18
Performing Maintenance with Recovery Manager

This chapter describes how to manage the RMAN repository. Depending on how you implement RMAN, you can store this data either in a recovery catalog or exclusively in the control file. This chapter contains these topics:

Crosschecking Backups and Copies

To ensure that data about backup sets and image copies in the recovery catalog or control file is synchronized with corresponding data on disk or in the media management catalog, perform a crosscheck. The CROSSCHECK command operates only on files that are recorded in the recovery catalog or the control file.

This section contains these topics:

About RMAN Crosschecks
Crosschecking Specific Backups and Copies
Crosschecking Backups and Copies of Database Files

See Also:
"Crosschecks of RMAN Backups and Copies" for a conceptual overview of crosschecks

About RMAN Crosschecks

Crosschecks can update outdated repository information about backups and copies whose repository records do not match their physical status. For example, someone removes archived logs from disk with an operating system command so that the repository indicates that the logs are on disk when in fact they have deleted.

If the backup or copy is on disk, then the CROSSCHECK command determines whether the header of the file is valid. If the backup is on tape, then the command simply checks that the backup exists.

The possible status values for backups and copies are AVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE, and EXPIRED. View the output of the LIST command or the recovery catalog views to determine the status of backups and copies.

Note:

The CROSSCHECK command does not delete operating system files or remove repository records. You must use the DELETE command for these operations.

See Also:

"Deleting Backups and Copies" to learn how to delete files and update repository records, and Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for CROSSCHECK command syntax and a description of the repository status values

Crosschecking Specific Backups and Copies

You can use the LIST command to obtain a report of the backups and copies that you have made and then use the CROSSCHECK command to check that these files still exist. You can run the DELETE EXPIRED command to delete repository records for copies and backups that fail the crosscheck.

To crosscheck specified backups or copies:

Identify the desired backup pieces, backup sets or proxy copies that you want to check by issuing a LIST command. For example, issue:
```
LIST BACKUP;
LIST COPY;
```
If you do not have automatic channels configured, then allocate one or more channels of type MAINTENANCE. Otherwise, skip this step. For example, issue:
```
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
```
Check whether the specified backups or copies exist. For example, enter:
```
CROSSCHECK BACKUPSET 1338, 1339, 1340;
CROSSCHECK BACKUPPIECE TAG = 'nightly_backup';
CROSSCHECK CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl';
CROSSCHECK DATAFILECOPY 113, 114, 115;
CROSSCHECK PROXY 789;
```
If the backup or copy is no longer available, then RMAN marks it as EXPIRED. If it was marked EXPIRED and is now available, then RMAN marks it AVAILABLE.
If you manually allocated one or more maintenance channels, then release them:
```
RELEASE CHANNEL;
```

Crosschecking Backups and Copies of Database Files

You can use the LIST command to determine which database objects that you have backed up or copied, then use the CROSSCHECK command to check whether these backups and copies exist.

To crosscheck backups or copies of specified files:

If you do not have automatic channels allocated, then allocate one or more channels of type MAINTENANCE. Otherwise, skip this step. For example, issue:
```
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
```
Check for the backups of the specified database, tablespace, datafile, control file, or archived redo log. Limit the crosscheck according to the time sequence. For example, check all backups of datafile ?/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf over the last six months, as well as all logs and server parameter files on tape:
```
CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF DATAFILE "?/oradata/trgt/system01.dbf" 
  COMPLETED AFTER 'SYSDATE-180';
CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF ARCHIVELOG ALL SPFILE;
```
Release the allocated maintenance channels:
```
RELEASE CHANNEL;
```
See Also:
Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for CROSSCHECK command syntax

Deleting Backups and Copies

You can use RMAN to delete backups, copies, and archived logs. RMAN deletes the specified files and removes their repository records.

This section contains these topics:

Deleting Specified Backups and Copies
Deleting Expired Backups and Copies

Deleting Obsolete Backups and Copies

Note:

Note that backups and copies with DELETED status do not appear in the LIST command output. Query the V$ control file views instead.

