to data marts on
smaller computers (for example, Windows NT workstations).

CONVERT
■ Read-only tablespaces can be shared across a heterogeneous cluster.
Note: The CONVERT command is only one part of a multiple-step

process for transporting tablespaces across platforms. The full
process is described in Oracle Database Administrator's Guide. You
should refer to that document before attempting to transport a
tablespace across platforms.

■ Both source and destination databases must be running with initialization
parameter COMPATIBLE set to 10.0 or higher.
■ A tablespace must have been made read-write at least once in Release 10g
before it can be transported to another platform. Hence, any read-only
tablespaces (or currently existing transported tablespaces) that exist from an
earlier release must be first made read-write before they can be transported to a
different platform.
■ RMAN does not process user datatypes that require endian conversions. If you
need to transport objects built on underlying types that store data in a
platform-specific format, then use the Data Pump Import and Export utilities.
■ Query V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM to determine the platforms supported
by the CONVERT command. Cross-platform tablespace transport is only
supported when both the source and destination platforms are contained in this
view.
In Release 10g, the CONVERT command is required when transporting between
platforms for which the value in V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM.ENDIAN_
FORMAT is different. When transporting between platforms for which the
ENDIAN_FORMAT column is the same, you can either use the CONVERT
command to move the file, or copy the file from the source to the destination
with operating system utilities. If the destination host uses ASM storage, you
must use CONVERT to move the data into ASM. Operating system utilities
cannot be used to move data into ASM.
■ The CONVERT command can be run either on the source host or the destination
host. When converting on the source host, CONVERT... TO is used to identify
the destination platform (and the source platform is, implicitly, the platform of
the source host). When converting on the destination host, use CONVERT...
FROM to identify the source platform (and the destination platform is, implicitly,
the platform of the destination host).
RMAN Commands 2-105

CONVERT
■ CONVERT does not do in-place conversion of datafiles. It creates an output file

that is readable on the specified platform.
■ Prior to Release 10g, CLOBs were created in a variable width character set and
stored in an endian-dependent format. The CONVERT command does not
perform conversions on these CLOBs. Instead, RMAN captures the endian
format of each LOB column and propagates it to the target database.
Subsequent reads of this data by the SQL layer will interpret the data correctly
based on either endian format and write it out in an endian- independent way if
the tablespace is writeable.
CLOBs created in Oracle Database Release 10gare stored in character set
AL16UTF16, which is platform independent.

DATAFILE datafile_name Specifies the name of a datafile that you want to transport into the destination
database.
At the destination, you must use CONVERT DATAFILE instead of CONVERT
TABLESPACE, and name each datafile that is being converted. Because those
files have not yet been imported into the destination database, RMAN does
not yet know which files belong to the tablespace being converted.
convertOptionList Options for this CONVERT command.
fileNameConversion A set of string pairs. Whenever any of the input filenames contains one of the
Spec first halves of a pair, anywhere in the filename, it will be replaced with the
second half of the same pair.You can use as many pairs of replacement strings
as required. You can use single or double quotation marks.
FORMAT formatSpec Specifies the name template for the output file(s). See the BACKUP AS COPY
command for the format values that are valid here.
FROM PLATFORM = Specifies the name of the source platform. This must be one of the platforms
platform_name listed in the PLATFORM_NAME column of the V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM
view.
PARALLELISM [=] Specifies the degree of parallelism to use while performing the operation.
integer
TO PLATFORM = Specifies the name of the destination platform as displayed in the
platform_name V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM.PLATFORM_NAME output.

CONVERT

TABLESPACE tablespace_ Specifies the name of a tablespace in the source database that you want to
name transport into the destination database on a different platform. CONVERT
TABLESPACE can only be used when connected to the source database, not
the destination database. (Until the tablespace transport has been completed,
the destination database has no way of recognizing the tablespace name for
use with CONVERT TABLESPACE.)
Examples
The procedure for transporting tablespaces is documented at length in Oracle
Database Administrator's Guide. RMAN’s CONVERT command is only required in
cases where you are transporting between platforms with different byte ordering. If
your platforms have the same byte ordering, then you can either use CONVERT or
copy the files directly.
The basic outline of the process is as follows:
1. Identify the tablespaces that will be transported. Depending on relations
between objects in the tablespaces you want to transport and objects in other
tablespaces, this may require careful planning.
2. Make the tablespaces to be moved read-only.
3. Use the Original Export utility to generate a file containing structural
information from the data dictionary for the tablespaces to be transported. This
file will be used when plugging the tablespaces into the destination database.
4. If you need to convert your datafiles for transport and you wish to use the
source system’s resources for the conversion, then use the RMAN CONVERT
command at this point on the source platform to convert the tablespaces for the
target platform. See the first example following this outline. (If you prefer to
use the destination system’s resources for the conversion, do nothing in this
step.)
5. Copy the datafiles (converted, if necessary) and the structural information file
to the target database. You may move these by any means that is convenient: an
operating system copy, ftp, or even distribution on removable media like CDs
or tapes.
6. If you are transporting across platforms where endian conversion is required,
and you did not perform the conversion on the source platform, then perform
the conversion on the destination platform. See the second example following
this outline.
RMAN Commands 2-107

CONVERT
7. Invoke the Original Import utility to plug the set of tablespaces into the target
database.
For more details on this process, see Oracle Database Administrator's Guide. Read
that discussion in its entirety before attempting any part of the tablespace transport
process. The discussion in this document will focus on the specifics of using the
CONVERT command, as you would use it on the source and destination platforms.
Converting Tablespaces on the Source Platform: Example Suppose you need to

transport tablespaces finance (datafiles ‘/orahome/fin/fin01.dbf’ and
‘/orahome/fin/fin02.dbf’) and hr (datafiles ‘/orahome/fin/hr01.dbf’
and ‘/orahome/fin/hr02.dbf’) from a source database running on a Sun
Solaris host to a destination database running on an Linux PC. You plan to store the
converted datafiles in the temporary directory /tmp/transport_linux/ on the
source host.
The example assumes that you have carried out the following steps in preparation
for the tablespace transport:
■ You have set the tablespaces to be transported to be read-only.
■ You have looked up the name for the destination platform in
V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM.
The database has a list of its own internal names for each platform it runs on.
You may need the exact name of the source or target platform as a parameter to
the CONVERT command. Query V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM to get the
platform name from SQL*Plus as follows:
SQL> SELECT PLATFORM_ID, PLATFORM_NAME, ENDIAN_FORMAT
FROM V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM
WHERE UPPER(PLATFORM_NAME) LIKE 'LINUX';
The PLATFORM_NAME for Linux on a PC is 'Linux IA (32-bit)'.

Now use RMAN to convert the datafiles to be transported to the destination host’s
format on the source host. The FORMAT argument controls the name and location of
the converted datafiles.
% rman TARGET /
RMAN> CONVERT TABLESPACE finance,hr
TO PLATFORM 'Linux IA (32-bit)'
FORMAT='/tmp/transport_linux/%U';
The result is a set of converted datafiles in the /tmp/transport_linux/

directory, with data in the right endian-order for the Linux IA (32-bit) platform.

CONVERT
From this point, you follow the rest of the general outline for tablespace transport.
Use the export utility to create the file of structural information, if you have not
already, move the structural information file and the converted datafiles from
/tmp/transport_linux/ to the desired directories on the destination host, and
plug the tablespace into the new database with the Import utility.
Converting Tablespaces on the Target Platform: Example Suppose you need to

transport tablespaces finance (datafiles ‘/orahome/fin/fin01.dbf’ and
‘/orahome/fin/fin02.dbf’) and hr (datafiles ‘/orahome/hr/hr01.dbf’ and
‘/orahome/hr/hr02.dbf’) from a source database running on a Sun Solaris host
to a destination database running on an Linux PC host. You plan to perform
conversion on the target host. You will temporarily store the unconverted datafiles
in the directory /tmp/transport_solaris/ on the target host. When the
datafiles are plugged into the destination database, they will be stored in
/orahome/dbs.
The example assumes that you have carried out the following steps in preparation
for the tablespace transport:
■ You have set the source tablespaces to be transported to be read-only, used the
Original Export utility to create the structural information file (named, in our
example, expdat.dmp), gathered expdat.dmp and the unconverted
tablespace datafiles to be transported, and copied these files to the destination
host, in the /tmp/transport_solaris/' directory. You have preserved the
subdirectory structure from the files’ original location, that is, the datafiles are
stored as:
■ /tmp/transport_solaris/fin/fin01.dbf
■ /tmp/transport_solaris/fin/fin02.dbf
■ /tmp/transport_solaris/hr/hr01.dbf
■ /tmp/transport_solaris/hr/hr02.dbf
Now use RMAN’s CONVERT command to convert the datafiles to be transported to
the destination host’s format and deposit the results in /orahome/dbs.
Note the following:
■ You have to identify the datafiles by filename, not by tablespace name. Until the
datafiles are plugged in, the local instance has no way of knowing the desired
tablespace names.
■ The FORMAT argument controls the name and location of the converted
datafiles.
RMAN Commands 2-109

CONVERT
■ You do not specify the source or destination platform. RMAN can determine the
source platform by examining the datafile, and the target platform defaults to
the platform of the host running the conversion.
% rman TARGET /
RMAN> CONVERT DATAFILE=’/tmp/transport_solaris/*’
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT
’/tmp/transport_solaris/fin’,’/orahome/dbs/fin’,
’/tmp/transport_solaris/hr’,’/orahome/dbs/hr’
The result is a set of converted datafiles in the /orahome/dbs/ directory, named

thus:
■ /orahome/dbs/fin/fin01.dbf
■ /orahome/dbs/fin/fin02.dbf
■ /orahome/dbs/hr/hr01.dbf
■ /orahome/dbs/hr/hr02.dbf
From this point, follow the rest of the general outline for tablespace transport. Use
Import to plug the converted tablespaces into the new database with the import
utility, and make the tablespaces read-write if applicable.

CREATE CATALOG
CREATE CATALOG
Syntax
createCatalog::=
createCatalog
;
CREATE CATALOG
Purpose
To create a schema for the recovery catalog. Typically, you create this schema in a
separate recovery catalog database. The catalog is created in the default tablespace
of the recovery catalog owner.
Note: In releases prior to 8.1.5, you created the recovery catalog

schema by connecting to the recovery catalog database and
executing the catrman.sql script.

Guide to learn how to create the recovery catalog

■ Execute this command only at the RMAN prompt.
■ RMAN must be connected to the recovery catalog either through the CATALOG
command-line option or the CONNECT CATALOG command, and the catalog
database must be open. A connection to the target database is not required.
■ The recovery catalog owner must be granted the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER
role, and also be granted space privileges in the tablespace where the recovery
catalog tables will reside.
■ If you specify the tablespace name in the CREATE CATALOG command, and if
the tablespace name is an RMAN reserved word (as listed in "RMAN Reserved
Words" on page 1-4), then it must be uppercase and enclosed in quotes.
■ Do not create the recovery catalog in the SYS schema.
RMAN Commands 2-111

CREATE CATALOG
See Also:
■ Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information
about the RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role
■ "cmdLine" on page 2-74 for information about RMAN
command-line options

None
Example
Creating a Catalog Schema: Example

The following example creates a user rman, grants rman the RECOVERY_CATALOG_
OWNER role, then creates the recovery catalog in the schema rman.cattbs of the
database rcat:
#!/usr/bin/tcsh
# create user rman in recovery catalog database as catalog owner
% sqlplus ’SYS/change_on_install@rcat AS SYSDBA’
SQL> CREATE USER rman IDENTIFIED BY rman
DEFAULT TABLESPACE cattbs
QUOTA UNLIMITED ON cattbs;
SQL> GRANT recovery_catalog_owner TO rman;
SQL> EXIT
# connect to database as catalog owner and create catalog

% rman CATALOG rman/rman@rcat
RMAN> CREATE CATALOG;

CREATE SCRIPT
CREATE SCRIPT
Syntax
createScript::=
createScript
=
GLOBAL ’ ’ COMMENT ’ comment ’
CREATE SCRIPT script_name
createScript1
backupCommands
maintenanceCommands
{ }
miscellaneousCommands
restoreCommands
;
FROM FILE ’ filename ’
Purpose
To create a stored script in the recovery catalog.
A stored script is a sequence of RMAN commands, given a name and stored in the
recovery catalog for later execution. A stored script may be local (that is, associated
with one target database) or global (available for use with any database registered
in the recovery catalog).
Any command that is legal within a RUN command is permitted in the stored script.
Several other commands are used with stored scripts:
■ The PRINT SCRIPT command is used to view the contents of a stored script.
■ The REPLACE SCRIPT command is used to update the contents of a stored
script.
■ The EXECUTE SCRIPT command is used to execute the commands in the
stored script.
RMAN Commands 2-113

CREATE SCRIPT
■ The SCRIPT command line arguments for RMAN (described in "cmdLine" on

page 2-74) runs a stored script automatically when starting RMAN.
■ The LIST SCRIPT NAMES command is used to find out what stored scripts are
defined for the current target database and recovery catalog.
■ The DELETE SCRIPT command is used to delete a stored script from the
recovery catalog.

Guide to learn how to use stored scripts

Note the following restrictions:
■ Execute CREATE SCRIPT only at the RMAN prompt, not within a RUN block.
■ When creating a script, RMAN must be connected to a target database and a
recovery catalog, and the catalog database must be open.
■ You cannot run CREATE SCRIPT once to create a local script, and then use this
same script on multiple target databases. If you want to create a global script,
you must connect to some target database (as well as a recovery catalog) and
then use CREATE GLOBAL SCRIPT instead of CREATE SCRIPT.
■ You cannot execute a RUN command within a stored script.
■ The @ and @@ commands do not work within CREATE SCRIPT.
■ Quotes must be used around the script name when the name contains either
spaces or reserved words.
■ RMAN returns an error RMAN-20401: script already exists if you try
to create a local script when another local script already exists for the same
target database with the same name. The same error is returned if you try to
create a global script and a global script already exists with the same name in
the recovery catalog. If the script already exists, you must use REPLACE
SCRIPT to update its contents.

CREATE SCRIPT

GLOBAL Identifies the script being created as global. If omitted, RMAN creates a local
stored script script_name defined on the current target database. If no such
script is defined on the target database, RMAN creates for a global stored
script script_name.
’script_name’ The name of the script to create.
COMMENT [=] ’comment’ Associates an explanatory comment with the stored script in the catalog.
FROM FILE ’filename’ Reads the sequence of commands to define the script from the specified file.
The file should look like the body of a valid stored script. The first line of the
file must be a ’{’ and the last line must contain a ’}’. The RMAN commands
in the file must be valid in a stored script.
backupCommands Commands valid in a stored script. The statements allowable within the
maintenanceCommands brackets of the CREATE SCRIPT 'script_name' { ... } command are the
same commands supported within a RUN block. See "RUN" on page 2-248 for
miscellaneousCommands more details.
restoreCommands
Example
Creating a Local Stored Script: Example This example creates a stored script
called backup_whole that backs up the database and archived redo logs:
# creates recovery catalog script to back up database and archived logs
CREATE SCRIPT backup_whole
COMMENT "backup whole database and logs"
{
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 TAG b_whole_l0
DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG;
}
Creating a Global Stored Script: Example This example creates a stored script
called backup_whole that backs up the database and archived redo logs:
# creates recovery catalog script to back up database and archived logs
CREATE GLOBAL SCRIPT global_backup_db
COMMENT "backup any database from the recovery catalog, with logs"
{
}
RMAN Commands 2-115

CROSSCHECK
CROSSCHECK
Syntax
crosscheck::=
crosscheck
CROSSCHECK maintSpec ;
maintSpec::=
maintSpec
OF listObjList
BACKUP
maintQualifier
OF listObjList
COPY
,
=
recordSpec
Purpose
To verify the status of backups and copies recorded in the RMAN repository against
media such as disk or tape. The CROSSCHECK command only processes files created
on the same device type as the channels running the crosscheck.
Status of RMAN Backups

The CROSSCHECK command checks only objects marked AVAILABLE or EXPIRED
by examining the files on disk for DISK channels or by querying the media manager
for sbt channels. Table 2–2 describes the meaning of each status.

CROSSCHECK
Table 2–2 Meaning of Crosscheck Status

Status Description
EXPIRED Object is not found either in file system (for DISK) or in the media
manager (for sbt). Note that for a backup set to be EXPIRED, all backup
pieces in the set must be EXPIRED.
Note: EXPIRED does not mean the same as OBSOLETE.
AVAILABLE Object is available for use by RMAN. For a backup set to be AVAILABLE,
all backup pieces in the set must have the status AVAILABLE.
UNAVAILABLE Object is not available for use by RMAN. For a backup set to be
UNAVAILABLE, all backup pieces in the set must have the status
UNAVAILABLE.
The CROSSCHECK command does not delete any files that it is unable to find, but
updates their repository records to EXPIRED. Then, you can run DELETE EXPIRED
to remove the repository records for all expired files as well as any existing physical
files whose records show the status EXPIRED.
If some backup pieces or copies were erroneously marked as EXPIRED, for
example, because the media manager was misconfigured, then after ensuring that
the files really do exist in the media manager, run the CROSSCHECK BACKUP
command again to restore those files to AVAILABLE status.
to manage target database records in the catalog

■ A maintenance channel is not required when CROSSCHECK is used with a file
that is on disk. However, if you run CROSSCHECK on files stored on a media
manager, and you have not configured automatic channels for the media
manager, then you must manually allocate maintenance channels for these
objects. For example, if you created a backup on an sbt channel, but have not
configured automatic channels for your sbt device, then you must manually
allocate an sbt channel before the CROSSCHECK command can check the
backup.
■ Crosscheck validates all specified backups and copies, even if they were created
in prior incarnations (that is, before the most recent OPEN RESETLOGS).
RMAN Commands 2-117

CROSSCHECK

maintSpec Crosschecks files output by the BACKUP command. For maintSpec options,
refer to the parameter descriptions in "maintSpec" on page 2-189.
Examples
Crosschecking All Backups and Copies: Example The following example, which
assumes that the default configured channel is DEVICE TYPE sbt, queries the
status of all backups and copies on tape and disk. Because RMAN preconfigures a
disk channel, you do not need to manually allocate a disk channel:
CROSSCHECK BACKUP; # crosschecks backup sets and image copies
Crosschecking Within a Range of Dates: Example The following example queries

the media manager for the status of the backup sets in a given six month range.
Note that RMAN uses the date format specified in the NLS_DATE_FORMAT
parameter, which is 'DD-MON-YY' in this example:
# if you manually allocate an sbt channel, then RMAN does not crosscheck disk
CROSSCHECK BACKUP
COMPLETED BETWEEN '01-JAN-01' AND '01-SEP-01';
RELEASE CHANNEL;
# to crosscheck only disk, specify CROSSCHECK DEVICE TYPE DISK

CROSSCHECK BACKUP DEVICE TYPE DISK
COMPLETED BETWEEN '01-JAN-01' AND '01-SEP-01';
# assuming that the default channel is sbt, you can crosscheck on both disk
# and sbt backups by simply running CROSSCHECK with the default channels
CROSSCHECK BACKUP COMPLETED BETWEEN '01-JAN-01' AND '01-SEP-01';

datafileSpec
datafileSpec
Syntax
datafileSpec::=
datafileSpec
’ filename ’
integer
Purpose
A subclause that specifies a datafile by filename or absolute file number.

■ You can specify the relative or absolute path name.
■ Double and single quotes are both legal (although only single quotes are shown
in the diagram). Double quotes are recommended in the SQL command.
■ Use ? to represent the Oracle home and @ for the Oracle SID.
See Also: "Placeholders" on page 1-3 to learn about the difference

between single and double quotes, as well as the behavior of
environment variables in RMAN quoted strings

'filename' Specifies the datafile by using either the full path or a relative filename. If you
specify a relative filename, the filename is qualified in a port-specific manner
by the target database.
integer Specifies the datafile by using its absolute file number. Obtain the file number
from the V$DATAFILE, V$DATAFILE_COPY, or V$DATAFILE_HEADER views
or REPORT SCHEMA command output.
RMAN Commands 2-119

datafileSpec
Examples
Specifying a Datafile by Filename: Example This example copies datafile

?/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf to disk, specifying it by filename:
BACKUP AS COPY
DATAFILE '?/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'
FORMAT '?/oradata/users01.cpy';
Specifying a Datafile by Absolute File Number: Example This example copies

datafiles 3 and 4 to disk, specifying them by file number:
BACKUP AS COPY
DATAFILE 3 FORMAT '?/oradata/df3.cpy',
DATAFILE 4 FORMAT ’?/oradata/df4.cpy’;

DELETE
DELETE
Syntax
delete::=
delete
EXPIRED
FORCE
maintSpec
NOPROMPT
,
DELETE = ;
obsOperandList DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
OBSOLETE
maintSpec::=
maintSpec
OF listObjList
BACKUP
maintQualifier
OF listObjList
COPY
,
=
recordSpec
Purpose
To delete physical backups and copies as well as do the following:
■ Update their repository records in the target control file to status DELETED
■ Remove their repository records from the recovery catalog (if you use a catalog)
When running RMAN interactively, DELETE displays a list of the files and prompts
you for confirmation before deleting any file in the list. When reading commands
from a command file, RMAN will not prompt for confirmation.
RMAN Commands 2-121

DELETE
Relationship Between Repository and Media

The repository record for a backup can sometimes fail to reflect the physical status
of the backup. For example, you back up a log to disk and then use an operating
system utility to delete the file. If you do not run the CROSSCHECK command to
update the repository, and if you then run DELETE against the backup, then the
repository shows that the object is AVAILABLE while the object is in fact missing.
The following table indicates the behavior of DELETE in such situations.
Repository Status Physical Status Behavior of DELETE Command

AVAILABLE Not found on Does not delete the object and reports the list of
media mismatched objects at the end of the job. RMAN
does not update the repository status.
EXPIRED Found on media Does not delete the object and reports the list of
mismatched objects at the end of the job. RMAN
does not update the repository status.
UNAVAILABLE Any Removes repository record and deletes object if it
exists. All I/O errors are ignored.
FORCE Any Removes repository record and deletes object if it
exists. All I/O errors are ignored. RMAN displays
the number of objects deleted at the end of the job.
See Also: "BACKUP" on page 2-28 to learn about the BACKUP ...
DELETE INPUT command

■ The DELETE command can delete usable backups and copies from prior
incarnations.
■ A maintenance channel is not required when DELETE is used with a file that is
disk-only (that is, an ARCHIVELOG, DATAFILECOPY, CONTROLFILECOPY).
Otherwise, you must use a manual or automatic maintenance channel.
If you use DELETE on files that are not disk-only, and if you have objects
created on device types that are not configured for automatic channels, then run
manual maintenance commands on these channels. For example, if you created
a backup using an sbt channel, but have only a DISK channel automatically
configured, you must manually allocate an sbt channel for DELETE.

DELETE

FORCE Deletes specified files (whether or not they exist on the media) and removes
repository records. RMAN ignores any I/O errors for the deleted objects.
RMAN displays the number of deleted objects at the end of the job.
NOPROMPT Deletes specified files without first listing the files or prompting for
confirmation. The DELETE NOPROMPT command still displays each item as it
is deleted.
By default, DELETE displays a list of files to be deleted and prompts for
confirmation. If the user confirms, then RMAN shows each item as it is
deleted. If you are running commands from a command file, then NOPROMPT
is the default.
EXPIRED Removes only files whose status in the repository is EXPIRED. RMAN marks
backups and copies as expired when you run a CROSSCHECK command and
the files are absent or inaccessible. To determine which files are expired, run a
LIST EXPIRED command.
If for some reason a backup or copy marked EXPIRED exists when you run
the DELETE EXPIRED command, then RMAN deletes the physical files.
maintSpec Deletes files output by the BACKUP command. For maintSpec options, refer to
the parameter descriptions in "maintSpec" on page 2-189.
OBSOLETE Deletes backups and datafile copies recorded in the RMAN repository that are
obsolete, that is, no longer needed. In addition to obsolete datafile backups,
RMAN deletes obsolete archived logs and archived log backups. RMAN
determines which backups and copies of datafiles are no longer needed,
which in turn determines when logs (and backups of logs) are no longer
needed. RMAN considers the creation of a datafile is as a backup when
deciding which logs to keep.
RMAN first uses the options that you specify with obsOperandList to
determine what is obsolete. If you do not specify options in
obsOperandList, then RMAN uses the options specified in CONFIGURE
RETENTION POLICY.
obsOperandList Specifies the criteria for determining which backups and copies are obsolete.
See Also: "obsOperandList" on page 2-192
DEVICE TYPE Restricts the deletion to obsolete backups and copies created on the specified
deviceSpecifier device type only.
RMAN Commands 2-123

DELETE
Examples
Deleting Expired Backups: Example The following example uses a configured

sbt channel to check the media manager for expired backups of the tablespace
users that are more than one month old and removes their catalog records:
CROSSCHECK BACKUPSET OF TABLESPACE users
DEVICE TYPE sbt COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-31';
DELETE NOPROMPT EXPIRED BACKUPSET OF TABLESPACE users
DEVICE TYPE sbt COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-31';
Deleting Obsolete Backups: Example The following example deletes backups and
copies that are not needed to recover the database to a random point within the last
week. RMAN also deletes archived redo logs that are no longer needed:
DELETE NOPROMPT OBSOLETE RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS;
Deleting Files That Have Already Been Backed Up: Example The following
example deletes backups and copies (including archived redo logs) that have
already been backed up at least twice to tape:
DELETE NOPROMPT BACKUP BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE sbt;
DELETE NOPROMPT COPY BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE sbt;
Forcing the Deletion of a Backup Set: Example The following example attempts
to delete the backup set copy with tag weekly_bkup:
DELETE NOPROMPT BACKUPSET TAG weekly_bkup;
However, RMAN displays a warning because the repository shows the backup set
as available, but the object is not actually available on the media:
RMAN-06207: WARNING: 1 objects could not be deleted for SBT_TAPE channel(s) due
RMAN-06208: to mismatched status. Use CROSSCHECK command to fix status
List of Mismatched objects
==========================
Object Type Filename/Handle
--------------- ---------------------------------------------------
Backup Piece 0id270ud_1_1
The following command forces RMAN to delete the backup set:

DELETE FORCE NOPROMPT BACKUPSET TAG weekly_bkup;

DELETE SCRIPT
DELETE SCRIPT
Syntax
deleteScript::=
deleteScript
GLOBAL ’ ’
DELETE SCRIPT script_name ;
Purpose
To delete a local or global stored script from the recovery catalog.

■ Execute DELETE SCRIPT only at the RMAN prompt.
■ RMAN must be connected to a recovery catalog and target database, and the
catalog database must be open.
■ To delete a local script, you must be connected to the target database on which
the local script is defined.
■ Quotes must be used around the script name when the name contains either
spaces or reserved words.

GLOBAL Specifies that the script to delete is a global stored script. Otherwise, RMAN
will look for a local stored script called script_name defined on the current
target database. (If no such script is defined on the target database, RMAN
will check for a global stored script named script_name and delete that
script if it exists.)
’script_name’ The name of the script to delete.
See Also: "CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113, "EXECUTE SCRIPT" on
page 2-143, "REPLACE SCRIPT" on page 2-216, and "LIST" on page 2-113 for
LIST SCRIPT NAMES.
RMAN Commands 2-125

DELETE SCRIPT
Example
Deleting a Script: Example The following example deletes a stored script b_

whole_10 from the recovery catalog:
rman TARGET / CATALOG rman/cat@catdb
RMAN> DELETE SCRIPT b_whole_10;
If a local stored script b_whole_10 is defined, it is deleted. If no local stored script

b_whole_10 is defined but a global stored script b_whole_10 is defined, the
global script is deleted.

deviceSpecifier
deviceSpecifier
Syntax
deviceSpecifier::=
deviceSpecifier
DISK
’ ’
media_device
Purpose
A subclause specifying the type of storage for a backup or copy.

DISK Specifies disk storage device.
'media_device' Specifies a sequential I/O device or access method for storage. The syntax and
semantics of sequential I/O device types are platform-specific. Example
values are sbt and sbt_tape (with or without quotes). These values are
synonymous. The media_device variable specifies a media manager. Media
device names are case insensitive. The sbt variable is legal as input, but
RMAN output always displays its synonym sbt_tape. It is stored in the
catalog as sbt_tape for backward compatibility.
Examples
Allocating a Tape Channel: Example This example allocates a maintenance

channel for a media management device:
Backing Up to Disk: Example This example backs up the database to disk:

RMAN Commands 2-127

deviceSpecifier
Restoring from Tape: Example This example restores archived logs from tape:
RESTORE DEVICE TYPE sbt ARCHIVELOG ALL;

DROP CATALOG
DROP CATALOG
Syntax
dropCatalog::=
p g
;
DROP CATALOG
Purpose
To remove the schema from the recovery catalog.
Caution: This command deletes all RMAN repository data from

the recovery catalog. If you have no backups of the catalog, then all
backups of all databases managed by this recovery catalog become
unusable.

Guide to learn how to drop the recovery catalog schema

■ You must be connected to the recovery catalog database through the CATALOG
command-line option or the CONNECT CATALOG command. The catalog
database must be open. You do not have to be connected to the target database.
■ Enter the command twice to confirm that you want to drop the schema.
Example
Deleting the Catalog: Example This example drops the schema from the recovery
catalog (you must enter the command twice to confirm):
RMAN> DROP CATALOG
recovery catalog owner is RMAN

enter DROP CATALOG command again to confirm catalog removal
RMAN Commands 2-129

DROP CATALOG
RMAN> DROP CATALOG

DROP DATABASE
DROP DATABASE
Syntax
dropDatabase::=
dropDatabase
INCLUDING BACKUPS NOPROMPT
DROP DATABASE ;
Purpose
Deletes the target database and, if RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog,
unregisters it. RMAN removes all datafiles, online logs, and control files belonging
to the target database.

■ You must be connected to the target database, which must either mounted
exclusive and not open.
■ If you want RMAN to delete archived logs, copies, and backups belonging to
the database, then you must use the DROP DATABASE INCLUDING BACKUPS
form of the command.

INCLUDING BACKUPS Deletes backup sets, proxy copies, image copies, and archived logs associated
with the target database from all configured device types.
Note: If you have been using a recovery catalog but run RMAN in
NOCATALOG mode when you drop the database, then RMAN will not delete
any backups which are known to the recovery catalog but no longer exist in
the target database control file.
NOPROMPT Specifies that you do not want RMAN to prompt you for confirmation before
deleting the database. By default, RMAN prompts for confirmation.
RMAN Commands 2-131

DROP DATABASE
Example
Deleting a Database: Example In this example, you maintain a test database

called test1 that is registered in the recovery catalog. You connect to test1 and
delete the database files as well as all backups, copies, and archived logs associated
with the database:
% rman TARGET SYS/oracle@test1 CATALOG test1/test1@catdb
RMAN> DROP DATABASE INCLUDING BACKUPS NOPROMPT;

DUPLICATE
DUPLICATE
Syntax
duplicate::=
duplicate
dupsbyOptionList
FOR STANDBY
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE ’ ’ dupOptionList ;
TO database_name
dupOptionList::=
dupOptionList
,
=
,
LOGFILE logSpec
NOFILENAMECHECK
OPEN RESTRICTED
= ’ ’
PFILE filename
SKIP READONLY
,
’ ’
SKIP TABLESPACE tablespace_name
untilClause
RMAN Commands 2-133

DUPLICATE
dupsbyOptionList::=
dupsbyOptionList
DORECOVER
NOFILENAMECHECK
logSpec::=
logSpec
REUSE
’ filename ’ SIZE sizeSpec
,
REUSE
GROUP integer ( ’ filename ’ ) SIZE sizeSpec
sizeSpec::=
sizeSpec
G
K
M
integer
Purpose
To use backups (backup sets or image copies) of the target database to create either
of the following:
■ A duplicate database, which is a copy of the target database (or a subset of the
target database) with a unique DBID. Because a duplicate database has a unique
DBID, it is entirely independent of the primary database and can be registered
in the same recovery catalog as the primary database. Typically, duplicate
databases are used for testing.
■ A standby database, which is a special copy of the primary database that is
updated by applying archived redo logs from the primary database. A standby
database does not get a new DBID.

DUPLICATE
To create a standby database with the DUPLICATE command you must specify the
FOR STANDBY option. The DUPLICATE ... FOR STANDBY command creates the
standby database by restoring a standby control file, mounting the standby control
file, and then restoring and recovering backups of the target datafiles. The standby
database is left mounted after duplication is complete. Note that backups of the
standby database are interchangeable with backups of the primary database.
When duplicating a database that is currently in NOARCHIVELOG mode, recovery
occurs with the NOREDO option. Hence, if incremental backups exist, RMAN applies
only these backups to the restored files during recovery. For databases in
ARCHIVELOG mode, DUPLICATE recovers by default up to the last archived redo
log generated at the time the command was executed, or until a time specified with
a SET UNTIL clause.
See Also:
Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide to learn
how to create a duplicate database with the DUPLICATE command
Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration to learn how to
create, manage, and back up a standby database

These restrictions apply to all uses of the DUPLICATE command (both for creation
of a standby database and creation of a nonstandby duplicate database):
■ Issue one or more ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL commands before
executing the DUPLICATE command, or CONFIGURE automatic auxiliary
channels. RMAN uses the automatic target channel configuration for auxiliary
channels in the following circumstances:
– You have not manually allocated auxiliary channels.
– You have not configured automatic auxiliary channels.
– The automatic target channels do not have CONNECT strings.
The DUPLICATE command does not require non-AUXILIARY channels (that is,
normal target database channels).
■ You must be connected to both the target database and auxiliary instance. The
auxiliary instance must be started with the NOMOUNT option, and the target
database must be mounted or open. The target database cannot be a standby
database.
RMAN Commands 2-135

DUPLICATE
■ If you need to duplicate a database when some backups of the target database
do not exist then you must specify SKIP TABLESPACE. If you do not specify
SKIP TABLESPACE, then RMAN attempts to duplicate the following:
– All datafiles in online tablespaces, whether or not the datafiles are online.
– All tablespaces taken offline with an option other than NORMAL. For
example, RMAN attempts to duplicate tablespaces taken offline with the
IMMEDIATE option. You cannot duplicate OFFLINE NORMAL tablespaces,
although you can add these tablespaces manually after duplication.
If no valid backups exist of any tablespace or datafile, then the DUPLICATE
command fails.
■ You can skip all tablespaces in the target database except the SYSTEM
tablespace, undo tablespaces, and tablespaces containing rollback segments.
RMAN does not check for completeness. For example, you can duplicate a data
tablespace but not the tablespace containing the index for the data, or duplicate
a tablespace that contains only one partition of a partitioned table.
■ If the target and duplicate databases reside on the same host, set the CONTROL_
FILES parameter appropriately so that the DUPLICATE command does not
generate an error because the target control file is in use.
■ If the target and duplicate databases share the same host, set all *_PATH and *_
DEST initialization parameters appropriately so that the target database files are
not overwritten by the duplicate database files.
■ You cannot set the DB_NAME parameter in the duplicate parameter file to a
value different from the database name specified in the DUPLICATE command.
■ You cannot use the same database name for the target and duplicate databases
when the duplicate database resides in the same Oracle home as the target.
Note that if the duplicate database resides in a different Oracle home from the
target, then its database name just has to differ from other database names in
that same Oracle home.
■ If the target and duplicate databases reside on different hosts, then you must do
one of the following tasks for duplication to be successful:
– Move backups and disk copies from the target host to the duplicate host to
the same location as the target host so that the path names are identical
– Move backups and disk copies from the target host to the duplicate host to
a new location (so that the path names are different), and then CATALOG
them.

