C RMAN Media Management Parameters

This appendix describes Oracle Secure Backup-specific media management parameters that you can specify in Recovery Manager (RMAN) backup and restore jobs. You can specify media management parameters in RMAN backup and restore jobs by the following means:

Environment variables, which are specified with the ENV parameter of the PARMS option on the CONFIGURE or ALLOCATE CHANNEL commands
The RMAN SEND command

This section describes Oracle Secure Backup parameters that are valid in RMAN jobs.

This section contains the following topics:

Database Backup Storage Selectors and RMAN Media Management Parameters
OB_DEVICE
OB_ENCRYPTION
OB_MEDIA_FAMILY
OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME
OB_RESTORE_DEVICE

Database Backup Storage Selectors and RMAN Media Management Parameters

You can configure tape device and media family restrictions in both database backup storage selectors, which are created with the mkssel command, and the OB_DEVICE and OB_MEDIA_FAMILY Recovery Manager (RMAN) media management parameters.

During a backup operation, Oracle Secure Backup first checks if tape device or media family restrictions are specified using RMAN media management parameters. If RMAN parameters are not set, then the values specified in the backup storage selector are used for the backup operation.

Table C-1 explains the criteria used by Oracle Secure Backup when choosing the media family and tape device for an RMAN backup job.

Table C-1 Determining Media Family and Device Settings

Matching Selector	Device Set in Selector	OB_DEVICE Set in Job	OB_MEDIA_FAMILY Set in Job	Result
Yes	Yes	No	No	Oracle Secure Backup uses the tape device and media family settings in the backup storage selector.
Yes	Yes or No	Yes	Yes	Oracle Secure Backup uses the tape device and media family settings in the RMAN channel parameters.
Yes	Yes or No	Yes	No	Oracle Secure Backup uses the `OB_DEVICE` setting and the media family specified in the selector.
Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Oracle Secure Backup uses the tape device settings in the selector and media family settings in the RMAN channel parameters.
Yes	No	No	Yes	Oracle Secure Backup does not restrict the tape device (that is, chooses any tape device in the domain) and uses the media family setting in the RMAN channel parameters.
No	N/A	Yes	No	Oracle Secure Backup uses the `OB_DEVICE` setting and `RMAN-DEFAULT` media family.
No	N/A	No	No	Oracle Secure Backup does not restrict the tape device (that is, chooses any tape device in the domain) and uses the `RMAN-DEFAULT` media family.

OB_DEVICE

Purpose

Use the OB_DEVICE parameter to define which tape drives to use for backups.

Restrictions and Usage Notes

Before specifying OB_DEVICE[_n] in a Recovery Manager (RMAN) job, note the following:

This parameter does not affect restore jobs.
Channels can only be restricted to tape drives, not tape libraries.
Table C-1 explains the criteria used by Oracle Secure Backup when choosing the media family and tape device for an RMAN backup job.

Syntax

OB_DEVICE::=

OB_DEVICE[_n][=]{drive_name | [drive_name]@hostname}

Semantics

_n

Specifies the copy number of duplexed backups. For duplexed backups, OB_DEVICE_1 is for the first copy, OB_DEVICE_2 is for the second copy, and so on.

drive_name

Specifies the name of the tape drive to which the backup should be restricted.

host_name

Specifies the name of the host to which the backup should be restricted.

If drive_name@host_name is specified, then Oracle Secure Backup uses the specified tape device with the specified host. If @host_name is specified, then Oracle Secure Backup uses any tape device attached to the host with the name host_name.

Examples

Example C-1 SBT Backup with SEND Command

This example uses the SEND command to specify that RMAN backs up to any tape drive on host brhost1. Note that no equal sign is inserted between the parameter OB_DEVICE and the names of the tape drives.

RUN
{
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
  SEND 'OB_DEVICE @brhost1';
  BACKUP TABLESPACE users;
}

Example C-2 SBT Backup with ENV Parameter

This example uses PARMS to set the Oracle Secure Backup media family and device parameters. This parameter instructs RMAN to back up to the device named tape2 and use the media family my_full_backups. Note that an equal sign is inserted between the parameter OB_DEVICE and the value tape2.

RUN
{
   ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt
     PARMS 'ENV=(OB_DEVICE=tape2, OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=my_full_backups)';   
   BACKUP TABLESPACE users;
}

OB_ENCRYPTION

Purpose

Use the OB_ENCRYPTION parameter to control Oracle Secure Backup encryption.

Restrictions and Usage Notes

In all cases, if the backup data is already encrypted by RMAN, then Oracle Secure Backup performs no further encryption.

If Oracle Secure Backup applies encryption, then the encryption algorithm depends on the algorithm configured for the Oracle Secure Backup host being backed up.

Syntax

OB_ENCRYPTION::=

OB_ENCRYPTION[=]{ on | off | forcedoff | swencryption}

Semantics

on

Uses Oracle Secure Backup to encrypt the backup data unless it has already been encrypted by RMAN.

off

Does not use Oracle Secure Backup to encrypt the backup data unless either the host or global policy is set to required.

Setting OB_ENCRYPTION to off is equivalent to specifying no value for it. All the normal rules of Oracle Secure Backup encryption still apply regarding whether the data will be stored on tape in encrypted form.

forcedoff

Does not use Oracle Secure Backup to encrypt the database backup, overriding any host-specific encryption settings.

The forcedoff setting does not affect RMAN, which can encrypt the backup data.

swencryption

Forces Oracle Secure Backup to use software encryption instead of hardware encryption.