See Also:

Chapter 7, "RMAN Concepts III: Maintenance" for a conceptual overview of the RMAN deletion commands
Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for DELETE command syntax
Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for descriptions of the recovery catalog views

Deleting Specified Backups and Copies

In general, use the DELETE command to remove backups and copies that you no longer want to retain. This command removes the physical files, deletes the catalog records (if you use a catalog), and updates the records in the target control file to status DELETED.

To delete backups and copies and remove their repository records:

This procedure does not require the use of a recovery catalog.

Run the LIST output to obtain primary keys of backups and copies.

LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE ARCHIVELOG ALL; # lists backups of db files and logs
LIST COPY;

If you do not have automatic channels configured, then allocate a maintenance channel, for example:
```
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
```
Run the DELETE command to eliminate the specified physical files and their repository records. You can delete any type of object in the recordSpec clause, for example:
```
DELETE BACKUPPIECE 101;
DELETE CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl';
DELETE NOPROMPT ARCHIVELOG UNTIL SEQUENCE = 300;
```

You can also delete files using DELETE BACKUP, DELETE COPY, or DELETE ARCHIVELOG as in these examples:

DELETE BACKUP OF TABLESPACE users DEVICE TYPE sbt; # deletes only tape backups
DELETE COPY OF CONTROLFILE LIKE '/tmp/%';  # LIKE specifies name of the copy
DELETE NOPROMPT BACKUP OF SPFILE COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-7';
DELETE NOPROMPT ARCHIVELOG ALL 
   BACKED UP 3 TIMES TO sbt; # backs up logs only if already backed up 3X to tape

If you run RMAN interactively, then RMAN asks for confirmation before deleting any files. If you specify NOPROMPT, then RMAN does not ask for confirmation.

Release the allocated maintenance channel:
```
RELEASE CHANNEL;
```

Deleting Expired Backups and Copies

You can use the CROSSCHECK command to determine whether backups and copies recorded in the repository still exist on disk or tape. If RMAN cannot locate the backups and copies, then it updates their records to EXPIRED status. You can then use the DELETE EXPIRED command to remove these expired records. Note that if for some reason the expired files still exist, then the DELETE EXPIRED command aborts with an error message.

To delete expired repository records:

If you do not have automatic channels configured, then allocate one or more maintenance channels, as in the following:
```
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
```
If you have not perform a crosscheck recently, then issue a CROSSCHECK command. For example, issue:
```
CROSSCHECK BACKUP;
CROSSCHECK COPY;
```

Delete the expired backups. For example, issue:

DELETE EXPIRED BACKUP;
DELETE EXPIRED COPY;

Release the allocated maintenance channels:
```
RELEASE CHANNEL;
```

Deleting Obsolete Backups and Copies

Use the DELETE OBSOLETE command to remove backups and copies that are obsolete, that is, eligible for deletion. You can determine what qualifies a backup or copy for obsolete status in these ways:

By configuring a retention policy with the CONFIGURE command
By using the options on the DELETE OBSOLETE command

The DELETE OBSOLETE command removes both the physical files, deletes the catalog records (if you use a catalog), and updates the records in the target control file to status DELETED.

Deleting Backups and Copies Rendered Obsolete by the Retention Policy

If you specify the DELETE OBSOLETE command with no other operands, then RMAN deletes all obsolete backups and copies defined by the retention policy.

To delete backups and copies rendered obsolete by the retention policy:

If you do not have automatic channels configured, then allocate a maintenance channel for each device type on which you created backups or copies. The REPORT OBSOLETE command can report on the obsolete status of backups and copies on disk as well as backups on tape. For example, enter:
```
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
```
Issue a DELETE OBSOLETE command without any options to delete the objects defined as obsolete by the retention policy, for example:
```
DELETE OBSOLETE;
```
If you run RMAN interactively, then RMAN asks for confirmation before deleting any files. If you specify NOPROMPT, then RMAN does not ask for confirmation.
Release the allocated maintenance channel:
```
RELEASE CHANNEL;
```

Deleting Backups and Copies Defined as Obsolete with the DELETE Command

You can run the DELETE OBSOLETE REDUNDANCY or DELETE OBSOLETE RECOVERY WINDOW commands to delete obsolete backups and copies. The redundancy or recovery window setting on the DELETE command overrides setting on the CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY command.