DUPLICATE
– Make sure that all backups and copies (disk or sbt) on the target host are
remotely accessible from the duplicate host. Make sure that the archived
redo logs are available in the expected location in the new host.
■ Duplication must be done to the same platform as the source datababse.
■ You cannot recover the duplicate database to the current point in time, that is,
the most recent SCN. RMAN recovers the duplicate database up to or before the
most recent available archived log: it cannot recover into the online redo logs.
■ Specify new filenames or convert target filenames for the datafiles and online
redo logs when the duplicate filenames must be different from the target
filenames (as when duplicating to the same host as the primary). If you do not
specify filenames for duplicate online redo logs and datafiles, then RMAN
reuses the target datafile names.
■ If you want the duplicate filenames to be the same as the target filenames, and
if the databases are in different hosts, then you must specify
NOFILENAMECHECK.
■ If duplicating a database on the same host as the target database, do not specify
the NOFILENAMECHECK option. Otherwise, RMAN may signal this error:
RMAN-10035: exception raised in RPC: ORA-19504: failed to create file
"/oracle/dbs/tbs_01.f"
ORA-27086: skgfglk: unable to lock file - already in use
SVR4 Error: 11: Resource temporarily unavailable
Additional information: 8
RMAN-10031: ORA-19624 occurred during call to
DBMS_BACKUP_RESTORE.RESTOREBACKUPPIECE
The following restrictions apply when you use the DUPLICATE command with the
FOR STANDBY option:
■ All backups and copies located on disk must be available at the standby host
with the same path names as in the target host.
■ Backups on tape must be accessible from the standby host.
■ If archived logs have not been backed up, then archived logs must be available
at the standby host with the same path names as in the target host.
■ If RMAN recovers the standby database, then the checkpoint SCN of the control
file must be included in an archived redo log that is either available at the
standby site or included in an RMAN backup. For example, assume that you
create the standby control file and then immediately afterward archive the
current log, which has a sequence of 100. In this case, you must recover the
standby database up to at least log sequence 100, or the database signals an
RMAN Commands 2-137

DUPLICATE
ORA-1152 error message because the standby control file backup or copy was
taken after the point in time.
■ You cannot use SET NEWNAME or CONFIGURE AUXNAME to transform the
filenames for the online redo logs on the standby database.
■ You cannot use the DUPLICATE command to activate a standby database.
■ You cannot connect to the standby database and then DUPLICATE ... FOR
STANDBY to create an additional standby database. To create additional standby
databases, connect to the original primary database and run DUPLICATE ...
FOR STANDBY.
■ Do not attempt to register the standby database in the primary database
repository.

duplicate

FOR STANDBY Specifies that database being duplicated is to be used as a standby database.
RMAN restores the most recent files, unless SET UNTIL is specified. If
DORECOVER is specified, then RMAN also recovers database. RMAN always
leaves standby database in mounted state after executing DUPLICATE
command.
dupsbyOptionList Specifies options that only apply when creating a standby database.
DORECOVER Specifies that RMAN should recover the database after creating it. If you
specify an untilClause, then RMAN recovers to the specified point and
leaves the database mounted.
NOFILENAMECHECK Prevents RMAN from checking whether target datafiles sharing the same
names as the duplicated files are in use. Note that the NOFILENAMECHECK
option is required when the standby and primary datafiles and logs have
identical filenames.
See Also: The description in dupOptionList
TO ’database_name’ Specifies the name of the duplicate database. The name should match the
name in the initialization parameter file of the duplicate database or the
database signals an error when creating the control file.

DUPLICATE
dupOptionList

dupOptionList Specifies options that apply when creating a duplicate database not intended
for use as a standby database.
DEVICE TYPE Allocates automatic channels for the specific deviceSpecifier only (for
deviceSpecifier example, DISK or sbt). This option is valid only if you have configured
automatic channels and have not manually allocated channels. For example, if
you CONFIGURE automatic disk and tape channels, and if you run
DUPLICATE ... DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN allocates only disk
channels.
fileNameConversion Specifies one or more patterns to map original to duplicate filenames.
Spec
Note that this parameter overrides the initialization parameter DB_FILE_
NAME_CONVERT (if it is set). If a file in the specification list is not affected by
the conversion parameter in DUPLICATE, then you must rename it by other
means, such as SET NEWNAME.
See Also: "fileNameConversionSpec" on page 2-146
LOGFILE logSpec Specifies the online redo logs when creating a nonstandby duplicate database.
The syntax is the same used in the LOGFILE option of the CREATE DATABASE
statement.
Refer to the description of logSpec for the legal options.
names as the duplicated files are in use. The user is responsible for
determining that the duplicate operation will not overwrite useful data.
This option is necessary when you are creating a duplicate database in a
different host that has the same disk configuration, directory structure, and
filenames as the host of the target database. For example, assume that you
have a small database located in the /dbs directory of host1:
/oracle/dbs/system_prod1.dbf
/oracle/dbs/users_prod1.dbf
/oracle/dbs/tools_prod1.dbf
/oracle/dbs/rbs_prod1.dbf
Assume that you want to duplicate the database in machine host2, which has
the same file system /oracle/dbs/*, and you want to use the same filenames
in the duplicate database as in the primary. In this case, specify the
NOFILENAMECHECK option to avoid an error message. Because RMAN is not
aware of the different hosts, RMAN cannot determine automatically that it
should not check the filenames.
RMAN Commands 2-139

DUPLICATE

OPEN RESTRICTED Enables a restricted session in the duplicate database by issuing the following
SQL statement: ALTER SYSTEM ENABLE RESTRICTED SESSION. RMAN
issues this statement immediately before the duplicate database is opened.
PFILE = ’filename’ Specifies a client-side initialization parameter used by the auxiliary instance.
RMAN automatically shuts down and restarts the auxiliary instance during
duplication. If the auxiliary does not use a server-side parameter file in the
default location, you must specify the client-side parameter file that RMAN
should use when starting the auxiliary instance. Otherwise, you do not need
to specify PFILE.
SKIP READONLY Excludes datafiles in read-only tablespaces from the duplicate database.
Note: A record for the skipped read-only tablespace still appears in DBA_
TABLESPACES. By using this feature, you can activate the read-only
tablespace later. For example, you can store the read-only tablespace data on a
CD-ROM, then mount the CD-ROM later and view the data.
SKIP TABLESPACE Excludes the specified tablespace from the duplicate database. Note that you
’tablespace_name’ cannot exclude the SYSTEM tablespace, undo tablespaces, and tablespaces
with rollback segments.
untilClause Sets the end point for incomplete recovery of the duplicate database. You can
achieve the same result by running SET UNTIL before the DUPLICATE
command.
logSpec

logSpec Specifies the online redo logs when creating a nonstandby duplicate database.
If you do not specify LOGFILE, then RMAN uses LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT
if it is set. If neither LOGFILE nor LOG_FILE_NAME_CONVERT is set, then
RMAN uses the original target log filenames for the duplicate files. You must
specify the NOFILENAMECHECK option in this case.
See Also: Oracle Database SQL Reference for CREATE DATABASE syntax
'filename' SIZE Specifies the filename of the online redo log member and the size of the file in
integer kilobytes (K) or megabytes (M). The default is in bytes.
REUSE Allows the database to reuse an existing file. If the file already exists, then the
database verifies that its size matches the value of the SIZE parameter. If the
file does not exist, then it is created.
GROUP integer Specifies the group containing the online redo log members.

DUPLICATE
dupsbyOptionList

dupsbyOptionList Specifies options that only apply when creating a standby database.
DORECOVER Specifies that RMAN should recover the database after creating it. If you
specify an untilClause, then RMAN recovers to the specified point and
leaves the database mounted.
fileNameConversion Specifies how to convert original datafile names to new datafile names in the
Spec standby database.
See Also:"fileNameConversionSpec" on page 2-146
names as the duplicated files are in use. Note that the NOFILENAMECHECK
option is required when the standby and primary datafiles and logs have
identical filenames.
See Also: The description in "dupOptionList" on page 2-139
Examples
Setting New Filenames Manually: Example This example assumes that the target
datafiles are on host1 in directory /h1/oracle/dbs/trgt. You wish to duplicate
the database to newdb on host2 in the directory /h2/oracle/oradata/newdb.
The DUPLICATE command uses backup sets stored on tape to duplicate the target
database to database newdb, and recovers it to a point 24 hours ago:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL newdb1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO newdb
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT=('/h1/oracle/dbs/trgt/','/h2/oracle/oradata/newdb/')
UNTIL TIME ’SYSDATE-1’ # specifies incomplete recovery
SKIP TABLESPACE cmwlite, drsys, example # skip desired tablespaces
PFILE = ?/dbs/initNEWDB.ora
lOGFILE
GROUP 1 ('?/oradata/newdb/redo01_1.f',
'?/oradata/newdb/redo01_2.f') SIZE 200K,
'?/oradata/newdb/redo02_2.f') SIZE 200K
'?/oradata/newdb/redo03_2.f') SIZE 200K REUSE;
}
RMAN Commands 2-141

DUPLICATE
Reusing the Target Filenames: Example This example assumes the following:
■ You are restoring to a new host without a catalog.
■ You have configured automatic channels.
■ The target host and duplicate host have the same file structure.
■ You wish to name the duplicate files exactly like the target database files.
■ You do not want to duplicate read-only tablespaces.
■ You want to prevent RMAN from checking whether files on the target database
that have the same names as the duplicated files are in use.
CONNECT TARGET
CONNECT AUXILIARY SYS/aux_pwd@newdb
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO ndbnewh
LOGFILE
'?/dbs/log_1.f' SIZE 200K,
'?/dbs/log_2.f' SIZE 200K
SKIP READONLY
NOFILENAMECHECK;
Creating a Standby Database: Example This example creates a standby database

on a remote host with the same directory structure as the primary host. In this
example, the NOFILENAMECHECK option is specified because the standby and
primary datafiles and logs have the same names. Note that an automatic auxiliary
channel is already configured, so you do not need to manually allocate a channel:
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE FOR STANDBY
NOFILENAMECHECK;

EXECUTE SCRIPT
EXECUTE SCRIPT
Syntax
executeScript::=
executeScript
GLOBAL ’ ’
EXECUTE SCRIPT script_name ;
Purpose
To run a local or global RMAN script stored in the recovery catalog.
See Also: "CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113 and Oracle Database

Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide for more details about
stored scripts

■ Use EXECUTE SCRIPT only within the braces of a RUN command.
■ RMAN must be connected to the catalog with the CATALOG command-line
option or the CONNECT CATALOG command, and the catalog must be open.
■ For a local script, RMAN must be connected to the target database for which the
local script is created.
■ When you run an EXECUTE SCRIPT command within a RUN block, RMAN
places the contents of the script in the context of that RUN block. For this
reason, you should not allocate a channel within the RUN block if you also
allocate it in the script.

GLOBAL Specifies the execution of a global stored script instead of a local one.
RMAN Commands 2-143

EXECUTE SCRIPT

’script_name’ The name of the stored script to execute.
If no local stored script defined for the current target database is found with
the name specified, RMAN searches for a global script by the same name and
executes it if one is found.
See Also: "LIST" on page 2-163 for more information about listing the scripts
stored in the recovery catalog, and "CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113 for
information about creating scripts
Example
Executing a Script: Example This example runs a stored script called backup_
whole_10:
RUN { EXECUTE script backup_whole_10; }

EXIT
EXIT
Syntax
exit::=
;
EXIT
Purpose
To shut down the Recovery Manager utility.

Execute only at the RMAN prompt.
Example
Exiting RMAN: Example This example starts RMAN and then shuts it down:
% rman
RMAN> EXIT
RMAN Commands 2-145

Syntax
fileNameConversionSpec::=
,
= ( ’ ’ )
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT string_pattern
Purpose
A subclause that specifies one or more patterns to be used in generating new
database file names based on old ones. Used with BACKUP , CONVERT and
DUPLICATE as one way of generating output file names.

The rules for these patterns and how they affect file naming are the same as those
for the initialization parameter DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT. In parentheses, provide
an even number of string patterns.
When a new filename is generated based on an old one, the original filename is
compared to the first member of each pair of string patterns. The first time a pattern
is found which is a substring of the original filename, the new filename is generated
by substituting the second member of the pair for the substring that matched.
Set the string_pattern to a value such as:
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT = (’string1’ , ’string2’ , ’string3’ , ’string4’ ...)
Where:
■ string1 is a pattern matching the orignal filename
■ string2 is the pattern replacing string1 in the generated filename
■ string3 is a pattern matching the orignal filename
■ string4 is the pattern replacing string3 in the generated filename
You can use as many pairs of primary and standby replacement strings as required.

For example, when making image copy backups of tablespaces users (with
datafiles in directory /disk1/dbs/users) and tools (with datafiles in
/disk1/dbs/tools/), to direct the converted datafiles to /newdisk/users and
/newdisk/tools respectively, use the DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT pattern shown
here:
BACKUP AS COPY TABLESPACE users, tools
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT = (’disk1/dbs’,’newdisk’);
For each datafile to be converted where ’disk1/dbs’ is a substring of the filename,

the new filename is created by replacing ’disk1/dbs’ with ’newdisk’. For
example, the converted datafile corresponding to
/disk1/dbs/users/users01.dbf is stored in
/newdisk/users/users01.dbf, the converted datafile corresponding to
/disk1/dbs/tools/tools01.dbf is stored in /newdisk/tools/tools.dbf,
and so on.
Be aware of the following details:
■ The pattern does not have to match at the beginning of the filename. In the
previous example, the match of the pattern to the original filename began at the
second character. The command
BACKUP AS COPY TABLESPACE users
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT = (’dbs’,’newdbs’);
would direct the image copies to /disk1/newdbs/users and

/disk1/newdbs/tools.
■ When there are multiple possible matches for a given filename being converted,
the first match in the list of patterns is used to generate the new filename. The
command
BACKUP AS COPY TABLESPACE users
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT = (’dbs’,’newdbs’,’/disk1’,’/newdisk’);
would have the same effect as the previous example, because the pattern ’dbs’
matches the filename and there is no reason to compare it to the second pattern
’/disk1’.
RMAN Commands 2-147


’string_pattern’ Specifies the pattern, consisting of the pairs of strings used to convert the
filenames..
Examples
Using DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT with Multiple String Patterns: Example This

example shows the use of DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT with BACKUP AS COPY to
create image copies of the users and tools tablespaces from the above discussion,
directing users to /newdisk1 and tools to /newdisk2:
BACKUP AS COPY DEVICE TYPE DISK
TABLESPACE tools, users
DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT=(’/disk1/dbs/users’,’/newdisk1’,
’/disk1/dbs/tools’,’/newdisk2’);
See Also: "BACKUP" on page 2-28, "CONVERT" on page 2-104, and

"DUPLICATE" on page 2-133 for commands that use

FLASHBACK
FLASHBACK
Syntax
flashback::=
flashback
,
=
FLASHBACK DATABASE
flashback1
=
TO SCN integer
=
= THREAD integer
TO SEQUENCE integer
=
TO TIME ’ date_string ’
= ;
TO BEFORE SCN integer
=
= THREAD integer
TO BEFORE SEQUENCE integer
=
TO BEFORE TIME ’ date_string ’
Purpose
Performs a Flashback Database operation, returning the database to (or to just
before) target time, as specified by time, SCN or log sequence number.
The result of using flashback database is generally similar to a database
point-in-time recovery performed with RECOVER, except for the following principal
differences:
■ You do not need to restore a backup.
■ RMAN uses flashback logs to undo changes to a point before the target time or
SCN, and then uses archived redo logs to recover the database forward to make
it consistent. RMAN automatically restores from backup any archived logs that
RMAN Commands 2-149

FLASHBACK
are needed. (Flashback logs are stored as Oracle-managed files in the flash
recovery area, and cannot be created if no flash recovery area is configured.)
■ The FLASHBACK command does not start modifying the database until it has
made sure that it has all the files and resources that it needs.
■ Some NOLOGGING changes will be reflected in the flashback which would not
be reflected in the results of a point-in-time recovery, because flashback
database uses backed-up block images as the basis for undoing changes to your
current datafiles.
Because FLASHBACK DATABASE does not require you to restore a backup, it is
usually much faster than incomplete recovery.

■ You can run this command from the RMAN prompt or from within a RUN
command.
■ The target database must be in ARCHIVELOG mode.
■ The target database must be a Release 10g database.
■ You must be connected to the target database.
■ You must have enabled the flashback functionality before the target time for
flashback, using the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE ... FLASHBACK ON. You
can query this status in V$DATABASE.FLASHBACK_ON.
■ The target database must be mounted with a current control file, that is, the
control file cannot be a backup or have been re-created.
■ The flash recovery area must be enabled (that is, DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST
must be set). Flashback logs can only be stored in the flash recovery area.
■ RMAN performs restore failover when unable to restore an archvied redo log
file for use in a Flashback Database operation. See Oracle Database Backup and
Recovery Advanced User's Guide for details on restore failover.
■ The point to which RMAN can flash back the database depends on the setting
of the DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET initialization parameter, and
upon the actual retention of flashback logs permitted by available disk space. If
there is not enough space in the flash recovery area for the retention of other
required files, flashback logs may be deleted to make room. If the FLASHBACK
command does not have enough flashback data to return the database to the
requested SCN or time, then RMAN issues an error and does not modify the
database.

FLASHBACK
■ If insufficient flashback data is available for a subset of your datafiles, then you
can take these datafiles offline and then run FLASHBACK on those for which
there is sufficient flashback log data. Afterwards, you can perform point-in-time
recovery on those files where there was not sufficient flashback log data.
■ RMAN issues an error if you attempt to perform Flashback Database on online
tablespaces on which flashback was disabled using the SQL statement ALTER
TABLESPACE ... FLASHBACK OFF.
■ You must OPEN RESETLOGS after running FLASHBACK DATABASE. If datafiles
are not flashed back because they are offline, then the RESETLOGS may fail with
an error. In that case you must do one of the following:
– Flash back the affected datafiles to the same time or SCN as the other
datafiles.
– Run RESTORE and then RECOVER to bring the affected datafiles to the same
time or SCN as the rest of the database.
– Take the datafiles offline and then drop them.
■ RMAN never flashes back data for temporary tablespaces.
■ You cannot run FLASHBACK DATABASE to a time before an OPEN RESETLOGS.
■ If a datafile has changed status between the current SCN and the SCN to which
you are flashing back, then the FLASHBACK command behaves differently
depending on the nature of the status change. Refer to Table 2–3.
■ If the FLASHBACK command fails or is interrupted, then the database is left
mounted. You can issue another FLASHBACK command or run RECOVER to
return the database to its original state.
■ When you have completed a flashback operation, you may wish to open the
database read-only and run some queries to see if you have achieved the
desired result. If you are not satisfied with your flashback operation, you can
perform RECOVER DATABASE to re-apply all changes and bring the database
back to its state when you started the flashback operation. You can then attempt
flashb ack again. If you are satisfied, you can either perform an OPEN
RESETLOGS to abandon all changes after the target time for the flashback, or
you can export lost data, use RECOVER DATABASE to return your database to
its state before the flashback database operation, and then re-import the lost
data.
■ When performing a FLASHBACK DATABASE operation, your database may not
be left at the SCN most immediately before the target time you specify. There
are events other than transactions which cause the SCN for your database to be
RMAN Commands 2-151

FLASHBACK
updated. If you use the FLASHBACK DATABASE TO form of the command and
there is a transaction associated with your specified SCN, the database after the
flashback operation will include all changes up to and including that
transaction. Otherwise, all changes up to but not including that transaction will
be included in your datafiles, whether you use the FLASHBACK DATBASE TO
or FLASHBACK DATABASE TO BEFORE form of the command. Changes after
the specified target time or SCN are never applied.
Table 2–3 How FLASHBACK Responds to Datafile Operations

If this datafile operation occurred
during the flashback window ... Then the FLASHBACK command ...
Added Removes the datafile record from the control file.
Dropped Adds the datafile to the control file, but marks it as
offline and does not flash it back. You can then
restore and recover the datafile to the same time or
SCN.
Renamed Ignores the renaming. The datafile retains its current
name.
Resized May fail. You can take the datafile offline and then
rerun the FLASHBACK command. The datafile will
not be flashed back. You can then restore and recover
the datafile to the same time or SCN.
Taken offline Ignores the operation. The datafile retains its current
online status.
Brought online Ignores the operation. The datafile retains its current
offline status.
Made read-only or read-write Changes the status of the datafile in the control file.

DEVICE TYPE Allocates automatic channels for the specified device type only. For example,
deviceSpecifier if you configure automatic disk and tape channels, and issue FLASHBACK ...
DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN allocates only disk channels. RMAN may
need to restore redo logs from backup during the flashback database process.
Changes between the last flashback log and the target time must be re-created
based on the archived redo log. If no automatic channels are allocated for tape
and a needed redo log is on tape, the FLASHBACK operation will fail.

FLASHBACK

DATABASE Returns the database to the specified point. Query OLDEST_FLASHBACK_SCN
and OLDEST_FLASHBACK_TIME in V$FLASHBACK_DATABASE_LOG to
display the approximate lowest SCN and time to which you can flash back.
View the current database SCN in V$DATABASE.CURRENT_SCN.
TO SCN = integer Returns the database to the point up to (and including) the specified SCN.
TO BEFORE SCN = Returns the database to its state just before the specified SCN. Any changes at
integer an SCN lower than that specified are applied, but if there is a change
associated with the specified SCN it is not applied.
TO SEQUENCE = Specifies a redo log sequence number and thread as an upper limit. RMAN
integer THREAD = applies changes up to (and including) the last change in the log with the
integer specified sequence and thread number.
TO BEFORE SEQUENCE = Specifies a redo log sequence number and thread as an upper limit. RMAN
integer [THREAD = applies changes up to (but not including) the last change in the log with the
integer] specified sequence and thread number.
TO TIME = 'date_ Returns the database to its state at the specified time. You can use any SQL
string' DATE expressions to convert the time to the current format, for example,
FLASHBACK DATABASE UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-7'.
TO BEFORE TIME = Similar to the TO TIME clause, but returns the database to its state including
'date_string' all changes up to but not including changes at the specified time.
Examples
FLASHBACK DATABASE to a Specific SCN: Example The following command

flash back the database to a particular SCN:
RMAN> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO SCN 46963;
FLASHBACK DATABASE to One Hour Ago: Example The following command

flashes the database by 1/24 of a day, or one hour:
RMAN> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO TIMESTAMP (SYSDATE-1/24);
FLASHBACK DATABASE to a Specific Time: Example The following command

uses SQL date conversion functions to specify the target time:
RMAN> FLASHBACK DATABASE TO TIMESTAMP
TO_TIMESTAMP('2002-03-11 16:00:00', 'YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS');
RMAN Commands 2-153

formatSpec
formatSpec
Syntax
formatSpec::=
formatSpec
’ format_string ’
Purpose
To specify a filename format or an Automatic Storage Management disk group for a
backup piece or image copy. If you do not specify a value for the FORMAT
parameter, then RMAN either creates the backup in the flash recovery area if it is
enabled, or in a port-specific directory (for example, ?/dbs on UNIX) if a flash
recovery area is not enabled. In either case, RMAN uses the variable %U to name the
backup.
The entire format_string is processed in a port-specific manner by the target
instance to derive the final backup piece name. The substitution variables listed in
"Keywords and Parameters" are available in FORMAT strings to aid in generating
unique filenames. The formatting of this information varies by platform.
Order of Precedence for Multiple Format Strings

You can specify up to four FORMAT strings. RMAN uses the second, third, and
fourth values only when BACKUP COPIES, SET BACKUP COPIES, or CONFIGURE
... BACKUP COPIES is in effect. When choosing the format for each backup piece,
RMAN uses the first format value for copy 1, the second format value for copy 2,
and so on. If the number of format values exceeds the number of copies, then the
extra formats are not used. If the number of format values is less than the number of
copies, then RMAN reuses the format values, starting with the first one.
Specify format_string in any of these places, listed in order of precedence:
1. The backupSpec clause
2. The BACKUP command
3. The ALLOCATE CHANNEL command
4. The CONFIGURE CHANNEL command

formatSpec
If specified in more than one of these places, then RMAN searches for the FORMAT
parameter in the order shown.

Any name that is legal as a sequential filename on the platform is allowed, so long
as each backup piece or copy has a unique name. If backing up to disk, then any
legal disk filename is allowed, provided it is unique.

%a Specifies the activation ID of the database.
%c Specifies the copy number of the backup piece within a set of duplexed
backup pieces. If you did not duplex a backup, then this variable is 1 for
backup sets and 0 for proxy copies. If one of these commands is enabled, then
the variable shows the copy number. The maximum value for %c is 256.
%d Specifies the name of the database.
%D Specifies the current day of the month from the Gregorian calendar in format
DD.
%e Specifies the archived log sequence number.
%f Specifies the absolute file number.
%F Combines the DBID, day, month, year, and sequence into a unique and
repeatable generated name. This variable translates into
c-IIIIIIIIII-YYYYMMDD-QQ, where:
■ IIIIIIIIII stands for the DBID. The DBID is printed in decimal so that
it can be easily associated with the target database.
■ YYYYMMDD is a time stamp in the Gregorian calendar of the day the
backup is generated
■ QQ is the sequence in hexadecimal number that starts with 00 and has a
maximum of 'FF' (256)
%h Specifies the archived redo log thread number.
%I Specifies the DBID.
%M Specifies the month in the Gregorian calendar in format MM.
%N Specifies the tablespace name.
RMAN Commands 2-155

formatSpec

%n Specifies the name of the database, padded on the right with x characters to a
total length of eight characters. For example, if the prod1 is the database
name, then the padded name is prod1xxx.
%p Specifies the piece number within the backup set. This value starts at 1 for
each backup set and is incremented by 1 as each backup piece is created.
Note: If you specify PROXY, then the %p variable must be included in the
FORMAT string either explicitly or implicitly within %U.
%s Specifies the backup set number. This number is a counter in the control file
that is incremented for each backup set. The counter value starts at 1 and is
unique for the lifetime of the control file. If you restore a backup control file,
then duplicate values can result. Also, CREATE CONTROLFILE initializes the
counter back to 1.
%t Specifies the backup set time stamp, which is a 4-byte value derived as the
number of seconds elapsed since a fixed reference time. The combination of
%s and %t can be used to form a unique name for the backup set.
%T Specifies the year, month, and day in the Gregorian calendar in this format:
YYYYMMDD.
%u Specifies an 8-character name constituted by compressed representations of
the backup set or image copy number and the time the backup set or image
copy was created.
%U Specifies a system-generated unique filename (default). The meaning of %U is
different for image copies and backup pieces.
For a backup piece, %U specifies a convenient shorthand for %u_%p_%c that
guarantees uniqueness in generated backup filenames. If you do not specify a
format when making a backup, then RMAN uses %U by default.
For an image copy of a datafile, %U means the following:
data-D-%d_id-%I_TS-%N_FNO-%f_%u
For an image copy of an archived redo velog, %U means the following:
arch-D_%d-id-%I_S-%e_T-%h_A-%a_%u
For an image copy of a control file, %U means the following:
cf-D_%d-id-%I_%u
%Y Specifies the year in this format: YYYY.
%% Specifies the '%' character. For example, %%Y translates to the string %Y.

formatSpec
Example
Specifying an ASM Disk Group: Example This example copies the database to
ASM disk group disk1 and uses a tempfile creation template:
BACKUP AS COPY DATABASE FORMAT ’+disk1(tempfile)’; # use tempfile creation template
Specifying a Format for Datafile Copies: Example This example creates copies of
three datafiles with tag 'LATESTCOPY' to directory /copies:
# Create copies of 3 datafiles with tag 'LATESTCOPY' to directory /copies
BACKUP AS COPY
FROM TAG 'LATESCOPY'
COPY OF DATAFILE 4, 6, 14
FORMAT '/copies/Datafile%f_Database%d';
Creating a Database Copy for Use as a Standby Database: Example This

example creates an image copy of the database to instantiate a physical standby in
/stby:
# Create an image copy of the database to instantiate physical standby in /stby
BACKUP AS COPY
DATABASE
FORMAT '/stby/standby_file_%f_of_db_%I';
RMAN Commands 2-157

HOST
HOST
Syntax
host::=
host
’ command ’
HOST ;
Purpose
To invoke an operating system command-line sub-shell from within RMAN.

Execute this command at the RMAN prompt or within the braces of a RUN
command.

HOST Enables you to execute an operating system command. Use this parameter:
■ With a 'command', in which case RMAN runs the command in the
specified string and then continues.
■ Without a 'command', in which case RMAN displays a command
prompt and resumes after you exit the subshell.
Examples
Executing an Operating System Copy Within RMAN: Example This example shuts
down the database, makes a backup of datafile system01.dbf, then executes the
UNIX ls command to display all backed up datafiles:
SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
STARTUP MOUNT;
BACKUP DATAFILE ’?/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf’
FORMAT ’/tmp/system01.dbf’;
HOST ’ls -l /tmp/*dbf’;

HOST
RMAN Commands 2-159

HOST
Hosting to the Operating System Within a Backup: Example This example makes
an image copy of datafile 3, hosts out to the UNIX prompt to check that the copy
is in the directory (the UNIX session output is indented and displayed in bold), then
resumes the RMAN session:
RMAN> BACKUP DATAFILE 3 FORMAT '?/oradata/df3.cpy';
RMAN> HOST;
% ls $ORACLE_HOME/oradata/df3.cpy
/net/oracle/oradata/df3.cpy
% exit
RMAN> LIST COPY;

keepOption
keepOption
Syntax
keepOption::=
keepOption
FOREVER
LOGS
KEEP =
NOLOGS
NOKEEP
Purpose
A subclause specifying the status of a backup or copy in relation to a retention
policy. The KEEP option marks the backup or copy as exempt from the retention
policy (that is, not obsolete), and the NOKEEP option undoes any existing
exemptions.
Limitations and Restrictions

This option cannot be used with files stored in the flash recovery area.

KEEP Overrides any configured retention policy for this backup or copy so that the
backup is not obsolete. The BACKUP ... KEEP command specifies a new
retention time for this backup. Use this option to create a long-term backup,
that is, a backup that want you to archive.
FOREVER Specifies that the backup or copy never expires. You must use a recovery
catalog when FOREVER is specified, because the backup records eventually
age out of the control file.
UNTIL TIME = Specifies the date until which the backup or copy must be kept. You can either
’date_string’ specify a specific time by using the current NLS_DATE_FORMAT, or a SQL date
expression, such as ’SYSDATE+365’.
RMAN Commands 2-161

keepOption

LOGS Specifies that all of the archived logs required to recover this backup or copy
must remain available as long as this backup or copy is available.
NOLOGS Specifies that this backup or copy cannot be recovered because the archived
logs needed to recover this backup will not be kept. The only use for this
backup or copy is to restore the database to the point in time that the backup
or copy was taken. This is the only valid recoverability option when the
database operates in NOARCHIVELOG mode. This option is not valid if the
backup or copy is inconsistent.
NOKEEP Specifies that the backup or copy expires according to the user’s retention
policy. This is the default behavior if no KEEP option is specified.
Examples
Making a Long-Term Backup: Example This example makes a long-term backup

of the database and specifies that it should never become obsolete and that the logs
required to recover it should not be retained:
SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
STARTUP MOUNT;
BACKUP DATABASE
KEEP FOREVER NOLOGS;
Changing the Status of a Copy: Example This example specifies that any
long-term image copies of datafiles and control files should lose their exempt status
and so become eligible to be obsolete according to the existing retention policy:
CHANGE COPY OF DATABASE CONTROLFILE NOKEEP;

LIST
LIST
Syntax
list::=
list
maintQualifier
untilClause
RECOVERABLE
listObjectSpec
EXPIRED
recordSpec
’ ’
database_name
OF DATABASE
INCARNATION
maintQualifier
LIST ;
untilClause
RECOVERABLE
listObjectSpec
recordSpec
ALL
GLOBAL
SCRIPT NAMES
listObjectSpec::=
listObjectSpec
OF listObjList listBackupOption
BACKUP
OF listObjList
COPY
RMAN Commands 2-163

LIST
listBackupOption::=
listBackupOption
BY FILE
SUMMARY
Purpose
To display information about backup sets, proxy copies, and image copies recorded
in the repository. The LIST command displays the files against which you can run
CROSSCHECK and DELETE commands. Use this command to list:
■ Backups and copies that do not have the status AVAILABLE in the RMAN
repository
■ Backups and copies of datafiles that are available and can possibly be used in a
restore operation
■ Specified archived logs, backup sets, backup pieces, control file copies, datafile
copies, and proxy copies
■ Backups and copies restricted by tag, completion time, recoverability, or device
■ Incarnations of a specified database or of all databases known to the repository
■ Stored scripts in the recovery catalog
RMAN records the output to either standard output or the message log, but not to
both at the same time. You can control how the output is organized (BY BACKUP or
BY FILE) as well as the level of detail in the output (VERBOSE or SUMMARY).
to make lists and reports, and "cmdLine" on page 2-74

■ Execute LIST only at the RMAN prompt.
■ RMAN must be connected to the target database. If RMAN is connected in
NOCATALOG mode, then the database must be mounted. If RMAN is connected
to a recovery catalog, then the target instance must be started but the target
database does not need to be mounted.

