Oracle Database migration to a remote Data Protector cell--Best practices

As the Control File autobackup is stored in a well-known format and path, it can be restored with the

following command:

RMAN> restore controlfile from autobackup;

While Oracle’s recommendation is to have autobackup Control File set to ON, the default is

currently set to OFF.

You can verify the current settings with the following RMAN command:

RMAN> show all;

To enable autobackup Control File, using RMAN, connect to the target database and recovery

catalog (if used) and execute the following command:

RMAN> configure controlfile autobackup on;

Note:

Unless you have an explicit reason not to do it, set controlfile

autobackup always to ON. It will definitely ease your restores.

In case controlfile autobackup if OFF (default), RMAN will backup

the Control File and SPFILE if the backup statement includes the system

tablespace.

RMAN Recovery Catalog

The Recovery Catalog is a set of tables and views working as a repository for RMAN to store its data.

While it is optional to use it, it is highly recommended to do it.

One of the main advantages using a Recovery Catalog in a Disaster Recovery is that, in case we

have lost our control files, the Recovery Catalog will provide you the needed information to perform

the restore.

Using the RMAN Recovery Catalog does not replace the usage of the control file autobackup, but it

complements it.

As we will see in the following scenarios, once we have lost the Control File, if we have the recovery

catalog available, we can perform the control file restore without further issues.

How to determine the Database DBID

In disaster situations where the restore of the Oracle SPFILE and/or Control Files is required, we need

to provide the DBID of the Database we want to restore. Depending on the recovery scenario, there

are different ways to find out the DBID:

1. Check the Data Protector Backup Session report of the Oracle Database, it should be displayed

there:

[Normal] From: ob2rman@ita022 "DB10g" Time: 05/08/08 08:38:58

Starting backup of target database.

Net service name: DB10g.

Instance status: OPEN.

Instance name: DB10g.

Database DBID = 38758237.

Database control file type: CURRENT