To delete backups made obsolete by the DELETE OBSOLETE command:

If you do not have automatic channels configured, then allocate a maintenance channel, for example:
```
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
```
Run a DELETE OBSOLETE command with the REDUNDANCY or RECOVERY WINDOW options. These options define what is obsolete during the delete job. For example, enter:
```
DELETE OBSOLETE REDUNDANCY = 3;
DELETE OBSOLETE RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS;
```
Release the allocated maintenance channel:
```
RELEASE CHANNEL;
```

Forcing the Deletion of Backups and Copies

It is possible for the RMAN repository to indicate that an object has one status while the actual status of the object on the media is different. For example, the RMAN repository says that a backup set is AVAILABLE when it is in fact missing from the media management catalog. If you attempt to delete the object, then you receive a warning such as the following:

RMAN-06207: WARNING: 1 objects could not be deleted for DISK 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

You can force RMAN to delete any object and remove its repository record by specifying the FORCE keyword. RMAN ignores any I/O errors. For example:

DELETE FORCE NOPROMPT BACKUPSET TAG 'weekly_bkup';

See Also:

"Behavior of DELETE Command When the Repository and Media Do Not Correspond"
Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for DELETE command syntax

Crosschecking and Deleting on Multiple RMAN Channels

This section contains these topics:

About Allocating Multiple RMAN Channels for Maintenance Commands

You can configure or manually allocate multiple maintenance channels before issuing CROSSCHECK or DELETE commands. RMAN searches for each backup or copy on all channels that have the same device type as the channel used to create the backup. The multichannel feature is designed for use 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

How RMAN Crosschecks and Deletes on Multiple Channels

When you configure or manually allocate multiple maintenance channels and run a CROSSCHECK or DELETE command, RMAN performs the crosscheck or delete on all channels that have the appropriate device type.

For example, assume that you prefer to manually allocate channels rather than use configured channels. You have a media manager configured, but have not yet made backups to tape. You have created only one backup of a database to disk as follows:

RUN 
{
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL ch1 DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/sys_pwd@node2';
  BACKUP DATABASE;
}

Assume that you issue the following series of commands at the RMAN prompt:

ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/oracle@node1';
AlLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/oracle@node2';
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF DATABASE;

RMAN checks the first two channels because they both have the device type of disk and finds the backup on the second channel. However, RMAN does not perform a crosscheck on the third sbt channel because you have not yet made backups with a media manager.

Note:

The DELETE EXPIRED command issues warnings if any objects marked as EXPIRED actually exist. In rare cases, the repository can mark an object as EXPIRED even though the object exists. For example, a directory containing an object is corrupted at the time of the crosscheck, but is later repaired, or the media manager was not configured properly and reported some backups as not existing when they really existed.

Crosschecking Disk and Tape Channels with One Command: Example

RMAN can perform crosschecks on more than one media with a single command. Assume that you have an sbt channel configured as follows:

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 1;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE sbt;

In this case you can run the following command to perform a crosscheck on both DISK and sbt:

CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF DATABASE;

RMAN uses both the sbt channel and the preconfigured DISK channel to perform the crosscheck. Sample output follows:

allocated channel: ORA_SBT_TAPE_1
channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: sid=12 devtype=SBT_TAPE
channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: WARNING: Oracle Test Disk API
using channel ORA_DISK_1
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=/oracle/dbs/16c5esv4_1_1 recid=36 stamp=408384484
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=/oracle/dbs/c-674966176-20000915-01 recid=37 stamp=408384496
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=12c5erb2_1_1 recid=32 stamp=408382820
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=13c5erba_1_1 recid=33 stamp=408382829
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=14c5erce_1_1 recid=34 stamp=408382863
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=c-674966176-20000915-00 recid=35 stamp=408382869

If you do not have an automatic sbt channel configured, then can also manually allocate maintenance channels on disk and tape as in the following example:

ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF DATABASE;

Note that you do not have to manually allocate a disk channel because RMAN uses the preconfigured disk channel.