LIST

list

EXPIRED Displays backup sets, proxy copies, and image copies marked in the
repository as EXPIRED, that is, "not found."
To ensure that LIST EXPIRED shows up-to-date output, issue a CROSSCHECK
command periodically. When you issue a CROSSCHECK command, RMAN
searches on disk and tape for the backups and copies recorded in the
repository. If it does not find them, then it updates their repository records to
status EXPIRED.
RECOVERABLE Specifies datafile backups or copies whose status in the repository is
AVAILABLE and which can be used for restore and recovery in the target
database’s current incarnation. This list includes all backups and copies except
the incremental backups that have no valid parent to which the incremental
can be applied.
untilClause Specifies an end time, SCN, or log sequence number. See "untilClause" on
page 2-281.
recordSpec Specifies the object or objects that you are listing. Refer to "recordSpec" on
page 2-197.
INCARNATION Displays information about the incarnations of a database. Whenever you
open a database with the RESETLOGS option, then you create a new
incarnation of the database. So, if LIST INCARNATION displays n incarnations
of a database, then you have reset the online logs for this database n-1 times.
The LIST output includes the primary keys of all database incarnation
records for the specified database name (in the column "Inc Key," short for
"incarnation key"). Use the key in a RESET DATABASE command to change
the incarnation that RMAN considers to be current to a previous incarnation.
See Also: Table 2–19 for an explanation of the column headings of the LIST
INCARNATION output table
OF DATABASE Specifies the name of the database. If you do not specify the OF DATABASE
’database_name’ option, then the command lists all databases registered in the recovery
catalog.
maintQualifier Restricts the range of the listing. Refer to "maintQualifier" on page 2-187.
RMAN Commands 2-165

LIST

SCRIPT NAMES Lists names of RMAN stored scripts in the currently connected recovery
catalog, along with any descriptive comments.
Without ALL or GLOBAL options, lists local and global scripts that can be
executed on the current target database. You must be connected to a target
database and a recovery catalog to use this form of the command.
You must connect to a target database and a recovery catalog to list names for
scripts defined for that target database.
ALL RMAN lists all global and local scripts defined for all databases in the
connected recovery catalog.
You must be connected to a recovery catalog to use LIST ALL SCRIPT
NAMES, but you do not need to be connected to a target database.
GLOBAL RMAN lists only global scripts defined in the connected recovery catalog.
You must be connected to a recovery catalog to use LIST GLOBAL SCRIPT
NAMES, but you do not need to be connected to a target database.
listObjectSpec

listObjectSpec Specifies the type of object or objects that you are listing.
See Also: "recordSpec" on page 2-197
BACKUP Displays information about BACKUP output: backup sets (including detail on
backup pieces), proxy copies, and image copies.
BACKUPSET Displays only information about backup sets, backup pieces, and proxy
copies. The output displays a unique key for each. The LIST BACKUPSET
command defaults to BY BACKUP.
By default, RMAN lists both usable and unusable backups, even those that
cannot be restored, are expired or unavailable, or are incrementals that cannot
be restored because their parent full backup or copy no longer exists. To see
only backups that can be used for recovery, use the RECOVERABLE option.
See Also: "LIST Output" on page 2-167 for an explanation of the column
headings of the LIST output tables. Use the KEY column of the output to
obtain the primary key usable in the CHANGE and DELETE commands.

LIST

COPY Displays only information about datafile copies, archived redo logs, and
image copies of archived redo logs. By default, LIST COPY displays copies of
all database files and archived redo logs. Both usable and unusable image
copies are included in the output, even those that cannot be restored or are
expired or unavailable.
See Also: Table 2–16 and Table 2–18 for an explanation of the column
headings of the LIST COPY output tables
OF listObjList Restricts the list of objects operated on to the object type specified in the
listObjList clause. If you do not specify an object, then LIST defaults to
OF DATABASE CONTROLFILE ARCHIVELOG ALL.
Note: The LIST BACKUP ... LIKE command is not valid. The only valid
exception is LIST BACKUP OF ARCHIVELOG LIKE.
See Also: "listObjList" on page 2-184
archivelogRecordSp Displays information about a range of archived redo logs.
ecifier
listBackupOption

listBackupOption Specifies how you want the list backup sets.
See Also: "recordSpec" on page 2-197
BY BACKUP Lists backup sets, then the contents of each backup set (pieces and files), and
then proxy copies. This is the default option for LIST BACKUP.
If you specify the SUMMARY option, then this command is equivalent to LIST
BACKUP SUMMARY.
VERBOSE Gives detailed description of contents of each backup set (default).
SUMMARY Gives a one-line summary for each datafile (when using BY FILE) or backup
(when using BY BACKUP).
BY FILE Lists a datafile, then its backup sets, and then proxy copies.
LIST Output
The information that appears in the output is shown in the following tables:
■ Table 2–4, "List of Backup Sets (for datafile backup sets)"
■ Table 2–5, "List of Backup Pieces (for sets with only one piece)"
RMAN Commands 2-167

LIST
■ Table 2–6, "List of Datafiles in backup set ..."

■ Table 2–7, "List of Archived Logs in backup set ..."
■ Table 2–8, "Backup Set Copy ... of backup set ... (only if multiple pieces)"
■ Table 2–9, "List of Backup Pieces for backup set ... Copy ... (if multiple pieces)"
■ Table 2–10, "List of Proxy Copies"
■ Table 2–11, "List of Backup Sets (LIST BACKUP ... SUMMARY)"
■ Table 2–12, "List of Backup Pieces (LIST BACKUPPIECE ...)"
■ Table 2–13, "List of Datafile Backups (LIST BACKUP ... BY FILE)"
■ Table 2–14, "List of Archived Log Backups (LIST BACKUP ... BY FILE)"
■ Table 2–15, "List of Controlfile Backups (LIST BACKUP ... BY FILE)"
■ Table 2–16, "List of Datafile Copies"
■ Table 2–17, "List of Controlfile Copies"
■ Table 2–18, "List of Archived Log Copies"
■ Table 2–19, "List of Database Incarnations"
■ Table 2–20, "List Script Names Output"
Table 2–4 List of Backup Sets (for datafile backup sets)

Column Indicates
BS Key A unique key identifying this backup set.
If you are connected to a recovery catalog, then BS Key is the
primary key of the backup set in the catalog. It corresponds to
BS_KEY in the RC_BACKUP_SET view. If you are connected in
the default NOCATALOG mode, then BS Key displays the
RECID from V$BACKUP_SET.
Type The type of backup: Full or Incr (incremental).
Note: Column only included in datafile backup sets.
LV The level of the backup: NULL for nonincrementals, level 0 or
level 1 for incrementals.
Size The size of the backup in bytes.

LIST
Table 2–4 List of Backup Sets (for datafile backup sets) (Cont.)
Column Indicates
Device Type The type of device on which the backup was made, for
example, DISK or sbt.
Elapsed Time The duration of the backup.
Completion Time The date and time that the backup set completed. Note that
the format of this field depends on the NLS_LANG and NLS_
DATE_FORMAT environment settings.
Table 2–5 List of Backup Pieces (for sets with only one piece)
Column Indicates
BP Key A unique identifier for this backup piece in the recovery
catalog or target database control file.
If you are connected to a recovery catalog, then BP Key is the
primary key of the backup piece in the catalog. It corresponds
to BP_KEY in the RC_BACKUP_PIECE view. If you are
connected in NOCATALOG mode, then BP Key displays the
RECID from V$BACKUP_PIECE.
Note: The values for KEY in the recovery catalog and the
control file are different.
Status The backup piece status: AVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE, or
EXPIRED (refer to the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE
commands for an explanation of each status).
Tag The tag applied to the backup set; NULL if none. Note that tag
names are not case sensitive and display in all uppercase.
Piece Name The filename or handle of the backup piece. If the backup
piece is on sbt, the Media ID is displayed with the name.
Controlfile Included A control file is included in the backup.
Note: This row appears only if the current control file is
included in the backup.
RMAN Commands 2-169

LIST
Table 2–5 List of Backup Pieces (for sets with only one piece) (Cont.)
Column Indicates
SPFILE Included A server parameter file is included in the backup.
Ckp SCN The SCN of the backup control file checkpoint. All database
changes recorded in the redo records before the specified SCN
are reflected in this control file.
Ckp time The time of the backup control file checkpoint. All database
changes recorded in the redo records before the specified time
are reflected in this control file.
Table 2–6 List of Datafiles in backup set ...

Column Indicates
File The number of the file that was backed up.
LV The level of the backup: NULL for nonincrementals, level 0 or 1
for incrementals.
Type The type of backup: Full or Incr (incremental).
Ckp SCN The checkpoint of the datafile at the time it was backed up. All
database changes prior to the SCN have been written to the
file; changes after the specified SCN have not been written to
the file.
Ckp Time The checkpoint of the datafile at the time it was backed up. All
database changes prior to the time have been written to the
file; changes after the specified time have not been written to
the file.
Name The location where this file would be restored now if it were
restored from this backup set and no SET NEWNAME command
was entered.
See Also: "SET" on page 2-253
Table 2–7 List of Archived Logs in backup set ...

Column Indicates
Thrd The thread number of the redo log.

LIST
Table 2–7 List of Archived Logs in backup set ... (Cont.)

Column Indicates
Seq The log sequence number of the archived log.
Low SCN The lowest SCN in the archived log.
Low Time The time when the database switched into the redo log having
this sequence number.
Next SCN The low SCN of the next archived log sequence.
Next Time The low time of the next archived log sequence.
Table 2–8 Backup Set Copy ... of backup set ... (only if multiple pieces)
Column Indicates
Elapsed Time The duration of the backup.
Table 2–9 List of Backup Pieces for backup set ... Copy ... (if multiple pieces)
Column Indicates
If you are connected to a recovery catalog, then BP Key is the
primary key of the backup piece in the catalog. It corresponds
to BP_KEY in the RC_BACKUP_PIECE view. If you are
connected in NOCATALOG mode, then BP Key displays the
RECID from V$BACKUP_PIECE.
Pc# The number of the backup piece in the backup set.
EXPIRED (refer to the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE
RMAN Commands 2-171

LIST
Table 2–9 List of Backup Pieces for backup set ... Copy ... (if multiple pieces) (Cont.)
Column Indicates
Piece Name The filename or handle of the backup piece. If the backup
piece is stored on sbt, the media ID is also displayed.
Table 2–10 List of Proxy Copies

Column Indicates
PC Key A unique key identifying this proxy copy.
If you are connected to a catalog, then PC Key is the primary
key of the proxy copy in the catalog. It corresponds to XDF_
KEY in the RC_PROXY_DATAFILE view or XCF_KEY in the
RC_PROXY_CONTROLFILE view. If you are connected in
NOCATALOG mode, then PC Key displays the RECID from
V$PROXY_DATAFILE.
File The absolute datafile number of the file that was copied.
Status The proxy copy status: AVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE, or
EXPIRED (see the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE
Ckp SCN The SCN of the proxy copy control file checkpoint. All
database changes recorded in the redo records before the
specified SCN are reflected in this control file.
Ckp time The time of the proxy copy control file checkpoint. All
database changes recorded in the redo records before the
specified time are reflected in this control file.
Datafile name The location where this file would be restored now if it were
restored from this backup set and no SET NEWNAME command
was entered.
See Also: "SET" on page 2-253
Handle The media manager’s handle for the proxy copy. If the object is
on sbt, then the media ID is also displayed.
Tag The tag applied to the proxy copy; NULL if none. Note that tag

LIST
Table 2–11 List of Backup Sets (LIST BACKUP ... SUMMARY)

Column Indicates
Key A unique key identifying this backup set.
NOCATALOG mode, then BS Key displays the RECID from
V$BACKUP_SET.
TY The type of backup: backup set (B) or proxy copy (P).
LV The level of the backup: NULL for nonincrementals, level 0 or
1 for incrementals.
S The status of the backup: A (available), U (unavailable), or X
(all backup pieces in set expired). Refer to the CHANGE,
CROSSCHECK, and DELETE commands for an explanation of
each status.
#Pieces The number of backup pieces in the backup set.
#Copies The number of copies made of each backup piece in the set.
The number is 1 if no duplexing was performed. Otherwise,
the value ranges from 2 to 4.
Tag The tag applied to the backup set; NULL if none. An asterisk (*)
indicates multiple copies with different tags. Note that tag
RMAN Commands 2-173

LIST
Table 2–12 List of Backup Pieces (LIST BACKUPPIECE ...)

Column Indicates
If you are connected to a catalog, then BP Key is the primary
key of the backup piece in the catalog. It corresponds to BP_
KEY in the RC_BACKUP_PIECE view. If you are connected in
NOCATALOG mode, then BP Key displays the RECID from
V$BACKUP_PIECE.
V$BACKUP_SET.
Pc# The number of the backup piece in the backup set.
Cp# The copy number of this backup piece in the backup set. The
number is 1 if no duplexing was performed. Otherwise, the
value ranges from 2 to 4.
EXPIRED (see the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE
Piece Name The filename or handle of the backup piece. If the piece is
stored on SBT then the Handle and media ID are displayed.

LIST
Table 2–13 List of Datafile Backups (LIST BACKUP ... BY FILE)

Column Indicates
File The absolute datafile number.
Key A unique key identifying this backup set.
If you are connected to a recovery catalog, then Key is the
NOCATALOG mode, then Key displays the RECID from
V$BACKUP_SET.
TY The type of backup: backup set (B) or proxy copy (P).
LV The backup level: F for nonincrementals, level 0 or 1 for
incrementals.
each status.
Ckp SCN The checkpoint of the datafile at the time it was backed up. All
database changes prior to the SCN have been written to the
file; changes after the specified SCN have not been written to
the file.
Ckp Time The checkpoint of the datafile at the time it was backed up. All
database changes prior to the time have been written to the
file; changes after the specified time have not been written to
the file.
RMAN Commands 2-175

LIST
Table 2–14 List of Archived Log Backups (LIST BACKUP ... BY FILE)
Column Indicates
Thrd The thread number of the redo log.
Seq The log sequence number of the archived log.
Low SCN The lowest SCN in the archived log.
V$BACKUP_SET.
each status.
Table 2–15 List of Controlfile Backups (LIST BACKUP ... BY FILE)

Column Indicates
CF Ckp SCN Checkpoint SCN of the control file.
Ckp Time The log sequence number of the archived log.
V$BACKUP_SET.

LIST
Table 2–15 List of Controlfile Backups (LIST BACKUP ... BY FILE) (Cont.)
Column Indicates
each status.
Table 2–16 List of Datafile Copies

Column Indicates
Key The unique identifier for the datafile copy. Use this value in a
CHANGE command to alter the status of the datafile copy.
primary key of the datafile copy in the catalog. It corresponds
to CDF_KEY in the RC_DATAFILE_COPY view. If you are
connected in NOCATALOG mode, then Key displays the RECID
from V$DATAFILE_COPY.
File The file number of the datafile from which this copy was
made.
S The status of the copy: A (available), U (unavailable), or X
(expired). Refer to the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE
commands for an explanation of each status.
Completion Time The date and time that the copy completed. Note that the
value of this field is sensitive to the NLS_LANG and NLS_
DATE_FORMAT environment variables.
Ckp SCN The checkpoint of this datafile when it was copied. All
database changes prior to this SCN have been written to this
datafile.
Ckp TIME The checkpoint of this datafile when it was copied. All
database changes prior to this time have been written to this
datafile.
RMAN Commands 2-177

LIST
Table 2–16 List of Datafile Copies (Cont.)

Column Indicates
Name The filename of the datafile copy.
Table 2–17 List of Controlfile Copies

Column Indicates
Key The unique identifier for the control file copy. Use this value in
a CHANGE command to alter the status of the copy.
primary key of the control file copy in the catalog. It
corresponds to CCF_KEY in the RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY
view. If you are connected in NOCATALOG mode, then Key
displays the RECID from V$DATAFILE_COPY.
Note: The values for Key in the recovery catalog and the
Completion Time The date and time that the copy completed. Note that the
value of this field is sensitive to the NLS_LANG and NLS_
DATE_FORMAT environment variables.
Ckp SCN The checkpoint of this control file when it was copied.
Ckp TIME The checkpoint of this control file when it was copied.
Name The filename of the control file copy.

LIST
Table 2–18 List of Archived Log Copies

Column Indicates
Key The unique identifier for this archived redo log copy. Use this
value in a CHANGE command to alter the status of the copy.
AL_KEY in the RC_ARCHIVED_LOG view. If you are connected
in NOCATALOG mode, then Key displays the RECID from
V$ARCHIVED_LOG.
Note: The values for Key in the recovery catalog and the
Thrd The redo log thread number.
Seq The log sequence number.
Name The filename of the archived redo log copy.
Table 2–19 List of Database Incarnations

Column Indicates
DB Key When combined with the Inc Key, the unique key by which
RMAN identifies the database incarnation in the recovery
catalog. Use this key to unregister a database from a recovery
catalog, that is, delete all the rows associated with that
database from the recovery catalog.
Inc Key When combined with DB Key, the unique key by which
RMAN identifies the database incarnation in the recovery
catalog. Use this key in RESET DATABASE ... TO
INCARNATION when recovering the database to a time before
the most recent RESETLOGS.
DB Name The database name as listed in the DB_NAME parameter.
DB ID The database identification number, which the database
generates automatically at database creation.
RMAN Commands 2-179

LIST
Table 2–19 List of Database Incarnations (Cont.)

Column Indicates
STATUS CURRENT for the current incarnation, PARENT for the parent
incarnations of the current incarnation, and ORPHAN for
orphaned incarnations.
Reset SCN The SCN at which the incarnation was created.
Reset Time The time at which the incarnation was created.
Table 2–20 List Script Names Output

Column Indicates
Script Name The name of the stored script.
Description The comment provided when the script was created.
Examples
Listing Backups: Example This example lists all backups in default verbose mode:
LIST BACKUP;
List of Backup Sets

===================
BS Key Device Type Elapse Time Completion Time

------- ----------- ----------- ---------------
236 DISK 00:00:08 21-SEP-00
BP Key: 237 Status: AVAILABLE Tag: TAG20011121T053733
Piece Name: /oracle/oradata/09c5unih_1_1
List of Archived Logs in backup set 236

Thrd Seq Low SCN Low Time Next SCN Next Time
---- ------- ---------- --------- ---------- ---------
1 141 49173 21-SEP-01 49784 21-SEP-01
1 142 49784 21-SEP-01 50331 21-SEP-01
BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapse Time Completion Time

------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ----------- ---------------
244 Full 61M DISK 00:00:18 21-SEP-01
BP Key: 245 Status: AVAILABLE Tag: TAG20011121T053816
Piece Name: /oracle/oradata/0ac5unj5_1_1
Controlfile Included: Ckp SCN: 51554 Ckp time: 21-SEP-01
SPFILE Included: Modification time: 21-SEP-01
List of Datafiles in backup set 244

LIST
File LV Type Ckp SCN Ckp Time Name

---- -- ---- ---------- --------- ----
1 Full 51555 21-SEP-01 /oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf
2 Full 51555 21-SEP-01 /oracle/oradata/trgt/undotbs_01.dbf
List of Proxy Copies

====================
PC Key File Status Completion time Ckp SCN Ckp time

------- ---- ----------- ------------------- ---------- -------------------
552 1 AVAILABLE 10/07/2001 03:05:21 78022 10/07/2001 03:05:10
Datafile name: /oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf
Handle: 0jb8l876_1_0
561 1 AVAILABLE 10/07/2001 03:38:22 78025 10/07/2001 03:38:09

Datafile name: /oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf
Handle: 0lb8la51_1_0
Tag: WKLYBKUP
Listing a Summary of Backups: Example The following example lists a

summarized version of all RMAN backups:
LIST BACKUP SUMMARY;
List of Backups
===============
Key TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Tag
------- -- -- - ----------- -------------------- ------- ------- ---
35 B A A SBT_TAPE FEB 08 2002 05:37:37 1 1 TAG20020208T053733
42 B F A SBT_TAPE FEB 08 2002 05:38:21 1 1 TAG20020208T053744
Listing Backups by File: Example This example groups all backups by file:
LIST BACKUP BY FILE;
List of Datafile Backups

========================
File Key TY LV S Ckp SCN Ckp Time #Pieces #Copies Tag

---- ------- - -- - ---------- ----------------- ------- ------- ---
1 502 B 0 A 37973 09/28/01 19:28:36 1 3 *
552 P F X 78022 10/07/01 03:05:10 1 1 DF_1
561 P 0 U 78025 10/07/01 03:38:09 2 1 DF_1
2 502 B 0 A 37973 09/28/01 19:28:36 1 2 *
562 P 0 U 78027 10/07/01 03:38:22 1 1 DF_2
List of Archived Log Backups

============================
RMAN Commands 2-181

LIST
Thrd Seq Low SCN Low Time BS Key S #Pieces #Copies Tag
---- ------- ---------- --------- ------- - ------- ------- ---
1 141 49463 14-SEP-01 213 A 1 1 TAG20011114T125431
List of Controlfile Backups

===========================
CF Ckp SCN Ckp Time BS Key S #Pieces #Copies Tag

---------- --------- ------- - ------- ------- ---
51593 14-SEP-01 222 A 1 1
List of SPFILE Backups

======================
Modification Time BS Key S #Pieces #Copies Tag

-------------------- ------- - ------- ------- ---
OCT 08 2001 05:38:55 251 A 1 1
Listing Archived Redo Logs: Example The following example lists archived logs
and copies of logs:
LIST COPY OF DATABASE ARCHIVELOG ALL;
List of Archived Log Copies

Key Thrd Seq S Low Time Name
------- ---- ------- - --------- ----
153 1 30 A 14-SEP-01 /oracle/oradata/trgt/arch/archive1_30.dbf
154 1 31 A 14-SEP-01 /oracle/oradata/trgt/arch/archive1_31.dbf
Listing Backups of Specific Datafiles: Example The following example lists

backups of datafile 3 in summary mode:
LIST BACKUP OF DATAFILE 3 SUMMARY;
List of Backups
===============
Key TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Tag

------- -- -- - ----------- --------------- ------- ------- ---
180 B 0 A DISK 14-SEP-01 1 2 TAG20011114T125431
Listing Database Incarnations: Example This example lists all database

incarnations recorded in the recovery catalog:
LIST INCARNATION;
List of Database Incarnations

DB Key Inc Key DB Name DB ID STATUS Reset SCN Reset Time
------- ------- -------- ---------------- ------ ---------- ----------

LIST
1 1 RDBMS 774627068 PARENT 1 21-OCT-03

2 2 RDBMS 774627068 CURRENT 173832 21-OCT-03
Listing Stored Scripts: Example This example shows the output of running LIST
ALL SCRIPT NAMES:
RMAN> LIST ALL SCRIPT NAMES;
List of Stored Scripts in Recovery Catalog
Scripts of Target Database TEST
Script Name
Description
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
configure_Rman
Script to configure retention policy and device parameters.
backup_schema_dfs
Backups only tablespaces that are being currently used.
Scripts of Target Database PROD
Script Name
Description
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
nightly_backup
Script used to backup PROD database every weekday.
Global Scripts
Script Name
Description
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
purge_backups
General script to enforce retention policy
validate_archived_logs
General script to synchronize archived logs on disk with RMAN.
RMAN Commands 2-183

listObjList
listObjList
Syntax
listObjList::=
listObjList
CONTROLFILE
,
’ ’
DATABASE SKIP TABLESPACE tablespace_name
dbObject
SPFILE
dbObject::=
dbObject
DATABASE
,
,
’ ’
Purpose
A subclause used to specify database files and archived redo logs.

Use this clause in the following commands:
■ CHANGE
■ CROSSCHECK
■ DELETE

listObjList
■ LIST

listObjList

archivelogRecordSpecifier Specifies a range of archived redo logs.
See Also: "archivelogRecordSpecifier" on page 2-22
CONTROLFILE Specifies the current control file.
DATABASE SKIP TABLESPACE Omits the specified tablespaces from the DATABASE specification.
’tablespace_name’
[, ’tablespace_name’ ]
SPFILE Specifies the current server parameter file.
dbObject

DATABASE Specifies backup sets or image copies of all files in the current database.
DATAFILE datafileSpec Specifies datafiles by filename or file number. The clause specifies datafile
image copies or backup sets that contain at least one of the datafiles.
TABLESPACE ’tablespace_ Specifies tablespace names. The clause specifies datafile image copies or
name’ backup sets that contain at least one of the datafile from the specified
tablespace.
Examples
Listing Datafile Copies: Example The following command lists image copies of all
the files in the database, skipping the temp tablespace, which is a
dictionary-managed temporary tablespace:
LIST COPY OF DATABASE SKIP TABLESPACE temp;
Crosschecking Archived Redo Logs: Example The following example queries the
media manager for the status of server parameter file and archived redo log
backups (either backup sets or image copies) created in the last three months:
RMAN Commands 2-185

listObjList

CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF SPFILE ARCHIVELOG FROM TIME 'SYSDATE-90';
Deleting Expired Control File Backup Sets: Example The following command
deletes expired backups (either backup sets or image copies) of the control file:
DELETE EXPIRED BACKUP OF CONTROLFILE;

maintQualifier
maintQualifier
Syntax
maintQualifier::=
maintQualifier
completedTimeSpec
,
=
=
BACKED UP integer TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
= ’ ’
TAG tag_name
Purpose
A subclause used to specify database files and archived redo logs.

■ Use this clause in the following commands:
– LIST
– CROSSCHECK
– DELETE
– SWITCH
■ The BACKED UP integer TIMES clause applies only to archived redo logs.
■ You cannot use LIKE with backup pieces.
RMAN Commands 2-187

maintQualifier

completedTimeSpec Specifies a range of time for completion of the backup or copy.
See Also: "completedTimeSpec" on page 2-79
deviceSpecifier valid only if you have configured automatic channels and have not manually
allocated channels. For example, if you configure automatic disk and tape
channels, and issue CHANGE ... DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN allocates
only disk channels.
LIKE ’string_pattern’ Restricts datafile copies by specifying a filename pattern. The pattern can
contain Oracle pattern matching characters % and _. RMAN only operates on
those files whose name matches the pattern.
Note: You cannot use the LIKE option with the LIST ... ARCHIVELOG
command.
BACKED UP integer TIMES TO Restricts the command to archived logs that have been successfully backed up
DEVICE TYPE integer or more times to the specified media.
deviceSpecifier
TAG = ’tag_name’ Specifies the datafile copies and backup sets by tag. Tag names are not case
sensitive and display in all uppercase.
See Also: "BACKUP" on page 2-28 for a description of how a tag can be
applied to an individual copy of a duplexed backup set, and also for a
description of the default filename format for tags
Example
Listing Backups on a Specific Device: Example The following command lists all
backups located on tape and copies located in /tmp:
LIST BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt;
LIST COPY LIKE ’/tmp’;
Deleting Archived Logs That Are Already Backed Up: Example The following
command deletes only those archived logs that have been successfully backed up
three or more times to tape:
DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP 3 TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE sbt;

maintSpec
maintSpec
Syntax
maintSpec::=
maintSpec
OF listObjList
BACKUP
maintQualifier
OF listObjList
COPY
,
=
recordSpec
Purpose
To specify the backup files operated on by the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, and DELETE
commands.
RMAN Commands 2-189

maintSpec

BACKUP Processes files output by the BACKUP command.
With CHANGE BACKUP:
Specify one or more objects using the "CHANGE BACKUP OF listObjList"
form of the command. Otherwise, CHANGE BACKUP operates on all backup
sets, image copies, and proxy copies recorded in the repository.
With CROSSCHECK BACKUP:
If you are running CROSSCHECK BACKUP, then the command crosschecks
BACKUP output that has status AVAILABLE or EXPIRED: backup sets
(including backup pieces), proxy copies, and image copies. RMAN
crosschecks all backups not marked UNAVAILABLE, even if they cannot be
restored or if they are incremental backups whose parent full backup or copy
no longer exists.
Specify one or more objects using the "CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF
listObjList" form of the command. Otherwise, RMAN crosschecks
backups of the whole database.
With DELETE BACKUP:
Deletes backup sets and proxy copies.
Specify one or more objects using the "DELETE BACKUP OF listObjList"
form of the command. Otherwise, RMAN deletes backup sets of the whole
database.
BACKUPSET When followed by a list of primary keys: this is actually a case of the
recordSpec syntax element in the syntax diagram for maintSpec. In such a
case, the keys identify backupsets for use with the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK and
DELETE commands. For more details, see "recordSpec" on page 2-197 and
"LIST Output" on page 2-167 for an explanation of the column headings of the
LIST output tables. Use the KEY column of the output to obtain the primary
key usable in the CHANGE and DELETE commands.
When not followed by a list of primary keys: A synonym for BACKUP.

maintSpec

COPY Processes datafile copies, control file copies, archived redo logs, and image
copies of archived redo logs.
If you do not specify an option for CHANGE COPY, then the command operates
on all image copies recorded in the repository.
If you are running CROSSCHECK COPY, then by default the command checks
all image copies of all files in the database with status AVAILABLE or
EXPIRED.
By default, DELETE COPY removes copies of all files in the database. Specify
the EXPIRED option to remove only copies that are marked EXPIRED in the
repository.
OF listObjList Restricts the list of objects operated on to the object type specified in the
listObjList clause. If you do not specify an object, then the command
defaults to all copies. Note that CHANGE COPY OF DATABASE includes datafiles
but not control files.
See Also: "listObjList" on page 2-184
archivelogRecordSpecifier Processes the specified archived redo logs.
maintQualifier Restricts the command based on the specified options.
See Also: "maintQualifier" on page 2-187
recordSpec Specifies the file that you are performing maintenance on. See "recordSpec" on
page 2-197.
channels and run CROSSCHECK ... DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN
allocates only disk channels.
Examples
To see the maintSpec clause in use, refer to the commands where it is used:
■ "CHANGE" on page 2-70
■ "CROSSCHECK" on page 2-116
■ "DELETE" on page 2-121
RMAN Commands 2-191

obsOperandList
obsOperandList
Syntax
obsOperandList::=
obsOperandList
ORPHAN
=
REDUNDANCY integer
Purpose
A subclause used to specify which criteria are used to mark backups and copies as
obsolete.

Use this clause in the following commands:
■ DELETE
■ REPORT

ORPHAN Specifies as obsolete those backups and copies that are unusable because they
belong to incarnations of the database that are not direct ancestors of the
current incarnation. Note that RMAN displays orphaned backups in addition to
the normal display of obsolete backups.
See Also: Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide for an
explanation of orphaned backups

obsOperandList

RECOVERY WINDOW OF Specifies that RMAN should report as obsolete those backups and copies that
integer DAYS are not needed to recover the database to any point within the last integer
days.
See Also: "CONFIGURE" on page 2-81 for an explanation of the recovery
window
REDUNDANCY = integer Specifies the minimum level of redundancy considered necessary for a backup
or copy to be obsolete. A datafile copy is obsolete if there are at least integer
more recent backups or image copies of this file; a datafile backup set is
obsolete if there are at least integer more recent backups or image copies of
each file contained in the backup set. For example, REDUNDANCY 2 means that
there must be at least two more recent backups or copies of a datafile for any
other backup or copy to be obsolete.
Example
Deleting Obsolete Backups: Example The following command deletes all

backups and copies not needed to recover the database to a random point within
the last 30 days:
DELETE OBSOLETE RECOVERY WINDOW OF 30 DAYS;
RMAN Commands 2-193

PRINT SCRIPT
PRINT SCRIPT
Syntax
printScript::=
printScript
GLOBAL ’ ’ TO FILE ’ filename ’
PRINT SCRIPT script_name ;
Purpose
To print a local or global stored script to standard output or to a file.
For more information about stored scripts, see "CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113.

■ Use this command only at the RMAN prompt.
■ You must be connected to the target database that you connected to when you
created or replaced the script.
■ You must be connected to the recovery catalog, and the recovery catalog
database must be open.

GLOBAL With the GLOBAL option, PRINT SCRIPT prints the global script named
’script_name’ instead of the local script.
If omitted, RMAN looks for a local or global script script_name to print. If a
local script is found, it is printed. If no local script is found, but a global script
script_name is found, the global script is printed.
See "CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113 for more details about local and
global stored scripts.
’script_name’ The name of the script to print.
TO FILE ’ filename ’ With TO FILE ’filename’ option, PRINT SCRIPT sends its output to the
specified file instead of standard output.

PRINT SCRIPT
Examples
Printing a Script to a File: Example The following example prints a script to the
file ’/tmp/backup_db.rman’:
PRINT SCRIPT backup_db TO FILE ’/tmp/backup_db.rman’;
Printing a Script to the Screen: Example This example prints a stored script to
standard output (includes sample output):
RMAN> PRINT SCRIPT ’backup_db’;
printing stored script: backup_db

{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt
BACKUP DATABASE;
}
RMAN Commands 2-195

QUIT
QUIT
Syntax
quit::=
quit
QUIT
Purpose
To shut down the Recovery Manager utility.

Execute only at the RMAN prompt, not in a RUN block.
Example
Quitting RMAN: Example This example starts RMAN and then shuts it down:
% rman
RMAN> QUIT

recordSpec
recordSpec
Syntax
recordSpec::=
recordSpec
,
’ filename ’
ARCHIVELOG ,
primaryKey
,
BACKUPSET primaryKey
,
’ media_handle ’
,
BACKUPPIECE
primaryKey
PROXY
= ’ ’
TAG tag_name
,
’ filename ’
,
primaryKey
CONTROLFILECOPY
,
DATAFILECOPY
= ’ ’ NODUPLICATES
TAG tag_name
ALL NODUPLICATES
DATAFILECOPY
Purpose
A subclause that specifies which objects the CHANGE, CROSSCHECK, DELETE, and
LIST commands should operate on. Most recordSpec options allow you to specify
a primary key. Run the LIST command to obtain the key.
RMAN Commands 2-197

recordSpec

ARCHIVELOG Specifies an archived redo log by either primary_key or 'filename'.
BACKUPSET primary_key Specifies a backup set by primary_key.
BACKUPPIECE Specifies a backup piece by 'media_handle', primary_key, or tag_name.
PROXY Specifies a proxy copy by 'media_handle', primary_key, or tag_name.
CONTROLFILECOPY Specifies a control file copy by primary_key, filename pattern
(’filename’), or TAG = tag_name. If you crosscheck a control file copy, you
must specify a filename rather than a primary key.
DATAFILECOPY Specifies a datafile copy by either primary_key, filename pattern
(’filename’), or TAG = tag_name.
Examples
Crosschecking Backups: Example This example crosschecks backup sets

specified by primary key:
CROSSCHECK BACKUPSET 507, 508, 509;
Deleting Datafile Copies: Example This example deletes a specified datafile copy:
DELETE NOPROMPT DATAFILECOPY ’?/oradata/users01.cpy’;

RECOVER
RECOVER
Syntax
recover::=
recover
,
=
DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier recoverOptionList
RECOVER recoverObject ;
recoverObject::=
recoverObject
= ’ ’
WITH TAG tag_name
COPY OF dbObject
,
DATAFILECOPY ’ filename ’
dbObject
recoverObject1
,
FOREVER ’ ’
untilClause
RMAN Commands 2-199

RECOVER
dbObject::=
dbObject
DATABASE
,
,
’ ’

RECOVER
recoverOptionList::=
recoverOptionList
,
= ’ ’
ARCHIVELOG TAG tag_name
=
AUXILIARY DESTINATION ’ location ’
CHECK LOGICAL
CHECK READONLY
MAXSIZE sizeSpec
DELETE ARCHIVELOG
= ’ ’
FROM TAG tag_name
NOREDO
TEST
ALLOW integer CORRUPTION
NOPARALLEL
integer
PARALLEL
sizeSpec::=
sizeSpec
G
K
M
integer
Purpose
The RECOVER command has three uses:
■ Performing complete recovery of one or more restored datafiles, or the entire
database.
■ Performing point-in-time recovery of a database (DBPITR) or tablespace
(TSPITR).
RMAN Commands 2-201

RECOVER
■ Applying incremental backups to a datafile image copy (not a restored datafile)

to roll it forward in time.
When performing media recovery, RMAN first looks for archived logs or image
copies on disk, and if none are available, then it restores logs from backups to the
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1 destination (or the SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION) as
needed for the recovery.
Complete and point-in-time recovery of a database can use both incremental
backups and redo logs. If RMAN has a choice between applying an incremental
backup or applying redo, then it always chooses the incremental backup. If
overlapping levels of incremental backup are available, then RMAN automatically
chooses the one covering the longest period of time. RMAN can apply incremental
backups to restored files that were not created as part of an incremental backup.
Note: When RMAN applies incremental backups, it recovers

changes to objects created with the NOLOGGING option. Applying
archived redo logs to datafiles does not recover these changes.
See Also:
■ Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics to learn how to
recover datafiles.
■ "RESTORE" on page 2-230 command for explanation of the
default location for restoring archived logs. Note that RMAN
automatically specifies the MAXSIZE option when staging logs
in the flash recovery area.

