Oracle8i Administrator's Guide
Release 2 (8.1.6) for Windows NT

A73008-01

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11
Backing Up and Recovering Database Files

This chapter provides information on backing up and recovering your database.

Specific topics discussed are:

Selecting a Backup and Recovery Tool

Backing up and recovering your Oracle8i database is one of the most critical operations that a database administrator (DBA) performs. For this reason, it is extremely important to choose the correct tools. The table below describes available backup and recovery tools and makes recommendations on which tool to use with your Oracle8i database:

Tool  Description  Analysis of Tool  To Use this Tool, See... 

Oracle Enterprise Manager Backup Management tools 

The Oracle Enterprise Manager DBA Management Pack includes the Backup Wizard for backing up and the Recovery Wizard for recovering your Oracle8i database. The Backup Wizard enables users to:

  • Perform database backups to disk and tape.

  • Create backup scripts.

  • Specify frequency, time, backup configuration, and multiple destinations.

  • Back up an entire database or tablespaces, data files, and archived redo logs.

  • Perform both hot and cold backups.

The wizards provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to Recovery Manager.  

Highly recommended for backing up and recovering your Oracle8i database because of capabilities and ease of use. Works in conjunction with Recovery Manager (RMAN). Backing up to tape requires an optional media management layer (MML) from a third-party vendor, such as Legato Storage Manager (LSM). LSM is included on your CD-ROM. 

Oracle Enterprise Manager Administrator's Guide 

Recovery Manager (RMAN) in command line mode1 

Recovery Manager in command line mode is an Oracle8i tool that manages the process of backing up, restoring, and recovering files. Recovery Manager is automatically installed with Oracle Utilities. Recovery Manager uses a special PL/SQL interface to the server for invoking backup functions. The user is unaware of this interface and instead interfaces only with a command line. 

Command line usage only. Must clearly understand the command line syntax described in Oracle8i Recovery Manager User's Guide and Reference before using. Backing up to tape requires an optional MML from a third-party vendor. 

Chapter 2, "Database Tools Overview" for instructions on accessing this tool and Oracle8i Recovery Manager User's Guide and Reference for instructions on using this tool. 

Third-party vendor products 

Third-party vendors such as Legato provide tape backup software that works with Backup Wizard and RMAN. 

If using Legato MML, can back up to tape only if you are using RMAN and only if the tape device and the target database are on the same physical device. Contact your third-party vendors for additional information. 

Legato Storage Manager Administrator's Guide and other third-party vendor documentation. 

OCOPY 

OCOPY is needed when performing a hot backup manually (that is, backing up a tablespace that is in offline backup mode). 

Command line usage only. Can back up only to disk. Can only perform local backups. 

"Backing Up Files with OCOPY" and "Recovering Files with OCOPY" in this chapter. 

1 On Windows NT, starting with version 8.1.6, additional transformations are added to file names entered by the user. If you use Recovery Manager, existing file names stored in the recovery catalog must be normalized. To normalize file names, see Chapter 8, "After Migrating or Upgrading the Database" in the Oracle8i Migration guide.


Note:

Before performing a cold backup, and regardless of the backup tool you use (for example, Oracle Enterprise Manager Backup Wizard or a third party tool), stop the OracleServiceSID service in order to clear locks on the database files. If you do not stop this service, some database files may not be backed up. 


Backing Up Files with OCOPY

Use OCOPY for both hot and raw database file backups of the following file types:

File  Description 

File Allocation Table (FAT) or NT File System (NTFS) files 

File allocation table (FAT) or NT file system (NTFS) files you want to back up. 

Logical raw files:

 

A logical drive (accessed with the direct I/O) identified by the name: 

 

\\.\x: 

Note: For more information on logical drives, see Appendix D, "Storing Tablespaces on Raw Partitions" 

where x: is the logical drive designator. 

Physical raw files 

A physical hard drive (accessed with direct I/O) identified by a device name of the form: 

 

\\.\physicaldriveN 

 

where N is 0, 1, 2, and so on, representing each of the physical drives in the system. 