Crosschecking on Multiple Oracle Real Application Cluster Nodes: Example

This feature is useful in an Oracle Real Application Clusters configuration in which tape backups exist on various nodes in the cluster and are only visible on the nodes where they were created.

When crosschecking on multiple nodes, it is important to allocate channels at every node where backups were created. If you omit a channel for a node, or you set the parallelism to a value less than the number of nodes, then the backups created on that node will be marked EXPIRED in the repository. For example, you can configure RMAN for use with Oracle Real Application Clusters nodes as follows:

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 2;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/oracle@node_1';
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 2 DEVICE TYPE DISK CONNECT 'SYS/oracle@node_2';

Then, crosscheck the cluster nodes with the following command:

CROSSCHECK BACKUP;

Deleting on Disk and Tape Channels with One DELETE Command: Example

You can also perform deletions on all allocated channels. In the following example, you configure an sbt channel:

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 1;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt;

Then, you run a command to delete all backup sets from disk and tape:

DELETE BACKUPSET;

RMAN uses both the sbt channel and the preconfigured DISK channel when deleting (sample output follows). Note that RMAN prompts you for confirmation before deleting any files:

using channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1
using channel ORA_DISK_1

List of Backup Pieces
BP Key  BS Key  Pc# Cp# Status      Device Type Piece Name
------- ------- --- --- ----------- ----------- ----------
388     387     1   1   AVAILABLE   SBT_TAPE    12c5erb2_1_1
397     396     1   1   UNAVAILABLE SBT_TAPE    13c5erba_1_1
424     423     1   1   AVAILABLE   SBT_TAPE    14c5erce_1_1
428     427     1   1   AVAILABLE   SBT_TAPE    c-674966176-20000915-00
433     432     1   1   AVAILABLE   DISK        /oracle/dbs/16c5esv4_1_1
437     436     1   1   AVAILABLE   DISK        /oracle/dbs/c-674966176-20000915-01

Do you really want to delete the above objects (enter YES or NO)? y
deleted backup piece
backup piece handle=/oracle/dbs/16c5esv4_1_1 recid=36 stamp=408384484
deleted backup piece
backup piece handle=/oracle/dbs/c-674966176-20000915-01 recid=37 stamp=408384496
deleted backup piece
backup piece handle=12c5erb2_1_1 recid=32 stamp=408382820
deleted backup piece
backup piece handle=13c5erba_1_1 recid=33 stamp=408382829
deleted backup piece
backup piece handle=14c5erce_1_1 recid=34 stamp=408382863
deleted backup piece
backup piece handle=c-674966176-20000915-00 recid=35 stamp=408382869

The following example manually allocates DISK and sbt maintenance channels and then deletes specific backup sets from both disk and tape:

ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
DELETE BACKUPSET 1,2,3,4,5;

RMAN looks for the specified backup sets on the channels and deletes any it finds. If RMAN does not find a backup on any channel, then RMAN marks the object as deleted in the control file and deletes the recovery catalog record (if you use a recovery catalog).

Releasing Multiple Channels: Example

You can release all allocated maintenance channels by running this command:

RELEASE CHANNEL;

Changing the Availability Status of a Backup or Copy Record

Run the CHANGE ... UNAVAILABLE command when a backup or copy cannot be found or has migrated offsite. RMAN does not use files marked UNAVAILABLE in RESTORE or RECOVER commands. If the file is later found or returns to the main site, then you can mark it available again by issuing CHANGE ... AVAILABLE.

This section contains these topics:

Marking a Backup or Copy as Unavailable

Run the CHANGE ... UNAVAILABLE command to mark a backup or copy as unavailable.