■ Recovery is possible with a backup control file and no recovery catalog, but
requires manual intervention if you added files to the database after the backup
control file was created.
■ RMAN can recover through RESETLOGS operations transparently if the parent
incarnation backups were restored. If required, the RECOVER command can also
restore and apply archived logs and incremental backups from prior
incarnations.
■ If, during recovery, the database encounters redo for adding a datafile, RMAN
automatically creates a new datafile if the tablespace containing the added
datafile is not skipped during recovery. This situation can arise when a backup

RECOVER
control file is restored prior to recovery, and the backup control file does not
contain a record of the recently-added datafile.
■ If you need to restore archived log redo or incremental backups during your
recovery operation, then you must either configure channels or use ALLOCATE
CHANNEL commands in a RUN block with your RECOVER command.
■ You do not have to allocate a channel for archived log recovery because RMAN
uses the preconfigured DISK channel. If incremental backups need to be
restored during recovery, then you must either use configured channels or
manually allocate channels of the same type that created these backups.
■ RMAN uses restore failover to try all suitable backups, when it encounters
difficulty restoring files needed for the recovery operation. See Oracle Database
Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide for details on restore failover.
■ For datafile and tablespace recovery, the target database must be mounted. If it
is open, then the datafiles or tablespaces to be recovered must be offline. For
database recovery, the database must be mounted but not open.
■ If you want to perform DBPITR, the best practice is to enter a SET UNTIL
command before both the RESTORE and RECOVER commands. If you run SET
UNTIL after the RESTORE operation, then you may not be able to perform
media recovery on the database to the target time, because the restored files
may have time stamps later than the target time.
■ You cannot arbitrarily recover datafiles to different points in time. You can
recover the whole database to a single point in time (DBPITR, in which case you
should use SET UNTIL, followed by RESTORE DATABASE and RECOVER
DATABASE) or recover wholly contained tablespaces to a point in time different
from the rest of the database (TSPITR, in which case you must use RECOVER
TABLESPACE... UNTIL...). For more information on DBPITR, see tOracle
Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide.For more information on
TSPITR, see the procedure described in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery
Advanced User's Guide .
■ The RECOVER DATABASE command does not recover any files that are offline
normal or read-only at the point in time to which the files are being recovered.
RMAN omits offline normal files with no further checking. If CHECK READONLY
is specified, then RMAN checks each read-only file on disk to ensure that it is
already current at the desired point in time. If CHECK READONLY is not
specified, then RMAN omits read-only files.
■ You must open the database with the RESETLOGS option after incomplete
recovery or recovery with a backup control file.
RMAN Commands 2-203

RECOVER
■ Temporary tablespaces cannot be recovered. They must be re-created. Note that

if you recover the database after restoring a backup control file, you must add
new tempfiles to locally-managed temporary tablespaces.
■ You must have already configured a device type with the CONFIGURE DEVICE
TYPE command (except for DISK, which is preconfigured) before specifying the
DEVICE TYPE option.
■ You cannot manually allocate channels and then run RECOVER with the DEVICE
TYPE option.

recover

deviceSpecifier if you configure automatic disk and tape channels, and issue RECOVER ...
DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN allocates only disk channels.
recoverObject

COPY OF Applies incremental backups to the specified image copy to roll it forward to
any time equal to or before the most recent incremental backup of the file. The
existing image copy is overwritten, and remains in a fuzzy state during the
recovery. RECOVER COPY is a method for updating a copy and is not a media
recovery of a current database file.This is the other half of the incrementally
updated backups feature, in conjunction with the BACKUP... FOR RECOVER
OF COPY syntax.
You must meet the following requirements:
■ At least one copy of each datafile that you are recovering must exist.
■ Backup incrementals taken after the image copy that you are recovering
must exist.
■ RMAN selects one suitable copy if there are multiple possible copies to
which the incrementals can be applied to carry out the operation.
Note: RMAN issues a warning (not an error) if it cannot recover to the
specified time (or current time if none is specified) because no incrementals
are available.

RECOVER

WITH TAG ’tag_name’ Specifies a tag name to identify the image copy to be rolled forward.
DATAFILECOPY Applies incremental backups to the specified datafile image copy. Refer to
description of RECOVER COPY OF..
SKIP [FOREVER] TABLESPACE Lists tablespaces that should not be recovered, which is useful for avoiding
recovery of tablespaces containing only temporary data or for postponing
recovery of some tablespaces. The SKIP clause takes the datafiles in the
specified tablespaces offline before starting media recovery. These files are left
offline after the media recovery is complete.
If you perform incomplete recovery, then SKIP is not allowed. Instead, use
SKIP FOREVER, with the intention of dropping the skipped tablespaces after
opening the database with the RESETLOGS option. The SKIP FOREVER clause
causes RMAN to take the datafiles offline with the DROP option. Only use
SKIP FOREVER when the specified tablespaces will be dropped after opening
the database.
untilClause Specifies a past time, SCN, or log sequence number for termination of the
RECOVER command. When used with one or more tablespaces, indicates a
TSPITR operation for the named tablespaces. It cannot be used with RECOVER
DATAFILE. It should not be used for RECOVER DATABASE (see "Restrictions
and Usage Notes" for details). After DBPITR, you must open the database
with the RESETLOGS option.
dbObject

DATABASE Specifies that the entire database is to be recovered. By default, RMAN
performs complete recovery. For incomplete recovery, specify an
untilClause.
RMAN Commands 2-205

RECOVER

DATAFILE datafileSpec Specifies a list of one or more datafiles to recover. Specify datafiles by either
filename (by using a quoted string) or absolute datafile number (by using an
integer).
If you are using the control file as the exclusive repository for RMAN
metadata, then the filename must be the name of the datafile as recorded in
the control file.
If you are using a recovery catalog, then the filename of the datafile must be
the most recent name recorded in the catalog, even if the name in the control
file has been updated more recently. For example, assume that a datafile was
renamed in the control file. The instance then fails before you can
resynchronize the catalog. Specify the old name of the datafile in the RECOVER
command, because this is the name recorded in the catalog.
TABLESPACE ’tablespace_ Specifies tablespaces by tablespace name.
name’
recoverOptionList

recoverOptionList Specifies various recovery options.
ARCHIVELOG TAG = Specifies the tag for an archived log backup to be used during recovery. If the
tag_name tagged backup does not contain all the necessary logs for recovery, RMAN
uses logs or incremental backups as needed from whatever is available. Note
that tag names are not case sensitive and display in all uppercase.
AUXILIARY Can only be used when performing TSPITR. Used to automate the
DESTINATION [ = ] management of auxiliary set files during TSPITR. Specifies a location where
’location’ auxiliary set datafiles, control files and online logs are created during TSPITR
if another location for an individual file is not explicitly specified.
If you do not specify AUXILIARY DESTINATION for a TSPITR, then you
must specify the naming of individual auxiliary set datafiles, control files, and
online logs before executing the RECOVER TABLESPACE... UNTIL...
command. Otherwise, TSPITR will fail.
See also: The chapter on TSPITR in Oracle Database Backup and Recovery
Advanced User's Guide for more details about the auxiliary destination.

RECOVER

finds logical corruption, it logs the block in the alert.log and server session
trace file.
If the total number of physical and logical corruptions detected for a file is less
than its MAXCORRUPT setting, the RMAN command completes and the
database populates V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION with corrupt block
ranges. Otherwise the command terminates without populating the views.
Note: The MAXCORRUPT setting represents the total number of physical and
CHECK READONLY Checks the headers of read-only files to ensure that they are current before
omitting them from the recovery.
DELETE ARCHIVELOG Deletes archived logs restored from backups or copies that are no longer
[MAXSIZE integer needed. RMAN does not delete archived logs that were already on disk before
[K|M|G]] the RESTORE command started.
If you do not specify MAXSIZE, then RMAN deletes restored archived logs as
they are applied. If you specify MAXSIZE, then RMAN will not use more than
integer amount of disk space for restored archived logs. If recovery requires
the restore of a log larger than the MAXSIZE value, then RMAN reports an
error indicating that you should increase the MAXSIZE value. If MAXSIZE is
smaller than the backup set containing the logs, then RMAN must read the
backup set more than once to extract the logs. Hence, RMAN issues a warning
that MAXSIZE should be increased.
Note: If archived redo logs are restored to the flash recovery area then the
DELETE ARCHIVELOG option is enabled by default.
FROM TAG = tag_ Specifies the tag for an incremental backup to be used during recovery. If the
name tagged backup does not contain all the necessary incrementals for recovery,
then RMAN uses logs or incremental backups as needed from whatever is
available. Note that tag names are not case sensitive and display in all
uppercase.
See Also: "BACKUP" on page 2-28 to learn how a tag can be applied to an
individual copy of a duplexed backup set, and to learn about the default
filename format for backup tags
NOREDO Suppresses the application of redo logs—only incremental backups are
applied. This option is intended for recovery of NOARCHIVELOG databases by
using incremental backups. If you do not specify NOREDO when recovering a
NOARCHIVELOG database, then the database terminates recovery and issues
an error.
Note: Incremental backups of NOARCHIVELOG databases can only be taken
after a consistent shutdown.
RMAN Commands 2-207

RECOVER

TEST Use the TEST clause to conduct a trial recovery. A trial recovery is useful if a
normal recovery procedure has encountered some problem. It lets you look
ahead into the redo stream to detect possible additional problems. The trial
recovery applies redo in a way similar to normal recovery, but it does not
write changes to disk, and it rolls back its changes at the end of the trial
recovery.
Note: You can use this clause only if you have restored a backup taken since
the last RESETLOGS operation. Otherwise, the database returns an error.
ALLOW integer The ALLOW integer CORRUPTION clause lets you specify, in the event of
CORRUPTION logfile corruption, the number of corrupt blocks that can be tolerated while
allowing recovery to proceed.
When you use this clause during trial recovery (that is, in conjunction with the
TEST clause), integer can exceed 1. When using this clause during normal
recovery, integer can only be 0 or 1.
NOPARALLEL Specifies not to perform recovery in parallel. Serial execution is the default for
RECOVER.
PARALLEL [integer] Specification of integer indicates the degree of parallelism, which is the
number of parallel threads used in the parallel operation. Each parallel thread
may use one or two parallel execution servers. Normally the database
calculates the optimum degree of parallelism, so it is not necessary for you to
specify integer.
For more complete information on PARALLEL see the description of the
PARALLEL clause in the discussion of CREATE TABLE in Oracle Database SQL
Reference.
Examples
Recovering a Tablespace in an Open Database: Example The following example

takes tablespace tools offline, uses automatic channels to restore and recover it
(deleting the logs that it restored from tape), then brings it back online:
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE tools OFFLINE IMMEDIATE";
RESTORE TABLESPACE tools;
# restore only 2M of logs at a time, then delete them
RECOVER TABLESPACE tools DELETE ARCHIVELOG MAXSIZE 2M;
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE tools ONLINE";
Recovering Datafiles Restored to New Locations: Example The following

example uses the preconfigured disk channel and manually allocates one media

RECOVER
management channel to use datafile copies on disk and backups on tape, and
restores one of the datafiles in tablespace users to a different location:
RMAN> RUN
{
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users OFFLINE IMMEDIATE";
SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '?/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'
TO '/tmp/users01.dbf';
RESTORE TABLESPACE users;
SWITCH DATAFILE ALL;
RECOVER TABLESPACE users;
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users ONLINE";
}
Performing DBPITR with a Backup Control File and Recovery Catalog: Example
Assume that all datafiles and control files as well as archived redo log 40 were lost
due to a disk failure. Because you do not have incremental backups, you need to
recover the database with available archived redo logs. You do not need to restore
tablespace history because it has not changed since log 40. After connecting to the
target and recovery catalog, follow the example shown here:
RMAN> STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT;
RMAN> RUN
{
SET UNTIL SEQUENCE 530 THREAD 1; # Recover database until log sequence 40
RESTORE CONTROLFILE TO '/tmp/control01.ctl';
RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM '/tmp/control01.ctl'; # Replicates to CONTROL_FILES locations
RESTORE DATABASE SKIP TABLESPACE temp, history;
RECOVER DATABASE SKIP FOREVER TABLESPACE temp;
}
RMAN> ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS;
If the database uses locally-managed temporary tablespaces, then you must add
tempfiles to these tablespaces after restoring a backup control file, using the SQL
ALTER TABLESPACE... ADD TEMPFILE command:
RMAN> SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE temp ADD TEMPFILE ''?/oradata/trgt/temp01.dbf'' REUSE";
RECOVER and Incrementally Updated Backups: Example Assume that at time t1

you create an image copy of datafile 3:
BACKUP FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG DATAFILE 3 FORMAT ’/disk1/3img.df’ TAG "DF3CPY";
You can also refer to the datafile copy by its tag, with this form of the command:
RMAN> RECOVER COPY OF DATAFILE 3 WITH TAG "DF3CPY";
RMAN Commands 2-209

RECOVER
At time t2, t3, and t4 you make incremental backups of the database. To roll forward
the image copy of datafile 3 to the date of the latest incremental backup, use the
RECOVER command. You can identify the datafile by its filename with this form of
the command:
RMAN> RECOVER DATAFILECOPY ’/disk1/3img.df’;
RECOVER an Image Copy of a Datafile to a Point in Time: Example Assume that

you have an image copy backup of a datafile and you want to roll it forward in time
using incremental backups. Use RECOVER DATAFILECOPY with the UNTIL TIME
UNTIL TIME option. For example, run the following command:
RMAN> RECOVER DATAFILECOPY ’/disk1/3img.df’ UNTIL TIME ’SYSDATE-7’;
Available incremental backups are applied to the datafile copy to recover it to the
desired point in time. Redo from the archived redo logs is not applied by this
command.

REGISTER
REGISTER
Syntax
register::=
register
REGISTER DATABASE ;
Purpose
To register the target database in the recovery catalog so that RMAN can access it.
RMAN obtains all information it needs to register the target database from the
target database itself.
Note: If you perform a RESETLOGS operation on a database and

later register it in the recovery catalog, the catalog records the DB_
NAME for the old incarnations as UNKNOWN because the old
incarnations were not previously registered. You should not try to
remove these records.
See Also: BRADV015Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced

User's Guide, and "CREATE CATALOG" on page 2-111

■ You must be connected to the target database and recovery catalog database.
■ You can register multiple databases in the same recovery catalog, but the
database identifiers of the databases must be unique.
■ You can only register a database once in a given recovery catalog.
■ The target database must be mounted or open.
■ You should not register a standby database.
RMAN Commands 2-211

REGISTER
■ The REGISTER DATABASE command fails when RMAN detects duplicate

DBIDs. This situation can arise when databases are created by copying files
from an existing database rather than by using the DUPLICATE command.
If this failure occurs, then you can change the DBID of the copied database with
the standalone DBNEWID utility.
Note: If you are using RMAN with different target databases that
have the same database name and DBID, be careful to always
specify the correct recovery catalog schema when invoking RMAN.
See Also: Oracle Database Utilities, to learn how to use the

DBNEWID utility
Example
Registering a Database: Example The following commands register a new target

database, catalogs an existing datafile copy, then opens the database for use:
% rman TARGET / CATALOG rman/rman@catdb
RMAN> STARTUP FORCE MOUNT;
RMAN> REGISTER DATABASE;
RMAN> CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '?/oradata/system01.cpy';
RMAN> ALTER DATABASE OPEN;

RELEASE CHANNEL
RELEASE CHANNEL
Syntax
release::=
release
= ’ ’
RELEASE CHANNEL channel_id ;
Purpose
To release a channel while maintaining the connection to the target database
instance. Specify the channel name with the same identifier used in the ALLOCATE
CHANNEL command. This command is optional because RMAN automatically
releases all channels allocated when a RUN block terminates.

Execute this command only within a RUN block. See "releaseForMaint" on
page 2-215 for the form of RELEASE CHANNEL used for maintenance channels.

channel_id The case-sensitive channel ID used in the ALLOCATE CHANNEL command.
Examples
Releasing a Channel: Example This example makes three identical backup sets of
datafiles 1 to 4 to tape with channel ch1, then releases it. RMAN then makes three
identical backups of datafiles 5 to 7 to tape with channel ch2 and then releases it:
RUN {
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 DEVICE TYPE sbt FORMAT ’bkup_%U’;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch2 DEVICE TYPE sbt MAXPIECESIZE = 5M;
BACKUP CHANNEL ch1 DATAFILE 1,2,3,4;
RELEASE CHANNEL ch1;
RMAN Commands 2-213

RELEASE CHANNEL
BACKUP DATAFILE 5,6,7;

}

releaseForMaint
releaseForMaint
Syntax
releaseForMaint::=
releaseForMaint
RELEASE CHANNEL ;
Purpose
To release a sequential I/O device specified in an ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR
MAINTENANCE command. Note that maintenance channels are unaffected by
ALLOCATE CHANNEL and RELEASE CHANNEL command issued within a RUN
command.
Requirements
■ Execute this command only at the RMAN prompt, not within a RUN block.
■ You must have a maintenance channel allocated in order to release it.
Examples
Releasing a Maintenance Channel After a Delete Operation: Example This

example allocates and then releases a maintenance channel to the media manager:
DELETE NOPROMPT BACKUPPIECE 100;
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
BACKUP DATAFILE 1;
RELEASE CHANNEL ch1; # releases RUN channel but not maintenance channel
}
RELEASE CHANNEL; # releases maintenance channel
RMAN Commands 2-215

REPLACE SCRIPT
REPLACE SCRIPT
Syntax
replaceScript::=
replaceScript
=
GLOBAL ’ ’ COMMENT ’ comment ’
REPLACE SCRIPT script_name
replaceScript1
backupCommands
maintenanceCommands
{ }
restoreCommands
;
FROM FILE ’ filename ’
Purpose
To replace an existing script stored in the recovery catalog. If the script does not
exist, then REPLACE SCRIPT creates it.
A stored script is a sequence of RMAN commands, given a name and stored in the
recovery catalog for later execution. A stored script may be local (that is, associated
with one target database) or global (available for use with any database registered
in the recovery catalog).
For more information about stored scripts and commands used to create, update,
delete and execute stored scripts, see "CREATE SCRIPT" on page 2-113.

REPLACE SCRIPT

■ Execute REPLACE SCRIPT only at the RMAN prompt.
■ You must be connected to a target database and recovery catalog. If you are
replacing a local script, then you must be connected to the target database that
you connected to when you created the script.
■ When using REPLACE SCRIPT, RMAN must be connected to a recovery
catalog, and the catalog database must be open.
■ If no script by the specified name exists, one will be created.
■ The @ and @@ commands do not work within REPLACE SCRIPT.

GLOBAL Restricts RMAN to replacing or creating a global stored script, instead of a
local one.
If omitted, RMAN looks for a local stored script script_name defined on the
current target database. If one is found, RMAN updates the local script with
the new script contents. If no local script is found, RMAN looks for a global
stored script script_name. If a global script script_name is found, RMAN
updates it with the new script contents.
’script_name’ Identifies the local or global script being replaced.
COMMENT =’comment’ An explanatory comment, used in the output of LIST SCRIPT NAMES..
FROM FILE ’filename’ The new contents of the script are to be read from this file. The first line of the
file must begin with a "{", the last line must contain a "}" and the commands
must be valid within a RUN block.
{ backupCommands Commands valid in a stored script. These are the same commands supported
within a RUN block. See "RUN" on page 2-248 for more details about
| maintenanceCommands
backupCommands, restoreCommands, maintenanceCommands,
| miscellaneousCommands and miscellaneousCommands.
| restoreCommands
}
RMAN Commands 2-217

REPLACE SCRIPT
Example
Replacing a Recovery Catalog Script: Example This example updates a stored

script called backup_full:
REPLACE SCRIPT backup_full
COMMENT ’Run this to back up the database’
{
# uses configured channel for default device type
BACKUP DATABASE;
}
If there is a local script backup_full, it is updated. If there is no local script

backup_full but there is a global script backup_full, the global script is
updated.

REPORT
REPORT
Syntax
report::=
report
DAYS =
integer
INCREMENTAL
=
REDUNDANCY integer
NEED BACKUP reportObject
obsOperandList
OBSOLETE
REPORT
atClause
SCHEMA
UNRECOVERABLE reportObject
report1
,
=
;
reportObject::=
reportObject
,
’ ’
DATABASE
,
,
’ ’
RMAN Commands 2-219

REPORT
atClause::=
atClause
=
AT SCN integer
=
= THREAD integer
AT SEQUENCE integer
=
AT TIME ’ date_string ’
Purpose
To perform detailed analyses of the RMAN repository. The Database writes the
output from the REPORT command to standard output or the message log file.
Use the REPORT command to answer questions such as the following:
■ Which files need a backup?
■ Which files have not had a backup for some time?
■ Which files are not recoverable due to unrecoverable operations?
■ Which backup files can be deleted?
■ What was the physical schema of the database at a previous time?
to use RMAN’s reporting functionality

■ You must connect to a recovery catalog when issuing a REPORT SCHEMA
command with the AT TIME, AT SCN, or AT SEQUENCE options. Otherwise, a
recovery catalog is not required for the REPORT command.

REPORT

report

NEED BACKUP Lists all datafiles in need of a new backup. The report assumes that you will
use the most recent backup for restore operations. If you do not specify any
option, then RMAN uses the current retention policy configuration. If the
retention policy is disabled (CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO NONE),
RMAN generates an error.
DAYS = integer Specifies a threshold number of days worth of logs needed to recover the file.
For example, REPORT NEED BACKUP DAYS 7 DATABASE shows the datafiles
whose recovery requires more than one week's worth of archived redo logs.
If the target database control file is mounted and current, then RMAN makes
the following optimizations to this report:
■ Files that are offline and whose most recent backup contains all changes
to the file are not included.
■ Files that were offline and are now online, and whose most recent backup
contains all changes up to the offline time, are only reported if they have
been online for more than the specified number of days.
INCREMENTAL = Specifies a threshold number of incremental backups required for recovery. If
integer complete recovery of a datafile requires more than integer incremental
backups, then the datafile requires a new full backup.
Note: Files for which no backups exist will not appear in this list: issue the
REPORT NEED BACKUP REDUNDANCY command to display them.
RECOVERY WINDOW OF Specifies a time window in which RMAN should be able to recover the
integer DAYS database. The window stretches from the current time (SYSDATE) to the point
of recoverability, which is the earliest date to which you want to recover. The
point of recoverability is integer days in the past, that is, SYSDATE -
integer.
REDUNDANCY = Specifies the minimum number of backups or copies that must exist for a
integer datafile to be considered not in need of a backup. In other words, a datafile
needs a backup if there are fewer than integer backups or copies of this file.
For example, REDUNDANCY 2 means that if there are fewer than two copies or
backups of a datafile, then it needs a new backup.
RMAN Commands 2-221

REPORT

OBSOLETE obsOperandList Lists full backups, datafile copies, and archived logs recorded in the RMAN
repository that can be deleted because they are no longer needed. The
subclause obsOperandList describes the criteria that RMAN uses to
determine what is obsolete. If you do not specify parameters in
obsOperandList, then RMAN uses the options specified in CONFIGURE
RETENTION POLICY. If you use this option in conjunction with DEVICE TYPE,
then RMAN only considers backups and copies created on the specified
device.
SCHEMA Lists the names of all datafiles and tablespaces at the specified point in time.
UNRECOVERABLE Lists all unrecoverable datafiles. A datafile is considered unrecoverable if an
unrecoverable operation has been performed against an object residing in the
datafile since the last backup of the datafile.
Note: The nonexistence of any backup of a datafile is not sufficient reason to
consider it unrecoverable. Such datafiles can be recovered through the use of
the CREATE DATAFILE command, if redo logs starting from when the file was
created still exist.
DEVICE TYPE Specifies the type of storage device. RMAN only considers backups and
deviceSpecifier copies available on the specified device for its report.
reportObject

reportObject Specifies the datafiles to be included in the report. The report can include the
entire database (optionally skipping certain tablespaces), a list of tablespaces,
or a list of datafiles.
Note: RMAN includes objects from prior incarnations.
DATAFILE Lists the specified datafiles. RMAN reports on backups or datafile copies that
datafileSpec contain at least one of the specified datafiles.
TABLESPACE Lists datafiles in the specified tablespace. RMAN reports on backups or
’tablespace_name’ datafile copies that include at least one datafile from a specified tablespace.
DATABASE Lists backups or datafile copies of all files in the current database. Specify
SKIP TABLESPACE tablespace_name to exclude the specified tablespace
from the DATABASE specification.

REPORT
atClause

atClause Specifies a point in time as a time, an SCN, or a log sequence number.
AT TIME = ’date_ Specifies a date. The NLS_LANG and NLS_DATE_FORMAT environment
string’ variables specify the format for the time.
AT SCN = integer Specifies an SCN.
AT SEQUENCE = Specifies a log sequence number for a specified redo THREAD number. The
integer THREAD = integer indicates the time when the specified log and thread were first opened.
integer
Report Output
The information that appears in the output is described in the following tables:
■ Table 2–21, "Report of Database Schema"
■ Table 2–22, "Report of Obsolete Backups and Copies"
■ Table 2–23, "Report of Files that Need Backup Due to Unrecoverable
Operations"
■ Table 2–24, "Report of Files with Fewer Than n Redundant Backups"
■ Table 2–25, "Report of Files Whose Recovery Needs More Than n Days of
Archived Logs"
■ Table 2–26, "Report of Files That Need More than n Incrementals During
Recovery"
Table 2–21 Report of Database Schema

Column Indicates
File The absolute datafile number.
K-bytes The size of the file in kilobytes.
Tablespace The tablespace name.
RB segs YES if rollback segments exist in the tablespace and NO if they
do not (only if connected to the recovery catalog). If RMAN is
not connected to the catalog, then *** is displayed.
Datafile Name The filename of the datafile.
RMAN Commands 2-223

REPORT
Table 2–22 Report of Obsolete Backups and Copies

Column Indicates
Type Whether the object is a backup set, backup piece, proxy copy,
or datafile copy.
Key A unique key that identifies this backup in the target database
control file.
Completion Time The time that the backup or copy completed.
Filename/handle The filename or media handle of the backup or datafile copy.
Table 2–23 Report of Files that Need Backup Due to Unrecoverable Operations
Column Indicates
File The absolute number of the datafile that needs a new backup
due to unrecoverable operations.
Type Of Backup FULL or INCREMENTAL, depending on which type of backup
Required is necessary to ensure the recoverability of all of the data in
this file. If FULL, then create a full backup, level 0 backup, or a
datafile copy. If INCREMENTAL, then a full or incremental
backup will also suffice.
Name The name of the datafile.
Table 2–24 Report of Files with Fewer Than n Redundant Backups

Column Indicates
File The absolute datafile number of a datafile with less than n
redundant backups.
#bkps The number of backups that exist for this file.
Name The name of the file.
Table 2–25 Report of Files Whose Recovery Needs More Than n Days of Archived
Logs
Column Indicates
File The absolute file number of a datafile that requires more than
n days of archived redo logs for recovery.
Days The number of days of archived redo data required for
recovery.

REPORT
Table 2–25 Report of Files Whose Recovery Needs More Than n Days of Archived
Logs (Cont.)
Column Indicates
Table 2–26 Report of Files That Need More than n Incrementals During Recovery
Column Indicates
File The absolute file number of a datafile that requires more than
n incrementals for complete recovery.
Incrementals The number of incremental backups required for complete
recovery.
Examples
Reporting Database Schema: Example This example, which requires a recovery

catalog, reports the names of all datafiles and tablespaces one week ago:
REPORT SCHEMA AT TIME 'SYSDATE-7';
Report of database schema

File K-bytes Tablespace RB segs Datafile Name
---- ---------- -------------------- ------- -------------------
1 307200 SYSTEM *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf
2 20480 UNDOTBS *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/undotbs01.dbf
3 10240 CWMLITE *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/cwmlite01.dbf
4 10240 DRSYS *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/drsys01.dbf
5 10240 EXAMPLE *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/example01.dbf
6 10240 INDX *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/indx01.dbf
7 10240 TOOLS *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/tools01.dbf
8 10240 USERS *** /oracle/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf
Reporting Datafiles Needing Incremental Backups: Example This example

reports all datafiles in the database that require the application of five or more
incremental backups to be recovered to their current state:
REPORT NEED BACKUP INCREMENTAL 5 DATABASE;
Report of files that need more than 5 incrementals during recovery

File Incrementals Name
---- ------------ ----------------------------------------------
2 9 /oracle/oradata/trgt/undotbs01.dbf
RMAN Commands 2-225

REPORT
3 9 /oracle/oradata/trgt/cwmlite01.dbf
4 9 /oracle/oradata/trgt/drsys01.dbf
Reporting Datafiles Needing Backups: Example The following example reports

all datafiles from tablespace SYSTEM that will need more than two days of archived
redo logs to be applied during recovery after being restored from the most recent
backup:
REPORT NEED BACKUP DAYS 2 TABLESPACE SYSTEM;
Report of files whose recovery needs more than 2 days of archived logs
File Days Name
---- ----- -----------------------------------------------------
1 3 /oracle/oradata/trgt/drsys01.dbf.f
Reporting Unrecoverable Datafiles: Example The following example reports all

datafiles that cannot be recovered from existing backups because redo may be
missing:
REPORT UNRECOVERABLE;
Report of files that need backup due to unrecoverable operations

File Type of Backup Required Name
---- ----------------------- -----------------------------------
1 full /oracle/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf
Reporting Obsolete Backups and Copies: Example The following example

reports obsolete backups and copies with a redundancy of 1:
REPORT OBSOLETE;
Report of obsolete backups and copies

Type Key Completion Time Filename/Handle
-------------------- ------ ------------------ --------------------
Backup Set 1 OCT 30 2001 15:54:56
Backup Piece 1 OCT 30 2001 15:54:56 /oracle/dbs/01d7t0t9_1_1
Archive Log 1 OCT 30 2001 04:52:17 /oracle/oradata/trgt/arch/archive1_21.dbf

RESET DATABASE
RESET DATABASE
Syntax
reset::=
reset
RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION primaryKey ;
Purpose
To reset the target database in the RMAN repository, which means to do either of
the following actions:
■ Inform RMAN that the SQL statement ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS has
been executed and that a new incarnation of the target database has been
created. Note that if you run the RMAN command ALTER DATABASE OPEN
RESETLOGS (not the SQL statement with the same keywords), then RMAN
resets the target database automatically so that you do not have to run RESET
DATABASE. By resetting the database, RMAN considers the new incarnation as
the current incarnation of the database.
■ To reset the database to a previous incarnation. Typically, you would reset the
incarnation when performing incomplete recovery to a point before a
RESETLOGS operation, or when attempting to undo the affects of a RESETLOGS
by restoring backups taken before a RESETLOGS.

■ Execute RESET DATABASE only at the RMAN prompt.
■ You must be connected to the target database.
■ A recovery catalog connection is optional. Unlike in catalog mode, RESET
DATABASE in nocatalog mode changes the incarnation only for the current
RMAN session.
■ You must issue a RESET DATABASE command before you can use RMAN with
a target database that has been opened with the SQL statement ALTER
DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS option. If you do not, then RMAN refuses to
RMAN Commands 2-227

RESET DATABASE
access the recovery catalog because it cannot distinguish between a RESETLOGS

operation and an accidental restore of an old control file. The RESET DATABASE
command informs RMAN that you issued a RESETLOGS command.
■ If RMAN is connected NOCATALOG, then you can only specify TO
INCARNATION if the database is mounted and the control file contains a record
of the prior incarnation. If you do not run RESET DATABASE, RMAN recovers
to the last incarnation recorded in the control file.
■ If RMAN is connected in CATALOG mode, then you can specify TO
INCARNATION when the database is mounted. If database is mounted,
however, then the control file must have a record of the prior incarnation.

TO INCARNATION primary_ Changes the current incarnation to an older incarnation. Specify the primary
key key of the DBINC record for the database incarnation. Run LIST
INCARNATION OF DATABASE to obtain the key. After you issue RESET
DATABASE TO INCARNATION, then you can run RMAN commands such as
RESTORE and RECOVER.
Examples
Resetting RMAN to a Previous Incarnation in NOCATALOG Mode: Example In

NOCATALOG mode, you must mount a control file that knows about the incarnation
that you want to recover. The following scenario makes an old incarnation of
database trgt current again:
CONNECT TARGET / NOCATALOG
# step 1: start and mount a control file that knows about the incarnation to which
# you want to return. if the current control file does not know about it, then
# you must restore an older control file
STARTUP NOMOUNT;
RESTORE CONTROLFILE UNTIL TIME ’SYSDATE-250’;
# step 2: obtain the primary key of old incarnation

LIST INCARNATION OF DATABASE trgt;

------- ------- -------- ------------- ------- ---------- ----------

RESET DATABASE
1 2 TRGT 1334358386 PARENT 154381 OCT 30 2001 16:02:12

1 116 TRGT 1334358386 CURRENT 154877 OCT 30 2001 16:37:39
# step 3: in this example, reset database to incarnation key 2

RESET DATABASE TO INCARNATION 2;
# step 4: restore and recover the database to a point before the RESETLOGS
RESTORE DATABASE UNTIL SCN 154876;
RECOVER DATABASE UNTIL SCN 154876;
# step 5: make this incarnation the current incarnation and then list incarnations:
LIST INCARNATION OF DATABASE trgt;

------- ------- -------- ---------------- ------- ---------- ----------
1 2 TRGT 1334358386 PARENT 154381 OCT 30 2001 16:02:12
1 116 TRGT 1334358386 PARENT 154877 OCT 30 2001 16:37:39
1 311 TRGT 1334358386 CURRENT 154877 AUG 13 2002 17:17:03
Resetting the Database After Incomplete Recovery: Example This example assumes that
an incomplete recovery or recovery with a backup control file was performed in NOCATALOG mode. Later, RMAN is
started in CATALOG mode, but the RESYNC command fails because the incarnation has not been reset in the catalog.
% rman target / catalog rman/rman@catdb
Recovery Manager: Release 10.1.0.2.0 - Production
Copyright (c) 1995, 2003, Oracle. All rights reserved.
connected to target database: TRGT (DBID=1334531173)

connected to recovery catalog database
RMAN> RESYNC CATALOG;
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03009: failure of resync command on default channel at 11/01/2001 12:00:43
RMAN-20003: target database incarnation not found in recovery catalog
RMAN> RESET DATABASE;
new incarnation of database registered in recovery catalog

starting full resync of recovery catalog
full resync complete
RMAN Commands 2-229

RESTORE
RESTORE
Syntax
restore::=
restore
( restoreSpecOperand )
RESTORE restoreObject
restore1
= ’ ’
CHANNEL channel_id
CHECK LOGICAL
CHECK READONLY
,
=
FORCE
BACKUPSET
FROM
DATAFILECOPY
= ’ ’
FROM TAG tag_name
SUMMARY
PREVIEW
untilClause
VALIDATE
;

RESTORE
restoreObject::=
restoreObject
TO ’ filename ’
CONTROLFILE
,
FOREVER ’ ’
DATABASE
,
PFILE
TO ’ filename ’
SPFILE
TO ’ filename ’
STANDBY CONTROLFILE
,
’ ’
restoreSpecOperand::=
restoreSpecOperand
= ’ ’
CHANNEL channel_id
autoBackupOptList
AUTOBACKUP
FROM
’ media_handle ’
= ’ ’
FROM TAG tag_name
RMAN Commands 2-231

RESTORE
autoBackupOptList::=
autoBackupOptList
= ’ ’
DB_NAME database_name
MAXDAYS =
integer
MAXSEQ
= ’ ’
DB_NAME database_name
RECOVERY AREA =
quoted_string = identifier
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST DB_UNIQUE_NAME
quoted_string
Purpose
The primary use of RESTORE is to restore files from backups or image copies.
Typically, you restore when a media failure has damaged a current datafile, control
file, or archived log or prior to performing a point-in-time recovery.
There are two other uses of RESTORE:
■ RESTORE... PREVIEW identifies the backups which RMAN will use to perform
any RESTORE operation. Output from a RESTORE... PREVIEW is in the same
format as the output of the LIST command.
■ With the VALIDATE option, RMAN scans existing backups that it would use to
perform a RESTORE operation to determine whether the operation can be
performed successfully.
RMAN chooses which backups to restore based on the criteria that you specify. For
example, you can limit the restore to backups before a given point of time (within
the current incarnation) with the untilClause.
When you run RESTORE in CATALOG mode with a backup control file, RMAN
automatically adjusts the control file to reflect the structure of the restored database.
Locations of Restored Files

If you restore to the default location (that is, you do not run SET NEWNAME), then
RMAN overwrites files with the same filenames. If you restore to a new location,
then issue SET NEWNAME commands to rename the files and issue a SWITCH
command to make the restored files current. If you do not issue SWITCH commands,
then RMAN considers the restored files as valid copies for use in future restore
operations.

