Creating an On-Demand Backup

You can create an on-demand backup of an Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service database deployment by using the Oracle Database Cloud Service console or, if desired, by using one of the ways listed in Other Ways to Create an On-Demand Backup at the end of this topic.

Creating an On-Demand Backup by Using the Oracle Database Cloud Service Console

Open the Instances page of the Oracle Database Cloud Service console.

For detailed instructions, see Accessing the My Services Dashboard and the Oracle Database Cloud Service Console.
Click the database deployment for which you want to create a backup.

The Oracle Database Cloud Service Overview page is displayed.
Click the Administration tile.

The Oracle Database Cloud Service Backup page is displayed.
Click Backup Now.

The Backup Now dialog is displayed.
Make a selection for the Keep Forever option and then click Backup.

The Keep Forever option controls the backup retention policy, as follows:
- No — specifies that the backup is produced and maintained in accordance with the automatic backup retention policy that is associated with the database deployment.
- Yes — specifies that the backup is a long-term backup, which is produced and maintained independently of the automatic backup retention policy that is associated with the database deployment. Long-term backups remain until you explicitly remove them from the system.

Other Ways to Create an On-Demand Backup

You can use the bkup_api utility. See Creating an On-Demand Backup by Using the bkup_api Utility.

Creating an On-Demand Backup by Using the bkup_api Utility

You can use the bkup_api utility to create an on-demand backup of a complete database or an individual pluggable database (PDB):

Connect as the opc user to a compute node. In a Data Guard configuration, connect to a compute node hosting the primary database.

For detailed instructions, see Connecting to a Compute Node Through Secure Shell (SSH).
Start a root-user command shell:
```
$ sudo -s
#
```
Enter the bkup_api command:
- To create a backup that follows the current retention policy, use the following bkup_api command:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api bkup_start --dbname=dbname
```
  where dbname is the database name for the database that you want to back up.
- To create an on-demand backup of a specific PDB, use the following bkup_api command:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api bkup_start --dbname=dbname --pdb=pdbname
```
- To create a long-term backup of the complete database that persists until you delete it, use the following bkup_api command:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api bkup_start --keep --dbname=dbname
```
  By default, the long-term backup is given a timestamp-based tag. To specify a custom backup tag, add the --tag option to the bkup_api command. For example, to create a long-term backup with the tag monthly, use the following command:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api bkup_start --keep --tag=monthly --dbname=dbname
```
- To create an on-demand RMAN level 0 backup, use the following bkup_api command:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api bkup_start --level0 --dbname=dbname
```
  You can use this option to manually perform an RMAN level 0 (full) backup if the scheduled weekly level 0 backup fails or following a major structural change in the database, such as adding a new data file or tablespace. This option is only valid for backup configurations that use cloud storage only.
- To create an on-demand backup that includes an image copy of the database data files, use the following bkup_api command:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api bkup_start --datafiles --dbname=dbname
```
  You can use this option to manually perform a full image backup to cloud storage if the scheduled weekly full backup fails or following a major structural change in the database, such as adding a new data file or tablespace. This option is only valid for backup configurations that use cloud storage and local Exadata storage.
After you start an on-demand backup, the backup process runs in the background. To check the progress of the backup process, run the following bkup_api command on the same compute node where the backup is running:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api bkup_status --dbname=dbname
```
Exit the root-user command shell and disconnect from the compute node:
```
# exit
$ exit
```