RMAN Cataloging Control

If the backup source job option Oracle RMAN Cataloging Control is set to Yes, a completed Block backup of Oracle is cataloged in RMAN as well as in Catalogic DPX. See Job Options for Block Backup.

Cataloging DPX backups in RMAN gives database administrators the full power of RMAN along with the benefits of block-level backups.

RMAN Operations with Backup Files

File paths are supplied to RMAN for cataloging are typically structured as follows:

E:\DPX\mount\BEXoracle_orcl_1139246458\win2k-ra\J_\example.dbf

E:\DPX\mount\BEXoracle_orcl_1139246458\win2k-ra\J_\users.dbf

E:\DPX\mount\BEXoracle_orcl_1139246458\win2k-ra\LOGS \O1_MF_1_233_1YH1F6V3_.ARC

E:\DPX\mount\BEXoracle_orcl_1139246458\win2k-ra\LOGS \O1_MF_2_233_1YH1F6V3_.ARC

E:\DPX\mount\BEXoracle_orcl_1139246458\win2k-ra\control_file

Tip. This information is identical in structure to the structure used for Oracle Quick Restore. See Quick Restore Structure.

Take the following steps to perform RMAN operations with these backup files:

1. Identify the Job ID and perform a Quick Restore. See Logical View Restore: Quick Restore.

2. Perform any desired RMAN operations.

3. Unmap the Instant Access mappings and clean up mount points.

Prerequisites for RMAN Cataloging

Ensure the following prerequisites before using the RMAN Cataloging for Oracle Databases with Catalogic DPX:

• By default, Catalogic DPX only connects to the database being backed up for cataloging. If a recovery Catalog needs to be used, the values for recovery Catalog database name, user, and password should be configured using OracleConfig. See Enabling Block Backup for Oracle Databases.

• Because the Catalogic DPX entries in the RMAN Catalog point to virtual paths, any RMAN commands (for example, CROSSCHECK) that need access to the actual files can not be run for these entries until the restore is run first.

Example Job Log

At the end of the backup, data files, the control file, and archive logs are cataloged in RMAN. The process is reported in the job log as follows:

Doing RMAN cataloging for database (orcl), cmd (
/ora1/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/bin/rman TARGET "sys/*@orcl" CMDFILE 
"'/opt/BackEx/logs/rmancmd_1224864495.orcl.txt'" LOG 
"'/opt/BackEx/logs/rmanlog_1224864495.orcl.txt'")

The following is an example of what is displayed in the RMAN Catalog for a backup job id 1224864495:

Note. For PDB database tablespace restore, run the rman command:

rman target=sys@pdb1

For a non-PDB database, use:

rman target /

$ rman target /
Recovery Manager: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Fri Oct 24 12:23:16 2008
Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
connected to target database: ORCL (DBID=1178253731)
RMAN> list copy like '%1224864495%';
List of Datafile Copies
=======================
Key     File S Completion Time Ckp SCN    Ckp Time
------- ---- - --------------- ---------- ---------------
156     1    A 24-OCT-08       3806734    24-OCT-08
Name: /tmp/bexoracle_orcl_1224864495/akash/_ora1/app/oracle/oradata/orcl/system01.dbf
157     2    A 24-OCT-08       3806741    24-OCT-08
Name: /tmp/bexoracle_orcl_1224864495/akash/_ora1/app/oracle/oradata/orcl/sysaux01.dbf
154     3    A 24-OCT-08       3806719    24-OCT-08
Name: /tmp/bexoracle_orcl_1224864495/akash/_ora1/app/oracle/oradata/orcl/undotbs01.dbf
155     4    A 24-OCT-08       3806727    24-OCT-08
Name: /tmp/bexoracle_orcl_1224864495/akash/_ora1/app/oracle/oradata/orcl/users01.dbf
158     5    A 24-OCT-08       3806748    24-OCT-08
Name: /tmp/bexoracle_orcl_1224864495/akash/_ora1/app/oracle/oradata/orcl/example01.dbf
List of Control File Copies
===========================
Key     S Completion Time Ckp SCN    Ckp Time
------- - --------------- ---------- ---------------
153     A 24-OCT-08       3806925    24-OCT-08
Name: /tmp/bexoracle_orcl_1224864495/akash/control_file
Tag: TAG20081024T121036
List of Archived Log Copies for database with db_unique_name ORCL
=====================================================================
Key     Thrd Seq     S Low Time
------- ---- ------- - ---------
205     1    30      A 24-OCT-08
Name: /tmp/bexoracle_orcl_1224864495/akash/LOGS/1_30_668010235.dbf

The paths listed in the output do not exist after the backup. The backup is mapped on the machine, RMAN cataloging is done, and the mapping is undone. Even if these paths are in the RMAN Catalog, they cannot be used directly. To access the paths, perform a Quick Restore of the corresponding backup job. A Quick Restore recreates the paths so that the files are accessible and RMAN operations can be performed. No data transfer occurs through a Quick Restore.