RESTORE
If you do not run SET NEWNAME and RMAN detects that the default filename cannot
be used (for example, because the filename is in use by another database that shares
the storage), and if the file is an Oracle Managed File or is on an Automatic Storage
Management disk group, then RMAN attempts to create a new file in the same
location or disk group.
Note: By default, RMAN does not restore a datafile if the file is in

the correct place and its header contains the expected data (RMAN
does not scan the datafile body for corrupt blocks). The FORCE
option overrides this behavior and restores the requested files
unconditionally.
Channel Allocation in a Restore

If you do not manually allocate channels, then RMAN allocates all automatic
channels possibly needed by the RESTORE command, subject to any restrictions
imposed by the use of the DEVICE TYPE option.
For example, assume you configure 3 separate sbt channels (each with different
PARMS) and then configure parallelism for DISK and sbt as follows:
If you run RESTORE in this configuration, then RMAN allocates three sbt channels
and the two preconfigured DISK channels.
Restore Failover
If a backup piece, image copy or proxy copy is inaccessible (for instance, deleted
from the device) or if a block is corrupted, then the RESTORE command
automatically looks for a another usable copy of this backup piece or image copy on
both the same device and other devices. If no usable copies are available, then
RMAN searches for prior backups. RMAN continously searches for prior usable
backups until it has exhaused all possibilities.
Restore failover also occurs when restoring archivelogs for use in RECOVER,
BLOCKRECOVER and FLASHBACK operations. RMAN records messages about
failover due to block corruption in the alert log and trace files.
See Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide for details on restore
failover.
RMAN Commands 2-233

RESTORE
Restoring Files in a Real Application Cluster Configuration

In a Real Application Clusters configuration, RMAN automatically restores
backups, control file copies, and datafile copies from channels that can read the files
on tape or a local file system. For example, if channel 1 connected to instance 1 can
read log 1000 from its tape drive, but channel 2 connected to instance 2 cannot read
the same log from its tape drive, then channel 1 restores the log. Autolocation is
automatically enabled when the channels meet any of the following criteria:
■ Different PARMS settings
■ Different CONNECT strings
to restore files

■ To restore datafiles to their current location, the database must be started,
mounted, or open with the tablespaces or datafiles to be restored offline. If the
database is started but not mounted, then it is recommended that you only
restore the control file, if necessary (refer to "Restrictions and Usage Notes for
RESTORE CONTROLFILE" on page 2-236). To restore other files, mount the
database and then continue.
Note: When performing a database validation by using RESTORE

... VALIDATE, the database can be open.
■ To restore to a new location, run SET NEWNAME commands to rename the

datafiles and SWITCH commands to make them the current database files. If you
do not use SWITCH, then the repository lists restored datafiles as datafile copies.
■ If you use the FROM DATAFILECOPY option, then the allocated channels must
be of DEVICE TYPE DISK.
■ If you use the FROM BACKUPSET operand, then the appropriate type of storage
devices must be allocated for the backup sets that need to be restored. If the
appropriate device is not allocated, then you may not be able to find a
candidate backup set or copy to restore, and the RESTORE command fails.
■ RMAN only restores backups that were created on the same type of channels
that are allocated for the RESTORE command.

RESTORE
For example, if you made some backups of a datafile to DISK channels and
others to sbt channels, and only a DISK channel is allocated for the RESTORE
command, RMAN will not restore backups that were created on sbt channels.
■ If there are no backups available for a lost datafile, RMAN will create an empty
datafile with the checkpoint change as creation SCN. During recovery, all
archived logs back to the creation of the datafile will be restored, and all
changes during the history of the datafile will be re-applied to recreate its
contents.
■ If datafile names are symbolic links, that is, files pointing to other files, then the
control file stores the filenames of the link files but RMAN performs I/O on the
datafiles pointed to by the link files. If a link file is lost and you RESTORE a
datafile without re-creating the symbolic link, then RMAN restores the datafile
to the location of the link file rather than to the location pointed to by the link.
■ If the database is started but not mounted in NOCATALOG mode, then the
RESTORE SPFILE command requires the FROM AUTOBACKUP clause.
■ If you are restoring the server parameter file and the control file in a disaster
recovery situation, you cannot run RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM
AUTOBACKUP, mount this control file, and then run RESTORE SPFILE without
the FROM AUTOBACKUP clause.
■ Do not specify a datafile more than once in a restore job. For example, the
following command is illegal because datafile 1 is both specified explicitly
and implied by the SYSTEM tablespace:
RESTORE TABLESPACE SYSTEM DATAFILE 1;
■ You must have already configured a device type by using CONFIGURE (except
for DISK, which is preconfigured) before specifying the DEVICE TYPE option.
■ You cannot manually allocate channels and then run RECOVER DEVICE TYPE.
■ RMAN cannot backup or restore locally-managed temporary tablespaces.
RMAN can, however, back up and restore dictionary-managed temporary
tablespaces.
■ RMAN does not support backup and recovery of the change tracking file. Note
that database restore and recovery has no user-visible effect on change tracking.
The next incremental backup after any recovery is able to use the
change-tracking file.
■ If no suitable backups are available in the current incarnation of the database,
then you can force RMAN to use backups from a previous incarnation. Using
the CHANGE... UNAVAILABLE command, you can make all backups since the
RMAN Commands 2-235

RESTORE
RESETLOGS that ended the incarnation unavailable. Run LIST RECOVERABLE

to see valid parent incarnations.
Restrictions and Usage Notes for RESTORE CONTROLFILE

■ After you restore a backup control file, you must run RECOVER DATABASE and
then open the database with the RESETLOGS option.
■ After restoring a backup control file, entries for tempfiles in locally-managed
temporary tablespaces are removed. Hence, you must add new tempfiles to
these tablespaces after you OPEN RESETLOGS. If you do not, then the database
can display the following error for when attempting to sort: ORA-25153:
Temporary Tablespace is Empty.
Table 2–27 indicates the restrictions that apply in different situations involving the
RESTORE CONTROLFILE command.
Table 2–27 RESTORE CONTROLFILE Scenarios

RESTORE
CONTROLFILE RESTORE RESTORE CONTROLFILE ...
RESTORE FROM CONTROLFILE ... TO FROM ’media_handle’ or TAG
CONTROLFILE; AUTOBACKUP; ’filename’; ’user_tag’;
No catalog, Error. Must specify First run SET DBID. First run SET DBID. First run SET DBID. Restores
target started in FROM AUTOBACKUP. Restores to Must specify FROM from specified file (cannot
NOMOUNT CONTROL_FILES AUTOBACKUP. Restores restore from TAG). If TO
state locations. only to filename. ’filename’ not used, restores to
all CONTROL_FILES locations.
No catalog, Error. Must use TO Error. Must use TO Restores only to Restores from specified file. If TO
target mounted ’filename’, where ’filename’, where filename, where ’filename’ not used, restores to
or open filename is not in filename is not in filename is not in all CONTROL_FILES locations.
CONTROL_FILES list. CONTROL_FILES CONTROL_FILES list.
list.
Catalog, target Restores to CONTROL_ Only use with Restores only to Restores from specified file. If TO
started in FILES locations. Run catalog for testing filename, where ’filename’ not used, restores to
NOMOUNT SET DBID only if purposes. filename is not in all CONTROL_FILES locations.
state DB_NAME not unique CONTROL_FILES list.
in catalog.
Catalog, target Error. Must use TO Do not use with Restores only to Restores from specified file. If TO
mounted or ’filename’, where catalog. filename, where ’filename’ not used, restores to
open filename is not in filename is not in all CONTROL_FILES locations.
CONTROL_FILES list. CONTROL_FILES list.

RESTORE

restore
CHANNEL ’channel_id’ Refer to the restoreSpecOperand clause.
finds logical corruption, it logs the block in the alert.log and server session
trace file.
If the total number of physical and logical corruptions detected in a file is less
than its MAXCORRUPT setting, the RMAN command completes and the
database populates the V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view with
corrupt block ranges. If MAXCORRUPT is exceeded, the command terminates
without populating the views.
If the initialization parameter DB_BLOCK_CHECKSUM=TRUE, and if
MAXCORRUPT and NOCHECKSUM are not set, then specifying CHECK LOGICAL
detects all types of corruption that are possible to detect.
Note: The MAXCORRUPT setting represents the total number of physical and
CHECK READONLY Checks the read-only datafiles to make sure they exist, are readable, and have
the appropriate checkpoint. If any of these conditions is not met, then RMAN
restores the files—whether or not they are read-only. By default, RMAN does
not restore read-only files when you issue the RESTORE DATABASE command.
deviceSpecifier if you configure automatic disk and tape channels, and issue RESTORE ...
DEVICE TYPE DISK, then RMAN allocates only disk channels.
FORCE Overrides the restartable restore feature and restores all files regardless of
whether they need to be restored. If you do not specify FORCE, then RMAN
restores a file only if its header information does not match the information in
the control file.
FROM {BACKUPSET | Specifies whether RMAN should restore from a DATAFILECOPY on disk or a
DATAFILECOPY} BACKUPSET. By default RESTORE chooses the most recent backup set or file
copy, that is, the file copy or backup set that needs the least media recovery.
FROM TAG = ’tag_name’ Refer to the restoreSpecOperand clause.
RMAN Commands 2-237

RESTORE

PREVIEW [SUMMARY] When PREVIEW or PREVIEW SUMMARY is appended to any RESTORE
command, instead of performing the restore RMAN will report the backups
(on disk or sequential media) it will use during the restore. The output will be
in the same format as is generated by the LIST BACKUPS and LIST
BACKUPS... SUMMARY commands.
See Also: "LIST" on page 2-163, and specifically the BACKUPS and SUMMARY
options.
untilClause Limits the selection to backup sets or file copies that are suitable for a
point-in-time recovery to the specified time. In the absence of any other
criteria, RMAN selects the most current file copy or backup set to restore.
Note that the time specified in the untilClause must fall within the current
incarnation.
VALIDATE Lets RMAN decide which backup sets, datafile copies, and archived logs need
to be restored and then scans them to verify their contents. No files will be
restored. Use this option periodically to verify that the copies and backup sets
required to restore the specified files are intact and usable.
restoreObject

restoreObject Specifies the objects to be restored. The RESTORE command restores full
backups, incremental backups (level 0 only), or copies of datafiles, control
files, and archived redo logs.
archivelogRecordSpecifier Restores the specified range of archived redo logs. The default restore
location is DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST (if one of LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_n is
configured to USE_DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST either implicitly or
explicitly). Otherwise, the default restore filenames are constructed with the
LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT and LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1 parameters of the
target database. These parameters combine in a port-specific fashion to
derive the name of the restored log. You can override the default location
with the SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION command.
Because the RECOVER command automatically restores archived logs as
needed, you should seldom need to restore logs manually. Possible reasons
for manually restoring archived logs are to speed up recovery or to stage
the logs to multiple destinations.
Note: The database can be started, mounted, or open for this operation.

RESTORE

CONTROLFILE Restores the current control file for a primary database.
See Also: Table 2–27 for restrictions and usage notes.
Note: You must always run the RECOVER command after restoring a control
file, and must also always open the database with the RESETLOGS option.
DATABASE Restores all datafiles in the database except those that are offline or
[ SKIP [ FOREVER ] read-only. Unlike BACKUP DATABASE, RESTORE DATABASE does not
TABLESPACE automatically include the control file and the server parameter file—you
tablespace_name ] must issue additional RESTORE CONTROLFILE and RESTORE SPFILE
commands to restore these files.
If you specify the CHECK READONLY option, then RMAN examines the
headers of all read-only datafiles and restores any that need restoring.
Use an optional SKIP TABLESPACE ’tablespace_name’ argument to
avoid restoring specified tablespaces, which is useful when you want to
avoid restoring tablespaces containing temporary data.
If you specify SKIP FOREVER TABLESPACE, then RMAN specifies the DROP
option of ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE ... OFFLINE when taking the
datafiles that belong to the tablespace offline before the restore. The DROP
option indicates that RMAN does not intend to recover these files and
intends to drop their tablespaces from the database after the database is
opened again. In other words, FOREVER indicates that RMAN never
intends to do anything with the skipped tablespaces again.
DATAFILE datafileSpec Restores the datafiles specified by filename or absolute datafile number.
SPFILE Restores a primary or STANDBY server parameter file to the location from
[TO [PFILE] ’filename’] which it was backed up (default), or to a different location specified by the
TO clause. RMAN cannot overwrite a server parameter file currently in use
by the target database.
Specify UNTIL or TAG options of RESTORE to restore older versions of the
server parameter file. By default RMAN restores the most current server
parameter file.
If the server parameter file is lost, connect to the target (and catalog if used)
and then run SET DBID. Run STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT before running
RESTORE SPFILE (with FROM AUTOBACKUP if in NOCATALOG mode). Then
run STARTUP FORCE to restart the database with the restored server
parameter file.
See Also: "Restrictions and Usage Notes for the SET DBID Command" on
page 2-255
RMAN Commands 2-239

RESTORE

STANDBY CONTROLFILE Restores the current control file for a standby database.
[ TO ’filename’ ]
Note: You must always run the RECOVER command after restoring a control
file, and must also always open the database with the RESETLOGS option.
TABLESPACE Restores all datafiles in the specified tablespaces.
’tablespace_name’
The translates the tablespace name internally into a list of datafiles. If you
rename a tablespace (for example, from users to customers), then so
long as an additional tablespace with the old name (users) has not been
created, you can use either the old name (users) or the new name
(customers) for the tablespace. RMAN detects that the tablespace has
changed its name and updates the recovery catalog on the next
resynchronization.
restoreSpecOperand

restoreSpecOperand Specifies options for the restoreObject clause.
Note: These parameters override the parameters with the same name at the
RESTORE command level.
CHANNEL Specifies the case-sensitive name of a channel to use for this restore operation.
’channel_id’ If you do not specify a channel, then RESTORE uses any available channel
allocated with the correct device type.
FROM AUTOBACKUP Restores a control file autobackup. You can only specify this option on the
[autoBackupOptionList] RESTORE CONTROLFILE and RESTORE SPFILE commands. When restoring
either type of file in NOCATALOG mode, the FROM AUTOBACKUP clause is
required.
RMAN begins the search on the current day or on the day specified with the
SET UNTIL. If no autobackup is found in the current or SET UNTIL day,
RMAN checks the previous day starting with sequence 256 (or the sequence
specified by MAXSEQ) until it reaches 0. The search continues up to MAXDAYS
days (default of 7, maximum of 366) from the current or SET UNTIL day. If no
autobackup is found within MAXDAYS days, then RMAN signals an error and
the command stops.
FROM ’media_handle’ Specifies the name of the control file copy or backup piece containing a control
file. The media_handle can be any backup piece that contains a backup of a
control file: the control file backup does not need to be an autobackup.

RESTORE

FROM TAG [=] ’tag_name’ Overrides the default selection of the most recent backups or file copy
available. The tag restricts the automatic selection to backup sets or file copies
that were created with the specified tag. If multiple backup sets or file copies
have a matching tag, then RMAN selects the most recent one. Note that tag
names are not case sensitive.
See Also: "BACKUP" on page 2-28 for a description of how a tag can be
applied to an individual copy of a duplexed backup set, and for a description
of the default filename format for tags
autoBackupOptList

autoBackupOptList Parameters that control the search for a control file autobackup.
DB_NAME = Provides a DB_NAME to be used in searching for control file autobackups.
’database_name’
MAXDAYS = integer Limits the search for a control file autobackup to within the specified number
of days in the past.
MAXSEQ = integer Specifies the highest sequence number for the control file autobackup search.
(RECOVERY AREA| Specifies path to flash recovery area to search for autobackups. RECOVERY
DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST) AREA and DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST are synonyms.
= quoted_string
DB_NAME = Provides the DB_NAME of the database in the specified flash recovery area
database_name that is the target of the restore operation.
DB_UNIQUE_NAME = Provides the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of the database in the specified flash
{ identifier | recovery area that is the target of the restore operation.
quoted-string }
Examples
Restoring a Tablespace: Example This example takes a tablespace offline, restores

it, then performs media recovery:
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users OFFLINE IMMEDIATE";
RESTORE TABLESPACE users;
RECOVER TABLESPACE users;
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users ONLINE";
RMAN Commands 2-241

RESTORE
Restoring the Control File When Using a Recovery Catalog: Example This
example restores the control file to its default location, replicates it automatically to
all CONTROL_FILES locations, and mounts the database:
RUN
{ # SET DBID is not necessary when connected to a recovery catalog
STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT;
RESTORE CONTROLFILE;
}
Restoring the Control File with a Tag: Example This NOCATALOG example restores
the control file specified by a tag, and then mounts the database:
CONNECT TARGET /
STARTUP NOMOUNT;
SET DBID 320066378; # required when restoring control file in NOCATALOG mode
RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM TAG ’monday_cf_backup’;
Restoring the Database with a Backup Control File: Example This example
restores the control file to a temporary location, replicates it to all control file
locations specified in the CONTROL_FILES initialization parameter, and then
restores and recovers the database:
CONNECT TARGET /
STARTUP NOMOUNT;
SET DBID 320066378; # required when restoring control file in NOCATALOG mode
RUN
{
RESTORE CONTROLFILE TO ’/tmp/control01.ctl’ FROM AUTOBACKUP;
RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM ’/tmp/control01.ctl’; # restores to all CONTROL_FILES locations
RESTORE DATABASE;
RECOVER DATABASE;
}
# if the database uses locally-managed temporary tablespaces, then add new tempfiles
# to these tablespaces after the RESETLOGS
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE temp ADD TEMPFILE ’’?/oradata/trgt/temp01.dbf’’ REUSE";
Restoring Archived Redo Logs to a New Location: Example This example

restores all archived redo logs to the /oracle/temp_restore directory:
RMAN> RUN
{
SET ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION TO '/oracle/temp_restore';

RESTORE
RESTORE ARCHIVELOG ALL;

}
Restoring a Control File Autobackup to a Nondefault Location: Example This

example restores the latest control file autobackup made on or before June 23, 2000
with a nondefault format of PROD_CF_AUTOBACKUP_%F. It starts searching for
backups with a sequence number of 20, and searches backward for 5 months:
RMAN> SET DBID 320066378; # required when restoring control file in NOCATALOG mode
RMAN> RUN
{
SET UNTIL TIME ’23-JUN-2001 00:00:00’;
SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO ’prod_cf_autobackup_%F’;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL CHANNEL_1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
RESTORE CONTROLFILE TO ’/tmp/autobackup_20001002.dbf’ FROM AUTOBACKUP
MAXSEQ 20 MAXDAYS 150;
}
Restoring the Server Parameter File to Current Location: Example The following
series of commands restores the current server parameter file in NOCATALOG mode:
rman TARGET /
RMAN> SET DBID 1447326980 # set dbid to dbid of target database
RMAN> STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT; # start instance with dummy SPFILE
RMAN> RUN
{
RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; # FROM AUTOBACKUP needed in NOCATALOG mode
}
RMAN> STARTUP FORCE; # start with restored SPFILE and open database
Previewing a Restore with RESTORE PREVIEW: Example ’The following example

shows the results of a RESTORE PREVIEW, which identifies the backupsets to use in
restoring datafile 1 of a database:
RMAN> restore datafile 1 preview;
Starting restore at 10-OCT-03

using target database controlfile instead of recovery catalog
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: sid=18 devtype=DISK
List of Backup Sets

===================
BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time

------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
RMAN Commands 2-243

RESTORE
25 Full 264M DISK 00:00:42 10-OCT-03

BP Key: 25 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: FOURTH_INC
Piece Name: /ade/banand_hosted5/oracle/work/v1/0pf3hr3o_1
List of Datafiles in backup set 25
File LV Type Ckp SCN Ckp Time Name
---- -- ---- ---------- --------- ----
1 Full 228006 10-OCT-03 /disk1/oracle/dbs/tbs_01.f
Finished restore at 10-OCT-03
Validating a Restore with RESTORE VALIDATE: Example The following example

illustrates using RESTORE VALIDATE for the restore of datafile 1, as in the previous
example:
RMAN> RESTORE DATAFILE 1 VALIDATE;
Starting restore at 10-OCT-03

using channel ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting validation of datafile backupset

channel ORA_DISK_1: restored backup piece 1
piece handle=/disk1/oracle/work/v1/0pf3hr3o_1 tag=FOURTH_INC
channel ORA_DISK_1: validation complete
Finished restore at 10-OCT-03

RESYNC
RESYNC
Syntax
resync::=
resync
FROM CONTROLFILECOPY ’ filename ’
RESYNC CATALOG ;
Purpose
To perform a full resynchronization of the recovery catalog. You can also use
RESYNC CONTROLFILE to resynchronize the current control file with the RMAN
repository in a control file copy.
Resynchronizations can be full or partial. When full, RMAN updates all changed
records for the physical schema: datafiles, tablespaces, redo threads, and online
redo logs. If the database is open, RMAN also obtains data about rollback segments.
When partial, RMAN reads the current control file to update data, but does not
resynchronize metadata about the physical schema or rollback segments.
When you run RESYNC CATALOG, RMAN creates a snapshot control file in order to
obtain a read-consistent view of the control file, then updates the recovery catalog
with any new information from the snapshot. The RESYNC CATALOG command
updates the classes or records described in the following table.
Record Type Description

Log history Records that are created whenever a log switch occurs. Note that log
history records describe an online log switch, not a log archival.
Archived redo logs Records associated with archived logs that were created by archiving
an online redo log, copying an existing archived redo log, or
restoring backups of archived redo logs.
Backups Records associated with backup sets, backup pieces, proxy copies,
and image copies.
Physical schema Records associated with datafiles and tablespaces. If the target
database is open, then rollback segment information is also updated.
RMAN Commands 2-245

RESYNC
RMAN automatically executes a full or partial resynchronization of the recovery

catalog as needed when you execute RMAN commands, so long as the control file is
mounted and the recovery catalog database is available at command execution.
RMAN reads the current control file and resynchronizes metadata about the
physical schema if it determines that this information has changed. If RMAN does
detect a change, then it performs a full resynchronization.
Use RESYNC CATALOG to perform manual full resynchronizations when:
■ The recovery catalog is unavailable when you issue any of the commands that
automatically perform a resynchronization.
■ You are running in ARCHIVELOG mode, because the catalog is not updated
automatically when a log switch occurs or when an online redo log is archived.
■ You have made changes to the physical structure of the target database such as
adding or dropping a tablespace. As with archive operations, the recovery
catalog is not updated automatically when the physical schema changes.
The primary use for RESYNC CONTROLFILE occurs when you re-create the control
file (for example, to change the database name), which causes you to lose RMAN
records. You can then resynchronize the newly created control file with an old copy.

■ You must be connected to a recovery catalog when running RESYNC CATALOG,
but a catalog connection is not required for RESYNC CONTROLFILE.
■ RMAN updates physical schema information in the recovery catalog only when
the target database has the current control file mounted. If the target database
has mounted a backup control file, a freshly created control file, or a control file
that is less current than a control file that was used previously, then RMAN
does not update physical schema information in the recovery catalog.

CATALOG Updates the recovery recovery catalog with RMAN metadata in the current
control file (default) or a control file copy.
CONTROLFILE Updates the current control file (and recovery catalog, if RMAN is connected
to one) with RMAN metadata from a control file copy.

RESYNC

FROM Specifies the name of the control file copy to use for resynchronization.
CONTROLFILECOPY Physical schema information is not updated when you use this option.
'filename'
Note: The control file copy can either be in the current database incarnation,
or created in a prior incarnation (that is, prior to the most recent OPEN
RESETLOGS).
Examples
Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog in ARCHIVELOG Mode: Example This

example performs a full resynchronization after archiving all unarchived redo logs:
CONNECT TARGET / CATALOG rman/rman@catdb
SQL "ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG ALL";
RESYNC CATALOG;
Resynchronizing the Current Control File from a Backup: Example This example
updates the RMAN repository in the current control file with metadata from a
backup control file:
RESYNC CONTROLFILE FROM CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/cfile.dbf';
Resynchronizing the Recovery Catalog After a Structural Change: Example This

example adds a datafile to tablespace users and then resynchronizes the catalog:
#!/usr/bin/tcsh
# connect in nocatalog mode and add datafile
rman TARGET / NOCATALOG <<EOF
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE users ADD DATAFILE ’’?/oradata/trgt/users03.dbf’’
SIZE 1M AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 10K MAXSIZE 10M";
EXIT
EOF
# connect in catalog mode and resynchronize
rman TARGET / CATAOG rman/rman@catdb <<EOF
RESYNC CATALOG;
EOF
RMAN Commands 2-247

RUN
RUN
Syntax
run::=
run
backupCommands
maintenanceCommands
RUN { }
restoreCommands
backupCommands::=
backupCommands
backup
convert
restoreCommands::=
restoreCommands
blockrecover
duplicate
flashback
recover
restore
switchFile

RUN
maintenanceCommands::=
maintenanceCommands
catalog
change
configure
crosscheck
delete
report
show
validate
miscellaneousCommands::=
allocate
alterDatabase
executeScript
host
release
resync
send
set
shutdown
sql
startup
Purpose
The RUN command lets you group a series RMAN commands into a block to be
executed sequentially. It also creates a scope within which a script can override
default configured channels for a task using the ALLOCATE CHANNEL and
RELEASE CHANNEL commands, and other parameters using the SET command
with appropriate arguments. On completing the execution of the commands listed
RMAN Commands 2-249

RUN
in the RUN block, the channels allocated within the RUN block are released and
settings returned to their values.
Upon reading the closing brace of the RUN block, RMAN compiles the list of job
commands into one or more job steps and then executes the steps immediately.

■ You must precede and follow the list of job commands with an opening and
closing brace.

Refer to individual entries for information about commands that you can run from
the RMAN prompt.
Examples
Making a Backup: Example This example backs up a database by using a single

manually allocated channel to perform the backup:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 TYPE sbt;
BACKUP DATABASE;
}
Restoring and Recovering a Tablespace: Example This example takes tablespace

tools offline, restores it, then performs complete media recovery:
RUN
{
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE tools OFFLINE IMMEDIATE";
RESTORE TABLESPACE tools;
RECOVER TABLESPACE tools;
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE tools ONLINE";
}
Executing an RMAN Script: Example This example executes the stored script
backup_db:
RUN { EXECUTE SCRIPT backup_db; }

SEND
SEND
Syntax
send::=
send
,
= ’ ’
CHANNEL channel_id
SEND , ’ command ’
=
send1
=
PARMS ’ channel_parms ’
;
Purpose
To send a vendor-specific string to one or more channels supported by a media
manager. Refer to your media management documentation to determine which
commands are supported.

■ You must only SEND commands supported by the media manager. The contents
of the string are not interpreted by the databasethe database, but are passed
unaltered to the media management subsystem.

CHANNEL ’channel_id’ Specifies which channel to use. If you do not specify DEVICE TYPE or
CHANNEL, then RMAN uses all allocated channels. You must specify a
case-sensitive channel ID, which is the name of the channel, after the
CHANNEL keyword. the database uses the channel ID to report I/O errors.
RMAN Commands 2-251

SEND

DEVICE TYPE Specifies the type of storage device and sends the command to all channels of
deviceSpecifier the specified type.
’command’ Specifies a vendor-specific media management command.
See Also: Your media management documentation to determine which
commands are supported
PARMS = ’channel_parms’ Parameters for the channel communicating with the media manager.
Example
Sending a String to the Media Manager: Example This example sends

vendor-specific commands to a media manager:
RMAN> SEND ’VAR=a82’;
sent command to channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1
RMAN> BACKUP DATAFILE 2;

SET
SET
Syntax
set::=
set
;
setRmanOption
SET
setRunOption ;
setRmanOption::=
setRmanOption
AUXILIARY INSTANCE PARAMETER FILE TO ’ filename ’
=
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier TO formatSpec
COMMAND ID TO ’ string ’
=
DBID integer
OFF
ECHO
ON
RMAN Commands 2-253

SET
setRunOption::=
setRunOption
ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION TO ’ log_archive_dest ’
=
BACKUP COPIES integer
=
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier TO formatSpec
COMMAND ID TO ’ string ’
,
MAXCORRUPT FOR DATAFILE datafileSpec TO integer
’ filename ’
NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE datafileSpec TO
NEW
untilClause
Purpose
To configure settings that apply only to the current RMAN session. The SET
command contrasts with the CONFIGURE command, which configures persistent
settings that apply to all RMAN sessions.
You can use the SET command either at the RMAN prompt or within a RUN block.
Within a RUN block, the SET command sets attributes that persist until the end of
the RUN block. The specified attributes affect all statements within RUN that follow
the SET command. When you use SET outside of a RUN block the attributes you set
persist until you exit the RMAN client.
Use the SET command outside a RUN block to:
■ Display executed RMAN commands in the message log.
■ Specify a database's database identifier (DBID) when restoring a control file or
server parameter file.
Use SET specified within a RUN block to:
■ Specify new filenames for restored datafiles
■ Specify the filenames for the auxiliary database during TSPITR or database
duplication.
■ Specify a limit for the number of permissible block corruptions.
■ Override default archived redo log destinations.

SET
■ Set an end time, SCN, or log sequence number for recovery.

■ Specify that backup sets should be duplexed, that is, multiple copies should be
created of each backup piece in the backup set.
■ Determine which server session corresponds to which channel.
■ Turn RMAN’s automatic location feature on or off.
■ Override the default format for control file autobackups at the session level.
Restrictions and Usage Notes for SET Command Within RUN

The following restrictions apply to SET when issued within a RUN command:
■ The SET BACKUP COPIES command affects all backups in the RUN block after
issuing the command and is in effect until explicitly disabled or changed. The
SET BACKUP COPIES command does not affect previous backups.
■ SET BACKUP COPIES does not apply to the BACKUP AS COPY command.
■ Include the %F substitution variable in the autobackup format.
■ You cannot use SET NEWNAME TO NEW when creating a duplicate or standby
database or performing RMAN TSPITR.
Restrictions and Usage Notes for the SET DBID Command

You should only run the SET DBID command in the following specialized
circumstances:
■ You are not connected to a recovery catalog and want to restore the control file
or server parameter file.
■ You are connected to a recovery catalog and want to restore the control file, but
the database name is not unique in the recovery catalog.
■ The server parameter file is lost and you want to restore it.
See Also: Table 2–27 for RESTORE CONTROLFILE usage notes.
RMAN Commands 2-255

SET

setRmanOption

AUXILIARY INSTANCE For use in customizing TSPITR with an automatic auxiliary instance. Specifies
PARAMETER FILE TO the path (on the host running the RMAN client) to the client-side parameter
'filename' file to use in starting the instance.
See Also: Oracle Database Reference for more on V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO
COMMAND ID TO 'string' Enters the specified string into the V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO column of all
channels. Use this information to determine which database server sessions
correspond to which RMAN channels. The SET COMMAND ID command
applies only to channels that are already allocated.
The V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO column contains information for each
RMAN server session. The data appears in one of the following formats:
■ id=string
■ id=string, ch=channel_id
The first form appears in the RMAN target database connection. The second
form appears in all allocated channels. When the current job is complete, the
V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO column will be cleared.
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP Overrides the default filename format for the control file autobackup on the
FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE specified device type. The override occurs at the session level only. You can
deviceSpecifier TO run this command either in RUN or at the RMAN prompt. The order of
formatSpec precedence is as follows:
1. SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP executed within a RUN block
2. SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP executed at the RMAN prompt
3. CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT
Note that the %F substitution variable is required to be in the new
formatSpec, and that no other substitution variable is legal in a control file
autobackup formatSpec.
See Also: "formatSpec" on page 2-154 for the semantics of the %F substitution
variable.