To mark a file's status in the repository as UNAVAILABLE:

Issue a LIST command to determine the availability status of RMAN backups and copies. For example, issue:
```
LIST BACKUP;
LIST COPY;
```

Run a CHANGE ... UNAVAILABLE command to mark a backup or copy as UNAVAILABLE in the RMAN repository. For example, enter:

CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl' UNAVAILABLE;
CHANGE COPY OF ARCHIVELOG SEQUENCE BETWEEN 1000 AND 1012 UNAVAILABLE;
CHANGE BACKUPSET 12 UNAVAILABLE;
CHANGE BACKUP OF CONTROLFILE UNAVAILABLE;
CHANGE BACKUP OF SPFILE TAG "TAG20020208T154556" UNAVAILABLE;

Marking a Backup or Copy as Available

Use the CHANGE ... AVAILABLE command to mark a backup or copy as available. Note that this command does not check for the existence of the files or validate the file in any way: it merely updates the repository record to AVAILABLE. You can run CROSSCHECK to validate the file.

To mark a file's status in the repository as AVAILABLE:

Issue a LIST command to see which the availability status of RMAN backups and copies. For example, issue:
```
LIST BACKUP;
LIST COPY;
```
If you do not have automatic channels allocated, then allocate one or more maintenance channels. Otherwise, skip this step. For example, issue:
```
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE sbt;
ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE DEVICE TYPE DISK;
```
If a previously unavailable backup or copy is reinstated, then issue a CHANGE ... AVAILABLE command to mark it as AVAILABLE in the RMAN repository. For example, enter:
```
CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/system01.dbf' AVAILABLE;
CHANGE BACKUPSET 12 AVAILABLE;
CHANGE BACKUP OF SPFILE TAG "TAG20020208T154556" AVAILABLE;
```
See Also:
Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for CHANGE command syntax

Exempting a Backup or Copy from the Retention Policy

The BACKUP ... KEEP command can archive a backup, potentially offsite, for longer than the time dictated by the user's retention policy. The backup is still a fully valid backup, however, and can be restored just as any other RMAN backup. This type of backup is called a long-term backup.

Note:

The KEEP FOREVER clause requires the use of a recovery catalog.

Specify KEEP ... LOGS to save archived logs for a possible incomplete recovery and KEEP ... NOLOGS not to save archived logs for a possible incomplete recovery. Note that NOLOGS is not valid with an inconsistent backup.

Use the CHANGE command to alter the KEEP status of a backup or copy. For example, you may decide that you no longer want to keep a long-term backup. The same options available for BACKUP ... KEEP are available with CHANGE ... KEEP.

To alter the KEEP status of a backup or copy:

Alter the retention status of the backup or copy. Issue CHANGE ... KEEP to make the file exempt from the retention policy, and CHANGE ... NOKEEP to make the file conform to the retention policy. This example allows a backup set to be marked obsolete by the retention policy:

CHANGE BACKUPSET 231 NOKEEP;

This example makes a datafile copy exempt from the retention policy for 180 days (6 months):

CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/system01.dbf' KEEP UNTIL 'SYSDATE+180';

Cataloging Archived Logs and User-Managed Copies

You can make RMAN aware of the existence of archived logs that are not recorded in the repository as well as file copies that are created through means other than RMAN. This section contains the following topics:

About Cataloging Archived Logs and User-Managed Copies

The control file keeps records of all archived logs generated by the target database. If you use a recovery catalog, then RMAN propagates the archived log information from the control file to the catalog. If you have to restore a control file backup, and if you change the archiving destination or format during recovery, then the repository will not have information about archived logs needed for recovery. Hence, you must catalog these logs if you want to use them for recovery.

A different case occurs when you make user-managed copies, that is, copies made with operating system commands. In the case, the repository has no record of them. You must manually notify RMAN when you make copies with an operating system utility such as the UNIX cp command.