This table describes the two copy modes in which to use OCOPY:

Copy Mode  OCOPY is used to... 

Hard disk 

Copy hot files to a new name and location on a hard disk where you can use an archive utility to back them up. 

Multiple diskettes 

Back up large hot files directly to multiple diskettes. 

This table describes the syntax to use when backing up all file types to hard disk or multiple diskettes:

Copy Mode  File Type  Syntax 

Hard disk 

FAT or NTFS files 

C:\> OCOPY old_file new_file 

 

Logical raw 

C:\> OCOPY \\.\C: new_file 

 

Physical raw 

C:\> OCOPY \\.\physicaldriveN new_file 

Multiple diskettes 

FAT or NTFS files 

C:\> OCOPY /B hot_file a: 

 

Logical raw 

C:\> OCOPY /B \\.\C: a: 

 

Physical raw 

C:\> OCOPY /B \\.\physicaldriveN a: 

Where... 

Indicates the... 

old_file 

Name and location of the hot file you want to back up. 

new_file 

Name and location of the backup copy. 

C: 

Raw drive that holds a single RAW database file. 

physical drive 

Physical drive that holds a single RAW database file. 

N  

Number(s) representing each of the physical drives in the system. 

hot_file 

Path and filename of the hot file you want to back up.  

a: 

Diskette drive containing the diskette on which to save the backup copy. If the file is too large to fit on one diskette, OCOPY prompts you to insert new diskettes as needed. OCOPY catalogs the parts of the file automatically so that it can be reconstructed at a later time.  

/B 

Large files must be split over multiple diskettes. 


Note: Always use a fresh diskette for each OCOPY procedure; do not use OCOPY to back up a file onto a diskette that contains part or all of another file backed up using OCOPY.  


Recovering Files with OCOPY

The table below describes the syntax to use when recovering all file types from hard disk or multiple diskettes.

Restore From...  File Type to Restore  Syntax 

Hard Disk1 

FAT or NTFS files  

Use the Windows NT COPY command. 

 

Logical raw 

C:\> OCOPY new_file \\.\c:  

 

Physical raw 

C:\> OCOPY new_file \\.\physicaldriveN 

Multiple diskettes2 

FAT or NTFS files  

C:\> OCOPY /R a: restore_dir

Note: First insert the diskette containing the initial part of the backed up file. 

 

Logical raw 

C:\> OCOPY /R a: \\.\c:  

 

Physical raw 

C:\> OCOPY /R a: \\.\physicaldriveN 

1 These are files originally backed up without the /B option.
2 These are files originally backed up with the /B option.

Where...  Indicates the... 

C:  

Raw drive, which holds a single RAW database file. If you use a different drive as your raw drive, substitute it for C:. OCOPY prompts you to insert diskettes as needed. 

new_file 

File name to which to restore the file. 

physicaldrive 

Physical drive that holds a single RAW database file. 

N 

Number(s) representing each of the physical drives in the system. 

/R 

Restore option. 

a: 

Drive containing the diskette with the backed up file. 

restore_dir 

Directory on the server in which to place the file. (The restored file has the same name as the original file.) 

Using Legato Storage Manager

When running backups to tape drivers using Legato Storage Manager (LSM), you must add LSM's BIN directory to the PATH. The default location of the directory is C:\WIN32APP\NSR\BIN.

To add this directory to the PATH:

  1. Select System from the Control Panel.

    The System Properties dialog box appears.

  2. Select the Environment tab.

    The Environment view appears.

  3. Select Path from the System Variables box.

  4. Add the value, and click Set.

  5. Click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.

Settings for Multiple Tape Devices

If you use LSM, and have more than one tape device on your system (LSM supports a maximum of 4), ensure that the following settings are made in the LSM Administrator GUI:

  1. Select Start > Programs > NetWorker group > NetWorker Administrator to start the LSM Administrator GUI.

  2. Click the set up server button, and set the parallelism field to the number of tape devices you have. Then, click the devices button. For each tape device listed, select it with the right mouse button, select edit, and set the target sessions field to 1.

Japanese Version of Legato Storage Manager


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