SET

DBID integer Specifies the DBID, which is a unique 32-bit identification number computed
when the database is created. RMAN displays the DBID upon connection to
the target database. You can obtain the DBID by querying the V$DATABASE
view or the RC_DATABASE and RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION recovery
catalog views.
See Also: "Restrictions and Usage Notes for the SET DBID Command" on
page 2-255
ECHO {ON | OFF} Controls whether RMAN commands are displayed in the message log. When
reading commands from a command file, RMAN automatically echoes those
commands to the message log. When reading commands from standard input,
RMAN does not echo those commands to the message log. To force RMAN to
echo the commands, run the SET ECHO ON command before running your
command file.
The command is useful when stdin and stdout have been redirected. For
example, in UNIX you can redirect RMAN's input and output in this manner:
% rman TARGET sys/pwd@prod1 CATALOG rman/rman@rcat < in_file > out_file
By running SET ECHO ON, you enable the commands contained in in_file to
be visible in out_file.
setRunOption

NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE Sets the default name for all subsequent RESTORE or SWITCH commands that
datafileSpec TO affect the specified datafile. If you do not issue this command before the
datafile restore operation, then RMAN restores the file to its default location.
After you restore a datafile to a new location, then you can run SWITCH to
rename the file in the control file to the NEWNAME. If you do not run SWITCH,
then the restored file functions as a datafile copy and is recorded as such in
the repository.
Note: The SET NEWNAME command supports Automatic Storage Management
disk groups.
'filename' Specifies a user-defined filename or Automatic Storage Management disk
group for the restored datafile. If you set the NEWNAME to a disk group and run
a RESTORE, then RMAN restores the file i
If the original file is an Oracle Managed File or is on an Automatic Storage
Management disk group, then RMAN attempts to delete the original file so
that it will not be orphaned.
RMAN Commands 2-257

SET

NEW Creates an Oracle-managed file in the directory specified in DB_CREATE_
FILE_DEST. If the original file is an Oracle Managed File or is on an
Automatic Storage Management disk group, then RMAN attempts to delete
the original file so that it will not be orphaned.
You cannot use this option when using the DUPLICATE command or
performing RMAN TSPITR.
See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information about Oracle
Managed Files
MAXCORRUPT FOR DATAFILE Sets a limit on the number of previously undetected physical block
datafileSpec TO integer corruptions that the database will allow in a specified datafile or list of
datafiles. If a BACKUP or CREATE CATALOG command detects more than the
specified number of corruptions, then the command terminates. The default
limit is zero, meaning that RMAN tolerates no corrupt blocks.
Note: If you specify CHECK LOGICAL, then the MAXCORRUPT limit applies to
logical corruptions as well.
ARCHIVELOG DESTINATION Overrides the LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1 initialization parameter in the target
TO 'log_archive_dest' database when forming names for restored archive logs during subsequent
RESTORE and RECOVER commands. RMAN restores the logs to the
destination specified in 'log_archive_dest'. Use this parameter to restore
archived redo logs that are not already on disk.
Use this command to stage many archived logs to different locations while a
database restore is occurring. RMAN knows where to find the newly restored
archive logs; it does not require them to be in the destination specified by
LOG_ARCHIVE_DEST_1. For example, if you specify a different destination
from the one in the parameter file and restore archived redo log backups,
subsequent restore and recovery operations will detect this new location.
RMAN always looks for archived redo logs on disk first before restoring them
from backup sets.
untilClause Specifies an end time, SCN, or log sequence number for a subsequent
RESTORE or RECOVER command.

SET

BACKUP COPIES = integer Specifies the number of copies of each backup piece that the channels should
create: 1, 2, 3, or 4. The SET BACKUP COPIES command, which affects only the
BACKUP command, affects all channels allocated in the session. The order of
precedence is as follows, with settings higher on the list overriding settings
lower on the list:
■ BACKUP COPIES
■ SET BACKUP COPIES
■ CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES
The names of the backup pieces are dependent on the FORMAT clause in the
BACKUP command. You can specify up to four FORMAT strings. RMAN uses
the second, third, and fourth values only when BACKUP COPIES, SET
BACKUP COPIES, or CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES is in effect. When
choosing which format to use for each backup piece, RMAN uses the first
format value for copy 1, the second format value for copy 2, and so on. If the
number of format values exceeds the number of copies, then the extra formats
are not used. If the number of format values is less than the number of copies,
RMAN reuses the format values, starting with the first one.
Note: BACKUP COPIES option is not valid when files are created in flash
recovery area. Backups to the flash recovery area cannot be duplexed..
Note: Control file autobackups on disk are a special case and are never
duplexed: RMAN always writes one and only copy.
COMMAND ID TO 'string' Enters the specified string into the V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO column of all
channels. Use this information to determine which database server sessions
correspond to which RMAN channels. The SET COMMAND ID command
applies only to channels that are already allocated.
The V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO column contains information for each
RMAN server session. The data appears in one of the following formats:
■ id=string
■ id=string, ch=channel_id
The first form appears in the RMAN target database connection. The second
form appears in all allocated channels. When the current job is complete, the
V$SESSION.CLIENT_INFO column will be cleared.
RMAN Commands 2-259

SET

CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP Overrides the default filename format for the control file autobackup on the
FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE specified device type. The override occurs at the session level only. You can
deviceSpecifier TO run this command either in RUN or at the RMAN prompt. The order of
formatSpec precedence is as follows:
1. SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP executed within a RUN block
2. SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP executed at the RMAN prompt
3. CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT
Note that the %F substitution variable is required to be in the new
formatSpec, and that no other substitution variable is legal in a control file
autobackup formatSpec.
See Also: "formatSpec" on page 2-154 for the semantics of the %F substitution
variable.
Examples
Restoring the Control File When Databases Share the Same Name: Example The
following example uses the DBID to restore the control file because multiple target
databases share the same DB_NAME in the catalog. After you have restored the target
control file, you can mount the database to restore the rest of the database:
rman TARGET / CATALOG rman/rman@catdb
RMAN> STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT;
RMAN> SET DBID = 862893450; # needed to distinguish target from others with same DB_NAME
RMAN> RESTORE CONTROLFILE; # assuming catalog has automatic channel allocation information
RMAN> ALTER DATABASE MOUNT;
Setting the Command ID: Example This example sets the command ID, backs up
the users tablespace, then archives the online redo logs:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL t1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk1/%U';
ALLOCATE CHANNEL t2 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/disk2/%U';
SET COMMAND ID TO 'rman';
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 MAXSETSIZE 5M TABLESPACE users;
SQL 'ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG ALL';
}

SET
Duplexing a Backup Set: Example Assume that you have used the CONFIGURE
command to set duplexing as follows:
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO 4;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt TO 3;
The following example overrides these configurations and makes two copies of
each datafile and archived log in the backup:
RUN
{
BACKUP DATAFILE 1,2,3,4,5;
}
Overriding the Autobackup Format During a Restore: Example This example sets
the DBID, sets a boundary time for the restore, then restores a control file
autobackup with a nondefault format. First start RMAN and then run:
STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT
SET DBID 676549873;
RUN
{
SET UNTIL TIME '10/10/2001 13:45:00';
SET CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '?/oradata/cf_%F.bak';
RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP MAXSEQ 100;
}
Restoring the Server Parameter File: Example This example restores a lost server
parameter file:
CONNECT TARGET / CATALOG rman/rman@catdb
SET DBID 676549873; # set dbid so rman knows the database name
STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT # rman starts database with a dummy server parameter file
RESTORE SPFILE;
STARTUP FORCE; # needed so that RMAN restarts database with restored server parameter file
RMAN Commands 2-261

SHOW
SHOW
Syntax
show::=
show
ALL
BACKUP COPIES
ARCHIVELOG
DELETION POLICY
AUXNAME
BACKUP OPTIMIZATION
=
AUXILIARY FOR DEVICE TYPE deviceSpecifier
CHANNEL
SHOW FORMAT ;
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP
DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES
DEFAULT
DEVICE TYPE
EXCLUDE
MAXSETSIZE
RETENTION POLICY
SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME
Purpose
To display the current CONFIGURE command settings. The output of SHOW consists
of the CONFIGURE commands used to set the configuration. RMAN default
configurations are suffixed with #default.

■ Execute this command at the RMAN prompt, not in a RUN block.
■ If SHOW ALL is executed when connected to a target database, only
node-specific configurations and database configurations are displayed. Thus,
in a standby configuration, SHOW ALL on the primary database or the standby

SHOW
database shows the node-specific configuration for the primary or standby

databases, for all values except retention policy, tablespace exclude and
auxiliary names.

ALL Displays all user-entered CONFIGURE commands as well as default
configurations.
ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES Shows the currently configured degree of duplexing for archived redo log
backups.
ARCHIVELOG DELETION Shows the currently configured archived redo log deletion policy.
POLICY
AUXNAME Displays the CONFIGURE AUXNAME settings.
BACKUP OPTIMIZATION Displays the CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION settings: ON or OFF
(default).
[AUXILIARY] CHANNEL Displays the CONFIGURE CHANNEL settings. You can specify a normal channel
or an AUXILIARY channel.
FOR DEVICE TYPE Specifies the device type of the channel. For example, SHOW CHANNEL FOR
deviceSpecifier DEVICE TYPE DISK displays only channel settings for disk channels.
CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP Displays the CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP settings: ON or OFF.
FORMAT Displays the format for the control file autobackup file for configured devices.
{DATAFILE | ARCHIVELOG} Displays the CONFIGURE ... BACKUP COPIES setting for datafiles and
BACKUP COPIES archived redo logs: 1, 2, 3, or 4.
[DEFAULT] DEVICE TYPE Displays the configured device types and parallelism settings. If DEFAULT is
specified, then SHOW displays the default device type and settings.
EXCLUDE Displays only the tablespaces that you have specified should be excluded.
MAXSETSIZE Displays the CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE settings.
RETENTION POLICY Displays the settings for CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY for the current
target database.
SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME Displays the CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE settings.
RMAN Commands 2-263

SHOW
Examples
Showing Channel Configurations: Example This example shows commands

relevant for displaying automatic channel configurations:
RMAN> SHOW CHANNEL;
RMAN> SHOW DEVICE TYPE;
RMAN> SHOW DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE;
RMAN> SHOW MAXSETSIZE;
Showing All Configurations: Example This example shows all persistent

configurations for the target database (and includes sample output):
RMAN> SHOW ALL;
RMAN configuration parameters are:

CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 1; # default
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE "SBT" PARALLELISM 1;
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 1; # default
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DISK TO 2;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR SBT TO 1; #default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR SBT TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO 2097152K;
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/oracle/dbs/cf_snap.f';

SHUTDOWN
SHUTDOWN
Syntax
shutdown::=
shutdown
ABORT
IMMEDIATE
NORMAL
TRANSACTIONAL ;
SHUTDOWN
Purpose
To shut down the target database without exiting RMAN. This command is
equivalent to using the SQL*Plus SHUTDOWN statement.
See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information on

how to start up and shut down a database, and SQL*Plus User's
Guide and Reference for SHUTDOWN syntax

■ You cannot use the RMAN SHUTDOWN command to shut down the recovery
catalog database. To shut down this database, start a SQL*Plus session and
issue a SHUTDOWN statement.
■ The NORMAL, TRANSACTIONAL, and IMMEDIATE options all perform a clean
close of the database. The ABORT option does not cleanly close the database; the
database will perform instance recovery at startup.
■ If the database operates in NOARCHIVELOG mode, then you must shut down the
database cleanly and then issue a STARTUP MOUNT before a making a backup.
RMAN Commands 2-265

SHUTDOWN

ABORT Shuts down the target instance, with the following consequences:
■ All current client SQL statements are immediately terminated.
■ Uncommitted transactions are not rolled back until next startup.
■ All connected users are disconnected.
■ Crash recovery will be performed on the database at next startup.
IMMEDIATE Shuts down the target database immediately, with the following
consequences:
■ Current client SQL statements being processed by the database are
allowed to complete.
■ Uncommitted transactions are rolled back.
■ All connected users are disconnected.
NORMAL Shuts down the database with normal priority (default option), which means:
■ No new connections are allowed after the statement is issued.
■ Before shutting down, the database waits for currently connected users to
disconnect
■ The next startup of the database will not require instance recovery.
TRANSACTIONAL Shuts down the target database while minimizing interruption to clients, with
the following consequences:
■ Clients currently conducting transactions are allowed to complete, that is,
either commit or terminate before shutdown.
■ No client can start a new transaction on this instance; any client
attempting to start a new transaction is disconnected.
■ After all transactions have either committed or terminated, any client still
connected is disconnected.
Examples
Shutting Down a Database by Using the Immediate Option: Example This

example waits for current SQL transactions to be processed before shutting down,
then mounts the database:
SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
STARTUP MOUNT;

SHUTDOWN
Shutting Down a Database in NOARCHIVELOG Mode: Example This example

backs up a database running in NOARCHIVELOG mode:
STARTUP FORCE DBA;
SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
STARTUP MOUNT;
# executing the preceding commands ensures that database is in proper state
# for NOARCHIVELOG backups
BACKUP COPIES 2 DATABASE;
RMAN Commands 2-267

SPOOL
SPOOL
Syntax
spool::=
spool
OFF APPEND ;
SPOOL LOG
TO filename
Purpose
To write RMAN output to a log file.
If the file does not already exist, then RMAN creates it. If the file does exist, then
RMAN overwrites the file by default. If you specify APPEND, RMAN will append its
output to the end of the file.
If the specified file cannot be opened for writing. Instead, RMAN turns SPOOL to
OFF and continues execution.
See Also: "cmdLine" on page 2-74 for a description of LOG files

Execute the SPOOL command outside of a RUN block.

OFF Turns off spooling.
TO filename Specifies the name of the log file to which RMAN directs its output. RMAN
creates the file if it does not exist, or overwrites the file if it does exist.
APPEND Specifies that RMAN should append its output to the end of the existing log.

SPOOL
Examples
Spooling RMAN Output to a File: Example This example directs RMAN output to
standard output for the backup of datafile 1, then directs output to a log file for the
backup of datafile 2, then directs output to a different log file for the whole
database backup:
BACKUP DATAFILE 1;
SPOOL LOG TO '/tmp/df2log.f';
BACKUP DATAFILE 2;
SPOOL LOG OFF;
SPOOL LOG TO '/tmp/dblog.f';
BACKUP DATABASE;
SPOOL LOG OFF;
RMAN Commands 2-269

SQL
SQL
Syntax
sql::=
sql
SQL ’ command ’ ;
Purpose
To execute a SQL statement or a PL/SQL stored procedure from within Recovery
Manager.

■ If the string that RMAN passes to PL/SQL contains a filename, then the
filename must be enclosed in duplicate single quotes and the entire string
following the SQL keyword must be enclosed in double quotes. For example, use
the following syntax:
SQL "CREATE TABLESPACE temp1 DATAFILE ''?/oradata/trgt/temp1.dbf''
SIZE 10M TEMPORARY";
If you attempt to use single quotes for the string following the SQL keyword or
use only one set of single quotes for the filename, then the command fails.
■ You cannot execute SELECT statements.
See Also: For valid SQL syntax, see the Oracle Database SQL
Reference

SQL

'command' Specifies a SQL statement for execution. For example, issue the following at
the RMAN prompt to archive the online redo logs:
SQL 'ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG ALL';
Because EXECUTE is a SQL*Plus command, you cannot execute a PL/SQL
command by specifying EXECUTE within the RMAN SQL command. Instead,
you must use the BEGIN and END keywords. For example, to execute a
PL/SQL procedure named rman.rman_purge through the RMAN SQL
command, issue the following:
SQL 'BEGIN rman.rman_purge; END;';
Examples
Archiving the Unarchived Online Logs: Example This example backs up a

tablespace and then archives all unarchived online logs:
BACKUP TABLESPACE users;
SQL "ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT";
Specifying a Filename within a Quoted String: Example This example specifies a

filename by using duplicate single quotes within the context of a double-quoted
string:
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE tbs_1 ADD DATAFILE ''/oracle/dbs/tbs_7.f'' NEXT 10K MAXSIZE 100k;"
Executing a PL/SQL Stored Procedure Within RMAN: Example This example

issues a PL/SQL stored procedure called scott.update_log:
RUN
{
SQL ' BEGIN scott.update_log; END; ';
}
RMAN Commands 2-271

STARTUP
STARTUP
Syntax
startup::=
startup
DBA
FORCE
MOUNT
NOMOUNT
= ’ ’
PFILE filename ;
STARTUP
Purpose
To start the target database from within the RMAN environment. This command is
equivalent to using the SQL*Plus STARTUP command. You can:
■ Start the instance without mounting a database.
■ Start the instance and mount the database, but leave it closed.
■ Start the instance, and mount and open the database in:
– unrestricted mode (accessible to all users)
– restricted mode (accessible to DBAs only)
Additionally, the RMAN STARTUP command can start an instance in NOMOUNT
mode even if no server parameter file or initialization parameter file exists. This
feature is useful when you need to restore a lost server parameter file.
See Also: Oracle Database Administrator's Guide to learn how to

start up and shut down a database, and SQL*Plus User's Guide and
Reference for SQL*Plus STARTUP syntax

STARTUP

■ You cannot use the RMAN STARTUP command to open the recovery catalog
database: execute a STARTUP statement in a SQL*Plus session instead.

If you do not specify any options, then RMAN mounts and opens the database with
the default server parameter file.

STARTUP If you specify only STARTUP with no other options, then the instance starts,
then mounts and open the database.
DBA Restricts access to users with the RESTRICTED SESSION privilege.
FORCE If the database is open, then FORCE shuts down the database with a
SHUTDOWN ABORT statement before re-opening it.If the database is closed,
then FORCE opens the database.
MOUNT Starts the instance, then mounts the database without opening it
NOMOUNT Starts the instance without mounting the database. If no parameter file exists,
then RMAN starts the instance with a "dummy" parameter file. You can then
run RESTORE SPFILE to restore a backup server parameter file.
PFILE = ’filename’ Specifies the filename of the init.ora file for the target database. If this
parameter is not specified, then the default init.ora filename is used.
Examples
Opening the Database by Using the Default Parameter File: Example This
example starts and opens the database:
STARTUP;
Mounting the Database While Specifying the Parameter File: Example This
example forces a SHUTDOWN ABORT and then mounts the database with restricted
access, specifying a nondefault parameter file location:
STARTUP FORCE MOUNT DBA PFILE=/tmp/initTRGT.ora;
Starting an Instance Without a Parameter File: Example The following example

starts an instance without using a parameter file, then runs RESTORE SPFILE:
SET DBID 1447326980;
STARTUP FORCE NOMOUNT; # RMAN starts instance with dummy parameter file
RMAN Commands 2-273

STARTUP
RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP; # restore a server parameter file

STARTUP FORCE; # restart instance with restored server parameter file

SWITCH
SWITCH
Syntax
switch::=
switch
DATABASE
,
SWITCH TO COPY ;
,
’ ’
switchFile::=
switchFile
DATAFILE ALL
’ filename ’
SWITCH TO DATAFILECOPY ;
= ’ ’
TAG tag_name
Purpose
To specify that a datafile copy is now the current datafile, that is, the datafile
pointed to by the control file. A SWITCH is equivalent to using the PL/SQL ALTER
DATABASE RENAME FILE statement: the names of the files in the RMAN repository
are updated, but the database does not actually rename the files at the operating
system level. Note that this command deletes the records for the datafile copy from
the recovery catalog and updates the control file records to status DELETED.

■ Execute the forms of SWITCH in the switch syntax diagram outside of a RUN
block. Execute the forms of SWITCH in the switchFile syntax diagram within
a RUN block.
RMAN Commands 2-275

SWITCH
■ If the control file is a restored backup control file, then SWITCH adds the datafile
to the control file if it is not there already. You can only add datafiles through
SWITCH that were created after the backup control file was created.

SWITCH

switch
DATABASE TO COPY Renames the datafiles and control files to use the filenames of image copies of
these files. RMAN switches to the latest image copy of each file.
After a database switch, RMAN considers the previous database files as
datafile copies.
DATAFILE datafileSpec Specifies the datafile that you wish to rename. As with DATABASE TO COPY,
TO COPY specifies to switch this datafile to the latest image copy.
After the switch, the control file no longer considers the specified file as
current.
TABLESPACE Switches all datafiles within the tablespace, as with SWITCH DATAFILE ...
’tablespace_name’ TO COPY.
TO COPY
switchFile

DATAFILE datafileSpec Specifies the datafile that you wish to rename. After the switch, the control file
TO DATAFILECOPY no longer considers the specified file as current. For example, this command
{’filename’ points the control file from tbs_1.f to cp1.f:
| TAG = ’tag_name’ SWITCH DATAFILE '?/dbs/tbs_1.f' TO DATAFILECOPY '?/dbs/copies/cp1.f';
}
If you do not specify a TO option, then RMAN uses the filename specified on a
prior SET NEWNAME command in the RUN block for this file number as the
switch target.
The filename or tag provided in the TO DATAFILECOPY clause specifies the
input copy file for the switch, that is, the datafile copy that you wish to
rename. Specify the file by filename or tag. For example, the following
command sets df2.copy as the filename for datafile 2:
SWITCH DATAFILE 2 TO DATAFILECOPY '?/dbs/df2.copy';
Note that if you specify a tag and more than one copy uses this tag name, then
RMAN uses the most current copy, that is, the one needing the least recovery.
The following command switches datafile 3 to the most recently created
datafile copy tagged mondayPMcopy:
SWITCH DATAFILE 3 TO DATAFILECOPY TAG mondayPMcopy;
DATAFILE ALL Specifies that all datafiles for which a SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE
command has been issued in this job are switched to their new name.
RMAN Commands 2-277

SWITCH
Example
Switching Datafile Filenames After a Restore: Example This example allocates

one disk device and one tape device to allow RMAN to restore from disk and tape.
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL dev1 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE tbs_1 OFFLINE IMMEDIATE";
SET NEWNAME FOR DATAFILE '/disk7/oracle/tbs11.f'
TO '/disk9/oracle/tbs11.f';
RESTORE TABLESPACE tbs_1;
SWITCH DATAFILE ALL;
RECOVER TABLESPACE tbs_1;
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE tbs_1 ONLINE";
}

UNREGISTER DATABASE
UNREGISTER DATABASE
Syntax
unregister::=
unregister
database_name NOPROMPT
UNREGISTER DATABASE ;
Purpose
To unregister a database from the recovery catalog.
See Also: "DROP DATABASE" on page 2-131 to learn how to

delete a database and unregister it with one command.

■ Execute only at the RMAN prompt.
■ RMAN must be connected to the recovery catalog in which the target database
is registered.
■ You can identify the database to unregister in one of three ways:
■ Connect RMAN to the target database
■ Provide the database_name argument to identify the database to unregister,
if the database name is unique;
■ Use SET DBID to identify the database if RMAN is not connected to the
target database and the database_name is not unique in the recovery
catalog.

database_name Specifies the name of the target database that you are unregistering. You do
not have to specify db_name if RMAN is connected to the target database.
RMAN Commands 2-279

UNREGISTER DATABASE

NOPROMPT Specifies that RMAN should not prompt for confirmation before unregistering
the database.
Example
Unregistering a Database: Example In this example, you connect to the target

database test1 and then unregister it:
rman TARGET SYS/oracle@test1 CATALOG rman/rman@catdb
RMAN> UNREGISTER DATABASE NOPROMPT;
Unregistering a Database That is Not Unique in Catalog: Example The following

UNIX shell script unregisters database testdb from the recovery catalog. Because
multiple databases called testdb are registered in the recovery catalog, and
because RMAN is not connected to the target database (which has already been
deleted from the file system), you must run SET DBID:
rman CATALOG rman/rman@catdb
RMAN> RUN
{
SET DBID 1334531173; # specifies test database by DBID
UNREGISTER DATABASE testdb NOPROMPT;
}

untilClause
untilClause
Syntax
untilClause::=
untilClause
=
UNTIL SCN integer
=
= THREAD integer
UNTIL SEQUENCE integer
=
Purpose
A subclause that specifies an upper limit by time, SCN, or log sequence number for
various RMAN operations.
to set the date format used by RMAN

When specifying dates in RMAN commands, the date string must be either:
■ A literal string whose format matches the NLS_DATE_FORMAT setting.
■ A SQL expression of type DATE, for example, 'SYSDATE-10' or "TO_
DATE('01/30/1997', 'MM/DD/YYYY')". Note that the second example
includes its own date format mask and so is independent of the current NLS_
DATE_FORMAT setting.
Following are examples of typical date settings in RMAN commands:
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG FROM TIME 'SYSDATE-31' UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-14';
RESTORE DATABASE UNTIL TIME "TO_DATE('09/20/00','MM/DD/YY')";
RMAN Commands 2-281

untilClause

UNTIL SCN = integer Specifies an SCN as an upper limit. RMAN selects only files that can be used
to recover up to but not including the specified SCN. For example, RESTORE
DATABASE UNTIL SCN 1000 chooses only backups that could be used to
recover to SCN 1000.
UNTIL SEQUENCE = integer Specifies a redo log sequence number and thread as an upper limit. RMAN
THREAD = integer selects only files that can be used to recover up to but not including the
specified sequence number. For example, REPORT OBSOLETE UNTIL
SEQUENCE 8000 THREAD 1 reports only backups that could be used to
recover through log sequence 7999.
UNTIL TIME = 'date_ Specifies a time as an upper limit. RMAN selects only files that can be used to
string' recover up to but not including the specified time. For example, LIST BACKUP
UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-7' lists all backups that could be used to recover to a
point one week ago.
Examples
Performing Incomplete Recovery Until a Log Sequence Number: Example This

example assumes that log sequence 1234 was lost due to a disk failure and the
database needs to be recovered by using available archived redo logs.
RUN
{
SET UNTIL SEQUENCE 1234 THREAD 1;
RESTORE CONTROLFILE TO '?/oradata/cf.tmp';
RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM '?/oradata/cf.tmp'; # restores to all CONTROL_FILES locations
RESTORE DATABASE;
RECOVER DATABASE; # recovers through log 1233
# you must add new tempfiles to locally-managed temporary tablespaces after restoring
# a backup control file
SQL "ALTER TABLESPACE temp ADD TEMPFILE ''?/oradata/trgt/temp01.dbf'' REUSE";
}
Performing Incomplete Recovery to a Specified SCN: Example This example

(which assumes a mounted database) recovers the database until a specified SCN:
RUN
{
ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 TYPE sbt;
RESTORE DATABASE;
RECOVER DATABASE UNTIL SCN 1000; # recovers through SCN 999

untilClause

}
Reporting Obsolete Backups: Example This example assumes that you want to be
able to recover to any point within the last week. It considers as obsolete all backups
that could be used to recover the database to a point one week ago:
REPORT OBSOLETE UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE-7';
RMAN Commands 2-283

UPGRADE CATALOG
UPGRADE CATALOG
Syntax
upgradeCatalog::=
upgradeCatalog
;
UPGRADE CATALOG
Purpose
To upgrade the recovery catalog schema from an older version to the version
required by the RMAN executable. For example, if you use a release 8.0 recovery
catalog with a release 8.1 version of RMAN, then you must upgrade the catalog.
Note that UPGRADE CATALOG does not run scripts to perform the upgrade. Instead,
RMAN sends various SQL DDL statements to the recovery catalog to update the
recovery catalog schema with new tables, views, columns, and so forth.

■ You must be connected to the catalog database, and the catalog database must
be open. You do not have to be connected to the target database.
■ You must enter the UPGRADE command twice in a row to confirm the upgrade.
■ You will receive an error if the recovery catalog is already at a version greater
than needed by the RMAN executable. RMAN permits the command to be run
if the recovery catalog is already current, however, so that the packages can be
re-created if necessary. RMAN displays all error messages generated during the
upgrade in the message log.

None.

UPGRADE CATALOG
Example
Upgrading a Recovery Catalog: Example This example connects to recovery

catalog database recdb at the operating system command line and then upgrades it
to a more current version:
% rman CATALOG rcat/rcat@recdb
connected to recovery catalog database

PL/SQL package rcat.DBMS_RCVCAT version 08.00.04 in RCVCAT database is too old
RMAN> UPGRADE CATALOG
recovery catalog owner is rcat

enter UPGRADE CATALOG command again to confirm catalog upgrade
RMAN> UPGRADE CATALOG
recovery catalog upgraded to version 09.00.01

DBMS_RCVMAN package upgraded to version 09.00.01
DBMS_RCVCAT package upgraded to version 09.00.01
RMAN Commands 2-285

VALIDATE
VALIDATE
Syntax
validate::=
validate
CHECK LOGICAL
,
, =
VALIDATE BACKUPSET primaryKey ;
Purpose
To examine a backup set and report whether it can be restored. RMAN scans all of
the backup pieces in the specified backup sets and looks at the checksums to verify
that the contents are intact so that the backup can be successfully restored if
necessary.
Note: The VALIDATE BACKUPSET command tests whether the

backup sets can be restored, whereas CROSSCHECK examines the
headers of the specified files if they are on disk or queries the media
management catalog if they are on tape.
Use this command when you suspect that one or more backup pieces in a backup
set are missing or have been damaged. Use VALIDATE BACKUPSET to specify which
backups to test; use the VALIDATE option of the RESTORE command to let RMAN
choose which backups to validate. For validating image copies, run RESTORE
VALIDATE FROM DATAFILECOPY.

■ If you do not have automatic channels configured, manually allocate at least
one channel before executing a VALIDATE BACKUPSET statement.

VALIDATE

primary_key Specifies the backup sets to be validated by primary_key. Obtain the
primary keys of backup sets by executing a LIST statement or, if you use a
recovery catalog, by querying the RC_BACKUP_SET recovery catalog view.
finds logical corruption, then it logs the block in the alert.log and server
session trace file. The RMAN command completes and V$DATABASE_
BLOCK_CORRUPTION is populated with corrupt block ranges.
Note: VALIDATE does not use MAXCORRUPT.
channels, and run VALIDATE ...DEVICE TYPE DISK, RMAN allocates only
disk channels.
Example
Validating a Backup Set: Example This example validates the status of the backup
set whose primary key is 218:
VALIDATE BACKUPSET 218;
# As the output indicates, RMAN determines whether it is possible to restore the
# specified backup set.
allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1

channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: sid=14 devtype=SBT_TAPE
using channel ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: starting validation of datafile backupset
channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: restored backup piece 1
piece handle=09dg9kkl_1_1 tag=TAG20020208T125443 params=NULL
channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: validation complete
RMAN Commands 2-287

VALIDATE

3
Recovery Catalog Views
This chapter contains descriptions of recovery catalog views. You can only access
these views if you have created a recovery catalog. For a summary of the recovery
catalog views, refer to "Summary of RMAN Recovery Catalog Views" on page 3-2.
Note: These views are not normalized, but are optimized for
RMAN usage. Hence, most catalog views have redundant values
that result from joining of several underlying tables.
Recovery Catalog Views 3-1

Summary of RMAN Recovery Catalog Views

The following table provides a functional summary of RMAN recovery catalog
views.
Table 3–1 Recovery Catalog Views

Recovery Catalog View Corresponding V$ View Catalog View Describes ...
RC_ARCHIVED_LOG V$ARCHIVED_LOG Archived and unarchived redo logs
RC_BACKUP_CONTROLFILE V$BACKUP_DATAFILE Control files in backup sets
RC_BACKUP_CORRUPTION V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION Corrupt block ranges in datafile
backups
RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE V$BACKUP_DATAFILE Datafiles in backup sets
RC_BACKUP_FILES V$BACKUP_FILES RMAN backups and copies known
to the repository.
RC_BACKUP_PIECE V$BACKUP_PIECE Backup pieces
RC_BACKUP_REDOLOG V$BACKUP_REDOLOG Archived redo logs in backup sets
RC_BACKUP_SET V$BACKUP_SET Backup sets for all incarnations of
the database
RC_BACKUP_SPFILE V$BACKUP_SPFILE Server parameter files in backups
RC_CHECKPOINT Deprecated in favor of RC_
RESYNC
RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY V$DATAFILE_COPY Control file copies on disk
RC_COPY_CORRUPTION V$COPY_CORRUPTION Corrupt block ranges in datafile
copies
RC_DATABASE V$DATABASE Databases registered in the recovery
catalog
RC_DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION V$DATABASE_BLOCK_ Database blocks marked as
CORRUPTION corrupted in the most recent RMAN
backup or copy
RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION V$DATABASE_INCARNATION Database incarnations registered in
the recovery catalog
RC_DATAFILE V$DATAFILE Datafiles registered in the recovery
catalog
RC_DATAFILE_COPY V$DATAFILE_COPY Datafile copies on disk

Table 3–1 Recovery Catalog Views

Recovery Catalog View Corresponding V$ View Catalog View Describes ...
RC_LOG_HISTORY V$LOG_HISTORY Online redo log history indicating
when log switches occurred
RC_OFFLINE_RANGE V$OFFLINE_RANGE Offline ranges for datafiles
RC_PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG V$PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG Archived log backups taken with
the proxy copy functionality
RC_PROXY_CONTROLFILE V$PROXY_DATAFILE Control file backups taken with the
proxy copy functionality
RC_PROXY_DATAFILE V$PROXY_DATAFILE Datafile backups that were taken
using the proxy copy functionality
RC_REDO_LOG V$LOG and V$LOGFILE Online redo logs for all incarnations
of the database since the last catalog
resynchronization
RC_REDO_THREAD V$THREAD All redo threads for all incarnations
of the database since the last catalog
resynchronization
RC_RESYNC n/a Recovery catalog
resynchronizations
RC_RMAN_CONFIGURATION V$RMAN_CONFIGURATION RMAN configuration settings
RC_RMAN_STATUS V$RMAN_STATUS Historical status information about
RMAN operations.
RC_STORED_SCRIPT n/a Names of scripts stored in the
recovery catalog
RC_STORED_SCRIPT_LINE n/a Contents of the scripts stored in the
recovery catalog
RC_TABLESPACE V$TABLESPACE All tablespaces registered in the
recovery catalog, all dropped
tablespaces, and tablespaces that
belong to old incarnations

RC_ARCHIVED_LOG
RC_ARCHIVED_LOG
This view contains historical information about archived and unarchived redo logs.
It corresponds to the V$ARCHIVED_LOG view in the target database control file.
Oracle inserts an archived redo log record after the online redo log is successfully
archived. If a log that has not been archived is cleared, a record is inserted with the
NAME column set to NULL.
If the log is archived multiple times, then the view will contain multiple archived
log records with the same THREAD#, SEQUENCE#, and RESETLOGS_CHANGE#, but
with a different name.
An archived log record is also inserted when an archived log is restored from a
backup set or a copy.
Note that an archived log can have no record if the record ages out of the control
file.
Column Datatype Description

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the target database. Use this column to form a join
with almost any other catalog view.
DBINC_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the incarnation of the target database to which this
record belongs. Use this column to form a join with RC_DATABASE_
INCARNATION.
DB_NAME VARCHAR2(8) The DB_NAME of the database incarnation to which this record belongs.
AL_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the archived redo log in the recovery catalog. If you
issue the LIST command while connected to the recovery catalog, this
value appears in the KEY column of the output.
RECID NUMBER The archived redo log RECID from V$ARCHIVED_LOG. RECID and
STAMP form a concatenated primary key that uniquely identifies this
record in the target database control file.
STAMP NUMBER The archived redo log stamp from V$ARCHIVED_LOG. RECID and
NAME VARCHAR2(1024) The filename of the archived redo log.
THREAD# NUMBER The number of the redo thread.
SEQUENCE# NUMBER The log sequence number.
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the most recent RESETLOGS when the record was created.
RESETLOGS_TIME DATE The time stamp of the most recent RESETLOGS when the record was
created.

