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Online Backup / Restore of Oracle Database Servers

Summary
For offline database backup / restore, the operations and requirements are the same as File System
Backup and Restore (You can use the ’Pre/Post’ function to Stop/Start Oracle Server before/after
backup and restore.).

The following requirements must be met in order to perform online backup / restore of Oracle
Database Servers.

Online Backup Client Requirements

• Online backup client computer must be running Windows NT / 2000 / XP / 2003.

• Oracle Client must be installed. It must be the same version as the Oracle Server to backup. If you want to backup both Oracle 8 and Oracle 9 servers, you must install both the Oracle 8 client and the Oracle 9 client on the online backup client computer.

• You must configure the ’Net service Name’ for this Oracle Client to connect to each Oracle Server you want to backup or restore.

• If the Oracle Instance is a shared server, set the Connection Type as "Dedicated Server" using Net8 Assistant (Oracle 8) or Net Manager (Oracle 9).

• Recovery Manager (RMAN) utility must be installed.

• To backup / restore Oracle 9, you must manually copy recover.bsq to
%ORACLE_HOME%\RDBMS\ADMIN directory on the online backup client computer. Please see Oracle bug #2421470. You can find recover.bsq on the Oracle 9 Server.

• For backup of Oracle Server on SPARC Solaris, you must install Hummingbird NFS Client v.8.0 (including patch) on the online backup client computer.

• For Hummingbird 9 and 10, you must edit the Registry (HKEY_Local_Machine \ Software \ Hummingbird \ Connectivity \ NFSClient \ Shares \ ...) and remove the additional domain name for Unix machines.

Oracle Server Requirements

• [NT / 2000] ORASBT.DLL must be copied to the target Oracle Server's computer. Place it in the System Root path (e.g. c:\WINNT\SYSTEM32). For Oracle 8i, you must restart the Oracle service. You can find this file in the online backup client installation directory.

• [Solaris 8 SPARC] libsbtds.so must be copied to $ORACLE_HOME/lib. You must also link $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libobk.so to this file. (There are 32 bit and 64 bit versions of this file. Use the corresponding version to the Oracle Installation.)

• Oracle Instance should be running in "ARCHIVELOG MODE" (this allows online backup of the database).

• [Oracle 9.2 Server / Solaris using 64-bit] Verify that LD_LIBRARY_PATH_64 variable is configured.

• Set the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME initialization parameter to slightly longer than the period (in days) between backups of the whole Oracle database (all tablespaces, control files, and archive logs).

General Requirements

• The DB Administrator / Online Backup Operator must know the name of the Service when creating a new backup set. (You cannot browse the database(s) for names, therefore you must know the exact name in advance.)

• The credentials used for online backup / restore of the Oracle database must have the sysdba privilege.

• The following items are available for backup: all tablespaces in the database, the archived logs, and the control file.

• The init file (e.g. c:\oracle\admin\ora<instance>\pfile\init.ora) and password file (e.g. c:\oracle\ora92\database\pwd<instance>.ora) should be backed up in a File System backup set. A backup of the password file is necessary for any full or alternate restore of the Oracle database.

• You do not need to place online tablespaces in backup mode when performing backups.

• You can not use an IP address to specify a computer for online backup / restore. Only the computer name is allowed.

Restore Requirements (Oracle Server)
There are the following requirements and limitations:

• Tablespaces can be restored, however the logs will be applied to the present (unless DBPITR is performed). This means they will not be "as when backed up".

• The control file should only be restored when performing DBPITR (Database Point In Time Recovery). After restoring, the database will be opened with the "RESETLOGS" option. By doing this, you will not be able to restore any tablespaces backed up after that point in time (unless you restore the control file).

• When performing a DBPITR, all the files backed up in that particular session must be restored.

• RMAN has a limitation of how many archived logs can be backed up at one time. Increase the "redo log file" size to reduce the number of archived logs.

• To restore the Control File, you must start the database in nomount (started) state.

• To restore Tablespaces without the Control File, you must start the database in mount state. Otherwise, you must change the tablespaces offline.

Alternate Location Restore Requirements
The Oracle Server (target restore server) must satisfy the requirements listed in the Summary section above.
In addition, the following apply for Alternate Restore:
1. The backup must be a full Oracle database backup (with Control File). You must also have a backup of the password file (this will be in a File System backup set).

2. The target restore computer must have an Oracle database service Instance of the same name.

• This is to simplify the process of recovery. You must modify the initial file manually if you use a different Instance name.

3. The target restore computer must have the same tablespace path as the original backup (this can be created when setting up the database).

• This is because of Oracle limitations and specifications. All information about file structure is recorded in the Control File and the Oracle Database as a whole.

4. Restore the (File System) backup of the password file to the alternate computer. This is a separate backup set of the password file from the original backup computer.

5. Restore the full Oracle database backup.

• Note: If you choose another path in the Alternate Location Restore, only dump files are restored to that path. You must use RMAN to restore your Oracle database manually.