Run the RMAN CATALOG command when:

Adding information about a user-managed datafile copy, archived redo log copy, or control file copy to the recovery catalog and control file
Cataloging a datafile copy as a level 0 backup, thus enabling you to perform an incremental backup later by using the datafile copy as the base of an incremental backup strategy
Recording the existence of user-managed copies of Oracle release 8.0 and higher databases created before RMAN was used
Recording the existence of Oracle7 backups before migrating to Oracle release 8.0 or higher

When Should You Catalog a User-Managed Copy?

Catalog user-managed copies of database files in the following situations:

You make a copy of a datafile or an archived logs with an operating system utility.
You want to catalog user-managed copies of Oracle7 database files that meet the criteria specified in "Cataloging User-Managed Copies of Oracle7 Database Files". These datafile copies allow you to recover the database if it crashes after migration but before you have a chance to take a backup of the migrated database.

Note:
You cannot catalog backup sets or pieces.

Cataloging Consistent and Inconsistent User-Managed Copies

Whenever you make a user-managed copy, for example, by using the UNIX cp command to copy a datafile, make sure to catalog it. When making user-managed copies, you can use the ALTER TABLESPACE ... BEGIN/END BACKUP statement to make datafile copies off an online tablespace. Although RMAN does not create such datafile copies, you can use the CATALOG command to add them to the recovery catalog so that RMAN is aware of them.

For a user-managed copy to be cataloged, it must be:

Accessible on disk
A complete image copy of a single file
Either a datafile copy, control file copy, or archived redo log copy

For example, if you store datafiles on mirrored disk drives, then you can create a user-managed copy by breaking the mirror. In this scenario, use the CATALOG command to notify RMAN of the existence of the user-managed copy after breaking the mirror. Before reforming the mirror, run a CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command to notify RMAN that the file copy no longer exists.

Cataloging User-Managed Copies of Oracle7 Database Files

RMAN cannot catalog Oracle7 files, except in the following special circumstances:

During the migration from Oracle7 to the current release, you shut down the Oracle7 database cleanly prior to running the migration utility, and back up the datafiles.
You make backups of tablespaces that are OFFLINE NORMAL or read-only at the time of the backup, and do not bring these tablespaces online or make them read/write again before migration.

Oracle accepts these Oracle7 copies because no redo from the Oracle7 database is required to recover them. RMAN can then catalog and restore these copies in the Oracle9i database if no other backups exist.

The following scenario generates an Oracle7 datafile backup that you can catalog with RMAN:

Shut down the Oracle7 database cleanly.
Make a user-managed copy of the datafiles with an operating system utility such as the UNIX cp command or Windows COPY command.
Migrate the database to the current release.

The backups made before migration are identical to user-managed copies taken after migration, and so may be cataloged with RMAN.

See Also:

Oracle9i Database Migration to learn how to migrate an Oracle database

Cataloging a User-Managed Copy

Use the CATALOG command to propagate information about user-managed copies to the recovery catalog.

To catalog a user-managed copy:

Make a copy with an operating system utility. Note that ALTER TABLESPACE BEGIN/END BACKUP is necessary if the database is open and the datafiles are online while the backup is in progress. This example backs up an online datafile.
```
SQL> ALTER TALBESPACE users BEGIN BACKUP;
% cp $ORACLE_HOME/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf /tmp/users01.dbf;
SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE users END BACKUP;
```
After connecting to the target database and, if desired, the recovery catalog, run the CATALOG command. For example, enter:
```
CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/users01.dbf';
```
See Also:
Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for CATALOG command syntax

Uncataloging RMAN Records

This section contains the following topics:

About Uncataloging RMAN Records

Run the CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command to perform the following actions on RMAN repository records:

Delete a specific backup or copy record from the recovery catalog (if you use one)
Update a backup or copy record in the target control file repository to status DELETED

RMAN does not touch the specified physical files: it only alters the repository records for these files.

You can use this command when you have deleted a backup or copy through a means other than RMAN. For example, if you delete archived redo logs using an operating system utility, then remove the record for this log from the repository by issuing CHANGE ARCHIVELOG ... UNCATALOG.