RC_ARCHIVED_LOG

FIRST_CHANGE# NUMBER The first SCN of this redo log.
FIRST_TIME DATE The time when Oracle switched into the redo log.
NEXT_CHANGE# NUMBER The first SCN of the next redo log in the thread.
NEXT_TIME DATE The first time stamp of the next redo log in the thread.
BLOCKS NUMBER The size of this archived log in operating system blocks.
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The size of the block in bytes.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the redo log was archived or copied.
ARCHIVED VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether the log was archived: YES (archived redo log) or NO
(inspected file header of online redo log and added record to
V$ARCHIVED_LOG). Inspecting the online logs creates archived log
records for them, which allows them to be applied during RMAN
recovery. Oracle sets ARCHIVED to NO to prevent online logs from being
backed up.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the archived redo log: A (available), U (unavailable), D
(deleted), or X (expired).
IS_STANDBY VARCHAR2(3) The database that archived this log: Y (belongs to a standby database) or
N (belongs to the primary database).
DICTIONARY_BEGIN VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this archived log contains the start of a LogMiner
dictionary: YES or NO.
If both DICTIONARY_BEGIN and DICTIONARY_END are YES, this log
contains a complete LogMiner dictionary. If DICTIONARY_BEGIN is YES
but DICTIONARY_END is NO, this log contains the start of the dictionary,
and it continues through each subsequent log of this thread and ends in
the log where DICTIONARY_END is YES.
DICTIONARY_END VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this archived log contains the end of a LogMiner
dictionary: YES or NO. See the description of DICTIONARY_BEGIN for an
explanation of how to interpret this value.
IS_RECOVERY_DEST_FILE VARCHAR2(3) This copy is located in the flash recovery area: YES or NO.

RC_BACKUP_CONTROLFILE
This view lists information about control files in backup sets. Note that the
V$BACKUP_DATAFILE view contains both datafile and control file records: a
backup datafile record with file number 0 represents the backup control file. In the
recovery catalog, the RC_BACKUP_CONTROLFILE view contains only control file
records, while the RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE view contains only datafile records.

DBINC_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the incarnation of the target database. Use this
column to form a join with RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION.
BCF_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the control file backup in the recovery catalog. If you
RECID NUMBER The RECID value from V$BACKUP_DATAFILE. RECID and STAMP form
a concatenated primary key that uniquely identifies this record in the
target database control file.
STAMP NUMBER The STAMP value from V$BACKUP_DATAFILE. RECID and STAMP form
BS_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the backup set to which this record belongs in the
recovery catalog. Use this column to form a join with RC_BACKUP_SET.
SET_STAMP NUMBER The SET_STAMP value from V$BACKUP_SET. SET_STAMP and SET_
COUNT form a concatenated key that uniquely identifies the backup set
to which this record belongs in the target database control file.
SET_COUNT NUMBER The SET_COUNT value from V$BACKUP_SET. SET_STAMP and SET_
created.
CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# NUMBER The control file checkpoint SCN.
CHECKPOINT_TIME DATE The control file checkpoint time.
CREATION_TIME DATE The control file creation time.
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The size of the blocks in bytes.


OLDEST_OFFLINE_RANGE NUMBER Internal use only.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the backup set: A (available), U (unavailable), or D (deleted).
BS_RECID NUMBER The control file RECID of the backup set that contains this backup
control file.
BS_STAMP NUMBER The control file stamp of the backup set that contains this backup control
file.
BS_LEVEL NUMBER The incremental level (NULL, 0, 1) of the backup set that contains this
backup control file. Although an incremental backup set can contain the
control file, it is always contains a complete copy of the control file.
There is no such thing as an incremental control file backup.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The date that the control file backup completed.
CONTROLFILE_TYPE VARCHAR2(1) The type of control file backup: B (normal backup) or S (standby
backup).
BLOCKS NUMBER The number of blocks in the file.
AUTOBACKUP_DATE DATE The date of the control file autobackup.
AUTOBACKUP_SEQUENCE NUMBER The sequence of the control file autobackup: 1 - 255.

RC_BACKUP_CORRUPTION
This view lists corrupt block ranges in datafile backups. It corresponds to the
V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION view in the control file. Note that corruptions are not
tolerated in control file and archived redo log backups.

RECID NUMBER The record identifier from V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION. RECID and STAMP
form a concatenated primary key that uniquely identifies this record in
STAMP NUMBER The stamp propagated from V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION. RECID and
PIECE# NUMBER The backup piece that contains this corrupt block.
BDF_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the datafile backup or copy in the recovery catalog.
Use this key to join with RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE. If you issue the LIST
command while connected to the recovery catalog, this value appears in
the KEY column of the output.
BDF_RECID NUMBER The RECID value from V$BACKUP_DATAFILE.
BDF_STAMP NUMBER The STAMP value from V$BACKUP_DATAFILE.
FILE# NUMBER The absolute file number for the datafile that contains the corrupt blocks.
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The creation SCN of the datafile containing the corrupt blocks.
BLOCK# NUMBER The block number of the first corrupted block in this range of corrupted
blocks.
BLOCKS NUMBER The number of corrupted blocks found beginning with BLOCK#.


CORRUPTION_CHANGE# NUMBER For media corrupt blocks, this value is zero. For logically corrupt blocks,
this value is the lowest SCN in the blocks in this corrupt range.
MARKED_CORRUPT VARCHAR2(3) YES if this corruption was not previously detected by Oracle, or NO if
Oracle had already discovered this corrupt block and marked it as
corrupt in the database. Note that when a corrupt block is encountered
in a backup, and was not already marked corrupt by Oracle, then the
backup process does not mark the block as corrupt in the production
datafile. Thus, this field may be YES for the same block in more than one
backup set.
CORRUPTION_TYPE VARCHAR2(9) Same as RC_DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION.CORRUPTION_TYPE.

RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE
RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE
This view lists information about datafiles in backup sets. It corresponds to the
V$BACKUP_DATAFILE view. A backup datafile is uniquely identified by BDF_KEY.

BDF_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the datafile backup in the recovery catalog. If you
RECID NUMBER The backup datafile RECID from V$BACKUP_DATAFILE. RECID and
STAMP NUMBER The backup datafile stamp from V$BACKUP_DATAFILE. RECID and
BS_RECID NUMBER The RECID from V$BACKUP_SET.
BS_STAMP NUMBER The STAMP from V$BACKUP_SET.
BACKUP_TYPE VARCHAR2(1) The type of the backup: D (full or level 0 incremental) or I (incremental
level 1).
INCREMENTAL_LEVEL NUMBER The level of the incremental backup: NULL, 0 , or 1.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The completion time of the backup.
FILE# NUMBER The absolute file number of the datafile. Note that when FILE#=0, the
record refers to the control file. See the note following this table for
special semantics of other columns when FILE#=0.
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The creation SCN of the datafile.
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the most recent RESETLOGS in the datafile header.

RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE

RESETLOGS_TIME DATE The time stamp of the most recent RESETLOGS in the datafile header.
INCREMENTAL_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN that determines whether a block will be included in the
incremental backup. A block is only included if the SCN in the block
header is greater than or equal to INCREMENTAL_CHANGE#.
The range of redo covered by the incremental backup begins with
INCREMENTAL_CHANGE# and ends with CHECKPOINT_CHANGE#.
CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# NUMBER The checkpoint SCN of this datafile in this backup set.
CHECKPOINT_TIME DATE The time associated with CHECKPOINT_CHANGE#.
ABSOLUTE_FUZZY_ NUMBER The absolute fuzzy SCN. See the note following this table for special
CHANGE# semantics when FILE#=0.
DATAFILE_BLOCKS NUMBER The number of data blocks in the datafile.
BLOCKS NUMBER The number of data blocks written to the backup. This value is often less
than DATAFILE_BLOCKS because for full backups, blocks that have
never been used are not included in the backup, and for incremental
backups, blocks that have not changed are not included in the backup.
This value is never greater than DATAFILE_BLOCKS.
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The size of the data blocks in bytes.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the backup set: A (all pieces available), D (all pieces
deleted), O (some pieces are available but others are not, so the backup
set is unusable).
BS_LEVEL NUMBER The incremental level (NULL, 0, or 1) specified when this backup was
created. This value can be different from the INCREMENTAL_LEVEL
column because if you run, for example, a level 1 incremental backup,
but no previous level 0 backup exists for some files, a level 0 backup is
automatically taken for these files. In this case, BS_LEVEL is 1 and
INCREMENTAL_LEVEL is 0.
PIECES NUMBER The number of backup pieces in the backup set that contains this backup
datafile.

RC_BACKUP_FILES
RC_BACKUP_FILES
This views lists backups known to the RMAN repository as reflected in the recovery
catalog. This view corresponds to the V$BACKUP_FILES view.
Note that it is often more convenient to access this information using the LIST
BACKUP and LIST COPY commands from within RMAN.

PKEY NUMBER The primary key for the backup.
BACKUP_TYPE VARCHAR2(32) The type of the backup: BACKUP SET, COPY or PROXY COPY.
FILE_TYPE VARCHAR2(32) Type of the file backed up: DATAFILE, CONTROLFILE, SPFILE, REDO
LOG, COPY (for an image copy backup) or PIECE (for a backup piece).
KEEP VARCHAR2(3) Whether this backup has KEEP attributes set that override the retention
policy. Values are YES or NO.
KEEP_UNTIL DATE Date after which this backup will be considered obsolete.
KEEP_OPTIONS VARCHAR2(13) "Keep attributes" affecting retention for this backup. Possible values are:
■ LOGS (retain all redo logs needed to recover this backup as long as
the backup is retained),
■ NOLOGS (redo logs may be considered obsolete even if this backup
must be retained), and
■ NULL (let the configured retention policy apply to this backup).
STATUS VARCHAR2(16) Status of the backup. Possible values are: AVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE,
EXPIRED.
FNAME VARCHAR2(1024) Filename of this piece, copy or filename of the file included in this
backup set. For example, for row with backup_type is "BACKUP SET"
and file_type is "DATAFILE", FNAME is the name of the datafile in the
backup. On the other hand, if BACKUP_TYPE is "BACKUP SET" and
file_type is "PIECE", then fname shows the name of backup piece.
TAG VARCHAR2(32) The tag for this backup piece or image copy. (Valid only if FILE_TYPE is
PIECE or COPY.)
MEDIA VARCHAR2(80) Media ID for the media on which the backup is stored. Valid only if
BACKUP_TYPE is "BACKUP SET" and FILE_TYPE is "PIECE".
RECID NUMBER Recidof the control file record corresponding to this row.
STAMP NUMBER Timestamp of the control file record corresponding to this row.
DEVICE_TYPE VARCHAR2(255) Device type on which this backup is stored. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is
"PIECE" or "COPY".
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER Block size for the backup or copy (in bytes).

RC_BACKUP_FILES

COMPLETION_TIME NUMBER Time when this backup was completed. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is
PIECE or COPY
COMPRESSED VARCHAR2(3) Whether the backup piece represented by this row is compressed. Valid
only if file-type is PIECE (since image copies cannot be compressed, by
definition).
OBSOLETE VARCHAR2(3) Whether this backup piece or copy is obsolete. Possible value: YES, NO.
Valid only if FILE_TYPE is PIECE or COPY
BYTES NUMBER Size of file described by this row. If FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET, this
represents the total size of the backup set. If FILE_TYPE is PIECE or
COPY, then this represents the size of the individual file. If FILE_TYPE is
DATAFILE, ARCHIVED LOG, SPFILE or CONTROL FILE, the value
represents how much data was incorporated into the backup set (but
note that the corresponding backup set may be smaller, if compression
was used in creating the backup set).
BS_KEY NUMBER Backup set key. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.
BS_COUNT NUMBER Backup set count. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.
BS_STAMP NUMBER Backup set timestamp. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.
BS_TYPE VARCHAR2(32) Type of backup set contents (datafiles or archived redo logs). Valid only
if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.
BS_INCR_TYPE VARCHAR(32) Backup set incremental type (full or not). Valid only if FILE_TYPE is
BACKUP SET.
BS_PIECES NUMBER Number of pieces in backup set. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP
SET.
BS_COPIES NUMBER Number of copies of this backup set. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is
BACKUP SET.
BS_COMPLETION_TIME DATE Completion time of the backup set. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP
SET.
BS_STATUS VARCHAR2(16) Status of the backup set. Possible values are AVAILABLE,
UNAVAILABLE, EXPIRED, or OTHER. (OTHER means that not all
pieces of the backup set have the same status, which can happen if some
are AVAILABLE and others UNAVAILABLE..) Valid only if FILE_TYPE
is BACKUP SET.
BS_BYTES NUMBER Sum of the sizes of all backup pieces in the backup set. Valid only if
FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.
BS_COMPRESSED VARCHAR2(3) Whether the backup pieces of this backup set are compressed. Valid
only if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.
BS_TAG VARCHAR2(1024) Tag or tags of the backup pieces of this backup set. If pieces have
different tags, BS_TAGS will contain a comma-separated list of all tags
for pieces in the backup set. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.

RC_BACKUP_FILES

BS_DEVICE_TYPE VARCHAR2(255) Type of device on which this backup set is stored. If multiple copies of
this backup set exist and are stored on different devices, this field will
contain a comma-separated list of all device types (for example, for a
backup set that is on disk and also backed up on tape, BS_DEVICE_
TYPE might contain "DISK, SBT_TAPE". Valid only if FILE_TYPE is
BACKUP SET.
BP_PIECE# NUMBER Number of backup pieces that make up this backup set. Valid only if
FILE_TYPE is BACKUP SET.
BP_COPY# NUMBER Number of copies of this backup set. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is
BACKUP SET.
DF_FILE# NUMBER File number of the datafile described by this row. Valid only if FILE_
TYPE is "DATAFILE".
DF_TABLESPACE VARCHAR2(30) Tablespace name for the datafile described by this row. Valid only if
FILE_TYPE is "DATAFILE".
DF_RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER Resetlogs change of the datafile described by this row. Valid only if
FILE_TYPE is "DATAFILE".
DF_CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER Creation change number of the datafile described by this row. Valid only
if FILE_TYPE is "DATAFILE".
DF_CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# NUMBER Checkpoint change number of the datafile described by this row. Valid
only if FILE_TYPE is "DATAFILE".
DF_CKP_MOD_TIME DATE Checkpoint time of the datafile described by this row. Valid only if FILE_
TYPE is "DATAFILE".
RL_THREAD# NUMBER Redo log thread number of the archived redo log described by this row.
Valid only if FILE_TYPE is "ARCHIVED LOG".
RL_SEQUENCE# NUMBER Redo log sequence number of the archived redo log described by this
row. Valid only if FILE_TYPE is "ARCHIVED LOG".
RL_RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER Resetlogs change number of the archived redo log described by this row.
RL_FIRST_CHANGE# NUMBER First change number in the archived redo log described by this row.
RL_FIRST_TIME DATE Time of the first change in the archived redo log described by this row.
RL_NEXT_CHANGE# NUMBER Change umber after the archived log described by this row. Valid only if
FILE_TYPE is "ARCHIVED LOG".
RL_NEXT_TIME DATE Time of the first change after the archived log described by this row.

RC_BACKUP_PIECE
RC_BACKUP_PIECE
This view lists information about backup pieces. This view corresponds to the
V$BACKUP_PIECE view. Each backup set contains one or more backup pieces.
Multiple copies of the same backup piece can exist, but each copy has its own
record in the control file and its own row in the view.

DB_ID NUMBER The database identifier.
BP_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the backup piece in the recovery catalog. If you
RECID NUMBER The backup piece RECID from V$BACKUP_PIECE. RECID and STAMP
STAMP NUMBER The backup piece stamp propagated from V$BACKUP_PIECE. RECID
and STAMP form a concatenated primary key that uniquely identifies
this record in the target database control file.
BACKUP_TYPE VARCHAR2(1) The type of the backup: D (full or level 0 incremental), I (incremental
level 1), L (archived redo log).
INCREMENTAL_LEVEL NUMBER The level of the incremental backup: NULL, 0, or 1.
PIECE# NUMBER The number of the backup piece. The first piece has the value of 1.
COPY# NUMBER The copy number of the backup piece.
DEVICE_TYPE VARCHAR2(255) The type of backup device, for example, DISK.
HANDLE VARCHAR2(1024) The filename of the backup piece.
COMMENTS VARCHAR2(255) Comments about the backup piece.
MEDIA VARCHAR2(80) A comment that contains further information about the media manager
that created this backup.

RC_BACKUP_PIECE

MEDIA_POOL NUMBER The number of the media pool in which the backup is stored.
CONCUR VARCHAR2(3) Specifies whether backup media supports concurrent access: YES or NO.
TAG VARCHAR2(32) The tag for the backup piece. Refer to description in BACKUP for default
format for tag names.
START_TIME DATE The time when RMAN started to write the backup piece.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the backup piece was completed.
ELAPSED_SECONDS NUMBER The duration of the creation of the backup piece.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the backup piece: A (available), U (unavailable), D (deleted),
or X (expired). Note that status D will not appear in Oracle® Database
unless an older recovery catalog is upgraded.
BYTES NUMBER The size of the backup piece in bytes.
IS_RECOVERY_DEST_FILE VARCHAR2(3) This backup piece is located in the flash recovery area: YES or NO.

RC_BACKUP_REDOLOG
RC_BACKUP_REDOLOG
This view lists information about archived redo logs in backup sets. It corresponds
to the V$BACKUP_REDOLOG view.
You cannot back up online logs directly: you must first archive them to disk and
then back them up. An archived log backup set contains one or more archived logs.

BRL_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the archived redo log in the recovery catalog. If you
RECID NUMBER The record identifier propagated from V$BACKUP_REDOLOG. RECID and
STAMP NUMBER The stamp from V$BACKUP_REDOLOG. RECID and STAMP form a
concatenated primary key that uniquely identifies this record in the
BACKUP_TYPE VARCHAR2(1) The type of the backup: L (archived redo log).
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the backup completed.
THREAD# NUMBER The thread number of the redo log.
created.
FIRST_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN generated when Oracle switched into the redo log.

RC_BACKUP_REDOLOG

BLOCKS NUMBER The number of operating system blocks written to the backup.
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The number of bytes in each block of this redo log.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the backup set: A (all pieces available), D (all pieces
deleted), O (some pieces are available but others are not, so the backup
set is unusable).
BS_RECID NUMBER The RECID value from V$BACKUP_SET.
BS_STAMP NUMBER The STAMP value from V$BACKUP_SET. Note that BS_STAMP is different
from SET_STAMP. BS_STAMP is the stamp of the backup set record when
created in the control file, whereas SET_STAMP joins with SET_COUNT to
make a unique identifier.
PIECES NUMBER The number of pieces in the backup set.

RC_BACKUP_SET
RC_BACKUP_SET
This view lists information about backup sets for all incarnations of the database. It
corresponds to the V$BACKUP_SET view. A backup set record is inserted after the
backup has successfully completed.

DB_ID NUMBER The unique database identifier.
BS_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the backup set in the recovery catalog. If you issue
the LIST command while connected to the recovery catalog, this value
appears in the KEY column of the output.
RECID NUMBER The backup set RECID from V$BACKUP_SET. RECID and STAMP form a
target database control file. Use either RECID and STAMP or SET_STAMP
and SET_COUNT to access V$BACKUP_SET.
STAMP NUMBER The backup set STAMP from V$BACKUP_SET. RECID and STAMP form a
target database control file. Use either RECID and STAMP or SET_STAMP
and SET_COUNT to access V$BACKUP_SET.
COUNT form a concatenated key that uniquely identifies this record in
the target database control file. Use either RECID and STAMP or SET_
STAMP and SET_COUNT to access V$BACKUP_SET.
COUNT form a concatenated key that uniquely identifies this record in
the target database control file. Use either RECID and STAMP or SET_
STAMP and SET_COUNT to access V$BACKUP_SET.
BACKUP_TYPE VARCHAR2(1) The type of the backup: D (full backup or level 0 incremental), I
(incremental level 1), L (archived redo log).
INCREMENTAL_LEVEL NUMBER The level of the incremental backup: NULL, 0, or 1.
PIECES NUMBER The number of backup pieces in the backup set.
START_TIME DATE The time when the backup began.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the backup completed.
ELAPSED_SECONDS NUMBER The duration of the backup in seconds.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the backup set: A (all backup pieces available), D (all
backup pieces deleted), O (some backup pieces are available but others
are not, so the backup set is unusable).

RC_BACKUP_SET

CONTROLFILE_INCLUDED VARCHAR2(7) Possible values are NONE (backup set does not include a backup control
file), BACKUP (backup set includes a normal backup control file), and
STANDBY (backup set includes a standby control file).
INPUT_FILE_SCAN_ONLY VARCHAR2(3) This backup set record was created by the BACKUP VALIDATE
command. No real backup set exists. This record is only a placeholder
used to keep track of which datafiles were scanned and which corrupt
blocks (if any) were found in those files.
KEEP VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this backup set has a retention policy different from
the value for CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY. Possible values are YES
and NO.
KEEP_OPTIONS VARCHAR2(10) The KEEP options specified for this backup set. Options can be LOGS
(RMAN keeps the logs needed to recover this backup), NOLOGS (RMAN
does not keep the logs needed to recover this backup), or NULL (the
backup has no KEEP options and will be made obsolete based on the
retention policy).
KEEP_UNTIL DATE If the KEEP UNTIL TIME clause of the BACKUP command was specified,
then this column shows the date after which this backup becomes
obsolete. If the column is NULL and KEEP OPTIONS is not NULL, the
backup never becomes obsolete.

RC_BACKUP_SPFILE
RC_BACKUP_SPFILE
This view lists information about server parameter files in backup sets.

BSF_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the server parameter file in the recovery catalog. If
you issue the LIST command while connected to the recovery catalog,
this value appears in the KEY column of the output.
RECID NUMBER The record identifier propagated from V$BACKUP_SPFILE. RECID and
STAMP NUMBER The stamp from V$BACKUP_SPFILE. RECID and STAMP form a
MODIFICATION_TIME DATE The time when the server parameter file was last modified.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the backup set: A (all backup pieces available), D (all
backup pieces deleted), O (some backup pieces are available but others
are not, so the backup set is unusable).
BS_RECID NUMBER The RECID value from V$BACKUP_SET.
BS_STAMP NUMBER The STAMP value from V$BACKUP_SET. Note that BS_STAMP is different
from SET_STAMP. BS_STAMP is the stamp of the backup set record when
created in the control file, whereas SET_STAMP joins with SET_COUNT to
make a unique identifier.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the backup set completed.
BYTES NUMBER The size of the backup set in bytes.

RC_CHECKPOINT
RC_CHECKPOINT
This view is deprecated. See RC_RESYNC on page 3-43 instead.

RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY
RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY
This view lists information about control file copies on disk. A datafile copy record
with a file number of 0 represents the control file copy in V$DATAFILE_COPY.

CCF_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the control file copy in the recovery catalog. If you
RECID NUMBER The record identifier from V$DATAFILE_COPY. RECID and STAMP form
STAMP NUMBER The stamp from V$DATAFILE_COPY. RECID and STAMP form a
NAME VARCHAR2(1024) The control file copy filename.
TAG VARCHAR2(32) The tag of the control file copy. NULL if no tag used.
created.
CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# NUMBER The control file checkpoint SCN.
CHECKPOINT_TIME DATE The control file checkpoint time.
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The block size in bytes.
MIN_OFFR_RECID NUMBER Internal use only.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the copy was generated.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the copy: A (available), U (unavailable), X (expired), or D
(deleted).
CONTROLFILE_TYPE VARCHAR2(1) The type of control file copy: B (normal copy) or S (standby copy).

RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY

KEEP VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this copy has a retention policy different from the
value for CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY. Possible values are YES and
NO.
KEEP_UNTIL DATE If the KEEP UNTIL TIME clause of the COPY command was specified,
then this column shows the date after which this file becomes obsolete. If
the column is NULL and KEEP OPTIONS is not NULL, the file never
becomes obsolete.
KEEP_OPTIONS VARCHAR2(10) The KEEP options specified for this control file copy. Options can be
LOGS (RMAN keeps the logs needed to recover this backup), NOLOGS
(RMAN does not keep the logs needed to recover this backup), or NULL
(the backup has no KEEP options and will be made obsolete based on the
retention policy).
IS_RECOVERY_DEST_FILE VARCHAR2(3) This copy is located in the flash recovery area: YES or NO.

RC_COPY_CORRUPTION
RC_COPY_CORRUPTION
This view lists corrupt block ranges in datafile copies. It corresponds to the
V$COPY_CORRUPTION view.

RECID NUMBER The record identifier from V$COPY_CORRUPTION. RECID and STAMP
STAMP NUMBER The stamp from V$COPY_CORRUPTION. RECID and STAMP form a
CDF_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the datafile copy in the recovery catalog. If you issue
appears in the KEY column of the output. Use this column to form a join
with RC_DATAFILE_COPY.
COPY_RECID NUMBER The RECID from RC_DATAFILE_COPY. This value is propagated from
the control file.
COPY_STAMP NUMBER The STAMP from RC_DATAFILE_COPY. This value is propagated from
the control file.
FILE# NUMBER The absolute file number of the datafile.
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The creation SCN of this data file. Because file numbers can be reused,
FILE# and CREATION_CHANGE# are both required to uniquely identify
a specified file over the life of the database.
BLOCK# NUMBER The block number of the first corrupted block in the file.
MARKED_CORRUPT VARCHAR2(3) YES if this corruption was not previously detected by the database
server or NO if it was already known by the database server.
CORRUPTION_TYPE VARCHAR2(9) Same as RC_DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION.CORRUPTION_TYPE.

RC_DATABASE
RC_DATABASE
This view gives information about the databases registered in the recovery catalog.
It corresponds to the V$DATABASE view.

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the database. Use this column to form a join with
almost any other catalog view.
DBINC_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the current incarnation. Use this column to form a
join with RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION.
DBID NUMBER Unique identifier for the database obtained from V$DATABASE.
NAME VARCHAR2(8) The DB_NAME of the database for the current incarnation.
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the most recent RESETLOGS operation when the record was
created.
RESETLOGS_TIME DATE The time stamp of the most recent RESETLOGS operation when the
record was created.

RC_DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION
This view gives information about database blocks that were corrupted after the last
backup. It corresponds to the V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view.

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the database. Use this column to form a join with
almost any other catalog view.
DBINC_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the current incarnation. Use this column to form a
join with RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION.
BLOCK# NUMBER The block number of the first corrupted block in this range of corrupted
blocks.
CORRUPTION_TYPE VARCHAR2(9) The type of block corruption in the datafile. Possible values are:
■ ALL ZERO. The block header on disk contained only zeros.
The block may be valid if it was never filled and if it is in an
Oracle7 file. The buffer will be reformatted to the Oracle8
standard for an empty block.
■ FRACTURED. The block header looks reasonable, but the
front and back of the block are different versions.
■ CHECKSUM. The optional check value shows that the block is
not self-consistent. It is impossible to determine exactly why
the check value fails, but it probably fails because sectors in
the middle of the block are from different versions.
■ CORRUPT. The block is wrongly identified or is not a data
block (for example, the data block address is missing)
■ LOGICAL. Specifies the range is for logically corrupt blocks.
CORRUPTION_CHANGE# will have a nonzero value.

RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION
RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION
This view lists information about all database incarnations registered in the
recovery catalog. Oracle creates a new incarnation whenever you open a database
with the RESETLOGS option. Records about the current and immediately previous
incarnation are also contained in the V$DATABASE view.

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the database. Use this column to form a join
DBID NUMBER Unique identifier for the database.
DBINC_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the incarnation.
NAME VARCHAR2(8) The DB_NAME for the database at the time of the RESETLOGS. The
value is UNKNOWN if you have done at least one RESETLOGS before
registering the target database with RMAN, because RMAN does
not know the DB_NAME prior to the RESETLOGS.
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the RESETLOGS operation that created this incarnation.
RESETLOGS_TIME DATE The time stamp of the RESETLOGS operation that created this
incarnation.
CURRENT_INCARNATION VARCHAR2(8) YES if it is the current incarnation; NO if it is not.
PARENT_DBINC_KEY NUMBER The DBINC_KEY of the previous incarnation for this database. The
value is NULL if it is the first incarnation recorded for the database.
PRIOR_RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the RESETLOGS operation that created the parent of this
incarnation.
PRIOR_RESETLOGS_TIME DATE The time stamp of the RESETLOGS operation that created the parent
of this incarnation.

RC_DATAFILE
RC_DATAFILE
This view lists information about all datafiles registered in the recovery catalog. It
corresponds to the V$DATAFILE view. A datafile is shown as dropped if its
tablespace was dropped.

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the target database.
TS# NUMBER The number of the tablespace to which the datafile belongs. The TS#
may exist multiple times in the same incarnation if the tablespace is
dropped and re-created.
TABLESPACE_NAME VARCHAR2(30) The tablespace name. The name may exist multiple times in the same
incarnation if the tablespace is dropped and re-created.
FILE# NUMBER The absolute file number of the datafile. The same datafile number may
exist multiple times in the same incarnation if the datafile is dropped
and re-created.
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN at datafile creation.
CREATION_TIME DATE The time of datafile creation.
DROP_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN recorded when the datafile was dropped. If a new datafile with
the same file number is discovered then the DROP_CHANGE# is set to
CREATION_CHANGE# for the datafile; otherwise the value is set to RC_
CHECKPOINT.CKP_SCN.
DROP_TIME DATE The time when the datafile was dropped. If a new datafile with the same
file number is discovered then the DROP_TIME is set to CREATION_
TIME for the datafile; otherwise the value is set to RC_
CHECKPOINT.CKP_TIME.
BYTES NUMBER The size of the datafile in bytes.
BLOCKS NUMBER The size of the datafile in blocks.
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The size of the data blocks in bytes.
NAME VARCHAR2(1024) The datafile filename.
STOP_CHANGE# NUMBER For offline or read-only datafiles, the SCN value such that no changes in
the redo stream at an equal or greater SCN apply to this file.
STOP_TIME DATE For offline normal or read-only datafiles, the time beyond which there
are no changes in the redo stream that apply to this datafile.
READ_ONLY NUMBER 1 if the file is read-only; otherwise 0.

RC_DATAFILE

RFILE# NUMBER The relative file number of this datafile within its tablespace.
INCLUDED_IN_DATABASE_ VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this tablespace is included in whole database
BACKUP backups: YES or NO. The NO value occurs only if CONFIGURE
EXCLUDE was run on the tablespace that owns this datafile.
AUX_NAME VARCHAR2(1024) Indicates the auxiliary name for the datafile as set by
CONFIGURE AUXNAME.

RC_DATAFILE_COPY
RC_DATAFILE_COPY
This view lists information about datafile copies on disk. It corresponds to the
V$DATAFILE_COPY view.

CDF_KEY NUMBER The primary key of the datafile copy in the recovery catalog. If you issue
RECID NUMBER The datafile copy record from V$DATAFILE_COPY. RECID and STAMP
STAMP NUMBER The datafile copy stamp from V$DATAFILE_COPY. RECID and STAMP
NAME VARCHAR2(1024) The filename of the datafile copy.
TAG VARCHAR2(32) The tag for the datafile copy.
FILE# NUMBER The absolute file number for the datafile.
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The creation SCN of the datafile.
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the most recent RESETLOGS when the datafile was created.
INCREMENTAL_LEVEL NUMBER The incremental level of the copy: 0 or NULL.
CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the most recent datafile checkpoint.
CHECKPOINT_TIME DATE The time of the most recent datafile checkpoint.
ABSOLUTE_FUZZY_ NUMBER The highest SCN in any block of the file, if known. Recovery must
CHANGE# proceed to at least this SCN for the file to become not fuzzy.
RECOVERY_FUZZY_ NUMBER The SCN to which recovery must proceed for the file to become not
CHANGE# fuzzy. If not NULL, this file must be recovered at least to the specified
SCN before the database can be opened with this file.
RECOVERY_FUZZY_TIME DATE The time that is associated with the RECOVERY_FUZZY_CHANGE#.

RC_DATAFILE_COPY

ONLINE_FUZZY VARCHAR2(3) YES/NO. If set to YES, this copy was made after an instance failure or
OFFLINE IMMEDATE (or is a copy that was taken improperly while the
database was open). Recovery will need to apply all redo up to the next
crash recovery marker to make the file consistent.
BACKUP_FUZZY VARCHAR2(3) YES/NO. If set to YES, this is a copy taken using the BEGIN BACKUP/END
BACKUP technique. To make this copy consistent, the recovery process
needs to apply all redo up to the marker that is placed in the redo stream
when the ALTER TABLESPACE END BACKUP command is used.
BLOCKS NUMBER The number of blocks in the datafile copy (also the size of the datafile
when the copy was made).
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The size of the blocks in bytes.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the copy completed.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the copy: A (available), U (unavailable), X (expired), or D
(deleted).
KEEP VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this copy has a retention policy different from the
value for CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY. Possible values are YES and
NO.
KEEP_UNTIL DATE If the KEEP UNTIL TIME clause of the COPY command was specified,
then this column shows the date after which this datafile copy becomes
obsolete. If the column is NULL and KEEP OPTIONS is not NULL, the
copy never becomes obsolete.
KEEP_OPTIONS VARCHAR2(10) The KEEP options specified for this datafile copy. Options can be LOGS
(RMAN keeps the logs needed to recover this backup), NOLOGS (RMAN
does not keep the logs needed to recover this backup), or NULL (the
backup has no KEEP options and will be made obsolete based on the
retention policy).
SCANNED VARCHAR2(3) Whether RMAN scanned the file (YES or NO). If YES, then this copy was
created by a server process that examined every block in the file, for
example, by the RMAN COPY or RESTORE command. If NO, then RMAN
did not examine every block in the file, as when RMAN inspects a
non-RMAN generated image copy or restores by proxy copy.
Whenever RMAN creates or restores a datafile copy, it adds rows to the
V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION view and RC_DATABASE_BLOCK_
CORRUPTION view if it discovers corrupt blocks in the file. If RMAN has
scanned the entire file, then the absence of corruption records for this
copy means that no corrupt blocks exist in the file. If RMAN did not scan
the file, then the absence of corruption records means that corrupt blocks
may or may not exist in the file.
IS_RECOVERY_DEST_FILE VARCHAR2(3) This datafile copy is located in the flash recovery area: YES or NO.

RC_LOG_HISTORY
RC_LOG_HISTORY
This view lists historical information about the online redo logs. RMAN adds a new
row during a catalog resynchronization whenever Oracle has switched out of the
online redo log. This catalog view corresponds to the V$LOG_HISTORY view.

RECID NUMBER The redo log history RECID from V$LOG_HISTORY. RECID and STAMP
STAMP NUMBER The redo log history stamp from V$LOG_HISTORY. RECID and STAMP
THREAD# NUMBER The thread number of the online redo log.
SEQUENCE# NUMBER The log sequence number of the redo log.
FIRST_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN generated when switching into the redo log.
FIRST_TIME DATE The time stamp when switching into the redo log.
CLEARED VARCHAR2(3) YES if the redo log was cleared with the ALTER DATABASE CLEAR
LOGFILE statement; otherwise, NULL. This statement allows a log to be
dropped without archiving it first.

