keepOption

Syntax

Text description of the illustration keepopti.gif

Purpose

A subclause specifying the status of a backup or copy in relation to a retention policy. The KEEP option marks the backup or copy as exempt from the retention policy (that is, not obsolete), and the NOKEEP option undoes any existing exemptions.

Keywords and Parameters

KEEP	Overrides any configured retention policy for this backup or copy so that the backup is not obsolete. The BACKUP ... KEEP command or COPY ... KEEP specifies a new retention time for this backup or copy. Use this option to create a long-term backup, that is, a backup that want you to archive.
	UNTIL TIME = 'date_string'	Specifies the date until which the backup or copy must be kept. You can either specify a specific time by using the current NLS_DATE_FORMAT, or a SQL date expression, such as 'SYSDATE+365'.
	FOREVER	Specifies that the backup or copy never expires. You must use a recovery catalog when FOREVER is specified, because the backup records eventually age out of the control file.
	LOGS	Specifies that all of the archived logs required to recover this backup or copy must remain available as long as this backup or copy is available.
	NOLOGS	Specifies that this backup or copy cannot be recovered because the archived logs needed to recover this backup will not be kept. The only use for this backup or copy is to restore the database to the point in time that the backup or copy was taken. This is the only valid recoverability option when the database operates in NOARCHIVELOG mode. This option is not valid if the backup or copy is inconsistent.
NOKEEP	Specifies that the backup or copy expires according to the user's retention policy. This is the default behavior if no KEEP option is specified.

Examples

Making a Long-Term Backup: Example

This example makes a long-term backup of the database and specifies that it should never become obsolete and that the logs required to recover it should not be retained:

BACKUP DATABASE KEEP FOREVER NOLOGS;

Changing the Status of a Copy: Example

This example specifies that any long-term copies of datafiles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 should lose their exempt status and so become eligible to be obsolete according to the existing retention policy:

CHANGE COPY OF DATAFILE 1,2,3,4,5 NOKEEP;