In releases prior to Oracle9i, RMAN sometimes updated the status of records to DELETED in the recovery catalog rather than removing the records altogether. In Oracle9i, RMAN always removes the catalog record rather than marking it as DELETED. Hence, catalog records should only be marked with status DELETED if the catalog has been upgraded or the catalog was resynchronized from a backup control file. You can remove all repository records of backups and copies with status DELETED using the prgrmanc.sql script, which is located in an operating system specific location ($ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin on UNIX).

Removing Records for Files Deleted with Operating System Utilities

To remove catalog records for files deleted with operating system utilities, use the CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command.

To remove the catalog record for a backup or copy deleted with an operating system utility:

Run a CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command for the backups or copies that you deleted from the operating system with operating system commands. This example deletes repository references to copies of the control file and datafile 1:
```
CHANGE CONTROLFILECOPY '/tmp/control01.ctl' UNCATALOG;
CHANGE DATAFILECOPY '/tmp/system01.dbf' UNCATALOG;
```
Optionally, view the relevant recovery catalog view, for example, RC_DATAFILE_COPY or RC_CONTROLFILE_COPY, to confirm that a given record was removed. For example, this query confirms that the record of copy 4833 was removed:
```
SELECT CDF_KEY, STATUS 
FROM RC_DATAFILE_COPY 
WHERE CDF_KEY = 4833;

CDF_KEY    STATUS
---------- ------
0 rows selected.
```

Removing Catalog Records with Status DELETED

Use the prgrmanc.sql script to remove recovery catalog records with status DELETED. In releases prior to Oracle9i, RMAN updated recovery catalog records to DELETED status after deleting the physical files rather than removing the records.

In Oracle9i and later, RMAN always removes catalog records and never updates them to status DELETED. However, records with status DELETED can appear in the recovery catalog when you upgrade a catalog created prior to Oracle9i to the current release. For this special case, you can run the prgrmanc.sql script.

To remove all copy and backup records with status DELETED:

Start a SQL*Plus session and connect to the recovery catalog. This example connects to the database rcat as user rman:
```
% sqlplus rman/cat@catdb
```
Run the script prgrmanc.sql script, which is stored in an operating system specific location ($ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin on UNIX):
```
SQL> @prgrmanc
```
The scripts removes all records with status DELETED from the recovery catalog.

18 Performing Maintenance with Recovery Manager

Crosschecking Backups and Copies

About RMAN Crosschecks

Crosschecking Specific Backups and Copies

Crosschecking Backups and Copies of Database Files

Deleting Backups and Copies

Deleting Specified Backups and Copies

Deleting Expired Backups and Copies

Deleting Obsolete Backups and Copies

Deleting Backups and Copies Rendered Obsolete by the Retention Policy

Deleting Backups and Copies Defined as Obsolete with the DELETE Command

Forcing the Deletion of Backups and Copies

Crosschecking and Deleting on Multiple RMAN Channels

About Allocating Multiple RMAN Channels for Maintenance Commands

How RMAN Crosschecks and Deletes on Multiple Channels

Crosschecking Disk and Tape Channels with One Command: Example

Crosschecking on Multiple Oracle Real Application Cluster Nodes: Example

Deleting on Disk and Tape Channels with One DELETE Command: Example

Releasing Multiple Channels: Example

Changing the Availability Status of a Backup or Copy Record

Marking a Backup or Copy as Unavailable

Marking a Backup or Copy as Available

Exempting a Backup or Copy from the Retention Policy

Cataloging Archived Logs and User-Managed Copies

About Cataloging Archived Logs and User-Managed Copies

When Should You Catalog a User-Managed Copy?

Cataloging Consistent and Inconsistent User-Managed Copies

Cataloging User-Managed Copies of Oracle7 Database Files

Cataloging a User-Managed Copy

Uncataloging RMAN Records

About Uncataloging RMAN Records

Removing Records for Files Deleted with Operating System Utilities

Removing Catalog Records with Status DELETED

18
Performing Maintenance with Recovery Manager