RC_OFFLINE_RANGE
RC_OFFLINE_RANGE
This view lists the offline ranges for datafiles. It corresponds to the V$OFFLINE_
RANGE view.
An offline range is created for a datafile when its tablespace is first altered to be
offline normal or read-only, and then subsequently altered to be online or
read/write. Note that no offline range is created if the datafile itself is altered to be
offline or if the tablespace is altered to be offline immediate.

RECID NUMBER The record identifier for the offline range from V$OFFLINE_RANGE.
RECID and STAMP form a concatenated primary key that uniquely
identifies this record in the target database control file.
STAMP NUMBER The stamp for the offline range from V$OFFLINE_RANGE. RECID and
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN at datafile creation.
OFFLINE_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN taken when the datafile was taken offline.
ONLINE_CHANGE# NUMBER The online checkpoint SCN.
ONLINE_TIME DATE The online checkpoint time.
CF_CREATE_TIME DATE The time of control file creation.

RC_PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG
This view contains descriptions of archived log backups that were taken using the
proxy copy functionality. It corresponds to the V$PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG view.
In a proxy copy, the media manager takes over the operations of backing up and
restoring data. Each row represents a backup of one control file.

XAL_KEY NUMBER The proxy copy primary key in the recovery catalog. If you issue the
LIST command while connected to the recovery catalog, this value
RECID NUMBER The proxy copy record identifier from V$PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG. RECID
STAMP NUMBER The proxy copy stamp from V$PROXY_ARCHIVEDLOG. RECID and
TAG VARCHAR2(32) The tag for the proxy copy.
DEVICE_TYPE VARCHAR2(255) The type of media device that stores the proxy copy.
HANDLE VARCHAR2(1024) The name or "handle" for the proxy copy. RMAN passes this value to the
operating system-dependent layer that identifies the file.
COMMENTS VARCHAR2(255) Comments about the proxy copy.
MEDIA_POOL NUMBER The number of the media pool in which the proxy copy is stored.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the backup set: A (available), U (unavailable), X (expired), or
D (deleted).
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The RESETLOGS SCN of the database incarnation to which this archived
log belongs.


RESETLOGS_TIME DATE The RESETLOGS time stamp of the database incarnation to which this
archived log belongs.
FIRST_CHANGE# NUMBER The first SCN of this redo log.
BLOCKS NUMBER The size of this archived redo log in operating system blocks.
BLOCK_SIZE NUMBER The block size for the copy in bytes.
DEVICE_TYPE VARCHAR2(255) The type of sequential media device.
START_TIME DATE The time when proxy copy was initiated.
COMPLETION_TIME DATE The time when the proxy copy was completed.
ELAPSED_SECONDS NUMBER The duration of the proxy copy.

RC_PROXY_CONTROLFILE
This view contains descriptions of control file backups that were taken using the
proxy copy functionality. It corresponds to the V$PROXY_DATAFILE view.
restoring data. Each row represents a backup of one control file.

XCF_KEY NUMBER The proxy copy primary key in the recovery catalog. If you issue the
RECID NUMBER The proxy copy record identifier from V$PROXY_DATAFILE. RECID
STAMP NUMBER The proxy copy stamp from V$PROXY_DATAFILE. RECID and STAMP
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The RESETLOGS SCN of the database incarnation to which this datafile
belongs.
RESETLOGS_TIME DATE The RESETLOGS time stamp of the database incarnation to which this
datafile belongs.
CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# NUMBER Datafile checkpoint SCN when this copy was made.
CHECKPOINT_TIME DATE Datafile checkpoint time when this copy was made.
MIN_OFFR_RECID NUMBER Internal use only.


D (deleted).
KEEP VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this proxy copy has a retention policy different from
the value for CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY. Possible values are YES
and NO.
KEEP_OPTIONS VARCHAR2(10) The KEEP options specified for this control file backup. Options can be
LOGS (RMAN keeps the logs needed to recover this backup), NOLOGS
(RMAN does not keep the logs needed to recover this backup), or NULL
(the backup has no KEEP options and will be made obsolete based on the
retention policy).
then this column shows the date after which this control file backup
becomes obsolete. If the column is NULL and KEEP OPTIONS is not
NULL, the backup never becomes obsolete.
CONTROLFILE_TYPE VARCHAR2(1) The type of control file copy: B (normal copy) or S (standby copy).

RC_PROXY_DATAFILE
RC_PROXY_DATAFILE
This view contains descriptions of datafile backups that were taken using the proxy
copy functionality. It corresponds to the V$PROXY_DATAFILE view.
restoring data. Each row represents a backup of one database file.

XDF_KEY NUMBER The proxy copy primary key in the recovery catalog. If you issue the
RECID NUMBER The proxy copy record identifier from V$PROXY_DATAFILE. RECID and
STAMP NUMBER The proxy copy stamp from V$PROXY_DATAFILE. RECID and STAMP
FILE# NUMBER The absolute file number of the datafile that is proxy copied.
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The datafile creation SCN.
RESETLOGS_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN of the most recent RESETLOGS in the datafile header.
INCREMENTAL_LEVEL NUMBER 0 if this copy is part of an incremental backup strategy, otherwise NULL.
CHECKPOINT_CHANGE# NUMBER Checkpoint SCN when the copy was made.
CHECKPOINT_TIME DATE Checkpoint time when the copy was made.
ABSOLUTE_FUZZY_ NUMBER The highest SCN in any block of the file, if known. Recovery must
CHANGE# proceed to at least this SCN for the file to become not fuzzy.
RECOVERY_FUZZY_ NUMBER The SCN to which recovery must proceed for the file to become not
CHANGE# fuzzy. If not NULL, this file must be recovered at least to the specified
SCN before the database can be opened with this file.
RECOVERY_FUZZY_TIME DATE The time that is associated with the RECOVERY_FUZZY_CHANGE#.

RC_PROXY_DATAFILE

ONLINE_FUZZY VARCHAR2(3) YES/NO. If set to YES, this copy was made after an instance failure or
OFFLINE IMMEDIATE (or is a copy of a copy which was taken
improperly while the database was open). Recovery will need to apply
all redo up to the next crash recovery marker to make the file consistent.
BACKUP_FUZZY VARCHAR2(3) YES/NO. If set to YES, this is a copy taken using the BEGIN BACKUP/END
BACKUP backup method. To make this copy consistent, recovery must
apply all redo up to the marker that is placed in the redo stream when
the ALTER TABLESPACE END BACKUP statement is issued.
BLOCKS NUMBER Size of the datafile copy in blocks (also the size of the datafile when the
copy was made).
D (deleted).
KEEP VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this proxy copy has a retention policy different from
the value for CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY (YES or NO).
then this column shows the date after which this datafile backup
becomes obsolete. If the column is NULL and KEEP OPTIONS is not
NULL, the backup never becomes obsolete.
KEEP_OPTIONS VARCHAR2(10) The KEEP options specified for this backup. Options can be LOGS
(RMAN keeps logs needed to recover this backup), NOLOGS (RMAN
does not keep logs needed to recover this backup), or NULL (the backup
has no KEEP options and will be obsolete based on retention policy).

RC_REDO_LOG
RC_REDO_LOG
This view lists information about the online redo logs for all incarnations of the
database since the last catalog resynchronization. This view corresponds to a
combination of the V$LOG and V$LOGFILE views.

GROUP# NUMBER The number of the online redo log group.
NAME VARCHAR2(1024) The name of the online redo log file.

RC_REDO_THREAD
RC_REDO_THREAD
This view lists data about all redo threads for all incarnations of the database since
the last catalog resynchronization. This view corresponds to V$THREAD.

THREAD# NUMBER The redo thread number for the database incarnation.
STATUS VARCHAR2(1) The status of the redo thread: D (disabled), E (enabled), or O (open).
SEQUENCE# NUMBER The last allocated log sequence number.
ENABLE_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN at which this thread was enabled.
ENABLE_TIME DATE The time at which this thread was enabled.
DISABLE_CHANGE# NUMBER The most recent SCN at which this thread was disabled. If the thread is
still disabled, then no redo at or beyond this SCN exists for this thread. If
the thread is now enabled, then no redo exists between the DISABLE_
CHANGE# and the ENABLE_CHANGE# for this thread.
DISABLE_TIME DATE The most recent time at which this thread was disabled.

RC_RESYNC
RC_RESYNC
This view lists information about recovery catalog resynchronizations. Every full
resynchronization takes a snapshot of the target database control file and
resynchronizes the recovery catalog from the snapshot.

RESYNC_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the resynchronization.
CONTROLFILE_CHANGE# NUMBER The control file checkpoint SCN from which the catalog was
resynchronized.
CONTROLFILE_TIME DATE The control file checkpoint time stamp from which the catalog was
resynchronized.
CONTROLFILE_SEQUENCE# NUMBER The control file sequence number.
CONTROLFILE_VERSION DATE The creation time for the version of the control file from which the
catalog was resynchronized.
RESYNC_TYPE VARCHAR2(7) The type of resynchronization: FULL or PARTIAL.
DB_STATUS VARCHAR2(7) The status of the target database: OPEN or MOUNTED.
RESYNC_TIME DATE The time of the resynchronization.

RC_RMAN_CONFIGURATION
RC_RMAN_CONFIGURATION
This view lists information about RMAN persistent configuration settings. It

corresponds to the V$RMAN_CONFIGURATION view.

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the target database corresponding to this
configuration. Use this column to form a join with almost any other
catalog view.
CONF# NUMBER A unique key identifying this configuration record within the target
database that owns it.
NAME VARCHAR2(65) The type of configuration. All options of CONFIGURE command are
valid types except: CONFIGURE EXCLUDE, (described in RC_
TABLESPACE), CONFIGURE AUXNAME (described in RC_DATAFILE), and
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE (stored only in control file).
VALUE VARCHAR2(1025) The CONFIGURE command setting. For example: RETENTION POLICY
TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 1 DAYS.

RC_RMAN_STATUS
RC_RMAN_STATUS
This view contains information about the history of RMAN operations on all
databases associated with this recovery catalog. It contains essentially the same
information as V$RMAN_STATUS, except that it does not contain information about
current sessions.
All RMAN operations such as backups, restores, deletion of backups, and so on are
logged in this table. The table is organized to show the status of each RMAN session
(the invocation of an RMAN client, including all actions taken until the RMAN
client exits), operations executed during the session, and recursive operations.
RC_RMAN_STATUS also contains the RSR_KEY, PARENT_KEY and SESSION_
KEY columns, which do not appear in V$RMAN_STATUS.

SID NUMBER The session ID of the session that executed this RMAN operation.
RECID NUMBER The recid of the corresponding row in the control file.
STAMP NUMBER The timestamp of the row in the control file. (Because control file records
are reused, you must combine the timestamp and recid to get a value
unique across all records in RC_RMAN_STATUS.)
PARENT_RECID VARCHAR2(40) If ROW_TYPE=SESSION (that is, this row has no parents and represents
an RMAN session), then this column contains NULL. Otherwise, it
contains the recid of the parent row of this row.
PARENT_STAMP VARCHAR2(40) If ROW_TYPE=SESSION (that is, this row has no parents and represents
contains the timestamp of the parent row of this row.
SESSION_RECID NUMBER If ROW_TYPE=SESSION (that is, this row has no parents and represents
contains the recid of the row representing the session associated with
this row.
SESSION_STAMP NUMBER If ROW_TYPE=SESSION (that is, this row has no parents and represents
contains the timestamp of the row representing the session associated
with this row.

RC_RMAN_STATUS

ROW_LEVEL NUMBER This is the level of this row.
■ If ROW_LEVEL=0 then this is a session row (that is, ROW_
TYPE=SESSION and the row represents an invocation of the
RMAN client).
■ If ROW_LEVEL=1 then this row represents a command entered in
the RMAN client and executed. (ROW_TYPE=COMMAND for
rows at level 1.)
■ IF ROW_LEVEL>1 then this row represents a recursive operation, a
sub-operation of an RMAN command (such as a control file
autobackup performed in conjunction with a database backup).
(ROW_TYPE=RECURSIVE OPERATION for rows at levels >1.)
ROW_TYPE VARCHAR2(19) This is the type of operation represented by this row. Possible values
are:
■ SESSION, for rows at level 0
■ COMMAND, for rows at level 1
■ RECURSIVE OPERATION, for rows at level >1
COMMAND_ID VARCHAR2(33) The user-specified ID of the operation. The user can change this using
the SET COMMAND ID syntax in RMAN. By default, the command ID
is set to the time at which RMAN is invoked, in ISO standard format.
OPERATION VARCHAR2(33) This is the name of the operation presented by this row. For SESSION
operations, this column is set to ’RMAN’. For COMMAND operations,
it describes the command executed, such as "BACKUP", "RESTORE",
"CONFIGURE", "REPORT" and so on.
STATUS VARCHAR2(23) The status of the operation described by this row. Possible values are:
COMPLETED, COMPLETED WITH WARNINGS, COMPLETED WITH
ERRORS, and FAILED.
MBYTES_PROCESSED NUMBER If the operation represeted by this row performed some data transfer
(such as backing up or restoring data) then this column contains the
number of megabytes processed in the operation. Otherwise, this row
contains NULL.
START_TIME DATE The start time for the operation represented by this row.
END_TIME DATE The end time for the operation represented by this row.
RSR_KEY Unique key for this row.
PARENT_KEY The value of RSR_KEY for the parent row of this row.
SESSION_KEY The value of RSR_KEY for the session row associated with this row.

RC_STORED_SCRIPT
RC_STORED_SCRIPT
This view lists information about scripts stored in the recovery catalog. The view
contains one row for each stored . (Note that RMAN’s commands for management
such as LIST NAMES and LIST provide more convenient ways of viewing this
information.)

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the database that owns this . Use this column to
form a join with almost any other catalog view.
SCRIPT_NAME VARCHAR2(100) The name of the .

RC_STORED_SCRIPT_LINE
RC_STORED_SCRIPT_LINE
This view lists information about lines of the scripts stored in the recovery catalog.
The view contains one row for each line of each stored .

DB_KEY NUMBER The primary key for the database that owns this . Use this column to
form a join with almost any other catalog view.
SCRIPT_NAME VARCHAR2(100) The name of the stored .
LINE NUMBER The number of the line in the . The line of a is uniquely identified by
SCRIPT_NAME and LINE.
TEXT VARCHAR2(1024) The text of the line of the .

RC_TABLESPACE
RC_TABLESPACE
This view lists all tablespaces registered in the recovery catalog, all dropped
tablespaces, and tablespaces that belong to old incarnations. It corresponds to the
V$TABLESPACE view. The current value is shown for tablespace attributes.

TS# NUMBER The tablespace ID in the target database. The TS# may exist multiple
times in the same incarnation if the tablespace is dropped and re-created.
NAME VARCHAR2(30) The tablespace name. The name may exist multiple times in the same
incarnation if the tablespace is dropped and re-created.
CREATION_CHANGE# NUMBER The creation SCN (from the first datafile).
CREATION_TIME DATE The creation time of the tablespace. NULL for offline tablespaces after
creating the control file.
DROP_CHANGE# NUMBER The SCN recorded when the tablespace was dropped. If a new
tablespace with the same TS# is discovered then the DROP_CHANGE# is
set to CREATION_CHANGE# for the tablespace; otherwise, the value is set
to RC_CHECKPOINT.CKP_SCN.
DROP_TIME DATE The date when the tablespace was dropped.
INCLUDED_IN_DATABASE_ VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this tablespace is included in whole database backups:
BACKUP YES or NO. The YES value occurs only if CONFIGURE EXCLUDE was run
on the tablespace that owns this datafile.
BIGFILE VARCHAR2(3) Indicates whether this tablespace is a tablespace created with the
BIGFILE option.

RC_TABLESPACE

A
Deprecated RMAN Commands
This appendix describes Recovery Manager syntax that is deprecated and describes
preferred syntax if any exists.
Deprecated RMAN syntax continues to be supported in subsequent releases for
backward compatibility. For example, the SET AUXNAME command replaced the SET
CLONENAME command in Oracle8i, and the CONFIGURE AUXNAME command
replaced the SET AUXNAME command in Oracle9i, but you can continue to run both
SET CLONENAME and SET AUXNAME in all subsequent RMAN releases.
Table A–1 Deprecated RMAN Syntax

Deprecated Deprecated Syntax Preferred Current Syntax
in Release
10.0.1 BACKUP ... FILESPERSET n/a
10.0.1 BACKUP ... INCREMENTAL LEVEL [2,3,4] Levels other than 0 and 1 are deprecated.
10.0.1 BACKUP ... PARMS CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... PARMS
10.0.1 BACKUP ... DISKRATIO n/a
10.0.1 CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... PARMS="BLKSIZE" n/a
10.0.1 COPY BACKUP AS COPY
10.0.1 RESTORE ... PARMS CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... PARMS
10.0.1 SEND ... PARMS CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... PARMS
9.2 REPLICATE RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM ...
9.2 SET AUTOLOCATE Now enabled by default.
9.0.1 ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR DELETE n/a
9.0.1 ALLOCATE CHANNEL ... TYPE CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... DEVICE TYPE
Deprecated RMAN Commands A-1

Table A–1 Deprecated RMAN Syntax (Cont.)
Deprecated Deprecated Syntax Preferred Current Syntax
in Release
9.0.1 ALLOCATE CHANNEL ... KBYTES CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... MAXPIECESIZE
9.0.1 ALLOCATE CHANNEL ... READRATE CONFIGURE CHANNEL ... RATE
9.0.1 ... ARCHIVELOG ... LOGSEQ ... ARCHIVELOG ... SEQUENCE
9.0.1 BACKUP ... SETSIZE BACKUP ... MAXSETSIZE
9.0.1 CHANGE ... CROSSCHECK CROSSCHECK
9.0.1 CHANGE ... DELETE DELETE
9.0.1 REPORT ... AT LOGSEQ REPORT ... AT SEQUENCE
9.0.1 SET AUXNAME CONFIGURE AUXNAME
9.0.1 SET DUPLEX SET BACKUP COPIES
CONFIGURE BACKUP COPIES
9.0.1 SET LIMIT CHANNEL ... ALLOCATE CHANNEL ...
CONFIGURE CHANNEL ...
9.0.1 SET SNAPSHOT CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT
9.0.1 UNTIL LOGSEQ (see "untilClause") UNTIL SEQUENCE (see "untilClause")
8.1.7 CONFIGURE COMPATIBLE n/a
8.1.5 ALLOCATE CHANNEL CLONE CONFIGURE AUXILIARY CHANNEL
8.1.5 CHANGE ... VALIDATE CROSSCHECK
8.1.5 CLONE (see "cmdLine") AUXILIARY (see "cmdLine")
8.1.5 CONNECT CLONE CONNECT AUXILIARY
8.1.5 MSGLOG (see "cmdLine") LOG (see "cmdLine")
8.1.5 RCVCAT (see "cmdLine") CATALOG (see "cmdLine")
A-2 Recovery Manager Reference

B
RMAN Compatibility
This section contains these topics:

■ About RMAN Compatibility
■ RMAN Compatibility Matrix
■ RMAN Compatibility: Scenario
RMAN Compatibility B-1

About RMAN Compatibility
About RMAN Compatibility

The following table describes the components of an RMAN environment. Each
component has a release number associated with it.
Component Release Number Refers to ...

RMAN client Version of RMAN client (displayed when you start RMAN)
Recovery catalog database Version of Oracle database
Recovery catalog schema in Version of RMAN client used to create the recovery catalog
recovery catalog database
Target database Version of Oracle database
Auxiliary database Version of Oracle database
For example, you can use a release 9.0.1 RMAN client with:
■ A release 9.0.1 target database
■ A release 9.0.1 duplicate database
■ A release 8.1.7 recovery catalog database whose catalog tables were created
with RMAN release 9.0.1
Determination of Catalog Schema Version

To determine the current release of the catalog schema, you must run a SQL query.
1. Use SQL*Plus to connect to the recovery catalog database as the catalog owner.
For example, enter:
% sqlplus rman/rman@catdb
2. Query the rcver catalog table. For example, run this query:
SQL> SELECT * FROM rcver;
VERSION
------------
08.01.05
09.00.01
If multiple versions are listed, then the last row is the current version, and the
rows before it are prior versions. In the preceding example, the current catalog
schema version is 09.00.01 and the previous version was 08.01.05.
B-2 Recovery Manager Reference

RMAN Compatibility Matrix
RMAN Compatibility Matrix

In general, the rules of RMAN compatibility are as follows:
■ You can create 8.X or 9.X RMAN catalog schema in any Oracle database release
8.1.X (or higher) and Release 10g RMAN catalog schema in any Oracle database
release 9.0.1 (or higher).
■ The recovery catalog schema version must be greater than or equal to the
RMAN client version.
■ Ideally, the versions of the RMAN client and the target database should be the
same (although there are other legal combinations, listed in Table B–1).
■ While backing up a Release 10g database using the 9.X RMAN client, you
cannot include a controlfile that was created using compatible=10.0.0 in a
datafile backupset. The workaround is to turn controlfile autobackup ON.
Table B–1 shows version requirements for RMAN components. Note the following
conventions when interpreting this table:
■ ">=8.1.7" means 8.1.7, 9.0.1, 9.2.0 and 10.1.0 and their patches
■ ">=8.0.6" means 8.0.6, 8.1.7, 9.0.1, 9.2.0 and 10.1.0 and their patches
When using an older version of the RMAN client with a newer version of the
database, you do not get the features of the newer version. For example, when
using the Oracle9i RMAN client to back up an Oracle Release 10g database, you will
not have access to features like the flash recovery area, flashback database, TSPITR
with an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance, or recovery through resetlogs.
Table B–1 RMAN Compatibility Table

Target/Auxiliary Catalog
Database RMAN client Database Catalog Schema
8.0.6 8.0.6 >=8.1.7 >=8.0.6
8.1.7 8.0.6.1 >=8.1.7 >=8.1.7
8.1.7 8.1.7 >=8.1.7 >=RMAN client
8.1.7.4 8.1.7.4 >=8.1.7 8.1.7.4
8.1.7.4 8.1.7.4 >=8.1.7 >= 9.0.1.4
9.0.1 9.0.1 >=8.1.7 >= RMAN client
9.2.0 >=9.0.1.3 >=8.1.7 >= RMAN client
10.1.0 >=9.0.1.3 >=9.0.1 >= RMAN client
RMAN Compatibility B-3

RMAN Compatibility: Scenario
RMAN Compatibility: Scenario

Assume that you maintain a production databases of the following releases:
■ 8.1.7
■ 9.0.1
■ 9.2.0
■ 10.1.0
You want to record metadata about these databases in a single recovery catalog
database. According to Table B–1, you can use a single 9.2.0 recovery catalog
database with a 10.1.0 catalog schema for all target databases.
The solution for this combination of target databases is to do the following:
■ Use a single 9.2.0 catalog database to store all metadata.
■ Use a single 10.1.0 catalog schema for all databases.
■ Ensure that the version of the RMAN client used to back up each target
database matches the release of the target database being backed up.
B-4 Recovery Manager Reference

Index
Symbols @, 2-6
@@, 2-7
? symbol ALLOCATE CHANNEL, 2-8, 2-15
in RMAN quoted strings, 1-4 ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR
@ command, 2-6 MAINTENANCE, 2-12
in RMAN quoted strings, 1-4 ALTER DATABASE, 2-19
@@ command, 2-7 archivelogRecordSpecifier clause, 2-22
BACKUP, 2-28
A BLOCKRECOVER, 2-61
CATALOG, 2-66
ALLOCATE CHANNEL command, 2-8, 2-15
CHANGE, 2-70
and shared server, 2-9, 2-13
completedTimeSpec clause, 2-79
FOR MAINTENANCE option, 2-12
CONFIGURE, 2-81
ALTER DATABASE command, 2-19
CONNECT, 2-99
archivelogRecordSpecifier clause, 2-22
connectStringSpec clause, 2-102
autobackups
CREATE CATALOG, 2-111
control file, 2-92
CREATE SCRIPT, 2-113
CROSSCHECK, 2-116
B DELETE, 2-121
BACKUP command, 2-28 DELETE SCRIPT, 2-125
BLOCKRECOVER command, 2-61 deprecated, A-1
DROP CATALOG, 2-129
DROP DATABASE, 2-131
C DUPLICATE, 2-133
CATALOG command, 2-66 EXECUTE SCRIPT, 2-143
CHANGE command, 2-70 EXIT, 2-145
channels fileNameConversionSpec clause, 2-146
allocating to shared server sessions, 2-9, 2-13 FLASHBACK, 2-149
code examples HOST, 2-158
description of RMAN, 1-6 LIST, 2-163
command line listObjList clause, 2-184
arguments for RMAN, 2-74 PRINT SCRIPT, 2-194
commands, Recovery Manager QUIT, 2-196
recordSpec, 2-197
Index-1
RECOVER, 2-199 deprecated commands
REGISTER, 2-211 Recovery Manager, A-1
RELEASE CHANNEL, 2-213, 2-215 DROP CATALOG command, 2-129
REPLACE SCRIPT, 2-216 DROP DATABASE command, 2-131
REPORT, 2-219 DUPLICATE command, 2-133
RESET DATABASE, 2-227
RESTORE, 2-230
RESYNC CATALOG, 2-245
E
RUN, 2-248 environment variables
SEND, 2-251 in RMAN strings, 1-4
SET, 2-253 EXECUTE SCRIPT command, 2-143
SHOW, 2-262 EXIT command, 2-145
SHUTDOWN, 2-265
SPOOL, 2-268 F
SQL, 2-270
STARTUP, 2-272 fileNameConversionSpec clause, 2-146
summary, 2-2, 3-2 FLASHBACK command, 2-149
SWITCH, 2-275
UNREGISTER DATABASE, 2-279 H
untilClause, 2-281
UPGRADE CATALOG, 2-284 HOST command, 2-158
VALIDATE, 2-286
compatibility K
recovery catalog, B-2
keywords
Recovery Manager, B-2
in syntax diagrams, 1-3
completedTimeSpec clause, 2-79
CONFIGURE command, 2-81
CONNECT command, 2-99 L
connectStringSpec clause, 2-102 LIST command, 2-163
control files listObjList clause, 2-184
automatic backups, 2-92
corrupt datafile blocks
maximum acceptable number, 2-258 M
corruption detection MAXCORRUPT parameter
using SET MAXCORRUPT command, 2-258 SET command, 2-258
CREATE CATALOG command, 2-111 MAXSETSIZE parameter
CREATE SCRIPT command, 2-113 BACKUP command, 2-43
CROSSCHECK command, 2-116
P
D
parameters
dates in syntax diagrams, 1-3
specifying in RMAN commands, 2-281 PL/SQL stored procedures
DELETE command, 2-121 executing within RMAN, 2-271
DELETE SCRIPT command, 2-125 PRINT SCRIPT command, 2-194
Index-2
Q @, 2-6
@@, 2-7
QUIT command, 2-196 ALLOCATE CHANNEL, 2-8, 2-15
quoted strings ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR
environment variables, 1-4 MAINTENANCE, 2-12
ALTER DATABASE, 2-19
R archivelogRecordSpecifier clause, 2-22
BACKUP, 2-28
RC_ARCHIVED_LOG view, 2-23, 3-4
BLOCKRECOVER, 2-61
RC_BACKUP_CONTROLFILE view, 3-6
CATALOG, 2-66
RC_BACKUP_CORRUPTION view, 3-8
CHANGE, 2-70
RC_BACKUP_DATAFILE view, 3-10
completedTimeSpec, 2-79
RC_BACKUP_PIECE view, 3-15
CONFIGURE, 2-81
RC_BACKUP_REDOLOG view, 3-17
CONNECT, 2-99
RC_BACKUP_SET view, 3-19
connectStringSpec, 2-102
RC_BACKUP_SPFILE view, 3-21
CREATE CATALOG, 2-111
RC_CHECKPOINT view, 3-22
CREATE SCRIPT, 2-113
RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY view, 3-23
CROSSCHECK, 2-116
RC_COPY_CORRUPTION view, 3-25
DELETE, 2-121
RC_DATABASE recovery catalog view, 3-26
DELETE SCRIPT, 2-125
RC_DATABASE view, 2-257
DROP CATALOG, 2-129
DROP DATABASE, 2-131
view, 3-27
DUPLICATE, 2-133
RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION view, 2-257,
EXECUTE SCRIPT, 2-143
3-28
EXIT, 2-145
RC_DATAFILE view, 3-29
fileNameConversionSpec, 2-146
RC_DATAFILE_COPY view, 3-31
FLASHBACK, 2-149
RC_LOG_HISTORY view, 3-33
HOST, 2-158
RC_OFFLINE_RANGE view, 3-34
LIST, 2-163
RC_PROXY_CONTROLFILE view, 3-37
listObjList, 2-184
RC_PROXY_DATAFILE view, 3-39
PRINT SCRIPT, 2-194
RC_REDO_LOG view, 3-41, 3-45
QUIT, 2-196
RC_REDO_THREAD view, 3-42
recordSpec, 2-197
RC_RESYNC view, 3-43
RECOVER, 2-199
RC_RMAN_CONFIGURATION view, 3-44
REGISTER, 2-211
RC_STORED_SCRIPT view, 3-47
RELEASE CHANNEL, 2-213
RC_STORED_SCRIPT_LINE view, 3-48
REPLACE SCRIPT, 2-216
RC_TABLESPACE view, 3-49
REPORT, 2-219
recordSpec clause, 2-197
RESET DATABASE, 2-227
RECOVER command, 2-199
RESTORE, 2-230
recovery catalog
RESYNC, 2-245
views, 3-1
RUN, 2-248
Recovery Manager
SEND, 2-251
backups
SET, 2-253
control file autobackups, 2-92
SHOW, 2-262
commands
Index-3
SHUTDOWN, 2-265 U
SPOOL, 2-268
SQL, 2-270 UNREGISTER DATABASE command, 2-279
STARTUP, 2-272 untilClause, 2-281
SWITCH, 2-275 UPGRADE CATALOG command, 2-284
UNREGISTER DATABASE, 2-279
untilClause, 2-281 V
UPGRADE CATALOG, 2-284
V$ARCHIVED_LOG view, 2-23, 2-25, 2-26, 2-179
VALIDATE, 2-286
V$BACKUP_CORRUPTION view, 2-40
compatibility, B-2
V$BACKUP_DEVICE view, 2-10, 2-13
dates in commands, 2-281
V$BACKUP_PIECE view, 2-169, 2-171, 2-174
symbolic links for filenames, 2-235
V$BACKUP_SET view, 2-168, 2-173, 2-174, 2-175,
syntax conventions, 1-2
2-176
REGISTER command, 2-211
V$DATABASE view, 2-257
RELEASE CHANNEL command (RMAN), 2-213
V$DATABASE_BLOCK_CORRUPTION
releasing a maintenance channel, 2-215
view, 2-62, 2-63, 2-65, 2-207, 2-237, 2-287
REPLACE SCRIPT command, 2-216
V$DATAFILE view, 2-119
REPORT command, 2-219
V$DATAFILE_COPY view, 2-119, 2-177, 2-178
RESET DATABASE command, 2-227
V$DATAFILE_HEADER view, 2-119
RESTORE command, 2-230
V$PROXY_DATAFILE view, 2-172
RESYNC CATALOG command, 2-245
V$SESSION view, 2-256, 2-259
RUN command, 2-248
VALIDATE command, 2-286
views
S recovery catalog, 3-1
SEND command, 2-251
SET command, 2-253
shared server
allocating channels, 2-9, 2-13
SHOW command, 2-262
SHUTDOWN command, 2-265
SPOOL command, 2-268
SQL command, 2-270
STARTUP command, 2-272
stored procedures
executing within RMAN, 2-271
SWITCH command, 2-275
symbolic links
and RMAN, 2-235
syntax conventions
Recovery Manager, 1-2
syntax diagrams
explanation of, 1-2
keywords, 1-3
parameters, 1-3
Index-4

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Oracle® Database

Recovery Manager Reference

Part No. B10770-01

Copyright © 1996, 2003 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.

Primary Author: Antonio Romero

Contributing Author: Lance Ashdown

Graphic Designer: Valarie Moore

Send Us Your Comments .................................................................................................................. vii

1 About RMAN Commands

3 Recovery Catalog Views

A Deprecated RMAN Commands

This preface contains these topics:

Chapter 1, "About RMAN Commands"

Chapter 2, "RMAN Commands"

Chapter 3, "Recovery Catalog Views"

Appendix A, "Deprecated RMAN Commands"

Appendix B, "RMAN Compatibility"

To download free release notes, installation documentation, white papers, or other

Conventions in Code Examples

Convention Meaning Example

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation JAWS, a Windows screen

Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation This

About RMAN Commands 1-1

Conventions Used in this Reference

RMAN Text Conventions

RMAN Syntax Diagrams and Notation

1-2 Recovery Manager Reference

Figure 1–1 CATALOG Command

Keywords Keywords have special meanings in Recovery Manager syntax. In the

Placeholders Placeholders in syntax diagrams indicate non-keywords. In the syntax

About RMAN Commands 1-3

When you see a placeholder in a syntax diagram, substitute an object or expression

Placeholder Description Examples

RMAN Reserved Words

1-4 Recovery Manager Reference

ALLOCATE CHANNEL backup DEVICE TYPE DISK; # incorrect

Reserved Reserved Reserved Reserved

AFFINITY CONTROLFILE FROM MAXSEQ PLUS SETSIZE

AFTER CONTROLFILECOPY FULL MAXSETSIZE POLICY SHOW

ALL COPIES G MAXSIZE POOL SHUTDOWN

ALLOCATE COPY GET MISC PRINT SINCE

ALTER CORRUPTION GROUP MOUNT PROXY SIZE

AND CREATE HIGH MSGLOG PUT SKIP

APPEND CROSSCHECK HOST MSGNO QUIT SLAXDEBUG

ARCHIVELOG CUMULATIVE ID NAME RATE SNAPSHOT

AT CURRENT IDENTIFIER NEED RCVCAT SPFILE

ATALL DATABASE IMMEDIATE NEW RCVMAN SPOOL

AUTOBACKUP DATAFILE INACCESSIBLE NEW-LINE READONLY SQL

AUTOLOCATE DATAFILECOPY INCARNATION NEWNAME READRATE STANDBY

AUXILIARY DAYS INCLUDE NOCATALOG RECOVER STARTUP

AUXNAME DBA INCREMENTAL NOCFAU RECOVERABLE STEP

AVAILABLE DBID INPUT NOCHECKSUM RECOVERY SUMMARY

BACKED DEBUG IO NOEXCLUDE REDUNDANCY SWITCH

BACKUP DEFAULT JOB NOFILENAMECHECK REGISTER TABLESPACE

BACKUPPIECE DEFINE K NOFILEUPDATE RELEASE TAG

BACKUPSET DELETE KBYTES NOKEEP RELOAD TARGET

BEFORE DESTINATION KEEP NOLOGS REMOVE TEST

BETWEEN DEVICE LEVEL NOMOUNT RENORMALIZE THREAD

BLOCK DISK LIBNAME NONE REPLACE TIME

BLOCKRECOVER DISKRATIO LIBPARM NOPROMPT REPLICATE TIMEOUT