Examples

Example C-3 Encrypted Backup with SEND Command

This example uses the SEND command to specify Oracle Secure Backup encryption of the users tablespace backup. If RMAN is already encrypting the backup of users, then Oracle Secure Backup does not apply further encryption. Note that no equal sign is inserted between the parameter OB_ENCRYPTION and the value on.

RUN
{
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
  SEND 'OB_ENCRYPTION on';
  BACKUP TABLESPACE users;
}

Example C-4 Persistent Encryption Configuration

This example persistently configures Oracle Secure Backup not to apply encryption to an RMAN backup under any circumstances. Note that there is an equal sign between the parameter OB_ENCRYPTION and the value forcedoff.

CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS  
  'ENV=(OB_ENCRYPTION=forcedoff)';

OB_MEDIA_FAMILY

Purpose

Use the OB_MEDIA_FAMILY parameter to define which media to use for a backup job.

Restrictions and Usage Notes

Before specifying OB_MEDIA_FAMILY[_n] in a Recovery Manager (RMAN) job, note the following:

This parameter does not affect restore jobs.
You can only specify a content-managed media family. By default RMAN uses the RMAN-DEFAULT media family.
Table C-1 explains the criteria used by Oracle Secure Backup when choosing the media family and tape device for an RMAN backup job.

Syntax

OB_MEDIA_FAMILY::=

OB_MEDIA_FAMILY[_n][=]media_family_name

Semantics

_n: Specifies the copy number of duplexed backups. For duplexed backups, OB_MEDIA_FAMILY_1 is for the first copy, OB_MEDIA_FAMILY_2 is for the second one, and so on.
media_family_name: Specifies the name of the media family.

Examples

Example C-5 SBT Backup with SEND Command

This example uses the SEND command to specify the my_full_backups media family in an RMAN database backup. Note that there is no equal sign between the parameter OB_MEDIA_FAMILY and the value datafile_mf.

SEND 'OB_MEDIA_FAMILY datafile_mf';
BACKUP TABLESPACE users;

Example C-6 SBT Backup with ENV Parameter

This example makes the same backup as Example C-5, but uses PARMS to set the Oracle Secure Backup media family parameter. Note that there is an equal sign between the parameter OB_MEDIA_FAMILY and the value datafile_mf.

CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS  
  'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=datafile_mf)';
BACKUP TABLESPACE users;

OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME

Purpose

Use the OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME parameter to specify the duration for which a backup or restore job should wait for the required resources to become available.

Restrictions and Usage Notes

Note that you can specify Recovery Manager (RMAN) resource wait times in the following locations, each of which overrides the preceding specifications in the list:

The rmanresourcewaittime policy

See Also:
"rmanresourcewaittime"
The waittime attribute in a database backup storage selector that matches an RMAN backup job
The RMAN channel configuration parameter OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME

Syntax

OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME::=

OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME=duration

Semantics

duration: Specifies how long Oracle Secure Backup should wait for the tape resources to become available. For valid values, refer to the description of the duration placeholder in "duration".

Examples

Example C-7 SBT Restore with SEND Command

This example uses the SEND command to specify that the restore job should wait no longer than 10 minutes for tape resources to become available. Note that there is no equal sign between the parameter OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME and the value.

RUN
{
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt;
  SEND 'OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME 1minute';
  RESTORE ARCHIVELOG ALL;
}

Example C-8 SBT Restore with ENV Parameter

This example uses the ENV parameter to specify the wait time on a configured channel. Note that there is an equal sign between the parameter OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME and the value.

CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt PARMS
  'ENV=(OB_RESOURCE_WAIT_TIME=1minute)';
RESTORE ARCHIVELOG ALL;

OB_RESTORE_DEVICE

Purpose

Use the OB_RESTORE_DEVICE parameter to define which tape drive to use for a restore job.

This parameter enables you to restrict a restore job to a particular tape device. You can use this parameter to restore Oracle Database backups.

Note:

The OB_RESTORE_DEVICE parameter is only available starting with Oracle Secure Backup 10.3.0.2.0.

Restrictions and Usage Notes

The device restriction is honoured above the location of the volume. If a volume required for the restore job is loaded into a drive other than the one specified by devicename, then the volume will be unloaded from the drive and loaded into devicename. However, this is possible only when the two drives, the one specified by OB_RESTORE_DEVICE and the drive with the required volume, are both in the same library.

The device specified in the OB_RESTORE_DEVICE parameter must be attached to the library where the volume resides. If the device is not attached, the restore job fails.

The volume must reside in the tape drive specified using OB_RESTORE_DEVICE or in the library that the specified tape drive belongs to. If a restore job is restricted to a device that is not in the same library as the volume required for restore, then the restore job will go into a state that is pending resource availability. The restore job does not fail.

The restore job will fail if the SE slot where the volume resides is not is the uselist of the device specified in devicename. For more information about uselist, refer to its description in "chdev".

Syntax

OB_RESTORE_DEVICE::=

OB_RESTORE_DEVICE[=]devicename

Semantics

devicename

Specifies the name of the tape device that the restore job is restricted to use.

For devicename, do not use the device_name@hostname or @hostname formats. You must specify only the device name.

For the complete description of devicename, see "devicename".

For OB_RESTORE_DEVICE, devicename is restricted to tape devices.

Examples

Example C-9 Restore with Device Name Specified

This example restricts the restore job that restores the tablespace my_tbs to use the tape device tape1.

RUN
{
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE SBT;
  SEND 'OB_RESTORE_DEVICE=tape1';
  RESTORE TABLESPACE my_tbs;
  RECOVER TABLESPACE my_tbs;
}